When it was time to leave, the little bees greeted Lin Wanning very warmly.
This made Lin Wanning a bit embarrassed. She had taken so much honey from them, yet they were still so polite to her. She felt a bit ashamed.
But her shame was only temporary. As soon as she thought that so much honey could sell for a good amount of money, all the burdens in Lin Wanning's heart disappeared instantly.
She remembered that the little squirrel had wanted to take her to find something just now, but now her basket was completely full. She simply had no way to go with it.
"Let's go next time, okay? Even if I found something now, I wouldn't have anywhere to put it."
The little squirrel shook its head indifferently and continued to lie in Lin Wanning's arms. Just like this, she walked out of the forest slowly with the little snake and the little squirrel.
But when they reached the foot of the mountain, the little snake suddenly crawled down from Lin Wanning's hand and made a gesture to crawl back.
"Are you afraid to go home with me?" Lin Wanning felt an inexplicable sense of reluctance when she saw the little snake about to leave.
It wasn't because the little snake had led her to find a lot of honey. She just felt a bit sad that the new friends she had made with so much difficulty were about to part ways.
The little snake could sense Lin Wanning's feelings. Although it had almost crawled into the grass, it still swam back and got into Lin Wanning's pocket.
"Haha... I know why you crawled down. You're just afraid of humans."
"Don't worry. You can go straight to my room later. No one will hurt you. You can just stay on the beam, and I'll go get some eggs for you to eat."
Lin Wanning owed all her bountiful harvest to these two little guys. How could she not reward them?
When passing by the head of the production brigade's house, Lin Wanning directly took out a piece of honeycomb. "I went to the mountain to dig wild vegetables just now and accidentally found this honey. I was wondering if I could exchange it for some eggs and peanuts with you?"
As soon as the little snake heard there were eggs, it excitedly poked its head out of Lin Wanning's pocket.
As soon as the little squirrel heard there were peanuts, it almost started dancing on Lin Wanning's shoulder.
Fortunately, Lin Wanning reacted quickly and stuffed the little snake's head back. The head of the production brigade had small eyes to begin with, and since all his attention was attracted by the honey, he naturally didn't notice these two little guys.
The head of the production brigade came out with a bag of eggs and a bag of peanuts. Seeing Lin Wanning with a fully - loaded basket on her back, he couldn't help but ask curiously, "What's in your basket?"
"Why does it smell like a sweet floral fragrance?" The head of the production brigade only thought the fragrance was too strong, but he didn't dare to think that all of it was honey.
So he just asked out of curiosity.
"This is the wild vegetables I dug. Didn't I just put the honey on top? It's the smell of the piece of honey I just gave you." Lin Wanning was telling a blatant lie.
This honey was different from chestnuts.
Chestnuts grew on trees, but honey was painstakingly brewed by little bees. If she told others where it was from, it would surely be a disaster for the little bees, because human nature was often greedy.
Fortunately, the head of the production brigade was easy to deceive. With just this one sentence, he believed Lin Wanning.
When Lin Wanning got home, she was carrying all kinds of things, a bountiful harvest. Chen Shufen saw her daughter coming back with a fully - loaded basket, and there was a sweet floral fragrance lingering around her.
She quickly ran over to help her daughter take the basket off her back. "Did you find some kind of flower? Why does it smell so good? And just by smelling it, you can tell it's extremely sweet."
Could it not be sweet?
This was pure wild honey.
"Open one and taste it to see how it is." Lin Wanning looked at Chen Shufen with a beaming smile. Her smiling face was even sweeter than the air at this moment.
Seeing her daughter so happy, Chen Shufen knew it must be something good. She took out a piece of honeycomb. When she opened it, she found that it was honey inside. Her somewhat yellowish eyes instantly sparkled.
She poked a bit with her finger and tasted it. A natural sweetness slid directly into her heart along with her finger. It was sweet but not cloying, and she could still feel a continuous floral fragrance between her lips and teeth.
"Why does this honey taste so good? It's both sweet and fragrant, just like eating sweet flower petals." Chen Shufen was an expert in the medical field.
She drank a cup of honey water every morning. Whether it was given by others or bought by herself, she had tasted many kinds of honey, but she had never tasted honey like this before.
It was a completely eye - opening experience.
"It's pure wild honey. There's no pollution in the north, and it's from deep in the mountains. Naturally, the honey tastes good."
As Lin Wanning said this, a smile involuntarily spread across her face.
The first thing Chen Shufen did when she got such good honey was to make a cup of honey water and take it to her husband.
When Lin Wanning saw her mother enter her father's room, she quietly took the little snake into her own room and then put all the exchanged eggs in the corner.
She put the peanuts directly in the little squirrel's nest.
These two little guys were extremely happy.
Lin Wanning closed the door, rolled up her sleeves, and filled some jars with honey. She set aside a portion for the family to use, and planned to take the rest to the city to sell tomorrow. She could also sell the chestnuts from last time together.
But of course, she had to keep some for the family to eat. After filling the honey jars, she carried a large basin full of chestnuts to the kitchen.
White sugar was precious, but she had honey to replace it. She could make candied chestnuts for the whole family so that everyone could have some.
She rinsed the chestnuts with clean water and drained them.
To make it easier for her family to peel the chestnuts, Lin Wanning used scissors or a knife to make a deep cut on the bulging back of each chestnut, reaching the pulp.
When making the cuts, Lin Wanning made them long enough so that the chestnuts wouldn't explode due to internal steam pressure during heating, and it would also be easier for them to absorb flavor and be peeled later.
Then she put the chestnuts with cuts into a pot and added enough water to cover them.
She boiled the chestnuts over high heat. Lin Wanning even took one out and peeled it. The inside was soft and glutinous, and it tasted better than the ones bought in the store.
Actually, they tasted good just like this, but Lin Wanning still wanted the whole family to have a better treat, so she patiently continued to process them.
She poured cooking oil into the pot, then added the processed chestnuts and continuously stir - fried them over medium heat.
When the cuts on the chestnuts were clearly opened and the shells became shiny, Lin Wanning poured the wild honey over the chestnuts and continued to stir - fry quickly.
At this time, the honey would melt under the heat, turn into syrup, and gradually caramelize, coating the surface of the chestnuts. The rich caramel fragrance wafted into her nose, and the color looked very appealing.