Chapter 306 The Man with a Secret
Jiang Ling examined it carefully and confirmed that the quality was indeed very good. "Grandpa, I'll take all of this ginger."
Xiao Ran immediately took out a five-tael silver ingot from her purse and handed it to Old Man Li.
Old Man Li was startled when he saw such a large ingot of silver. He waved his hands repeatedly, his voice urgent: "No, no! This is too much! Even if we sold all our ginger, basket and all, it wouldn't be worth this much money!"
Jiang Ling said gently but firmly, "Grandpa, your ginger is of good quality and has solved our urgent problem. The price is very fair, please accept it."
Xiao Ran cleverly stuffed the silver into Old Man Li's rough hands: "Old man, please accept it. We should be thanking you."
Old Man Li held the heavy silver ingot, his hand trembling slightly, his eyes moistening, his lips trembling, finally letting out a choked sob:
"Thank you... thank you young lady, thank you sir..."
Seeing that the old man had accepted the money, Zhao Shuo then arranged for the soldiers behind him to move the ginger.
The rain stopped completely, a faint orange hue spread across the horizon, and the dampness on the wasteland gradually rose.
The ginger was successfully transported back to the camp.
Zhao Shuo immediately found five or six quick-witted and clever-looking soldiers and gave them instructions:
"You all follow Miss Jiang's instructions. Do whatever she tells you to do, and make sure the ginger soup is ready as soon as possible!"
"Yes!" the soldiers replied in unison.
Jiang Ling didn't stand on ceremony and immediately began giving instructions.
“Let’s divide the work: two brothers will be responsible for washing the ginger, rinsing off the dirt and removing the roots; two brothers will be responsible for slicing the ginger, not too finely, just thin slices.”
"Xiao Ran, help this brother put the iron pot on the stove and fill it with water."
"Alright!" everyone responded in unison and immediately got to work.
The soldiers who were washing the ginger brought clean water and put the ginger pieces into the wooden basin one by one, carefully rubbing off the dirt on their surfaces.
The soldiers holding cleavers deftly sliced the washed ginger into even, thin slices.
Zhao Shuo then led his men into the nearby woods, quickly carrying back bundles of firewood. They placed them under the large pot, lit them, and the flames leaped up, licking the bottom of the pot.
Soon, the cleaned and sliced ginger was poured into the boiling pot.
The ginger slices floated on the water, bubbling gently.
Jiang Ling instructed from the side: "Don't use too high a heat. First, boil it over medium heat for 15 minutes to extract the ginger flavor, then turn to low heat and simmer it slowly. This way, the ginger soup will be rich enough."
Cheng Jiaojiao also curiously came over, looking at the ginger soup bubbling in the big pot, and wrinkled her little nose: "It smells so spicy. I've hated drinking ginger soup since I was little."
"Don't worry, I made you a special pot of cola ginger tea. It's sweet and delicious." Jiang Ling guessed that this pampered young lady probably wouldn't like ginger soup.
Fearing she might catch a cold, I had no choice but to cook a separate pot of it – a special treatment for a princess, I suppose.
Cheng Jiaojiao smiled knowingly, completely believing Jiang Ling's words: "Sister Jiang is still the best to me."
The man who ran out of the dilapidated temple had now changed into the cotton robe that Xiao Ran had given him.
He still sat alone under the old tree, his gaze fixed on the full basket of ginger, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
When Xiao Ran saw him, she suddenly stepped forward and looked up at him, asking, "Young master, look, we bought a lot of ginger. Old Man Li is a very kind person, and the ginger is of good quality and the price is fair!"
Seeing that someone had brought up Old Man Li, he couldn't help but ask in a low voice, seemingly unintentionally, "Old Man Li... do he and his wife still look healthy?"
Xiao Ran nodded, recalling carefully, "Yes! The two elderly people both looked quite healthy, but their home looked... a bit poor. We bought them a lot of ginger, and the old lady was very happy."
The man listened, remained silent for a moment, his gaze fixed on the leaping flames, and murmured, "Good that he's strong... a life of hardship... ha, with his temper, he'd never get rich growing ginger..."
Xiao Ran found his words a bit strange and casually asked, "Brother, you seem to know Old Man Li's family very well. Did you often go to their village before? I don't even know how to address you yet."
The man raised his head, looked into Xiao Ran's clear and innocent eyes, and a very faint smile appeared on his lips: "A name is just a label... If you have to have one, just call me Awei."
"Brother Wei!" Xiao Ran readily complied and immediately greeted him with a smile.
Awei ignored him, as if she had remembered something sad, and turned her head to the other side, looking somewhat downcast.
Xiao Ran opened her mouth, but didn't ask any further questions.
By this time, the ginger soup was ready.
Jiang Ling specially added a little brown sugar. The rich aroma of ginger mixed with the sweet scent of brown sugar filled the air, tantalizing everyone's taste buds.
Jiang Ling directed the soldiers to serve soup in rough porcelain bowls and distribute them to the guards.
"Everyone, come and drink the ginger soup! Drink it while it's hot to ward off the cold!" Zhao Shuo shouted.
Seeing this, Xiao Ran didn't want to linger any longer, so she rushed over to help.
Jiang Ling personally took charge of the cooking, while Zhao Shuo led the group to maintain order, allowing everyone to step forward one by one to receive the piping hot ginger soup.
Bowls of steaming ginger soup were distributed to everyone.
Whether it was the noble Cheng Jiaojiao, or an ordinary guard, palace maid, or coachman and servant, everyone had a share.
Cheng Jiaojiao also held a bowl of mild ginger soup, pinched her nose, and took a small sip. Surprisingly, it wasn't as spicy as she had imagined; instead, it had a slightly sweet taste, so she drank it without worry. "Sister Jiang, this ginger soup is quite delicious!"
Zhao Jingxing, having finished arranging his tasks, came over.
"Miss Jiang is very thoughtful. It's all thanks to you, otherwise many of my brothers would probably have fallen ill."
Jiang Ling personally handed him a bowl of ginger soup, saying, "It's good that everyone is safe. Young Master Zhao must have had a long journey. Have some ginger soup to warm yourself up."
Xiao Ran helped the soldiers distribute the ginger soup and walked over to Jiang Ling. Looking in Awei's direction, she whispered, "Sister Jiang, I found out that the person's name is Awei. I'll take the opportunity to ask him later if his surname is Li."
Jiang Ling looked at him suspiciously: "Why are you asking about these things?"
Xiao Ran asked, "Don't you think he has too many secrets?"
"It's normal for people to have secrets. We just met by chance, and he meant us no harm. We shouldn't assume he's malicious."
Xiao Ran pondered for a moment, "Sister Jiang, did I do something wrong?"
Jiang Ling picked up a bowl of ginger soup and handed it to him. "Hmm... it's not exactly wrong. Be gentle when you ask him. If he doesn't want to talk about it, then just leave it at that."
"Okay." Xiao Ran gave a knowing look and brought a bowl of ginger soup to Awei:
"Brother Wei, drink your ginger soup while it's hot!"
Ah Wei stared blankly at the bowl of ginger soup in front of him.
After a while, he took the ginger soup and said, "Thank you."
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