Chapter 57
But then thinking about Gu Ran's identity, the daughter of a marquis - yes, ever since that official from outside came to the Shen family's housewarming party, the entire Xiaxi Village now knows that Gu Er Niang was originally from the capital, and was the wife of a marquis.
Although her mother-in-law mentioned to her that this story was fake, Gu Er Niang never explained. After finding out that the official was genuine, the people in Xiaxi Village were convinced that Gu Ran was the daughter of the Marquis's family. In their eyes, Gu Ran suddenly became noble and they were polite to her whenever they had contact with her.
Mrs. Lin was also skeptical about this matter.
Although the leather is expensive, I heard that the people in the marquis's mansion are always spending money lavishly and have no shortage of money.
Although Gu Erniang was forced to live in Xiaxi Village because of her husband's family, perhaps, as the daughter of a marquis, the family wealth she brought with her was more substantial than they imagined?
After thinking about it this way, Mrs. Lin Er no longer questioned the origin of these furs, and obediently came to the small house to make fur coats for Gu Ran and earn money.
Today, Gu Ran left the key to Lin Ersao and went into the mountains by himself.
The scenery in the Lantau forest remains the same as usual, still lush and green, seemingly unaffected by the late autumn weather.
But Gu Ran still felt some differences.
The birds in the forest are singing louder than ever before, and it seems to be getting more lively day by day. Perhaps it is because of the cold temperature in the north that there are more migratory birds in the forest.
Recently, when I took a boat to the county town, I saw many birds flying south along the river and landing on several islands in Broken Islands. I guess the same situation is happening in the island forest.
Gu Ran collected the prey in the three trap pits in order.
This trip I caught fewer, only one yellow rabbit, but when I passed through the bamboo forest, I caught two more bamboo rats. Then I headed straight into the mountains to another trap designed to catch large animals.
When he came to the deep pool, Gu Ran hesitated for a moment, but decided to go over and take a look at the hairy konjac.
It has been quite a while since I first discovered the hairy konjac. I wonder if it is ripe enough to be harvested?
After cautiously approaching the forest, I saw the reality: the leaves were beginning to turn yellow, but it was not time yet!
Because konjac can only be harvested after the strange tall stems and leaves exposed on the surface wither and fall down, otherwise the tubers underground will be fully mature.
After seeing it, Gu Ran felt relieved and decided to wait for some time before digging the fruit.
Now that they were already here, it would be convenient for them to go through the place where konjac grew. Moreover, as more migratory birds arrived, some seemed to be looking for food in the pond. Gu Ran held the bundle of mugwort and burned it all the way, but he did not encounter any trace of snakes.
Maybe they were frightened by the new birds and dared not show up anymore?
After safely crossing the konjac field, Gu Ran rested for one night on the hill where he had spent the night, and went to the forest where the trap was set the next day.
Unfortunately, the net was empty this time as well.
Gu Ran did not lose heart. The chances of success in making earth pit traps to hunt big beasts were originally small, but as long as he was patient and waited for some time, he would still be able to get his chance.
Wasn’t that how we waited for the mountain deer and wild boar before?
On the way back, Gu Ran was thinking about another thing he could gain.
That lemon tree.
Now is the season when lemons are ripe and it is time to harvest them.
However, even though Gu Ran was in a hurry to see the lemon tree, he couldn't avoid stopping along the way. The reason was simply because there were too many wild fruits ripening in the mountains in autumn.
She couldn't even recognize some fruit trees during their flowering period because she had never seen them before, but when the fruits came in the autumn harvest, she was finally able to recognize them.
I have never seen the flowers of fruit trees, but I have eaten the fruits. Once you see the fruits, you will know the true appearance of Mount Lu!
Because of this, she was in the Wild Boar Forest - well, the forest where the wild boars lived was privately called the Wild Boar Forest by Gu Ran.
She found a wild persimmon tree in the wild boar forest. The persimmons on the tree were golden yellow. Gu Ran tasted one. Although it was grown in the wild, it tasted quite good.
She immediately picked half of the ripe persimmons and put them all into space No. 8. If she hadn't gone to see konjac this time, she would have been able to pick all the remaining persimmons on this trip into the mountains.
But for now, we can only wait for the next few trips.
There are so many persimmons that Gu Ran has planned to dry some to make persimmon cakes, make some into jam, and eat some raw.
On the way to the Limeng tree, Gu Ran encountered many difficulties that hindered her progress: she discovered many wild grapes, also called nightshade fruits, or a more fashionable name, the Chinese version of blueberries.
