Chapter 69
This time, Daju gave birth to three kittens.
Daju looked at his son and daughter who were licked clean and lying beside him, squinted his eyes, yawned, and fell asleep with his head tilted.
Seeing that Daju was an experienced cat mother, and now that the cubs were born safely, Gu Ran did not interfere too much. She fed them with water and milk on time every day. She believed that Daju would teach her good cubs everything else.
Sure enough, after giving birth, Big Orange stayed in the cat house to take care of the cubs. She only walked out of the cat house occasionally, but not too far. She just walked around for a few times and then went back in.
After seven or eight days, the kittens opened their eyes. Not long after, when Big Orange came out of the cat house, he was followed by three furry balls that had just learned to walk.
One is a tiger-striped raccoon the same color as the big orange one, one is calico, and the other one is actually pure black.
This means that the father of the big orange kitten is most likely a black cat.
Gu Ran named his three grandchildren on the spot: the eldest grandson Xiaoju, the second granddaughter Xiaohua, and the third granddaughter Xiaohei.
The three grandchildren were still speaking in baby voices. Wherever Big Orange went, they followed him. Big Orange lay down and squatted in the sun on the patio, and the three grandchildren also stopped there. After probing around and making sure there was no danger around, they began to explore on their own.
Looking at the Daju family in the sunlight, Gu Ran felt that they were all sparkling, and his heart softened. He nudged Pei Liuniang, who was also stunned and had a very gentle expression, with his elbow: "It's time to let them know that we are their grandmothers."
Pei Liu coughed dryly and pursed his lips, but when he saw Gu Erniang calling Daju and walking over, and thinking of his adopted granddaughter Xiaohua, he followed without giving in.
"Big Orange!"
"Meow~"
Big Orange opened his eyes happily and looked at Gu Ran with his golden cat pupils, but the other three kittens were frightened and retreated behind their mother in panic. It was not until they saw their mother enjoying the caress and purring happily that they became a little less wary. The three pairs of curious eyes looked at Gu Ran and later Pei Liu.
After Gu Ran fed Daju the dried fish, he also took out the goat milk that he usually fed the kittens and put it in three small porcelain plates, one portion for each kitten.
Of course, Pei Liu was responsible for Xiaohua's share.
Sure enough, seeing that A Niang had no suspicion of the bipeds and that they were eating the food she fed them, the kitten completely relaxed its guard.
Originally, they came to A Niang's side and tried to chew the dried fish, but their baby teeth couldn't bite it. Seeing Gu Ran took out a small porcelain plate to entertain them, they followed over.
Gu Ran entertained Xiaoju and Xiaohei. When Xiaohua wanted to come over, she pushed the food away with her fingers. Xiaohua saw that her mother, brother and sister had all eaten, but she had none. She was very anxious. Pei Liu handed her a small porcelain plate with goat milk at the right time.
Xiaohua glanced at Pei Liu, meowed happily, lowered her head to sniff, and then began to eat with a smacking sound.
I guess the goat milk tasted so good that he soon started snoring.
When Pei Liu heard the voice, his heart softened unconsciously.
The Daju family settled down in the small house in love with each other. Under the power of feeding, the kittens quickly became familiar with the two grandmothers.
After clearly identifying who their poop scooper was, Xiaoju and Xiaohei obviously followed Gu Ran in and out, while Xiaohua followed Pei Liu stickily because she knew that he was the two-legged beast who fed them every time.
Of course, after having his grandson for some time, Gu Ran still rejected Pei Liu's suggestion to operate on Daju, and instead planned to find a veterinarian.
However, the veterinarian in Donglin Township had never performed sterilization surgery on cats. Gu Ran was worried and went to the county town to look for one, but he couldn't find a suitable veterinarian. In desperation, he had to ask Pei Liu to do it.
Because he was afraid that Daju would know that it was Pei Liu who did this bad thing, Gu Ran bought some knockout drugs from the pharmacy as anesthetics before he took action, and knocked Daju unconscious.
I didn't dare use too much, just a shallow dose, for fear that Daju would wake up during the operation, so I blindfolded Daju's eyes.
There's no way around it. Kittens are very smart creatures, especially civet cats. If they have any conflicts with their owners, they will hold grudges and seek revenge. If they knew that it was Pei Liu who stabbed them, what would happen?
Gu Ran first explained to Pei Liu the cat sterilization procedure he had learned about from taking cats to the pet hospital. Pei Liu nodded seriously, but then asked worriedly, "Can you really do this for a female cat?"
Hearing Gu Ran questioning whether he could castrate the raccoon slave, Pei Liu vowed: "I can!"
