Chapter 48
Even so, Gu Ran did not feed the cat first. Instead, he found some mugwort and white grass, divided them into several bundles, and burned them in every corner of the house to smoke it thoroughly.
When Gu Ran reacted: Not good.
She remembered that cats don't like many pungent smells. When the cat smelled the scent of herbs, it squinted its eyes in disgust. After looking at Gu Ran for a few times, it ran away without caring how happy it had been in the house before.
Miao didn't like pungent smells. She had known this for a long time, but she was reminded of it again.
For example, the cat she raised in her first life, whenever she wanted to eat an orange, even before she got close to the cat, the cat would squint its eyes and back away in disgust. For example, the cat that has been with her for a few days now, no matter whether it is stealing fish or begging for food, never touches the red orange planted in the courtyard.
Speaking of red tangerines, Gu Ran felt that they seemed to have grown taller recently.
So she walked over to the pot where the tangerines were planted and took a look.
It's not an illusion. After being moved out of the workshop, the red tangerine tree has grown half an inch taller, and white dots have appeared between the lush leaves.
It's a flower bud.
The red tangerines released into a natural growth environment actually formed flower buds.
Like stars, even though they are still small, you can still smell the unique fragrance of orange flowers.
June is the season when oranges bloom. From this point of view, this red orange tree is alive and well. If it can bloom, it will naturally bear fruit.
Gu Ran was worried before whether this red tangerine tree could survive if it was moved out, but now it seems that it can.
This is the only thing worth being happy about after knowing that the miasma in Xiaxi Village is so serious.
At night, the house was drafty and filled with smoke. When Gu Ran was cleaning the house, she swept out many insects in every corner that had no time to escape and were suffocated to death. There were a bunch of insects, big and small, which made her eyebrows twitch.
It turns out that there are so many insects living with me in this little house. It seems that I need to fumigate it every once in a while like I did today.
After sweeping, he was still not at ease, so he took a bucket of water and wiped it all again. Only then did he feel at ease to continue staying there.
When he sat under the eaves and looked at the courtyard, Gu Ran finally understood why someone would have the heart to give up such a beautiful house, and why Village Chief Wu was willing to sell it to him for only twenty taels.
From then on, every time it rains and the miasma comes out, the small house closest to the miasma forest will be the first to suffer the most.
People living in small houses are naturally the most dangerous.
If you run away in time, it will be fine. If you don’t run away in time, you may not even be able to save your life.
Who would want to live in such a troublesome and dangerous house?
She wouldn't be willing to do that either.
If she had somewhere else to go, I guess she wouldn't buy this house and live here no matter how beautiful it was.
But does she have anywhere else to go? No.
Therefore, this small house is still her only place to stay, at least, for now, it is the only place to stay.
Lying on the couch that night, Gu Ran couldn't sleep well. He kept dreaming about rain, the sound of chaotic footsteps, and the miasma drifting out from the island forest, instantly covering the bad things in the small house.
When he woke up the next day, Gu Ran felt that it was not working.
Instead of worrying every time it rains, it would be better to think of a way to solve the miasma problem.
As long as there is no miasma in the island forest, Xiaxi Village is safe and her little house is safe too.
Well, how to solve it is also a problem.
That day, Gu Ran was thinking about this matter while going to the back of the house to continue working the land.
Even if it is dangerous, now that we have settled down, we still have to live our lives as usual and complete the work that needs to be done.
Just like other villagers in Xiaxi Village, once the miasma dissipated, they went to the fields to farm as usual.
I pulled out all the weeds that appeared in the field after the rain, and then dug with a hoe. In an hour, I had loosened half an acre of land, but my hands and waist were already so sore.
Gu Ran rubbed his waist and rested for a while, then transplanted the chives, shallots, and ginger planted in the patio into the ground.
During this period, she discovered that the few betel leaves she had picked and thrown into the soil were still alive, so she moved them to the back of the house. As for the area around the original patio, she decided to plant the phoenix grass that Village Chief Wu had dug up from his front yard and gave it to her.