Oh!
What a stumbling block to happiness.
After picking the wild grapes, Gu Ran took a detour through the swamp and found the lemon tree.
As she expected, many of the lemons on the lemon trees had turned from green to yellow.
Gu Ran stood on tiptoe and reached out to pick a lemon from a low branch. The shape was similar to the lemon she bought in her first life. This was it.
Then he took out his pocket knife and cut it in half.
The cross section is similar to that of a lemon, but with more seeds. Smelling the sour and refreshing aroma of lemon, Gu Ran subconsciously secreted a lot of saliva in his mouth.
Wow, that’s really likable!
These lemons can also be used to make tea or cold drinks. If you want to set up a stall in the future, you will have one more variety.
If you don’t set up a stall, you can use it as a seasoning for dishes, snacks, or sauces.
Gu Ran put away the knife, then put away the cut lemon, rubbed his hands, and planned to harvest all the lemons in the tree with great enthusiasm.
The wild lemon trees in the mountains were estimated to be two meters tall. After picking the lemons from the branches hanging low, Gu Ran had to climb up the tree to continue picking.
Even so, there were still some that could not be picked.
Gu Ran decided that the next time he went into the mountains, he would get a pole that could be used to pick persimmons and lemons.
You don’t have to buy it specifically. You can just break off a long bamboo of appropriate thickness in a bamboo forest.
After reluctantly leaving the lemon tree, Gu Ran planned to return to the village while it was still early.
But when passing by the fairy grass, he stopped and picked all the fresh stems and leaves.
Although the cactus can grow and be harvested, it is already mid-September. After October, the cactus will basically no longer grow new leaves and will only wither. It will not sprout and grow leaves again until the weather warms up next year, so it is best to pick a batch before October.
After picking all the fairy grass in the mountains, I continued on my way without distraction and soon reached the edge of the forest. Looking from a distance between the trees, the first thing I saw was the two acres of green fairy grass planted by my family.
Oh, luckily I planted so much grass jelly in advance, so I can supply the roasted grass jelly that Aunt He and his wife ordered!
Gu Ran raised the corner of his mouth and silently praised himself for his foresight!
After liking, you still have to get to work!
Just like the fairy grass in the mountains, the fairy grass grown in one’s own fields must be harvested as soon as possible, then dried, and then slowly made into roasted fairy grass in the future.
So the next day after returning from the forest, Gu Ran went to his own field to harvest the fairy grass, which looked like weeds to outsiders but was actually a precious treasure.
I used a sickle to harvest manually and it took me an entire morning to harvest only half an acre of land. My waist was tired and sore.
You can't blame her for being slow. After all, she wasn't used to farm work, and she was the only one working on it—oh, not just one person, there was also a cat, a big orange one.
Because his injuries were healed after being taken in by Gu Ran, Daju completely trusted Gu Ran. After he recovered from his injuries, he did not leave and stayed in the small house. He gave Gu Ran the love of a cat every day to win his position in the family. Now he has become the second owner of the small house, responsible for looking after the house when Gu Ran is not around and entertaining guests when Lin Er's wife comes.
Now I follow Gu Ran into the field to enhance my presence.
However, although Daju was present, she did not do any work. She just ran around in the fields, chasing butterflies and insects, so she had to do all the work by herself.
Gu Ran had no choice but to divide the work into two days' worth and take his time without rushing.
Since he was doing such heavy work in the fields, he naturally needed to keep up with the nutrition. It was also approaching autumn, which was the right time to nourish himself, so Gu Ran decided to make a pot of four-ingredient duck soup for himself today.
The so-called Four Substances are Rehmannia glutinosa, Chinese Angelica sinensis, Chuanxiong and White Peony Root.
Wrap these four herbs in cotton cloth, put them into the pot with the duck meat, and simmer for one and a half hours on low heat to make a four-ingredient duck soup with light meat and rich flavor.
Of course, the duck meat that Gu Ran used to make duck soup was not the Muscovy duck that she had eaten before, but the wild duck that she had hunted in the wetland.
She had tasted the wild duck meat before and it was quite delicious, and the skin and meat were as tough as those of an old duck, so it would probably be suitable for making soup.
Chop the duck meat into large pieces and put it into the jar with the medicine bag. Simmer it on low heat for an hour and a half. Simply add a little salt and it's done.
Simple and authentic.
