Chapter 106

After hearing this, Tao Qinghao was so moved that he almost cried. He touched the tears hanging in his eyes. Over the years, the people he had become friends with were either interested in his status as the husband of the Tao family, or they were interested in his money.

Only Xu Yi was the one who posted it himself and was disliked.

Tao Qinghao calmed down and said, "I can't let you work hard and spend money. The Poria cocos cake I made today will be mine no matter how much money I spent."

"It didn't cost much." Xu Yi smiled lightly.

He can still afford this amount of money.

Tao Qinghao firmly objected: "No, no. You bought a house a while ago, and now is the time to use money. Besides, who am I? Speaking of which, I'm afraid even Xing Wu is not as rich as me."

Xu Yi looked at it . He glanced at him: "I have money."

Tao Qinghao was very helpless: "Yes, you have money, but you can't use it like this. If you sell this Poria Cake outside, it doesn't cost more than ten cents per plate? You let A Xu make it? With so many kilograms, you can't spend hundreds of dollars to buy these medicinal materials?"

Xu Yi couldn't help laughing when he heard his calculations: "It's a shame not to do business with your brains."

Tao Qinghao didn't know what to say.

But later, he finally persuaded Xu Yi, instead of letting him pay all the money, he took out half of the capital, and asked A Xu to take it over Xu Yi.

A Xu looked at Jiaozi, then at Xu Yi, and quickly took Jiaozi away.

At this time, Tao Qinghao said with satisfaction: "Axu is a good person, and I will always turn to you for anything."

Xu Yi drank the tea and smiled lightly.

Tao Qinghao was not envious. He also had personal followers and maids to serve him.

He had never entered the kitchen before, not because he disliked the dirtiness, but because he had been destined not to interact with places like the kitchen or woodshed since he was born. After getting to know Xu Yi, I went into the kitchen twice, once to watch him prepare medicinal ingredients, and once to watch A Xu make Poria cake today.

He also handles some of the ingredients for making Poria Cake.

He was so satisfied that he even packed a copy to take home.

"My mother used to say that the Five Elements Jianpi Powder is good. This time I let her try it. The Poria Cake is good." Tao Qinghao picked out a box of exquisite ones and closed the box.

Xu Yi shook his head: "You can't eat too much of this every day."

Tao Qinghao said: "I understand, you said that no matter how good something is, you can't be greedy."

"By the way, with so many Poria cakes, you should I won't let A Xu go and deliver it alone."

Xu Yi said calmly: "I asked Xianhan to run errands to deliver the post."

Tao Qinghao: "..." Why didn't he receive it?

Xu Yi said with emotion: "You came here not long after the post I just sent. I thought you were very fast."

Hearing what he said, Tao Qinghao also felt that it was a coincidence.

Then his post, I don’t know who took it.

He was about to go home with his food box, and one after another the boys came to Xu's house to get Poria cakes. Tao Qinghao recognized whose boys they were, and seeing that they didn't come empty-handed, he was immediately glad that he had paid for them.

Otherwise, he would definitely be laughed at by Xin Shengyuan.

Friendships have always come and gone since ancient times. Their acquaintance with Xu Yi can be called a romance [Note 1].

Thinking that he once laughed at Xin Yao and asked whether Xu Yi was the Xianghuo brother he met somewhere, he still dared not tell Xu Yi until now.

It's nothing, I'm just afraid of being beaten.

Because from Uncle Liu's mouth, they all knew that Xu Yi could fight an adult male wild boar alone.

That's a wild boar...

Xu Yi asked him: "Do you have something to say to me?"

Tao Qinghao bit his sore back molar: "Brother Yi... just now, if I said something I shouldn't have said , will you be angry with me?"

Xu Yi narrowed his eyes.

Tao Qinghao immediately smiled bitterly and said, "I didn't mean to do it. It was the first time I met you, and I teased Xin Yao and you..."

"What did you say?" Xu Yi sat down slowly.

Tao Qinghao's face fell, and he secretly shouted, It's over, it's over, Xu Yi must be angry.

"Good brother Yi, I really didn't mean to do it. I used to be a mean-mouthed person and always liked to say nonsense. Don't hit me." Tao Qinghao shrank his shoulders and bowed his head to admit his mistake.

Xu Yi calmly recalled that time. He felt that something was wrong with the expressions of Xin Shengyuan and Tao Qinghao. It turned out that something was wrong here.

He said: "Okay, let's go back."

Tao Qinghao was slightly startled: "Aren't you angry?"

Xu Yi said: "You want me to be angry?"

Tao Qinghao quickly shook his head: "No, no, no, it's better not to be angry."

"Young man can You are ignorant, but you should be careful when going out." Xu Yi turned the tea cup with his fingers, thinking of his brother who also said this to him, and sighed, "Go back, remember not to be greedy for too much Poria cake.

