This plant of Astragalus was grown by mixing it with the flower seeds that Jing Li bought.
These mixed flower seeds are mostly collected by flower farmers in the mountains and fields. Most of them are various wild flowers, and even the sellers don’t know exactly what varieties are among them.
In addition, most people do not know what Astragalus membranaceus is, let alone its value, so even if they collect it, they will not pay attention to it.
This is how the herb seeds are supposed to be mixed in.
"If the description in the book is accurate, this is indeed Astragalus." Qin Zhao squatted by the wall and gently stroked the silver-gray leaves with his fingertips. "The branches and leaves are not yet fully grown. It will take another two or three days before we can pick them."
The person behind him didn't speak for a long time. Qin Zhao turned his head and looked over. Jing Li looked a little dazed: "Am I... am I so powerful?"
How come you can grow rare herbs that you can never find anywhere from the flower seeds you just bought
And it just happened to sprout at this time
Even if Jing Li doubted his own physical condition, he couldn't help but believe it now.
Qin Zhao laughed.
He pulled Jing Li up and returned to the main house.
Jing Li: “Do, what?”
"Go to sleep." Qin Zhao said, "You haven't had a good rest in several days. It's still early now, go to sleep for a while."
"oh… "
Jing Li obediently followed Qin Zhao back to the bed, took off his coat, climbed onto the bed and lay down.
After a while, he suddenly thought of something and sat up: "Then I went up the mountain for nothing these few days?!"
Qin Zhao: “…”
The so-called koi luck is indeed true, but you can never guess when and how it will appear.
Jing Li's mentality was a little broken.
Qin Zhao smiled helplessly and pushed the man back into the bed.
From the time Jing Li returned to the village until now, first Qin Zhao fell ill, and then went up the mountain to look for herbs. It seems that he has not had a good rest for a long time.
Perhaps he had finally put his worries to rest, Jing Li slept until noon, when he was awakened by hunger.
Jing Li opened his eyes and Qin Zhao was no longer in bed.
He was instantly awakened by the shock and quickly sat up: "Qin Zhao!"
"I'm here." Qin Zhao raised his head from the book and said, "Finally woke up?"
Jing Li frowned: "Why did you get up?"
"..." Qin Zhao put down the book, stood up and walked to the bed, "I have been lying here for more than 20 days."
"But-"
Before he could finish his words, his stomach suddenly made a gurgling sound.
Jing Li: “…”
He looked up at Qin Zhao and blinked innocently.
The meaning is obvious: your fish are hungry.
Qin Zhao rubbed his head and said with a smile: "Go wash up first, I'll go cook two bowls of noodles."
During the half month that Qin Zhao was ill, Jing Li was responsible for three meals a day. However, since Yu's cooking skills were only at the level of making porridge, most of the time, he could only take things from home or money to the neighbors to exchange for ready-made food.
Although food and clothing were not a problem, the taste was far worse than what Qin Zhao made.
Jing Li hadn't eaten Qin Zhao's food for a long time, and he was very hungry. He drank up all the soup before putting down the bowl and said seriously, "Qin Zhao."
Qin Zhao picked up the noodles slowly and responded softly: "What's the matter?"
"I used to not believe that someone could do everything." Jing Li sighed, once again realizing the gap between them, "What's wrong with your brain..."
Qin Zhao smiled softly and said, "I don't know everything either."
"Um?"
“For example, I don’t know how to grow flowers.”
"That's because you haven't learned it!" Jing Li said, "And you will learn it once you learn it."
Qin Zhao shook his head: "I'm not very good at anything related to planting. I can't compare to you in this respect."
Even though he knew that Qin Zhao was comforting him, Jing Li still felt a little happy when he heard him say that.
He smiled foolishly, and suddenly remembered something: "Oh no!"
"What happened again?"
Jing Li said: "I made an appointment with Li Hongyu to meet at the village entrance yesterday, but I forgot to tell him!"
Qin Zhao's eyes moved slightly, and he lowered his eyes: "Don't worry, he's gone."
