SFS Chapter 275: Exchanging Food
Chapter 275: Exchanging Food
Ji Ning was very happy to hear that everyone's contribution was recognized. She smiled and said to her master: "Master, everyone can be so concerned, it is also inseparable from your contribution?"
After she finished speaking, she paused and continued, "If you hadn't taken the trouble to take the risk and lead us into the mountains, we would probably still be worrying about our next meal today."
Shen Ruolan smiled and said, "Everything we have today is the result of everyone's hard work. No one can be missing."
What Shen Ruolan said was the truth. She wouldn't dare to go into the mountain alone or with three or five people. No matter how many ideas she had, they would be useless.
Ji Ning bowed to Shen Ruolan playfully and said with a grin, "Yes, Master is right."
Shen Ruolan looked at Ji Ning, who suddenly became more cheerful. She looked at her curiously and asked, "Ji Ning, I noticed that you seem to have changed since you came back this time. Did you encounter something that made you happy?"
As soon as Shen Ruolan finished speaking, a child holding a bunch of wild flowers of various colors ran towards Ji Ning and said, "Miss Ji Ning, Mr. Bai asked me to give this to you. He said that he has found all the seven-color flowers you wanted."
Ji Ning was already feeling uncomfortable being asked questions by her master, and now the child's words made her want to find a hole to crawl into. It was so embarrassing. This damn Bai Zhen must have been doing this on purpose to make things difficult for her.
Shen Ruolan looked at the flower in the boy's hand, then looked at Ji Ning who was blushing. She reached out to take the flower from the boy's hand, took a look at it, and said with a smile: "I didn't expect that Bai Zhen would be so romantic."
After saying that, she handed the flowers to Ji Ning and said, "This flower pairing is quite beautiful."
Ji Ning felt even more embarrassed when she heard her master say that. She lowered her head tightly and said with some stammering: "Master, I, I don't know what Bai Zhen is thinking. I wanted the Seven-Colored Flower because I was mad at him that day and deliberately made things difficult for him."
After listening to Ji Ning's words, Shen Ruolan looked at the flowers in her hand and asked her, "What should we do with these flowers?"
Ji Ning hesitated for a moment and said to his master: "Why not throw him away?"
"Are you sure?" Shen Ruolan asked while holding the flowers.
Just when Ji Ning was about to nod his head to confirm, Bai Zhen suddenly ran over and said, "Ji Yaya, if you throw away these flowers today, you will be an old woman who doesn't keep her word."
Ji Ning heard Bai Zhen scolding her, she looked up and scolded him: "Bai Zhen, I am an old lady, and you are still a monk."
After Shen Ruolan heard what the two said, she couldn't help but burst out laughing and said to them, "You two are both an old lady and an old monk, you are both the same, aren't you a perfect match?"
After saying that, she put the flower in Ji Ning's hand and said to her, "You guys can continue to curse. I'll go to the vegetable garden to take a look."
After Shen Ruolan finished speaking, she strode away.
"You're boring." Ji Ning threw the flowers into Bai Zhen's arms, and hurriedly chased after his master and shouted, "Master, wait for me."
Unexpectedly, Bai Zhen stopped Ji Ning and said, "Hey, Ji Yaya, don't go back on your word. You said yesterday that if I find all the seven-colored flowers before noon today, you will help me mend my socks."
Ji Ning was so angry at Bai Zhen that she just wanted to push him into the field, but when she thought about crushing the rice, she forcibly held back. She glared at Bai Zhen angrily and said, "Go back and bring it to me later."
If you lose a gamble, you should accept the consequences. Since you lost, you should make up for it.
When Bai Zhen heard that Ji Ning agreed to mend his socks, he smiled and said, "Okay, I'll send it to you later."
After saying this, he left in a good mood.
Ji Ning glared at Bai Zhen's back with hatred and quickly ran towards his master.
Shen Ruolan came to the vegetable garden and looked at the vegetables growing well. She was very happy. She reached out to pick the long beans and said to herself, "These beans are so good."
Miao Wei, who had just come over, heard what Shen Ruolan said, and he was in a good mood and said: "Master, the vegetables we planted this year are growing very well, but no one is willing to eat them, so we plan to save them for seeds and plant more next year."
After Shen Ruolan heard what Miao Wei said, she stopped what she was doing and asked Miao Wei, "What are you eating now?"
Miao Wei said: "Now is the season when wild vegetables are growing wildly. Every day, people pick wild vegetables from the fields or mountains to eat."
Miao Wei's words made Shen Ruolan feel particularly relieved. She didn't expect that everyone would save food for her, although her food, plus the food given by her grandfather, could barely last until the autumn harvest.
But after the autumn harvest, she will not have so much food, and they will definitely be short of food in the spring of next year. Now everyone is going to find wild vegetables to eat on their own, which can save a lot of vegetables. As long as these saved vegetables are properly preserved, they can sustain everyone for a month or so. This group of villagers really did not let her down.
When Shen Ruolan thought of this, she looked at the densely packed cowpeas like lines, and was silent for a moment. She smiled and said to Miao Wei, "It's rare that everyone is so thoughtful. I, Shen Ruolan, will certainly not let you down."
After saying that, she picked a few cowpeas and said to Miao Wei, "Miao Wei, go call a few people over and help me pick some cowpeas."
Miao Wei listened to his master's words. He looked at her with a puzzled look on his face and asked, "Master, what are you doing?"
Shen Ruolan did not intend to hide it. She told Miao Wei the truth: "I want to exchange these vegetables for food, so that we will not have to worry about having no food to eat next spring."
There are many ways to eat cowpea, but the simplest one is to make it into sour beans. The fermentation period of sour beans is very short, and apart from salt, there is basically no other cost.
She wanted to get some first to see if there was a market. If there was, she would continue to sell it. If not, she would dry the beans and use them as food for the next year.
As for why she didn't sell dried beans, it was because in that era when people had not had enough food for a long time, not to mention dried beans, there were also wild vegetables and dried leaves. As long as they were edible, many people would pick them in advance and dry them to eat when there was a food shortage.
The common people at that time were just poor, not stupid!
When Miao Wei heard Shen Ruolan wanted to exchange cowpeas for food, he hesitated for a moment and said to her, "Master, I'm not saying anything, but at this time of year, anyone with a yard can't even eat all the cowpeas they grow. Will anyone want to exchange them for food?"
Shen Ruolan smiled confidently and said, "How do you know if you don't try?"
After she finished speaking, she paused and added, "Even if no one wants it, there is no loss. We can keep it for ourselves."
Miao Wei thought what his master said made sense, so he lowered his head and said, "Yes, I will go find someone to pick the cowpeas right away."
Miao Wei walked forward a few steps, then came back and asked Shen Ruolan, "By the way, Master, how many pounds should we pick first?"
Shen Ruolan looked at the field of beans in front of her. She was silent for a moment and said to Miao Wei, "Pick 300 kilograms first."
"Yes," Miao Wei replied.