The aroma of the mixture of medicinal herbs and duck meat after stewing is mouth-watering. A bite of duck meat is rich and sweet, and a sip of sweet soup is rich and deep-rooted. It is so joyful and satisfying to eat.
This nutritious tonic soup took quite a long time to cook. Before Gu Ran had finished eating, the courtyard door was knocked open by Mrs. Lin Er.
"Gu Er, are you at home?"
"Here I am! I just made a pot of duck soup today. Sister Lin, would you like to try it?"
"No, I just finished my meal!"
"It's okay, just a mouthful of soup, drink it like water. You've been making clothes for me these days, thank you for your hard work!"
Gu Ran insisted on thanking Mrs. Lin Er and handed her a bowl full of soup.
When Mrs. Lin saw it, she realized it was nothing like water. It was filled with duck meat.
She couldn't help but glance at Gu Ran. Gu Ran smiled and nodded at her, then handed her a pair of chopsticks: "Would you like to try my cooking skills?"
Unable to refuse the kind invitation, Mrs. Lin ate it.
"Oh, that's really sweet!"
"That's right."
While Mrs. Lin was drinking her soup, Gu Ran packed up and planned to take a nap, avoiding the hottest hours of the sun before continuing to work in the fields.
The autumn heat these days is quite severe.
"Gu Er, do you want to harvest the vegetables grown in your field?" asked Lin Ersao.
She didn't recognize the fairy grass and thought it was some kind of agricultural product only found in the north that the wife of the Marquis brought from the capital.
"ah."
Gu Ran didn't explain either.
"Can you do it alone?" Mrs. Lin asked as she drank her soup. "Do you want me to call my husband or uncle to help?"
Village chief Wu has three sons and one daughter. Mrs. Lin Ersao married Lin Erlang, the second son of the Lin family. She also has a younger brother-in-law. As for her younger sister-in-law, she is Xiaolan, whom Gu Ran has met.
"Hey, I can finish the work of two acres of land by myself." Gu Ran said confidently.
"How long will it take?"
"I'll be done with it tomorrow."
"Huh?" It was only two days of farm work, so Mrs. Lin gave up.
When Gu Ran went to the fields to harvest the fairy grass wearing a bamboo hat again, Shen Er, the curious son of the Shen family, came over to take a look.
"Mrs. Gu, are you really going to take these grasses home to eat?"
"yes!"
Gu Ran bent down and was busy harvesting, without even looking at me.
"How to eat?" Shen Erlang began to take it seriously.
Ever since the official revealed at the Shen family that Gu Er Niang was the wife of a marquis in the capital, the people in Xiaxi Village, including the Shen family, couldn't help but look up to Gu Ran.
Mr. Shen even went to the county town to inquire about it. In addition, he had heard a lot of rumors from the capital when he was in Suzhou and Hangzhou. He knew a little more than the people in Xiaxi Village. He knew the story of the real and fake daughter of the Ningyuan Marquis's Mansion, and he also knew some inside information about Gu Erniang being exiled to Fujian because of Prime Minister Qin.
"Prime Minister Qin? Is that the Prime Minister who died by hitting a pillar this year?"
"It is this Lord Qin."
"Second Lady Gu is the wife of Prime Minister Qin. Why was she banished to Xiaxi Village alone?"
"I heard that after the Qin family arrived in Puzhou, they divorced Gu Erniang."
"Then you wouldn't be sent to this place, would you?"
"It seems like something happened during the exile, so this is what happened!"
"What's going on? What's going on?"
"Well, if I knew what it was, I wouldn't tell you what it was!"
In a nutshell, no matter whether it was the controversy over the real and fake daughter of the Marquis' Mansion, or the divorce of Qin Xiang's wife, or something that happened during the exile, to now that Xia Xi Village dared to enter the miasma forest alone, the Shen family no longer dared to underestimate Gu Er Niang.
Shen Erlang is also included in the Shen family.
Tsk tsk, seeing that Gu Er Niang is thinner than any other lady in the village, one might think she is nothing special. Who would have known that her life story is so tortuous?
So when Gu Ran said that this grass was edible, he started to take it seriously. He even pinched a piece, put it in his mouth and chewed it, and then spat it out with a sound of "Puh". "Hey, this grass is not tasty. It needs to be cooked before eating."
Gu Ran glanced at Shen Erlang and couldn’t help but smile.
"Come on, outsiders won't make this kind of grass, so don't bother with it."
"You're the only one who can do it?"
"certainly."
"Hey, then tell me how to do it?"
"A secret recipe passed down from my ancestors, I have nothing to tell you."