Jing Li: “?”
Qin Zhao said calmly, "He came to your house to look for you when you were asleep just now. I have already told him what happened. Several other villagers who wanted to follow him up the mountain have also gone home."
Jing Li felt relieved: "That's good..."
Qin Zhao glanced at him and said, "Why are you so worried about him? Have you forgotten what he did in the first place?"
"Of course not, but he helped me a lot these days, I—"
Jing Li was about to explain, but suddenly realized: "You... are you jealous?"
Qin Zhao put down the bowl and said frankly, "Yes."
Jing Li: “…”
This is the first time I see someone talk about jealousy so confidently.
Qin Zhao asked: "What are you looking at me for?"
"Nothing, it's just..." Jing Li said, "I feel like you're a little different than when I first met you."
Qin Zhao: "Is it not good?"
"Of course not, that's good."
Qin Zhao was silent and cold at the beginning. He kept everything in his heart and didn't trust anything in the outside world. He was like building a thick protective shell around him. No one could get into his heart and gain his trust.
Now the protective shell is still there, but he has opened his heart to Jing Li.
Qin Zhao finished the last bit of noodles, stood up to clean up the dishes, and said calmly: "It will be different in the future."
Jing Li: “?”
Qin Zhao didn't explain any more and went straight to the kitchen with his bowl and chopsticks, leaving Jingli sitting alone at the table, wondering.
Which future did Qin Zhao say
After lunch, Qin Zhao wrote two letters to the county town, one to Pei An and one to Mr. Xue, informing them that they had found the Astragalus.
He packed the letter and walked out of the house, only to see Jing Li sitting on a bamboo chair in the yard, staring at the Astragalus seedling in a daze with his chin propped up.
Qin Zhao: “…”
Although he found the herbs, Jing Li was not completely relieved.
The Astragalus has not yet taken shape, and it will take a few days before it can be used as medicine. Jing Li will not be able to rest easy until he sees it being dried and made into medicine.
Qin Zhao shook his head helplessly, stepped forward and rubbed the boy's head, and said: "Astragalus grows in the wild and has strong survival ability. It doesn't matter if you don't guard it."
"But..." Jing Li whispered, "We only have this one..."
Things that only exist in one form or another are often the easiest to lose, as the stories go.
What if something goes wrong with the herb, wouldn't all their efforts be in vain
Qin Zhao was somewhat helpless and asked again: "Do you want to continue to stay here, or follow me to the village entrance to mail the letter?"
"Send a letter? To Doctor Xue and the others?" Jing Li stood up decisively, "I'll help you send it."
Qin Zhao disagreed: "It's okay, I just want to go out for a walk."
He has been bedridden for so many days since he came back and has not even left the yard.
Jing Li hesitated: "Then... it can't be more than half an hour."
Qin Zhao: "Okay, I'll listen to you."
There is a post station at the entrance of the village, where you can rent ox carts to travel between the county town and nearby villages, or send letters to the outside world.
However, in this era, letter transmission was extremely slow. A distance that an ordinary person could reach in one day would usually take about three days for a letter to travel.
After paying the postage, Jing Li touched his purse which had obviously become much deflated, and put it back in his arms.
These days, Qin Zhao naturally has no time to make money.
A few days ago, the town's bookstore sent someone to deliver a message, asking Qin Zhao's health and whether he could start copying books. But Qin Zhao had a high fever all day and couldn't even get out of bed, so he had to refuse.
All in all, they have had no income for several months.
But spending has not decreased.
In addition to food and clothing, Qin Zhao fell ill some time ago, and a lot of money was spent on buying medicine and seeing a doctor for him.
If not for the fact that every household sent something as a thank you gift when they returned to the village, and if the vegetables in the fields were already basically ripe, they would probably have problems even getting food.
But if this goes on, he won't even have money to buy medicine for Qin Zhao.
Jing Li didn't want to bother Qin Zhao with these things, so he never told him the truth.
