Pan Jinhua is tending to the crops.
With Li Xuhai gone, Pan Jinhua had to take over the farm work.
These past two months have flown by; a lot has happened in the Li family.
Everyone has changed, but the determination to develop the Li family has become even stronger.
Life was getting better and better, but Pan Jinhua always felt that it could be even better, not only for her, but for them.
Whether it's making tofu or increasing crop yields, the fact that her actions benefit people all over the world makes her feel even more proud.
She came from another world, a world of splendor and brilliance, a world that shines brightly through thousands of years of history.
She suddenly felt it was very meaningful to be able to imprint some things from that world onto this world, and that her hometown was with her.
She knows a lot more, and when she reaches a high position, she may have an even greater impact on the world; she looks forward to it.
But for now, let's focus on doing what's in front of us.
With the end of summer past, the ratooning rice has sprouted again, headed, and entered the grain-filling stage in the past two months.
Pan Jinhua even asked Li Qing to paint a picture of a bountiful harvest and send it to Lin Pei, which made Lin Pei grin for several days.
Of course, Lin Pei and his group couldn't forget to relay this news to the emperor.
The villagers keep a close eye on the ratooning rice fields every day, and no one knows the changes in the ratooning rice better than them.
"Good heavens, how much food have we wasted in the past!"
"That's right! If it weren't for the village chief's family, we would still be wasting money!"
"Thinking about all the food we lost over the years makes my heart ache!"
"Sigh, after harvesting this second crop and paying the taxes, we can eat a few more bowls of rice this year and have a prosperous year!"
“It’s a prosperous year indeed. Your son is still working in the workshop and earns so much money in a year. He’s really made it big.”
"Hey. Your place isn't bad either. You built that new little house and rented it out to caravans. You must be making a good profit!"
The two old men were chatting when they suddenly burst into laughter, saying that they wouldn't trade this life for anything.
Pan Jinhua estimated that this ratooning rice could yield about one or two hundred catties per mu.
The yield wasn't high, but the people were very satisfied. After all, this method of planting ratooning rice was practically free for them.
Even a single pound is profitable, let alone a hundred or two hundred pounds.
The emperor was even more delighted. The success of ratooning rice was a great achievement for generations to come, and he, as the emperor, would be famous for promoting ratooning rice for thousands of years.
The Li family, the Li family members, are such good people!
The double-cropping rice has long been transplanted and is now in its growing season, with the seedlings becoming thicker and stronger.
The next step is to apply fertilizer and deworm as usual.
Fortunately, Li Xuhe, the fourth son of the fifth branch, now uses the chicken and duck manure from his chicken farm for composting.
There is no shortage of fertilizer.
Sometimes Pan Jinhua would ask Li Qingjing to borrow some ducks from the chicken farm and drive them to the fields to hunt pests.
They would also use the juice extracted from wormwood to spray the rice seedlings.
These methods can also effectively prevent pests.
In addition, Pan Jinhua spent a lot of time in the fields every day in order to find better grain seeds.
This is not easy, and it takes more than one day to achieve.
The great man who dreamed of "enjoying the cool shade under the rice plants" also spent his entire life and effort to achieve it.
However, Pan Jinhua was not in a hurry. She also told Li Xuhai to try his best to find more and better grain seeds so that future generations could continue to cultivate them.
The Li family dared not let Pan Jinhua stand in the scorching sun; they hired someone to look after her for good seeds.
But Pan Jinhua also wanted to follow suit, so the Li family built a small hut by the field for Pan Jinhua to cool off.
Although it's already autumn, the weather is still hot, and heatstroke would be a serious problem.
"Madam, it's time to go home."
Yao Niang is now very comfortable in the Li family and takes care of the old lady every day.
The old lady had a good temperament; she just liked to ponder things. Yao Niang didn't understand, but she greatly admired the old lady.
She never expected that selling herself would actually pave a path for her.
As for the two children being enslaved and struggling to survive, how could they possibly care about such things?
Her greatest wish is to live a peaceful and stable life.
"Then let's go back."
Pan Jinhua was someone who listened to advice; nothing was more important than her own life.
She needs to balance work and rest, and if the younger generation of the Li family puts in a good effort, her better days are yet to come.
"Grandmother, judging from the current situation of the ratoon rice, it should be ready for harvest in about a month."
"Around that time, after the Mid-Autumn Festival."
Mid-Autumn Festival is almost here.
In this dynasty, we also eat mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival, a festival for family reunion.
This year, the Li family has had many happy events, and Pan Jinhua has long been thinking about making a Li-style mooncake to give as gifts.
They have red bean paste mooncakes, nut mooncakes, and candied fruit mooncakes, and the molds are also beautifully made.
After thinking it over, Pan Jinhua remembered salted egg yolk mooncakes and snow skin mooncakes.
Compared to other types of mooncakes, snow skin mooncakes have a shorter shelf life and a less desirable taste, but they are more attractive because they are translucent and do not require an oven.
Making salted egg yolk mooncakes requires an oven, but as troublesome as it may be, life is all about eating and drinking.
I want to eat it whenever I think about it, even if it's difficult.
Pan Jinhua then instructed Li Xuming to invite someone to her home to make a simple, ancient-style oven—an earthen kiln.
The craftsmen first built a circular frame using materials such as wooden boards and bamboo, and then laid oil paper on the frame.
Then mix the soil, fine sand, straw and other materials together, kneading and treading them continuously until they are thoroughly mixed.
The mixed clay is evenly spread on the oil paper, and then it is pressed down by hand or with a tool to ensure the stability of the kiln.
After completing this series of steps, the earthen kiln is basically finished.
When the kiln was almost dry, the craftsmen would make a few minor repairs, and then the job would be completely done.
Next, you just need to wait for the earthen kiln to dry naturally before you can use it.
The only difficulty is pickling salted duck eggs, which consumes too much salt.
The salt people consume today is mostly coarse salt.
High-ranking officials and royalty had better access to higher-quality salt with a better taste, but the production process was very complicated.
The salt consumed by ordinary people is mostly in the form of salt rocks or salt blocks, which are large granules.
It may even contain sand and soil.
The salt used by the Li family wasn't exactly rock salt, but it was still coarse salt with large grains.
Better salt cost several hundred coins per dou (a unit of dry measure), and there was nowhere to buy it even if you wanted to. The quantity was small, and it was only available to people of high status.
But there's no other way; we still have to use it when necessary.
Prepare coarse salt, yellow mud, and fresh duck eggs bought from Li Xuhe's family.
Mix coarse salt with water until the salt is completely dissolved, then pour the prepared yellow mud into the water and stir it with a wooden stick.
The mud slurry should not be too thick or too thin. The ideal consistency is when a duck egg is dropped into the mud, with half of it submerged and the other half exposed.
"Why must you do this, Grandmother?"
Pan Jinhua took the duck eggs out of the water and began to coat them with mud.
"Too thick and it won't be even, too thin and it won't stick to the eggshell."
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