Gu Ran didn't dare ask Pei Liuniang how she learned it, but seeing that she washed her hands and warmed the blade with fire before shaving the big orange cat, it didn't seem like she was joking, so he decided to trust her again.
Pei Liu did not disappoint Gu Ran's trust and successfully completed the sterilization operation for Daju, who responded well after the operation.
In order to prevent Daju from licking his wound, Gu Ran had already woven a hollow Elizabethan collar out of straw and put it on Daju.
The big orange cat was probably a young cat. Although it stayed in the cat house at first because of the pain from the wound, it couldn't stand the loneliness and came out of the house again in less than three days. Half a month later, its originally tender skin began to grow fur. After the stitches were removed, it jumped around with the bald spot on its body and played with the three growing kittens.
During the time that Daju was staying in the cat house, Gu Ran and Pei Liu had already become close friends with the three little kittens. Even if Daju was not leading them, they dared to run out to the patio to explore on their own.
The young hair on the body is also slowly replaced.
Now that Daju has recovered, Gu Ran is no longer worried and his focus is on increasing his own income.
Suddenly there are three more little cats’ mouths to feed. As a grandma, I have to work hard to earn money to support the family!
Ever since Big Orange came back to give birth to kittens, the two of them have been worried about Big Orange being the only cat at home. Even when they go out, they take turns going, and one person has to stay behind to look after Big Orange no matter what.
Even when it was another person's turn to go out to the miasmic forest to harvest prey and pick wild vegetables and fruits, he would go quickly and return in a hurry.
Later, when Xiaoju, Xiaohei and Xiaohua came into this world, things were even more amazing. Although they were mainly taken care of by Daju, the two grandmas were never idle every day. They squatted outside the cat house with a small table, ready to serve the cats at any time.
Now that the grandchildren can walk, make baby noises and call out to them when they see them, and can jump around, they are even more reluctant to leave them behind.
In addition, there are so many ingredients stored in the warehouse, so the two stay-at-home grandmas don't want to go out unless it is necessary.
Later, Gu Ran thought it wouldn't work. There were still many wild animals in the deep mountains waiting for her to collect and hunt. She hadn't had time to dig the pit traps that could usually be used to hunt big animals. She had to go into the mountains to take a look.
Otherwise, if you miss the season, there will be no seasonal mountain products to pick.
When he first heard that Gu Ran had gone deep into the mountains and might not be back for two or three days, and asked Pei Liuniang to stay in the cottage to look after the kittens, Pei Liu flatly refused: "No, I want to go with you."
"If we go together and aren't home for two or three days, who will feed Xiaoju, Xiaohei and Xiaohua?" Gu Ran asked back.
"There's a big orange."
"Big Orange, the mother, needs us to feed her. Are you sure she can find food to feed Little Orange, Little Black, and Little Flower? Are you reassured?"
When Pei Liu heard this, he heard a meow. He looked down and saw that it was Xiaohua, who was usually the closest to him. She walked to his feet with cute cat steps and rubbed him hard with her little head. His heart softened.
"Then I'll go and you stay."
"No, I'll go and you stay." Gu Ran insisted, "How many times have you been to the forest deep in Dayu Forest? Once, I was injured and stepped into a trap and almost died. How many times have I been there? I came to Xiaxi Village last year and went into the forest every now and then. I am very familiar with the environment inside and nothing has ever happened to me!" Moreover, if she encounters any danger, she still has a workshop to hide.
"Think carefully about it. Do I collect more mountain products, or do you collect more mountain products when you go into the mountains?" Gu Ran reminded.
Pei Liuniang was frustrated. She pursed her lips and lowered her head. Seeing Xiaohua trying to climb up by pulling on his skirt, she bent down, pulled her up and hugged her.
"Look how cute those little kittens are. Taking care of them is a very important task. Can I leave them to you with confidence?" Gu Ran took the opportunity to ask.
Pei Liu looked up at Gu Ran and finally nodded, but added: "I will go with you when Xiaohua grows up a little bit." When she grows up and can take care of herself like her mother Daju, she won't need anyone to watch over her all the time!
"Of course. Then we'll go to the forest and hunt a deer for food."
So Gu Ran went into the deep mountains of Dayu Forest alone again, carrying a bamboo basket on his back.
Before, he had only gone into the shallow woods to pick fruits and catch prey. As for the early summer scenery in the deep forest, it was the first time for Gu Ran to see it.
Unlike the light new green at the beginning of spring, the mountains and forests are now gradually recovering their rich and blooming green layer by layer. Even the deep inner forest has a more lively atmosphere than the island forest she had seen in late summer.
