Chapter 32 - Chapter 32: Chapter 32: Guiding Out of Misery_1

Chapter 32: Chapter 32: Guiding Out of Misery_1

Translator: 549690339

Chunniang then chopped a golden ear fungus into pieces and stewed it.

After it had been stewed, she first fed some to a chicken to observe for half a day. Seeing that the chicken showed no abnormalities, she decided to taste some herself.

Yingbao actually didn’t want her mother to taste it. After all, her mother was still breastfeeding, and it would be disastrous if her milk supply were affected in any way.

But Chunniang insisted on tasting it herself. She drank a small half bowl and, after waiting for a while and feeling no discomfort, she finally allowed her daughter to eat.

Yingbao took a sip. The golden ear soup was soft, glutinous, and slightly viscous. It carried the scent of osmanthus, and it would have been even better with a touch of honey.

“It’s delicious.” Yingbao devoured half a bowl in one breath, then licked her lips and said, “Let’s have dad take it into town to the pharmacy tomorrow. If that doesn’t work, we’ll take it into the county.”

She was certain that this was the golden ear. The texture and appearance were all as Wen Jiejie had described and the taste was similar as well.

A member of Wen Jiejie’s family used to work at the Imperial Medical Bureau, reputedly serving the royal family and nobility. Later, as he grew older, he returned home to retire.

Thus, the men in the Wen Family tended to study medicine and operate pharmacies, holding renowned reputations in various places.

Under the influence from a young age, Wen Jiejie not only understands medicine but also knows how to differentiate herbs. She would often share her Imowledge with Yingbao, who loved to hear these stories.

“Mmm.” Chunniang replied with a smile, “Let’s wait for your dad to come home, then I’ll talk to him.”

In the evening, Jiang Sanlang came home barefoot from the fields, rinsed his feet after dropping his plowing tool, put on the cloth shoes his daughter brought him, and then sat down to have dinner.

Seeing a bowl of golden slop on the table, he curiously asked, “What kind of porridge is this?”

Chunniang grinned and replied, “It’s the golden ear that Baobao picked. Try some to see if it’s good.”

Jiang Sanlang lifted the bowl and had a large gulp, smacking his lips and commenting, “The taste is pretty good. It’s smooth and warm inside.”

Chunniang grinned again and remarked, “This stuff is worth a lot of money. Granny from West Village said that the pharmacies in the county are selling it for dozens of coins a box.”

“Huh?” Jiang Sanlang’s eyes widened, “For real? Which granny from West

Village said that?”

Yingbao, who was listening to the side: .

So as the saying goes, one lie requires countless others to support it.

The next day, Jiang Sanlang took a mulberry stick laden with golden ear fungus to the town and showed it to Doctor Li.

Doctor Li sniffed it and appeared surprised, “This indeed looks like golden ear, a top-quality nourishing delicacy.”

He lifted his aged eyes and asked, “Did your Erlang ever eat this?” He had been wondering how Jiang Erlang’s lung disease was cured.

Jiang Sanlang was taken aback and hastily shook his head, “No, this…this is something I recently found. I cooked a bit of it last night to taste and thought it tasted good, and heard this…could be sold for money. So, I brought it here for you to check if it’s true.”

Doctor Li stroked his beard and nodded, “Indeed, it’s golden ear. However, this is the first time that I’ve seen it fresh. I never knew that such a precious herb could be found in a small place like ours. However, if you’re planning to sell it, you must dry it first.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Sanlang was somewhat disappointed.

As he was about to take the mulberry stick back, he heard Doctor Li say, “If the fresh golden ear is still attached to the tree stick, it might not spoil within a day or two. You might as well take it to the county town to have a look.”

Chuanhe Town was too small and its purchasing power was limited. Even though the golden ear was a rare herb, it couldn’t be sold. If it were dried, however, he might consider buying some.

Jiang Sanlang, deliberating for a moment, quickly thanked him, “Thank you, Doctor, for showing the way.”

He cut two large golden ear fungi from the stick with a small knife and gave them to Doctor Li.

