A Western Doctor's Happy Farming Life

Chapter 53: Fresh Spice

Translator: LiamHW

The producing methods of seasoning varied yet they came with a same principle. For one method was to bask them in sunny days, for the another was to dry them over a fire.

However, both the cumin and black pepper were in a particulate shape and with a large quantity. It was not until the sunset did this couple shift the fruits’ original looks into the finished product of the real seasoning.

By dint of the rather pungent smell, it was quite hard for Wu Dahu to conceive any wonderful words to describe the so-called superb flavor these two fruits would deliver.

It happened that Song Qinghan was ready for cooking right away. And in order to surprise Wu Dahu with the magic blend of cumin and black pepper, Song Qinghan strung all the meat which had been cooked to be softened with several bamboo sticks, and then put them on fire to roast.

Cumin could be sprinkled on the meat directly but the black pepper had to be ground into powder first.

Fortunately, Song Qinghan had asked Laifu to purchase a pestle and a mortar back in advance.

He asked Wu Dahu to put the black pepper into the mortar and use the pestle to pulverize them into powder. With that procedure finished, Song Qinghan scooped up several of the powder on the spoon and then sprinkled them evenly on the roasting meat.

The bear meat, while giving off a smell of temptation with the blend of star anise, garlic, onion and ginger, now delivered a more lip-smacking smell which would definitely make people be compulsive and crazy.

Wu Dahu couldn’t help but drool, swallowing a bit there.

Smiling big, Song Qinghan handed one of the kabobs to Wu Dahu, and then explained while Wu Dahu was taking a first bite of it, “This one is with cumin, and this one is with black pepper. How do they taste?”

With eyes wide open, Wu Dahu was chewing the meat in enjoyment. Gobbling down the meat quickly, he pointed at the one with cumin on, exclaiming, “That one with cumin tastes divine! Combined with the seasoning, the meat is the best. I have never tasted something in such a way with that superb flavor.”

After that, he picked up another kabob in hands which was covered with black pepper powder. Pondering for a while after taking a bite of it, he said, “Since I tasted the one with cumin on, I can’t taste the actual flavor of this with black pepper. But I can tell it should be tasted good too.”

Song Qinghan nodded as if he agreed with what Wu Dahu said. It would be tasted better on the meat with cumin than the one with black pepper, thought he.

Meat with cumin was just the most excellent and incomparable blend in the planet!

As soon as he finished roasting all the kabob in hands, he placed all of them in a plate, and then spoke to Wu Dahu, “This meat has been hard-boiled in advance, so it comes with lower level of heat. Go and get some lettuce and wash them clean. Ask Aye to eat the meat with lettuce together.”

Wu Dahu then asked in hesitation, “Eat the vegetable raw directly? Doesn’t it have to be boiled?”

Being questioned like that, Song Qinghan waved his hands, saying, “It’s totally fine with that. Or you just go and get it now, we have to have our dinner too by the way.”

It seemed that people here in this ancient time didn’t like to eat lettuce at all, because they thought that the lettuce looked so much plain and tasted without any strong flavor. And also, it wasn’t like other vegetables which possessed a flavor of freshness and sweetness. In this case, they planted lettuce only to feed poultry.

Song Qinghan wouldn’t think of trying the lettuce if it was in his casual time. But since he got cumin for a better flavor, the image of how the lettuce would just entertain his tongue was just making him drool.

Not long, Wu Dahu came back with bunch of lettuces in hands. The lettuces of freshness were just looking good and tasty.

Wu Dahu then washed clean the lettuces and then put them all in a basin and deliver it to Song Qinghan.

Picking up one of lettuces in most suitable size and putting one piece of bear meat on it and then wrapping the leaf of lettuce and the meat to a rectangle shape, Song Qinghan delivered it over to the mouth of Wu Dahu, while saying with a big smile, “Now, open your mouth.”

Although Wu Dahu showed a great reluctance to this piece of uncooked vegetable, he still opened his mouth obediently, and took the meat and lettuce over in his mouth since it was Song Qinghan who delivered it with his own hands.

The flavor of freshness and sweetness given off by the lettuce mixed with the meat flavor and cumin sprout in this man’s mouth. It seemed that Wu Dahu had already fell in love with such a flavor all of a sudden. He was seemingly addictive staring at the remaining meat.

Witnessing that Wu Dahu become speechless standing there. Song Qinghan came to know that he had “conquered” this man winning his appetite. He was quite proud of that.

And then Wu Dahu wrapped several packs of lettuces and meat, headed out in a quick move. He seemed to rush to deliver them to Qin Aye, and was eager to come back soon to taste again the meat with lettuce.

Smiling big, Song Qinghan then held the wall straightening up his back and pounding his waist.

As the due date was coming closer, he got his waist sorer. Even some moments he could clearly feel that his belly was going to drop on the ground.

Touching his belly, he couldn’t help but recall the day when Zhuer was facing his dystocia.

If Song Qinghan faced a dystocia too, who else could help him? Or should he just cut his own belly and then stitch up the wound by his own?

What a creepy and bloody scenario it was. Even though he had witnessed various scenes in surgery operations, he still trembled a bit there just thinking of it.

Probably it was a high time now to enroll an apprentice, thought Song Qinghan. And the apprentice of his should not live so far away from him. So in this case his apprentice could give him a hand if something really happened. After all, a doctor couldn’t cure himself but anyone else.

Not long, Wu Dahu came back with a set of cloth and two pairs of shoes in hands.

He came to smile with bitterness seeing that Song Qinghan look at him in a rather dubious way, and saying, “Do you remember the fabrics we had delivered to Aye? I never expect that he didn’t use them for himself, but instead, he made some clothes for us. And this one is custom made for you in considering that the due date is approaching and you probably have no more suitable clothes. So he had made one suitable for you after the delivery.”

