Chapter 105 Why do you eat insects?
Jiang Nuanzhi laughed upon hearing this: "Silly child, this is a medicinal herb called Huanghua Diding, which is what everyone often calls dandelion. The whole plant can be used as medicine. It can clear heat and toxins, clear liver heat, and also has some beauty-enhancing effects. It helps to whiten the skin. Of course, these tender ones can be dug up directly and eaten with farm sauce at home, which is also quite rustic."
Xiao Xuanting's dark eyes widened in surprise: "Is this herb really that magical?"
Jiang Nuanzhi smiled and said, "Looking around, there are still many amazing things to see; the mountains and fields are full of gifts."
"Look at this vine, it's Schisandra chinensis, but it's not ripe yet."
"These are goji berries, and they're not in season yet."
"This patch of black nightshade is used in medicine. These plants have just started growing and haven't borne fruit yet. Actually, they're what people call 'black nightshade,' because they're dark black. When they ripen in July and August, they produce small, black berries that are sweet and delicious. Most of the farm children have eaten them."
"This is a ground cherry. When ripe, it produces sweet berries, and the entire plant can be used in medicine."
Xiao Xuanting listened in a daze, and for a while he ran all over the mountains and fields, occasionally grabbing a blade of grass to ask Jiang Nuanzhi.
Jiang Nuanzhi let him run wild, and simply let Xiaoli go too, so that it could also have some fun.
This mountain was far more stunning to Jiang Nuanzhi than she had imagined.
Not only these medicinal herbs, but also various wild berries. We also saw many kinds of fruit trees.
It's only early summer, and many fruits haven't ripened yet. But in a little while, the children will certainly have plenty of fruit to eat.
She can even pick many medicinal herbs directly from the mountains and take them back for future use.
I bought a medicine cabinet and only filled it with a dozen or so boxes.
Now we can pick them little by little, gradually gather all the medicinal herbs, and fill the medicine cabinet.
Now that the weather is warmer, many villagers have already come up the mountain. However, none of them have horses to travel such a long distance up the mountain; most are young and strong. The men? Most are here to chop firewood, and there are a few women occasionally, perhaps cutting grass to feed their chickens and ducks.
Jiang Nuanzhi's basket was filled with all sorts of medicinal herbs.
People occasionally caught a glimpse of her, and they could immediately see the messy bunch of grass in her basket, their expressions filled with suspicion.
Naturally, Jiang Nuanzhi didn't have a good reputation in the village, and no one came up to talk to her.
Even though he found her strange, he simply moved away, looking as if he wanted to stay as far away from her as possible.
Jiang Nuanzhi didn't mind, and continued to wander around the mountains for a long time with the child and the horse.
She filled the entire basket with the herbs she had gathered, and then led Xiao Xuanting toward the river.
Deep in the forest, the villagers gradually disappeared from sight.
When they arrived at the riverbank, they prepared to fish, but as soon as they squatted down, they couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
"Crawfish! My God, it's all crawfish!"
After saying that, he excitedly picked them up one by one and put them into the basket.
"Auntie Nuan, are you alright? Don't scare me like that."
Xiao Xuanting's face was deathly pale at this moment.
"Those are bugs, don't pick them up anymore."
Watching Jiang Nuanzhi place those strangely shaped insects one by one into the cage, muttering something about how she had made a fortune, Xiao Xuanting felt completely disgusted.
"This isn't an insect, it's a delicacy!" Jiang Nuanzhi smiled, examined the crayfish closely for a moment, and then said, "Huh? It doesn't seem to be a crayfish..."
She took another closer look and then suddenly realized, "Oh, it's a crayfish! We've really struck gold! Aunt Nuan will make you a special dish when we get home."
Crawfish meat is extremely fresh and can be eaten directly without any dipping sauce, because these creatures are very clean and have particularly high requirements for the water quality of their habitat.
Generally, the water in the areas where crayfish live is of drinking water quality.
Everyone knows the environment in which crayfish grow, so they have a muddy smell that needs to be masked with various spicy seasonings.
These crayfish have a particularly difficult time reproducing in modern times; they require clean, flowing water. They also reproduce very slowly. She bought a pound of them before as an experiment, and even those weren't very big, cost her over 500 yuan.
The crayfish here are huge! We're in for a treat.
Xuan Ting's face turned even paler: "Aunt Nuan, if you really don't have any money, I...I...I still have a few hundred taels of pocket money hidden in my underpants. It's not much, but you can use it to tide you over."
Jiang Nuanzhi: "."
etc.
This kid actually has a hundred taels of silver?
Damn it, his allowance is more than I've saved up after all this time! This wicked old society!
For a moment, a wicked thought crossed his mind: why not snatch the boy's underpants, take two bills, and go redeem Xinbo?
After much deliberation, reason prevailed, and she simply reached out and poked his little forehead.
"Alright, keep your money. Don't mention it to anyone else. Also, this is called a crayfish. It's really delicious. Trust Aunt Nuan, I guarantee you'll never forget it after you've tried it once."
The crayfish in this area were in large numbers, and Jiang Nuanzhi picked up a large pile in no time.
She had learned some fishing tips from Lu Zhong beforehand, and after all her efforts, she actually caught one. Although it wasn't big, only a little over two pounds, it was enough for the family to have a taste.
Jiang Nuanzhi wanted to go and check on the previous trap, but fearing that Xiao Xuanting might still have some bad memories, she decided not to go. She secretly planned to fill in the trap when she went out later.
To prevent someone from not seeing clearly in the dark and falling down.
Now that it was almost time, and the baskets were full, they decided to take Xuan Ting home.
"Hey, Jiang Pangya, can't you even make ends meet? Why are you picking up bugs?"
On the way, passing by her own fields, Jiang Nuanzhi and Xiao Xuanting dismounted to take a look.
Aunt Liu came over at some point, glanced at her basket, and immediately retreated a long distance with a look of disgust on her face.
Seeing her like this, Jiang Nuanzhi wasn't annoyed at all. She smiled and said, "Go ahead and eat. Would Aunt Liu like to try some?"
Aunt Liu immediately covered her mouth in disgust, her face turning pale: "How bad have you been these days? You actually want to eat insects? Are you crazy?"
This stuff is everywhere in the river. Even when everyone is starving, they'd rather eat grass roots and tree bark than eat it!
Ignoring her surprised look, Jiang Nuanzhi frowned and asked, "Do you have something to say or not? If you do, say it. If not, I'm going back."
Aunt Liu frowned and stared at Jiang Nuanzhi for a while, then suddenly shifted her gaze to Xiao Xuanting behind her: "Who is this child? When did you get such a pretty little girl?"
Jiang Nuanzhi: "Bought."
Aunt Liu exclaimed in surprise, "You've been eating insects, and you still have money to buy servants!"
The second update will be a little late, my darlings. My uncle was discharged from the hospital today. We'll probably have dinner together. I'll write more when I get back tonight.
(End of this chapter)
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