As usual, Gu Ran walked slowly, looking for wild fruits and vegetables to pick along the way, and checking the prey in the traps.
During this period, whenever it was her turn to go out, she would move out all the fresh meat and ingredients originally stored in space No. 8, and when she returned, she would pretend that they were her own harvest and put them in the warehouse.
Some ingredients that are not easy to disguise as being found in the Lantau forest, such as pork, beef, mutton, seafood and fish, as well as cat food to feed Daju and the three little ones, were falsely claimed to be bought at the Donglin Township market and then stored in the warehouse.
Of course, sometimes she would really go to Donglin Township to attend the market. After all, the supplies in Space No. 8 were gradually decreasing, and she had reduced the number of times she went to the county town. She did not go to restaurants and hotels to replenish stocks in time, and the cooked food there was running out. So she did not go far away, but it was okay to buy one or two from the food stalls in Donglin Township.
Gu Ran wanted to slowly replenish the food supply. Since the kittens were still young, she could use this as an excuse to go into the mountains to buy supplies before Pei Liu took care of them.
Speaking of mountain products, she had picked a lot of water celery, bitter herbs, perilla, purslane, etc. along the way, as well as cotton grass, which is cudweed. It just so happened that it would be Qingming Festival when she returned to the village, so the cotton grass was just right for making Qingming cakes.
As for prey, two rabbits were caught in two traps.
Although the third trap failed, she happened to see two pheasants nearby. She was smart enough to set an ambush, and caught one while one escaped.
She has harvested so much before even entering the mountains. It seems that she is extremely lucky.
So I went to the bamboo forest and caught two bamboo rats as reserve food and stored them in the space.
Originally, he wanted to go deeper, but when he thought of the two bayberry trees that he used for a living last year, he hesitated for a moment and decided to go and see how the three bayberry trees were growing first.
When he went to look for it, Gu Ran saw that one of the bayberry trees had clusters of red flowers shaped like firecrackers. This was probably the one that did not bear fruit. The other two bayberry trees were very quiet, with green leaves and flowers that were too small to be seen.
Seeing this, Gu Ran breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, there are bayberries to eat this year.
Although it was a little late in the season, Gu Ran still selected strong branches from each of the three bayberry trees, removed the leaves at the bottom, and then trimmed the ends a little before digging a hole near the three bayberry trees and burying them.
There are only two trees that can bear bayberries now. Now she plants two more mother trees. If they can survive, won’t she be able to eat more bayberries every year?
Now happens to be the time when the cuttings are most active and easiest to plant. If it fails, it's fine. But if it succeeds, after a year of taking root and sprouting, the seedlings will be strong, and there is no need to worry even when the weather gets cold in winter.
After planting the small bayberry plants, Gu Ran went straight into the dense forest from this place.
After walking for a while, we entered the dense mixed forest.
The fertile humus soil in the mixed woods provides a good wild environment for many mushrooms. Unfortunately, Gu Ran did not go deep enough before and missed the best time to pick mushrooms, but she still found a lot of wild mushrooms.
Soon, she came across one of the tea trees she had discovered last year.
It is now the time when the tea trees are growing new green leaves, but Gu Ran can only watch.
When I took a quick glance and was about to leave, I found that this tea tree was a little strange. Among the green leaves, some leaves were particularly different. They were fat and big, and pink with red.
There are quite a few leaves like this.
Can a tea tree grow two kinds of leaves?
Driven by curiosity, Gu Ran planned to pick a few pieces and save them, and then ask the people in the tea shop what was going on when he went to the county town.
After picking these strange pink leaves, we arrived at the wetland.
The wetlands are also full of vitality in early summer.
Various aquatic plants grow luxuriantly, and birds fly leisurely. A flock of wild ducks swims among them, with a group of little ducklings that dare to swim, quacking. The dense duckweed on the water surface is stirred and scattered by them.
She felt a little regretful when she thought of the water chestnuts that were wasted last year.
This year, I must find a way to pick up the water chestnuts without having to go to the wetlands. Otherwise, it would be such a pity to know that the delicious food is inside but not be able to eat it.
Gu Ran did not disturb the water birds around the wetland, and began to search carefully in the grass next to the wetland.
We found several wild duck nests and took a few duck eggs from each nest. Most unexpectedly, we also found a small nest with tiny eggs inside, which were obviously quail eggs.
This is really rare.
Quail eggs are tastier than chicken eggs or duck eggs.
So Gu Ran changed her mind and went looking for quail nests. Sure enough, she found three. She did the same thing, keeping some and taking most of them. Then she left the wetland happily.