" He said a low "Oh" and opened his mouth without speaking.

He wondered in his heart if Xu Yi was not angry and would he really treat him and Xin Yao as children.

But they are obviously less than a year apart.

...

In February of spring, the weather is getting warmer, and the snow in the mountains is gradually melting. The mountains are suddenly cold again, but there are still not many people going up the mountains.

As for Xu Yi, he finally came out of his filial piety period and could go to a restaurant to drink openly.

All the friends were studying hard at home. During this period, Xu Yi sent A Xu to deliver Poria cakes several times.

In these families, not only Xing Yuesen and his family ate the Poria Cake, but their family members also ate it, and they all said the Poria Cake was delicious.

They all asked their kitchen ladies to make Poria cakes with the recipe of Five Elements Jianpi Powder, but the taste was not as good as the one Xu Yi sent.

After they knew that Xu Yi came out to pay filial piety, they wanted to take him to a restaurant for entertainment, but Xu Yi refused them all.

It's time to focus on studies now. It's better to go out for fun at this time than to wait until you return from taking the exam.

Hearing what he said, the friends had nothing to say but agreed to Xu Yi.

The ice melts and the snow melts, and the snow and mud are like claws.

A winding stream of muddy water flowed around the mountain path. Xu Yi put on his equipment and went up the mountain. He saw paw prints left by animals in the unmelted snow and mud on the ground. He looked around and found no trace of the pheasant. If Zhang Tiegou was here, he might be able to catch him.

Xu Yi stopped thinking about catching wild animals and concentrated on going up the mountain to find medicine.

In early spring, when everything is still half asleep and half awake, there are many medicinal materials suitable for mining at this time.

Not long after Xu Yi went up the mountain, he saw freshly grown wormwood.

In "Shen Nong's Materia Medica", it is recorded that there are several varieties of Artemisia arborescens. Its leaves are like mugwort, thin leaves, white backside, and its taste is similar to mugwort, so it is also called white mugwort in some areas. However, doctors in the south mostly use wormwood.

There is a saying in the proverb: "March wormwood and May wormwood, June and July wormwood are used as firewood." [Note 2]

This means that March is a good time to pick wormwood. Of course, it is also related to the growth of wormwood . area is related.

The earlier the season when plants recover, the earlier the picking time will be. Sichuan is located in the hinterland of the southwest, so the earlier picking season will be earlier.

Before March, it is the most suitable time to dig wormwood.

Xu Yi went up the mountain a few days later, and the wormwood that had grown earlier had already been dug up by villagers who knew some medicinal materials.

After dried, the whole plant can be used as medicine to prevent influenza, treat heatstroke, colds, headaches, abdominal pain, bloating due to food accumulation in children, menorrhagia, skin itching, edema, etc. It can be said that its medicinal value is huge and cannot be Neglected. [Note 3]

Artemisia arborescens can not only be used as medicine, but can also be eaten as a wild vegetable.

Wash it and chop it into pieces. The juice squeezed out with gauze can be added to the washed rice for cooking rice or porridge; it can also be blanched, drained, and mixed with a little lard and salt. It is also a delicious cold wild vegetable.

"Little brother, are you here to dig wild vegetables too?"

At this time, a village man squatting on the ground digging wormwood saw Xu Yi carrying a bamboo basket and asked with a simple smile.

Xu Yi responded with a smile: "Yes."

It was rare to meet someone who took the initiative to say hello on the mountain. Xu Yi did not leave in a hurry. He took a small shovel and looked for wormwood nearby to dig.

He dug a few plants and saw that the villagers hadn't left yet, so he casually chatted with the villagers: "Brother, how long have you been going up the mountain? Are there many people going up the mountain recently?"

"I have been going up the mountain for more than an hour. There are a lot of people going up the mountain." The village man stopped. His fingers were stained with dark mud, he wiped his clothes, took out a water bottle made of bamboo tubes, and took two sips.

"In the past few days, many people have dug up a lot of medicinal materials in the mountains. If only I knew those medicinal materials, I could dig them up and exchange them for money."

As he spoke, there was envy in his eyes, and he looked at the piece of medicine under his feet. The delicate wormwood is dug into the bamboo basket.

Seeing that he had dug a lot of wild vegetables, he came to Xu Yi with a basket on his back. When he saw that Xu Yi's digging methods were somewhat different from his own, he did not leave and watched for a while.

"Hey, little brother, can you eat all the wild vegetables you dig?"

Xu Yi did not avoid him, but asked: "Don't you know what it is called?"

The village man said without thinking: "The people in our village call it It's mountain wormwood. You can dig it up and eat it at this time. It's very tender. I heard from the old people in the village that it can also cure diseases and will not cause stomachaches after eating it. "

"But it tastes ordinary and you need to add a little more lard. "It's fragrant."

