Chapter 59
Seeing Pei Liuniang's dazed look, Gu Ran suddenly paid special attention to the red tangerine she had moved out of the workshop, and his heart skipped a beat.
She won't notice anything, will she?
But, it shouldn't be a problem. Pei Liuniang went to the orange orchard to pick oranges. She might not be able to recognize all the oranges grown in Fujian. There are so many in the citrus family!
Pei Liuniang came back to her senses, glanced at Gu Ran, saw her waving at her, and noticed two more strangers, so she walked over slowly.
"This is Wu, the village chief of our Xiaxi Village. Liuniang, come and say hello to her."
Pei Liuniang was stunned at this. She looked at Village Chief Wu for a second longer and said respectfully, "Hello, Village Chief Wu!"
Pei Liuniang, who had just emerged from the bath, had wandered outside the courtyard, but her body was still drenched in moisture, leaving her pretty face flushed like a lotus after rain. This stunned Lin Ersao, and even the supposedly knowledgeable Village Chief Wu was taken aback for a moment. After recovering his senses, he stammered a bit before replying, "Well, you, you too!"
"Well, Liu Niang, do you like papaya? If you do, I'll wash it and we can sit together and eat it." Gu Ran put down the big orange in his hand, invited both parties to go into the main hall, and took the basket from Lin Ersao's hand.
Mrs. Lin grabbed the fruit basket and said, "Let me wash the papayas. Gu Er, you can go and deal with Pei Liuniang!"
What else can the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law say to Pei Liuniang?
Gu Er must be there to accompany her so that her mother-in-law can have a good chat with Pei Liuniang.
Gu Ran had no choice but to take Village Chief Wu and Pei Liuniang back to the main hall.
Village Chief Wu had regained his composure by then. He glanced at Pei Liuniang again and asked Gu Erniang with a smile, "I heard from Ah Yu that you two are good sisters. Gu Erniang, have you known Pei Liuniang for a long time?"
"Well, it's been quite a while. We met on the road of exile."
Village Chief Wu was the person in charge of monitoring him every month on behalf of the Yongchang County government, so he knew the inside story early on. It was estimated that Lin Ersao had mentioned this to her after she returned. Knowing that Pei Liuniang was also an exile, Gu Ran did not intend to hide it.
"Oh, who is Pei Liuniang from?" Village Chief Wu understood and went to ask Pei Liuniang.
"Zhengzhou." Considering her status as the village chief, Pei Liuniang, who was very frugal with her words, had a good attitude and uttered two words softly.
"Zhengzhou!" Village Chief Wu nodded. "Have you and your family settled in Qinghuai Village now?"
Pei Liuniang frowned slightly, not understanding why the village chief came to her house in person when he just came to Xiaxi Village to stay for one night... Oh, no, was it because he asked her so many questions while delivering papaya to Gu Er?
Pei Liuniang glanced at Village Chief Wu, unsure whether it was out of concern or for some other purpose. She then glanced at Gu Ran who was sitting beside her and explained, "No, it's just me. My family is all dead."
Village Chief Wu was stunned and looked at Gu Ran.
She didn't understand. Those who were exiled were usually either criminals who had committed crimes or the family members of criminals who were implicated like Gu Er Niang.
But Pei Liuniang looks two or three years younger than Gu Erniang. Her whole family is dead, so why was she exiled?
After all, he was the leader who had experienced many hardships. Village Chief Wu vaguely guessed that something was wrong, so he didn't ask any more questions. He just drank tea slowly with Gu Er Niang. After Lin Ersao washed the papaya, he said goodbye and went home on the pretext that it was getting late.
After Gu Ran sent the two out, he felt relieved and returned to the main hall. Seeing Pei Liuniang still sitting upright, staring at the papaya on the table in a daze, he asked, "Do you want some?"
Pei Liuniang looked up at Gu Ran and said hesitantly, "This is what they gave you to eat."
"There are so many, I can't finish them all by myself. I can share them with you, or I can give you a few to take back to Qinghuai Village to eat."
Gu Ran said as he picked out a few large papayas with thin skins and stuffed them in front of Pei Liuniang. "You're still growing up, right? I heard that eating more papayas is good for our wife."
"What's good about it?" Pei Liuniang was confused.
Gu Ran stared at her ordinary breasts and gave her a knowing smile.