Okay, then I won’t ask.
When Chen Erlang saw the big orange cat playing happily in the field, he couldn't help but feel the urge to pet the cat. However, his outstretched hand was slapped back by the big orange cat with one claw. He was so disappointed that he had to leave in disappointment.
After harvesting the fairy grass in the field, Gu Ran washed the newly picked young leaves, placed them on a bamboo winnowing basket, and placed them in the patio together with other dried goods to be dried.
Then he made another batch of grass jelly and sent it to the dock.
The taro balls and grass jelly sold at the Zhu couple's porridge shop are selling very well. Gu Ran originally thought that this business might have to stop at the beginning of November, but Aunt He said that the county pier is open until the end of November, so they will close the porridge stall at the end of November every year.
After the Lantern Festival the following year, the wharf will immediately reopen to traffic, so it will only be closed for one and a half months during the winter.
This is probably because of the climate in Fujian. Even if the temperature is low enough to snow, the ice on the rivers and seas will melt quickly, so the ice can be melted and navigation can be resumed at an extremely fast speed.
Since the Zhu couple wanted to do it until that time, it meant that she would have to supply them with her herbal jelly for two more months. Gu Ran had no worries about not having herbal jelly on hand, so naturally she wasn't worried about it running out of stock.
Knowing that the grass jelly would always be available, Aunt He and her husband smiled.
This roasted grass jelly is a new delicacy that is unique in the county. It is selling well now. It would be best if it can be sold for a longer period of time and more money can be made.
After finding out the supply of grass jelly, Gu Ran would not forget to cook grass jelly when he was free at the cottage. At least he would prepare a batch in advance and store it in space grid No. 8 to avoid being out of stock when the Zhu couple needed it.
By the end of the month, the clothes, shoes and hats that Lin Ersao had sewn for her were all finished. Gu Ran had tried them one by one and found them to be fitting and comfortable to wear, so she put them away without hesitation.
As Gu Ran counted her wages, Sister-in-law Lin Er asked hesitantly, "Gu Er, didn't I tell you before that we'll hire workers to pick oranges in the orchard? Do you still want to go?"
People from the capital, the ladies of the marquis's mansion, probably wouldn't look down on the few dollars earned from picking oranges, right?
But she dared to enter such a dangerous place as the miasma forest, just to hunt wild animals and sell them for money. Then picking oranges is much easier than entering the miasma forest. Perhaps, she also wants to earn this money?
Moreover, it seems that she doesn't go to the county town to make a living as much as before. Is her livelihood not good?
He had no idea that the reason why Gu Ran went to the county town less often was because after cooperating with Aunt He, Mrs. Lin Er, who was only responsible for providing roasted grass jelly, was caught in a dilemma after a misunderstanding.
"Go pick oranges? Yes, of course." Gu Ran's eyes immediately brightened.
Yes, it is already October, and the early-ripening varieties of oranges have reached the harvest season and can be picked.
Going to the orange orchard, you can not only pick oranges, but also buy a batch of the freshest oranges immediately.
Gu Ran subconsciously glanced at the red tangerines in his own garden.
Well, it blooms late and bears fruit slowly. The oranges harvested now are still half green and half yellow. If you want to eat them, you have to wait for some time. Naturally, it is better to go to other people’s orange orchards to taste them.
"Okay then. I'll talk to the owner of the orange orchard and get your name in the mail."
"good."
Three days later, Mrs. Lin came to find Gu Ran and went to the orange orchard to pick oranges.
The orange orchard was in Donglin Township. Like Lin Ersao and Gu Ran, there were also two sisters from another family in the same village who worked in the orange orchard. They were the wife of Aunt Yang, who had rented an acre of paddy field from her family.
The elder sister is called Jinling and the younger sister is called Yinling.
She sat quietly on the donkey cart heading to the orange orchard, occasionally glancing at Gu Ran and Lin Ersao. Apart from greeting them at the beginning, she didn't say a word.
Instead, Mrs. Lin introduced Gu Ran to the precautions of the orange orchard along the way.
Gu Ran just listened and nodded.
The owner of the orange orchard is surnamed Liu, so he is called Liu Dongjia. His family bought a hill in Donglin Township and planted orange trees there. It is said that there are probably thousands of trees.
The oranges picked during the annual harvest are not only shipped to foreign countries by sea, but also sent north by sea to various cities for sale. It is said that the best variety, called the Fuju, is even presented as tribute to the emperor in the palace.
