Chapter 82
Two days after catching the thief, Gu Ran collected the dried fairy grass, moved the recently ground konjac and the unprocessed konjac onto the donkey cart, and drove the donkey cart to the county town.
She had to sell the fairy grass to the He family, and she also planned to add a kind of dessert to the He family's stall. It depended on whether He Qinghuan wanted to do this business with her.
When they arrived at the He family on Qili Street, Aunt He saw that it was Gu Ran who came to visit, and she warmly welcomed her in.
At this time, Uncle He and his eldest nephew went to the dock to set up a stall, and Aunt He and his eldest aunt also went to the provincial school to set up a stall. Now the two stalls of the He family have been in business for more than half a year and have become the most important source of income for the He family. Because Gu Ran continued to deliver fairy grass to the He family's mansion, the He family became familiar with Gu Ran. If Uncle He, Aunt He, or He Qinghuan were not there, it would be Uncle He and Aunt He who would greet Gu Ran.
As soon as Gu Ran's donkey cart pulled into the house, Aunt He called Uncle He to help unload the herb from the cart. She was about to settle the bill with Gu Ran, saying, "By the way, Aunt Gu, our niece Huanhuan said she wanted to see you deliver the herb to our family, and she asked us to keep you here. She has something important to discuss with you."
"What a coincidence! I also happen to have something I want to discuss with Huanhuan."
"That's great. Your village is far away, so why don't you stay at our He's house for dinner and a night?"
"How can I do that?" Gu Ran shook his head and waved his hands. "We can have a meal together. I can talk about my relationship with Huanhuan while we eat, but there's no need to stay overnight. I can just find a room in an inn outside."
Because he had thought about talking to He Qinghuan about konjac snacks early in the morning, and He Qinghuan usually had to go to school, so if he wanted to see her, he had to wait until she got home from school to talk, so Gu Ran had already planned to stay in the county town for one night.
The He family's house looked spacious, but it was actually occupied by four families, and the side rooms were probably also very compact, so she didn't want to cause more trouble for the He family.
After Uncle He finished moving the fairy grass, he saw something inside the donkey cart that looked like taro and something he had never seen before. There was also a wooden barrel. He asked, "Second Aunt Gu, what's in there? Are you selling it to us too?"
"Oh, don't move those things yet. Can I leave my donkey cart at your house first?"
Gu Ran also planned to go shopping and buy some delicious food when he went to the inn to book a room. It was not convenient to drive a donkey cart, and it would not be cheaper to leave the food in the inn under the care of the He family.
"Sure, go ahead and do whatever you want. We're not going to lose your donkey cart, are we?"
So Gu Ran rested at the He family for a while, told Uncle He and Aunt He that he would be back at dinner time, and then went out.
The commercial market was only two streets away from the He family's house in the south of the city. Gu Ran walked along the way and looked for restaurants with various kinds of food. After buying the food he liked, he carried it in his hands, planning to put the food into the workshop after entering the room of the inn.
After shopping so much that he became a frequent visitor to the inn, Gu Ran decided to book a room in the inn.
Whenever she came to the county town to spend the night, she would stay at the Changlai Inn.
This time too.
However, when I entered the inn and asked the owner to book a room, I found that the inn seemed a little deserted compared to usual.
There were even people in soapy clothes coming in and out upstairs.
This made Gu Ran alert: "Boss, what happened in your inn?"
"Hey, it's okay, it's over. These officials just came to check on us as a routine." The shopkeeper explained with an apologetic smile, swiftly accepted the rent that Gu Ran handed over, and then gave her a key tag.
"Xiao Guan, why don't you come over and invite this lady to the room?"
"Oh, all right!"
The waiter named Xiaoguan came over and saw that Gu Ran was carrying a lot of bags. He took them attentively, helped her carry them and went upstairs.
When Gu Ran was led to the designated rooms on the second floor, he was stunned when he noticed that one of the rooms was sealed with a government seal.
"Xiao Guan, what's going on in this wing?"
"Hey, it's nothing. A while ago, a guest at the hotel caused trouble and the matter was reported to the authorities. After the police came and dealt with it, they sealed this room off temporarily. It will be fine after a while."
