Her Cultivation Diary
Chapter 696 - Chapter 696 690. Knocking Ai Rong_1

Chapter 696: 690. Knocking Ai Rong_1 Chapter 696: 690. Knocking Ai Rong_1 Guo Dong was very much looking forward to it–she was always amazed by the efficacy of the Golden Sakura each time she prepared the medicine.

Now she held great anticipation for the Ai Cao as well.

If not for this reason, having practiced medicine for many years, she wouldn’t fail to recognize those who sold genuine, aged Ai Zhu, so why was she insistent on trying the new Ai this time?

Right then, when Lao Song’s family was preparing to put away the Ai Cao in the evening, Guo Dong came along as well. She even asked Song Sancheng, who was busy working:

“Uncle, if you have time, could you help me cut a finer piece of bamboo?”

She gestured: “–Just about this wide, I only need one section, I’ll use it to fill the Ai Zhu tomorrow.”

The stuffing machines in the factories could do it much faster and more efficiently, but with their small volume, anything that worked would suffice.

At this moment, the sun had already set, and cutting a bamboo was not the slightest bit difficult.

Song Sancheng immediately dropped the rake he was holding, turned around to get a machete from inside the house: “Alright, how thick do you want it, come with me to choose.”

Meanwhile, Song Tan also humbly asked for guidance:

“Doctor Guo, what do you think, has the Ai Cao been dried to the right extent?”

If it had been around the Dragon Boat Festival, the Ai Cao would have definitely needed to be dried for two days at least.

But with the current weather, having been cut yesterday and spread out to dry overnight, and then laid out early in the morning to dry, just one day and one night of exposure, the leaves almost felt crispy to the touch.

Guo Dong was very satisfied, reaching out and sniffing the strong lingering fragrance left on her hands after pinching the Ai Cao:

“It’s basically ready. However, there’s definitely no way to make Ai Rong tonight. If you have time, you could start by stripping the leaves off.”

Zhang Yanping peeked over with curiosity:

“Stripping the leaves? Then why didn’t you strip them while drying?”

Wouldn’t that be faster?

“Or just pick the leaves… wouldn’t that work?”

The Ai Cao stems were all straight, and the stalks were not the usual cylindrical shape, but rather had some edges. Wearing gloves and stripping stalk by stalk in the field of Ai Cao, wouldn’t the efficiency be much the same?

“You can’t dry them like that!”

Wu Lan was truly exasperated.

Could her nephew ever find a partner in this lifetime?

He usually seemed so sharp, so why couldn’t he show some good sense in front of Doctor Guo? If the leaves were stripped in advance, with the wind being so strong now, how would you plan to dry them?

Moreover, with such high temperatures, without the moisture in the stems to buffer, if you’re not careful, the leaves could end up over-dried and crumble to pieces when pressed–how would you make Ai Rong then?

Zhang Yanping felt wronged.

He always felt that, since coming back this time, his little aunt was no longer as kind and patient toward him as before.

What exactly was the reason?

Is there such a big difference between a nephew with a partner and one without?

…

Song Sancheng carried in a lush green bamboo, and with the machete, he swiftly shaved off all the tiny branches and twigs.

Then, as per Guo Dong’s request, he selected one thick and one thin section, and tried fitting the thinner one into the thicker bamboo tube–

It fit perfectly! A snug match!

He looked at it with satisfaction and couldn’t help muttering, “Making our own Ai Zhu is really quite troublesome…”

He also said, “Tantan, during next winter or the coming spring, you should dig up some more shoots. The bamboo is growing too dense; it’s all these fine and crowded shoots that can’t grow big.”

Actually, they had already sold quite a lot this spring. But given the bamboo grove’s proximity to home, it always received a bit of preferential treatment…

Song Tan nodded, “Okay.”

“But this year, sell less. Seventh Uncle said to pickle more sour bamboo shoots and dry some in the sun.”

“That’s fine,” Song Sancheng didn’t bother with these things. After all, he had farmed his whole life, from planting to harvesting, what hadn’t he done? And he never made as much money as now!

It goes to show, some things are better left to the younger folks.

…

Early the next morning, Wu Lan had just cleaned up the yard after breakfast, when she saw several men and women from the village who had no work at the time arriving at her home.

She wondered, “Why have you all come over?”

The leading Zhang Hong laughed heartily:

“Your Ai Cao here will surely bring good fortune to the whole village… Cutting Ai Cao didn’t require our help, but not lending a hand with making Ai Zhu–that would be rude!”

It’s not that they were lazy and didn’t cut it themselves; it’s just that before the Dragon Boat Festival, people had already cut and sold all the scattered Ai Cao.

Although there are many mountains around here, there aren’t many places with expansive growths of Ai Cao left at this time of year.

But the ones in Song Tan’s field, everything grows lush and green–though when you think about it, tens of millions were invested, and a professor was going up and down the mountain to give guidance every day; it would be strange if it didn’t turn out well!

There they were, early in the morning, heading up the mountain again.

Wu Lan laughed heartily:

“Look at what you’re saying. Why didn’t I see you lending a hand when digging at Tea Mountain?”

“Is that the same thing?” Everyone chatted casually, the atmosphere was very easygoing, “Digging at Tea Mountain is heavy labor, it’s tough, and this weather is just unbearable.”

But making Ai Rong, even though many of them didn’t know how, sounded simple enough.

At that moment, Wu Lan piled up the Ai Cao that she had gathered the night before in the yard, and everyone followed suit, moving their stools next to the large winnowing basket.

Song Tan then went to the warehouse and dug out a pile of gloves: “Auntie, put on the gloves. You’ll have to strip off the leaves first, don’t rub your hands raw.”

“Aiyo, look at how fair-skinned Tantan is. How would she know about our calloused, tough skin?”

Despite the joking, no one really refused. They swiftly put on the gloves and pinched the top of the dried Ai Cao, [sizzling] stripped down! The dried leaves fell into the winnowing basket with their fine stems and veins, and the bare, slippery stalks were set aside; a thick aroma of Ai Cao instantly spread out–

So fragrant!

Incidentally, the scent reached Master Qian, who was coming down from the mountain, and he couldn’t help but instruct:

“Don’t throw away the stalks; come autumn, you can make some Ai Xiangju rice to eat!”

Hearing about something they hadn’t eaten before, Song Tan immediately agreed! She also directed Qiaoqiao:

“Qiaoqiao, later on, tie them up in small bundles, okay?”

When she saw Qiaoqiao nod, she didn’t sit idle, bringing over an even shorter stool.

Spreading out the handy thick plastic cloth in front of her, she held an old mallet that had been hastily taken from her grandfather’s house the night before, which had earned her grandmother’s teasing–

“When I was young, I used this mallet to beat clothes. Now you’ve been using a washing machine for so many years, and you’re back to this kind of work.”

Song Tan giggled:

“Grandma, you shouldn’t laugh! Once I’ve pounded out the Ai Rong, I’ll definitely ask Doctor Guo to help treat your chronic cold leg.”

When they were young and planting rice in the fields, the chill was indeed severe. Now that they’re older, they may not complain, but walking is like having rusty joints, and they’ve really suffered.

Her words touched her grandmother deeply:

“With your little arms and legs, do you have the strength? I’ll help you pound!”

As she spoke, she selectively forgot about Song Tan’s unnoticed shows of great strength in daily life.