Chapter 521: Busy Inside and Out
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The basket was left in a hidden spot to prevent hunters from taking it. Then, the group continued walking with their small hoes.
The young monk still clung tightly to a corner of Chu Qingzhi’s clothing, his big watery eyes darting around curiously, taking in the surroundings.
Suddenly, Chu Qingyan slapped her face, killing a mosquito and leaving a red mark. She turned back to Chu Qingzhi with concern, “Fifth Sister, watch out for mosquitoes, don’t get bitten.”
“Okay,” Chu Qingzhi looked around and picked a handful of herbs, tying them into a bouquet and handing them to Chu Qingyan, “Hold this, and the mosquitoes won’t bother you anymore.”
Chu Qingyan smiled sweetly, “Thank you, Fifth Sister.”
The young monk, looking at the herb bundle in Chu Qingyan’s hand, turned his big eyes to Chu Qingzhi. Without saying a word, his eyes conveyed his desire to have one too.
Chu Qingzhi, unable to resist such a cute look, picked another handful of herbs and handed them to the young monk, “Here, this is for you.”
“Thank you, Benefactor Chu,” the young monk beamed with joy, treasuring the herb bundle in his hands like a cherished gift.
Tang Jinghong observed this scene and felt as if the young monk viewed Chu Qingzhi almost like a mother.
After walking quietly for a while, Chu Qingzhi suddenly stopped and headed towards a bush to the right. Pushing aside the bushes, a ginseng plant came into view.
“Lucky us, we’ve found a ginseng plant.”
Chu Qingyan and the young monk, one on each side, crouched next to Chu Qingzhi, looking at the plant curiously, although they couldn’t really tell which one was the ginseng.
Tang Jinghong passed a small hoe to Chu Qingzhi.
She first picked the seeds from the ginseng and put them in her pouch, then began digging carefully, successfully unearthing a plump ginseng root.
Chu Qingyan naively asked, “Fifth Sister, old people say you must dig up ginseng immediately upon seeing it, or it will turn into a ginseng doll and run away. Is that true?”
Chu Qingzhi replied, “Of course not. Ginseng is just a medicinal herb and plant, not an animal. It won’t run away.”
Chu Qingyan dragged out her words and nodded. “Oh ~”
Chu Qingzhi extracted the ginseng without breaking any roots, wrapped it in a tree leaf, and secured it with a string before placing it in her bag. The ginseng she found was about a hundred years old and worth at least 500 silver taels, making the trip quite profitable.
Tang Jinghong glanced at Chu Qingzhi’s bulging bag, realizing she had collected several valuable herbs along the way.
The few of them and the tiger continued walking and arrived at the place where the hop tree grew.
It was unknown how long the hop trees had been growing here. There were many small saplings around, some big and some small. It was obvious that it was a large family.
Tang Jinghong surveyed the area, “Are we digging up all these saplings?”
“As many as possible,” Chu Qingzhi said, bending down to pull up a small sapling easily, bringing up the entire root system.
The young monk and Chu Qingyan reached out to Chu Qingzhi at the same time. “Give it to me.”
The two little fellows each found a vine and placed it on the ground. The sapling was placed on it. After tying it up, they could carry it home.
When both children extended their hands to receive a sapling, Chu Qingzhi realized the challenge of treating them equally and decided to uproot another one to give to each child.
She thought to herself, it’s said that it’s almost impossible to be fair with a few children at home. Looking at it now, it makes sense.
Tang Jinghong waved at Chu Qingyan. “Qingyan, come and help me tie up the sapling.” He helped Chu Qingzhi out.
“Okay.” Chu Qingyan dragged the vine to Tang Jinghong’s side, took the sapling from Tang Jinghong’s hand, and placed it on the vine.
Chu Qingzhi focused on uprooting saplings. After pulling up two bundles, each with about thirty to forty saplings, they moved on to thicker ones, about the thickness of a wrist.
The twenty acres of the factory area needed more than just a few dozen saplings. In fact, even if they moved all the saplings, it wouldn’t be enough. But adhering to the principle of planting as many as possible, they continued their efforts.
The two little ones also helped diligently, their small faces quickly becoming covered in sweat.
After much effort, they gathered about a hundred saplings, ranging from the thickness of chopsticks to that of an arm. All the saplings were bundled together, and Tang Jinghong carried them down the mountain alone.
Reaching the spot where the chestnuts were left, Tang Jinghong picked up the chestnuts and continued carrying the saplings down the mountain.
“Jinghong, let me carry the chestnuts.”
“No need, you look after the two kids.”
Chu Qingzhi looked at Chu Qingyan and the little monk, who were walking steadily and didn’t need her care. Besides, Da Bai was there to carry them if they got tired.
Chu Qingzhi thought to herself that Tang Jinghong was the most down-to-earth general she had ever met, completely unpretentious and approachable, deserving of praise.
When they reached the foot of the mountain, there were already people. When they saw Chu Qingzhi and the others coming out of the forest, they ran over to help carry the saplings and baskets.
Tang Jinghong felt a sudden ease in his breathing and rubbed his arms to reduce the soreness.
The saplings were temporarily stored in a corner of the factory area by Chu Qingzhi, where she watered them, planning to plant them when she had time..
Tang Jinghong took over the task, and with the help of several villagers, the saplings were soon planted in the ground
Chu Qingzhi went to the herb garden, found a vacant spot at the edge, loosened the soil, and planted five ginseng seeds. The garden was lush with an increasing variety of medicinal herbs.
She left the garden in a good mood and made a detour to check on the wasteland. Two acres had been cultivated, with three more to go.
A trench had been dug about ten meters long, roughly a hundred meters in total, with consistent width and depth.
Half an acre of the wasteland was already covered with fertile silt, dark and smelly, but highly nutritious. After enriching the soil, the yield could potentially double.
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Everything was progressing orderly. Satisfied, Chu Qingzhi returned home and headed to the kitchen.
The aunts had not only ground the beans into pulp but had also made tofu, waiting for Chu Qingzhi to complete the final step.
“Thank you, aunts,” Chu Qingzhi said, taking over the task. Everyone smiled and said it was no trouble, as they were being paid for their work.
Chu Qingzhi took a large basin, placed it in a steamer, and covered the steamer with a cotton cloth. She then transferred all the tofu from the pot into the steamer to drain the water, filling two steamers in total.
After that, there was no need to do anything else. She would return the next day to drain the water and proceed with making fermented tofu..
