Chapter 13 Sea Salt is a Good Thing
Although breakfast was all corn and the vegetables were wild grass, Gu Xiyue found it very delicious. The pancake made of cornmeal was soft and refreshing. After taking a few bites of the pancake and then a bite of the cold wild vegetables, the mixture of salty fragrance and softness made Gu Xiyue unable to stop. Then he tried the corn porridge, and his eyes widened.
The corn had been exposed to enough sunlight and ground into very small particles on a stone mill. The porridge made from it was smooth and tasty, with a faint aroma of corn. Gu Xiyue drank half a bowl in one gulp.
She immediately raised her head and looked at Xiao Heng, her eyes full of stars.
"Your Highness is truly amazing. The food you cook is truly delicious. It tastes a million times better than what I cook."
She still didn't give up and wanted to take the opportunity to praise him and let him do the cooking in the future, even if it meant asking Meixiang to help.
It’s not that she doesn’t want to cook, but the food she cooks is too unpalatable, which is a waste of food.
As a result, Xiao Heng just glanced at her and lowered his head to continue eating without responding.
Seeing that there was no hope, Gu Xiyue also lowered his head to eat, slurping the remaining porridge in the bowl.
Meixiang wanted to remind the young lady that it was too rude to eat like this, but she couldn't say it in front of His Highness, so she had to endure it.
After dinner, Meixiang took the initiative to wash the pots and dishes. Gu Xiyue wanted to find paper and pen, so he searched the house but found nothing. Then he thought of the bookshelf in Xiao Heng's room that was more than a meter tall, so he turned around and went to look for him.
"Your Highness, I would like to borrow paper and pen. Is that convenient?"
Xiao Heng was reading a book at the table. While reading, he was holding a brush in his right hand, obviously writing while reading.
When he heard that Gu Xiyue wanted to borrow paper and pen, he turned to look at her unexpectedly with a complicated look in his eyes. Seeing that she looked determined to get what she wanted, and thinking of how she had just angrily drank the porridge with a loud noise, he smiled and nodded in agreement.
Gu Xiyue successfully took away a few pieces of paper, a brush, an inkstone and half a bottle of ink from Xiao Heng.
After putting the things in the house, she went out. Before leaving, she asked Meixiang to go to the east end to buy some rice, flour and other things, otherwise they would not be able to eat at noon.
Meixiang knew what she was going to do, so she nodded obediently and told her to be careful.
When the two were talking, Xiao Heng heard it in the room, so he put down the book and pen in his hand and stood up.
After Gu Xiyue went out, he went out with his hands behind his back. On the surface, he was taking a walk, but in fact he was following Gu Xiyue's back.
The sun has been shining brightly these past few days, and the villagers in Nanhuang are busy pulling mosquito repellent grass and drying it in the sun. They plan to dry it out as much as possible, as they will be too busy in a few days to pull it. Besides that, there is another big thing to do: grinding the field.
Not only does his own yard need to be leveled, but the large field in the middle of the Southern Wilderness also needs to be leveled.
When the wheat is harvested, it will be dried and threshed in your own yard, and then winnowed in the big field.
So these days the villagers have been busy picking up stones in the yard, picking up soil to fill the depressions, and rolling the soil in the yard with a stone roller. In some places, several people have to carry stone blocks to pound the ground flat. In the end, the ground is flat, smooth and hard, which makes it convenient to collect the wheat grains when threshing later. Otherwise, in a bumpy yard, the wheat will be mixed with stones and soil when it is harvested, which is very troublesome.
The wheat on the back slope has begun to turn slightly yellow. After a few more days of good sunshine, it can be harvested. Everyone has a little anticipation in their hearts. Everyone has slept well and is in high spirits these days. They know that the wheat is about to be harvested and there will be new food soon. Everyone has taken out all the stored food these days, and if it is not enough, they will use the remaining money to buy it.
Everyone can basically eat two meals a day these days, and there are more smiles on their faces. Children are laughing, playing and running, and their childish and innocent voices bring more vitality to the Southern Wilderness.
Gu Xiyue walked out of the door and went straight to the end, then turned right. There was a beach all over the right side. After walking for a while, there was a beach in front of him, and further ahead was a steep and tall mountain. Gu Xiyue did not give up, and walked along the beach. When he reached the end, he suddenly smiled.
There is a flat hinterland at the angle between the mountain peak and the hillside. In the hinterland there is a depression of more than 100 square meters, where thatch grows everywhere and is covered with a thick layer of white frost.
When the tide is high, the sea water will flow over the beach. After a few hours when the tide goes out, the sea water will flow out, and this place will become a natural salt flat.
Seeing this, Gu Xiyue thought that if there was a chance, he could dig a large puddle in the wasteland near the sea in the middle of the Southern Wilderness, level it with stone slabs, put clean thatch in it, dig the inlet and outlet of seawater, pour seawater in during high tide and flow out during low tide, leaving a little seawater in the pit. After being exposed to the sun during the day, the water would evaporate, and within a few days, he could harvest a batch of sea salt.
This is good stuff!
Gu Xi's mind came to life. She had heard her grandmother talk about drying salt on the beach before, but she had never thought of it before. It was only when she tasted the white frost on the thatch this morning that she suddenly realized that it was salt.
The reason why Meixiang was asked not to make it public was to avoid causing unrest in the village. Human nature is complicated, so these things should be done slowly and a suitable opportunity should be found.
