0p0 Chapter 217: Going Out to Pick Flowers
Chapter 217: Going Out to Pick Flowers
It was Han Zhibai who got up and sat in front of the kitchen stove, lighting a fire.
Walking into the utility room, she smelled the aroma of rice, which became stronger as she got closer to the kitchen.
The pot at the back of the kitchen had no lid on it and inside it was a pot of porridge that was neither too thick nor too thin, and was bubbling.
"You got up so early. I was so sleepy last night that I didn't even know when I fell asleep."
She scooped a ladle of smoking hot water from the pot burning in the front stove and poured it into the washbasin placed on the wooden rack. She kept a little hot water and poured it into the bamboo tube for rinsing her mouth, added some cold water, and took it to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash up.
She was brushing her teeth inside when Han Zhibai's voice came in from outside:
"I just got up not long ago. The fog outside is as thick as yesterday. Let's wash and steam the duck down after breakfast and go out later."
After brushing her teeth and putting the mouthwash cup on the shelf, she said, "Okay, hey, do you know where there are those fragrant flowers on the mountain? I want to find some and bring them back."
"There are white orchids and red camellias in the woods."
She filled the washbasin with cold water, the water temperature was just right, she put her hands in the basin, and looked at him with a smile.
"That's great. Let's go pick some. If it gets any colder, the flowers will probably wither. We can pick some and steam them with duck down to remove the odor. We can also make skin cream and lip balm. When we kill the pigs later, we can make soap with lard. It will smell good when we wash our hands and clothes."
I scooped up a handful of warm water and washed my face. When the hot water touched my skin, my pores opened up and I felt more energetic and comfortable.
The only downside is that if you don't wipe your face after washing, your face will feel a little tight and dry after a while.
After breakfast and cleaning up, there was still a lot of fog outside. They discussed it and decided not to go to the tiankeng today. They would pick peanuts in the vegetable fields in the valley before the fog had mostly dissipated, and then go out to the woods to look for flowers when the sun came out and come back to deal with the duck down in the afternoon.
A quarter after the 9:00 p.m., they looked up at the sky and saw the sun looming in the clouds. The fog had mostly dissipated, and they left the valley and headed for the forest where they had found the spices last year.
After walking for about half an hour, they came to a forest facing the sun. The trees were neither sparse nor dense, and the terrain was relatively flat. The ground was overgrown with weeds, among which were blooming orchids with white and pink petals.
There are many varieties of orchids. Xia Qingyue took a few casual glances and saw two orchids that were rare species and sold at high prices in her previous life.
Although there were orchids on the mountain in the past, they could not be dug up randomly. At the very least, one would face administrative penalties, and at the worst, imprisonment.
There was no such rule in ancient times. Anything in the mountains that you had the ability to get was yours.
She picked a white orchid that was still pearly and held it in her hand. She could already smell the rich fragrance that was refreshing. "What a nice scent."
There were many orchids growing in this large forest. Two people carried baskets in their hands and went to pick them separately. The flowers were delicate and needed to be picked gently or they would easily fall off and be crushed.
After walking and stopping for a while, they picked all the orchids nearby and each person got half a basket of flowers.
"The camellia is over there." Han Zhibai pointed to the left.
They walked towards that direction and it took them a while to get there.
It was a slope close to a cliff. On the slope a few meters high grew a crooked pine tree with few leaves fallen off. On the slope below grew camellia plants scattered about, with pink flowers with layers of petals blooming on them, giving off a pleasant fragrance.
Seeing such beautiful flowers, the two of them felt happy. After picking all the camellia flowers in the field, they filled six baskets and gently put them all into the backpack.
It was already past noon, Xia Qingyue said, "It's almost time, let's go back."
On the way back, she walked into the forest formation and was thinking about what to eat for lunch. She didn't notice that Han Zhibai was leading her on a road she had never walked before.
Normally, after entering the forest formation, she would be able to reach the valley in half an hour. But today, she had walked for so long but still hadn’t arrived. She was still walking, and she looked around in confusion, “Where is this?”
He said, “It’s almost there.”
She followed in confusion until she came to a stream in the forest and walked a little further toward the middle and lower reaches.
As she was walking, she suddenly smelled the fragrance of flowers. Her eyes lit up and she looked around in surprise, "It smells so good, are there flowers nearby?"
Following the scent of the flowers, my eyes finally locked onto the bank of a stream a few dozen meters ahead. On the green grass, there was a patch of flowers growing scattered around with fiery red petals in bloom.
When she ran closer to take a look, she could see clearly that they were roses, but they were in the late stage of flowering. Most of the flowers had either withered and fallen to the ground, or remained on the branches, drying up and turning yellow, or withering.
Only a few good flowers.
Seeing that she liked flowers very much, Han Zhibai said, "There are all kinds of colorful flowers growing around the wooden house by the sea in Weihai. Flowers bloom in spring, summer, autumn and winter, like a sea of flowers. I think you will like it there."
Just by hearing what he said, Xia Qingyue automatically started to associate the sea, the wooden house, and the sea of flowers. It was simply beautiful!
In her previous life, she grew up inland, and as a revenge tour before traveling through time, she went to a nearby coastal city for a few days, saw the sea, and tasted some seafood.
"It sounds beautiful. The weather over there should be warmer than here, right?" She guessed whether Wei Hai was to the south of the sea in Dayuan.
"In a month like today, you only need to wear a thin shirt there. It's hot and rainy in the summer, but it's quite warm all year round."
They picked the good flowers while chatting.
There weren't many flowers, so she finished picking them in about two quarters of an hour. She looked at the unfamiliar environment and asked, "Where is this place? Is it considered part of the forest formation?"
"Yes, it is the direction of the river downstream in the valley. We will take a shortcut back later."
Without waiting for Han Zhibai to speak, Xiaobai ran to the front to lead the way, and Heihei followed happily.
After walking for about three quarters of an hour, they didn't know how they got there, but they came to the wooden gate and entered the valley.
All the flowers were placed in the shade under the eaves. Xia Qingyue said, "It's getting late. Let's have a simple lunch."
"Okay, let's do it together, it will cook faster."
The two of them cooked the rice first, then divided the work and steamed a plate of dried fish, a large bowl of steamed egg, a bowl of cabbage and shrimp soup, and a plate of spicy and sour sweet potato stalks fried eggs.
After eating and drinking, they packed up and took a short rest, then they started processing the duck down in full swing.
First, wash the soapberries repeatedly with tea seed powder to remove impurities and grease. Put orchid petals in a small cloth bag and throw them into the pot to cook with duck down. After cooking, steam them and finally spread them out to dry.
After two hours of work, all the duck down was washed, boiled and steamed for high-temperature sterilization, and then spread out to dry. Later, the sun went down and some of the duck down was not very dry, so it was put away and continued to dry tomorrow.
In the evening, Xia Qingyue was making hand-rolled noodles in the kitchen, while Han Zhibai went to the beehive to collect honey and honeycombs.
After dinner, the kitchen was cleaned up and Xia Qingyue taught him how to filter beeswax.
While filtering, she thought of the Chinese tallow tree fruits she had harvested this year that had not yet been used to make candles, "How much lamp oil do we have left?"