Bananas

“Please wait here for a while.”

After Xiaoguo saw the man nod, she led the donkey cart into the house.

After the donkey cart was parked, Zhuang Zhuang ran out of the house. He had heard someone knocking on the door earlier, but he didn’t dare move because his mother had told him not to open the door for strangers.

Xiaoguo rubbed Zhuang Zhuang’s head and said, “Xiaoyi misses you. Shall we write him a letter?”

Zhuang Zhuang was happy to hear that. He quickly nodded and returned to the house to pick up a brush and paper. The two of them sat together and started writing their own letters.

Zhuang Zhuang wrote down the latest news and developments with his brush. Xiaoguo wrote down the detailed recipe for making dried pears and also the description of the stove.

After writing down the two items, she changed to a new piece of paper. This time, it was a greeting to Xiaoyi.

According to Eunuch Su’s letter, Xiaoyi was crying non-stop because Jiang Danhe had eaten his dried pears. He also missed the warmth he enjoyed in her house. Eunuch Su begged her to write him the recipe for the dried pears and the structure of the stove if it was convenient for her. He also asked for their help to write a letter to Xiaoyi.

Eunuch Su’s letter was filled with sincerity. The stove design and dried pears were not some top secret that could not be leaked. Moreover, it was Jiang Danhe’s fault. There was no reason for her not to help, so she wrote everything down.

Xiaoguo was not too surprised that Xiaoyi missed them so much. It was not difficult to tell that Xiaoyi was more suited to a life outside of the palace. However, freedom was inevitably too extravagant for the crown prince.

At the thought of this, Xiaoguo sighed. That seat was not meant for ordinary people.

“Mother, I’m done.”

Zhuang Zhuang folded the letter and handed it to Xiaoguo. After taking it, she separated the prescription and letters into two envelopes. Fortunately, she had some spare envelopes at home because she had been writing letters recently. Otherwise, she would have to send the letters to the capital without any envelopes.

As the messenger was still waiting outside, Xiaoguo did not dare to take her time. She quickly went out and handed the letters to him. However, before doing that, she had asked Zhuang Zhuang to bring out a small bag of roasted chestnuts from the house. At that time, Jiang Danhe had stocked up a lot of chestnuts for her. As she still had quite a lot left in her pantry, she decided to make some stir-fried chestnuts the day before yesterday. This was a good opportunity to pass some to Xiaoyi to try.

“Sorry for the trouble.”

Xiaoguo handed him the letter and the bag with a smile.

“Mrs. Jiang, Eunuch Su asked me to bring this for you. He even said that it was a small token of appreciation. Please accept it.”

After putting everything away, the man turned around and moved a basket out of the carriage.

At first, when Xiaogo heard what he said, she subconsciously thought that it was money and was starting to feel a little embarrassed. She couldn’t accept money. However, when she saw the basket, her thoughts flew out of the window.

“And this is?”

Xiaoguo looked at the cloth-covered basket and looked at the man curiously.

She didn’t have to wait too long. The man swiftly removed the cloth to reveal some bright yellow… bananas?

“This year, the palace has harvested a lot of sweet bananas. I specially chose some that are not ripe yet. After the bumpy journey, they should have just ripened.”

Xiaoguo and Zhuang Zhuang gasped. So many bananas?! This was too much. She had just finished eating the pears and chestnuts. And now, she was given so many bananas. They are highly perishable—when the temperature goes up, they rot very easily.

After putting away the pile of bananas and the basket, Xiaoguo watched the person leave until the carriage disappeared from sight.

Xiaoguo got Zhuang Zhuang to open the door and moved the bananas into the house. She was panting from exhaustion. “Zhuang Zhuang, bring this to Auntie Yang.”

Xiaoguo took out two large bunches of bananas. Mrs. Yang’s household had more family members, so she gave them more. Bananas don’t keep well. They would turn dark after one night in the house. It was just nice to eat them now.

At first, she was afraid that Zhuang Zhuang wouldn’t be able to move it. However, she had nothing to worry about. The boy had not grown so chubby for nothing. He ran away with the bananas steadily.

After Zhuang Zhuang left, Xiaoguo looked at the remaining bananas. She picked out the unripe ones and placed them outside. She also took out three bunches and placed them aside, with the intention of bringing them to Qin Anming in the afternoon. Lastly, she brought the remaining ripened bananas to the kitchen.

