Chapter 40, Inn No. 40: Raising Shrimp, Crabs, and Eels

After finishing his meal, Fu Wang looked at the commotion in the distance, got up to investigate, and found that a group of people were building a house. He raised an eyebrow and asked, "Is Lady Yun building her own house?"

Yunyin glanced at the people who had already started construction and shook her head, saying, "I'm building an inn so that traveling merchants can find a place to stay. They can have hot water if they want to drink it, and they can have food if they want to eat it."

Fu Wang nodded: "Then when I come next time, I can stay here with you and won't have to stay in the county town anymore."

Yunyin asked in surprise, "Isn't that house in the county town Young Master Fu's?"

“No, I rented it.” Fu Wang glanced at the lively scene in the distance and said, “I’m not from Long’an County, so naturally I wouldn’t buy a house here.”

"Oh, I thought Young Master Fu was from Long'an County," Yunyin asked curiously. "Then where are you from?"

Fu Wang shook his head and said, "I don't know where I was from. I only remember that I fled to Jiannan Road with my family back then. Later, my family was gone, so I went to the army camp. Now I wander around and have no place to settle down."

“Our security escort agency is based in Mianzhou, so we often stay there.”

"I see. I thought Young Master Fu's family was in Long'an County, which is why I'm staying here." Yunyin asked hesitantly, "Is it alright for Young Master Fu to stay here for two months? Don't you need to go back to Mianzhou to visit?"

Fu Wang: "No need. Wang Shitou and the others are all familiar with the business. I don't need to watch over them. Besides, they are brothers who have shared life and death with me. They are trustworthy people."

Yunyin indicated that she understood. She brought out a jar from the kitchen and said, "Young Master Fu, these are salted duck eggs that I made before. Take some back with you and eat them with porridge in the morning."

Her salted duck eggs were very popular before, selling for 2 coins each. They were used to mix with porridge and tasted great. Yunyin made some more later, and this one is newly pickled and ready to eat.

She thought that if Fu Wang was alone in the county town and didn't want to go out in the morning, he could eat this salted duck egg with porridge, which wouldn't be a bad thing.

Fu Wang looked at the large jar and said, "Thank you, Madam Yun, but I'll be coming here often for breakfast recently, so I probably won't need this jar of salted duck eggs."

Yunyin: "Whether you need it or not, I'm giving it to you anyway."

Fu Wang smiled slightly and said, "Then thank you very much."

After saying this, Yunyin saw that Fu Wang still hadn't left, so she ignored him, took a hoe, and went to the field. Fu Wang followed her.

Zheng Guilan prepared the dishes for dinner, washing them clean and setting them aside for Yunyin to cook. Fang He didn't run around playing either; she followed her mother to learn. She studied very diligently because Lady Yun said that if she could persevere, she would be taught knife skills and cooking. She wanted to learn cooking skills, to acquire a skill, so that her mother wouldn't worry about her future if she could be like Lady Yun. Therefore, she valued Lady Yun's words very much and hoped to meet her expectations.

Yunyin took Zhang Lin and Fu Wang to the field. At this time, the eggplants in the field had grown out, and the rows of them were very pleasing. On the other side, the bamboo trellis was covered with cucumbers and green beans, and the long green beans hung down, which was very beautiful.

She picked a crooked cucumber, wiped it on her sleeve, and put it in her mouth. A crisp sound burst out in her mouth. This cucumber may look ugly, but it tastes very good. It has a strong cucumber fragrance, is very juicy, and is very crisp and tender. It's also good to eat as a fruit.

She pointed to the cucumbers in the field and said, "You should try them too, they taste good."

Zhang Lin didn't stand on ceremony and picked an ugly-looking melon, saying, "This year's cucumbers aren't growing very well. We haven't been fertilizing them enough. We'll plant more later when we have enough fertilizer, and the cucumbers that grow then will definitely be better than they are now."

Seeing that Fu Wang didn't make a move, Yunyin picked a stalk and handed it to him, then said to Zhang Lin, "There's nothing we can do about it. We didn't have enough fertilizer before. Now that Sister Aman has sold us sheep manure, we won't lack fertilizer anymore. If we can improve the soil, the vegetables we grow in the future will taste even better."

Looking at the densely packed field of vegetables, Fu Wang exclaimed, "You two are really capable, planting so much land."

Not far ahead was a paddy field, with lush green rice plants already standing on it, and you could see the water rippling through the gaps between the rice plants.

Yunyin looked at the farmland and sighed, "We've asked a lot of people for help, but there's still so much land that hasn't been planted. We're really too busy to keep up. But what we've planted is enough for us to eat. If we need more, we'll buy some from the neighboring village and the village across the street."

Fu Wang looked at the ditches flowing around the paddy fields and nodded, saying, "It must have cost a lot of money. These ditches look very long."

That ditch draws water from the stream, separates several large plots of farmland, and finally flows into Pingjiang. It was indeed dug out bit by bit by many people, and a lot of money was spent.

Otherwise, why would she not have money to build a house and need to borrow money from Luo Man? She actually made a lot of money selling pastries to the young women in the county town, most of which she invested in the land.

With this ditch, it's much more convenient to irrigate the fields, and the paddy fields can be irrigated at any time without having to carry water from the stream. They already have a small population, so it's better not to waste manpower here.

Moreover, with this ditch, it will be more convenient for her to add and remove water in a timely manner when raising shrimp, crabs, and eels, and it will also allow the water to circulate, making it easier for the shrimp, crabs, and eels to survive.

