Chapter 3 This grass can repel mosquitoes
Gu Xiyue looked at Xu Junye angrily and couldn't hold back her anger.
"Master Xu, although we were exiled here, we are all citizens of Dayu. Isn't it too much for you to set the price of salt so high?"
According to Gu Xiyue's understanding and the memories of his original body, those who were exiled here were basically due to political reasons. Either they had different ideas from the court, or their families were on the wrong side. Most of them had family members serving as officials in the capital. On the one hand, the court made their lives miserable to warn others, and on the other hand, it constrained their families in the capital.
If they committed suicide, their families in the capital would also be implicated. Conversely, if the families of officials in the capital went against the court, they would also suffer a fate worse than death in the Southern Wilderness.
Granny Liu is an example. Her son is a filial son. He said the wrong thing in the court and his mother was exiled to the southern wilderness. In order for his mother to live a safe and stable life in the southern wilderness, he lived cautiously, fearing that he would say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing.
In order to protect her children from being implicated in the capital, Granny Liu tried to commit suicide many times but endured it.
After Gu Xiyue finished speaking, Xu Junye looked at her helplessly and sighed, "Miss Gu, you've wronged me. The prices here are set by the higher-ups, and we're just following orders."
On orders?
On whose orders?
Gu Xiyue understood it in a flash.
"What would happen if Granny Liu starved to death?"
Grandpa Xu Jun glanced at Granny Liu, endured it, and said, "Just try to stay alive. Starving yourself to death is also suicide..."
He didn't say the rest, and Gu Xiyue clenched his fists.
I don't want to hit Mr. Xu, I'm just angry!
Granny Liu held onto Gu Xiyue, her face moved. "My dear, don't worry about me. Just live well."
After saying this, she thanked Gu Xiyue profusely, then walked away tremblingly holding the bag of salt.
Gu Xiyue thought about it and had a bold idea in his mind, "If someone can get salt by himself, will you stop him?"
Xu Junye looked incredulous and shook his head, saying, "No matter what, it's simply a fool's dream to want to get salt by yourself."
Gu Xiyue nodded without saying anything else, took her bag of salt and went to fetch water with Meixiang.
Gu Xiyue was born into a business family. From childhood to adulthood, the family business has experienced three crises, each of which was very serious. She witnessed her father trying every possible way to turn the tide. Her father once told her that at any time and in any situation, don't give up easily. As long as you insist on finding ways to solve the problem, there will always be a day when you can get over it.
Her father's words made a lasting impression on her.
Since Mr. Xu said that he would not care about the people in the Southern Wilderness making their own salt, he naturally would not care about anything else.
She had an idea in her mind.
But the environment of the Southern Wilderness made her worried. She was not from this era, so everything was unknown and she could only wait and see.
After drawing a bucket of water, Gu Xiyue felt that it was too heavy for one person to carry. The handle of the wooden bucket was too thick, and it would be difficult for two people to carry one side each. Gu Xiyue looked left and right, and finally found a wooden stick more than one meter long by the wall outside Junye's courtyard. After asking Junye Xu, he took it away, passed it through the handle of the bucket, and carried it with Meixiang, which made him feel much easier.
On the way back, the sun was scorching, but the sea breeze felt cool on her body. Meixiang kept talking behind her all the way, and Gu Xiyue nodded from time to time. As she walked, she looked at the lush wild grass wasteland on the right. As she walked, she found that there were two kinds of grasses that were the most common among the wild grasses.
There was a kind of grass with slender leaves like willow leaves, and only one main stem. The willow-shaped leaves were evenly distributed around it from the root to the top. There was also a kind of wild grass that she had seen on the roadside of her grandmother's house in the countryside when she was a child.
The main stem of this wild grass branches out into several secondary stems. The leaves on each stem are greatly stretched out and composed of frost-like shapes. If you look closely, they are quite beautiful.
Gu Xiyue remembered that one time she was bitten by some insect on the back of her hand, and a swellup appeared. Her grandmother picked up some leaves and mashed them into a paste on a stone slab, and applied it to the small wound. It felt cool and very comfortable.
Every summer, grandma would take out a piece of dried grass braid, saying it was for mosquito repellent. Gu Xiyue had seen the grass she cut back before, and it seemed to be this grass, and the other willow leaf weed seemed to be the same.
Gu Xiyue's eyes lit up, he stopped, and waved to Meixiang to put down the bucket together.
"Miss, are you too tired? Why don't you let this servant carry it by yourself?"
In Meixiang's eyes, the young lady's temperament has undergone subtle changes since she fell off the stool after her failed attempt to hang herself.
She used to be sensitive and spoiled, always talking about herself. Now her temper has stabilized, and not only does she treat her better, she also works with her.
These changes made Meixiang feel very uncomfortable. If the young lady had not suffered so much, she would not have experienced these changes.
She is the eldest daughter of the Duke's Mansion. Even though she is born out of wedlock, that cannot erase the fact that she is the eldest daughter.
Which young lady in the capital is not spoiled?
Although her mistress was spoiled, she had always been very good to her, and was even better now.
Seeing that the young lady did not answer her, she turned around and started pulling weeds on the side of the road.
"Miss, what are you doing pulling those weeds? You're so careful with your hands."
Meixiang hurriedly followed and tried to stop her.
As she spoke, Gu Xiyue had already picked a handful of each of the two wild vegetables, and when she saw Meixiang coming over, she stuffed a handful into her hands.
