Chapter 537: When Will You Grow Up?
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
At this moment, Chun Xiao brought over some snacks.
Yu Youyao’s eyes lit up. She lifted a white piece of vegetable and handed it to her cousin.
Zhou Linghuai looked at the vegetable piece near his mouth and then at the little girl. He smiled so widely that his eyes curved. Little did he know that this was something only loving couples did.
His lips curled up slightly as he ate the vegetable piece.
After he finished eating, Yu Youyao asked impatiently, “Does it taste good?”
Zhou Linghuai nodded slightly. “The meat is juicy. It tastes sweet, like shrimp. It tastes very special. I’ve never eaten this before. What is this?”
Yu Youyao immediately beamed with joy. “This is called a sweet potato. It’s a little similar to yams. They’re both roots that grow in the soil. They’re sweet and juicy. They’re not from the Great Zhou Dynasty.”
Zhou Linghuai was a little surprised. “I thought this was a fruit. I didn’t expect it to be a vegetable. How did you get it?”
At the mention of this, Yu Youyao smiled. “A while ago, a merchant ship under my name followed a team of merchant ships from the Xie family to Luzon. The local merchants took out this precious food called sweet potatoes and entertained the stewards of the merchant ships. After the stewards tasted it, they felt that the sweet potatoes were delicious, so they thought of a way to trade with the local merchants. At the end of the year, they sent them into the residence with the New Year gift. At first, no one in the residence knew what they were, so no one paid attention to them.”
The sweet potatoes were the products of another country, so they were not easy to obtain. The steward probably also felt that they were very precious, so he bought a lot.
Zhou Linghuai chuckled. “What happened next?”
Yu Youyao smiled again. “It was also yesterday that the servants mistook the sweet potatoes for purple taro. They realized that the sweet potatoes were fresher and sweeter. Nanny Xu was very interested, so she tried all kinds of cooking methods. She realized that be it eating them raw, steaming, fried, boiling, roasting, and sautéing them, they were all very delicious.” With that, she created golden-brown balls. “These are the sweet potato balls that Nanny
Xu made according to the method of the fried taro balls. Cousin, quickly try it.”
The ball was neither too big nor too small, just enough to take one bite at a time. Zhou Linghuai’s eyes were smiling as he took a bite of the ball. “Eat it when it’s fried. It’s fragrant, soft, sweet, and it has a completely different taste. It’s a good thing.”
Yu Youyao also smiled. “Cousin, not only is this food delicious, but it’s also filling. I ate two fist-sized sweet potatoes yesterday morning and couldn’t eat anymore. I didn’t feel hungry at noon, so I sent someone to the farmstead in the suburbs of the capital to invite the steward of the merchant ship into the residence and asked about the specific situation of the sweet potatoes.”
The merchant ship was under Yu Youvao’s name. It was very difficult and risky to sail at sea.
Every quarter, those who entered the capital with the merchant ship would stay in the capital to recuperate for two to three months. The main family would even find a doctor to nourish their bodies.
Zhou Linghuai knew that Yu Youyao valued it very much. The Imperial Court had even specially arranged for someone to do this for the new species that were distributed every year. At first glance, when they saw new species that looked fresh, delicious, and could stave off hunger, it was inevitable that they would have thoughts of planting them.
As expected, as soon as Yu Youyao was excited, she held her cousin’s arm. “Luzon’s farming industry isn’t as developed as the Great Zhou Dynastys. The planting of sweet potatoes is also very simple. Every year, in April and May, they’ll be buried in the ground and we can just leave them there to grow naturally. The growth of sweet potatoes isn’t based on soil bags. Many poor areas in Luzon can also be planted with them. On a plant, two to five fruits can grow. The small potatoes are only the size of a baby’s fist, and the largest potato is the size of an adult’s palm.”
Zhou Linghuai was smart and immediately understood what the little girl was thinking. “In other words, sweet potatoes are resistant to drought, and flood. The production is not low.”
Yu Youyao’s eyes lit up. “Yes!”
A fire burned in the little girl’s eyes and Zhou Linghuai felt her enthusiasm. Even his heart beat faster. The wild thoughts that had been suppressed in his heart wrapped around him, making it difficult for him to breathe.
Zhou Linghuai stared at her.
Perhaps it was because her cousin’s gaze was too deep, but it made Yu Youyao’s scalp go numb. Even her face felt a little hot. “Cousin, why are you staring at me?
Zhou Linghuai sighed slightly. “When can you grow up?
Weren’t they talking about sweet potatoes?
Why did the topic change to this?
Yu Youyao was confused and looked at her cousin innocently. “I’m already ten years old. I’m not young anymore.”
As expected, she was still an insensible little girl. Zhou Linghuai suppressed the wild thoughts in his heart, but he couldn’t suppress the remaining impulse in him.
He reached out and gently rubbed her head. The little girl’s dark green eyebrows were curved like moon hooks. At a glance, he felt that the moon was bright and dazzling.
When she smiled, her curved eyebrows were even more beautiful.
Yu Youyao felt an itch between her eyebrows. Even her voice trembled. “Cousin?
Zhou Linghuai retracted his hand and asked, “Did you use the brow powder today?”
Yu Youyao smiled. “Yes, it’s the Far Mountain Conch Powder that Cousin gave me yesterday. It was a dark green. After it’s dyed, it looks even brighter and more beautiful. Isn’t it beautiful?”
Her cousin had added five more shades on top of the original brow powder. The far mountain conch powder was one of them. After dyeing her eyebrows with this brow powder, her eyebrows were as green as the distant mountains.
They were beautiful and elegant.
This was a New Year gift from her cousin.
She really liked it.
Zhou Linghuai smiled. If she were a little older, she would probably be even more stunning.
Yu Youyao thought of the sweet potatoes again and continued what she had just said. “Cousin, Cousin, I plan to take some sweet potatoes and try to plant them in the farmsteads in the suburbs of the capital. I’ll use different soils to nurture them. If the sweet potatoes are really as the steward said and they can withstand drought and floods. Can we promote planting in the North?”
There were many sand and halogen fields in the North, so there was not a lot of resources. If the sweet potatoes could grow on harsh land, many hunger issues could be resolved. A portion of the people’s livelihood problems in the North could be solved.
If it were anyone else, they would probably think that the sweet potatoes were not bad and delicious.
Not many people would think about the merits of the sweet potato and want to nurture it and plant it.
However, Yu Youyao did.
Yu Youyao knew that because of the lack of supplies in the North, not only were the commoners living poorly, but even the You army was living a very difficult life because of the lack of military supplies.
Therefore, she was very concerned about the new seeds nurtured by the Imperial Court every year.
She had always wanted to nurture crops that were suitable for growing in the North and promote planting.
Previously, Yu Youyao had read a lot of agricultural books and saw that there were records of planting cotton on alkaline fields. She found a farmer who was proficient in cotton to experiment.
The outcome was not ideal.
However, the cotton also bore fruit, which proved that her train of thought was right.
Most of the cotton in the Great Zhou Dynasty was produced in Long Province. Yu Youyao immediately sent someone to Long Province to learn cotton planting techniques.
As long as the technology was good, it was definitely feasible to plant cotton in the alkaline fields.
Who wouldn’t like such a pure and bright girl?!
Zhou Linghuai chuckled. “Okay!’
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