This is a common wild grass grown in Xiaxi Village. It has yellow flowers and can repel mosquitoes, flies, insects and snakes to a certain extent after planting.
Almost every household in Xiaxi Village has plants like phoenix grass planted in front of and behind their houses to repel insects and snakes. Her small house originally had quite a few planted around it, but after the previous owner moved out, all the plants died.
For safety reasons, Gu Ran decided to replant it.
Such a day passed quickly.
After a tiring day, and with the miasma issue still weighing on his mind, Gu Ran had no mood to cook. He just randomly took out a pack of cakes from the storage area of cakes and biscuits in space No. 8 and took it out to fill his stomach.
I bought some bowl cakes a while ago and stockpiled them.
It is a pastry that is often made by the people in Fujian around the beginning of summer.
The main ingredient is rice slurry made from grinding rice. Apply soybean oil in a bowl, pour in rice slurry of appropriate concentration, sprinkle sesame seeds, peanuts, chopped red dates, etc. on the surface, and then steam it in a bamboo basket. It tastes soft, sweet, and full of rice aroma.
While eating the bowl of cake, Gu Ran took the medicine bag he got from Village Chief Wu, opened it, put the herbs inside into the pot, added water and started to boil it.
Village chief Wu said that after each miasma, one has to drink miasma-clearing soup for a few days to ensure that the body is fine.
Gu Ran looked at the herbs in the jar and found that the ones he could recognize included Bupleurum, Pinellia, Coptis chinensis and Artemisia annua.
It is said that this Qingzhao Soup was also passed down from the government clinic, which also taught local villagers to identify several major medicinal herbs so that they could pick them when they saw them in the mountains and take them to the pharmacy to exchange for money. They could also prepare some for themselves and develop the habit of drinking Qingzhao Soup more often when malaria was frequent.
These are all herbs for clearing away heat and detoxifying, and their effects are probably similar to drinking herbal tea in summer.
Gu Ran decided to ask at a pharmacy the next time he went to the county town, and to always carry it with him in the future, to at least reduce the risk of miasma invading his body.
I heard from Village Chief Wu that there was once a villager in Xiaxi Village who accidentally inhaled miasma and was cured by drinking the miasma-clearing soup.
Now that they have adapted to the patterns of miasma in Dayu Forest, they act with caution, and use medicine to remedy the situation. As a result, the villagers of Xiaxi Village no longer panic when they see miasma, and can now live in peace with it!
However, as Gu Ran lived closest to Dayu Lin, he had just arrived and his mentality was not as good as that of other villagers in Xiaxi Village. The next day, when he took the dried leather to the Hefeng Fur Shop in the county town to sell it, Gu Ran was thinking about how to solve the problem of miasma all the way.
When passing by the broken island, facing the wind blowing from the river and looking at the end of the island forest at the other end of the river, Gu Ran frowned.
Miasma is caused by the many smells in the forest, such as the stench of swamps, the stench of rotting corpses, etc. After they are released, due to the dense jungle and humid climate, they cannot be eliminated in time. The toxic gases mixed together and condensed together also breed more poisonous insects, mosquitoes and snakes. Now these two reasons are combined, and the island forest has become poisonous in the eyes of the people: the forest is poisonous, and the miasma produced is also poisonous.
If there were no miasma in the forest, there would naturally be fewer poisonous insects, mosquitoes and snakes, and Dayu Forest would no longer be a miasma forest.
According to this principle, we just need to vigorously develop the island forests.
Xiaxi Village, and even the area around Donglin Township, were originally covered with dense jungle vegetation. It was only after the imperial court ordered the ancestors of today's villagers to migrate here and reclaim the dense forests and plains that villages gradually formed.
However, due to its geographical location and jungle environment, and the presence of miasma in the Lantau forest, the new villagers assigned to Xiaxi Village have been trying to find ways to escape. The population of the village has not increased, and there is a shortage of manpower, and the progress of reclaiming the Lantau forest has been even slower.
If we could cut down some of the trees in the island forest and blow away the miasma in the forest, and then when the forest is not so dangerous, we could go into the forest to clean up the rotting corpses and fill in the swamps that produce toxic substances, then we could eliminate the miasma at the source.
