Chapter 41: Probing (1)

  Yuan Dai heard this and smiled, then changed the subject, saying: "It seems it's quite cold outside today!"

  Ling Yuexuan had never been very interested in the female red, and upon hearing this, she immediately responded: "That's right! Today, we two went to the old lady's place, and the old lady said that looking at the sky, it seemed like it was going to snow, so we should be careful, and for the next few days, there was no need to go to her place. She also asked Xiao Jie to stay a few more days, and wait until the snow melted before returning home."

  Yan Dai heard this and only then remembered that Xiao Chengyan had been staying at the Ling manor for six or seven days. She raised her eyes to look at Xiao Chengyan, with a hint of inquiry in her gaze. Xiao Chengyan naturally understood her meaning and responded with a glance, indicating that there was no need to worry.

  Here three people were talking, but suddenly a low voice came from outside.

  Yan Dai listened to the voice and found it very familiar, so she raised an eyebrow in slight surprise to look at Wen Ping. Wen Ping understood, hastily walked out quickly, and soon brought Hui'er in, saying: "It's Hui'er who has come to deliver something to Miss!"

  Yuandai was puzzled when she received the gift, but no matter how hard she thought, she couldn't think of what Hui'er could have sent her. Just then, Hui'er came forward with a smile and said to Yuandai after greeting the three people: "Today we welcomed Sister Yun into the mansion, and she brought some things for you, saying that winter is approaching soon, so she wanted to give them to you as a gift to lift your spirits!"

  Yuandai listened to these words and immediately understood, she smiled and said: "I knew it was someone, it turned out to be her! It's hard for her to remember all of this!" As she spoke the last sentence, a shallow warmth appeared in the bottom of her eyes, soft and warm like spring breeze.

  Hui'er smiled and said: "Isn't that right!" Wenping listened on the side, and a look of understanding also appeared on his face.

  It turned out that Xiao Chengyan and Ling Yuexuan were in a fog, and Xiao Chengyan smiled and said: "What good things have you brought? Don't hide it, hurry up and take a look. If it's something good, I'll definitely want to share some with you!"

  Yuan Dai smiled and said, "It's not something precious, if you like it, just take it!" As she spoke, she slightly nodded to Hui'er. Hui'er saw this and quickly retreated, but soon returned with two rough servant girls, carrying three medium-sized white cloth bags. Xiao Xianyun and Ling Yuexuan looked at the three half-full bags and suddenly lost interest.

  Just by looking at the size of the bag and how full it is, you can tell that what's inside isn't anything valuable.

  Yan Dai saw that the two of them didn't seem to be in a bad mood, but couldn't help laughing and said: "The things here, you may not have seen before, today I'll let you take a look and also taste it with me!"

  Ling Yuexuan heard this and suddenly became interested again, immediately walking forward with a smile: "Since Ninth Sister says so, it must be something good. Let me take a look first!" As she spoke, she walked forward, grabbed the edge of the white cloth bag, and took a peek inside.

  This look, but even more a head of fog, without doubt, stretched his hand in, Ling Yu Xuan from inside pulled out a thing about the length and thickness of chopsticks, wrapped in a layer of greenish-yellow leaf membrane: "What is this? I've never seen it before!"

  Xiao Chengxian also couldn't help but be curious, and she too walked up to take a look. Curiously, she stretched out her hand to touch it, and suddenly discovered that the top of the object had fine threads hanging down from it. She found it even more interesting, and laughed saying: "Really! I've never seen this before either!"

  Yan Dai smiled lightly and said, "This thing was originally introduced from outside. In the Great Zhou Dynasty, it is indeed a rare object, no wonder you have never seen it before!" As she spoke, she reached out and took the object from Ling Yuanxuan's hand, peeling off the outer layer of leaves to reveal rows of golden grains inside: "This thing, some people call it corn, but I prefer its other name - maize!"

  Xiao Cheng looked at the corn with a thoughtful expression, and after a while, she said: "Husked millet, corn, listening to this name, it should be one of the five grains!"

  Yuan Dai smiled and said, "That's right! This thing was originally introduced from overseas. My adoptive father happened to get some seeds one day, and he was interested in planting them in our backyard. The next year, they actually produced a lot of fruit, and when we tasted it, the flavor was surprisingly good!"

  Wen Ping smiled and said: "Last year at Miao Feng Mountain, we've already tried it out. I still remember the trick, so let me take charge of this."

  Yuan Dai nodded and handed the corn to Wen Ping. Wen Ping had someone take out three bags. Not long after, he came back with a tray in his hand. Xiao Chengyan and Ling Yuanshan looked at it curiously and saw that apart from the original corn, there were two other things. One was about the size of a fist, slightly pointed at both ends, dark red in color, and not very smooth on the surface, looking quite ordinary. The other one was only the size of a thumb, shaped like a fruit pit, with a pale white skin, looking delicate and small.

  Xiao Chengxi carefully looked at it for a while, and vaguely recognized the thing. He couldn't help but ask in surprise: "This... is it silver ginkgo?"

  Yan Dai smiled and said: "Exactly! Have you ever tried this, sister?"

  Xiao Chengyan nodded and said, "I've tried this before, but it's usually in dishes. Why are you using the raw ones now? Oh, I almost forgot, medical books say that eating too much of this can be poisonous!"

  Ling Yuexuan's eyes widened involuntarily as he overheard the conversation about poisoning, and he stared at Yuan Duan in shock.

