Chapter 376: Picking Wild Vegetables]
Moreover, he had to admit that those flags were indeed useful. He asked about the business that the store received from outside, and 90% of them said that they came here because they saw mule carts and flags transporting goods on the road.
According to his thinking, when transporting goods, the more secretive the better. So how could there be so many new customers coming?
Therefore, doing business also requires some courage to burn your boats.
He doesn't have the family background or the courage, so he deserves not to make that money.
Chen Fenghe glanced over the account book and saw that there was nothing wrong. She smiled and said, "This is all thanks to the hard work of Manager Zheng and everyone else. It's the end of the month now. In addition to the wages that everyone has earned, I'll give you another ounce of silver as tea money."
Upon hearing this, Shopkeeper Zheng said happily, "Thank you, sir. There's one more thing: our carriage and horse business is booming, and we're running low on oxen, horses, mules, and mule-drawn carriages. Those oxen, horses, and mules, in particular, have been used for a while and are really struggling. So, I'm thinking we might need to buy some more horses, mules, and the like."
Chen Fenghe had thought about this before, but she still said with a smile: "Shopkeeper Zheng is really thoughtful. I know about this matter. As for horses, I heard that the best ones are those from the Western Regions. I will see if I can buy some of them."
Upon hearing this, Shopkeeper Zheng smiled and said, "Boss, you don't know. Horses from the Western Regions are naturally good. However, between the Western Regions and our Dayu, there is the Northern Rong, and these horses are not easy to buy. Our Youzhou City is located on the border with the Northern Rong. In the past, when there was no war above, we had a trade. Back then, there were two horse fairs in the Spring and Autumn. However, the two sides have been at war constantly in the past two years. Now that the crown prince has been wrongly killed for no reason, the Northern Rong have lost a layer of fear and have become more rampant than in previous years. I'm afraid the trade will not be open this year. However, we are here to pull carts and goods, and using too good horses would be a waste. If that doesn't work, the horses raised by the people of Dayu are also acceptable."
Chen Fenghe smiled and said, "I see. That's fine. Let's wait a few days and then talk about it."
Then, she gave him some instructions on a few new shipping orders and asked him to pick up the goods at a designated place before leaving.
After Shopkeeper Zheng sent the men away, a clerk stepped forward and whispered, "Shopkeeper, what do you think our boss's status is? Our Youzhou City has experienced a major epidemic. There's a dire shortage of pigs, sheep, chickens, and ducks. Even the surrounding counties are almost wiped out. How come our boss can provide as much as he wants? It's like magic..."
Shopkeeper Zheng was also curious, but his whole family now depended on Chen Fenghe for their livelihood. If even he, a shopkeeper, was talking about his boss behind his back, the employees under him would probably become even more unscrupulous.
Therefore, he said with a stern face: "Regarding the boss's affairs, what are you guessing about? I have to warn you, if you keep gossiping and lose your job, don't blame others!"
The guy shrank his head and whispered, "I... I'm just curious. If I don't want to ask, then I won't ask..."
Chen Fenghe returned to the mountain through space as usual and went down the mountain carrying a small bamboo basket.
As soon as I arrived at the village entrance, I saw Chen Meixin and Yang Cuicui also carrying bamboo baskets, walking up the mountain with one step deep and one step shallow.
Chen Fenghe looked up at the sun. It was almost noon.
People who usually go up the mountain to pick wild fruits and vegetables go out before dawn. By noon, the conspicuous wild vegetables, mushrooms and other things on the mountain have probably been picked almost all.
Moreover, if you go up the mountain at noon, you will have to come down at least in the evening. If you delay, you will have to walk at night and may encounter wild animals, which is very dangerous.
These two people have just started to go up the mountain, and they are also talented.
Of course, putting this point aside, it is also despicable that two grown men, Xiao Yunqi and Shen Shi'an, did not go up the mountain themselves, but instead asked two women to go up the mountain.
However, Chen Fenghe just glanced at them, pretended not to see them, and went straight down the mountain.
No matter how much they suffer, can it be worse than what the original owner and her mother suffered?
Even if they died on the mountain, it had nothing to do with her.
When Chen Meixin and Shen Fenghe passed by each other, she glanced at Chen Fenghe's bamboo basket, and an expression of envy and jealousy suddenly appeared in her eyes.
In addition to wild vegetables, the bamboo basket also contained wild pheasants, wild rabbits, and a huge fish!
How long has it been since she last had meat? Why can Chen Fenghe eat such a rich meal?
