Chapter 93 Making Persimmon Cake

  Chu Shengmin earned over 300,000 yuan from selling chestnuts this time, Yang widow earned over 200,000 yuan, and even Li Jing's son earned over 100,000 yuan. The news quickly spread throughout the small village, causing a stir. And Chu Shengyi's persimmons, made into dried persimmon cakes, could also bring in an income of 300,000 to 400,000 yuan. The village was no longer calm.

  No need for Lao Cun Zhang to persuade them, many villagers wanted to give it a try. In the past, their annual income was only around 10,000 to 30,000 yuan, who would have thought of an annual income of tens of thousands?

  On the second day, many people came to ask Chujiaqiang for help in teaching some knowledge of fruit tree management. Chujiaxiong, who was closest to Chujiaqiang, was no exception. He had long wanted to follow in Chujiaqiang's footsteps, but various worries at home had delayed him.

  Chu Jiaqiang readily agreed, and today Chu Shengyi invited him to pick persimmons. There were also a few households in the village who, like Chu Shengyi, planted persimmon trees, but not many. At first, they thought that 50 yuan per mu was not worth it, as one mu of land for growing corn would be more than 50 yuan. It was just that the old village chief allocated the quotas, and they had no choice but to plant. Who would have thought that today it would bring them a surprise? Now, they still regret being too foolish in the past, and letting the opportunity to get rich slip away. Being clever has its downsides!

  Chu Shengyi also invited a few more people to help pick persimmons, and the group of children who had tasted sweetness the day before came again. Chu Shengyi was also unaware of the concept of not using child labor, anyway, it's easy to get rid of kids, absolutely better than inviting an adult.

  "You're too small, don't come here. And you girls, none of you should climb trees." Chu Shengyi didn't plan to ban child labor, but safety had to be considered.

  Those kids who were too young, as well as the girls present, all looked disappointed. Such opportunities to earn pocket money were rare. Chu Jiaqiang couldn't bear it, so he said: "Later, after picking them back, help peel them, but don't mess around!"

  The children who were just extremely disappointed suddenly cheered and promised to work hard.

  The Chu family's strong man shook his head helplessly. These children were not so enthusiastic about doing their own household chores, but they were desperate to earn those few dollars. This behavior is actually not hard to understand, helping with household chores feels like there's no gain, which of course undermines their enthusiasm.

  Picking persimmons is much more difficult than picking chestnuts. Chestnuts can be knocked down in large quantities and then collected, but persimmons must be picked one by one, and if they fall to the ground, they are basically rotten.

  Rural children are just like little monkeys, climbing trees with great skill. This time they picked persimmons and took the lead. The persimmon tree itself is quite resilient, and even small branches can support the weight of a child's body.

  Chu Shengyi made a few cloth bags and long hooks last night. They were all attached to the end of a long bamboo pole, wrapped with iron wire. When picking persimmons, you can stretch up, put the cloth bag under the persimmon, and then hook the fruit handle with the long hook. This picking method is a bit tiring, hands are tired, eyes are also tired.

  "Don't climb too far, be careful the branch breaks!" Chu Shengyi reminded those little monkeys from time to time. He first picked two baskets and went back, letting the idle children help peel them.

  Chu's family had a suggestion, after peeling the skin, immediately put it in water to remove the juice on top, and then dry it. The dried persimmon cake that comes out this way is the best looking, with a yellowish color. Otherwise, if there is too much juice left on the surface, after being exposed to sunlight, the surface of the persimmon cake will turn black.

  Chu Shengyi hastily memorized it and asked again to avoid mistakes: "Are there any other things to pay attention to?"

  "Let's take it one step at a time, I'll tell you about the others after I've dealt with this first. Don't rush," said Chu Jiaqiang.

  Picking persimmons is indeed a tiring job, even Chu Jiaqiang felt a bit numb in his hands. Those kids were even more unbearable, completely losing their initial enthusiasm. Each of them had black stains all over their hands, which was caused by the persimmon juice and was also very difficult to wash off.

  "Let's stop here for now! Everyone go back and have lunch." Chu Shengyi saw that it was already eleven o'clock, so he hurriedly asked everyone to stop. His family had already prepared lunch and were waiting for everyone to return and eat.

  "Haha! Heizi, your hands are so black! Be careful on your way back or you'll get a whipping." A guy pointed at a little boy named Heizi and burst out laughing.

  Chu Jiaqiang was also amused by that guy, who really "crows laugh at pigs for being black, without realizing it himself!", his hands were even darker.

  "Go back and scrub yourself with some charcoal ash. Although you can't get completely clean, it's a lot better than how you all look now." Chu Jiaqiang said.

  At dinner time, Chu Shengyi asked Chu Jiaqiang about his next move.

  Chu's family is strong and doesn't hide or conceal, they say everything they know. In fact, there are many ways to make persimmon cakes, but only one suits them.

  After harvesting, peel the persimmons that are not soft and have no damage, then dry them. The drying method is sun drying, either by hanging or spreading flat in the sun.

  Specifically, it is to clip the persimmons with handles after peeling, hang them separately on a loose rope according to their size, and dry them frequently.

  After 3-4 days, when the fruit surface turns white and forms a crust, and the flesh becomes soft, gently squeeze it for the first time to bruise the flesh. Promote softening and remove astringency. When the fruit surface is dry and wrinkled, pinch it for the second time, crush the hard lumps of flesh, and loosen the core chamber.

  After another 2-3 days, pinch for the third time, pinch off the fruit core from the base, so that the top of the fruit no longer shrinks. For varieties with cores, pinch or squeeze out the cores. Generally, pinching three times is enough.

  The dried persimmon cake is put into a sealed container or covered with plastic wrap and stacked together. After 4-5 days, the persimmon cake becomes soft again. Take it out and spread it in a well-ventilated, cool place to dry. The longer you repeat this process of stacking and drying, the faster and better the frost forms. Once the desired level of frosting is achieved, the dried persimmon cake can be packaged and stored.

  When everyone eats persimmon cake, they may see a layer of white powder on it, which is the frost of persimmon.

  "It seems that making this persimmon cake is quite troublesome." Chu Shengyi said so, but he didn't take this trouble to heart. The motivation of several tens of thousands was not small. What rural people are most proud of is a pair of hands, and such work is really nothing for them.

  "Village chief, grandfather, is everything settled?" Chu Jiaqiang asked the old village chief.

  "Alright, it's a pretty simple matter. Originally we would have had to go to the town government office to get a seal, but the Land Bureau took care of it." The old village chief said with a smile.

  Chu Jiaqiang knew that there must be someone from the Wan family who had made arrangements beforehand, otherwise they wouldn't be speaking so nicely.

  In the afternoon, they worked hard for another half day. The persimmons were only picked halfway, and it would take another day's work to finish them off. When they finished their work, Chu Shengyi immediately paid everyone's wages.

  The old man paid eighty, which was not a low price, and also treated him to a meal. He was also generous with the children, giving them twenty each, and they understood that picking persimmons was not only easy to get dirty hands but also tiring. This made those kids extremely happy, it was their first time receiving "high wages". Chu Jiaqiang didn't take any, others had prepared over three hundred catties of the best ones for him, taking money would be impolite!

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