  Yan Dai smiled and said, "Eating too much is not good, but eating it raw is too bitter. I don't like it either. However, since you're here with me today, we can roast it over charcoal to eat. Although it's a bit bitter, it has a unique flavor that you'll surely enjoy!"

  Wen Ping said, "You two ladies just wait and eat, I guarantee you'll like it!" She moved the brazier over to one side, and at this moment Hui'er also arrived, holding an iron wire mesh in her hand. The two women worked together with practiced movements, placing the wire mesh on top of the brazier, then neatly laying out the corn cobs in a row on the mesh, followed by those red fist-sized objects.

  Xiao Chengxian suddenly remembered something and pointed at the thing asking: "What is this again?"

  "This is called sweet potato, also introduced from overseas. Although it looks unassuming now, after roasting and peeling off the skin, inside it's golden yellow in color, fragrant and sweet to taste!"

  Ling Yuexuan just listened to Yuan Dai's words, and her face couldn't help but reveal a drooling expression. She said: "No matter what, once it comes out of Ninth Sister's mouth, I listen to it and my fingers start to move, and my saliva overflows!"

  As soon as these words came out, everyone burst into laughter.

  At this time, Wenping took out another iron mesh spoon and put the silver ginkgo on it. He held the wooden handle of the spoon and gently shook the silver ginkgo. Ling Yuexuan thought it was interesting and couldn't help but lean in to take a look. Wenping saw her and hurriedly laughed and stretched out his hand to stop her: "Miss, don't come over! This silver ginkgo will explode after a while, be careful not to get hurt by it!"

  Ling Yuexuan listened to this and didn't dare to get closer, standing still on the spot. As expected, just as Wenping said, the silver ginkgo on the iron net couldn't be turned for a moment before it made a "crackling" explosion sound, and its hard shell burst open, revealing the tender green pulp inside. Wenping quickly took another iron spoon from one side and covered the original iron spoon that had held the silver ginkgo, to prevent the shell from splashing onto people. He carefully turned the iron spoon again, trying to make the heat distribution of the ginkgo in the spoon more even.

  Ling Yuexuan laughed amidst the crackling sounds, "I'm finally getting some New Year's feeling! Xiao Jie, do you hear that sound? Doesn't it sound like firecrackers?"

  Xiao Chengxian couldn't help but laugh too, nodding her head and saying: "It really does have that kind of meaning!"

  Two people were talking about setting off firecrackers, when suddenly a voice came from outside: "What are the three ladies doing? It sounds like they're setting off firecrackers?" Along with this voice, the curtain moved and Du Ru walked in.

  Xiao Chengxian saw Du Ruo coming over and couldn't help but laugh, saying: "You've come at just the right time, we were just talking about how it's like setting off firecrackers, and you've arrived as if on cue! What you're saying also seems to be in perfect harmony with what Shixiong said!"

  Yan Dai saw Du Ruo arrive, and wasn't flustered at all. She just smiled and said: "Today someone outside brought some things over, the three of us were just thinking of sneaking a taste, we've been busy for a while now, and still haven't had a chance to try any. I didn't think you'd arrive so early, it's not like you're unwelcome or anything!"

  Du Ru saw the scene in the house and couldn't help but laugh, saying: "So my luck is actually this good!"

  At this moment, the silver ginkgo in the spoon had burst well. Wenping turned back and poured the silver ginkgo into a small plate on the table, smiling: "Isn't it that coming early is not as good as coming at the right time? This is just perfect!"

  Yuan Dai smiled and said: "It's freezing outside right now, let's sit down first and have some hot gingko nuts before we talk!"

  Du Ruo had just smiled and responded, but Ling Yu Xuan on the other side couldn't bear it anymore, stretched out her hand to grab the silver ginkgo. But unexpectedly, the silver ginkgo was freshly exploded, extremely hot, she touched it and suddenly let out a "ah yo" sound, quickly withdrawing her hand.

  Everyone couldn't help but burst into laughter again. However, Yuandai still stretched out her hand, carefully picked up a silver apricot kernel, peeled off the outer shell, revealing the bright and translucent yellow-green fruit inside, and said: "Most of the silver apricot kernels have a bitter core, just like the lotus seed heart, if you don't like the bitter taste, you can remove it, and the bitterness will be less!" After finishing speaking, she put the kernel into her mouth.

  Xiao Chengxian and others followed the law, only to feel that the silver ginkgo fruit meat was sticky and sweet when entering the mouth, although slightly bitter, but also indeed had a unique flavor.

  Du Ruo nodded and said: "In the past, I occasionally ate this, but it seems that the taste is not as good as today's!"

  Xiao Chengxian saw Yuan Dai eating the silver apricot, and they would all remove the bitter core. She couldn't help but laugh and say: "I've heard that these bitter cores are all good, and can be called the essence of the fruit. You should eat some, why did you all cut them off?"

  Yan Dai slightly raised her eyebrows and smiled: "I've never liked to suffer, some things, if I can avoid them, then I'll avoid them!"

  The two were talking, and Wenping had already cooked another spoonful on the other side. She brought it over. Yuandai smiled and said: "This thing is delicious to eat, but you can't eat too much of it. This amount is enough for you. If you like it, each of you can take some back with you. Eating more than ten grains a day is most suitable!"

  Ling Yuexuan heard this and hastily reached out to grab some, not even minding the heat. She grasped a good number of them and laughed, saying: "These are mine, don't you dare fight with me for them!"

  Du Ru's smile faltered as she glanced at her, but couldn't help asking curiously: "Miss Jiu, how did these things end up here? To be honest, I've never seen any of these items before, except for the silver ginkgo."