bookrandom Chapter 13 Pepper
Chapter 13 Pepper
...
Li Jing drove the carriage to the yamen stables and walked back. Fortunately, his home was not far from the yamen, and it only took a quarter of an hour to walk there.
Seeing her son was a little absent-minded, Li's mother put a piece of meat into Li Jing's bowl and asked, "Did you encounter any difficulties today?"
Li Jing shook his head, "Things went quite smoothly."
Seeing that her son was not in a good mood, Li's mother did not ask any more questions and just ate the rice in the bowl silently.
"Mom, please help me find a girl!"
Li Jing said this out of the blue, which choked Li's mother who was drinking water and made her cough.
Li Jing hurried over to help pat his back
Mother Li, "Ahem...what did you say...cough...cough?"
Li Jing, "No...no, just pretend you didn't hear it."
Li's mother calmed down and quickly replied, "How can I pretend I didn't hear you? It's rare for you to ask for something."
"Some time ago, when your mother asked you to see me, you refused. What happened today?"
Li Jing: "Nothing, I'm just old"
Mother Li smiled so hard that her teeth showed. "The girl from the Xie family is seventeen years old this year. She is both beautiful and well-behaved. If you'd like, I'd like to arrange a time to meet her."
Li Jing didn't hear any other information, but he heard the age of seventeen clearly. If he remembered correctly, Lord Gu was also seventeen this year. Gu Niannian's handsome face appeared in his mind.
Seeing that her son did not respond and was in a daze again, Mother Li stretched out her hand and waved in front of her son, "Jing'er... Jing'er"
Li Jing heard his mother's call, and his thoughts were pulled back. He subconsciously looked up, "Ah!"
When Mrs. Li heard her son's reaction, she knew he hadn't heard her again, so she asked, "Are you going to meet Miss Su tomorrow?"
Li Jing, "It's what my mother arranged."
Although Li's mother raised her son alone, she is still very open-minded and always respects her son's ideas.
If other mothers didn't want to marry when their sons were this old, especially when their sons were officials, they would have already found a way to place someone in their son's room, hoping to continue the family line.
However, Li's mother has always respected her son's ideas. She supports her son getting married, and she also doesn't object to him staying single.
The best thing for a person is to live his life the way he likes.
She has also been through marriage and having children, and she understands that finding a compatible person is something that can only be encountered by chance.
Of course, if her son wants to get married, she will be very supportive. People always have to try ways of life they have never experienced. What if the two of them are attracted to each other and have compatible personalities? Having a companion in the fleeting decades of life will make them less lonely.
However, mother Li has raised her son, and it seems that her son doesn't want to find a wife. Instead... it seems that he has a lover.
If that's the case, she shouldn't randomly match people up and waste the girl's time.
Mother Li decided to find time to ask clearly before discussing the matchmaking.
……
Gu Niannian handed the several sacks of soil she brought to the housekeeper, and asked him to place the two types of soil in the plot of land she had set aside specifically for experiments.
In addition to climate, soil quality is equally important when it comes to what kind of crops to grow. She must first conduct a small-scale planting trial and only promote it after success. This is related to whether the people can have food to eat, so she cannot be careless at all.
The house has been renovated almost completely. The toilet no longer smells bad, and the shower has been installed. "This housekeeper has done a good job. It seems he should be given a raise. He has never touched anything before, but he can do it so well. He is already a talent," Gu Niannian thought.
Gu Niannian ate the vegetables grown at home. Although they were delicious, she always felt like something was missing.
Seeing her frown, Bai thought the food cooked in the kitchen today was not tasty. She took a bite and said, "No! It tastes the same as usual."
Gu Niannian suddenly slapped her thigh, "Chili, how could I forget it!"
"I was wondering why I always felt like something was missing. It turns out it's this deep-seated passion of mine that I still can't adapt to after so many days!"
"It happens that tomorrow is a day off, so I have to go to the market to see if there are any chili peppers for sale."
In fact, being a county magistrate doesn't really have to have days off. If there's something going on in the yamen, she has to go. After all, they're usually urgent matters. She can't just not go because she's on day off. She still has things to deal with. Of course, when she has nothing to do, she can be more free and do other things.
……
Gu Niannian had a good sleep, got up early in the morning, exercised, and had breakfast. Then she took a servant and a maid and went straight to the herbal medicine shop.
Of course, she just came to try her luck and didn't hold much hope.
According to historical records, chili peppers were introduced to China during the Ming Dynasty and then became popular.
Unexpectedly, she found this red and spicy pepper after visiting only two pharmacies. However, the pepper sold in this pharmacy was in dry powder form and could not be used for seed cultivation.
Gu Niannian had no choice but to ask the medicine boy, "Is there any freshly unearthed red powder?"
The medicine boy looked at the handsome man in front of him. Although he was wearing gray clothes, he could not hide his temperament. What's more, he brought two servants with him, so his family should be well-off.
Even though the medicine boy didn't know what the red powder was called, he didn't care about collecting the herbs. This was all handled by their young master.
He also did not dare to neglect the young man in front of him who seemed to be either rich or noble.
Then he replied, "Please wait a moment, sir. I will go ask the young master."
A moment later, the medicine boy came out with a man who was about twenty years old.