If given the opportunity, she would like to lead everyone to live a good life.
Everyone is doing well, which makes her feel more accomplished than if she were doing well alone.
Gu Xiyue looked around. This place was very secluded and people would never come here. She planned to start collecting the sea salt with Meixiang in the afternoon, and then dig the places around that needed to be dug, clean them up, and throw some more dry straw in. That way, she would get more sea salt.
Thinking about this, he turned around and walked back, but when he turned around, he found a person walking out from behind the grass next to him. This person was none other than Xiao Heng.
Gu Xiyue's heart was in her throat and she almost screamed out loud.
"Your Highness!"
She looked around and saw that he was indeed the only one there. "Why is Your Highness here?"
Xiao Heng didn't say anything, but walked straight over and looked around the place where she had just stopped. There was nothing strange except a pile of thatch. He wondered why she was staring at the thatch and grinning foolishly.
"I'm so full, I saw you out by yourself, so I followed you over to take a look, just to help me digest my food."
He was obviously worried that something might happen to her if she came out alone, but he spoke like that. Seeing that he didn't see what was on the thatch, Gu Xiyue decided not to tell him for the time being and wait until later.
"I was just feeling bored, so I came out for a walk."
Gu Xiyue opened his mouth and a look of distress appeared on his face.
"Because of cooking?" Xiao Heng asked and suddenly laughed.
"Yes, it's because of the cooking. Your Highness knows that I'm just wasting food when I cook."
Gu Xiyue took advantage of the situation and once again emphasized that his cooking was not tasty.
"Okay, I promise you, Wei Lin and I will cook from now on."
Xiao Heng agreed with a smile.
"Really!" Gu Xiyue almost jumped up with joy, the excitement on her face was undisguised. She patted her chest and said with a loyal attitude: "Then there will be more, Your Highness. However, I, Gu Xiyue, will make money to support you in the future! You just need to cook at home, read books and study, and I will take care of the rest."
Xiao Heng stood there in a daze, his eyes twitching, and he looked at Gu Xiyue with a raised corner of his mouth.
He was tall and slender, standing there with an imposing manner, handsome features, and when he smiled it was impossible not to look away.
With such a handsome guy around, Gu Xiyue felt happy just by looking at him, and his cooking was delicious, which was simply perfect.
"You make money to support me?" Xiao Heng tried hard not to laugh.
Gu Xiyue nodded heavily.
It's not that she couldn't see what Xiao Heng was thinking, it's just that she found it unbelievable and thought he was just bragging. In order to get him to cook well, she could tolerate his teasing.
"This prince is not easy to raise. Miss Gu should be mentally prepared."
Xiao Heng patted his hands that had touched the thatch to make himself cleaner.
"It's a deal!"
Gu Xiyue smiled and nodded. If she wasn't afraid of scaring him, she really wanted to shake hands with him to express that they had reached a cooperation.
The two walked back one after the other, Gu Xiyue walked in front and Xiao Heng followed behind her. Gu Xiyue was wearing a long coarse cloth skirt and a belt. He stared at her slender waist and thought it was a bit funny to see this delicate-looking woman.
If you want to make money to support him, just wait and see.
When I returned to the house, Meixiang had already returned. She bought white flour, black flour, corn flour, and a few pounds of rice, spending a total of more than 500 coins, enough to last for a while.
As soon as Gu Xiyue entered the room, he picked up the rice and dark flour and said to Meixiang, who was sweating profusely, "You carry the white flour and corn flour, and we will go to the east room."
Meixiang didn't understand and wanted to ask why, but when she saw the lady was already walking out, she shut up and followed her with the other two kinds of noodles.
The door to the east room was open. After Gu Xiyue entered the room, she put her things on the table on the left. Xiao Heng, who was reading a book in the room, remained silent. Wei Lin widened his eyes.
"Miss Gu, what are you doing?"
Gu Xiyue smiled and patted the rice bag, then glanced at Xiao Heng and Wei Lin. "I'll trouble Your Highness and Wei Lin from now on. The things are here. You can use them as you see fit. Tell me when you're done."
Meixiang was putting things away. When she heard this, she immediately understood what was going on. She looked at the young lady with admiration and thought that her decision was very wise.
"Meixiang, come out with me."
Gu Xiyue waited for Meixiang to put her things away, then called them out. Wei Lin was puzzled and was about to follow them, wanting to find out what they meant.
Do I have to let His Highness cook for me from now on?
Although the rice cooked by His Highness is indeed better than that cooked by Miss Gu, he is His Highness after all. How can he always do this kind of serving work!
This is not fair!
"Wei Lin!"
Xiao Heng stopped him and said without even looking up, "Don't go! Miss Gu has important things to do, let her do them. When you're free, keep an eye on them and don't let anything happen to them."
Wei Lin glanced at his great enemy, His Highness, and reluctantly agreed.
In the next few days, Wei Lin discovered that Gu Xiyue went out early and came back late every day. Except for coming back for dinner, he stayed outside with Meixiang all the time. In order to protect themselves from the sun, they also wore hats. Every time they came back, they both carried a cloth bag, which was bulging with things, and no one knew what was in it.
After seven or eight days, the wheat behind the villagers' houses turned golden yellow, and it was time to harvest. Every household prepared dry food, sharpened their sickles, and prepared to start harvesting wheat tomorrow.
In the middle of the night, everyone was suddenly awakened by thunder, followed by heavy rain.
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