“And as for these two pairs of shoes. Probably he measured by sight on our feet when we visited him.”

Taking over the clothe emotionally, Song Qinghan grabbed a closer observation on it, and praising, “Aye got a marvelous skill in such sewing work, even the routing stitch is hard to be discerned on it. Did you pay for it?”

Shaking head hopelessly, Wu Dahu said in a low voice, “You do know how tough Aye is. I think he must suffer from the guilt of troubling us these days. So he just resorts to compensate us ”

Pondering for a while, Song Qinghan accepted the fact at once, and then he put away the cloth in room, murmuring, “Fine, let’s take this cloth and pairs of shoes. Otherwise, Aye probably would keep being gloomy over over this matter. We still can compensate him back in other way.”

“Right, it’s the only choice now. So maybe we can treat him better as our natural grandpa.” said Wu Dahu, sighing and nodding.

The whole atmosphere sank into a gloom after this couple mentioned how bad situation Qin Aye was now suffering. But then Wu Dahu was totally attracted by the lettuces and meat on the table. He grabbed one piece of lettuce and meat, wrapping them and gobbling with enjoyment. And then another piece of lettuce and meat and wrapping action.

Staring at the man who was wolfing down the food, Song Qinghan came to speak with amusement, saying, “Slow down, don’t choke yourself. Nobody is gonna fight with you over that, and your stomach isn’t made of iron. Isn’t it?”

It was not until Song Qinghan dissuaded did Wu Dahu realized he himself was so much full. And if he kept gobbling, probably he couldn’t even walk later.

Putting down the lettuce in hand with reluctance, he looked at the seasoning which was made by cumin and black pepper, and then said with confidence pounding on his chest, “We can make a great profit from these two things, can’t we? We probably can earn more than we did before.”

“They surely can be a hot sell in a short term business. But people will definitely lose interest on them sooner or later.” said Song Qinghan, shaking head. He seemed to be not that kind of confident as Wu Dahu was.

“But why? Will they be cloying for people?” asked Wu Dahu with a face of confusion.

Pointing at the cumin and black pepper powder on table, Song Qinghan explained patiently, saying, “These two ingredients are usually used for roasted meat. And no one would really eat roasted meat as their principal food. But as for the seasoning made of onion, ginger, garlic and star anise, it can be used on any causal cooking, soup making or roasting.”

Being lectured like that, Wu Dahu finally got his brain clear. He then nodded as if he understood everything.

Witnessing the exhausting look of Wu Dahu, Song Qinghan suggested, saying, “Go sleep now, you’ve got a tiring day.”

Indeed, Wu Dahu was exhausted right now. But he still waited there until Song Qinghan got into bed, he then went to another room to sleep.

The next morning, when Song Qinghan walked out of the room, he saw Wu Dahu doing exercise in the yard. Maybe it was because of the injuries, the muscles on Wu Dahu seemed to be smaller. But despite the sizes of them, Song Qinghan was still shocked by the extremely sharp and charmingly manly look of the man in front.

After their breakfast, Wu Dahu again was all eagerness to enter the mountain.

After knowing that Wu Dahu was about to pick up the monk fruits, Song Qinghan didn’t reject his request. For one reason, he wanted to deliver the fruits to Huichun Shop as he promised Doctor Luo long before. And for the other, he would love to exercise more in this last period before the delivery.

Ever since Wu Dahu was injured, he found that his body was far less fragile than he imagined. And for the scenario of the baby in his belly falling out within some slight movement, it never happened.

Reaching an agreement, the two carried a basket on back and then headed to the mountain.

After some hours, they came back with two full baskets of monk fruits and star anise.

After lunch and helping Qin Aye change his medicine and gauze, Wu Dahu was ready to go to Laifu for their business.

Song Qinghan felt that it was not good for him to go empty-handed, and it would be so boring when they were in a negotiation without any other entertainment. So he suggested Wu Dahu to grab one jar of wine to visit him.

When Wu Dahu came back, it had already been dark outside. And it was Song Qinghan who delivered dinner to Qin Aye, because he worried that Qin Aye must be starved.

Seeing that Wu Dahu was with a face of somberness, he thought this man probably had had this negotiation failed, so he came to console, saying, “Let it go, it doesn’t matter. And since it posts a severe risk, we just don’t take it. We can run our own business to sell this seasoning and monk fruit. We can still make a profit from it.”

Wu Dahu didn’t say anything in responding Song Qinghan but said, “Let’s have dinner first. We’ll talk about it after dinner.”

During dinner, Song Qinghan could clearly read out the inattention of Wu Dahu. The eyes of this man was losing their focus.

Well, it seemed that Song Qinghan was totally right. He picked up a ginger with his chopsticks and then put it into Wu Dahu’s bowl. And later Wu Dahu just mixed the piece of ginger with the rice in his bowl and gobbled them without even a glance at it. Chewing for a brief moment, he finally regained his attention with the pungent and spicy taste in his mouth.

Wu Dahu swallowed the ginger with a bitter smile and quickly finished the meal. Wiping his mouth, he then started recounting the conversation he talked with Laifu this noon.

“There’s no lack of money for Laifu, but labor force is the real problem he is facing now. And because he heard that a shop in the southern part which also runs the fur business set a lower price, several times lower than here. And if the quantity of purchasing is larger, the unit-price will be lower. So he just resorted to ask someone to go to the town and acquire all the furs from that shop. Acquiring in a super low price and selling them in higher will surely bring him more profits no matter where he will sell, here in village or the town nearby.”