After Xiaoguan brought Gu Ran to the room, he placed all the things on the table and closed the door. "If you have any needs, just tell me, Xiaoguan. We will make sure you feel comfortable staying in our hotel."
Gu Ran nodded to Xiao Guan, then closed the door again, turned around and sorted the things he bought into categories and put them in the workshop. Then he was about to lie down on the couch with his clothes on, but he felt stuffy and hot, so he simply took out a spare wooden barrel from the workshop, poured the ice in space No. 10 into it, piled it up, and put it aside. Then he took a break and took a nap.
When I woke up, I saw that the rosy clouds in the sky had faded and the ice in the wooden barrel that provided cooling air had melted.
After collecting the wooden barrel and asking Xiaoguan to fetch some hot water for washing, Gu Ran prepared to go to the He family to meet Uncle He and Aunt He.
After walking downstairs and back, he saw two sword-wielding constables patrolling nearby. Gu Ran smiled at one of them and said, "Master Wu, are you patrolling this street today?"
"Oh, it's Gu Er Niang. She came into the city today." Little Master Wu also recognized Gu Ran and looked surprised. "What a coincidence?"
"Yes, I live in the inn in front. I didn't expect to run into Master Wu."
Gu Ran still remembers the revenge he suffered from the bandits he provoked on the way to exile. It was thanks to the help of Master Xiao Wu that he was able to avoid it. He has a very good impression of Master Xiao Wu.
"The inn ahead?" Little Master Wu was startled and exchanged glances with his colleague. "Do you come to this inn often?"
"Yes, I always stay there when I come to the city!" Gu Ran saw that they looked unhappy, "Is there a problem?"
"You haven't been to the city recently, so you haven't heard about this!"
"What's up?"
"Hey, someone died in that inn a while ago."
Gu Ran was shocked and immediately thought of what Xiao Guan said, that it was the guests staying in the hotel who were causing trouble. It turned out that someone was killed?
"How did he die?"
"That's hard to say."
"It's hard to say?"
"That's right." Little Master Wu nodded.
"Because the dead weren't just any ordinary civilians, but two individuals of unknown origin. Someone in the inn has deduced from the items left on their bodies that they were the assassins of the notorious Tianzi Number One Thief." Little Master Wu continued to explain, "Now the whole county has spread the news, and everyone knows about it."
Gu Ran's eyelids twitched.
This was not the first time she had heard of the title of the number one thief.
Master Wu looked at Gu Ran. "After this incident became a big deal, our county magistrate took the case and spent a lot of time interrogating guests entering and leaving the Changlai Inn. He also sent more people to patrol the area, fearing that there might be accomplices of the assassin nearby. You actually dared to stay at the Changlai Inn at this time. You are quite brave."
Gu Ran was embarrassed, but then he thought about it and thought, "That assassin came here to kill people, right? How could he die in the inn?"
The two clerks looked at each other and shook their heads.
"Anyway, the city's security has been unstable recently, so you'd better be careful."
"Oh, okay, thank you, Master Wu, for the tip. I have a dinner appointment with Uncle He's family, so I'll be leaving first."
Little Master Wu watched Gu Ran leave. His colleague nudged his arm with his elbow and asked, "Whose wife is this?"
"He's from the county, but he's from Xiaxi Village." Little Master Wu turned around and looked at his colleague. "He's not a suspicious person, so there's no need to write him down."
"Are you sure?"
"Gu Erniang settled in Xiaxi Village last year. She worked at the dock for a while and now runs a stall with the He family there. The grass jelly they sell is made by Gu Erniang's family. They live a respectable life and paid their grain taxes last year. They don't seem like someone who would be associated with assassins," said Little Master Wu. "If you don't believe me, go back to the county government and look up Gu Erniang's household registration information."
"Are you familiar with Gu Erniang?"
"Not very familiar with her, I've only dealt with her a few times. When she first started her business, I was her first customer, I guess."
"oh!"
When Gu Ran returned to the He family, Aunt He and Uncle He had both closed their stalls and returned.
He Qinghuan was said to have returned early in the morning. After hearing Aunt He say that she was going to the He family for dinner, he hurried out and went to the city to buy some dishes for a snack.
Aunt He had already started cooking with Aunt He to prepare a sumptuous meal to entertain Gu Ran. The dish that Gu Ran was most looking forward to was a clear-boiled clams jelly.
