"Jun Yao, where are you going?" Qin Mother called out as Qin Jun Yao walked away.
Qin Jun Yao, who had walked to the side of a plant stem, turned back and shouted, "I'm right here."
Then she squatted down to observe.
In modern times, she had seen Cistanche grown by herders and recognized the above-ground part of the plant.
This one was estimated to have been eaten by camels, leaving only a small stem, and she was unsure if it was the same.
In modern times, to get herders to reduce grazing, feed their sheep with fodder, or decrease livestock numbers, they needed ways to earn extra income.
Planting Cistanche on the edge of the desert using Saxaul trees could both prevent desertification and increase income, killing two birds with one stone.
When Qin Jun Yao first arrived at Yangshu Village, her idea was for the Qin and Hou families to focus on growing Cistanche, with grain cultivation as a secondary priority.
Let alone in ancient times, even in modern times, no one had ever heard of a family getting rich by growing grain and living in a villa in the city.
She had only heard of an old couple who had farmed their whole lives, but the money they saved wasn't enough for their son to make a down payment on a house.
Qin Jun Yao knew that her major and what she knew wouldn't be of much help to the Qin family in ancient times.
If she relied on her spatial ability, if it disappeared one day, everything would be gone.
Therefore, she had to rely on herself.
"Jun Yao, what are you looking at? The wind is picking up, be careful not to get sand in your eyes," Qin Father came over to see what his daughter was doing, as she squatted in the distance.
Qin Jun Yao looked up and asked Qin Father, "Dad, did you bring a shovel?"
"Yes, I did."
"Really? Then Dad, bring it over and dig this up," Qin Jun Yao pointed at the stem in front of her, she hadn't expected Qin Father to bring a shovel.
Qin Father chuckled, thinking his daughter wanted to play with sand, "Alright, I'll go get it."
While Qin Father went to get the shovel, Qin Jun Yao walked around the clump of Saxaul trees again, but couldn't find another plant with a similar above-ground part.
She casually used her sickle to cut some Saxaul branches and put them into her spatial ability, planning to use a pot to hold some spatial soil and plant them in her space.
Saxaul trees had very developed root systems, and she was afraid she wouldn't be able to dig them up if she planted them directly in her space.
The most convenient method was to collect seeds, but the seeds on the trees had already been blown away by the wind. The seeds of Saxaul trees were black and sesame-sized, and they were impossible to find once they fell on the ground.
"Jun Yao, what's in the tree?" Qin Father returned with the shovel and saw his elder daughter searching for something among unfamiliar trees.
Qin Jun Yao quickly transferred the sickle in her left hand to her spatial ability from behind, "Dad, you came back so quickly." Sudancn.com
"It's not far, how do you want to dig?" Qin Father walked to the plant she had been looking at and asked Qin Jun Yao.
"Dig from a distance, yes, yes, right here, gently, dig inwards little by little."
Qin Father initially intended to dig a few times casually, but with his daughter's reminders, he also tensed up, wanting to see what exactly made Jun Yao so serious.
"Got it, Dad, be careful not to break the skin."
"Jun Yao, what is this?" Qin Father asked Qin Jun Yao as he saw five white, columnar roots of varying sizes revealed.
Qin Jun Yao brushed off the soil stuck to the Cistanche, making it clearer for Qin Father to see, "This is medicinal material."
"Can something that cures illness grow in sand?" Qin Father was a little surprised.
"Dad, you say the sand gets in your teeth when it falls into food and makes your shoes uncomfortable, but it can also grow medicinal materials. It seems that even bad things have their good aspects, and good things have their bad uses."
Qin Jun Yao looked up at Qin Father and smiled.
Qin Father's understanding exceeded Qin Jun Yao's expectations. She had always wondered how Qin Grandmother had raised her son.
Qin Father could be said to not have the machismo of ancient men.
In the original body's memories, this father had never hit his children, helped Qin Mother with chores, and would even help secretly despite being scolded by Qin Grandmother.
She thought she could buy some books to bring home, but instinctively clutched her left hand, wondering when she would save five hundred taels to repay the debt.
