Chapter 12 Digging up Cassava
When Ye Caiping returned home, she saw Ye Jiner and her sister and Ye Yinhua hanging clothes.
"Good morning, aunt." Yinhua greeted timidly.
Ye Caiping smiled and said, "Where are your grandparents?"
"Grandpa and my three brothers went to the town to sell firewood." Yinhua said, "Grandma and uncle went to pick up my aunt. My parents are tending to the crops in the fields."
Qinghe Village is located in the south of Zhou Dynasty, with a warm climate and can grow three crops. There are two seasons of rice and one season of wheat.
So there is almost no slack time during the farming season, and we still have to work in the fields.
Ye Caiping nodded: "Jin'er, Huan'er, let's go to the mountain for a walk. Yinhua stays at home and takes good care of the house."
Yinhua was surprised: "Aunt, you are still injured..."
"It's okay. I can't stay at home all the time. I just want to go out and relax. If I see any wild vegetables, I'll pick some and bring them back."
Ye Yinhua thought there was nothing wrong with it and nodded.
Ye Caiping took Ye Jiner and her sister into the woodshed, took out two hoes and a hoe, and then took two sickles and threw them into the hoe pile.
The two daughters quickly carried one on their backs each to prevent Ye Caiping from getting involved.
…
Ye Caiping quickly arrived at the back mountain based on her memory.
Although it is late autumn, the mountains and forests are still lush and green.
When they reached halfway up the mountain, Ye Caiping and her two daughters searched for a while and finally saw cassava in a valley.
There are not just one or two trees, but a large area, stretching across half of the valley, and there seem to be thousands of trees.
"Hurry, let's go over there." Ye Caiping was delighted and quickened her pace.
Sister Ye Jin'er followed Ye Caiping to a patch of cassava. Her face changed and she quickly pulled Ye Caiping back a step: "Mom, this is a poisonous root. Let's go!"
It's like it would be poisonous if you touch it.
"No. I'm here to look for the poisonous root. It's not called a poisonous root. Its real name is cassava. I've seen it in some miscellaneous books. As long as it's processed properly, it's edible."
"Eat? But...someone was poisoned last night..."
"That's because everyone doesn't know how to deal with it. Listen to me, let's dig some out."
Ye Caiping calculated the time in her mind.
As far as I can remember, cassava matures around October, but looking at the weather in the Zhou Dynasty, I know that it was calculated according to the lunar calendar.
It is now August 23, which is October in the Gregorian calendar, and the cassava is ripe.
Unlike Ye Caiping's excitement, Ye Jiner and Ye Huaner looked pale.
This can kill people! But since their mother asked them to dig, they didn't dare to object.
Ye Caiping picked a small one, cut off the top stem with a sickle in two or three strokes, and tried to pull it out with her hands, but couldn't move.
She found a spot, dug a hoe into the tree, and then pried it upwards: "Hurry up and pull the tree trunk."
The two daughters pulled it quickly, and as they exerted force, they fell back suddenly and sat on the ground, and the cassava was pulled out.
Sister Ye Jin'er looked at the four or five huge roots growing under the small tree trunk and their faces turned pale. Is this... the poisonous root?
Look...so scary!
Ye Caiping was delighted and chopped down the cassava in a few seconds. It looked like it weighed more than ten pounds.
And judging by the quality, it is indeed mature.
[Ding, we found poisonous bitter cassava, 1 cent per pound, would you like to sell it to us? 】At this moment, the mechanical sound that had been silent for a long time rang in my mind.
Ye Caiping was stunned for a moment. Why is it so cheap?
She had bought cassava before, at five or six yuan per pound!
wrong!
In modern times, they eat bread cassava or sweet cassava, which are varieties that have been improved by scientists generation after generation. They have greatly eliminated their toxicity and can be eaten as long as they are cooked until soft and sticky.
These are the most primitive bitter cassava, which is highly toxic and has to go through multiple processes before being eaten. Almost no one eats it in modern times. Being able to pay 1 cent per pound is already a conscience price.
All right, since the quantity is large, 1 cent is 1 cent, even a little bit counts!