She has been in Fujian for so long, but has never eaten this dish!
The toad is one of the Eight Delicacies of Ancient China. It is not an ordinary frog, but a stone frog. In his first life, Gu Ran had never tried to eat this kind of mountain delicacy because it was rare. Only a small amount of stone frogs raised in remote mountainous areas could be eaten.
Therefore, when he traveled to the Great Sheng Dynasty, Gu Ran never thought of eating stone frogs, and this clear-boiled cricket jelly became a dish that he had only heard of but never had. Unexpectedly, he could eat it at Uncle He's house.
Because the stone frog is native to the southern region, it only appears in the north at court banquets, or as a precious game for the powerful to show off their status. But ordinary people like the He family can eat it, which means that the stone frog is not uncommon in Fujian nowadays. In the first life, stone frog was also a delicacy that people in Fujian often made after the summer, but it was given priority to the older or younger generations.
The He family made this clear-boiled cricket jelly for her to eat, which naturally expressed their importance to her.
High-quality ingredients are usually cooked using the simplest methods to produce the most delicious taste.
The same goes for clear-boiled cricket jelly.
After processing the stone frog, put it in a jar, then add clean water, appropriate amount of salt and ginger slices, put it in a large pot, and steam it for one or two hours.
The clear-boiled cricket jelly made in this way is not only nutritious, but also can strengthen the spleen, eliminate accumulation, and relieve summer heat.
When He Qinghuan came back, Second Aunt He and Great Aunt He had brought a table full of seven dishes, and the extra dish she bought was a salted duck.
Sure enough, summer is the most nutritious season to eat duck meat.
With delicious food in front of him, Gu Ran would not be polite.
Because there were many people in the He family, they sat at two tables. Gu Ran, Uncle He, Aunt He, He Qinghuan, and Uncle He and Aunt He sat at one table. The salted duck was divided into two, with half a duck at each table.
Uncle He and Aunt He entertained Gu Ran while they ate, and they soon finished the meal in a lively atmosphere.
After the meal, each person was given a bowl of rice dregs as dessert.
Because Fujian has a large rice production area, there is not only a lot of rice wine brewed from rice and millet, but also a lot of food made with rice as the main ingredient. Rice dregs made by fermenting rice and white koji wine is one of them.
It is a refreshing snack that people in Fujian like to eat during the dog days of summer.
While eating rice glutinous rice, they exchanged pleasantries, and Gu Ran naturally asked about the big event that often happened at the inn.
"Hey, that assassin from the other day, right?" Uncle He shook his head repeatedly, sighing in gloom. "You haven't been to the county recently, so you don't know. Because of this incident, everyone entering and leaving the county has to undergo a thorough investigation by the government before they can be released. They're afraid that there might be another assassin sneaking in."
"real?"
"Of course it's true. Recently, all customers who stay at Changlai's have to check their identities. Oh, by the way, you are going to spend the night in the city, so please don't stay at Changlai's."
"It's too late." Gu Ran said helplessly.
She now knew that the sealed room on the second floor was probably the room where the two assassins died.
"How could the assassins die in the inn's room for no apparent reason? And two of them died, one at a time? Who killed them?"
"We don't know much about it either. It's said that the county magistrate has kept the matter secret from everyone else."
"Does anyone outside know that these two are assassins?"
"Someone who was staying at the hotel at the time told me that he saw some token on the dead body, which proved their identity." The He family members started talking at once.
"The assassin showed up in our county just to kill someone, right?"
"My guess is that the person these two assassins were going to kill noticed it, and then secretly killed them. Well done!"
"The person who can kill both assassins must be extraordinary."
"That's an assassin sent by the most powerful organization in the legend. Is there such a powerful person in our county?"
Everyone thought about it, but no one could come up with an answer.
He Qinghuan nudged her mother at this moment and said, "Mom, should we tell Second Sister Gu about what we're planning?"
"Oh, by the way, I also have something I want to tell you." Gu Ran also said.
"Then, Sister Gu, you speak first?"
Gu Ran did not refuse and asked them to take the konjac off the donkey cart, and then took down the wooden barrel in which the konjac was soaked. Then he talked to them about making konjac snacks.