But... I have to find a way to make money.
Jing Li thought silently in his heart.
Qin Zhao didn't know all this. After sending the letter to Jing Li, he took him to walk along the newly repaired embankment.
When he returned to the village, he just took a far look at the village entrance and did not check the construction of the embankment up close. Today, he happened to come out to relax, so he walked slowly along the newly repaired embankment.
Next to the embankment are the fields of Linxi Village.
Now, more than three months have passed since the spring sowing, and most of the vegetables planted by the villagers have matured, and all you can see is green.
Walking upstream along the river bank, the westernmost end is the land rented by Qin Zhao.
Even though Qin Zhao was so calm, he was still stunned when he saw his own fields.
The vegetables in these two fields are growing so well.
As Qin Zhao walked along, he felt that the vegetables of many farmers were growing very well and the harvest was obviously very good.
But when he saw his own land clearly, he felt that it was not worth mentioning at all.
In the small two-acre field, except for the corn which had not yet reached its maturity season, all other vegetables grew lushly, with almost no gaps visible. Moreover, each plant had luxuriant branches and leaves, and even the leaves of the vegetables were much larger than those of other plants.
This... isn't this using the same kind of vegetables
"My crops are good, right?" Jing Li jumped into the field and skillfully picked two plump and thick eggplants. "How about roasted eggplants tonight?"
Qin Zhao: "Okay."
Jing Li said: "Then I'll pick a few more beans and stew them!"
Jing Li didn't mind the dirtiness and simply wrapped the eggplant with the hem of his clothes. He then stepped over the vines of various vegetables with difficulty to pick other ones.
The month they left the village, the village chief hired people to help take care of the fields.
After coming back, this job fell on Jing Li.
Jing Li originally had no idea about farming, but fortunately, many villagers helped him these days.
In the eyes of the villagers, Jing Li is still a handsome man.
Shuang'er's physical strength is much worse than that of a normal man. Many villagers feel sorry for her husband who cannot do heavy work, so they can only let their own husbands go to the fields. When they have free time, they will come to help him water the fields and remove insects, and teach him how to take care of the fields.
More than half a month had passed, and Jing Li had become very skilled at doing these things.
Interestingly, when these two fields were handed over to the villagers, they were clearly no different from other fields. In fact, due to insufficient soil fertility, the growth of vegetables was far inferior to that of other fields.
But as soon as Jing Li came back, the vegetables in the field grew visibly more and more luxuriantly. It only took about half a month for them to grow into their current appearance.
"They grow too fast." Jing Li sighed as he picked vegetables, "I've already picked a lot to exchange with others for food, but there are still so many."
At this rate, the vegetables will all rot in the fields before they can finish eating them.
What a sweet burden.
Jing Li was thinking about this when suddenly an idea came to him: "Can we transport the vegetables to town and sell them?"
Every household in the village grows their own vegetables, so it is impossible to sell vegetables in the village now. Therefore, many villagers will go to the town to sell some things during the early market, including vegetables, fruits, firewood, herbs, and even cloth and fabrics.
"But our family doesn't have a bullock cart to transport vegetables." Jing Li was a little worried again.
With the amount of vegetables his fields produce, it would be impossible to transport them all in one go even with a bullock cart, let alone carrying them by manpower.
"There's no rush for this matter. You come up first." Qin Zhao called to him.
Not to mention whether they can deliver the vegetables to the town, Qin Zhao is in poor health now and certainly cannot go to the town. If they really want to sell vegetables, Jing Li can only go alone.
Let Jing Li sell things... Qin Zhao couldn't imagine what that would be like.
Jing Li climbed up the ridge of the field, and the hem of his clothes was filled with vegetables.
There was a little dirt on his face, which Qin Zhao wiped away with his sleeve: "I just went to pick some vegetables, but I made myself look like a cat."
Jing Li whispered: "I'm not a cat."
They had been out for more than half an hour. Jing Li urged Qin Zhao to go home quickly. When the two were about to leave the field, they were stopped by someone.