Father and daughter dug out the five Cistanche of varying sizes and placed them under the shade of the tree. Then they slowly expanded the pit to see if they could find any others.
When Qin Er Niu returned, he also joined the digging. Qin Mother and Second Aunt wanted to help, but Qin Jun Yao didn't let them, as they still had to prepare lunch and it wouldn't be good to get covered in sand.
The three of them dug around the clump of Saxaul trees and found a total of eleven Cistanche. Qin Jun Yao put the smallest one into her spatial ability.
Back at the donkey cart, they wrapped the Cistanche with the dry grass prepared on the cart. During this time, Qin Jun Yao secretly transferred a lot of straw from her spatial ability.
She had heard that Cistanche harvested in spring and autumn were treated differently, one was sun-dried, and the other was soaked in salt and then sun-dried.
Qin Jun Yao couldn't remember which was which, so she kept them away from direct sunlight and planned to sell them at the Hall of Quelling Illness the next morning.
As the sun rose, the temperature in the desert gradually increased. The originally cool autumn felt somewhat hot in the desert, like early autumn.
Qin Father, feeling hot, unbuttoned the collar of his shirt. The new clothes Qin Mother made were all high-necked, as autumn mornings and evenings could be a bit cool, but he hadn't expected the desert to be so hot.
Qin Jun Yao, only thinking about the stall, hadn't considered the weather.
She wore a blue outer garment and was sweating slightly. She had a headscarf, an apron that covered her entire front, and arm sleeves, making her look like she was wearing an extra layer of clothing.
"Jun Yao, if you're hot, take off your headscarf," Qin Mother fanned herself with her hand.
Qin Jun Yao shook her head, "I'm sweating, and it's hard to wash my hair if it gets sand in it when I take off the headscarf."
Qin Er Shen looked back at Qin Jun Yao, whose face had turned red, and suddenly laughed, "Sister-in-law, look at Yao Yao now, doesn't she look like that foolish girl who always sits under the big poplar tree in the center of the village?"
Hearing Qin Er Shen say that, Qin Father and the others all looked at Qin Jun Yao.
A red and green contrasting checkered headscarf, with a few strands of hair sticking to her forehead.
Her face was flushed red, and her eyes looked a bit vacant.
A blue garment in front, a white apron, and arm sleeves made of the same fabric as Qin Grandmother's headscarf, red with small yellow flowers.
Her arms were resting on her knees, and she was hunched over on a stone, truly resembling the village's foolish girl.
Qin Er Niu looked and suddenly burst out laughing, "Hahaha, Mother, she really does! But Mother, you look even more like her, hahahaha!"
Qin Mother, Qin Er Shen, and Qin Jun Yao all had the same headscarves and similar accessories, only the colors of their clothes were different. They looked at each other and burst into laughter.
As they chatted and laughed, time passed.
They led the donkey cart to the edge of the salt lake, parked it, lowered the boards on the cart frame, and started a fire to heat soup.
As the aroma of lamb bone soup wafted out, the soldiers of the eight divisions guarding the salt lake twitched their noses and kept looking at the steaming donkey cart.
The lamb bone soup was heated and poured back into the original wooden bucket. They washed the pot, heated the sauce, and finally used this pot to boil water for the noodles.
Another pot was kept on low heat, simmering the lamb.
The flatbread for the meat sandwiches, wrapped in white cloth in the basket, had become a bit cool. Qin Mother covered the pot of simmering lamb with the lid and placed the flatbread on top. The cooled flatbread had become a bit hard.
Qin Er Shen tore off a piece of dough, kneaded it, rolled it out, and cut it into noodles. They first made four bowls of sauced noodles for themselves to eat.
"Second Aunt, make three more bowls later for my second brother to send to the guards," Qin Jun Yao said, holding her bowl and looking at the soldiers who were almost twisting their necks stiffly.
With the sound of a gong, the morning salt harvesting work ended. Three bowls of sauced noodles, along with three meat sandwiches made by Qin Mother, were undoubtedly useful.
As the soldiers shouted, the Qin family sisters-in-law's donkey cart snack stall officially opened.