Chapter 403 Bitter Melon
"What is so precious?"
Song Liyun was curious and followed Song Dekui into the yard to take a look.
Madam Yun put away her needlework and quickly fetched water to help Song Dekui wash his face.
With Song Dekui's nervous reminder, Song Liyun finally saw the "bitter melon" in the cardboard box.
It was not much bigger than a fist, with green skin and patterns and a section of dried vine.
This is watermelon!
When Song Dekui washed his face, changed his clothes, and entered the house, he saw the bitter melon that had been cut into several pieces, revealing the pink flesh inside. He immediately cried out, "Lin Qingyuan said that this melon must be left in the ice cellar overnight. It can't be frozen or heated. Then use a silver knife to pick out the thin slices and then cut into small pieces..."
Song Liyun was still picking at the black seeds in the melon flesh when she asked, "Didn't Lin Qingyuan also say that we should bathe, change clothes, burn incense, purify ourselves, and pay our respects to our ancestors before eating?"
Song Dekui was stunned: "How do you know?"
Song Liyun carefully put the seeds away and said, "I won't eat the bitter melon. Leave one petal for Xiao An, and share the rest with Uncle Erlang!"
This watermelon is not much bigger than a fist. Song Liyun tasted it just now. It is quite sweet and juicy. It is a rare good watermelon.
Song Dekui didn't eat the melons. He just watched her collect melon seeds and asked excitedly, "Xiaoyun, are you going to grow bitter melons? Just like Daping grows rapeseed?"
In the spring, Daping brought some vegetable seeds back to Xiaoshi Village from Baolinju. Now I heard that he has harvested a lot of rapeseeds and is preparing to find an oil mill to press oil.
The rapeseed in Suijin Town had already been harvested and the oil was pressed out. It produced more oil than soybean oil. He had tasted it and it was very delicious.
Song Liyun nodded. "Since bitter melons have seeds, you can grow them yourself. They'll grow bigger than the basin, and you can eat as much as you want."
Song Dekui was shocked, his hands shaking as he held the bitter melon: "Xiaoyun, I know you know a lot and are good at business. The wool and cattle horns on the grassland are sold at sky-high prices.
Lin Xiaozi and Wan Yanming are now talking about how you make money.
But no matter how capable you are, you can't lie to your uncle Kui and talk nonsense!"
"Lin Qingyuan said that this bitter melon cannot be grown. It grows naturally and has no fixed place. It can only be found in desolate and uninhabited places."
"Every time I go looking for bitter melon in the summer, I risk my life!"
Now the Wan family and Lin Qingyuan have taken over the Qi family's fur and jewelry business in Hecheng.
Not only did he open a workshop there to make bags, horn combs, and horn accessories, he also used various broken gemstones to make buttons.
There are many fur craftsmen in Hecheng. Although their skills are not as delicate as those in the prosperous capital, they still process furs.
Not only did the price increase several times, Wanjia also increased its shipment volume in road transportation.
Lin Qingyuan took over the Qi family's jewelry business, and with the ideas given by Song Liyun, he launched a full range of jewelry, from high, medium and low-end.
The escaped Qi family has never been "caught", and the lawsuit in the capital is still under investigation and evidence collection.
No news is good news. There is no movement from the Qi family and the Crown Princess.
Under the intimidation and crackdown by the garrison, merchants in the city quickly accepted the reality.
Everything was familiar, and now there are several more ways to pay.
Four months passed, and money rolled in like flowing water to the garrison's account office.
Everyone knows that in addition to the favorable timing and location of Hecheng border, this money is naturally inseparable from Song Liyun.
But this bitter melon is different, it grows naturally in the desert.
Song Dekui had seen wolf packs in the desert Gobi of uninhabited areas.
This bitter melon grows naturally in the sandy soil of the Gobi Desert, and even herdsmen are reluctant to set foot there.
Now Xiaoyun actually wants to plant... Song Dekui's doubts gradually faded away, and he inexplicably developed some expectations. Maybe Xiaoyun will really plant bitter melons in the future.
Once the bitter melon is opened, it cannot be kept any longer. Song Liyun cut the melon into thin slices and asked Song Dekui to send it to Han Ming, Song Erlang and others so that everyone could taste this rare delicacy from the grassland.
