Chapter 1841: The Precious Only Child

If it were anything else, Teacher Tang really wouldn't bother, but something like this—commenting on people, talking a little trash... oh my!

She loves it!

The little old lady has a sharp tongue, though she usually keeps it in check.

She even said smugly: "Don't think that because I'm old, I can't keep up with the times. Those dating reality shows and observer panels you young people watch? I know them all."

It's just that I haven't started a livestream to critique them; otherwise, I'd say it better than they do. They only know how to smooth things over.

What else can you say to that!

Song Tan nodded incessantly, like Li Lianying: "Yes, yes, exactly, exactly. We just need someone sharp and truthful like you..."

Old Lady Tang beamed, her short stature seeming to grow taller, until she sat down demurely at the dining table. She first frowned at the simple stainless steel basins from the countryside, then took a deep breath and was instantly dazed by the aroma of the roast duck.

That was it; her head was filled with the fragrance. What else was there to say?

She didn't even have time to ask Professor Song to roll a duck wrap for her. Her chopsticks darted out, precisely plucking a piece of crispy, tender, glistening amber duck skin.

Then, her chopsticks paused, wavering between the sweet bean sauce and the spicy sauce.

Fortunately, the hometown palate leans sweet, so the hesitation lasted only a moment before she lightly dipped it into the sweet bean sauce!

She didn't miss a single thing on the table—the scallion shreds, cucumber strips, melon strips—she took a bit of everything. The small, thin spring pancake was almost unable to hold it all!

The people at the table were also jumping back and forth between the sauce dishes in front of them.

Seventh Cousin had roasted the duck himself and mixed the sauce himself, so he was quite resistant to the temptation at the moment, even having the leisure to be proud:

"Don't hesitate, try the sweet bean sauce first. This is flour from our old Song family, and I stirred it over a low fire on the wood stove to bring out the aroma!"

In this sweltering heat, if the kitchen air conditioning hadn't been running full blast, who would be willing to suffer like this?

Therefore, he had extra authority to speak:

"Eat something with a lighter flavor first; it's more satisfying to eat the spicy stuff later."

He still felt it wasn't enough: "Tan Tan, don't use up all the soybeans this year. Leave some so we can brew our own soy sauce! When your apples are ripe, I plan to brew some rice vinegar too."

"And that glutinous rice—we'll need to brew vinegar with that later, too."

Song Tan paused her chopsticks.

The duck skin was roasted until crispy and oily; it didn't feel hard to chew at all, but rather had a loose, crispy, and moist texture. She rolled it with a piece of fresh, tender duck meat, lightly dipped it in sauce, spread it evenly on the spring pancake, and added the scallion shreds and cucumber strips in order...

The melon chosen wasn't quite ripe, so the sweetness didn't overpower the rest; instead, it had a crispness and an exceptionally rich fruity aroma.

After rolling it up like this—

If Lu Chuan hadn't freed up his hands to roll two for her first, she wouldn't have had time to talk at all.

But even so, after hearing Seventh Cousin's words, she smiled and said:

"Seventh Cousin, it's just that we don't have the conditions here. Otherwise, would we have to harvest the salt ourselves too?"

Seventh Cousin glanced at her, feeling that this girl was grown up and just not as thoughtful as Qiao Qiao.

So he huffed:

"You know it's because we don't have the conditions. If you leased a salt lake or drilled a salt well, maybe we could eat our own salt too."

Whoa! Once he said that, everyone at the table laughed:

Seventh Cousin might be old, but he sure dares to dream!

"Why wouldn't I dare to dream?" Seventh Cousin said:

"I've said for a long time that the seasonings are holding us back. We only grow scallions, ginger, and garlic here. The star anise tree is big, but what it bore last year was only enough for our own use."

"And those two Sichuan pepper trees—one green, one red. You, you already thought of planting Sichuan pepper, why did you have to plant only one of each? That's not enough for anything!"

The green Sichuan peppers matured at the end of June, but there was only that one tree. At most, after drying everything, there were only ten or twenty jin.

By the time the red Sichuan peppers were harvested in early October, that was only enough to pair with a few rounds of lobster.

Just look at these basins on the table—it's a good thing we're eating roast duck today. The sliced roast duck is in shallow plates for fear that stacking them would ruin the texture, and the side dishes are in stainless steel basins.

Even so, looking at this appetite, it's astonishing.

Just look at this pig-like feeding; what are those ten-plus jin of Sichuan pepper enough for?

Not to mention anything else, in a little while, when the lobsters are grown, if we have a basin every day, wouldn't the Sichuan pepper be used up like flowing water? After all, we can't always eat them garlic-flavored or braised in oil.

Seventh Cousin felt annoyed whenever he thought of this.

Song Tan was also helpless: "Seventh Cousin, many seasonings aren't things we can just plant if we want to. Look at the black cardamom we planted under the apple trees; our climate isn't suitable. The finished large seedlings we bought were already struggling when they bloomed in June."