Doctor Li chuckled, “This thing is precious and I can’t take it just like that. Let me share a quick method of drying herbs with you. You can try it at home and see if it works with the golden ear.”

Jiang Sanlang was delighted, “That would be great.” He deeply thanked Doctor Li, “Thank you for your instruction.”

Doctor Li smiled and did not withhold any information. He told Jiang Sanlang how to dry the golden ears.

“When I was young, my master once taught me how to dry Xue’er. I suppose the methods should be similar to drying golden ears. “.

“First, clean the Xue’er and dry them on a bamboo tray. Don’t let them bunch up. Sun-dry them for three to four days until they are completely dried.”

Doctor Li took out a whole Xue’er to show to Jiang Erlang, “It should be dried like this.”

He pointed to the root of the Xue’er, “You must remove all the stems from the back, otherwise they won’t dry properly, and will easily turn black and moldy.” Jiang Erlang nodded continuously.

“There’s also another method, which is to build a kiln in the yard, with compartments.” Doctor Li picked up a pen and roughly sketched it on a paper.

“Like this, put the Xue’er into the kiln’s compartment, gently heat it overnight and you can quickly dry it. But the temperature shouldn’t go too high or too low, it should be about double the temperature during the hottest days of summer…”

Jiang Erlang listened carefully to Doctor Li’s explanation and even took the sketch for further study.

After coming out of the pharmacy, he went straight home and told Chunniang everything Doctor Li had said.

“Doctor Li also said that if we can find more Xue’er, and if the appearance is decent after drying, he will buy it for ten coins per jin.”

“Oh my, really?” Chunniang was ecstatic. She immediately turned to her daughter and asked, “Baobao, where did you find it? Tomorrow, your mother will come with you to find more.”

Yingbao: “In the forest, but there probably isn’t any left there.”

Chunniang was slightly disappointed. She then heard her daughter continue,

“But we can cultivate it.”

Yingbao pointed at the Xue’er on the mulberry trees and said, ‘We can propagate from these, we just need to get some dry mulberry sticks, make a few holes in them and plant the Xue’er roots in.”

“Ah? We can do that?”

Not just Chunniang, even Jiang Erlang was astonished by his daughter’s suggestion.

They haven’t ever grown mushrooms, let alone Xue’er.

“Is this really doable?” Chunniang asked.

Without waiting for his daughter’s response, Jiang Erlang said decisively, “It should be. Let’s follow our daughter’s advice and give it a go.”

In fact, whether it was feasible or not, Jiang Erlang wanted to give it a try.

Dried Xue’er sells for ten coins per jin, this was a great opportunity, how could they just let it slip through their fingers.

Jiang Erlang immediately went up the mountain, collected some dried mulberry woods and brought them back. Following his daughter’s instructions, he got some rice husks and wood chips, put them into a stone mortar, and ground them into fine bits.

He then hollowed out the mulberry woods and filled them with these bits, before pouring water over it.

They then divided the Xue’er roots into multiple parts and planted them into these holes filled with bits.

After planting the Xue’er, they watered the woods and placed them in a newly built bamboo shelter to wait for the fungi to emerge.

Of course, Yingbao would sprinkle the woods daily with pond water from their residence to keep it moist.

After about ten days, tiny Xue’er sprouted from the mulberry wood, showing promising growth.

In the meantime, Jiang Erlang had also built a drying kiln in the yard, the kind with compartments. After a few tries, he finally got the temperature right and successfully dried seventeen Xue’er.

Though not perfect, their first batch of dried Xue’er was good enough, and the color was also acceptable.

Jiang Erlang was overjoyed and immediately showed them to Doctor Li.

Doctor Li was quite surprised that Jiang Erlang had successfully dried Xue’er in just over ten days.

He weighed the dozen or so dried Xue’er, they came to four taels and eight qian.

According to the initial quote of ten coins per jin, four taels and eight qian is four coins and eight hundred coin pieces.

Doctor Li handed the money to Jiang Erlang and chucklingly said, “Jiang Erlang, if you have more, you can sell them together to this old man..”