She also plans to build a pond behind the inn, where she can raise some fish. She won't have to worry about running out of fish for a while, because even if there are no fish in the stream, there will still be fish in her pond.

As Fu Wang listened to her explain her plans, she grew increasingly excited, eagerly hoping the restaurant would be built quickly so her entire project could be completed. Infected by her joy, he chuckled, "So you're planning to dig a pond today?"

Yunyin smiled sheepishly: "We can't dig a pond, we need to find someone to help us. We're going to dig paddy fields today. I asked someone to help me find shrimp fry, crab fry, and eel fry. They should arrive in the next few days, so we need to prepare the fields as soon as possible."

In order to raise shrimp, crabs, fish and eels well, she has been studying the aquaculture book diligently for the past month. Although she is not particularly confident yet, it is much better than her previous half-baked understanding.

Yunyin specifically chose sandy loam soil fields as paddy fields for raising crabs. Apart from watermelons, there aren't many other suitable crops for this type of land. However, much of her land is sandy loam soil, which is unsuitable for growing other vegetables, making it perfect for raising crabs.

The dug paddy fields are fitted with barriers to prevent crabs from escaping, and fences are installed at the entrances and exits. The fields are also disinfected with quicklime, and then aquatic plants such as Vallisneria natans are planted to provide food and habitat for the crabs.

It's impossible to finish everything today. She and Zhang Lin will do as much as they can to clear out one acre of land first.

Fu Wang didn't just stand by and watch; he rolled up his sleeves and went down to help.

Seeing his skillful movements, Yunyin realized he was also an expert farmer. She asked, "You can farm? Didn't you join the army a long time ago?"

As Fu Wang dug the hole, he said, "We also have to farm in the military camp. When we're not busy with training, we also do farm work, so we naturally learned how to farm."

With the help of Zhang Lin and Fu Wang, a piece of land was quickly converted into paddy fields. Water was introduced from the irrigation canal, and then two more paddy fields were reclaimed.

Since that day when he came to help, Fu Wang has come almost every day. Yun Yin told him not to lift a finger, but he wouldn't listen. He just said that he was free now and it would be good to help her with some work.

Yunyin had no choice but to feed him lots of delicious food every day. She even made a whole fish feast so he could eat his fill. She also stir-fried the asparagus and cured meat he brought so he could try them too. Of course, the lychees he gave her couldn't be left out either; she gave him a serving after every meal, and the lychees were quickly gone.

Stir-fried or blanched asparagus is delicious, and as for the cured pork, it goes without saying that it was marinated perfectly. It was probably smoked with cypress wood, and its color was not only bright, but it also tasted slightly sweet, which was completely different from the cured pork she had eaten before.

After finishing the cured meat that Fu Wang brought, she still wanted to eat more, so she had to go to the county town to buy more. In order to have cured meat to eat next year, she decided to cure more cured meat in winter. Some of them could be smoked with cypress trees, and the rest could be smoked with ordinary tree branches.

After finishing the three paddy fields, Zheng Dong also delivered the shrimp fry, crab fry, and eel fry she needed. Following the methods in the aquaculture book, she released these fry into the paddy fields in the correct proportions, allowing them to adapt to the environment, and then fed them daily.

After that, the feeding was handed over to Zhang Lin. With Zheng Guilan's help, Zhang Lin had some free time after making breakfast, so it was perfect to give him this task. The weeds in the rice paddies also needed to be removed, and he would spend a lot of time doing these things every day.

When she was too busy, she had to ask the villagers for help. Zheng Dong was very grateful to her for helping him open up channels in the county, and he would always bring Yunyin things whenever he came, which she couldn't refuse. Hearing that she was too busy with the work in the fields, she even called the villagers to help.

Yunyin called out to those who had finished their work: "Here is your wages, please accept them."

One of the men, whose face was dark, chuckled and said, "Miss Yun, no need. We came to help voluntarily. Thanks to you, our fruit sold for a good price, and we'll be able to save some money this year."

Another petite woman said, "That's right, it's just helping to weed, it's not a big deal, it won't take much time."

Seeing that they were really unwilling to accept money, Yunyin thought for a moment and said, "How about this, I heard that you are very grateful for growing straw mushrooms, so I will teach you how to grow them, and you can sell the straw mushrooms you grow to me in the future."

The woman's eyes lit up and she said, "Really? Lady Yun, can you really teach us?"

Yunyin nodded and said, "Of course, when you're not busy at home, you can look after the straw mushrooms, which is also a source of income."

Through Yunyin's practice, straw mushroom cultivation can be considered a success, although the yield is not very stable. However, it is faster than finding straw mushrooms outside. Once these villagers learn how to cultivate them, her mushroom sauce business can be further expanded.

Of course, if people from other villages want to learn, she will teach them. For Yunyin, the more mushrooms the better, so that others can also grow them and sell them in the county town. Even if the selling price is not high, they can still save some money.

When the people of Letao Village saw her like this, they said happily, "Miss Yun, you are such a kind person, you are even willing to teach us such skills."

Yunyin: "I learned it from others, and you also sell the mushrooms you grow to me, so I also benefit from it."

The villagers said, "But we have benefited more than you. Lady Yun is a good person. We are so lucky to be your neighbor."

Yunyin smiled but didn't say anything. She thought Le Tao Village was a good place because it had so much fruit, which would allow her to have fruit to use at her lotus banquet later.