Uncle He and his family looked at each other and laughed.
"Sister Gu, your konjac arrived just in time," He Qinghuan said. She glanced at her parents, seeing them nod encouragingly, and then added, "We're thinking of renting a shop and continuing our grass jelly business. With the addition of konjac, we'll have even more snacks to sell."
"Hey, are you planning to open a store?" Gu Ran was surprised.
"That's right. It's all thanks to you, Gu Erniang, for cooperating with us in the grass jelly business. Now we have saved a lot of money." Uncle He said with a smile, "So Huanhuan thought, since we can make grass jelly for a long time, why not open a shop in the city? That way we can do more business."
Gu Ran looked at He Qinghuan and said, "That's fine. If we open a shop and sell grass jelly, I can also share the profits."
"Yes, including Konjac's investment fee, I'll give you 30%." He Qinghuan said.
“That stall…”
"Yes, we can keep the stall open and continue to make money. As for the shop, we plan to rent a snack shop near the port in the city. We will make the shop more beautiful so that we can sell a serving of roasted grass jelly at a higher price."
"Fucheng? You're going to Fucheng to open a store?" Gu Ran clicked his tongue.
You haven't even had time to open a store in the county town, and you're already heading to the provincial capital?
"That's right. My father has a stall at the dock in the city, and he also has one near the provincial school. There's no need to open another store. The worst that can happen is that we can hire someone to set up a stall in the market in the commercial district."
And opening a shop is different from setting up a stall.
If you want to set up a stall, you just have to pay the stall fee. But if you open a shop, you have to register with the government and pay taxes. The tax is much more than the stall fee.
Comparing it this way, it is naturally better to set up a stall in the city than to open a store.
"But it's different in the capital city. The port is big, there are many seafarers coming and going, and naturally there are many diners. We can rent a shop there, it doesn't need to be too big, four or five square meters will be enough." It is only worthwhile to pay taxes in your name if you make enough money.
"Then, who will look after the shops in the capital?"
"Our plan is to let your Uncle He continue to run the stall at the dock. As for the stall at the prefectural school, I'll let Aunt He and my uncle's family run it. I'll work with your Second Uncle He to open a shop. My brother lives in the prefectural city, so we can bring them along to do the business. As for growing the fairy grass, I'll let my family grow it."
He Qinghuan explained to Gu Ran, "Because we opened a snack shop in the city, I'm afraid that growing grass jelly here alone is not enough, and it's not convenient to deliver it to the city, so I want to grow grass jelly in the land of our grandfather's house as well!"
"Oh, so everything is arranged?"
"Everything is arranged!"
Gu Ran laughed along with everyone else.
"Then Sister Gu, can you teach my grandfather's family how to grow fairy grass?"
"No problem, no problem, absolutely no problem." Gu Ran nodded. "Then, how do you calculate my share of the money for your shop?"
"We've already checked in the city. The shop's rent is eight taels of silver a month. Furthermore, there's also the cost of acquiring a shop, registering with the government, and inspecting the harbor. A preliminary estimate is around five taels. Don't worry about these things, sister. We'll take care of them ourselves. However, you'll have to pay two taels of silver in rent every month."
"Two taels per month?" Gu Ran counted the money on hand and nodded, "No problem, I'll pay for it."
Since the He family has set their sights on doing business in the provincial capital, they must be capable of keeping the shop going. It's rare that the He family would involve her in their business, so this money can be considered as an investment. She happens to have some extra money on hand, so she naturally agreed to it as a partner in the business.
"It's settled then." He Qinghuan looked at his father and mother and breathed a sigh of relief.
"When the time comes, I'll just have to trouble you, Second Mother, to teach my family how to grow this herb." Aunt He said, "My family's home is close to the city, and the herb needs to be dried before it can be used to make burnt herb jelly. So I plan to have my family grow and dry it, and then send it to the city in batches."
"Okay, then Aunt He, where is your mother's home?" Gu Ran asked.
"My mother's hometown is in the village in the county town north of the city. It's just over an hour's journey from the city. It's called Nanyu Village," Aunt He said. "Once you bring the immortal grass with the soil and roots, shall we go take a donkey cart and take a look?"
"Okay!"