As for the problem of lack of manpower, we may need some external help to solve this problem.
Gu Ran came up with a preliminary plan in his mind and was eager to try it, but the prerequisite for the plan to be feasible was to have money.
Thinking of his empty wallet, Gu Ran felt a little discouraged again.
Forget it, let’s save the money first.
Gu Ran cheered himself up and sent the leather to Hefeng Fur Shop in exchange for three taels of silver. Then he went to the pharmacy and asked the medicine boy to buy the Qingzai soup that was always available.
I went to the cloth shop and bought a few feet of cloth.
During the two days she stayed with Village Chief Wu, she met Village Chief Wu's second daughter-in-law, Sister Lin Er. Knowing that she was good at sewing, Gu Ran entrusted her to make a few clothes for her and paid her for it.
Mrs. Lin agreed.
Ready-made clothes are too expensive and don't fit well, so it's more cost-effective to tear cloth and make clothes. Even if I buy cloth and have Lin Er's wife make clothes for me, the total labor cost is not as high as the price of buying a set of ready-made clothes.
She had to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, especially now that she had come up with a way to improve the miasma in the island forest.
After returning to Xiaxi Village, when Gu Ran brought the cloth she bought to the Wu family for Lin Er's wife, she went to ask Village Chief Wu about the craftsman who had built the large wooden frame for her.
"What else do you want to build with Master Huang?"
Village Chief Wu also knew about the last time Master Huang built a large wooden rack for Gu Ran. She also knew that Gu Ran brought bayberry drinks to the Donglin Township market to sell.
When she was fifteen, she took her family to the market in Donglin Township and bought her drink!
Of course, Village Chief Wu didn't know that the bayberries that Gu Ran used to make the drink were picked from the Dayu forest, and Gu Ran would not tell him out of boredom.
Village chief Wu was very satisfied with Gu Ran's ability to find a job so quickly and having many customers, as he was a capable worker.
"Hey, it's a rather strange and large object. The craftsmanship may be a little troublesome. Do you think Master Huang is willing to make it for me?" Gu Ran thought of the idea that came to him when he was riding a boat passing by Broken Island today, and decided to ask around before making a decision.
If Master Huang was unwilling, she would have to ask around to see if there were any other carpenters with good skills.
"If you can afford the money, Master Huang can do anything for you."
After hearing what Village Chief Wu said, Gu Ran felt relieved. He returned home and did nothing else. He went into the workshop, took out the talisman paper and pen, and started drawing.
When it got dark, he did not forget to light candles for lighting, and it took him a while to draw the large object that he was going to hand over to Master Huang.
This is the biggest help in dispelling the miasma in the island forest.
What is it?
It's a windmill.
At the end of the island forest, the outer edge is the confluence of the Wujiang River and the Fujiang River. The impact of the rapids not only created a piece of broken islands, but also brought a strong river wind.
The subtropical monsoon climate near the sea, with sea breezes blowing from the sea at any time, also makes many places in Fujian windy areas, and Xiaxi Village is one of them.
To blow away the miasma in the island forest, we can make full use of this wind power.
Of course, windmills are used as power, and they must be built high to absorb more wind power.
The miasma would emerge from the forest and drift to Xiaxi Village, helped by the wind.
Therefore, when the wind that brings miasma blows into the village, the windmill built can twist the wind, thereby changing the direction of the wind, so that the wind can blow in the opposite direction, and the miasma that drifts in will naturally be driven away from Xiaxi Village by the wind.
If you are worried that the miasma will slip through the net and float to lower places to harm people, you can build another small windmill under the windmill house.
By using the mechanical force brought by the windmill to drive the gears, the small windmill can be rotated, so that the miasma can be dispelled from both the upper and lower places.
Moreover, when the wind direction is wrong, the high windmills will not be able to dispel the miasma for a while, but the small windmills they drive can.
Secondly, if we use the wind power generated by the windmill as kinetic energy, and then drive the motor that drives the fan, and build this supporting tool in the island forest, wouldn’t it be possible to dispel the miasma in the forest at any time?