Unexpectedly, after Pei Liuniang realized what was happening, her face turned even redder, and she covered her mouth as if she was shy. "I, I'm going to bed first." Then she hurriedly left the main hall and returned to the west wing as if she was escaping, without even taking a papaya.
Oh!
Even though it's not simple at all, I'm still a little girl after all. How could I feel so embarrassed when talking about this?
Gu Ran didn't care. He looked down at his own and reached out to touch it.
Well, slightly smaller.
I don't know if he was originally small, or if he became smaller because of the hardships he suffered in exile.
Then she needs to make up for it too.
So I finished eating a papaya before going to wash up and go to bed.
The next day, Pei Liuniang regained her calm expression and went to Donglin Township with Gu Ran and others to pick oranges again.
Because this time she came with Gu Ran and Lin Er's wife, the manager of the villa arranged for Pei Liuniang to pick fruit in the same orchard as them. When they were carrying baskets and following the manager into the mountain, they saw a few people outside the garden. They didn't look like servants hired by Liu Dongjia, nor did they look like relatives of the Liu family. They looked enviously at the orange trees in the mountain, with sad and grief-stricken faces, and no one knew why.
This group of people was too conspicuous, so Gu Ran couldn't help but take a few more glances at them, and Pei Liuniang also glanced at them and frowned.
Gu Ran, who had just turned around, noticed Pei Liuniang's expression. Just as he was about to say something, the steward of the villa he had just met came over cheerfully: "Oh, it's Master Zhu. Come this way, please."
The leader, who was dressed elegantly, was probably one of Master Zhu's men. He nodded to the steward and said, "Did Master Liu tell you everything?"
"I told you, come here, our master has already said that if Master Zhu comes, we must treat him well."
The man called Master Zhu stopped talking and followed the steward to the villa. As they walked, he asked, "Are the orange trees in your orange orchard okay this year?"
"No, what could be the problem? You can see it all at a glance. Our orange orchard has a bumper harvest this year." The steward smiled widely. "Master, please buy as many oranges as you want from us. We are sure we can provide you with them."
It turned out that he came to buy oranges for Mr. Liu. He seems to be a big customer!
Gu Ran was thinking this in his heart. Second Sister Lin kept looking back at the group heading to the other end of the villa. She was puzzled: "That's not right. Why would Master Zhu come to buy oranges from Mr. Liu's family?"
"What? Mr. Liu has such a big orange orchard with so many oranges, but he doesn't let people come to buy oranges?" Gu Ran said casually as he walked into the orchard.
"But, the Zhu family also grows oranges!"
Gu Ran was stunned.
After Liu Dongjia made his fortune by growing oranges, many people in the surrounding area followed his example and started growing oranges. The Zhu family was one of them. They planted quite a few orange trees. The Zhu family's orchard was also close to the Liu family's orchard. They bought a small hill just three miles away to plant oranges.
"So, the Zhu family clearly has an orange orchard similar to the Liu family's, and they probably harvest plenty of oranges themselves. Why would they still buy oranges from the Liu family?"
Mrs. Lin was puzzled, and Gu Ran was also curious.
Just like her parents, after they started running their own orange orchard, they never bought oranges from other places. The oranges they produced were not only enough to sell, but also enough for their own consumption. Why would they need to do big business with others for oranges?
"Did the Zhu family take on a big order, and their own orange production is insufficient, so they have to seek external help?"
After Gu Ran said this, he felt that something was wrong, because Mr. Zhu’s expression just now was not the joy of receiving a big order.
"no."
Pei Liuniang denied Gu Ran's speculation with just one sentence.
"Pei Liuniang, do you know what's going on?"
Pei Liuniang nodded.
"The Zhu family's orange tree didn't produce any oranges this year. It's gone bad."
Gu Ran was surprised, and Mrs. Lin was also stunned.
"That's impossible! I went to Mr. Zhu's orange orchard to pick oranges last year, and they were all fine. Why are they not fine this year?"
"Otherwise, why would he come to Liu's orange orchard in person to buy oranges?" Pei Liuniang asked back.
"What's going on?" Orange lovers couldn't help but ask.
"The Zhu family's oranges are also sold north and Southeast Asia. I guess a customer had previously placed a large order. Now that the Zhu family's orange trees are no longer bearing fruit, they naturally have no choice but to buy oranges from the largest Liu family orange orchard to meet the demand."
"Aren't orange trees guaranteed to bear oranges? How come it suddenly stops bearing fruit?" Mrs. Lin wondered.