So they agreed that three days later, Gu Ran would bring the transplantable fairy grass to the county town, and then Aunt He would send it to Nanyu Village for planting.
Fearing that it was unsafe at this time of night, Uncle He hurriedly took Gu Ran back to the inn in his donkey cart.
When Gu Ran went up to the second-floor room again, he passed by the sealed room and couldn't help but frown.
It seems that Pei Liuniang, who has not been seen for a long time and no one knows where she has gone, is rumored to have hired the number one thief to avenge her parents. I didn't know that these assassins would appear in such a remote southern place. Their business is really extensive.
Staying in the inn where the murder took place, Gu Ran did not sleep well all night. He got up early the next day, washed up, and went to a familiar restaurant nearby to buy some food and daily necessities, then drove the donkey cart back to Xiaxi Village.
If the He family wanted to plant their own herb, she would first have to look at the herb in the field, select some with strong roots, and dig up the whole plant, including the soil. Wouldn't she need at least half an acre of land? She also had to choose plants that were easy to divide.
After digging up the fairy grass in half an acre of field, she still has to divide and replant the whole field!
But before Gu Ran could take action, Aunt He and Uncle He rented a donkey cart and came to Xiaxi Village the next day.
They came to help Gu Ran dig the fairy grass, and by the way, see what the fairy grass field looked like, and learn from Gu Ran.
Then he thought, since they have already dug up the fairy grass here, why not just have them transport it directly back to the county town? That way, Gu Ran won’t have to make an extra trip.
Gu Ran readily agreed.
So the three of them each took a hoe and went to the field.
While digging, Gu Ran also talked about the precautions for planting fairy grass.
There were so many people, and they were all used to doing farm work, so they quickly dug up all the fairy grass in an acre of field.
Aunt He and her companions came prepared. They simply put the exuviae they dug up into large wooden trays and then moved them onto the donkey cart.
Before leaving, Aunt He made a new appointment with Gu Ran. They would transport the fairy grass to Nanyu Village to plant it tomorrow. Two days later, when Gu Ran went to the county town, they would take her to Nanyu Village to take a look and teach her how to plant the fairy grass.
In fact, the vitality of fairy grass is particularly tenacious, and the hot and rainy environment in Fujian is suitable for planting.
However, Gu Ran naturally would not say this to Aunt He in person, and readily agreed to this guidance work.
So two days later, in order to facilitate travel, Gu Ran took a boat to the county town. After reuniting with the He family, they took a boat together to the provincial capital Jianzhou.
When she arrived at the county town, she found that in addition to Aunt He and Uncle He, even He Qinghuan was waiting for her at Uncle He's stall.
Although Fujian is now peaceful and stable, an assassin was killed just now, which shows that it is not peaceful everywhere. The He family is also worried about the girls traveling.
But Uncle He had to work and look after the stall, so it was inconvenient for him to leave, so he asked Uncle He to go with him.
As for He Qinghuan, he took a leave of absence to go with him.
Whether it is sharing the costs or opening a store now, the one who makes the decisions is He Qinghuan. She is also the only person in the He family who reads the most. Basically, for any major event in the He family, either she makes the final decision or she will be consulted for her opinion. She can be said to be the second backbone of the He family.
Now he was taking his partner Gu Ran to the provincial capital to look after the shops, and also to Nanyu Village to see the land where the fairy grass was grown, so she naturally had to accompany him.
So the four of them took a boat to Jianzhou City.
At the port of the provincial capital, they saw Aunt He and his brother and sister-in-law coming to pick them up.
Aunt He's maiden name is Yang, and Gu Ran, along with He Qinghuan, calls Aunt He's brother "uncle."
Uncle Yang started out as a laborer in the city, unloading cargo for merchant ships and cargo ships at the port. Because of his diligence and honesty, he was trusted by many of the guys who did the same job at the port.
After working for a long time, he spontaneously organized the laborers to take on jobs and was responsible for contacting ship merchants. Gradually, the cargo ships and merchant ships docked at the port all knew about Uncle Yang. Whenever they needed to load goods onto the ship or unload goods from the ship, they liked to find Uncle Yang directly and wait for Uncle Yang to call the laborers they needed to do the work, so as to avoid having to find people to do the work temporarily.