There was no way they could eat all of it. The only solution was to turn them into dried bananas. Those are delicious and easy to store.

When Zhuang Zhuang returned from his delivery, Xiaoguo had already cut up two trays of bananas. Zhuang Zhuang was a little puzzled when he saw that. Shouldn’t they be eating the bananas instead of cutting them into pieces?

Xiaoguo explained to him, then gave him the remaining half of a banana.

She took a plate and filled it with white sugar. She cut the bananas into oval thin slices and spread them flat on the plate before pouring another layer of white sugar all over. Then, she added some oil to the pot. When the oil was hot, she started frying the banana slices over low heat. Once the slices turned brown, she turned them over and continued frying them. It took about 15 minutes to complete one batch.

“Zhuang Zhuang, let me do it.”

Xiaoguo put down her chopsticks and sat beside Zhuang Zhuang. She took out more than half of the firewood with a pair of tongs. With only a few sparks left, she slowly fried the bananas.

“Mother, is it delicious?”

Although Zhuang Zhuang was full of admiration for his mother’s culinary skills, he thought that it sounded strange when he heard that she was going to make fried bananas.

“Little brat, don’t worry. If it doesn’t taste good, I’ll eat it all. I won’t waste anything.”

This brat was actually doubting her. She would wait and see how he would beg for the bananas once they were ready.

The fifteen minutes were almost up by Xiaoguo’s estimation. This meant that the banana slices should be almost done.

She took out banana slices and placed them on the bamboo tray, setting them aside to cool. Then, she went on to fry another batch. Repeating the same steps, she dipped the slices in white sugar and fried them over low heat.

During this time, Zhuang Zhuang had been hanging around the banana slices that had been taken out of the pot. His small hands were like fans as he tried to fan away the hot air so that he could eat them sooner. The smell was so enticing that he was on the verge of salivating.

When all the banana slices were finally ready, Xiaoguo filled a plate for the impatient Zhuang Zhuang and let him return to his room to eat. The rest of the banana slices were left to cool down. Once they had completely cooled down, she would store and seal them in a jar. They could take them from the jar whenever they wished.

One fine day.

After dinner that night, Xiaoguo walked towards Zhuang Zhuang with her hands behind her back. “Zhuang Zhuang, let’s have some fruits.”

“Huh?!” When Zhuang Zhuang heard her words, he immediately thought of that thing. “Bananas?”

“That’s right! I will reward you with a banana!”

“Ah… Mother, can I change the reward?”

Zhuang Zhuang looked at her aggrievedly, trying to get by with his cuteness.

Xiaoguo shook her head firmly and said with a smile, “No, let’s eat.”

Xiaoguo was the first to bear the brunt. She quickly finished a banana and lay comfortably on the bed, looking at Zhuang Zhuang.

Zhuang Zhuang was still eating in small bites. It would be inaccurate to say that he was eating. In actual fact, he was just touching it with his lips. Nothing much was going into his mouth.

Xiaoguo was overjoyed to see this. Zhuang Zhaung had been eating bananas fervently some time ago and she couldn’t persuade him to stop. Then one fine day, he finally got sick from having too many bananas. From then on, he would feel nauseous whenever he smelled the fruit. Recently, things seemed to have gotten better, so Xiaoguo started to tease him again.

However, teasing was one thing. She definitely wouldn’t let him eat the bananas if he felt sick eating them. Hence, when he looked at her pitifully for the umpteenth time, she happily took the almost untouched banana and finished it in three to four bites. She had to admit that she really liked bananas. They were delicious and good for her bowels.

“Mother is the best…”

Zhuang Zhuang hugged Xiaoguo innocently. He had clearly forgotten who was teasing him with the bananas.

After teasing the boy, Xiaoguo was still given a “good person” card by him. She stroked Zhuang Zhuang’s head helplessly. He was really quite a silly boy.

Xiaoguo thought for a moment and smiled evilly. “Today, I’ll show you what it means to be beaten up by society.”

Under Zhuang Zhuang’s innocent gaze, a devilish smile gradually appeared on her face. She said the cruelest words in her gentlest tone, “You should sleep early. Tomorrow, for our breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper, the after-meal fruits will be… bananas.”

“Mother… boohoohoo…”

Zhuang Zhuang rolled on the bed while Xiaoguo blocked him from the edges of the bed, keeping him safe while he rolled around. She laughed out loud at his actions.

When she had nothing to do, she would always tease Zhuang Zhuang. It was so much fun.