It was getting dark, and we had to go into the jungle and find a place to rest for the night.
As the sun gradually sank, Gu Ran turned and went into the workshop.
Because space No. 3 has been opened, the workshop has now returned to its original neatness and cleanliness. All bedding and mats have been removed and moved to space No. 3.
Previously, the small side room was turned into a warehouse, and the bed frame and bedding originally provided for the small side room were moved to this space No. 3. Gu Ran simply used half of the space No. 3 as his own portable bedroom. When he goes outside - for example, when he spends the night in the woods, he can sleep on the big bed with his limbs stretched out, which is so comfortable and feels like home.
The other half of the space grid is still empty.
This space is 30 square meters and 3 meters high. She originally planned to plan it carefully, at least not like now where only a dozen square meters of space is used. If she renovated it and made her dormitory suspended in the air, wouldn't there be more space to store supplies underneath?
But after the opening, the first thing to do was to save Pei Liuniang, then the New Year came, then Pei Liuniang moved into the small house, and then he was busy with the business of burning herbal jelly for a living, and later Daju was given priority, so the renovation was delayed.
We'll have to wait a few days before we talk about it.
While spending the night outside in the woods, Gu Ran subconsciously thought of the little ones who were still in the cottage.
This is called sweet concern!
Fortunately, Pei Liuniang can take good care of them.
In the small house, Pei Liu held Xiaohua in his arms and subconsciously glanced at the darkness above the patio, worrying about how a girl like Gu Erniang could spend the night safely in the jungle full of dangers.
However, her entry into the Lantau Forest was known to everyone in the village, so what she said before leaving - that she could spend two or three nights safely in the Lantau Forest - was not a lie.
Even when I was rescued by her, it was she who carried me to the cave in the forest so that I could spend the night safely.
So, perhaps Gu Er Niang had this ability, and was able to enter the miasma forest that everyone feared and return unscathed.
In view of this, Pei Liu's worries were not as strong as before.
As if sensing that he was in a bad mood, Xiaohua stretched out her little cat head from his arms and meowed at him. Pei Liu lowered his head, met the pair of cat eyes like black beads, and smiled with the corners of his mouth raised.
Little Orange and Little Black, who were playing and fighting at his feet, also rushed over, tilted their heads and looked up at Little Flower.
Pei Liu couldn't help but soften his heart and put Xiaohua on the ground. The three little ones immediately started to chase each other and bite each other happily in the corridor, while their mother Daju was lying at the door, motionless, wagging her tail leisurely.
Under the orange light, the scene appears particularly quiet and warm.
Pei Liu's heart slowly settled down, as if immersed in this small farmyard.
He hasn't lived this kind of life for a long time.
He never imagined that after accepting this accomplice he met during exile, he would be able to live such a peaceful and harmonious life.
He was less than five years old when he was taken away by the number one thief in the world.
It is an age when one knows a lot about people and things, but not much.
Their family was originally from the capital, and his father was also an official in the court, but his rank was not high, just a minor official. Once, his father got into trouble and was imprisoned. Overnight, he became a criminal, and his family was not spared either. The whole family was exiled to the southern border.
He vaguely remembered that he had an elder sister who was only one year older than him. His mother died early, and he and his elder sister were both thorns in the eyes of his stepmother. Both of them were not favored in the family and were usually neglected. They did not enjoy much glory, but when they fell into poverty, they shared the misfortune and became two fish in the pond that were affected.
When he and his elder sister were exiled, they were attacked by bandits on a mountain road not long after leaving the capital. They had a fierce fight with the officers and soldiers, and the prisoners were in chaos. Some escaped, while others took the opportunity to hide.
It was at that moment that he didn't know what had happened. As he retreated to the side in fear amid the flash of swords and sabers, he felt a pain at the back of his head, his vision went black, and he passed out.
When he woke up, he found himself in an extremely unfamiliar place, and there were many young men of the same age as him.
People who looked like managers came over to coax them, and if that didn't work, they would start scolding and whipping them. There was even a seven-year-old boy who was stubborn and wanted to go home, so they scolded him for being a beggar and a bad person, and his head was cut off on the spot, with blood splattering everywhere.
At that time, all the young men present were stunned.
Deterrence is extremely effective.
All the young men trembled and became quiet. Even those who couldn't stop crying covered their mouths and dared not cry out loud.
Him too.
From the moment that young man died, he knew that the days of having food to eat and being pampered by his sister were over, and he was afraid that he would never see them again in this life.
Afterwards, they accepted the manager's arrangements without resistance, and began the cruel and bloody training for them.