It can also be installed in front of Xiaxi Village, on the edge of the island forest. When it rains in the future, whenever miasma is seen, the windmill can be used to disperse it. Then the people in Xiaxi Village will not have to worry every time it rains.
She could also build a windmill directly next to her cottage to help dispel the miasma that was drifting towards her home.
When he was learning painting in his first life, Moulan, a country that had given birth to many famous painters, was once the country where Gu Ran exchanged and studied.
There, they not only learned skills, but also visited the most famous windmill in Lanzhou when sketching. They witnessed the internal structure of the windmill with their own eyes while listening to the miller's explanation, and even sketched the operation of various gears.
Therefore, Gu Ran can draw a diagram of the working principles of how to make a windmill run after it is built, and he can also draw a structural diagram of the shapes of each gear and their combination with each other.
However, after drawing it, it has to be custom-made, and finally, it must be ensured that it can be operated after it is finally built.
Now that we have the blueprint, we have to ask people if it can be built.
And Gu Ran’s candidate is naturally Master Huang.
I guess no one has ever seen this windmill in the Great Sheng Dynasty. I don’t know if Master Huang is willing to make such a strange object. Even if he is willing, I don’t know what the result will be after he makes it?
In order to avoid causing Master Huang excessive surprise, Gu Ran first reduced the difficulty and brought only the simplest windmill blades and the renderings of the assembled blades to visit Master Huang.
Master Huang is from Donglin Township.
He opened a small workshop in his own home in Donglin Township, and with his two sons and two apprentices, he undertook carpentry work for people in the surrounding area.
Gu Ran originally thought that after seeing the blueprint of his windmill blades, Master Huang would be puzzled and embarrassed. Unexpectedly, Master Huang's eyes lit up, and then he waved his hand, "Fifth son, go and get the one that Daddy likes the most."
"Grandpa, is this my favorite one?" asked Huang Wu, Master Huang's youngest grandson.
"Yes, yes, give it to me quickly, which one you like best!"
This time it was Gu Ran's turn to be suspicious. She asked Master Huang to custom-make windmill blades. What did it have to do with what the grandfather and granddaughter liked?
When Gu Ran saw the small items they took out, he was stunned.
It turned out to be a very small wooden handicraft, a windmill.
Master Huang explained that this little item was an imported product. He happened to go to the port and saw someone selling these little gadgets. Master Huang found it interesting, so he bought it for two hundred coins.
"This thing was originally brought here by a red-haired man. Those red-haired men brought a lot of new things with them and set up shop at the port in front of our Minzhou. They sold rare items they brought from their own land, such as amber and agate. We've never seen them before, and they're expensive, so we couldn't afford them, so we bought this." Master Huang said proudly, "The red-haired man said it was a specialty of his hometown. I thought it had good craftsmanship and it was from my own trade, so I bought it just to satisfy my curiosity."
The Dasheng Dynasty did not ban maritime transportation, and the port trade was developed. Mulan was not far from the territory of the Dasheng Dynasty, so it was not surprising that people from Mulan would cross the ocean and arrive in Fujian to make a living.
In the early days, Gu Ran read about the history of the early Lan Dynasty, which arrived on the coast of Fujian and Guangdong to engage in commercial activities after the opening of the new sea route.
It is said that the people of a certain country have a small territory and limited resources, which is why they developed the shipping industry and are quite good at making a living.
"Have you seen the red-haired man too?"
Gu Ran could only nod reluctantly, otherwise he would not be able to explain how he knew about this windmill.
"So, you learned this from the red-haired man?"
"Indeed, I heard it from them." Gu Ran nodded without changing his expression.
"Do you know how this thing moves? And what it's used for?"
Master Huang kept asking questions, and Gu Ran had no choice but to tell Master Huang his thoughts.
When Master Huang heard that it was intended to dispel the miasma from the island forest in Xiaxi Village, he remained silent for a long time. Then he asked, "Can this thing really be used like this?"
"That's the truth. If you don't try it, how do you know if it works?"
