17 Osmanthus-flavored Fermented Rice Balls

◎Our landlord's surname is Lou◎

The potato tubers, which had been covered under the talisman for several days, had already sprouted some tender green buds.

Yan Yunzhao got up very early this morning and made several bowls of sweet fermented rice balls for breakfast, sprinkling them with sugar-coated powder. She ate them with great relish. It was just a pity that the small shop was in a remote location and not many customers came up the mountain to eat breakfast, so she had to ask Jingming and a few others to take shovels and go down to the field with her to plant potatoes.

Yan Yunzhao wore a simple yellow-green belted dress and a light yellow triangular scarf tied in her hair, looking every bit the lively and capable farm girl.

She used a lot of the potatoes she planted last time to make French fries, potato cakes, mashed potato noodles, and other similar things, but she gradually discovered that the people in Lixi Town didn't seem to like eating potatoes.

Perhaps because the potatoes available on the market are of poor quality, even though Cuiliang Wild Game has its own fresh potatoes, no one is willing to try them. Yan Yunzhao looked at this fertile black soil and was at a loss.

Shuyu knew what she was worried about and suggested, "Since the eldest brother's potatoes are better, why don't we sell them in town? This way, we can promote our shop and make money by selling high-quality potatoes."

Yan Yunzhao's eyes lit up, and he thought this made sense: "That's a good idea." He then told the others to take the sprouted potatoes and plant them.

The grass spirit was naturally strong, so loosening the soil and burying the seeds was no problem for it. In no time, the four of them had shallowly buried the sprouted potato pieces.

To improve the quality of the potatoes, Yan Yunzhao, Jingming, and the other two pulled the small talisman like they were in a tug-of-war, stretching it into a huge square. They then used the four corners to cover the talisman on the ground and weighed it down with many stones to prevent the strong wind from blowing it away.

After finishing all that, it was already noon. Yan Yunzhao tossed the iron scythe aside and lay down comfortably on the grass.

Jingming smoothed his clothes and sat down next to her, propping his chin up with one hand and staring at her with a puzzled look.

Noticing Jingming's strange gaze, Yan Yunzhao tilted her head and asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Boss, I feel like... your cultivation level seems to be getting higher and higher? I also feel like my strength has improved a lot recently." Jingming looked at his hands and asked curiously.

Yan Yunzhao's mind seemed to snap, and she stared blankly at Shuyu and Qingxi, who were laughing and playing not far away, when she suddenly realized something: "Back when your bodies had just taken human form, you would complain of being tired after helping in the fields for only half an hour."

Nowadays, she can not only carry a heavy basket of ingredients up and down, but also use a half-person-high iron shovel to farm with great agility.

The four of them didn't know how the demon race cultivated, so how could they have improved so much in such a short time? If Jingming hadn't brought it up today, even she herself wouldn't have expected the strangeness of the matter.

Yan Yunzhao pondered for a long time, but couldn't quite figure it out. She calmed herself down and carefully recalled everything that had happened since she came down the mountain.

Even when she was still a blade of grass, she could naturally and continuously absorb spiritual energy. She had initially suspected that this was related to Xiao Fu, but now it seemed that it wasn't. After all, Xiao Fu had been busy acting as a protective layer for the past few days and hadn't been by her side, yet she had vaguely absorbed spiritual energy in her dreams.

The last time spiritual energy flowed into him was when Lou Su went to Panlong Town for medical treatment; the time before that was when Lou Su was recuperating in Panlong Town after an attack of his illness...

A chain of clues had been connected. The thought startled Yan Yunzhao himself.

Could it be that Lou Su has absorbed all the spiritual energy in the surrounding area?

With Lou Su gone, there was no one to compete with them for spiritual energy, so their cultivation improved.

Thinking about it this way, everything seems to make sense.

Didn't the test that revealed Hua Xianquan show he was just a mortal...?