Looking at the fruit they bore, Sister Yanran and the others pondered it, and the final harvest was only fifty or sixty jin of dried fruit.

In other suitable cities, with the same land area, the harvest could have been ten times that.

It could be considered another Waterloo for the old Song family.

After all, Song Tan couldn't use spiritual energy to conjure up such a highly resistant, unscientific plant.

Speaking of this, Sister Yanran and the others were still ashamed.

They had obtained the new variety from the laboratory in collaboration with their seniors, and it was said to have excellent cold resistance and good black cardamom quality.

But those were data points from the lab; it hadn't been promoted on a large scale yet! Who knew Song Tan would plant them directly on the hillside, and intercrop them with apple trees at that.

The wind, frost, rain, and snow that the hillside endures are different from those in the fields.

Furthermore, other people's apple trees follow an economic route, like those eagle-beak peaches; many are short, less than two meters tall, with branches that one can reach by just raising an arm slightly.

This makes harvesting and management convenient.

But the old Song family was bold and dared to experiment. Hearing that those tall, high-yield apple trees were good, they agreed without a moment's hesitation.

Just looking at the fruit-bearing state of the apples this year, the apples were indeed good, and the people who recommended them didn't feel guilty.

After all, if they could make them specifically abandon the advantage of easy management to bring out these apple trees, it would be strange if the fruit's taste wasn't outstanding.

But the problem is, black cardamom under tall trees has even less resistance than intercropped plants in ordinary orchards!

But then again, intercropping like this was a helpless move.

After all, black cardamom looks quite small, red and round, when just harvested.

In fact, its stems and leaves grow like a fusion of ginger and banana, reaching two or three meters in height; it couldn't be intercropped without such tall apple trees!

It takes up too much space.

In short, this attempt cannot be called a complete failure.

On the hillside where the apple trees were planted, there was a slightly concave area surrounded by other plants that blocked it; it wasn't very sunny in the summer and didn't get much frost in the winter, so it was just occupied by them, and they had a fierce wave of production.

Based on this, next time there are other seasonings to try, they will still plant them!

After all, the usage of black cardamom is very small; 60 jin is enough for their family from the beginning of the year to the end, more than enough!

So if there are adjustments this year, it will just be to eliminate those that really don't adapt, and the remaining patch, after a year of growth, might have a yield of a hundred jin!

As for things like bay leaves, cinnamon...

Weren't those two sporadic trees just planted?

Seeing Seventh Cousin still unsatisfied while eating roast duck, everyone was wolfing down the food with sauce on their lips while incessantly smoothing things over:

"That's right, farming is like this; there's a harvest every year, and we can't become a fat man in one bite!"

"Take it slow, take it slow. For example, that soy sauce of yours—don't many people have to brew it for several years?"

"Exactly, what's the rush! And that vinegar—what's the difference between that glutinous rice vinegar and ordinary rice vinegar?"

At the table, only Seventh Grandmother looked calm, slowly rolling up two pieces of fresh, tender duck meat:

"He's just a crowd-pleaser; the more you pay attention to him, the more excited he gets. Don't bother with him, he'll be fine in a while."

She added, taking Seventh Cousin to task: "You've eaten quite a lot of this roast duck; have you processed that duck frame yet?"

Seventh Cousin was embarrassed into anger and flared up: "Why are you rushing me? Haven't we not finished eating yet!"

He paused and lowered his voice: "I've already cut the duck frame and the side dishes and put them there. After we finish eating in a while, to bridge the gap, I'll make everyone some salt and pepper duck frame at night."

Seventh Grandmother nodded and said nothing more. But Seventh Cousin indeed stopped muttering about anything.

At the dining table, everyone exchanged smiles.

Oh my, hold it in, hold it in! Seventh Cousin is old; we have to save face for the old man.

Professor Song then changed the subject:

"Tan Tan, you're participating in the Qincheng Autumn Agricultural Products Expo this year, right?"

Speaking of business, Song Tan also nodded: "Yes, we didn't sign up originally, but the owner of this venue is Xiao Yang's family. He has a good relationship with Qiao Qiao, so he suggested we participate once."

As for how much use it is, it's hard to measure it like that; it's like the Imperial Capital Expo—the gold content of the certificate is very high.

In case we have a falling out with Boss Chang one day or something, with this certificate, anyone in the industry who sees it will take the initiative to come and taste the fruits and vegetables.

However...

Song Tan explained: "The registration for the Expo has long since closed. Yang Zong said he would squeeze us in, but it can't affect the original order, so it will be arranged next to the venue at the very back."

That was originally where roll-up banners and various posters were stored.

This wasn't because Yang Zong wasn't sincere in the opportunity he gave.

It's really because this Expo requires registration long in advance every year, providing various data on agricultural products, so that they can arrange corresponding venues.