"Maybe the fruit tree is sick, or something went wrong during the planting process?" Gu Ran speculated.
"Maybe there are too many people growing oranges, which has led to a drop in the price of oranges and too much competition, so the rivals are trying to make things difficult for us," said Pei Liuniang.
After saying this, the two looked at each other and turned to look for fruit trees with ripe fruits.
After all, she was just a hired hand to pick oranges, or just a customer who occasionally bought oranges. So she would not interfere in such vicious competition between orchard owners without knowing her own limitations. So she just listened to the story of the Zhu family orange orchard and let it go.
Gu Ran and Lin Ersao picked oranges in Liu's orange orchard for three days. After picking all the early-ripe oranges, they wanted to work here again, but they had to wait until the next round of oranges were ripe and ready to be picked.
After settling her wages with the manager of the villa, Gu Ran asked how many baskets of oranges she wanted to buy and how much each pound would cost.
"If you want to buy oranges, you should have bought them two days earlier. Of the oranges picked today, our master wants to keep half and let Master Zhu buy the other half. You'd better wait for the next batch later!"
Gu Ran had no choice but to give up.
Okay, all the Liu family’s oranges have been bought, so she can just go buy oranges from other places, right?
"Mrs. Lin, do you know any shops in the surrounding area that sell oranges?"
Mrs. Lin was still counting on her fingers when Pei Liuniang spoke up: "The Zeng family in Zhangli Township also has an orchard growing oranges, but it's not as big as the Liu and Zhu families. They have an orchard about half as big, but it's not harvest time yet. There's also a family surnamed Hu in Changqiao Village who has a smaller orange orchard. These are the only families in Yongchang County that grow oranges on a large scale. Other villages just plant a few trees to make a living. For example, two families in Qinghuai Village have four or five orange trees. And then there are people from other counties..."
When Pei Liuniang wanted to continue speaking, she saw Gu Ran looking at her in surprise. She realized that she had let the cat out of the bag and stopped talking immediately.
"Sixth Mother, do you know which family in other counties grows oranges? You know much more than me, a local!" Lin Ersao was also amazed.
That is, why does Pei Liuniang know so much about the families who grow oranges in this area?
Did you conduct a special investigation?
Why is that?
Pei Liuniang paused, then looked at Gu Ran and said, "If you don't have a place to buy oranges, I can help you find them."
"Sure. If Liu Niang sees some good quality oranges, you can buy me two big baskets and I will pay you!" Gu Ran said with a smile.
Today is their last day working in Donglin Township. Pei Liuniang is going back to Qinghuai Village and will not be traveling with them.
After Gu Ran said goodbye to Pei Liuniang, he left with Lin Ersao and the Yang sisters in a donkey cart.
Pei Liuniang watched the donkey cart carrying them leave, a trace of reluctance flashed across her eyes. She watched them go farther and farther away until they disappeared. Her originally relaxed expression gradually became cold.
Gu Ran on the donkey cart breathed a sigh of relief. He had been picking oranges for three days and now he could finally take a good rest when he got home.
The same was true for Mrs. Lin and the Yang sisters.
Mrs. Lin Er even leaned against her while sitting, and said quietly: "I don't know if I can see Pei Liuniang next time when I come to pick oranges! Gu Er, she is also a young lady living in Qinghuai Village. Why don't you invite her to visit our Xiaxi Village more often!" That way she can see such a beautiful girl often.
"Why, isn't Village Chief Wu going to arrange for your brother-in-law to meet her?" Gu Ran joked, "By then, she'll be your sister-in-law, so you'll be able to see her every day."
"Don't mention it. My mother-in-law said that Pei Liuniang is too pretty and she's afraid that it will affect my uncle's chances of getting into school."
"So your uncle is also greedy for beautiful women?"
"Needless to say? My uncle has very high standards!" Mrs. Lin said proudly. "My uncle has been smart since he was young. He's the most advanced in the Lin family. He's currently studying in the county town, and the teachers are always praising him as a promising young man with a bright future. Mother-in-law even plans to wait two years and send him to Damao City to become an apprentice!"
"Oh!" Gu Ran remembered the big town he passed through during his exile.
"You know, there are many prestigious universities in Damao City. My uncle said he wants to go to Shenglin Academy. It's a place where the most talented people in the world gather. Even the emperor in the capital prefers scholars who have studied at Shenglin Academy when selecting talents. If my uncle can get in, he will be a disciple of the emperor in the future."
