Jia Lu through the Red Chamber

Under the guidance of Tianzhuangtou, Jia Lu finally entered the house, and a cool and refreshing wind blew, and felt that the heat and irritability of the hot summer had dissipated a lot. Looking around, it turned out that ice basins were placed at the four corners of the hall. Tunnel,

"However you have prepared this thing, it will be difficult for you!"

Tian Zhuang said, "It's not worth it, it's not worth it, these ice cubes are hard to find elsewhere, but we really get them here."

"Why is this?"

Tian Zhuang replied, "The flowers and plants we grow here are delicate, some like cold, some like hot, some like sunshine, some like cloudy, some like dry, some like humid , the house sent all these over, if it matches us, the weather here is naturally good, if it doesn’t match, it’s like such a hot day, and they all died. Fortunately, it’s the one that the girl saw just now. The opposite side of the mountain produces saltpeter, and if saltpeter is mixed with water, the water will freeze!"

Jia Lu instantly stood up, making ice with saltpeter?Even at this time?With a change of mind, I said,

"That's true, isn't it that you can use this to make money?"

Tian Zhuangtou said with a wry smile, "How can there be such a good thing, you just saw it, even though it is a mountain, it is not too big, and the saltpeter it produces is also limited, usually enough for us to support a small Zhuangzi and still be rich, If you really sell ice, not only can you not earn much, but you will spend a lot of money.

Another one, this kind of ice, rich and noble people have their own ice cubes in stock in winter, which are stored in tons and tons, and they don't like our little ice. For ordinary people, they can't buy it. Speaking of this, it means that some ice cube vendors will buy some!But our place is remote, and we can't find it here anytime soon! "

Jia Lu shook her head, "Forget it, what you said makes sense."

Then Tian Zhuangtou asked respectfully, "I heard that the girl wants to see the rare and exotic plants overseas, we are all ready, I don't know if the girl wants to go see it now or take a rest for a while before going to see it?"

If it had been before, Jia Lu could have just waited, and it would not be too late, but after today, the old man owed a usury loan for food, and the interest rate was so high, he was also thinking about the so-called food shortage, so he said,

"Don't wait, let's go and have a look earlier!"

Now that the master came back like this, the head of the farm didn't stop. After sitting for a while, he led Jia Lu to the back yard, and led Jia Lu to a low tree-like plant covered with red and green flowers. The fruit, exquisite and translucent, is exceptionally lovely.

Listening to Tian Zhuangtou's explanation, "This plant has stems like Artemisia, four or five feet high, leaves like mugwort, flowers like pomegranates, one branch bears five or three or four fruits, and one tree has twenty or thirty fruits. As a result, it is called June Persimmon, and it is also known as Tomato or Tomato because it is a foreign story."

Jia Lu picked a fruit and thought to herself, isn't this a tomato?It looks much smaller than modern ones, how does it taste?

He was about to gnaw it when he brought it to his mouth, but Tian Zhuangtou hurriedly stopped him, saying,

"Girl, wait a minute, you can't eat it. This fruit looks good, but the inside is really sour!"

Jia Lu stopped moving and asked, "Why have you eaten?"

Tian Zhuang nodded and replied with a smile, "I am naughty, I saw this red fruit and looked good, so I gnawed it, it was so sour that my teeth were about to fall out!"

After Jia Lu heard this, she let go of the idea of ​​eating tomatoes. Feeling a little unwilling, she broke open the fruit in her hand, and sure enough, there was no modern tender and juicy inside, but rather hard flesh. It didn't smell very good, so I had to let it go.

Jiao Qian took the veil and wiped it carefully for her, and said, "Young lady, don't be careful, if you want to see the fruit, you can tell me, why bother to do it yourself?"

"It doesn't matter." Jia Lu replied. She saw that although the tomato was tree-shaped, but the branches were soft and intertwined with each other, she thought that the tomatoes she had seen before were all hanging on the vines. Could it be that she gave the order? Two sentences,

"Tian Zhuang, I saw that the tomato branch looks somewhat similar to a cucumber, why don't you set up a shelf and hang it for climbing?"

Although Tian Zhuangtou didn't believe it in his heart, he still responded, saying, "Yes!"

The head of the farm led Jia Lu to enter another room, and only then did he enter. It was bright, and before he could say anything, he was smoked out by the roiling heat wave, mixed with the smell of wet and rotten soil, which was disgusting. Jiao Qian hurried Helping Jia Lu out, she complained,

"Uncle Tian, ​​how did you arrange the place? Why is this room hotter than outside? I wonder if the girl is weak and can't bear it?"

Tian Zhuangtou hurriedly bowed to plead guilty, and said, "Forgive me, I don't know, these rare plants are mostly from the south, they can't stand the cold winter here, especially in the past two years, especially A lot of people died, and they couldn’t stand the drought on our side, so Tete tidied up this house.”

He also said, "This house is different from other places. Not only is the roof on the top opened to face the sunlight outside, but only in winter, when it is erected on the beams of the house, it will be covered with thick firewood and cotton wadding, and it is also specially designed from the outside. A water source was diverted from the mountain, and the four horizontal and four vertical ditches were closed, and they were saved!"

Jiao Qian wanted to say something else, but Jia Lu stopped her and moved closer. Looking through the window, the inside was lush and lush. Such a tall, lush and colorful green really doesn't seem to be a northern variety, and it is rare even in the Jiangnan area. It's from the one in Hainan, Yunnan.

"Forget it, I won't go here, I don't know if there is anything else?"

Seeing that she didn't blame her, the head of Tian Zhuang bowed his head and said, "Yes, there are, and there are more, just come with me, girl."

After only two steps, Jia Lu felt uncomfortable all over. She touched the back of her neck and it was moist. She was afraid that the clothes behind her were soaked.

"Tianzhuangtou, do you have a plant here that is inconspicuous from the outside, and the fruit grows underground, which is somewhat similar to a yam?"

Tian Zhuang frowned. They have always been cultivating exotic flowers and plants for the masters and girls in Kyoto. If they are not good enough, they might be thrown away. Such fruits grow underground. I really didn't care!

Then he asked, "Where did the girl know about it? Could you describe in detail what this plant looks like?"

"This, this." Jia Lu hesitated for a long time, and didn't know what to reply. She had seen sweet potato before, but she had never seen outside sweet potato, and she couldn't say it!

"I saw it in a book introducing overseas customs and customs. I don't know what it looks like outside. I only know that the fruits hanging on the rhizomes are one by one. It’s as involved as vines, I don’t know if you have them here?”

Tian Zhuang shook his head and said, "We have hundreds of species planted here, but if I don't know the shape outside, I may not be able to find it?"

What he didn't say was that they took good care of it, and the root system was carefully inspected, but he had never seen the kind of plant the girl mentioned, so maybe they never brought it back, or brought it back. , and was discarded for various reasons.