Gu Ran couldn't possibly hire someone to cut down the trees in the large miasma forest in front of her house. She didn't have the ability or the money to do so.
Besides, even if she was willing to hire people to go into the Dayu forest to cut down trees, the surrounding area was very wary of the miasma forest, and I'm afraid few people would be willing to risk losing their heads to go in and work.
So she could only try the windmill method to see if it would work.
Master Huang looked at her and thought for a moment. "It's not impossible to make this thing, but I see, you're not just going to make this one, right?"
Looking at the woodwork of the windmill, it wouldn’t be made with just a few leaves.
As an old carpenter, Master Huang has done in-depth research, but it is only limited to the external aspects. He has no idea what is going on inside.
"That's right. There are also several wooden products in this workshop that need to be made with you, Master Huang." Gu Ran said, "I want to take it step by step. Besides, I don't have that much money at the moment, so I have to make them one by one."
Because we were short of money, we planned to make all the parts, including the gears, out of wood, which is cheaper.
If we take it to a blacksmith, just looking at the total amount of iron required and the complicated structure of a gear, a conservative estimate is that it will cost nearly half a hundred silver coins.
Although the restrictions on iron tools for the people were quite loose during the Great Sheng Dynasty and iron ore seemed to be abundant, the price of ironwork did not drop much.
Where did she get so much money?
Besides, she didn't know whether the things she made could be used or not. Even if she wanted to make them out of iron, she had to test whether they could be used or not first. So her best option was to ask a carpenter to make them for her.
Since Master Huang knew something about windmills, Gu Ran didn't hide it anymore and took out the drawings of several other major components from the workshop. Of course, they were all independent drawings of separate components, and the working principle diagram and rope traction structure were still not provided.
Master Huang was overjoyed. He listened to Gu Ran's explanation of the parts, looked at the drawings for a long time, and thought for a long time before looking at Gu Ran with bright eyes: "Second Lady Gu, I can try to make all of these for you."
"real?"
"But since this is my first time doing this kind of work, I'm afraid it will take longer than you think," Master Huang said honestly. "And I have to start by finding the right wood according to your instructions."
One of the main reasons why carpentry work is cheaper than blacksmithing work is that the raw materials used for carpentry are wood, which can be obtained from everywhere. It does not require money. You can just go to the ownerless mountains and chop it down.
But the windmill made by Gu Ran, the windmill blades and fan blades must be solid, and the gears must also be hard. So he had to slowly choose tree trunks of suitable size, and polish them. The carved teeth also had to ensure that they could fit together so that they could drive each other.
"No problem, Master Huang, if you're willing to do it, it doesn't matter if it takes longer!"
It's rare to meet a carpenter who knows something about windmills, and who could be more suitable to make this windmill than Master Huang?
"But the fees still have to be collected as usual."
"Well, Master Huang, take a look and give me a price?"
"For this whole package, I'll charge you twenty-five taels of silver."
Gu Ran's eyes widened.
Master Huang hurriedly explained, "Twenty-five taels, that's not expensive at all. Even if you go to the county town to find a carpenter, you'll get the same price."
"Twenty-five taels? I..." Gu Ran was about to ask if he could pay in installments, but then changed his mind and said, "I don't have that much money on me right now. Master Huang, I can earn some money and pay you in installments."
"Well, the deposit cannot be waived. Do you have a deposit?"
"have."
Gu Ran took out his purse and took out the money he had earned in the past few days. He took out five taels of silver, touched it reluctantly, and handed it to the desk in front of Master Huang.
"Five taels deposit, is that okay?"
"Okay." Master Huang nodded. "This is a big job. Shall we sign a contract?"
"OK."
Finally, before drafting the contract, Gu Ran and Master Huang agreed that the time limit for manufacturing the entire windmill was set within half a year, and Gu Ran had to pay the remaining twenty taels of silver in three installments within half a year.
Master Huang must strictly create the required wooden tools according to Gu Ran's requirements, improve the defects, and must not leak any information about the windmill he has come into contact with from Gu Ran.
