Chapter 591 Is it true that Xu Yu can no longer afford to live on his free will?
Upon hearing this, Xu Yu, who had failed to win favor, immediately regrouped, grabbed Sang Zhixia's hand and went to find the basket of mushrooms.
Lingnan has abundant rainfall and an unimaginable variety of vegetation.
After just a short walk around the edge of the forest, Xu Yu discovered many trees that had never been seen in the northwest, some of which had quite strange shapes.
Xu Yu held a basket of scattered mushrooms in one hand and fiddled with the brown fruits that had fallen from the branches with the other. He asked curiously, "What is this?"
“Tamarind.”
Sang Zhixia took a closer look, raised her hand to break the shell of the tamarind, and was about to put it in her mouth when Xu Yu snatched it away.
"Zhizhi!"
Xu Yu took away the crushed tamarind, his breathing a little hurried: "How can you open your mouth and try it if you are not familiar with the nature of the thing?"
"What if this is poisonous? Then..."
"It's not poisonous."
Sang Zhixia said with a smile, "This is just an ordinary fruit, but it grows only in hot and humid places and is not easy to find elsewhere."
"If you don't believe me, try it."
Not knowing whether something was poisonous, Xu Yu didn't dare let Sang Zhixia touch it at all.
But with Master Qi, who was a master of poison, around, Xu Yu had no fear of trying anything.
Xu Yu followed Sang Zhixia's instructions, peeled off the shell, and took a bite of the flesh. His eyebrows twitched visibly, "Sour?"
"Hmm, very sour."
Sang Zhixia pretended not to notice the twisted look on Xu Yu's face, only to raise her head to look at the branch bent by the weight of the fruit. She laughed and said, "This thing is called tamarind, so of course it tastes mostly sour."
"If you eat them like this, they're too sour and astringent, and hard to swallow. It's better to pick some and bring them home, mix them with honey, and make a tamarind soup. It should be good for digestion and appetite."
Xu Yu looked polite and declined. He silently spat out the food in his mouth and rubbed his hands on the hem of his clothes.
When Sang Zhixia was about to pick them, he said directly, "It's too troublesome to pick them one by one."
"Zhizhi, please move aside. I'll go break off all the branches and carry them back."
Xu Yu was ruthless and broke off the boss's entire bunch of tamarind branches with leaves and fruits. As it was inconvenient to find mushrooms while walking in the woods with them in his hands, he made a mark and left it there temporarily, waiting to pick it up when he came back later.
As he went further in, Xu Yu heard many names from Sang Zhixia that he had never heard of before.
“It’s called August Melon.”
Sang Zhixia pointed to the empty shells of the fruit on the vine and said, "August melons, they exploded in September, and were only picked in October to entertain children. Now the flesh is empty, so you can only look at them, but you can't eat them."
"See that tall thing over there that looks like a crutch? It's called a jujube."
Sang Zhixia thought of Xu Yu's fear of sour food and joked, "You can try that one, it's sweet, not sour."
Sang Zhixia's original intention was just to introduce her to Xu Yu, but Xu Yu thought it was what she wanted after hearing it.
Not only did he pick a wax gourd for her that was good for looking at but not for eating, he also quickly climbed up the tallest jujube tree, stood on the branch, rolled up his sleeves and started picking the jujubes.
While Sang Zhixia was waiting for Xu Yu to bring the jujubes down from the tree, he found a small branch not far away that was full of red berries.
Xu Yu landed on the ground, holding onto a complete branch. He rested his chin on Sang Zhixia's shoulder and said, "Zhizhi, what is this?"
"Goat milk fruit."
Sang Zhixia took out a handkerchief and vigorously wiped away the fine hairs on the surface of the red fruit. Seeing Xu Yu's expression change from vigilance to relaxation, she said happily, "I think our Nuonuo will like this. We can pick some more."
In addition to these, Sang Zhixia also found bunches of green wild olives in the woods.
However, the green color of this one was too strong, so strong that one could tell at a glance that it couldn't be sweet. Xu Yu didn't even dare to open his mouth to taste it.
We said we were here to pick mushrooms, but we didn't find many. However, we did find a lot of wild fruits.
Sang Zhixia walked ahead, carrying a basket filled with goat milk apples and wild olives. Thinking of the lonely mushrooms that Xu Yu had thrown away in disdain, she whispered, "Lingnan is different from the north. Now is not the season for picking mushrooms."
"If you want to pick mushrooms, you have to wait until around the Qingming Festival. Often after a thunderstorm, many mushrooms will emerge from the pine forest. That is the best time to enjoy wild fresh mushrooms with the help of the weather."