But he didn't want to add lard. Every time he dug it out, he would wash it and blanch it, mix it with salt, and eat it with the bean porridge.

Yanting County is not only rich in silk brocades, but also has salt mines. The price of salt in Yanting County is not expensive, and every household has no shortage of salt.

After he told Xu Yi how to eat this food, he said that he had to look elsewhere to see if he could find any medicinal materials he knew so that he could take them back to the city and sell them to earn more money to support his family.

Seeing this, Xu Yi pondered for a long time and asked him: "Do you sell these wild vegetables?"

"What?" The village man was stunned, "No, little brother, don't be confused. There are so many wild vegetables here, you can just look around." Dig a basket back, don't ask me to buy it."

Xu Yi explained: "I have to go into the mountains, and it takes time to dig wild vegetables, so it would be easier to buy them from you."

After that, he did not wait for the villagers to refuse, and followed suit. He took out the money bag from his bag, counted out ten coins and handed them to him.

Xu Yi also wanted to give him more money, but he thought of a very practical problem. For villagers who were accustomed to poverty, if they suddenly knew that the wormwood could be sold for money, they might just buy it all. In that case, the production of wormwood in the mountains will be greatly reduced this season next year.

But if it was just a chance to earn ten dollars unexpectedly, this village man would not keep focusing on this wormwood.

I just think it's good luck to meet a stupid person who wants to buy the wild vegetables in his hand.

Sure enough, when Xu Yi was willing to exchange ten coins for a few kilograms of wormwood he dug, the village man agreed without hesitation.

He happily took the money from Xu Yi and said with a smile: "Little brother, these wild vegetables are actually not worth a lot of money. They can be dug in the mountains every spring. You have given me too much."

Even so, , but the money has been firmly put into his arms.

Xu Yi saw it and smiled lightly: "I also acted for convenience."

Xu Yi put the wormwood in the bamboo basket behind him and did not stay any longer.

He said goodbye to the villagers, broke off an old branch in the bush, and broke off the surrounding small branches with his hands to make a temporary climbing stick.

Although the weather is still cold, some small animals have emerged from hibernation.

Xu Yi waved the grass in front of him with his hiking stick. The wet, cold water droplets streaked across his leather boots and were carried away by the striding steps.

A moment later, Xu Yi encountered a snake that had just woken up and came out to look for food.

The venomous snake in front of him was coiled in the middle of the branches, with half of its body hanging down. It was spitting a message from its mouth. It stared at him with a pair of big black eyes, standing in front of Xu Yi without moving an inch.

It's a primitive spearhead viper.

It will not actively attack people, but it is extremely poisonous. It has turtle shell patterns on its body and looks quite good-looking.

It was just not easy to mess with. Xu Yi waited and saw that it was unwilling to give way, so he had to go around it and leave from the side.

The original spearhead viper followed his movement, turning its triangular head, and reluctantly watched Xu Yi leave.

Come to think of it, it was also very hungry, but it knew that Xu Yi's smell was unpleasant.

Xu Yi shook the snake-repelling medicine tied to his waist. It was the medicine that helped him.

The deeper you go into the mountains, the quieter the surrounding environment becomes. You can only hear the crunching of leaves and trees under your feet.

From time to time, a cold wind blew by, sending a chill to the exposed neck.

Xu Yi looked ahead not far away. After walking for another two quarters of an hour, he encountered a broken tree.

New branches sprouted from the broken parts, and the tender green leaves were still very delicate. When pinched, they broke into green juice and stuck to the fingertips.

Xu Yi wiped his playful hands with a handkerchief. A little further down this quiet path, there was the agarwood tree that was hundreds of years old.

"Chirp—chirp—"

He raised his face and saw an eagle with spread wings flying overhead.

Xu Yi's footsteps suddenly stopped, his ears twitched slightly, and then he heard a vague sound of footsteps.

It seemed that not far behind him, his eyes narrowed slightly, and someone was following him.

The Shu Land has lush vegetation and rich natural resources. Although Yanting County is located in the northwest of the Shu Land Basin, it has a superior geographical location. At this time, the Song Dynasty was not in the embarrassing situation of famine and firewood shortage.

The farmers who have lived here for a long time have enough food to eat and clothing to cover their bodies. There are very few who live in the mountains and forests and become bandits.

Xu Yi was already familiar with the surrounding unowned mountainous areas, and there could not be any remaining bandits lurking here.

Then...the people who will follow him will either recognize him or take a fancy to him.

Xu Yi first eliminated the clue that he knew him.

So you just like him. What do you like about him? Xu Yi secretly guessed that he had money on him. Was the scene where he gave money to the villagers halfway up the mountain seen by others?