Do chores for the adults, serve the nobles, and practice calligraphy and martial arts.
It was at that time that he acquired his ability to kill.
The same goes for castrating raccoon slaves.
In such an extreme environment, there are martial arts masters who teach them the weaknesses of the human body and various skills to take people's lives. He is the best among them, because in the process of being raised as a Gu, if he is not excellent, he will be in danger of losing his life.
In this vicious infighting, there are also people with twisted personalities who satisfy their bloodthirstiness by killing small animals and small things.
The raccoon slave is just one of the victims.
He learned it by accident.
That day, their martial arts teacher happened to see the reserve disciples having fun with this. He had been watching coldly from the side, and when he saw the martial arts master coming over, he thought he would scold these people for being boring. However, he never expected that after seeing how they treated the cat, the martial arts master actually laughed out loud, and then asked all the disciples to come over and perform the Eighteen Moves, which made him even more chilled.
One of them is castration.
He watched coldly that day and learned it coldly.
That day, he made up his mind that one day he would escape from this devil's den called the No. 1 Thief in the World.
Otherwise, he would be like those cat slaves, kept in captivity, abused, slaughtered, and then lose his life.
That's why he later replaced Pei Liuniang, became an exile, and escaped.
Fortunately, I escaped, otherwise, how could I meet Gu Er Niang, how could I come to Xiaxi Village, and how could I meet Daju and Xiaohua?
Pei Liu was feeling overjoyed at his new life when he suddenly felt his body sink, as if someone was pulling him down into the abyss. His body sank lower and lower, his eyelids became harder and harder to open, and even his chest felt heavy, making it difficult for him to breathe.
He didn't know what was going on and was panicking. Just as he was about to call out, a meow suddenly tore through the darkness around him.
Pei Liu suddenly opened his eyes, sweating profusely, but his eyes met Daju's round pupils.
It turned out that Daju had squatted on top of him at some point and was lying on his chest.
At the feet, three little ones were tearing at the quilt, which was not covered properly, so half of their feet were exposed.
Pei Liu breathed a sigh of relief.
It turns out that it wasn’t a nightmare.
It’s just that I haven’t recalled the past for a long time. I suddenly felt emotional last night. Maybe that’s why I was reminded of the past?
Pei Liu thought about this and spat again.
What is there worth remembering about such dirty things?
He calmed himself down, watching the big orange cat's head enlarge in front of his eyes, and then licked his face.
"Big Orange!"
Pei Liu couldn't help but pick up Daju. After sitting up, he called to the three little ones, "Xiaohua!"
"Meow!"
Xiaohua, who was originally playing with her brother and sister at the end of the couch, immediately jumped over on the quilt when she heard him calling her name. Xiaoju and Xiaohei were not to be outdone and also ran over. Immediately, Pei Liu had the beautiful cats in his arms, hugging them on both sides.
Looking at the Daju family who were so close to him, Pei Liu laughed heartily.
It’s great to be able to come to Xiaxi Village!
In the Dayu Forest, Gu Ran, who stretched in the morning light, had already come out of the workshop and continued to patrol in the mixed forest.
She had to find a cave nearby to spend the night, in preparation for Pei Liuniang to follow her into the deep forest in the future.
After all, they are best friends who live with me. When the kitten can be independent, given Pei Liu's personality, she will definitely follow me into the deep forest. If I don't find a cave to spend the night, I can use it as my base for spending the night in the forest last year, just in case she asks me how I managed to spend the night alone.
So she had to disguise herself in advance - find a cave where she could spend the night.
Fortunately, her hard work paid off. She found a large cave on the back of the hill where she had spent the night. It was large enough for two people to lie down and rest. Even better, the entrance to the cave was half covered by the roots of old trees and vines.
So she began to pretend to work, took out the broom in the workshop, swept the cave clean, and then created traces that indicated she had been there before - she laid out the straw mat she had prepared earlier, and piled some dried branches and firewood in the corner of the cave entrance.
Well, this cave, together with the cave on the other side of the basswood forest, can completely answer Pei Liuniang’s possible question of how she spent the night in the mountains.
Then he left, identified the place where the animals were active in the woods, dug a trap, made camouflage, climbed up, and then turned back for a while, carefully approaching the other side of the deep pool.
The scenery of the deep pool in early summer is also beautiful.
Wild flowers of various colors grow in the surrounding weeds, making the place look colorful.
Gu Ran couldn't help but pick a few bunches, intending to take them back to the cottage as decoration. Near the pond, in a dark corner where moss was unusually lush, Gu Ran saw an... orchid?