When talking about Mr. Liu, we have to mention the ferry in Donglin Township.
Liu Dongjia made a lot of money selling oranges and was one of the richest men in the area. The ferry was originally built by Liu Dongjia so that his oranges could be transported east to the provincial capital and south to the port.
Seeing that Liu Dongjia became rich by growing oranges, other families also started growing oranges.
Coincidentally, the climate here is also suitable for the growth of orange trees. The oranges grown here are as sweet and juicy as sugarcane and honey pomelo. Gradually, oranges have become a major economic crop in the area.
Whether it is Mr. Liu or other owners, every year when the orange trees begin to harvest, due to the shortage of manpower, they will look for guys who are responsible for picking oranges. They can get a wage of 25 cents a day, which is considered very generous.
Therefore, many people were vying for this job, and the reason why Gu Ran got this job was naturally because of the favor given by Liu Dongjia to the village chief Wu of Xiaxi Village.
When Gu Ran arrived at the orange orchard, he saw the orange trees hanging on the mountain from afar, and he couldn't help but feel excited.
Wow, I haven’t seen so many orange trees in a long time. My heart is beating faster just looking at them.
At the foot of the mountain is the farm built by the Liu family. When you walk to the front of the farm, there is a manager who welcomes those who come to do work.
After registering their names and giving them baskets, the manager asked another junior manager from the orchard to take them into the mountains.
Before letting them carry their baskets and go to pick fruit from the trees, since it was Ran's first time there, the guy gave her the secret of how to pick oranges, obviously because he was afraid that she didn't understand and would damage the oranges.
Gu Ran listened carefully and found that the method was similar to the one he knew for picking oranges.
Well, Gu Ran knew how to pick oranges quickly and well, because in her first life, her family, her dear parents, ran an orchard, and the most common tree they planted was orange.
What a coincidence, isn’t it?
It is precisely because of this that Gu Ran, who was raised with oranges since childhood, loves to eat oranges and loves the aroma of oranges the most.
The orange tree is her lifelong love tree!
After a long separation, seeing so many love trees at once, her heart couldn't help but beat faster.
After entering the mountain, they were taken to the same orchard area by the steward, and then Jinling and Yinling separated from them. Like Lin Er's wife, this was not their first time picking oranges, so they were very experienced and went to find the fruit trees where the oranges were ripe.
Gu Ran is naturally in the same group with Lin Ersao so that they can cooperate with each other.
Orange trees generally do not grow too tall, and in order to produce more oranges, the trees are kept between two and three meters tall, and side branches that can produce more fruit are retained as much as possible, which makes picking convenient within this range.
Gu Ran, carrying a basket, quickly chose a tree with many oranges hanging on it with Mrs. Lin Er, and started picking one each.
To pick oranges, you must first learn how to select them. The ones that can be picked are generally those with golden or orange-red skin. When picking, hold the branch firmly with one hand and hold the orange with the other hand and rotate it to the left or right. After rotating it twice, you can pick it without damaging the branch or the orange.
Generally, mature oranges can be easily picked from the branches using this method. For strong ones, you only need to use scissors to cut them from the fruit stalk.
It was probably because there were many hired hands in the orange orchard and the number of scissors available was limited. The manager had been instructed that the oranges that could not be picked by hand should be left on the trees, and that later, workers with scissors would come and pick those that had slipped through the net one by one.
After Gu Ranling's basket was full, he and Lin Ersao carried the oranges to the orange collection base in the forest. There were special guys there to record whether someone picked one basket or two baskets, and so on.
There is usually such a collection point every two or three hundred meters. If two people's baskets are full, when they carry the oranges to the collection point, they can exchange them for empty baskets to continue picking.
After collecting a certain number of oranges at the collection base, all the oranges will be pulled to the warehouse in the forest with a donkey cart.
Mr. Liu will provide a meal to the guys who come to the woods to pick oranges, and they can also pick it up at this collection point.
Gu Ran and Lin Ersao worked for a while, and after picking six baskets full, they were starving, so they went to the collection point to get their share of food.
It was lunchtime, and many hired men were queuing up for lunch. Gu Ran observed and saw that there were many people, young and old, men and women.
Gu Ran and Lin Er's wife were queuing. The woman who got the food at the front turned around and happened to meet her eyes.
Gu Ran was stunned for a moment, then slowly forced a smile: "Sixth Mother, what a coincidence?"
Tsk tsk, isn’t this the sixth lady of the Pei family who hasn’t been seen for a long time, her accomplice on the road to exile?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