So Uncle Yang's reputation gradually spread. In the end, both those who did hard labor and those who moved goods liked to ask Uncle Yang to do their work. At some point, Uncle Yang became known as Manager Yang.
After Manager Yang gradually saved up some money, he rented a small house in the provincial capital, got married, and had a son about the same age as He Qinghuan who worked with him at the dock. He also had a daughter, and the family had established a firm foothold in the provincial capital.
After hearing his niece's proposal this time, and seeing that A-mei's family was living a better life by selling grass jelly, Manager Yang was also quite tempted.
Because he has been working at the port for a long time, he knows the daily flow of people in and out of the port and is familiar with the environment of the shops here. Therefore, Manager Yang is very enthusiastic about cooperating with his niece's family to open a store.
Uncle Yang, the manager, has always had extensive connections and quickly helped his niece rent a shop at the port.
Even the preparation inside was done according to what my niece said, and it was done perfectly with a lot of money.
As soon as Gu Ran arrived, Uncle Yang took them directly to the shop that had already been cleaned up.
The shop is located on the side of the harbor leading into the city. Although it is small, it is fully equipped with all the necessary items required for a restaurant: stove, sink, table, chairs, etc. It looks like it can be opened at any time.
"Look, this shop was rented to me by an old acquaintance of mine. It's all ready, and we can open it anytime," said Uncle Yang generously. "Don't worry, I know a lot of people around this port, and I've asked them to help look after it. If anyone causes you any trouble, just tell me, Manager Yang, to come. At worst, just tell your cousin to let me know, and I'll definitely bring people over to support you."
"Uncle, you are so awesome." He Qinghuan smiled as he looked at the shop.
"Of course not. I've been working in this port for more than 20 years!" Uncle Yang laughed.
"Sister Gu, what do you think of this shop? Is it okay?"
Gu Ran looked around the snack shop and nodded, "This is a great place. With so many people coming and going, it must be a good place to make a living."
"I came here just because there are so many people here." He Qinghuan said, "It was when I came to the capital to visit my uncle that I thought that if I opened a small shop at the port of this capital, I would probably make a lot of money."
"That's right. The port is a prosperous place with many passengers coming and going from all over the country. Huanhuan, you have a good idea." Uncle Yang glanced at He Qinghuan with admiration in his eyes.
Aunt He hugged her daughter and smiled happily.
After seeing the shop, Aunt He took Gu Ran to the small house rented by Uncle Yang.
It is about the same size as her house in Xiaxi Village, and there is still room for Uncle Yang's family of four, so Aunt He plans to open a shop with her uncle - she will have a place to stay when she comes to the capital, and when she makes the roasted grass jelly and konjac here, she can transport it directly to the port, which is also convenient.
"We opened our shop because we were concerned that if we set up shop at the port, even if we bought ice when the weather was hot, we would have nowhere to store it, and it would be used up quickly, which would be very costly," Aunt He said, speaking from experience. "We still have to spend a lot of money to buy ice when we sell grass jelly in the county town. Even if we only stockpile cold grass jelly, we would hardly be able to afford it. Of course, we can't do the same thing if we move to the provincial capital."
Two years ago, when Gu Er Niang set up a stall, she put ice under the grass jelly to keep it cold. Now they buy their own ice to make frozen grass jelly, and they realize that buying ice is also a big expense.
"How much does it cost to buy a piece of ice?"
"Three taels of silver."
Gu Ran glared.
Is ice so expensive?
"We have a big block of ice for three taels of silver. Cut it in half, give each stall half, and add water to make ice water to soak the basins of grass jelly. Then the diners who buy grass jelly will complain that it's not cold enough!" Aunt He said, patting Gu Ran. "Why didn't anyone complain that your grass jelly wasn't cold enough when you sold it last year?"
When Gu Ran heard this, he didn't respond, but just chuckled.
Because she had too much ice, she froze it before selling it, and then secretly added the melted ice while selling it, so of course the grass jelly was icy enough.
"Nowadays, the daily cost has to be increased by three taels of silver. Even if the sales are good, the profit is not much higher." Aunt He lamented, "It's not as profitable as the hot-selling grass jelly in the fall!"