Look at those slender leaves, it must be an orchid!
The snow-white orchid in the middle of the leaves has already bloomed. If you don’t pay attention, you won’t even notice its beauty standing alone here.
Gu Ran stretched out his sinful hands, then retracted them after a moment.
She has kept cats, but never flowers, including orchids.
My experience in growing flowers is limited to the Chinese New Year and other festivals. The hydroponic cut flowers I buy at the flower market are the kind that will wither after a few days and have to be thrown away.
The fact that it can grow here proves that the environment here is suitable. If I move it back home, what if it dies?
So Gu Ran admired it for a long time, and finally kept the orchid and let it grow naturally.
Then he turned around to look at the hairy konjac he had cooked.
This piece of konjac, which I harvested last year and then buried underground, has sprouted quite a few leaves and grown tall. The fruits have all been harvested. It seems that I will be able to harvest the second wave in a while.
Then she could also formally consider whether to sell snacks made from konjac to the He family.
Because the more than 30 konjac plants she transplanted into her own field also grew leaves, and because they looked so strange, it scared Mrs. Lin!
Fortunately, even though the windmill was proven to be effective, few villagers usually ran towards her four-acre field, otherwise more people would be scared.
It is estimated that one wave of harvest will be possible in June, and then another wave of planting will be possible, and the second wave of harvest will be possible in November and December.
After the harvest, she planned to plant the tubers from the more than 30 plants in two acres of land. Afraid that there would not be enough tubers, she planned to dig them up from the konjac field in the mountains and bring them back.
After checking the konjac field, Gu Ran began to grope his way towards the forest to the south.
Not to mention the dangers along the way, we hurriedly arrived at the basswood forest.
There are no red mushrooms in the basswood forest at this time, it’s not the right time yet!
But there was a small cave in the basswood forest, and Gu Ran hurried here to spend the night!
When we first started exploring this island forest, we were unfamiliar with it and had to run around picking wild produce, so we wasted time and were not very efficient.
But now that I am familiar with the terrain in the forest, I can naturally choose the shortest distance to reach the place where there is a cave.
Gu Ran walked around outside the cave and then went into the cave.
Anyway, I will have to tell Pei Liuniang that I spent the night in this cave, so I will try to stay in the cave directly and leave some traces. When I want to rest, I will enter space grid No. 3.
After all, she is alone now, and it is too dangerous to live in the cave directly. For the sake of safety and life, she will not take risks rashly.
As usual, we took the prepared food from Space No. 8, built a bonfire and roasted it while eating.
Gu Ran baked full pancakes.
I bought it at the market in Donglin Township.
The surface is fried until golden brown, the soft and glutinous cake crust is thick and honeycomb-shaped, and sesame and peanuts are stuffed inside. It looks like a pizza and tastes soft and elastic.
Because of its generous portion, locals usually eat Man Jian Gao for breakfast, but it is also acceptable to eat it for dinner.
Gu Ran bought and stockpiled some of the Manjian Gao because he thought it was filling and tasted good.
After eating the pan-fried cakes and drinking a few sips of green plum wine, the dinner ended quietly that night.
When Gu Ran lay down on the bed in workshop No. 3, he counted the things he had to do tomorrow: go and see how the two tea trees he had discovered were doing, pay close attention to the lemon tree, and then go around the swamp and harvest as much mugwort as possible.
In the future, if Pei Liuniang follows him into the mountains, he will have to make more bundles of mugwort for smoking. Some of this mugwort will be used to make green rice dumplings, and most of it will have to be dried in advance.
Another thing is to harvest the fairy grass.
Now, the He family's other branch outside the official school is also operating smoothly and is on the right track. The share sold in a day is more than that at the dock, and the demand for fairy grass has doubled than before. Every month, she gets a share of more than one or two taels of silver.
So now, she and Pei Liuniang not only go to the fields to harvest fresh fairy grass and dry it every two or three days, but also go into the woods from time to time to collect the wild fairy grass.
Finally, before leaving the Lantau forest, we naturally had to go back to the bamboo forest, catch two bamboo rats, and bring back the wild animals caught in the trap.
This trip into the mountains yielded a good harvest. After returning, I will sell a batch of leather and probably make a lot of money.
Since the beginning of this spring, she hasn't gone to the Hefeng Fur Store in the city to sell mountain products!
Let’s go back to Xiaxi Village and the Gu family’s cottage.
The sun shone lazily, illuminating the entire patio and making the fur of the three little ones playing there shiny and glossy.