The reference data includes, but is not limited to, domestic and international popularity, fruit varieties, and the preferences of merchants.

He even explained it earnestly in person.

This kind of expo is something the old Song family members themselves don't care about; now that someone has delivered the opportunity to their doorstep, how could they be picky?

Song Tan then thanked him sincerely again and again, and both sides were satisfied, so that was that.

Professor Song had participated in this many times, and hearing this, he shook his head indifferently:

"The Qincheng Autumn Expo can be considered the largest fruit and vegetable expo in the country. The only one larger than this is the Asian Exhibition."

For the convenience of domestic and international import and export markets, it is generally arranged in Hong Kong.

"He has specifically designed the venue locations for this expo. There are also particularly good locations, but there are no particularly bad locations."

After all, the main major clients are merchants from various places. Since they have come, they will earnestly walk along the guide, and the remaining sporadic individual visitors are interested people and enthusiasts who bought tickets to enter, which doesn't play a big role in sales.

Professor Song explained briefly: "The entire tour route is well planned, and basically every booth will be taken care of."

"When you go, even if you don't have the output to sign orders, perform well and let those foreigners taste what the foundation of our farmers is."

"No problem!"

In this regard, Song Tan has always been full of confidence: "By then, I won't be in a remote location, but the grand finale!"

And at the old Yang family's.

It was rare for the family of a few to gather together. Tonight they were eating rice. Old Yang looked demure, but his actions were not demure at all as he stuffed a lump of soft, glutinous rice into the chili sauce bottle, scraped it around, and then poured it out.

His movements were no different from the old farmer dipping sauce in the field.

Xiao Yang looked resentfully at the last empty bottle, remembering the grievance of being guarded against in every way and having it intercepted earlier, and let out a cold snort at this moment:

"How old are you, really shameless! You're so reluctant to part with a little sauce. You don't even know, my sister's family is eating roast duck today!"

"Roast duck!"

"The fresh, tender little ducks in their pasture, roasted until the skin is crispy and moist, glistening with oil, super invincible and fragrant when you take a bite! The duck meat is also tender! Seventh Cousin even used the good flour from home to stir-fry sweet bean sauce, and there's spicy sauce too..."

"And also, it keeps raining, so the watermelons and melons in the fields are easy to burst. Last night, they called a lot of people to the fields to pick them as hard as they could!"

He babbled all this out, and just as he finished speaking, his saliva was about to overflow, so he quickly shoveled another mouthful of rice.

Looking at the tiny bit of sauce left on his rice bowl, he finally understood why those princes enjoying wealth and glory were so easily tempted to usurp the throne.

Who could stand it?!

A big bottle of sauce, his dad gets 1/3, his mom gets 1/3, and he and Qiao Qiao share the remaining 1/3!

Is there any hospitality in this?

Is there any respect for him, the only child in this family?

Yang Zong is old and thick-skinned:

"What do you need ambition for? Your dad also struggled through hard times. Come, say a few more words; I feel like the roast duck is fragrant just listening to you, and my appetite is good! I can have a late-night snack later tonight."

What does adding a late-night snack mean?

The refrigerator is in his room, and all the good stuff is in his refrigerator; he's just eating alone!

So what if Xiao Yang collected 100 ears of corn later? That fresh, tender baby corn can only be made into various styles of corn shoots to eat!

The precious only child shoveled another mouthful of rice resentfully:

"Qiao Qiao, it's a deal, okay? I'm in military training at school; you must come to visit me every few days!"

"If you visit me and I'm especially moved, I'll call you Brother Qiao Qiao from now on!"

Qiao Qiao answered earnestly, heavily, just like answering every "Do you love me?" question from a couple in love, very uprightly:

"Okay."

He paused and asked again:

"But I'm already older than you, why don't you call me Brother Qiao Qiao now?"

As he said this, he was even a bit expectant, his eyes shining brightly as he looked over:

"If you call me brother, then I'll have a younger brother, and I can be a big brother!"

President Liu burst into laughter at the dining table.

Old Yang couldn't help it either.

Oh my, boys, they all want to be big brothers, not little brothers...

Understood, understood.

Xiao Yang: "..."

After a while, he suddenly said pitifully: "Brother Qiao Qiao, my school military training will be very hard. As a big brother, you'll definitely feel sorry for me and send me lots of things, right?"

When the time comes, the mountains will be high and the emperor far away, and neither Mom nor Dad will be able to grab any of it, hahaha!

?? I said I wanted to lie down and space out, but Wan Er urged me on the phone, pulling and dragging, and finally managed to get me up to type...

? The "grand finale" is the key person who appears last; "pressing the finale" is the second to last. But the textbooks have changed, and "pressing the finale" has replaced the meaning of "grand finale."

? I'll just use it this way; everyone knows what it means. ===== CHAPTER 1842 =====