If you ask who cooks the best in the Jiang family, it must be Yan Ru.
So Yingbao gave the half basket of shrimps and the half basket of loaches to the new second aunt, and went to pick apricots with a group of children.
It’s a pity that the peaches are not yet ripe, otherwise she would pick some more peaches for Chu Yan and Chu Qing to taste.
Ever since she confirmed that this Chu Yan was the Chu Yan from her previous life, Ying Bao has always felt guilty.
Chu Yan must not have had a good ending in his previous life. He might have been killed by the governor soon.
Because he took her out of the Governor's Mansion and sent her out of the city gate, it could not be hidden from anyone's eyes.
The governor hated those who betrayed him the most. No matter what kind of betrayal it was, he would chop off their heads with his own hands.
"Brother Chu Yan, do you like eating peaches?" Ying Bao tilted her head and asked Chu Yan.
Chu Yan glanced at the peach tree in front of him and nodded.
"You'll be able to eat them in about ten days. Come to my house and I'll pick some peaches for you."
Yingbao introduced her own fruit trees to Chu Yan attentively, "There are also pears over there. They will be ripe in a month. You must come and try them."
Chu Yan showed a rare smile on his face, "Okay."
Yingbao then took him to some foreign vines, pointed at the bunches of green fruits under the vines, and asked, "Do you recognize this?"
Chu Yan nodded: "Western grapes."
"What?" Yingbao was surprised. "Is this the grape from the Western Region?" She had heard of it in her previous life but had never seen it, because that thing was only available to the rich and powerful families in the capital.
"Yeah." Chu Yan nodded affirmatively.
He had seen and eaten it when he was a child.
Yingbao was surprised. She touched the small green fruits and couldn't help picking one and taking a bite.
A sour taste immediately made her face frown, "Ugh! It doesn't taste good at all."
Chu Yan smiled and said, "It hasn't grown yet, so it's naturally not delicious."
Yingbao knew that unripe fruits were not tasty, she just wanted to make Chu Yan happy.
After introducing the fruit trees at home, Yingbao said, "Let me teach you how to grow golden ears."
She took some wheat bran and mulberry sawdust, and taught Chuchu and Chuyan step by step how to pound them, how to steam them to sterilize them, and then fill them into ceramic jars after they had cooled thoroughly.
Afterwards, he took out a can of mycelium and started to grow the fungi. He also taught them how to manage the golden ear seedlings, how to keep them moist, and how to prevent the golden ear from fading.
Chuchu and her two younger brothers watched carefully and studied seriously for two hours, even forgetting to eat.
At night, Chu Yan and Chu Qing stayed in Chu Chu's little house, and Ying Bao asked Chu Chu to rest with her.
The next morning, Chu Yan and Chu Qing returned home with five cans of golden ear mycelium given to them by Ying Bao.
Before leaving, Chu Qing cried and said that he would come to visit his sister next time he had a day off.
Chuchu didn't cry, but happily sent her two younger brothers away.
"Yingbao, what should we do now?" Chuchu started to worry if Yingbao didn't need her if she didn't work for a day.
Yingbao looked up at the sky and saw that it was clear today, so she said, "Let's go to the bamboo forest and cut some bamboo."
There is a large bamboo forest in Yongyetian on the south slope of Jiangjia, but they are all wild bamboos growing randomly. Although dense, they are very thin and small and are of no use.
Therefore, it is necessary to thin out some of the overly dense areas, leaving only the thick ones to facilitate growth.
"Okay, let's go cut bamboo." Chuchu took the new axe given by Yingbao, put on a backpack, and followed Yingbao to the bamboo forest.
Da Ni and Er Ni also came to join in the fun. They had been bored recently and thought Chu Chu was a really nice person, so they put aside their prejudices and were willing to work and play with her.
So, the three girls took a baby girl to the bamboo forest.
"I heard that there are bamboo girls in the bamboo forest. The dishes cooked with them are very delicious, but I have never seen one." Erni asked Chuchu: "Have you seen one?"
