bayedsolid Chapter 37 Sweet Apricot and the Chick
Chapter 37 Sweet Apricot and the Chick
"I thought I might come today."
It takes time for Doctor Chen to order the porcelain bottles. Today is already the third day. If the porcelain bottles are not delivered, they are afraid that they will not be able to deliver the goods on the fifth day.
Zhou Mingshu had her own considerations, so she was going to filter out the rich version of the anti-itching cream liquid today.
The steps are all the same, and it becomes easier the second time you do it.
Zhou Mingqi watched from the side and was able to help from time to time.
This time, some honeysuckle was added and the oil was replaced with mutton fat, so the color and aroma are different from the ordinary version.
The difference can be distinguished with the naked eye.
At dusk in the afternoon, an ox cart indeed arrived at the door of Zhou’s house.
The people who came were Doctor Chen and his father-in-law, both of them came over carrying a basket of things.
"Oh, it's Doctor Chen."
Mr. Xu is Mrs. Xu's father and Doctor Chen's father-in-law. If the shop is too busy, he often goes over to help.
Lianglin Village is far from the town, and he was afraid that his son-in-law might not be able to find the place, so he followed him.
"Sister-in-law, are you feeling well?"
"Brother Xu, please come and sit down. Boss, please pour some tea for your Uncle Xu. I am in good health and can jump around. You are not bad either, right?"
……
The old men exchanged pleasantries for a while before getting down to business.
There was not only a basket of porcelain bottles on the ox cart, but also a basket of sweet apricots and a basket of chicks.
The Xu family and the Chen family are in-laws, and Doctor Chen and Old Lady Zhou's younger sister, who is also Old Lady Zhou's aunt, are clan relatives.
When she heard that Xiao Chen was going to Lianglin Village, she asked him to help bring some things.
Doctor Chen would not refuse the request from the aunt in the clan, so he brought it along.
Old Mrs. Zhou was very happy when she saw the basket of sweet apricots and the basket of chicks.
She was planning to visit her sister's home in a few days, but unexpectedly her sister asked someone to send something over. The new sisters are so in tune with each other.
Because it was getting late, Mr. Xu and Doctor Chen did not stay long and left in a hurry.
The Zhou family didn't have anything to bring to her great-aunt, so after thinking it over, they decided to put the mushrooms they had picked today into a basket and ask them to take it back.
Aunt Chen lives in the town. These things from the countryside are not easily available. If you want to eat them, you have to go to the town’s vegetable market and buy them.
There are more mushrooms in the mountains now, so I’ll bring some back for the Chen family to taste.
Zhou Mingshu touched the porcelain bottle in his hand. The warm feel was indeed very good. The porcelain bottle emitted a bright luster under the moonlight. He could vaguely see three words written on it: 'wormwood paste'.
This should be the name given by Doctor Chen. 'Artemisia ointment' does sound much better than 'anti-itching ointment' and is more noble.
"Sister, what is drawn on this?"
Zhou Mingyuan's words attracted a lot of people's attention, but no one at the scene knew it.
"Alas, the whole family is made of peasants, they don't even know how to read. Doctor Chen was not around just now and I didn't think of asking them."
Old Mrs. Zhou lowered her eyes and walked towards the kitchen with the basket.
"Don't just stand there like an idiot. Come and eat some apricots. The apricot trees at your aunt's house produce a lot of fruit every year. Sometimes, they are so abundant that the branches are broken. They are also very sweet. I don't know how they grow."
The Zhou family had planted a few apricot trees before, but the fruits were too sour to eat, so they were later cut down by Old Man Zhou. They continued to grow in the fields and blocked the sunlight for the crops.
Several children followed Old Lady Zhou into the kitchen. Soon, each of them came out with a bowl of apricots, and they washed them by the well.
Zhou Laoer brought the basket of porcelain bottles into his daughter's room. Looking at his daughter's table filled with bamboo tubes, his heart seemed to be filled with something.
"Sanya, apricots are sweet but you can't eat too many of them, or you'll get a nosebleed."
"I understand, Dad. I'll just give it a taste and eat it tomorrow during the day."
Old Mrs. Zhou counted the chicks in the basket; there were twenty in total.
The yellowish color of the custard is so adorable to look at.
Zhou Minghua on the side had already taken it away.
"Hey, take it gently, don't let me squeeze it to death."
Old Mrs. Zhou dug out a large flat basket from the woodshed, which was used to sift grain in previous years.
The chicks arrived late, and there was no time to make a chicken coop at night, so we could only cover them with this basket to prevent them from running around.
My sister's family has always had a supply of chickens. There are several obedient old hens at home, and they hatch a lot of chicks at this time every year.
She originally wanted to use the money to buy a few, but she didn't expect them to be delivered now. The girl did a great job and it touched her heart. It would be a lie if she wasn't touched.
This chick grows fast. It can be eaten in three months and can lay eggs in four months.
By then, there will be no shortage of eggs at home, and the third child’s family will be able to have more children.
When autumn comes, the sheep in her uncle's family will give birth, and she will buy a lamb to raise.
This family will slowly get better and return to the way it was before.
That night, the family ate sweet apricots and slept soundly.
The next morning, the first thing Zhou Mingshu did when she got up was to filter out the paste that had been set aside and heat it. After she finished washing up, she could bottle it.
Today she and her second sister are going up the mountain to pick gardenias. There is still a lot of lard at home, so they will try to make some gardenia ointment.
First, it can nourish the skin, and second, it can leave a fragrance on the body. With the two combined, there will be no worries about finding a market for it.
There are many flowers in the mountains, and she can grow whatever is in season. It is not difficult to make and she can make money. She is happy to spend more time on this.
Big Brother Zhou took most of the people to the fields to plant peanuts. Old Lady Zhou originally wanted to leave Erya and Sanya at home to make anti-itching ointment, but the two children said they wanted to go up the mountain. The anti-itching ointment was already ready and just needed to wait for it to solidify.
Looking at the sun outside, Old Mrs. Zhou nodded and agreed. After all, the farm didn't need so many people.
Zhou Mingqi knew where the gardenia nest was, so she walked in front to lead the way, while Zhou Mingshu paid attention to the sides of the road, looking for something in the mountains.
"Second sister, we only need to pick one basket of flowers. The other basket can be used for other things. When we go down the mountain later, we can pick some mushrooms and wild vegetables to supplement our lunch."
"Okay, I think so too."
The gardenia flower nest is relatively deep, on an open hillside. White and yellow flowers are blooming in competition, and there are swarms of butterflies and bees on them.
"Oh my god, it smells so good and looks so pretty, just like snow."
Zhou Mingqi picked two flowers and put them in her braid, which looked so beautiful.
Zhou Mingshu was even more shocked. She had never seen such a holy and beautiful sea of flowers.
If she had a camera, she would definitely take a photo here.
After the two sisters had admired the flowers enough, they started picking them.
After filling a basket, Zhou Mingshu took out a small shovel and dug up a few small gardenia plants with their roots and flowers.
She wants to transplant it home, to be pleasing to the eye and to fill the yard with fragrance.
With the system in place, the other backpack was quickly filled up.
But what was different from the past was that this time they encountered several pepper trees.