"Qin Zhao, you actually went to the fields today. Are you feeling better?"
The person who called them was an old man, also surnamed Chen. It was said that he was a distant relative of Chen Yan'an's grandfather, but he no longer had much contact with the Chen family.
Mr. Chen's wife and children died early, and he now has no children. However, he is still in good health and makes a living by farming in the village.
Qin Zhao said: "Thank you for your concern, Uncle Chen. I feel much better now."
Old man Chen worked hard all year round and was dark-skinned. He walked up to Qin Zhao, looked at his fields, and sighed, "Scholars are different. Even their crops grow better than ours."
Qin Zhao lowered his eyes and did not answer.
"I just heard you say that you want to sell these vegetables?" Mr. Chen said, "I have a way that should be able to help you."
Mr. Chen knows the owner of a small restaurant in the town.
They regularly hire people to go to several nearby villages to purchase large quantities of fresh vegetables.
"Purchase?" Jing Li asked, "Which is more cost-effective, letting the restaurant purchase it or sending it to the town to sell?"
Old Man Chen said: "If you want to earn more, it would be better to send it to the town, but..."
He paused, and then continued, "You have a small family, one of you is in poor health, and the other is Shuang'er, who is not convenient for public appearances. In my opinion, it is more cost-effective for you to be acquired by someone else."
Jing Li subconsciously wanted to object: "Why don't I—"
Qin Zhao pulled his hand to stop him from saying the next word.
In this era, Shuang'er's status was not high and it was not appropriate for her to show up in public. The villagers didn't know that Jing Li was not actually Shuang'er, so they naturally had this idea.
But even if they didn't think so, Qin Zhao didn't want Jing Li to go to town.
Little Silly Fish is too naive. It's a blessing that he didn't get cheated by others. How can he talk about doing business
Qin Zhao thought about it and asked some more details about the restaurant's purchase of vegetables. Old Man Chen explained them to him one by one and said, "It's not convenient for you to run to the town every day like us. It's better to be purchased by others than to let them rot in the fields."
"They should come over in a few days. I'll call you then?"
Qin Zhao nodded: "Thank you, Uncle Chen."
"No need to thank me. If you really want to thank me, I have something to ask you." Old Man Chen came closer and said mysteriously.
Qin Zhao asked: "What?"
"Why don't you tell me how you grow crops on this land?" Old Man Chen scratched his thin hair and said confidently, "The harvest from Li Dali's field was not very good last year. You must have some secret recipe!"
Qin Zhao: “…”
He knew that the villagers would have been suspicious long ago because the land cultivated by Jing Li was so abnormal.
Since they couldn't see Qin Zhao on weekdays, these people were too embarrassed to ask Shuang'er, so they had endured it until now.
Of course there is a secret recipe, and that is to let Jing Li grow the plants himself.
Qin Zhao certainly wouldn't tell this to anyone, he just shook his head and said, "It's just luck, there's no special trick."
Mr. Chen obviously believed that Qin Zhao must have done something behind this, but after repeated questioning, Qin Zhao refused to reveal a single word, so he had to give up.
So the matter of selling vegetables was decided for now.
However, before the people from the restaurant in the town came to the village, two other acquaintances arrived first.
In the evening of that day, Qin Zhao studied medical books at home as usual.
Jing Li was reading the Analects of Confucius and learning to read.
While reading, he would occasionally reach into the fruit bowl, pick up a piece of candied fruit and put it in his mouth.
Qin Zhao caught a glimpse of the whole process, then looked at the remaining candied fruit on the plate and sighed, "Xiao Yu, you ate it all—"
Qin Zhao was about to scold him, but Jing Li stuffed a candied fruit into his mouth.
The sour and sweet taste melted between my lips and tongue, and my heart suddenly softened and I couldn't say anything.
Qin Zhao cleared his throat, his voice obviously weaker: "Eat less snacks, you won't eat well later."