Pei Liuniang was moving the fairy grass she had picked some time ago and the sliced bamboo shoots from the kitchen and putting them in the patio to dry.
When the three little ones saw Pei Liu coming out, they immediately ran over, looked at the bamboo dustpan on the ground, patted it with their front paws, and then squatted obediently at Pei Liuniang's feet, watching his every move with attention.
Pei Liu glanced at them and smiled slightly.
Cats at this stage are very curious and energetic. They explore everywhere in the patio. It takes some effort to teach them so that they don't ruin the dried food drying in the patio.
Before, Xiao Hei had run into the bamboo winnowing basket and messed up the dried fairy grass and orange peels, so Gu Ran grabbed him and gave him a scolding. It didn't work once, so he was scolded two or three times. In the end, Xiao Hei not only knew that the area outside the bamboo winnowing basket was their territory and they could come and go as they pleased, but they were absolutely not allowed to go inside the bamboo winnowing basket, otherwise grandma would be angry.
After drying the fairy grass, Pei Liu moved the leather that had been dried during this period of time under the sun.
Then, he went to the warehouse on the second floor.
The first time he knew that the small room above the kitchen was the storehouse of Gu Er Niang's family was during the Chinese New Year. When Gu Er Niang was cooking, he helped her and followed Gu Er Niang's instructions to come here to get the bean paste.
At that time, the warehouse was filled with a lot of food, including rice, flour, fruits, vegetables, fresh meat, dried fruits and sauces, all classified into different categories.
Later, with the daily consumption, the food in the warehouse decreased day by day, but whenever he and Gu Er went out, whether to the county town or into the mountains, they would put the food they found back here and slowly make up for it.
As the weather gets warmer, these fruits, vegetables and fresh meat are not suitable for long-term storage - even if there is ice, it is not of much use. The temperature in Xiaxi Village rises too quickly. If the fresh meat is stored in this way, the ice in the wooden barrel will melt quickly and will not have any freezing effect at all.
So Gu Ran came up with a solution: build an ice storage in the wing where the fresh meat was stored.
The ice storage was only used to store meat. To prevent the ice from melting quickly, the wooden barrels that originally held ice and the one next door were divided into sections and bricks were piled up to create a cube more than five feet horizontally. A small round hole was left, which was used to connect a small bamboo pole. The melted ice and water in the ice storage could then flow through this outlet to the flower bed on the first floor of the patio to water the flowers and plants in the patio.
Use wooden boards to make a wooden box that is slightly smaller than the cube and put it in. Then, according to the size of the wooden box, stuff cotton into oilcloth paper and pad the five sides of the wooden box. Then pile several layers of ice on the bottom to form a thick ice storage layer, and then a layer of oilcloth paper on it, and then you can put the fresh meat in.
The lid of the ice storage was also made in the same way and sewn seamlessly to the opening of the ice storage.
After changing the storage method, the melting rate of the ice cubes slowed down a lot.
The area around the ice storage is still where food is stored. The place where fresh meat was originally stored was replaced with tall wooden racks made of bamboo to store other supplies.
Pei Liu didn't know how Gu Er Niang came up with so many wonderful ideas, including the windmill outside, the ice storage in front of him, and the filled with dried fruits and sauces, many of which he had never heard of or seen before.
Perhaps, because she was from the capital and had lived in a famous marquis's mansion, she was knowledgeable and experienced, so she knew so many things.
Unlike him, all he knows are tricks to kill people.
Pei Liu couldn't help feeling a little sad, but he quickly cheered up.
She can do it, but he can't. But if he can do it, won't she do it too?
In this world, no one is omnipotent.
Even though she knew so much, she didn't act arrogantly and looked down on others. Didn't she also save herself and take me in?
He and she are accomplices!
Of course, he also had some suspicions about Gu Er Niang. For example, how did Gu Er Niang get all that ice, so much ice stored under the ice storage?
It snows in Fujian, but not heavily. It is all fine snow, and when it falls to the ground it forms a thin layer. It is very rare for the snow to accumulate and freeze into ice blocks as thick as bricks.
Therefore, ice from Fujian is very popular and also quite expensive.
How did Gu Er Niang get the ice?
Years of training and hardships as an assassin had made him observant, and naturally he had noticed some other suspicious details, which made Pei Liu convinced that Gu Er Niang was a person with secrets.
But, who doesn’t have secrets?
Not to mention others, he himself is a secret.
So Pei Liu didn't ask and accepted the part of the secret that Gu Erniang didn't tell him.
At this time, he had found the things packed in the jute bag. He took down the bamboo dustpan that was fastened to the wall on one side and placed it on the ice storage, and then poured out the contents: it was orange peels.