Not long after Song Dekui left, Madam Yun came over and said that Abu had returned, followed by the silly Zhemao.
The two big black guys were sweating profusely but still holding on to the cardboard box.
Song Liyun looked at Zhemao who suddenly appeared, then looked at the cardboard box, and suddenly felt like laughing.
You are holding a cardboard box today. Could it be watermelon inside again?
The two put down the cardboard box, and Zhemao quickly bowed and greeted Song Liyun. Although he often came to Baolinju, he was always so respectful every time.
Song Liyun asked him and Yunniang to go wash and comb their hair, and then asked Abu why he asked Zhemao to come during the day.
After all, Zhemao was a Di tribe member. Even if he changed into Wu Dynasty clothes, it was difficult to hide his Di face.
Suijin Town is now thriving. Although the disaster is rarely mentioned, ordinary people are still not very friendly to the Di people, and conflicts that can be avoided should be avoided.
Abu fanned himself with a palm-leaf fan and said with a grin, "Balin found a large pile of bitter melons in the Gobi Desert. Luckily, there were ten. He sent four to Kala Mountain and the rest back here."
"Look, it's fine!"
As he spoke, Abu opened the carton, revealing the pitifully small watermelon inside.
Yesterday he delivered the fresh fruits and vegetables he bought in town to the mouth of the Huangsha River Valley, and met Balin who had already moved there and settled there, and asked Zhemao to bring some bitter melons.
In Balin's heart, Song Liyun lived in Wu Dynasty and was of great help to his tribe, so they were naturally close.
But it was indeed worth it for his tribe to go through so much hardship. After only half a year, the fur and cattle horns in the tribe were exchanged for enough salt and cloth, so that everyone could wear soft and close-fitting underwear.
Now that I have found some bitter melon, I will bring it over first.
Song Liyun smiled and said, "The river is flowing at full speed right now. It's not easy to come here from outside the Huangsha River Valley. Zhemao wouldn't have come here just for these melons. He must have something to say!"
Zhemao quickly cleaned up and came over, and told Song Liyun the origin of the bitter melon.
Song Liyun is now learning the Di language from Abu, and she no longer feels any burden when communicating with Zhemao.
When Song Liyun heard Zhemao say that the bitter melon was picked from the Gobi Desert they had walked through before, she nodded.
She walked that road when she came back from Kara Mountain, but it was still covered with snow at that time and looked no different from other places. Now she thought that it was soil suitable for growing watermelons.
Bitter melon was obviously not the main reason why Zhemao came to Suijin Town.
After Abu left, Zhemao rubbed his hands together and said innocently, "The Balin chief said he wants you to visit the Balin tribe when you're free. If you can bring some wood, that would be even better!"
"What's going on? Your tribe will stay in the valley from now on and won't have to migrate for the winter. Is the fodder we've been transporting insufficient during this period?"
Song Liyun misheard and thought Zhemao wanted fodder.
The Balin tribe planned to settle at the mouth of the valley, but the grassland there was not big enough to support the entire tribe.
During this time, in addition to having people cut grass and store it from other places, fodder was also transported from Suijin Town.
When Zhemao heard Song Liyun suspect there wasn't enough fodder, he quickly waved his hand and said, "The straw we brought over is all piled up. It should be enough for the tribe's cattle to eat for half a month!"
Half a month...is obviously not enough for the long winter. Fortunately, there is still a lot of time, and more straw will be sent over from Wu Dynasty.
Zhemao hesitated for a long time before he finally explained the situation clearly.
What Balin wanted was wood or firewood, so he asked Song Liyun to bring some over.
It turned out that the Balin tribe wanted to hold a ceremony before Song Liyun got married.
It means swearing allegiance until death, passing it down from generation to generation, and becoming Song Liyun's private army tribe.
This is different from other vassal tribes in the future. Basically, the Bahrain tribe is her private property and its status is the same as that of the Uda tribe.
However, her status is consistent with the price she pays. The life and death of everyone in the Balin tribe is under her control, including the chief Balin himself.
Song Liyun was a little amused and helpless.
(End of this chapter)
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