"But here we are, it's more hot than cold!" He Qinghuan said, "So we've set up a place in our shop at the port to store ice. We can store the ice we buy here together, so we don't have to worry about it melting quickly and causing customers to complain that their grass jelly isn't cold enough."
Gu Ran expressed his support for He Qinghuan's approach.
After resting for a while at Yang's house and having some simple soup and noodles to fill their stomachs, the group set off for Nanyu Village.
Nanyu Village is a village under the jurisdiction of Geyan County. The Yang family is one of the major surnames in Nanyu Village. Half of the people in the village are surnamed Yang, and Aunt He's family is one of the better-off ones.
Now, living in Uncle Yang's house in the village, besides Old Man Yang and his wife, that is, Aunt He's father and mother, there are also Uncle Yang Er, Uncle Yang San, and Uncle Yang Si.
Like other places in Fujian, they make a living by farming, and the staple food they grow is crops such as rice and corn.
The fairy grass brought from Gu Ran's place has been moved to the field and transplanted immediately. Unlike Gu Ran's full planting, the fairy grass planted by the Yang family is scattered and sparsely spaced. The original one acre of land has been planted into two acres by them.
Aunt He, who had seen how Gu Ran grew the fairy grass, was initially worried that it was unreasonable for her parents to grow it in this way.
"Hey, what do you know? This grass needs to be planted like this. Leave more space on the ground so that it can grow faster. Don't look at the loose ground and only a few of them now. After a while, the roots underneath will grow out. After some time, when they are longer, they will be able to grow by themselves." Uncle Yang waved his hand, his face full of confidence.
"real?"
"I'm your father, an old hand. How can I lie to you?"
"Second mother, is what my father said right?" Aunt He turned around and asked Gu Ran.
Before Gu Ran could answer, Old Man Yang started to complain: "How am I wrong? Isn't this just a weed?"
When Gu Ran heard Old Man Yang say that this was fairy grass and a wild grass, he couldn't help but feel embarrassed.
"Hey, Dad, don't talk nonsense."
"Grandpa, why is it a weed?"
"Of course it's a weed. It grows in abundance on the hill behind our village. But our village doctor said it's a medicinal herb. In this hot weather, he told us to pick it and boil it in water. We're not as clever as you guys, who can't make some kind of herbal jelly." Old Man Yang retorted unconvincedly, shouting with great knowledge, "If you don't believe me, let's go call the doctor right away."
Aunt He and He Qinghuan looked at Gu Ran together: "Is what my father/grandfather said true?"
Gu Ran chuckled and looked at Old Man Yang and said, "This can't be considered a weed. It's a medicinal herb. You can ask the doctor again, am I right?"
"I know, I know. This grass is good. It can be boiled into water and drunk to relieve summer heat. It can also cure diseases. It is indeed a medicinal herb." Father Yang nodded. "It really is this fairy grass. We can plant it with confidence. I have been growing crops for so many years, how can I not grow this wild grass well?"
"That's right, that's right." Gu Ran nodded obediently in front of the old master. Seeing Aunt He and He Qinghuan looking at him in disbelief, he explained, "If no one knew what this grass was used for, it would be just a weed. But if you knew its properties and effects, then it would naturally become a medicinal herb. Go ask in a pharmacy, and you'll find that many of the things the villagers think of as weeds are actually medicinal herbs. It all depends on whether you know what they are."
"That's right. The old doctor in our village told us the same thing." Old Man Yang said, looking at Gu Ran and smiling: "This Mrs. Gu knows what's good, so she can make a living with wild herbs. She's quite clever."
"Hehe!" Gu Ran laughed dryly.
Aunt He and He Qinghuan and her daughter looked at each other, thought about it and felt that it made sense, so they were not so surprised anymore.
"That's right. Even if the old doctor knew that fairy grass was used as medicine, he couldn't make burnt fairy grass like Sister Gu!" He Qinghuan felt relieved.
"That's right. The method of making roasted grass jelly is a secret method. We can't pass it on to others." Aunt He instructed.
Everyone nodded.
Since Old Man Yang is an expert and is familiar with the fairy grass, even if he is not familiar with it, there is still an old doctor in the village, so there is naturally no need to worry about growing the fairy grass poorly.
So the task of growing the fairy grass was completely handed over to Old Man Yang.