"So powerful? Then your uncle shouldn't have any trouble finding a wife, right?"
"My mother-in-law said the same thing!" Mrs. Lin sighed.
Gu Ran smiled and glanced at the Yang sisters. When they heard Lin Ersao talking about Lin Sanlang, they pricked up their ears and looked over here from time to time. When they realized that Gu Ran had noticed them, they sat back down in a panic.
Lin Jia Sanlang must be a popular guy in the village, right?
The two sisters of the Yang family are old enough to get married, so it is natural that they would subconsciously pay attention to the most outstanding man in their village.
Gu Ran didn't care. After returning to the cottage, he enjoyed the loving caress of Daju, casually took out the prepared cooked food from the compartment of space No. 8 as dinner, and after a simple wash, he had a good rest.
The next day, I originally wanted to sleep until noon, but seeing that the sun was shining brightly outside, I decided not to be lazy. I got up and did all the work I had to do before lying down again.
Although most of the leather was given to Lin Ersao to make fur coats for herself, the remaining leather still had to be well maintained before being sold, and the batch that was tanned later also had to be dried in the sun.
Next are the dried goods such as angelica, lemon slices, persimmons, etc.
The dried grass jelly made from the dried grass jelly has less grassy taste, is lighter and easier to store.
The lemons are sliced and dried, naturally to be used for making tea in the future, but I also plan to store some dried goods;
As for persimmons, of course it is best to dry them into dried persimmon cakes.
There are also dried beans, dried radishes, etc., which were all bought by Gu Ran after the seasonal vegetables were on the market in September and October.
Seeing that the sun is getting colder day by day, she also plans to make some dried meat, smoked meat, etc. for the winter, so she is very busy.
Space grid No. 8 can keep the objects placed in the space in their original state, fresh, sweet, cold, hot. But if you want different flavors, some pickled vegetables, sauces, as well as dried goods, etc., you still need to make them yourself first.
Speaking of space grids, it seemed like she hadn't drawn a card for a long time. Gu Ran glanced at the points in the workshop.
Well, an update notification has been popping up next to the points column for a long time. Looking at the points, it’s almost 200 points.
She remembered that if she wanted to draw a space card now, she would need about 120 points, right?
However, she currently has a very suitable space grid No. 10 and a very practical space grid No. 8, which is enough for her as a single girl.
Although I am curious about what the next space will be, there is no rush. I will slowly draw when I have time. Maybe I can open two space grids at a time!
After Gu Ran washed and hung up the clothes she had taken off yesterday, she looked up at the still warm sun with her skirt flying up.
Today is a good day to relax and pet cats and read storybooks. While the weather is still hot, you can also nibble on some chicken feet!
It is pickled with fresh lemons, and is specially frozen and stored in the space No. 8!
Chicken feet are what is left after the chicken is chopped up when you eat it. There are pheasant feet caught in the woods, and there are also chicken feet bought from domestic chickens. As they are stored for a long time, there will be more of them.
In my spare time, I can make Baiyun chicken feet, tiger skin chicken feet, and braised chicken feet. After picking lemons, I also made some lemon chicken feet.
Wash the chicken feet, cut off the nails and chop them into several pieces - larger pieces are more chewy and chewy, while smaller pieces are more flavorful. It's up to you to choose.
Then put it in a pot with cold water, cook it with ginger slices, scallion roots and rice wine over high heat for a quarter of an hour, skim off the foam, and then simmer it over medium heat. After taking it out, soak it in iced water for a while to make the meat more smooth and crispy.
The other thing is to deal with the lemon.
When cleaning lemons, it is best to rub the skin with salt, wash it clean, then slice it, remove all the seeds inside, squeeze out some of the juice to make sauce, and keep the rest of the slices and mix them with chicken feet.
Mix the chicken feet, lemon and the prepared sauce evenly, put it in an ice container and you can eat it at any time.
Today, Gu Ran took out a food box of lemon chicken feet, poured out a small bowl, and put the rest back.
If you feel that the taste is not good enough, you can add some chili, sesame oil, or sesame seeds and peanuts.
However, she felt that the chicken feet tasted very good just as they were, so she didn't do anything else. She just ate the chicken feet, drank tea, and read the storybooks she bought from the county bookstore, and spent a beautiful and relaxing afternoon.