After listing the requirements of both parties, Master Huang's eldest son drafted the deed. After it was drafted, Gu Ran checked it and confirmed that there were no problems. Then he formally copied three copies. After signing their respective names, Master Huang kept one copy for himself, gave one to Gu Ran, and took the remaining copy to the county government for filing, to avoid any disputes between the two parties in the future, so that the government could step in to make a ruling.
When Gu Ran returned to Xiaxi Village with the contract, he was already burdened with a huge debt of twenty taels.
Gu Ran only had more than three hundred coins left in her pocket. She looked at the small house and sighed.
You think you can just sit back and relax after earning two taels of silver a month, but at this rate of earning money, it will take you ten months to pay off the twenty taels!
Fortunately, as soon as I had some money, I bought all kinds of food and put them in space number eight. Even if I was short of money, I would not be short of food.
Gu Ran glanced at the Dayu Forest and decided that for the sake of the future windmill, he had to go into the forest to explore.
First, I have to hunt bamboo rats diligently. Second, I have to get a feel for the environment in the forest and figure out how to install the windmill. Third, it would be great if I could pick up some great bargains like bayberries.
Of course, we have to wait until tomorrow to go into the mountains.
After returning to the house to boil water, Gu Ran first climbed up to the small side room on the corner building and observed the wind direction on the island forest side for a long time. Finding that there was indeed no miasma-like fog, he went downstairs with peace of mind.
Now she finally understood the purpose of Jutou building such a high two-story building. It was actually used to overlook the island forest ahead and guard against miasma.
With a way to deal with the miasma, Gu Ran felt that he was fine again. He entered space grid No. 8 with a relaxed mood and decided to cook some seafood porridge. It would be enough for him alone!
Yesterday she went to the county town to sell leather, and as usual she stocked up on some food. This time, because she went early, she saw the fishing boats coming from the harbor and saw a lot of fresh catches, so she immediately bought a lot of them to prepare. She even specially selected two areas to store these seashells and shrimps: one area was for frozen ones, and the other area was for dried and fresh ones.
After washing the rice and making porridge, soak some wakame, and then take four shrimps, two oysters, and eight clams from the seafood section.
For four fresh frozen shrimps, remove the shrimp threads. Clean the oysters and slice them. After cleaning the clams, remove only the meat without the shells. Marinate them with oil and salt.
Also cut some ginger into shreds, wash and chop the soaked kelp,
After the porridge has turned into rice crackles, pour the prepared seasonings, except the fresh shrimp, into the ceramic jar in order. When you smell the fragrance, add the fresh shrimp last. When you see the shrimp turn red, the seafood porridge is done!
If you feel that one serving of porridge is not enough, then pair it with a serving of mandarin duck pancake or light pancake!
The pastry area in Space No. 8 is now filled with all kinds of delicious pancakes and other foods. Gu Ran bought all the snacks sold at the pier, such as cakes, fried dumplings, bean powder dumplings, snow cakes, shrimp cakes, inch-long dates, etc., and placed them in portions. If he liked them, he would buy a few more.
Gu Ran was almost dazzled by the sight of his own inventory, but in the end he chose a Yuanyang pancake to go with his porridge.
Yuanyang Cake is made from carefully selected pork and wheat flour. The cakes are stacked layer by layer, with seven layers inside and outside, each filled with meat floss, mochi and red beans, and interlocked with each other, hence the name Yuanyang Cake.
The skin is thin and chewy, fresh and crispy, and goes perfectly with the sweet seafood porridge.
While Gu Ran was drinking porridge and eating cakes, the cat came again. Now when it came to Gu Ran's house, it was no longer as timid as before and tried to explore. Instead, it came to her feet very affectionately and rubbed against her, meowing and begging for food.
Gu Ran naturally kept an eye out for cat food for Huali. In particular, he stocked up some small shrimps and fish in a corner of the frozen food area. When he saw Huali coming, he found a small cat food plate, took out some shrimps and fish, put them in it, and then put it on the ground.
Huali called out happily and started eating. Gu Ran, who was sitting on the table, could hear the gurgling sound coming from her throat from a distance.
