Chapter 24 Young Master Goes to the Fields
In the early morning, before it was completely dark, Nalan Jue took a donkey cart and arrived at Liujia Village as promised.
Yan'er called for someone at the door of Mao Xi's house, but no one answered, but the sound of a dog barking came from the courtyard.
Neighbor Chun Sheng passed by carrying a bundle of firewood and said, "Are you looking for Ah Shu? She is in the back field." After speaking, he pointed behind him.
Yan'er parked the carriage, and Nalan Jue left her sitting at the front of the carriage waiting while he went to the back field to find Mao Xi alone.
Although he had changed into coarse cloth, the fields were muddy and still filled with the pungent smell of human and animal fertilizer. Nalan Jue could not adapt to it for a while.
Mao Xi had already put a bucket of farmyard manure at the edge of the field and was about to fertilize the vegetable field.
Seeing Nalan Jue standing on the edge of the field in a daze, Mao Xi handed him the long-handled manure spoon: "Mr. Nalan, this is the chicken manure that was swept up in the morning. Help me pour some of it into the field."
The handle is one and a half meters long, and the front end passes through a bamboo tube. The range of movement can cover two square fields.
Nalan Jue took the long handle with one hand and covered his mouth and nose with the other hand, looking ferocious.
Mao Xi saw that he was looking a little embarrassed and said seriously: "Master Nalan, the vegetables are delicious after being watered with farmyard manure. Don't let the water leak. There are still several acres of potatoes and sweet potatoes to be watered."
The manure in the bucket bottomed out. Ma Xi took Nalan Jue to the village manure pit. Seeing that Nalan Jue still had a look of disgust on his face, Ma Xi took the wooden handle and said, "Forget it, look at your actions, you are so slow..."
As soon as he finished speaking, Mu Zhiyuan appeared behind him, took the wooden handle from Mao Xi's hand, skillfully stirred up the dung water, and said calmly: "Young Master Nalan, it is not suitable for you to work in the fields. I advise you not to force yourself."
After finishing speaking, he skillfully lifted the bucket to the field and fertilized the remaining vegetable seedlings for Mao Xi.
Mao Xi handed the bucket to Nalan Jue: "Mr. Nalan, why don't you come and water it? Those who have been fertilized just now need to be watered again."
Nalan Jue took out half a gourd ladle floating on the bucket, squatted on the vegetable field, and poured water one ladle after another.
Not far away, Mu Zhiyuan shouted loudly: "Mr. Nalan, have you never grown vegetables? I heard that Su Xuexuan from Songjian Academy is good at cooking, but he is also good at growing vegetables."
Being provoked by Mu Zhiyuan, Nalan Jue endured the smell and gradually became more agile in her movements.
The flowers beside the vegetable field were growing vigorously and were about to be harvested. Nalan Jue had never seen peanuts before, so when he saw the peanut seedlings growing on the ground, he thought they were beans.
"Mao Xi, what are you planting here?" Nalan Jue stood up and stared at the patches of peanut seedlings beside the field.
Mu Zhiyuan had finished fertilizing, so he kept silent, took the water ladle from Nalan Jue, and continued to water.
"Prince Jia, you are so attentive, are you also here to ask for recipes from Shu Xi?"
"Nalan Jue, don't call me Prince Jia. Not everyone is like you, who only eats but doesn't work!"
Seeing that the two were bickering, Mao Xi uprooted a peanut tree, revealing a whole bunch of peanuts at the root.
She held up the peanut seedlings and said, "Look, the peanuts are ripe. Come and help me collect them."
Mao Xi and Mu Zhiyuan went to the fields skillfully and uprooted one tree after another. Nalan Jue followed behind them, imitating their example.
"Brother Mu, why did you come to me suddenly?"
"I heard that Ajiao's foot was injured. I wanted to come and see her."
"Ajiao is with Aniang at the snack shop today. After harvesting the peanuts, I will take you to find her in the afternoon."
Mu Zhiyuan didn't come to visit little Ajiao early in the morning, but came specifically to see Mao Xi.
When he was flying a kite before, he met Goudan, a sweet potato seller in Ah Shu's village, and specifically told him that if he saw Nalan Jue looking for Shu Xi, he should go to Jia Mansion to find him, and he would be rewarded with 20 coins.
With the tip from the little spy Goudan, whenever Nalan Jue gets close to Mao Xi, he will go to Mu Zhiyuan to report the tip and receive the reward.
Two quarters of an hour later, one of the fields had finished harvesting peanuts. Mao Xi grabbed a handful of peanut seedlings, shook the soil from the roots, and picked the peanuts one by one into the basket. Mu Zhiyuan and Nalan Jue helped pick the peanuts together.
"Ah, this is a peanut? Did you bring it from the wild and plant it in the field?" Nalan Jue stared at a peanut tree and asked curiously. After speaking, he wiped the peanut on his pants and peeled off the shell.
"Can you eat the red seeds directly?" Mu Zhiyuan took a peanut from Nalan Jue's hand.
He had never seen it. He only knew that Mao Xi was researching new vegetables in the fields. He originally thought that peanuts needed to bloom and bear fruit like beans, but he never thought that the seeds were hidden in the soil.
"You can eat it, but you'd better wash it before eating it. These are raw peanuts, which taste better when they are cooked." Mao Xi continued to pick peanuts.
After peeling them off, they put them in a bamboo basket. The three of them carried them to the river one after another, washed them in a dustpan, and then carried them home. A total of about 100 kilograms were harvested before and after, and spread out in the yard to dry.
In the middle of the day, Mao Xi wanted to keep Nalan Jue at home for lunch, but he thought he smelled too much, so he declined. Before leaving, he reminded him: "Ah Ma, now you should tell me how to make pickled cabbage pancakes." Bar!"
Turning back into the kitchen, Mao Xi took a bag of freshly baked boiled peanuts and two millet peppers and handed them to the maid Yan'er beside her.
"Mr. Nalan, the secret is the chili pepper. You fry the chili pepper and stuffing in oil and then wrap it in the dough."
As soon as Nalan Jue called Miao Xi "Ah Miao", Mu Zhiyuan's face was like the bottom of a pot, and he seemed to be displeased. He said sourly: "Master Nalan, don't go home and make yourself a pickled cabbage pancake. This pancake maker Craftsmanship is not something that can be learned easily.”
Nalan Jue ignored Mu Zhiyuan. He returned to the car, raised his hand to smell it, and said disgustedly: "Well, it seems to smell a bit like pickled cabbage." In an instant, his smile spread again, and he held the boiled peanuts as if he had found a treasure.
Seeing Nalan Jue's carriage go away, Mu Zhiyuan looked dissatisfied: "Ah Shu, did you just give me the recipe for your pickled cabbage pancakes?"
"Brother Mu, don't worry. Although I gave you the chili peppers, to make the pancakes really well, the chili peppers used are pickled and difficult to imitate. Moreover, there are requirements for the ratio of the ingredients and the heat. Mr. Nalan will also It’s just a fresh idea for a while.”
"Hmph! I think he's just here to rub your peanuts. He's here to grow vegetables. Why would he take a carriage?"
"Brother Mu, don't talk about him anymore. Come and eat boiled peanuts. I'll cook three crispy noodles for you to eat later. I picked a lot of milk mushrooms this morning!"