During the Chinese New Year, the intact tangerine peels for consumption were picked out by Gu Er Niang, and then after being cleaned, they were placed on a bamboo dustpan to dry in the shade day by day. When the sun came out, they were taken out and turned over repeatedly to dry in the sun.
This was the first time Pei Liu and Gu Er Niang made dried food together after they moved into the cottage. When Gu Er Niang told him how to make tangerine peel, he listened attentively and remembered everything.
Tangerine peel must be sun-dried for at least a year before it can be called dried tangerine peel.
After the orange peels are initially dried, they need to be taken out to dry every once in a while.
When drying, all the orange peels must be turned over with the white side facing outwards so that the peels will dry more easily and be easier to preserve.
The drying place should be facing the wind and the sun, so that the orange peel can naturally wilt and lose water slowly, become dry little by little, and finally become wrinkled and change color. This process is called aging.
The tangerine peel that has completed aging finally becomes tangerine peel with a fresh and sweet taste.
Generally, you can cut the tangerine peel into strips and granules at this time and use it to make tea or cook, or as the main ingredient for incense.
Any remaining dried tangerine peel can be stored with osmanthus leaves in a ventilated place. It can be taken out and dried in the sun every six months to prevent moisture and maintain the best aroma and flavor of the dried tangerine peel.
If you want to eat tangerine peel with other flavors, such as making candied tangerine peel or nine-processed tangerine peel, after drying it for a year, put the tangerine peel into soup or spices and steam it, and then repeat the drying steps. Generally, after three months, you can get delicious candied tangerine peel or nine-processed tangerine peel.
These two are also very good preserved fruits, just like dried bayberry and dried kumquat, they are very delicious!
Pei Liu had never eaten dried tangerine peel, but he had tried the dried bayberries and kumquats made by Gu Er Niang, and they were indeed delicious.
However, the dried bayberries and kumquats were made by Gu Erniang herself, and he helped make the tangerine peel with his own hands. He believed that it must be delicious, and he would not allow the tangerine peel to be unpalatable.
Pei Liu glanced at the jars neatly arranged on the wooden shelf. There were notes on them, saying that the jars were filled with dried fruits and candied fruits, a dazzling array of them.
Gu Er Niang makes so many of these foods herself!
Thinking that all these were prepared by Gu Erniang for him in the beginning, and that she would probably have more to do after taking him in, Pei Liu turned his gaze back to the bamboo winnowing basket, picked out the osmanthus leaves inside, and then arranged the orange peels one by one with the orange-white peels facing outwards, and took them to the patio downstairs to dry.
After drying, Pei Liu went back to the warehouse, opened the ice storage, took out a carp, and went into the kitchen. He slowly heated water to thaw the fish. After it was cooked, he carefully removed the meat from the bones and crushed it into a paste with a spoon. Then he went outside to get four porcelain plates of cat food.
Seeing Pei Liu holding his porcelain plate of rice, the three little ones, who were already very experienced in cat life, knew that food was coming soon, and they all rushed towards Pei Liu, which had been wandering around.
"Meow!"
"Meow~"
"Meow~"
He could tell which of the three little ones was which by the sound. Pei Liu was not in a hurry. He slowly divided the prepared fish paste into four porcelain plates, and then fed the three little ones cat food first, and then took the last porcelain bowl to feed Daju.
The big orange cat, who had quite a bit of cat life experience, was not in a hurry at all. She was lying in the sun not far from the bamboo basket used to dry goods. When she saw Pei Liu slowly sitting towards her and placing the porcelain plate in front of her, she slowly stood up and lowered her head to eat her portion.
After Pei Liu fed the cat, he prepared to make his own food.
However, since Gu Er Niang was not at home, he didn't want to do anything more. He simply cooked a jar of rice, then went to the warehouse to get a plate of pickled radish strips and a can of dried meat with chili oil, and ate them with three bowls of rice. That was his meal.
He was not particular about food at first. For many years, he ate whatever others gave him. Later, when he went into the wild, he ate whatever he could find.
If I had to say, the best time when I had no worries about food, perhaps it was before I was five years old, when I had my father and mother?
But as time went by, he basically could not remember the past time in the capital, so the best time for him to have no worries about food was when he lived with Gu Er Niang in the small house.
It was the first time that he did not have to worry about being stabbed in the back or having his food poisoned, and he spent the New Year's holiday in peace and harmony, which had only existed in his imagination for many years.
Warm and beautiful.
So he must cherish his only accomplice.
But, it’s almost noon, why hasn’t his important accomplice come back yet?
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