If it were in the past, as long as she cried, her father would definitely order Chen Fenghe to give all these things to her.
It’s a pity that now...
It was all because of Xiao Yunqi. If he hadn't been so stupid and lost the emperor's favor, thus being convicted and destitute, her father wouldn't have been implicated and had his property confiscated and exiled!
She... shouldn't have married that stupid guy Xiao Yunqi in the first place!
Otherwise... how could she, who used to eat delicacies from land and sea every meal at home, now be so miserable and envious of a fish or a wild pheasant in a bamboo basket? And she even had to go into the mountains to dig wild vegetables herself?
If she had married the Second Prince or the Sixth Prince, she would still have a chance of becoming the future Queen...
Chen Meixin was thinking wildly in her mind, but she didn't think at all that she was a concubine's daughter. If the fifth prince's mother's family had not had no background or power, she wouldn't even be able to marry the fifth prince. How could she actually dream of marrying the second prince and the sixth prince?
After walking for a while, Yang Cuicui could no longer walk and called out in a trembling voice, "Mei Xin, come and help me. I can't walk anymore..."
Chen Meixin's fantasy was interrupted, and she said impatiently: "Mother, I can't walk either, please bear with it. If we go back empty-handed like last night, Dad and His Highness will definitely be angry again!"
When she thought about how vicious Xiao Yunqi was, the resentment and fear in Shen Meixin's heart couldn't help but deepen.
At the beginning... even if she didn't marry the Second Prince or the Sixth Prince, if she and Shen Fenghe had switched places and married the Crown Prince, it would probably be a thousand times better than marrying Xiao Yunqi!
Although the prince is now dead, his crime has been vindicated and Shen Fenghe has been pardoned.
As for her, she followed Xiao Yunqi, not knowing when she would be pardoned and free from punishment. Now she had to endure Xiao Yunqi's beatings and kicks...
Ultimately, it was all because Chen Fenghe didn't die earlier. Otherwise, she would have been able to take her place and marry the prince, and her own fate wouldn't have become so tragic...
The more Chen Meixin thought about it, the angrier she became, and her hatred for Shen Fenghe deepened.
Chen Fenghe returned home and said with a smile, "Mom, I'm back. We had a great harvest today in the mountains."
Qin Mengyue and the three little ones came over to take a look.
"Wow! It's a big fish! Sister-in-law, I want to touch the fish!" Xiao Yunhao said, and tried to touch the big fish with his hand again.
Although the whole morning had passed, Chen Fenghe had put the bamboo basket into the space before, so the fish was still alive and kicking, as if it had just been caught.
So when Xiao Yunhao touched it, the fish jumped up and jumped out of the bamboo basket onto the ground.
The three little guys panicked now and ran to catch fish. Shen Yichuan quickly got a wooden basin and filled it with water. After much difficulty, he caught the fish and threw it into the basin. The three of them squatted around the basin, excitedly watching the fish swimming around in it.
Qin Mengyue smiled and said, "This fish is really fresh."
As he said that, he went to look at other things.
She recognized wild pheasants, wild rabbits, mushrooms, and wood ear mushrooms, but when she saw the tender red and green wild vegetables, she didn't recognize any of them.
"Are these... all wild vegetables? Why do they all look different?"
Chen Fenghe pursed her lips and smiled, saying, "Mom, there's more than just one kind of wild vegetables. This one is shepherd's purse, this one is toon, this one is wolfberry head, and this one is fern. Each one has a different flavor when cooked."
Qin Mengyue listened, recalled, and smiled, "Yes. The imperial kitchen once had a dish of scrambled eggs with toon sprouts, and it tasted quite good. Then one day, I suddenly remembered it and asked the palace maid to bring it back, but she said it was only available in spring. At the time, I had no choice but to give up... Now that I think about it, the four seasons change, everything grows in a cycle, and everything has its own season. Even the queen can't go against the grain."
Chen Fenghe had heard rumors before that the imperial kitchen was afraid that the palace masters would order dishes arbitrarily, so they did not dare to prepare seasonal ingredients. They only picked ingredients that were well stored and purchased, for fear that they would suddenly want to eat a seasonal dish and would not be able to cook it, which would bring disaster upon themselves.
Now that I hear it, it probably isn't that extreme.
She couldn't help but smile and said, "Who says it isn't? So we just have to follow the flow and enjoy the present moment to the fullest, so that our lives won't be in vain."
Qin Mengyue nodded and said, "Tomorrow, the three little ones and I will go into the mountains with you, Feng He, to learn more about wild vegetables and fruits, so as to avoid making a fool of ourselves in the village in the future."
