Chapter 42 Potato Seeds Lin Qing'an rarely got up early...
Lin Qing'an rarely got up early. After breakfast, he took a bag of potatoes out of his treasure bag, then went back to fetch two buckets of spiritual spring water before explaining the potato preparation method to Chen Yuetao and Chen Gengnian.
"The planting methods for potatoes and sweet potatoes are actually quite different. Sweet potatoes need to be planted twice, while potatoes are planted only once."
Lin Qingan picked up a knife and cut a potato into five roughly equal pieces, then continued his explanation in a very professional manner.
"Look, throw the chopped pieces into the spiritual spring water, let them roll around, then take them out and put them into the straw. Based on the original growth rate, it will take at least ten days to reach the germination level we want."
"However, the intervention of the spiritual spring water will likely shorten the time considerably."
Why do I feel like you're making a simple thing sound complicated?
When Ah Meng suddenly voiced his doubts, he would undoubtedly only receive a loving and gentle look from Lin Qing'an.
Everyone was already used to their interactions and didn't care.
"And then what?" Chen Yuetao asked.
Lin Qing'an then began to explain again.
"The next step is to put the sprouted potatoes into wood ash, so that they are completely covered with wood ash, and then put the potatoes into the tilled soil."
"Mother," Lin Qing'an asked Chen Yuetao, "Do you usually store a lot of ashes in the house?"
Chen Yuetao nodded, "There's plenty. Although our family doesn't have any land, Mother will keep it all for that girl, A-Jing, and we'll use the rest to grow some vegetables and fruits."
"That's good. We need to prepare plenty of wood ash, the more the better." Lin Qing'an said as he handed a potato to Chen Gengnian, who was cutting potatoes. "The fields will need it too."
In their time, all the waste sources were wood ash and organic fertilizer. They could use it for land nearby, but there was no need for land further away.
Because Lin Qing'an had soaked the potatoes in the spiritual spring water, he wasn't worried about it at all.
"Don't worry! Jing's family has already handed over their land to those people this year, so there's no need to give it to her anymore. What we have at home should be enough."
As Chen Yuetao spoke, she walked towards the storage room. Just as Lin Qing'an was wondering what was going on, she came out carrying a basket on her back and a hoe on her shoulder.
Lin Qing'an asked in confusion, "Mother, where are you going?"
Chen Yuetao smiled, went over and pulled Lin Qing'an up, "Come on, Qing'an, take me to familiarize myself with the land. I'll clear the weeds so the oxen can plow more easily."
Upon hearing this, Chen Gengnian quickly stood up and pulled Lin Qing'an aside, "Mother, Qing'an was tired yesterday, so you don't need to go. I'll go in a bit."
"No, you want to do it all yourselves?"
Lin Qing'an was stunned. They had no worries about food or clothing. Doing all this was just a gimmick. If he still had to work hard for this, wouldn't all his buffs be wasted?
Chen Yuetao and Chen Gengnian looked at Lin Qing'an's shocked expression and laughed, "Yes, my stomach ailment is cured now, so this kind of work is naturally not tiring at all."
As Chen Yuetao spoke, she brought up Chen Gengnian, saying, "You don't need to go to the fields. Go check if the village chief's land has been plowed yet. If it's finished, you can rent it for a few days, and we..."
"Stop!" Lin Qing'an couldn't stand it any longer. He grabbed Chen Gengnian with one hand and Chen Yuetao with the other, and said sternly, "We'll hire someone to do this job. Nobody is allowed to do any physical labor!"
Fearing that the two might object, Lin Qing'an added, "You all know that my treasure bag is inexhaustible. The reason I made these things is to deceive people. With the help of the treasure bag, we should enjoy ourselves. No one knows whether an accident or a happy event will come first."
Lin Qing'an spread his hands, pretending to be angry, and said, "Of course, if you still want to do it, then fine, I'll do whatever you do, and I'll get angry at whoever stops me!"
Seeing his deliberately stern face, Chen Gengnian found it extremely cute and resisted the urge to pinch it, obediently saying, "I will obey my husband's words!"
"puff--"
Lin Qingan and Chen Yuetao had never seen Chen Gengnian like this before. They looked at each other and burst out laughing instantly.
Once the initial enthusiasm wore off, Chen Gengnian scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly and said foolishly, "The farm work isn't too busy, so I'll go find a few people to help!"
“Okay.” Chen Yuetao took the knife and potatoes from Chen Gengnian and said, “I can handle this. You take Aqing with you and you can go for a walk and have some fun.”
As soon as Chen Yuetao finished speaking, she seemed to remember something and immediately changed her mind, "Never mind, neither of you should go. Just stay home and chop potatoes. I'll go find your Aunt Fanghua and ask her to help me find someone. She knows the market and knows which people are reliable."
Neither Lin Qingan nor Chen Gengnian noticed her unnatural expression just now. They thought it made sense; when looking for someone to do a job, especially someone from the village, it's essential to find a reliable person to introduce you. Regardless of the amount of work, the most important thing is to find someone honest and straightforward. Brother Nian, who spends most of his time hunting in the mountains, naturally wouldn't know, let alone himself.
Therefore, having Chen Yuetao find someone is the best solution.
By the time Lin Qing'an came to her senses, Chen Yuetao had already left, along with Baifu.
Bai Fu usually accompanies Chen Yuetao when she goes out alone; this has been a habit for many years.
Ah Meng lay lazily on the stool, basking in the sun, completely oblivious to the commotion on Lin Qing'an's side.
Lin Qingan and Chen Gengnian cut and covered all the potatoes. After washing their hands, Lin Qingan squatted down next to A Meng and poked it.
"Hey~ We're going to Jing's house, do you want to come?"
Ah Meng didn't even open his eyelids, and muttered that he wasn't going.