"Which brother is so discerning that he knows this pepper?" the man said excitedly.
Gu Niannian took a step forward and said, "It's me."
"May I ask this young master, where did these peppers come from?"
The man looked at Gu Niannian with a smile on his face. He didn't rush to answer, but only asked, "This brother looks unfamiliar, but are you from Qingshan County?"
"Yes and no," Gu Niannian pretended to be suspenseful.
The owner of this medicine shop is named Xie Feixing. The medicine shop was passed down from his ancestors. There are three Xie's medicine shops in Qingshan County.
Xie Feixing is also a curious person who likes to travel. He just came back from a trip and brought back this chili pepper. He actually didn't know how to use it, but he just thought it was colorful and beautiful, so he brought one back.
Seeing that there were a few ripe melons, I was afraid that they would go bad, so I dried them, ground them into powder, and put them in the pharmacy, hoping to meet someone who knew their value.
I didn't expect that he would actually encounter it.
He had been traveling outside for the past few months, so of course he didn't know the new official in Qingshan County.
"Brother, has anyone bought your peppers?"
"I'm telling you, your red ones look beautiful, but I just accidentally broke one, and it could have been so spicy that it could have killed someone. My hand is still burning. Don't sell it to anyone else, or it will ruin our pharmacy's reputation and hurt people."
I saw a young girl, about seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing a pink skirt, coming out from the back door.
The woman looked up and met Gu Niannian's gaze. The girl screamed "Ah" and quickly retreated behind the curtain.
Not only did Gu Niannian not understand this, even Xie Feixing, who had been the girl's brother for more than ten years, was confused. "Did his sister take the wrong medicine today? How could she be so rude?"
Xie Feixing looked at Gu Nian Nian's stunned expression and explained, "The girl just now is my younger sister. She is a bit more lively. Please don't be offended, little brother."
Gu Niannian then smiled and said, "It's not strange. Girls are more lively..."
Gu Niannian said this from the heart. It was rare for a woman in this era to have such a lively personality.
Xie didn't intend to care about his sister who might have taken the wrong medicine. He was more curious about the person in front of him. Although he often traveled, he knew everyone he should know in Qingshan County. This person had an outstanding appearance. If he was from the county, he should not escape his sharp eyes.
Then return to the topic
"Oh, little brother, just now you said yes or no? If it is, then it is, and if it is not, then it is not. How do you say yes or no?"
Gu Niannian was just thinking about how to answer
The young girl came out from the back door and bowed to Gu Niannian, "Master Gu."
"My surname is Xie Zhiyao, and this is my brother Xie Feixing, the young master of the Xie's Pharmacy."
Xie Feixing looked at his sister, who had a few more hairpins on her head and revealed her past, and thought to himself, "I really don't understand this woman's mind anymore."
Xie Zhiyao turned around and winked at his brother, "Brother, this is Mr. Gu Rujun, the father and mother official of our Qingshan County."
Now it was Xie Feixing's turn to be stunned. He even dared to ask the county magistrate whether it was true or not. Wasn't this courting death?
You know, whether his store can continue to operate is just a matter of a word from the county magistrate.
Xie Feixing's heart was in turmoil, but he appeared neither humble nor arrogant. Of course, he didn't say anything disrespectful.
He bet that the county magistrate was not the kind of person who was petty and would oppress the people.
Xie Feixing simply bowed and said, "I am a humble person who cannot recognize the great man. I hope the county magistrate will forgive me."
Of course, Gu Niannian was not someone who cared about this, so she gave him a fake hand and said, "No need to be so polite, please tell me if this pepper is still alive."
Xie Feixing looked embarrassed. "Yes, I do, but I don't know how to plant them. I'm afraid the last few will die soon."
Xie Zhiyao said embarrassedly, "I accidentally broke one just now, and now only one is left intact."
Gu Niannian secretly rejoiced, "Fortunately, fortunately, I can still leave a seed."
The three of them came to Xie Zhixing's yard. Gu Niannian looked at the lonely pepper hanging on the branch and thought, "Finally, there is a pepper to go with my meal."
Gu Niannian said, "Xie brother, can you sell me this pepper? I can pay double the price."
Xie Feixing waved his hand and was about to say he didn't want any money, but before he could finish the word "no" his sister spoke first, "My brother can't even support him, so you can take it. It's free."
Xie Feixing rolled his eyes at his sister and thought, it's true that girls can't be kept at home when they grow up!
But he still said to Gu Niannian, "Zhiyao is right. I can't support it either. It's a waste of good things to keep it here."
Gu Niannian was too embarrassed to ask for other people's things for free, "Hey, I still have to pay you. I can't let Brother Xie do a business that loses money, right?"
Xie Feixing's eyes rolled. "How about this! I'll lend you this pepper plant. If you grow more peppers in the future, I'll ask for it back."
Gu Niannian is still very confident about growing peppers, because there is more than one pepper seed in this pepper.
With her years of experience in farming, this little thing was no problem for her, so she immediately agreed and said, "In three months, I will repay you tenfold."
Xie Feixing didn't really expect the county magistrate to repay him tenfold, he just regarded it as a favor, and he wouldn't lose anything. Besides, his silly sister might have fallen in love with the county magistrate. Regardless of whether it would work out or not, he could at least leave a good impression on her.