"Let's dig a few more."
Ye Caiping said this and took action again.
Although Ye Jin'er and Ye Huan'er were terrified, they still did as they were told.
An hour later, the mother and daughter had dug up five trees.
These cassava trees had not been dug for a long time, so they were big and strong. Five trees produced more than 100 kilograms of cassava.
The three men tied the cassava into three bundles with rattan. Ye Caiping took out three large roots, peeled them with a sickle, revealing the snow-white flesh, and then chopped them into small pieces about 15 centimeters long.
"It looks beautiful, but it smells... bitter." Ye Huan'er said fearfully, "What should I do next?"
"Come with me, let's go to the stream."
Ye Caiping put the peeled cassava into their backpacks, and the three of them left together.
Not far from the cassava forest, there is a mountain stream about half a zhang (1.6 meters) wide, with water up to a person's elbows.
Ye Caiping tied the cassava into small pieces with rattan, put them into the stream, and tied the other end to a tree beside the stream.
"Soak it for a day and a night, and you can cook it tomorrow." Ye Caiping washed her hands and stood up.
In fact, you can soak it in a basin, but you have to change the water several times. Rinse it directly in stream water, which is more effective than soaking it in a basin.
"Let's go and see if there are any wild vegetables."
"But the several bundles of poisonous roots we just dug are still there." Ye Jiner said.
"Put it there for now. No one will steal this thing anyway. Wait... I forgot a sickle there. You guys wait here and I'll get it."
"I'll go." Ye Jiner said.
"No, I know where it is. Just wait."
Ye Caiping said this and left quickly.
Soon we returned to the cassava forest and saw three large bundles of cassava neatly placed on the ground.
Ye Caiping turned around and saw that her two daughters did not follow her, so she reached out and touched the bundles of cassava on the ground.
[Ding, we found poisonous bitter cassava, 1 cent per pound, would you like to sell it to us? 】
Ye Caiping quickly clicked OK.
[There were 102 jin of poisonous bitter cassava, at 1 wen per jin, totaling 102 wen. 】
As soon as the voice fell, 102 copper coins appeared in Ye Caiping's space which was only the size of a small box.
Ye Caiping immediately smiled, but this amount of money was not enough to cover the cost.
Do you want to dig more? But this is so much trouble!
Instead of working so hard, you might as well spend 102 cents to take a shortcut!
Ye Caiping returned to the stream with a sickle, and Ye Jiner came over to her quickly: "Mom, there is shepherd's purse across the way, let's dig some up and bring it back for a change."
Winter is approaching and there are not many vegetables. All we have are radishes and cabbages. The Ye family members are eating so much that they are almost turning into big radishes.
After the mother and her two daughters crossed the stream, they saw some shepherd's purse.
When Ye Caiping dug one, something popped up in her mind: [I found pure natural and pollution-free shepherd's purse, 15 cents per pound, would you like to buy some? 】
The unit price is really high!
Ye Caiping's eyes were sparkling.
But after digging for half a day, the mother and her two daughters only got three or four pounds, which was not enough for the family to have two meals.
Ye Caiping had no choice but to give up selling it.
While it was still early, Ye Caiping and her daughter wandered around the mountain again to see if they could dig something else.
Ye Caiping has been keeping an eye on the bushes to see if she can dig up some ginseng, ganoderma lucidum or the like.
Based on her experience of reading novels, the time-traveling woman who goes up the mountain will definitely dig ginseng! You can also get some Ganoderma lucidum and Polygonum multiflorum.
But after walking around for half a day, she didn't find even a single ginseng hair!
Pooh! What's going on? A time-traveling woman must dig for treasure when she goes up the mountain! Don’t spread rumors! Don’t believe rumors!
"Alas, it's just this much." Ye Jin'er shook the less than a handful of shepherd's purse in her hand, "All the wild vegetables on this mountain have been picked up by everyone."
Ye Huan'er also picked up the few dry firewoods: "Firewood is becoming increasingly difficult to collect."
"Let's go back first!" Ye Caiping said, and led the way down the mountain.
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