Lin Qing'an stood up. "Alright then, I wonder what delicious pastries Liu Yiyi will make later. She also brought back a lot of homemade fruit wine from town; I'll have to go and have a couple of drinks."
Ah Meng suddenly opened his eyes, but Lin Qing'an got up, whistling, and took Chen Gengnian's hand to walk outside.
But before he had taken two steps, a gust of wind swept past his ear.
Ah Meng flew away first.
Lin Qingan was not surprised when Chen Gengnian asked him, "Does A-Meng still drink alcohol?"
"Well, my senior brother here, besides food, his favorite thing is alcohol, especially fruit wine."
Speaking of this, Lin Qing'an had to mention A Meng's past drunken experience. He told Chen Gengnian, "Let me tell you, once A Meng got drunk and went down the mountain to carry a farmer's goat back up the mountain. My master almost fainted from anger. You know, my master is a Taoist, and he has never done a bad thing in his life. Goodness, A Meng was knocked unconscious by my master's whisk and slept on the ground all night. The first thing he did when he woke up the next morning was to carry the goat back to the farmer. Hahaha, isn't that funny?"
When Lin Qing'an mentioned A Meng, some memories from the past automatically surfaced. As he talked, he laughed so hard he almost fell over. Chen Gengnian was also amused by his reckless laughter and laughed along with him. The two, one tall and one short, walked hand in hand on the path, their steps wobbling from laughing.
He didn't completely stop laughing until he reached Lin Jing's doorstep.
After knocking, Liu Yiyi opened the door. She was wearing a pink dress, which made her look even more elegant and beautiful, like a lady from a well-to-do family. However, Lin Qingan found that she looked somewhat familiar.
Seeing the scrutinizing look in his eyes, Liu Yiyi immediately understood and quickly explained, "This is what A-Jing gave me to wear. She said you bought it for me."
Lin Qingan was a little embarrassed, but smiled and praised, "You look great in it too."
"Hasn't A-Jing come back yet?" Chen Gengnian asked.
"Yes, she left just as dawn was breaking, and I don't know why she hasn't come back yet."
Liu Yiyi said this, but in fact she had been waiting at the door several times before Lin Qing'an and the others arrived.
After hearing this, Chen Gengnian gently patted Lin Qingan on the shoulder and said, "Then I'll go take a look, and check the land while I'm at it."
Lin Qingan thought it was a good idea and said he would come back soon.
After Chen Gengnian left, Lin Qingan sat down in the courtyard. Liu Yiyi politely poured him tea. The tea, with its faint floral fragrance and sweetness, filled the air. It was a flower tea that Liu Yiyi usually made.
Ah Meng squatted on the wall to the side, eagerly waiting.
In Lin Jing's yard, there was a grape vine. A square trellis was built to allow the branches and vines to spread and grow. Under the trellis, there was an irregular stone table, but no stone benches. Instead, there were a few old chairs.
Although it's a bit out of place, it's quite convenient.
Although we'd only known each other for a few days, there was an inexplicable awkwardness when we actually sat down together.
"I tried making some pastries, I'll go get them for you to try," Liu Yiyi said as she got up and went into the house.
Within two minutes, Liu Yiyi came out with a plate of pink and green pastries.
A whiff of osmanthus fragrance wafted into my nostrils, and Ah Meng on the wall stretched his neck long, flapping his wings as if he were about to leap out.
Liu Yiyi pushed the pastries toward Lin Qing'an and introduced them to him in a low voice.
"This is the osmanthus sugar cake I made a while ago, and this is the peach blossom sugar cake. Please try them."
Osmanthus sugar cake is a creamy white cake sprinkled with golden osmanthus petals, while peach blossom sugar cake is entirely pink, making it look very appetizing even without any other embellishments.
Lin Qing'an picked up a piece of osmanthus cake, but instead of eating it right away, he called out to A-Meng on the wall.
"A-Meng, come here."
Liu Yiyi looked in the direction Lin Qingan was looking and saw an eagle perched on the wall. She had seen that eagle once before; it had helped her and A-Jing on the day Lin Li died.
As soon as the sound faded, A Meng flapped its wings and flew over, landing on Lin Qing'an's lap.
Lin Qingan took the pastries from his hand and let him eat them.
"Please excuse my poor taste. Ah Meng just likes to eat these little things."
"It's alright, it can eat as much as it wants." Liu Yiyi could tell that the eagle was very intelligent. She leaned closer to A Meng and said gratefully, "Thank you for saving us that day. I will make lots of cakes and pastries for you to eat every day."
As she spoke, she reached out to stroke A Meng's wings, but the moment her fair hand touched him, A Meng abandoned his food and fled.
That flight mode is so funny it makes you want to laugh.
Liu Yiyi was somewhat speechless, her eyes filled with a series of questions.
Lin Qing'an didn't cover for A Meng either, and instead revealed its shameful secret: "It's shy."
Snap—
Ah Meng slipped and fell face and body to the ground.
Ah Meng mentally cursed Lin Qing'an: "You have no martial ethics."
Lin Qing'an smiled mischievously and ignored it.
He casually asked Liu Yiyi, "Sister Yiyi, can I try some of your fruit wine?"
Even without Lin Qing'an's reminder, Liu Yiyi was already preparing to get it. She smiled and said "wait" before getting up and going back inside.
When she returned, Lin Qing'an saw that she was carrying a bundle on her back. Lin Qing'an remembered that the bundle was brought back from town the day before.
Just as Liu Yiyi placed the bundle on the table, Ameng flew back and landed on Lin Qing'an's shoulder, staring at the bundle.
Liu Yiyi opened the bundle, and colorful ceramic vases were revealed before her eyes.
Lin Qing'an quickly drank the tea leaves and pushed the empty bowl out to wait.
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