Transmigrating with a Five Million Dollar Retirement Life

Chapter 134 Digging Lotus Roots

"There's no need to rush the He Shou Wu (Polygonum multiflorum). We can harvest it after the sweet potatoes are harvested." Song Jiaojiao thought she would see if the He Shou Wu harvested this year could be used.

"In that case, let's wait until the sweet potatoes are harvested before we talk about it. Alright, Jiaojiao, I'll stop talking to you for now. I'll go ask if anyone's home tomorrow and also let them know about the soybeans." The village chief finished speaking and left without waiting for Song Jiaojiao to reply.

Song Jiaojiao also wanted to talk about potatoes. Last time, Wang Hefan brought back potatoes from the neighboring county, and Song Jiaojiao planted quite a lot of them in her space. Now that the sweet potatoes are harvested, she can plant them again. They can be harvested before next spring. In this way, the land's four seasons are all arranged clearly. In the past, she was worried about the soil's fertility, but now, with the poultry that Song Jiaojiao raises, she can ensure that the land is never idle.

"Never mind, I'll talk about it next time we harvest sweet potatoes," Song Jiaojiao thought helplessly, watching the village chief walk away.

I need to go to the stonemason's house to order two large stone mills. We'll need them to grind soybeans later, but the two in the workshop are currently used to grind mung beans, so there won't be any free space.

After finishing all that, it was already dark outside when she got home. In this season, it gets dark earlier and earlier, and it will soon be almost a year since Song Jiaojiao transmigrated to this era.

Looking at the small courtyard in front of her and the workshop down the mountain, Song Jiaojiao thought about how she had accomplished a lot in the past year, starting from nothing. She was no longer worried about having enough to eat. Mu Qing and Mu Xue had also grown taller and were no different from most of their peers. Most importantly, they had become much more cheerful and were no longer as timid as before. Thinking of this, Song Jiaojiao felt that she had not failed the original owner's last wish.

Just as she thought of this, Song Jiaojiao felt a lightness in her body, as if something had left her. At this moment, some memories that she had never had before suddenly appeared in Song Jiaojiao's mind.

In her memory, she was fleeing in a panic, all the way to Qingshui Mountain. Later, due to not eating for several days, she collapsed from exhaustion and woke up in a room where she saw Wang Chi. Song Jiaojiao knew what happened after that.

These are memories that Song Jiaojiao didn't have when she first transmigrated. Could it be that the original owner really had some mysterious identity?

Song Jiaojiao fell into deep thought, took out the jade pendant around her neck and examined it carefully, but couldn't see anything special about it.

Since Song Jiaojiao couldn't figure it out, she stopped thinking about it. Anyway, when the time comes, there will naturally be a solution. Thinking about it now won't help.

The next morning, the village chief brought five people to Song Jiaojiao's house. Song Jiaojiao led them up the barren mountain. Everyone knew what they were there to do. When they got to the pond, they started working. Unfortunately, Song Jiaojiao was not there when the lotus seeds ripened, and the lotus pods in the pond had long since fallen into the water.

Song Jiaojiao felt regretful but there was nothing she could do. There were too many things to do and too few people she could rely on. She had to do most things herself. She thought that if she couldn't eat this year, she could eat next year. She decided to treat this year as a seed.

Watching everyone pull out plump lotus roots from the pond, Song Jiaojiao smiled so broadly her eyes disappeared. Just thinking about the soft and powdery texture of lotus roots made her mouth water. However, this year's lotus roots couldn't be eaten freely yet; they were mainly used to make lotus root powder, which would add a new winter-limited item to her half-day leisure time.

There's also the white fungus. The place where we found it last time is perfect for artificial cultivation, but it's too far from where Song Jiaojiao is. We'll have to go to Qingshui Mountain behind the barren hills to see if there's a suitable place. If there is, Song Jiaojiao will probably have to buy up Qingshui Mountain.

That's a good thing; buying directly without having to contract saves a lot of trouble.

Lotus roots grow quite deep and are not easy to pick. Song Jiaojiao watched as everyone gradually got the hang of it, so she didn't stay there watching. She thought that the kiwis should be ripe soon, so she went to check on them. The kiwi trellis was set up next to the grapes, and you couldn't see much when you walked over. This time, the trellis that Song Jiaojiao set up was a bit low, and the 1.6-meter-tall Song Jiaojiao kept hitting her head with the kiwis when she went in.

Seeing the green kiwis hanging under the vines, Song Jiaojiao squeezed one in her hand. It was still very hard, so she figured she would have to wait a while longer. However, since the kiwis were this big, she could pick them and leave them for a while before eating them. Song Jiaojiao picked a few large ones and planned to take them home and leave them for a while to see how they turned out.

After picking kiwis, Song Jiaojiao noticed that the persimmon tree was also laden with fruit this year. It was still early, and the fruit on the tree was still green; it would take at least another half month. As for chestnuts, they should be ripe by now. She hadn't transplanted any chestnut trees this year, but thinking that there were quite a few in Qingshui, it seemed she would have to plant some next year. Song Jiaojiao had been craving roasted chestnuts for a long time, and chestnuts could also be made into pastries; chestnut cake was also very delicious.

Knowing that there was still so much to do, Song Jiaojiao dared not delay for even a moment longer.

After taking the kiwifruit home, I instructed Xu Fang to make some ginger soup for the village chiefs on the mountain so they could drink it when they came out later. It was still quite cool outside, and I didn't want them to catch a cold.

Then she took her basket and machete and went to the mountains to see if the chestnuts were ripe.

Arriving at the place where she had encountered chestnuts last year, the chestnuts on the trees were indeed ripe. This time, unlike last time, most of them were still hanging on the trees. Song Jiaojiao chopped a stick and tapped the chestnuts for a while before starting to pick them up. She used a machete to open the outer shell of a chestnut and saw the brown chestnut inside. Yes, it was ripe.

After filling most of her basket, Song Jiaojiao went back home, thinking that she couldn't harvest much on her own and would have to buy from the villagers.

On her way back carrying a basket, Song Jiaojiao encountered many acquaintances. When they saw her picking thorny fruits, they realized that the fruit was ripe.

"Jiaojiao, did you come from the mountains?" Aunt Sun, who had nothing to do at home, was sitting in the village and asked Song Jiaojiao casually when she saw her.

"Aunt Sun, yes, I wanted to go check if the chestnuts in the mountains were ripe yet," Song Jiaojiao said, putting down her basket.

Aunt Sun then saw clearly what was in Song Jiaojiao's basket. Wasn't that a prickly fruit? Ever since Song Jiaojiao told the village chief last year that this thing was edible, most of the villagers in Qingshui Village knew about it.

"Oh, the prickly fruit is edible!" Aunt Sun exclaimed in surprise. She really liked this kind of soft and powdery fruit. She didn't know it was edible before, and she didn't know how many she had wasted.

“Yes, Auntie, it’s perfect that you’re here. I’m planning to buy these chestnuts, the thorny ones you mentioned. They’re three coins a pound, and I need them with the shells removed. If you have time, you can find some to sell to me.” Song Jiaojiao thought that since she was going to buy them anyway, and Aunt Sun was the most gossipy aunt in the village, anything she knew would be known by most people in the village within a day.

"Really, Jiaojiao, you're going to buy this? These things are everywhere in the mountains, they're easy to find," Aunt Sun said in surprise.