Yes, it’s “her” for sure.
Huali is a female cat!
What a coincidence, the one she picked up and raised before was also a female.
Female civet cats are good, female civet cats are good!
She still remembers that her relationship with cats has improved since she got a cat. She used to be completely indifferent to cats, but now every time she walks on the street or goes to a park or other place where there are many cats, there will always be cats that come up to her and try to touch her.
She also met some cat lovers who loved to keep cats, and tried to touch and hug other cat breeds. Later, she found that among the many cats she had handled and hugged, none of them had a body softness that could compare to that of a female tabby cat.
Even the male civet cat is a little bit different.
Every time I hold my cat, I feel it is as smooth and delicate as dough. No matter which angle I rub it from, the touch is so good that I can’t help but indulge in it.
Gu Ran looked at Huali who was still purring happily, and wondered how long it would take before he could pet the cat and feel the joy of petting a cat again!
*
The next day, it was sunny.
Gu Ran got up early and took advantage of the fact that the villagers were still indoors. He armed himself fully, carried a bamboo basket, put on a mask, and resolutely entered the Dayu Forest.
She had to save money for her own windmill in the future.
She estimated last night that twenty taels of silver might not be enough, as she also had to build the structure to support the windmill!
That requires buying bricks and tiles, hiring a bricklayer, and some money.
Gu Ran entered Dayu Forest with ease and checked the three traps he had set before. There was only one hare.
After tying up the rabbit and putting it into the workshop, Gu Ran was about to go north, but then he remembered the last time he encountered the golden ring snake. He hesitated for a while, and then went straight into the depths of the forest.
Following the stream and the route she remembered, she soon arrived at the forest where she caught bamboo rats.
However, it's just something I can do on my way back, so there's no rush right now.
Gu Ran walked through the bamboo forest and out of the mixed woods. He saw the lacquer tree again and walked around it. As the light dimmed, he saw the mixed bamboo forest.
Gu Ran can now be sure that the outer edge of the island forest, which is the large area she often goes in and out of, should not be the source of miasma. Therefore, the dark and damp place where miasma is produced must be entered from here.
Because it is obvious that the trees in the forest further in are taller and thicker than those outside. Also, because there are so many trees and their huge crowns block the sun, they block the flow of sunlight and air in the forest. There must be a lot of animals and mosquitoes in it, both alive and dead, which creates a hot and humid closed environment that is difficult to ventilate, so it is easy for the gases produced by various activities of animals and plants to mix together and form miasma.
The areas where Gu Ran has been active in the island forests are relatively safer.
Now, we are entering the danger zone.
Don't worry too much, just be careful. If you encounter any danger, remember that you still have a workshop to use.
Gu Ran took out a second mask from the workshop and put on another one. He then checked again to make sure his hands and feet were tied up properly. Only then did he feel relieved. He took out two bundles of mugwort, lit them, and walked into the bamboo forest that he had never set foot in before.
After walking for a while in the bamboo forest, you can feel the air pressure here is completely different from that outside.
Only a little bit of sunlight could get in, and the skin on the surface could feel the air was very hot and there was a strong smell of moisture. Even though he was wearing two masks, Gu Ran could still faintly smell a foul smell inside.
It's hot and humid, and there are a lot of mosquitoes.
She held the mugwort and smoked it. Before, the mosquitoes would immediately stay away when they smelled the scent, but here, even with the smell of the medicine spreading, there were still some insects that were determined to stick to her and flew over and lingered around her. She had to grab the mugwort bundle and wave it hard at these annoying mosquitoes that were flying towards her.
So as we walked along, many insects that were smoked fell down, some seen before, some not, some famous, some unknown.
There were rustling sounds coming from all over the forest, and many things were startled in the grass. There were also mountain animals that made low humming sounds from time to time. From the sounds, you could tell that they were big guys.
Not long after walking in the bamboo forest, Gu Ran met a green deer.
It wasn't very strong, just the size of an adult wolfdog. It was nibbling on the grass in the bamboo forest, looking up from time to time. It saw Gu Ran from afar, but ignored him, feeling very comfortable.
