Zhao Da, who was inspecting the fields as usual, saw that he had frightened the girl by making a sound, and then he scratched his head embarrassedly: "Miss, did I scare you?"
Li Yan waved her hand nonchalantly, pinching the Isatis indigotica leaves non-stop while smiling at Zhao Dadao: "I want to thank you all very much. Look how well these ten acres of Isatis indigotica are growing!"
Zhao Da only recognized this plant as Isatis root when he was helping Li Yan plant it. As for how it could be a medicinal herb, he had no idea. "Miss, I see that the leaves are really growing well. Is this a medicinal herb?"
Li Yan nodded, then shook her head, and then introduced the Isatis root to Zhao Da: "The leaves and the roots in the soil can both be used as medicine. I saw that the Isatis leaf was growing well, so I thought of picking some to take home and try. I'll have someone cut it in two days and dry it out in the sun."
Zhao Da heard Li Yan say this and asked with some doubt: "Miss, if you cut off this leaf, will the roots below be affected?"
Zhao Da was quite cautious about Li Yan's decision to remove the Isatis indigotica leaf.
Seeing that he was listening intently, Li Yan stopped what she was doing and explained, "The leaves of the indigo plant will grow back after you cut them, so don't worry. Just avoid cutting them during the scorching sun. Similarly, it's not suitable to cut the indigo plant during the hottest days of summer. Once you cut this batch of leaves, they will grow back naturally in the fall!"
Zhao Da listened carefully and nodded from time to time to indicate that he had taken note.
Zhao Da asked about the habits of Isatis root, and then pointed to the honeysuckle next to it.
"Miss, look, those few acres of honeysuckle are already in bloom. When do you think it's best to send someone to pick them?"
Li Yan pinched a handful of isatis indigotica leaves, then stood up and the two of them walked towards where the honeysuckle was.
At the beginning, Li Yan planted three acres of three-year-old honeysuckle, two acres of two-year-old honeysuckle, and four acres of annual honeysuckle.
At this time, the three-year-old honeysuckle has already bloomed. Although there are flowers on the two-year-old branches, the number is not large.
Li Yan looked at the honeysuckle branches with flowers and nodded repeatedly. Then she introduced them to Zhao Da who was following behind her, "This honeysuckle is usually best harvested when the stamens are at their largest, but not yet open, and turn a bluish-white color. I think this will be the case in the next few days! Go back and tell Uncle Zhao, I'll need to trouble you again when the time comes!"
"What are you talking about, young lady? This is what we should do!" Zhao Da said frankly.
Now, their whole family works for the girl. Not only do they have to worry about food and drink, but they can also save five cents of silver a month. This is very satisfying for them who used to live a precarious life.
After checking the medicinal fields, Li Yan went straight to the kitchen with the indigo leaves.
At this time, Li Xiaomei was busy cooking porridge in the kitchen.
The weather is getting hotter day by day. When the weather is hot, no one has much appetite. It would be more comfortable to drink some porridge.
Li Yan saw that her aunt had already cooked the porridge. She touched the large green leaves in Yang's hand and said, "What a coincidence. Aunt, help me light the fire. I'll stir-fry some seasonal vegetables and make porridge!"
Little Sister Li glanced at the large green leaves in her niece's hand and asked curiously, "Whose vegetables are these? I've never seen them before!"
Li Yan scooped water from the water tank to wash the isatis indigotica leaves, then cut the vegetables with a knife skillfully while answering her aunt's questions.
"This thing can actually be fried and eaten?" Li Xiaomei was quite surprised!
That medicine tastes so bitter, will these leaves taste bitter too? Li Xiaomei couldn't help but wonder in her heart!
"This isatis indigotica can not only be stir-fried, but also eaten cold. Moreover, it is a medicinal herb, so eating some of it is good for the body!" Li Yan explained.
Li Yan's hands kept moving. When the pot was heated, she scooped a spoonful of lard, then added chopped garlic to enhance the flavor, poured in the chopped isatis indigotica leaves and stir-fried for a while, then poured some seasoning on it and it was soon ready to be served.
Then he delivered a meal to the two children who were in charge of cooking at home.
The two of them shyly took the food and began to eat it with relish. Although the family now had some money and food, they only had two meals a day on weekdays!
Now they not only have monthly allowance, but also a meal at noon, and the two children are very satisfied.
After coming out of the workshop, Li Yan returned to the main hall and saw her aunt and mother sitting at the table waiting for her to eat.
Li Yan trotted to the table and sat down, inviting the two to try the seasonal vegetables she had just fried.
"Mom, how about Auntie try these stir-fried seasonal vegetables?"
Neither of them had ever eaten anything like this before, and since they heard that it was a medicinal herb, they took a bite out of curiosity.
It tasted very crisp and sweet, which was very different from the taste of Chinese medicinal herbs they imagined.
"Since this thing is a medicinal herb, wouldn't it be a pity to eat it now?" Li Xiaomei said reluctantly.
Li Yan explained to her aunt the fact that Isatis indigotica can grow again, and comforted her by saying that making money is for a better life. Besides, it is not a waste if it is only for family members to eat, and there is no end to the money to be made.
Both of them understood the logic behind it, but they were used to being frugal in their daily lives. When they thought about being able to exchange this thing for money and eat it, they felt that it was a waste of a good thing.
Li Yan naturally knew what was in the minds of the two. It was not easy to change their long-standing habit of saving. Li Yan only hoped that as life at home got better and better, the family members would be able to let go and at least know not to mistreat their bodies!
After lunch, we washed the dishes and went back to our rooms to rest.
The weather is getting hotter day by day. At noon, Li Yan habitually takes a short nap.
After the hottest time of the day, Li Yan started to pickle the fermented black beans.
Li Yan put the fermented black beans mixed with spices into a large ceramic jar in the backyard and stored it in a sealed place with good ventilation and away from light.
In order to have a place to store these fermented black beans, Li Yan specially asked Mr. Li to help build a few straw sheds. Now the straw sheds are filled with jars and cans.
Li Yan piled the fermented black beans from left to right according to the pickling time, which made it easy to identify so that she wouldn't take the wrong jar.
Li Yan was busy pickling fermented black beans, and Li Xiaomei would come over to help in between stir-frying the soy sauce. It was already dusk when the aunt and niece finished pickling dozens of jars of fermented black beans.
"Let's eat. If you're not done, we can talk about it tomorrow!" Lin stood at the back door and said to the two figures.
"Right here, right here!" The two men placed the last jar in the straw shed and then walked towards the front yard.
After washing their hands, they returned to the main room where the table was already set with food.
"Dad hasn't come back yet?" Li Yan asked.
"Your father just sent someone from the village to tell us that he will be back late today, so we shouldn't wait for him. Let's eat first!"
Li Yan thought of what the patriarch said today about resettling refugees, and nodded immediately. She guessed that her father couldn't return home because of this matter.
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