activa-t Chapter 111 Finding the Spices
Chapter 111 Finding the Spices
The facial expressions of the Li family members are different.
Chen Yuzhen and his wife remained calm.
Li Weikang and Chen Dawei were both nervous and anxious.
Li Weisheng didn't care much.
Chen Youmao stayed behind his father, staring blankly at the mountain scenery in the distance, as if he didn't hear those words and didn't care about what happened next.
After a moment of silence, Li Benfu broke the silence, "Han Zhibai, Qingyue is not coming out, so what about you? In other words, are you still going hunting with us in the jungle?"
Han Zhibai sat cross-legged facing the cliff, stroking his little white hair and looking at the scenery. He heard his name being called, his eyes flickered twice, and he slowly shook his head to express his attitude.
Chen Yuzhen and Li Benfu looked at each other.
Li Weikang and Chen Dawei looked disappointed.
"Okay, thank you for leading the way during this period of time. Thanks to you, we found the mountain products and prey." Chen Yuzhen smiled and expressed her sincere gratitude.
Xia Qingyue, who was sitting on the side, did not interrupt the whole process. This was a matter concerning the Li family and Han Zhibai. If she stood up to speak well of the Li family, it would be somewhat like forcing others to do something against their will and would be a form of moral kidnapping.
She doesn't like this. On different things, everyone has their own opinions and concerns, some of which may be the same as hers, and some may be different. She doesn't force it, but respects it.
Only by getting along in this way can both parties feel comfortable.
They sat there and rested for half an hour, then set off for the woods on the other side of the stream upstream. Han Zhibai said there were persimmons and spices there, so they planned to try their luck there.
Walking in the densely wooded forest, Xia Qingyue quietly asked Han Zhibai: "Well, we seem to have forgotten when we agreed to exchange candles and sodium sulfate."
Han Zhibai walked forward, his steps slowing down. "How about the morning two days from now?"
"Okay."
Xia Qingyue was thinking about how to use Glauber's salt to make fur later, and looked around.
"Be careful."
Han Zhibai's low reminder called her back to her thoughts. She looked up and saw a thorny vine blocking her way a few dozen centimeters away. If she walked over there, her face would definitely be scratched and leave blood marks.
Just when she was about to brake and stop, a long arm stretched out from her side. A machete was held in the big hand, which cut the thorny vines in one stroke.
The moment the vine fell to the ground, Xia Qingyue just walked over and avoided being injured.
"The forest is full of dangers, so don't be careless." Han Zhibai took a long step, bent over, and crawled under a crooked tree and walked to the front.
Xia Qingyue agreed with what he said. She raised her hand and tapped her forehead, "I understand."
Turning the corner of the crooked tree, she recognized the trees ahead as cassia trees.
Cinnamon can be used as a spice for cooking to add flavor, and it can also be used as medicine. It has the effects of warming the kidney and strengthening yang, warming the middle and removing cold, and controlling blood sugar. It is not suitable for people with yin deficiency, hyperactivity of fire, and severe internal heat.
"So many cinnamon sticks!" She ran to look under some trees.
Find a few more spices to stew the meat. In ancient times, spices like cinnamon were relatively precious, had a wide range of uses, and sold at a high price. You can get more and dry them. In addition to eating them yourself, you can also sell them.
"Uncle, aunt, these are spices. You can buy them in town. They cost only a few dozen coins." She gestured with her fingers.
"Isn't that more expensive than meat?" Chen Yuzhen was so shocked that she raised her hand and slapped her chest.
"Qingyue, are you talking about the bark of these trees?" Li Benfu asked, pointing to a tree next to him.
"That's right. It's called cinnamon bark. We can cut some and take it back. We can add some to the meat when stewing. It's very fragrant. Han Zhibai gave us the spices for the barbecue, and this was one of them."
"How, how do I cut this?" Li Weikan held the knife, not knowing where to start.
"Look at how Han Zhibai cuts it." Xia Qingyue walked to the side of Han Zhibai who was squatting and cutting cinnamon bark.
The Li family ran over to watch.
Han Zhibai held the machete in his hand and gently scraped off the dirt on the cinnamon bark. He then moved the sharp tip of the knife around the tree, and then made another cut a few dozen centimeters apart. Finally, he made a vertical cut, slowly inserting the blade into the bark and extending it inwards little by little.
Finally, a piece of cinnamon bark without any cracks or breaks was cut off.
The cinnamon bark that has been cut will grow new ones later.
After watching, Xia Qingyue and the Li family followed suit and started cutting the fruits themselves.
It’s just that their technique is not as good as Han Zhibai’s. Even though they try their best, the result is still not up to the expectation and it is easy to break or crack.
After their efforts, they harvested a lot of cinnamon after cutting down four cinnamon trees.
Han Zhibai then led them away.
There were many thorny vines in this forest and there was no road. They cleared the obstacles as they walked. Half an hour later, they came to an octagonal tree.
Standing under the tree, Xia Qingyue smelled the unique rich aroma of star anise. She looked up and saw a lot of star anise on the tree, most of which were dried.
"smell good."
“It smells like barbecue spices!”
Everyone in the Li family was amazed.
After some discussion, everyone decided that Li Weisheng, who was good at climbing trees and was agile and nimble, would go up the tree to beat the star anise, while the others would pick them up below.
After beating for a while, Li Weisheng's hands felt sore, so he stopped temporarily, and Xia Qingyue and the others picked up the trash below.
After picking up the items, Li Weisheng continued to beat them and then let them pick up the items.
After repeating this several times, the star anise on the tree was almost picked clean. Li Weisheng slid down the tree holding the trunk with both hands and joined Xia Qingyue and the others in picking up the star anise.
The star anise filled three and a half bags, weighing more than 100 kilograms.
With so many gains, Xia Qingyue and the others were grinning from ear to ear, but Han Zhibai didn't react much and remained calm.
"Han Zhibai, is the persimmon tree far away? We have a lot of stuff. If it's far, we can hide the things first and then go over." Xia Qingyue asked.
"It's not far. Hide your things before going over."
They hid everything in the hidden bushes.
Han Zhibai took them around in the woods, and Xia Qingyue and the others who followed him were dazzled by the sight. They felt that the scenery in the woods was all similar, and it would be easy to get lost without someone to lead the way.
They walked down to a higher place. There were sparse trees in front of them, and the warm yellow dazzling sunlight shone over, illuminating everyone's face.
Han Zhibai walked to a tree and stood still. Above his head, the branches of the tree were hung with numerous fruits. Each one was orange-yellow in color and bathed in the sunlight, like dazzling yellow sapphires.
Xia Qingyue only took one look and was captivated by it. She ran over and said, "Wow, it's really a persimmon!"
Li Benfu found a long wooden stick and hit a few persimmons. "They are still a little hard to the touch."
"It's just right to make dried persimmons. There aren't many vegetables in winter, and eating some dried fruits can improve the taste." Chen Yuzhen was overjoyed.
Xia Qingyue thought so too.
The two brothers Li Weikang and Li Weisheng tied sacks on their bodies, climbed up the tree, stood on the trunk to pick persimmons, put them into the sacks, and when the sack was full, they let the people below take it.