Want to catch it?
Unlike other mountain deer, the green deer's fur is very rough and the color is not good. It has coarse fur and probably cannot be sold at a high price, but the green deer's meat is still very fresh and sweet.
That is, it was probably too late for her to make a trap, and she had no other hunting tools on hand, so how could she catch it?
But before Gu Ran could come up with a solution, the green deer had turned around and left, leaving behind only the grass it had nibbled and white wildflowers.
Wildflowers?
Gu Ran thought the color of the flower was a bit strange, so he walked to where the green deer was originally staying, squatted down, parted the grass and took a look. Oh, it was not a white wild flower at all, but a mushroom.
Dictamnus is a kind of fungus that grows exclusively at the roots of bamboo.
It looks like an umbrella top and is wearing a white lace skirt.
It is delicious whether used to make soup or cakes.
Gu Ran looked around the wetlands and saw not just one flower, but many clusters of flowers scattered on the muddy ground at the roots of the bamboo.
It must have appeared after the rain a while ago.
Such good ingredients cannot be easily let go!
She immediately squatted down and picked all the bamboo fungi she found.
It is said that it takes a very short time for bamboo fungus to grow its lace skirt. This movement is commonly known as breaking the buds, and usually the buds break out and the skirt spreads out in the early morning. The process of the bamboo fungus slowly opening its skirt after it matures is called spreading the skirt.
The best time to pick bamboo fungus is when its lace skirts are opened to the maximum. The bamboo fungus tastes best at this time. If you miss this opportunity, the quality of the bamboo fungus will become worse as time goes by.
Gu Ran was not a professional mushroom picker, and had no way of judging which bamboo fungi were of the best quality. In short, he picked all the ones with open mushroom skirts.
Only when he saw that the fungus skirt was too small did he stop and wait.
This wait not only took some extra time in the bamboo forest, but also allowed Gu Ran to see the bamboo fungus slowly unfolding its skirt.
Looking from above, it looked like a little man in white clothes was slowly unfolding a white lace parasol. The process was extremely graceful, which made Gu Ran secretly amazed.
Today is actually a day to appreciate the wonderful charm of nature!
She picked bamboo fungi as she walked. After she had picked enough and marked them, she quickly walked out of the bamboo forest. After walking for a while, she came to a valley with towering trees.
There is also a pond in the valley. The water in the pond is deep and turquoise. The edge of the pond is covered with moss, and there are many shrubs and ferns growing around the pond.
Gu Ran looked at the pond and then at the bushes beside it.
This kind of place is most likely to be infested with water snakes, so be careful.
Just as I was thinking this, I heard a rustling sound in the pile of fallen leaves in the grass, which was very similar to the slithering sound of the golden flower snake I encountered before. Then I immediately saw the thick scales showing through the gaps in the grass.
Sure enough, there was a snake.
This time, Gu Ran learned her lesson. When the snake crawled faster, she immediately hid in the workshop. Of course, the burning mugwort in her hand remained there, as she would have to come out later and fumigate the place where she was going first!
While dodging snakes in the workshop, she also sorted out the bamboo fungi she had just picked. Fortunately, she was very careful when picking them, so most of the bamboo fungi remained in good condition.
She sorted the mushrooms into piles according to their color and length, and carefully decided which ones to keep for herself and which ones to sell in the county town, and then stored them in space No. 8.
After waiting for a long time, Gu Ran poked his head out of the workshop to see what was going on outside. He found that the snake of unknown species seemed to have left, and the burning bundle of mugwort he left behind had smoked the area around him, making the surrounding area much quieter, so he walked out.
The pond was too dangerous, so she decided not to go there.
Gu Ran was about to leave when she caught a glimpse of many tall, striped plants standing tall among the green branches not far from the bushes. They looked like several snakes sticking their bodies out. She was so scared that she was about to hide in the workshop again, but then she stopped.
That’s not right. Where did so many similar-looking snakes come from and how could they stand so high?
So I plucked up the courage to look over again.
Why does that plant look so familiar?
Did I see it right?
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