"Let's go back!"
Meixiang grabbed the weeds that the young lady stuffed into her mouth, not knowing what she meant. Seeing that the young lady didn't throw them away, she also grabbed the weeds and carried the water to the house with her.
After arriving home, Gu Xiyue took the weeds from Meixiang and spread them on the bluestone slab beside the yard. After spreading them, she looked up at the sky with her hands on the door curtain.
The sun is scorching and the sea breeze is constant. At this rate, I will definitely be sunburned by the evening.
Meixiang didn't understand what the young lady wanted to do with these weeds, so she went into the house to move the pots. There was a shelf for miscellaneous items on the left side of the entrance, a lame table on the right side, a wooden bed on the left side, and a wardrobe with a missing door on the right side.
The ground is bumpy, and the only advantage is that it is well ventilated because there is a window at the back.
While pouring water at the door for the young lady to wash her hands, Meixiang glanced at the small kitchen in the east. It was a simple kitchen built by the military officer. The inside was against the east wall, and there were two pillars on the outside. It was closed on three sides and one side was open.
There is a big iron pot and a small iron pot inside.
"Miss!" Meixiang lowered her voice, "The pot is idle."
Gu Xiyue and Xiao Heng had agreed to cook their own meals.
Now that the pot was idle, Meixiang was secretly happy. She also secretly glanced at the door of the east room and found that it was still closed.
Meixiang quickly washed the pot again, poured water into it, put in a handful of rice, dripped a drop of oil, added a little salt, and started to light the fire to cook.
In order to save oil, Meixiang made vegetable porridge. After the fire was lit, she went into the house to get some green vegetables, washed them, cut them into short pieces and put them in a ceramic bowl for later use.
After doing all this, Meixiang found that the young lady was still standing in a daze at the edge of the yard.
"Miss, please go inside. The sun is too strong."
Gu Xiyue looked towards the east and saw a row of thatched-roof adobe houses, but there were not many houses with smoke coming out of their chimneys at this time.
As he was watching, he saw a few people walking slowly towards this side. Seeing that they were getting closer, Gu Xiyue lowered his head and pretended to turn over the weeds, secretly paying attention to where they were going.
As a result, several people came straight towards her, and Granny Liu was among them.
There were eight people in total, including three children, and Grandma Liu was among them. As soon as they entered the yard, they knelt down in front of Gu Xiyue, which frightened her. She hurried over to help them. There were too many people and Gu Xiyue couldn't help them, so she quickly called Meixiang to come over and help together. She was the first to go over and help Grandma Liu up.
"Grandma Liu, you're so old, kneeling down to me is really embarrassing for me. You absolutely can't do that!"
"Hurry up and get them all to get up. Let's talk it out nicely. I really can't stand this!"
Meixiang rushed over and helped her to help the other people up. The three children hid behind the adults and looked at Gu Xiyue timidly.
Granny Liu smiled and said, "It's okay for me, a worthless old man, to kneel down. Young lady, you are kind and beautiful, you can bear it! These two are Madam Li and Madam Liu, and those are their men and children."
Madam Li is older, and she has two children, a boy and a girl, hiding behind her and a man. The other one is younger, Madam Liu, who has a daughter with her man.
The three children looked about five, six or seven years old. Both adults and children were pale and thin, and it was obvious that they were malnourished.
"Mrs. Gu, thank you for the salt. The child was finally able to swallow his meal today..."
The one who was speaking was Madam Li, and she started wiping away her tears before she finished speaking.
Several people expressed their gratitude, and Gu Xiyue had to appease them again. People nearby heard the commotion and came over to see what was happening. Someone in the crowd suddenly asked, "What is that grass drying on the slab? Is it edible?"
As soon as he opened his mouth, everyone's eyes shifted to the weeds on the stone slab.
Meixiang stood at the kitchen door looking at the pot. She also wanted to hear what the young lady said, so she moved closer.
Seeing the crowd gathering around, Gu Xiyue saw a child even licking his lips and reaching out to pull weeds. He quickly went over to take his hand away and said loudly, "You can't eat this. It's for mosquito repellent."
"What?"
The crowd didn't react immediately.
Meixiang was also stunned.
The people gathered at the entrance of the yard had their exposed skin covered with spots of mosquito bites, some of which looked shocking.
"This weed is everywhere. If it can repel mosquitoes, why don't we know about it? Miss Gu, is she talking nonsense?"
"Miss Gu must be homesick. Now that she doesn't intend to commit suicide, she starts to mess around."
"I've tasted this thing, it's incredibly bitter. Miss Gu, be careful. If this weed is poisonous, it will be disastrous!"
“…”
Gu Xiyue stood there with her head held high. She was not 100% sure that this thing could repel mosquitoes. Now that someone said this, she felt a little confused, but since things had come to this point, she could only give it a try.
"Fellow villagers, can this weed repel mosquitoes? I'll tell you after I use it tonight. If it can, that would be great. If it can't, there's no loss. Let's all go. It's so hot out."
When people heard that Gu Xiyue herself was not sure whether this wild grass could repel mosquitoes, and yet she dared to try it herself, some people were waiting to watch the fun, some were gloating, and some were really worried that she had mistakenly used the poisonous grass.
Granny Liu said with a worried look on her face: "Madam Gu, why don't you just not try it? What if..."
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