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墨書 Inktalez
Hearing that loquats could help her mother’s cough, Qi Rong felt a surge of happiness. But then she wondered how her sister-in-law knew this; could it be just a baseless claim? She didn’t want to risk making her mother worse.
How did her sister-in-law know that boiling loquat leaves could treat a cough?
Yu Chunmiao confidently replied, “When I was a child and had a cough, my mother would make me drink loquat leaf tea, and it worked wonders. Trust me, it’s effective.”
She was speaking of modern times, but instead of her mother, it was her grandmother who had taken care of her. Her parents were often away for work, so most of her childhood was spent with her grandmother. Her grandmother didn’t have much income, and every weekend when Yu Chunmiao didn’t have classes, she would accompany her grandmother to the mountains to gather herbs and wild vegetables to sell at the market.
She recognized quite a few herbs that could relieve coughs and phlegm, including not only loquat leaves but also Banxia and Chuan Bei, though she hadn’t seen those yet.
Qi Rong knew that this new sister-in-law had become foolish after their mother passed away, so the things she remembered from before their mother’s death should be reliable. Thus, she agreed to take her along.
The two of them brought along a woven basket and a bamboo sieve. They scooped water with the sieve to filter it out and then picked clams from the sand and stones, which was much more efficient than using their hands.
Qi Rong gradually began to enjoy the process of gathering clams. Watching the basket fill up more and more made both Uncle and Aunt exceptionally happy.
However, it seemed they had brought too many baskets; by mid-morning, they hadn’t even filled one completely—only about two-thirds full.
“Let’s go pick some loquat leaves,” Yu Chunmiao suggested as she glanced at the sun.
Qi Rong carried one basket but ended up spilling water all over herself.
Yu Chunmiao quickly took the basket from her hands and said, “Put it down! We should use banana leaves as padding instead. Let’s hide the basket well and come back for it later.”
They concealed the basket in a thicket of wild sugarcane. Yu Chunmiao pointed at the sweet stalks and asked, “Qi Rong, do you know what this is?”
Qi Rong shook her head. “Isn’t this just cow grass? It grows everywhere along the water. We farmers cut its leaves to feed the cows; they love eating it.”
“Of course they do! This stuff is high in sugar; you can make brown sugar from it. But it’s not quite in season yet; it hasn’t grown thick enough.”
On their way to gather loquat leaves, Yu Chunmiao asked Qi Rong about brown sugar. In this era, she had never encountered it before and didn’t know its price.
She learned that brown sugar was a rare commodity at this time, made from sugarcane, and could sell for two hundred coins per pound.
“Does the court regulate sugar production?” Yu Chunmiao recalled reading in history books that salt, iron, tea, and sugar were all controlled by the government back then. She thought it wise not to get imprisoned over a little money.
Qi Rong shook her head. “I don’t know; my elder brother should know. I’ll ask him when we get back.”
In her mind, her elder brother was the most capable person; he was not only skilled in martial arts but also literate enough to write Spring Couplets.
“No rush; we can talk about sweet stalks when they’re ready for use,” Qi Rong replied.
Not understanding what sweet stalks were, Yu Chunmiao smiled gently. “Once we pick some loquat leaves, you’ll find out.”
After half an hour into the mountains, they spotted several loquat trees on a long slope. They seemed wild; the remaining fruits were only as big as longans and had been pecked clean by birds, leaving only a few yellow remnants on the trees.
Qi Rong climbed up the slope with ease, while Yu Chunmiao shouted, "Pick the older ones; just get a dozen or so leaves!"
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