"I know..." Jing Li answered perfunctorily, and at this moment someone knocked on the gate of the courtyard.
Jingli ran to open the door.
Standing outside the yard were Xue Ren, old Mr. Xue, and the young man named Ayi who opened the medicine shop.
Ayi was carrying a backpack on his back. When he saw Jingli, he smiled shyly: "Jingli, long time no see."
"Long time no see." Jing Li asked, "Why are you here?"
"Of course I'm here to treat your husband." Xue Ren smiled and said, "Don't just stand there, let me see where the Astragalus membranaceus is."
Jing Li led them into the yard. Qin Zhao heard the two people talking and quickly got up and walked out of the main house.
Mr. Xue was particularly sensitive to herbs, and he found what he was looking for among the various flowers and leaves at a glance. He stepped over the flowers and plants in two or three steps, lowered his head and looked carefully: "… The stem is long, the leaves are silver-gray, and they are slender… Yes, it is the Astragalus membranaceus."
After a few days, the Astragalus membranaceus had grown a lot, and even several identical Astragalus membranaceus seedlings grew around it.
—Now Jing Li doesn’t have to worry about any accidents happening to it.
It will only take another day or two before the herb can be picked.
"Didn't I already write to Mr. Xue and tell him that I would have someone send the Astragalus to the county town after it was picked and dried? Why did you suddenly come here?" Qin Zhao asked.
Xue Ren coughed lightly and touched his nose. "It will take another three or four days for you to ask someone to deliver it. You can afford to delay, but I can't delay the delivery of the herbs. I have discussed with my grandson and decided to temporarily close the store so that I can concentrate on making the medicine for you."
Qin Zhao's eyes moved slightly, but he didn't say anything.
Qin Zhao and Xue Ren were discussing medicinal herbs in the yard, while Jing Li directly pulled Ayi into the house.
The young boy was in the village for the first time and was curious about everything. Jing Li led him to sit down, shared the candied fruit he had just eaten with him, and asked, "Why did you come with me? Don't you need to run the store?"
"It doesn't matter. My store doesn't have much business anyway." Ah Yi said this, lowered his head and said softly, "They don't like to go to Shuang'er's store to buy things..."
Ayi's pharmacy was indeed not frequented by many people. Jing Li originally thought that it was just due to its bad location, but he didn't expect this factor to exist.
In this era, even women could open shops and do business, but Shuang'er's shop was deserted.
"Let's not talk about this anymore." Ayi said, "Grandpa Xue has been restless these past few days. He became even more anxious when he learned from the letter that Mr. Qin had already found all the herbs. After receiving the letter, he couldn't wait any longer and rented a carriage to come here."
"It just so happened that I wanted to come and take a look, so I followed along."
Ayi said this with some concern: "Am I being a little offensive?"
"Of course not." Jing Li said, "I can't wait to see you happy."
Ayi is a well-behaved boy, and Jing Li has always had a good impression of this young boy. Besides Qin Zhao, this is the first time he has made a friend he likes in this era, so he cherishes it even more.
Qin Zhao led Mr. Xue into the house.
Seeing Jing Li and the young boy chatting happily, Qin Zhao's eyes darkened slightly, and he walked to Jing Li and said softly: "There is no room for so many people to stay at home, Xiaoyu, go ask Chen Yan'an if he can lend us the hut for a few days."
Ayi asked: "Can I go with you?"
Qin Zhao looked at him, and Ayi lowered his head a little embarrassedly: "I... I haven't been to the village yet, I want to go out for a walk."
Without waiting for Qin Zhao to answer, Jing Li said, "Of course!"
Jing Li pulled Ayi up without saying a word and said, "Come on, I'll take you around the village."
Qin Zhao: “…”
Qin Zhao opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Jing Li had already taken the young boy out the door.
Mr. Xue had already sat down at the table. He reached for the teapot on the table, opened the lid, took a look, and poured himself a glass of water: "Tsk, what a strong vinegar smell!"
Qin Zhao: “… … …”