Yan Yunzhao had been in the sect for over twenty years. If he were a cultivator, even if he didn't have much magic power right now, his spiritual root would still be discernible. He clearly didn't have the slightest fluctuation of spiritual root; he was an ordinary mortal with no spiritual root and no golden core.

If we rule out the possibility that Lou Su absorbed spiritual energy to cultivate on his own, then there is only one possibility left: he has a magical artifact.

When Yan Yunzhao was still a Foundation Establishment disciple of Qingshan Sect, the spiritual energy he absorbed was limited. If it were a divine artifact, how powerful would it be to absorb such a huge amount of spiritual energy from Cuiliang Mountain overnight?

Yan Yunzhao remembered the Azure Dragon Jade Pendant, took it out of her bosom, and played with it in her hand. She had kept it close to her body ever since, mistakenly believing it to be a token of love, after the girl gave it to her.

because……

This looks expensive; how could she afford to replace it if she lost it?

Strangely enough, holding this jade pendant in my bosom gave me a peculiar sense of comfort, making me feel warm in my heart.

Divine artifacts come in all sorts of strange shapes. When she was at Qingshan Sect, she saw an elder whose magical artifact was a wooden stick for burning firewood, as well as straw sandals that accompanied him through countless mountains and rivers. Even more extreme, there was a jar for pickling sauerkraut... In short, anything could be a divine artifact.

Compared to firewood sticks, straw sandals, and sauerkraut jars, this Azure Dragon Jade Pendant seems much more normal if it is a divine artifact.

Yan Yunzhao used her magic to examine the jade pendant. After a while, it trembled slightly, and a wisp of white smoke in the shape of a dragon drifted out and floated into her brow.

"Brother Artifact, is this some kind of little interaction?" Yan Yunzhao touched her brow suspiciously. She didn't feel anything different, except that she felt a chill on her brow just now.

The jade pendant lay quietly in her palm, motionless.

He's a cool yet generous older brother who's a magical artifact... and his way of interacting with her is by giving her a wisp of spiritual energy.

Yan Yunzhao clicked his tongue in amazement. Whoever made it recognize its master would be essentially having an ATM.

"Brother Divine Artifact, you can eat too much! Can I have some spiritual energy from now on? And Jingming, Qingxi, and Shuyu, let us absorb some too!"

Yan Yunzhao stared at the culprit that had drained her spiritual energy, muttered something, and shook it. The jade pendant seemed annoyed by her noise, and sent out four more strands of spiritual energy, each flowing into the center of one of the four people's foreheads.

A magical device that sends out red envelopes at the drop of a hat!

Yan Yunzhao held it, looking at it from left to right, quite satisfied. Lou Su probably didn't know that he, a mere mortal, actually possessed a divine artifact, and had almost given it away to someone else.

Yan Yunzhao put it away and carefully placed it back in his arms.

Speaking of which, Lou Su has been gone for six days, so we can only wait for him to return to inquire about the jade pendant.

With the spiritual energy input from the four people, the potatoes planted in the ground grew rapidly and matured in just a few days. The quality of the potatoes this time was much better than before, and they were much larger. Yan Yunzhao still picked out the best ones and sold the rest.

These past few days, the four of them have been getting up very early every day, carrying four full baskets of potatoes to the market to sell, attracting crowds of onlookers all over the street.

A basket of potatoes weighs at least two hundred taels. These four girls look gentle and lovely, but they are surprisingly strong. They carry the potatoes without even panting, moving with incredible speed, leaving the surrounding vendors speechless with amazement.

Yan Yunzhao and Jing Ming and a few others chose a spacious stall. Under the astonished gazes of the crowd, they laid out plump, round potatoes in a row, and then boldly sat down, lifting their skirts.

"This... Boss Yan, how do you and your three young ladies train? How come you have such incredible strength?" The sweet potato vendor next to them stopped peeling the sweet potatoes and focused on looking them over repeatedly.