Exercising more is good for your health. So Chen Fenghe didn't stop him, but just smiled and said, "Okay."
As they talked, they began to clean wild vegetables and mushrooms, process wild pheasants and kill fish.
Wild pheasant and mushrooms, plus some ginseng, wolfberry, etc., are boiled into chicken soup.
The fish is added with ginger, garlic and salt and steamed directly in the pot to make a light steamed fish.
The wild rabbit is braised with spring bamboo shoots in cooking wine and soy sauce.
The wolfberry seedlings are simply stir-fried with oil and salt.
Chinese toon is naturally paired with eggs to make a classic dish of Chinese toon scrambled eggs.
As for shepherd's purse, it was not used for lunch.
Chen Fenghe smiled and said, "This shepherd's purse can be made into dumpling filling this afternoon. It will be delicious when made into dumplings."
In a short while, a table of food was ready.
Everyone gathered around the table and started eating with relish.
After finishing their meal and cleaning up, Chen Fenghe and Qin Mengyue started making dumplings.
The filling is made of fresh pork and shepherd's purse. There is also a spring bamboo shoot and pork filling and an egg filling.
The three little guys also washed their hands and wrapped them together. Although each one was in a weird shape, they still put in some effort.
After wrapping the dumplings, Chen Fenghe took out the pre-made soybean paste dough, rinsed it with clean water, brushed the surface of the hair, cut it into small pieces, and dried it. Then, he put it into a suitable soybean paste pot and added an appropriate amount of water. This last step was completed.
The next step is to stir it every day and wait for the paste to ferment, becoming thicker and thicker, and the flavor will get better and better.
While Chen Fenghe was doing all this, Chen Meixin and Yang Cuicui were crying out in the mountains but to no avail.
The two of them couldn't even tell the difference between grains, so how could they possibly tell the difference between wild vegetables?
Without thinking twice, Yang Cuicui picked a lot of mushrooms, each one more colorful than the other. As for Chen Fenghe, she only noticed the green in her bamboo basket, so she pulled a lot of weeds and put them in the basket.
The mother and daughter looked at each other, both feeling a little guilty.
Yang Cuicui said, "Mei Xin, do you think these... things we made are edible?"
How would Chen Meixin know? She just said impatiently, "I saw these things in Chen Fenghe's bamboo basket. Don't worry about it. If anything happens, we can just say we met Chen Fenghe on the road and that bitch told us these things are edible."
Yang Cuicui nodded immediately and said, "Right! Mei Xin, you're really quick-witted. We've become so miserable because that bitch refused to acknowledge your father and refused to let us live in that house. If anything goes wrong, just put the blame on that bitch! But... just these things alone will probably make your father and His Highness the Fifth Prince furious. What can we do..."
Chen Meixin looked around and suddenly found a river. She said, "Mom, I saw Chen Fenghe catch a fish before. It looks like there must be fish in this water. Let's go and try catching some. If we can catch some, we can have some fish soup tonight."
Yang Cuicui naturally had no reason to refute.
The two arrived at the river. Surprisingly, the river was not narrow at all, about two meters wide. However, because it had rained last night, the water was a little muddy and they couldn't see the bottom.
The two men searched in the shallow water with a branch for a long time, but did not see any fish.
Chen Meixin couldn't help but feel a little angry.
Are there no fish in this river? If not, how did that bitch Shen Fenghe catch such a big one?
At this time, Yang Cuicui suddenly said: "Mei Xin, what a big fish!"
Chen Meixin hurried over and saw that there was indeed a fish that seemed to feel the bottom of the water was too stuffy, so it flipped to the surface, spit out a bubble, and then went down again.
"It's really a fish! Ah!" Chen Meixin was so happy that she leaned forward a little more, and accidentally fell into the water!
"Brow!" Yang Cuicui screamed in fright.
But she couldn't swim, and after hesitating for a long time, she didn't dare jump in to save the man.
Fortunately, the water was not deep. Shen Meixin struggled for a long time before finally emerging from the water and standing firmly. The water was up to her chest.
Chen Meixin struggled desperately for a long time before finally reaching the river. With the help of Yang Cuicui, she finally climbed ashore.
Although it was spring, the temperature was still very low. Chen Meixin didn't catch any fish, but instead got covered in mud and was soaked all over. At this moment, he wrapped his hands tightly around his body and his teeth were chattering with cold.
Damn Shen Fenghe!
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