After confirming that someone was following him, Xu Yi could only change the destination and change direction to another place.

He walked slowly, keeping his ears focused behind him.

Hearing footsteps behind him, he followed.

Not alone...

Xu Yi had a cold look in his eyes, holding the hiking stick in his hand and waving it around.

Suddenly, he stopped.

Immediately afterwards, he took down the bamboo basket behind him and squatted down to dig for something as if he had discovered something.

...

"Cuckoo~Cuckoo~"

There were birds chirping not far away, one after another.

It was at this moment that the people following behind him took action.

They approached Xu Yi who was squatting on the ground, raised their arms, and swung out the wooden sticks in their hands.

Xu Yi silently recited the points in his mind, suddenly jumped up, and jumped up before the stick fell.

The man who made the move was startled by Xu Yi's actions. When he came to his senses nervously, he saw Xu Yi holding a machete more than a foot long in his hand.

Both of them were stunned.

After following them all the way, they didn't realize that this young man had a knife on him? !

The two looked at each other in confusion, then backed away a few meters.

Xu Yi asked coldly: "Who are you?"

"Who cares who we are!" One of the men shouted with a stern expression, "Get your money out of your pocket quickly, or you won't blame us for being rude!"

Xu Yi said with a look on his face Dislike: "..." Is this because you have listened to books too much?

Even though he had a knife on him, the two men were still thinking about the money he had on him.

Xu Yi said unhurriedly: "Besides you, I am the only one here in the wild mountains. I also have a knife on me. If I kill someone here, no one will find out. Are you right?"

Who doesn't ? Can you act?

Xu Yi twisted his neck, and under the nervous eyes of the two men, he pulled out a piece of cloth from his arms and casually circled the palm of his hand holding the knife.

The man was frightened by his words, but he soon puffed up his chest and shouted: "You are as big as you, and you still want to kill us? Hahahaha... I'm not scared."

"Are you sure?" Xu Yi raised his eyebrows. .

The next moment, he suddenly raised his hand and severely cut off the branch as thick as his thumb.

As the branches fell to the ground, Xu Yi slowly approached the two of them with a smile on his face, "Since you have followed us, just stay here."

After that, he rushed over.

The two people were suddenly frightened, screamed "ahhhhh" instinctively, and ran away in a hurry.

As they ran, they looked back and saw that Xu Yi was still running closely behind them. The machete was glowing and terrifying, and he was running faster and faster.

They are two brothers. They went up the mountain this time thinking about whether they could find something good. I saw this young man on the way and saw that he was carrying a bulging money bag. I suddenly felt malicious and planned to rob the money bag and leave.

Although he does a lot of sneaky things on weekdays, he has never really harmed anyone.

Who would have thought that this young man could be so terrifying, changing his face at every turn, and the murderous aura in his body was more penetrating than the butcher in the village.

This person...this person...

if they didn't run away, this person would definitely kill them.

...

Xu Yi ran for a while and saw that they were running down the mountain and gradually stopped.

He panted lightly, rubbed his wrist and turned back the way he came.

Since it snowed on the mountain, the mountain has become more dangerous because of the snow covering it. Xu Yi did not go into the mountain again at that time.

When he came here today, he originally wanted to take a look at this agarwood tree.

Now that the location of the agarwood tree is no longer hidden, the agarwood there can no longer be kept.

From the looks of it, these two men seemed to be doing robbery for the first time, but that didn't mean they wouldn't come back again.

If they find this agarwood tree, even if they don't know the best agarwood, they will be surprised by the wood knots growing on the tree.

He didn't dare to think lightly. It would be okay if these two people didn't know the goods. What was most worrying was that they didn't know the goods and cut off the agarwood out of curiosity and used it casually.

Returning to the confrontation, Xu Yi carried the bamboo basket on his back and quickly came to the location of the agarwood tree.

He stepped forward to inspect the agarwood pieces growing at the incense mouth on the tree trunk, and saw that the agarwood was intact. Small agarwood pieces also grew out of the incense mouth at the three places where it had been cut away.

Xu Yi breathed a sigh of relief.

Take the agarwood above home. He should have no shortage of agarwood in the past few years.

...

After returning home, Xu Yi put the things in the cabinet in the house and told A Xu and A Jin not to open them at will.

Axu Ajin listened to him very much. Xu Yi said he couldn't open it, so they would never get close.

Time flows day by day.

Soon, half a month passed, and the day for Master Ji's delivery was getting closer and closer.

Xu Yi calculated the time and called Uncle Liu to come home and asked him to take him to Master Ji's house.

"Let's see how much furniture Master Ji has made."

If he had time, he could catch up with the process of moving to a new home before his friends left Yanting County.