Chuchu nodded: "There is a bamboo forest in the mountains near my home, but it belongs to someone else. You can pick bamboo shoots there, and they are really delicious when used to cook dishes or make soup."
Yingbao had never seen one before, so she asked curiously, "What is a bamboo girl?"
"It's a kind of mushroom, also called bamboo fungus." Chuchu said, "Wait until I go back and pick some for you to try."
Yingbao nodded.
A few people came to the bamboo forest, first alarmed the snake, and then walked in step by step.
"Start cutting from here." Yingbao pointed at the bamboo and said, "Cut off the small ones and leave the thick ones."
"Okay." Chuchu and Dani started cutting bamboo. Yingbao and Erni dragged the thin bamboos they had cut out of the bamboo forest and piled them aside.
These bamboos can be dragged back and used as firewood, or at worst, made into large brooms.
However, Yingbao has a great use for these bamboos. She wants to use them to extract some fresh bamboo juice.
Fresh bamboo juice has the effect of clearing heat and resolving phlegm.
It can be used for lung heat, cough with excessive sputum, asthma, chest tightness, stiff tongue due to stroke, excessive sputum, and phlegm-heat and convulsions in children.
The four little sisters were working hard when suddenly a few people came towards them in quick steps.
The leader was the seven-year-old Wei Zhan. He quickly ran up to Ying Bao and asked with his head tilted, "What are you doing here?"
Yingbao said unhappily, "I'm working."
Wei Zhan saw that the little girl was so tired that her face turned red and sweat flowed down her neck. He resisted the urge to help her sweat and said, "I'll help you."
"No need." Yingbao didn't want to talk to this little brat from the Wei family, so she just left, dragging two thin bamboos.
Wei Zhan was not discouraged and followed her and said, "Aren't you tired? Can I ask the guards to help you?"
"Not tired. Just get out of the way and don't block the way!" Yingbao threw away the bamboo and continued into the bamboo forest to drag down the next wave.
Wei Zhan also wanted to go in, but was stopped by his attendant, "Young Master, there will be snakes in here, you can't go in."
"No one else is afraid of snakes, but you are. You are even worse than a little kid. What use do I have for you?" Wei Zhan glared at the guard with dissatisfaction.
The guard lowered his head and remained speechless.
At this time, Chen Zhao and Chen Tiantian came over panting, fanning themselves with handkerchiefs because they were tired.
"Seventh Young Master, what are you doing here?" Chen Tiantian took a handkerchief to wipe Wei Zhan's sweat, but Wei Zhan pushed her away.
"Stay away from me!" Wei Zhan scolded rudely.
Chen Tiantian's face flashed with embarrassment, but she quickly smiled and said, "Seventh Young Master, the eldest young master asked us to take you around, but this place is desolate and there may be wild animals roaming around. Look..."
"Get lost!" Wei Zhan said rudely, "Who asked you to take me with you?"
Chen Tiantian was almost in tears after being scolded. She took a step back and dared not say anything.
Chen Zhao gave her a blank look and thought she deserved it.
He took a step forward and asked carefully, "Seventh Master, why don't we take a rest here? I think it's quite cool here."
She could see that Young Master Wei Zhan liked the child from the Jiang family very much. If she dared to say anything to displease him, she would probably end up like Chen Tiantian.
So I have to stroke his fur to please him.
Wei Zhan nodded with satisfaction, asked the guards to clean up the area, and then sat on a tree stump to rest and enjoy the cool air.
"Wow! Bamboo girls! So many bamboo girls!" Chuchu screamed loudly in the bamboo forest.
Yingbao ran over to check, and saw some mushrooms with white skirts growing in an open space deep in the bamboo forest. Chuchu was picking them one by one.
"Is this the Bamboo Girl?" It was the first time Yingbao had seen this kind of mushroom and she was a little skeptical whether they were really edible.
Chu Chu laughed and said, "That's Miss Zhu. I didn't expect it to be here too. Now we are in for a treat."
Seeing how determined she was, Yingbao also helped pick the flowers, and picked more than a dozen bamboo shoots in total.
She put the white mushrooms into a backpack and prepared to take them back to show her mother.