Yan Yunzhao touched the bridge of his nose somewhat guiltily: "Maybe... weightlifting? pull-ups? jump rope?"

The vendor frowned, pondering what she meant by these things. He didn't dare to answer casually. After thinking for a while, he simply shut his mouth and started peeling sweet potatoes again.

"Fresh potatoes grown by ourselves! Would you like to take a look, ma'am?"

Jingming greeted them warmly, stopping many passersby in their tracks.

"Is this a local potato from Lixi Town? Why is it so much bigger than other potatoes?" The old lady was skeptical, but picked up a large potato and examined it repeatedly.

"This is a large potato variety that my eldest son carefully cultivated. It not only doesn't taste bitter, but it's also big and has a high yield!"

The three grass demons chattered excitedly as they introduced the vegetables, and even though the old lady was already carrying a full basket of vegetables, she couldn't resist buying a few.

A woman who had already walked past the stall heard the introduction and turned back: "Are these potatoes really different?"

Seeing that she walked briskly and was dressed in fine clothes, with pearls and jade ornaments in her hair and calluses on her hands, Yan Yunzhao knew that she must be a maid from a wealthy family. She smiled and nodded: "How does it taste? You'll know once you buy it and try it, Auntie."

The woman had a kind face, but she was a woman of her own mind. After listening to Yan Yunzhao's words, she did not rush to buy it, but instead casually picked up a potato and examined it carefully.

"Miss, may I have a look at this potato if you cut it open? My master is extremely particular about the ingredients; there can be no mistakes whatsoever."

Yan Yunzhao agreed: "Of course." He then took out a sleek little knife and handed it to her.

The woman cut open the skin and saw that the potato had a thin skin and the edges were thoroughly cooked. She then cut open the center and found that the inside was also thick. She nodded in satisfaction.

"I'll take all these potatoes. How much is it in total?"

I never expected him to be such a big customer. Regular customers don't need this many ingredients when cooking their own dishes, so I guess he must be a big boss who needs them.

"Five thousand five hundred coins. May I ask... who is this owner? Why does he need so many potatoes?" Yan Yunzhao asked, a thought crossing his mind.

Lixi Town is not a big place. In the future, she will inevitably have to deal with these big business owners in the area. If she can have business dealings with them in advance, it would be a good thing. Perhaps she can enter the seventeen trades of the food and beverage industry sooner.

This owner has extremely high requirements for ingredients, and she also has magical powers and small talismans to enhance her. In the entire Pear Creek Town, no, even in the entire Great Qi, it would be difficult to find a second person whose farming yield and quality surpasses hers.

The woman opened her purse and counted the money deftly. Seemingly intending to introduce Yan Yunzhao, she said kindly, "A few servants will come to carry these potatoes shortly. Please wait a moment, ladies. Our owner is Biyuefang, and the day of the 'Floating Wine Cups' festival is approaching. We urgently need top-quality ingredients. These potatoes are indeed excellent; they've been a great help and solved a major problem. Would you be willing to come to the workshop to discuss the ingredients in detail?"

"Floating wine cups on a winding stream?" The familiar words made Yan Yunzhao pause in surprise. It seemed that Bai Dongjia of Guiyue Tower had mentioned this "floating wine cups on a winding stream" when the paintings were hanging in the streets that day.

It must be an extremely important occasion, and the support from suppliers and kitchen staff would be invaluable to the small shop. If one were fortunate enough to observe and participate, they would not only gain a better understanding of the food customs of Daqi, but also greatly improve Yan Yunzhao's culinary skills.

So, without hesitation, she readily agreed.

The woman beamed with joy. Yan Yunzhao instructed Jingming and the others to watch over the stall, and then followed her into the carriage that was waiting not far away.

To avoid any oversights, Yan Yunzhao carefully adjusted his clothes and inquired about the owner of Biyue Tower from the woman.

"Our boss's surname is Lou."