What’s even more comfortable is that even the big orange cat is squatting nearby, and you can pet it from time to time. It’s truly a wonderful thing.
Gu Ran felt that she could lie down like this forever, but she still had to live her life well after recharging. The next day, she arranged to send another batch of roasted grass jelly to the county town, and by the way, see if the oranges were on the market and which oranges were better.
Only with oranges can she eat oranges, dry orange peels, and make orange jam!
When they heard that Gu Ran wanted to buy oranges, Aunt He and Uncle He shook their heads repeatedly: "Second Aunt Gu, if you want to buy oranges, it's best to wait a while."
"That's right. After a while, when there are more oranges, the price will be cheaper. Now oranges are just starting to come on the market, and each one costs more than ten cents. It's not worth buying now."
That’s indeed the case.
But Gu Ran wanted to try something new, so he went to the market.
After the harvest, the market had a large number of ripe fresh fruits and vegetables, and Gu Ran naturally began the process of buying and stocking up his own space.
Just as she was happily putting the piles of vegetables she had bought into the wooden barrel that she had been carrying the roasted grass jelly in, she unexpectedly saw Xu Sanlang again in the market. He seemed to be shopping as well, and there were many servants following him, carrying large and small baskets.
"Xu Sanlang?"
"Gu Erniang!"
Xu Sanlang also saw Gu Erniang and nodded to her as a greeting. After instructing the steward beside him, he walked over to Gu Ran and asked, "What goodies did you bring to set up your stall?"
"It's nothing special. I just came here to sell some food."
Gu Ran saw the servants that Xu Sanlang had brought with him. They had mostly collected fruits, and he noticed a few baskets of oranges among them. "Xu Sanlang, are you buying oranges too?"
"Of course we have to buy oranges. Don't you know how much these oranges would be worth if they were shipped north and sold?" Xu Sanlang said proudly. He reached into the basket and grabbed an orange, tossing it around and laughing. "This is a rare treat that only the wealthy families in the north can afford."
Gu Ran knew this.
The four-season climate in Fujian is suitable for growing many fruits. Even in autumn, many kinds of fruits can be harvested one after another. However, it is different in the north. It is cold in the north. Although oranges can be grown, the taste of oranges is not as sweet and delicious as those grown in the south. It is said that delicious oranges are rarely seen in the capital and the west, so they are often regarded as elegant and precious fruits.
Oranges from the south are transported to the north and are definitely loved by the wealthy and powerful.
Since Xu Sanlang had come to Fujian, he wanted to purchase supplies and transport them back to Zhengzhou for sale, so it was natural that he took a fancy to oranges.
He had been traveling around recently and heard that there were many families growing oranges in Yongchang County, so he naturally came here in person.
"I originally wanted to place an order with the largest Liu Family Orange Mountain and Zhu Family Orange Orchard, but this year the Zhu Family Orange Orchard hasn't produced any fruit, and most of the Liu Family Orange Orchard's oranges have already been reserved. I can only buy them sporadically to get enough so I can ship as soon as possible."
It is now almost late October, and we need to set off as soon as possible to transport the oranges to the north.
Because unlike Fujian, there are still sea routes to the coast. The further north you go, the colder the temperature, and the sooner the rivers on the route will freeze. At that time, sea transportation will not be possible and you can only go by land. Land transportation takes a long time, and oranges are not fruits that can be stored for a long time. If they spend too much time on the road, they will not be fresh when they reach the destination, and some of them may even rot, which will cause great losses.
So when Xu Sanlang wanted to transport the oranges, he had to purchase the first batch as soon as possible and then load the oranges onto the ship and set sail back immediately.
It is estimated that this is the last batch of goods purchased by Xu Sanlang this year.
By early November, the temperature in Fujian officially began to turn cold, but once outside Fujian, the routes to the north would have been frozen, and even the mountain roads would have been difficult to travel on, forcing businesses to close.
After exchanging a few words with Xu Sanlang and walking around the market a few times, Gu Ran left the county town after buying the ingredients he wanted.
It seems that before the weather gets completely cold, she should go into the mountains to do some shopping as soon as possible. When the price of fur returns to normal, she can buy more and save more money to build the windmill.
Because November is also the deadline that Master Huang promised to deliver the windmill.
It’s impossible to move the windmill back to Xiaxi Village and then have no place to put it, right?
Otherwise, how can we try to see whether the windmill works or not?
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