As it was getting dark, a group of people returned to the village from the fields, intending to stay overnight at Yang's house.
The Yang family's house is their ancestral home. It is very big, with five rooms and two floors, which is more than enough to accommodate so many people.
Knowing that Gu Ran was the one who taught their son-in-law's family to sell roasted grass jelly, the Yang family was extremely enthusiastic towards her, but no matter how enthusiastic they were, it was not as warm as the welcome they extended to He Qinghuan.
"It's our Huanhuan here!"
"When are we going to Damao City?"
Not only Old Man Yang's family, but also other members of the Yang family in the village, all had smiles on their faces when they saw He Qinghuan.
"It's almost there!" He Qinghuan also responded with a smile.
"Almost there? Are you sure you can get into Shenghua Academy?" Aunt He couldn't help but ask, as she couldn't bear to see her daughter responding so loudly.
"Mother, you have to have faith in your daughter. I'm a man of integrity. If I say she can get in, then she can."
Gu Ran also smiled as he watched Aunt He and her daughter interact.
He Qinghuan was going to study at the most famous girls' school in the world. She had heard about this from Aunt He a long time ago and didn't find it strange.
She had never studied in the Great Sheng Dynasty, but she knew from the original owner's memory that there was a girls' school in the capital specifically for the ladies of various families. When the original owner was raised as the daughter of a marquis, she was also sent there to study.
Uncle He and Aunt He were so active in making money from the roasted grass jelly business in order to earn money for her travel expenses and tuition.
He Qinghuan himself knows how to open a stall, and now he is planning to open a store with his uncle's family at the port, which shows that he is also a smart person.
Since she said that she could be admitted to the top girls' school in the Dasheng Dynasty, Gu Ran believed her to some extent.
However, it is said that Damao City is the second largest city outside Kyoto and is very prosperous. It is estimated that it would cost a lot to study there, so the He family must be under great pressure to raise money for her to go to school.
I don’t know if He Qinghuan can raise enough funds before he is admitted to the school in Damao City.
After a noisy dinner at the Yang family, Gu Ran was arranged to spend the night in the same room with He Qinghuan.
"Sister Gu, can you stay with me for one night?"
"sure!"
Gu Ran hasn't lived with outsiders for a long time. Recently, she has been living alone or sharing a dormitory with Daju's family. It feels fresh, but the disadvantages are obvious.
It’s scorching hot in July and the heat is hard to dissipate!
Normally, she had never felt the scorching heat in the small house, because she could always bring out icebergs to cool down anytime and anywhere. But now, she was sharing a bed with He Qinghuan, and even with only a thin quilt covering her, she still felt the heat was unbearable.
It was not easy to get the ice, so he tossed and turned, fanning himself with a cushion in his hand, but he was still sweating profusely. As a last resort, Gu Ran quietly reached out his hand to space grid number ten to cool his arm.
He spent the whole night dozing off and waking up due to the heat. At dawn, Gu Ran got up, walked out of the room, stood in the courtyard, grabbed a chair and sat down. He felt that it was much cooler outside than inside.
Not long after resting, there was movement in the house.
Second Aunt Yang and First Aunt He got up and came out, and immediately saw Gu Ran: "Second Aunt, you didn't sleep well last night?"
"It's okay, I'm just particular about my bed and don't sleep much." Gu Ran explained vaguely.
"oh!"
"Then you sit for a while. Let's go get some water so we can wash up and cook." Each of them carried two buckets and a shoulder pole.
"Well, then I'll go out with you." Gu Ran stood up.
"What are you going to do? You're a guest, we don't need you to do this!"
"I'm not carrying water, I'm just going for a walk."
"Then you have to remember where our home is and don't get lost when you go out." Aunt He joked.
"I can't lose it."
The sky gradually brightened. Gu Ran saw that at this time, many people from the village came out to fetch water from the well, in an endless stream.
Gu Ran followed Aunt He and the others for a while before she wanted to change direction. A young woman carrying water came towards her and stared at her again and again with wide eyes.
Gu Ran also saw her. After thinking for a while, he immediately remembered who she was. Still a little hesitant, he called out, "Mai Xiang?"
"Sister Gu? Are you Sister Gu?"
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