It is almost October now. There are not many mushrooms, but the fruit trees are lush. As long as you can recognize and find them, you will enjoy the delicious food.
Xu Yu, carrying a branch laden with fruit on one shoulder, slowly followed Sang Zhixia and said, "There's no rush."
"When spring comes next year, I'll find a big backpack and we'll go up the mountain to look for mushrooms. We'll take all the mushrooms home and make soup."
"How much can you eat? Do you need to find that much?"
Sang Zhixia was so amused that she pushed aside the long grass that blocked her way and said to herself, "Lingnan is rich in natural resources, but it also happens to be a completely different kind of natural resource from the northwest."
"After we settle down here, we'll go to Xunkong and slowly taste the many strange flavors that are rumored."
"Strange smell?"
Xu Yu instinctively didn't want to try anything strange, but seeing the interest in Sang Zhixia's eyes, he struggled to suppress the urge to shake his head.
Xu Yu nodded with mixed feelings: "Okay."
"Once we're in town, let's set aside a few days to explore the area. No matter how strange the food is, we can go together."
Xu Yu and Sang Zhixia chatted all the way up and down the mountain, gaining a lot of insights easily, and the atmosphere was peaceful and leisurely.
At this time, the scene outside the forest was completely different.
Upon learning that the Xu family was staying in the plains outside the city and had been unable to enter the city, the old prince seemed to be in much better health and immediately decided to bring Jiang Yubai to see it in person.
Jiang Yubai followed the old prince, who was traveling in plain clothes, and greeted several elders one by one. He looked around and didn't see anyone familiar, so he couldn't help but ask, "Jinxi, where are your eldest brother and sister-in-law?"
Xu Jinxi was too young. He missed the opportunity to pick mushrooms in the mountains and was also deprived of the right to fish in the river. He was just sitting in front of the stove, roasting potatoes.
When she heard what Jiang Yubai said, she used a small stick to dig out a burnt potato. After making sure Jiang Yubai didn't want to eat it with a questioning look, she poked the potato and sighed deeply like a little adult: "Brother and sister-in-law are out playing, they never take me with them when they go out to play!"
"Don't take me with you!"
"Nonsense again."
Xu Yanran, who was helping with the cooking, had already grown into the appearance of a grown-up girl. She was graceful and polite. She nodded and smiled politely at Jiang Yubai, and whispered to the dissatisfied Xu Jinxi: "It's not safe for my brother and sister-in-law to go into the mountains with you. Didn't I explain everything to you?"
"Besides, you cooked the potatoes so well here, and they'll be ready to eat when my sister-in-law and the others come back. Isn't that a good thing?"
Xu Jinxi smacked her lips doubtfully, and suddenly felt that roasting potatoes seemed to be a great accomplishment, so she happily threw a few more potatoes into the stove.
Jiang Yubai didn't see such scenes often, and he was stunned for a moment and laughed it off.
These children of the Xu family were truly different from the ones he often saw in the royal capital.
The old prince and old man Xu are old acquaintances. They haven't seen each other for many years. Today they meet again in such a foreign place for both of them. They sit down and sigh countlessly and have countless words to say.
Old Qi was aloof and arrogant by nature, and he was most impatient to deal with these people of prominent status. However, when he noticed the small black spot behind the old prince's ear, his eyes narrowed silently, and then he grabbed the ingot and went to the other side.
The extra people had no food to eat, and there was nothing better to eat in the wilderness, so they could only make more using local ingredients.
The people who were busy cooking were working busily, and the sounds of conversation, big and small, were constantly coming and going, mixed in with the wind and reaching the ears, adding another kind of atmosphere of life.
Xu Yu and Xu Minghui were not there, and even the black-hearted and evil-minded Chen Jing'an did not follow the Xu family.
Jiang Yubai couldn't find anyone to talk to, so he simply rolled up his sleeves and went to help Xu Jinxi cook potatoes.
When Xu Yu and Sang Zhixia returned with a full load, they saw Jiang Yubai and Xu Jinxi each holding a black potato, with black smoke rolling down their faces, one big and one small.
If it weren't for the white teeth showing through her grin, Sang Zhixia wouldn't have realized at first glance that it was the little sister he had raised for many years!
Sang Zhixia was a little shocked.
Jiang Yubai turned his head to look at Xu Yu and Sang Zhixia who had finally returned. Then he looked at what the couple were holding and was so angry that he laughed.
What is this?
After arriving at the royal capital, they didn't go out to eat good food. Did the couple bring the Xu family, young and old, with them, and prepare to return to nature in this wild forest?
This worthless wild fruit is worth so much time. Has Xu Yu finally given up on this gigolo?
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