Xue Yao had to go to class during the day, but as soon as school was over he would run back and dive into the vegetable garden to pick peppers.
Picking peppers is not a difficult job, but after a long time, the pepper juice will easily get on your hands, and you will feel a burning sensation.
Also be careful not to get pepper seeds in your eyes.
To this end, Xue's mother made special protective clothing for the family, which is a bit like a cloak and can cover the entire upper body.
This way, you won’t have to worry about the harm of peppers anymore.
During the time Xue Huan was in the county, Xue's mother and others came every day to pick peppers. After picking them, they poured the peppers on a spread out oilcloth to dry in the sun.
Anyway, the entire vegetable garden is very large with a lot of open space, and the peppers only occupy a very small area.
Now we have entered the midsummer season, the sun is very warm, and there is plenty of sunshine all day long, which is perfect for drying peppers.
Xue Huan took out the key and opened the gate. The donkey walked into the yard obediently, dragging a cart full of things. She untied the cart, fed the donkey a handful of beans, and dripped a drop of spiritual spring water into the trough where it drank water.
The donkey drank happily.
She found that her donkey, which had been drinking the spiritual spring for a long time, not only became smooth-skinned, agile and strong, but also became more spiritual and human-like.
After moving all the things she bought into the house without sorting them out, Xue Huan changed into a coarse cloth dress suitable for working in the fields, put on a veil hat to protect her from the sun, and went to the vegetable garden carrying a backpack.
There was actually nothing in the backpack; it was just a prop that made it easier for her to take things out of the space.
Arriving at the vegetable garden, Xue Huan shouted to the people picking peppers in the pepper field, "Come over and eat watermelon!"
She went into the thatched hut and took out a wooden basin, filled it with water, put in a few pieces of saltpeter to cool it down, then took out a big watermelon from the bamboo basket and put it in the basin.
The watermelons were grown in her space. Now, almost all the land in her space has been used by her to grow various things, watermelon being one of them.
Watermelons are now on sale in the county town, but in very small quantities. Most of the watermelons are not ripe yet, so they are relatively expensive.
So she found some watermelon seeds and planted them in the space, using spiritual spring water to ripen them. In just a few days, she had a large watermelon field.
Pei Ji, who was tall and long-legged, rushed over immediately and hugged Xue Huan from behind. He rubbed his chin against her neck and said aggrievedly, "Huan Huan, why did you take so long? I missed you so much."
It was a hot day, and he was very hot-tempered. He was like a furnace when he was hugged like this. Xue Huan patted his hands and asked him to let go. "I'm doing this to support my family. Have you eaten well at home these days?"
The situation between her and Pei Ji can be said to have truly verified the saying "I am responsible for making money to support the family, and you are responsible for being beautiful."
Pei Ji let go of him, turned to face her, and replied obediently: "Yes."
Xue Huan poured him a cup of mint tea. Pei Ji sat on a small stool under the shade of a tree and drank it in big gulps.
At this time, Xue's mother and Xue Jun also came over.
Xue Huan quickly said, "Mom, Jun'er, are you tired? Come over here and rest for a while."
He poured a glass of mint tea over it.
"It's just picking peppers, why are you so tired?" said Xue's mother.
Compared with those people in the village who get up early and go to the fields to farm, picking peppers can be said to be very easy.
Xue Jun asked, "Sister, did you find a buyer when you went to the city this time?"
Xue Huan rolled the watermelon in the basin to let it cool thoroughly. Hearing this, she said, "I found it. The buyer is the owner of Yingxianlou in the county. Guess how much I paid per pound?"
Xue Jun blinked and quoted a price that he thought was high: "Ten cents?"
Pork costs twelve cents per pound. As a vegetable, chili peppers can’t be more expensive than pork, right?
Xue Huan laughed and shook her head, "You're overestimating. How could it possibly be this price?"
Xue's mother: "Fifty cents?"
Xue Huan shook her head.
Pei Ji: "Five taels?"
After all, he was a prince who had lived in the palace, so his guess was bold, but it was far from enough.
However, Xue's mother and Xue Jun were already shocked by the price. Seeing that Xue Huan was still shaking her head, the mother and daughter looked at each other in horror.
"Huan'er, what's the price of chili peppers?" Xue's mother's voice was trembling.
"It's three times what Akang quoted."
Three times, that’s fifteen taels!
My God, is that pepper really gold? How could it be sold at such a high price?
Even though Xue's mother was once the daughter of a wealthy family and had seen and eaten many good things, she was still speechless at the price of fifteen taels.
It's just a small chili pepper, 15 taels per pound. Huan'er used chili peppers in different ways to cook for them every day. How much money did they have to eat?
Xue Huan: "You know pepper, right? When it first came from the Western Regions, wasn't it worth more than gold? This is the first time our chili peppers have appeared, and things are valuable because they are rare. Now we are the only ones who have this thing, no one else has it. And the spiciness of chili peppers is much more authentic than pepper, so fifteen taels is not too high a price."
However, Xue's mother and Xue Jun still felt a little dizzy.
Looking at the large field of peppers, the red peppers hanging on the branches have turned into golden color in their eyes.
Naturally, Xue's mother began to worry, "Huan'er, it's a crime to possess a treasure. We have so many peppers at home, will it bring disaster?"
Xue Huan shook her head. "Mom, as long as we don't tell anyone and don't let anyone come into our vegetable garden and see the peppers, no one will know. And when I sold them, I didn't use my own identity. I used another one. Even if the owner of Yingxianlou wanted to find out the source of the peppers, they wouldn't be able to trace them back to our family. Don't worry."
Mother Xue was still a little worried. "From now on, we have to stay here all the time. Otherwise, if Chili is exposed, our family will be in trouble."
"You don't have to be so cautious. The more nervous you are, the more curious others will be. Just treat it normally. What happened before will be the same in the future. That way, the villagers won't pay too much attention. Okay, the watermelon ice is ready, let's eat some watermelon."
Xue Huan cut the watermelon in half with one stroke of the knife, and a sweet fruity aroma emanated from it. In the red flesh were embedded plump watermelon seeds, and the crystal clear juice flowed down the cross-section, making people's mouths water.
She gave the smaller half to Pei Ji and asked him to eat it with a spoon.
The other half was quickly peeled, cut into pieces, placed on a plate, and ate with toothpicks by the two of us, Xue's mother and I.
The watermelon tastes cool, crisp, sweet and juicy. One bite on such a hot day will instantly melt the heat away and make you feel so refreshed that you will feel like you are in heaven.
After eating several pieces, Xue's mother asked, "Huan'er, it's only the beginning of May. Are watermelons available in the city?"
Generally, watermelons will not mature and be available on the market until mid-to-late May.
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