Chapter 1092: Grapes and Water Bamboo

Changle let out a long sigh of relief, only then feeling at ease; only Yulong still felt a bit displeased, for after all, who would be happy to give away their own family's food for nothing?

Baifeng comforted Yulong, saying, "Alright Yulong, stop overthinking it. This is the price for Changle to take a wife; it's just a bride price, only she isn't from Huaxia, but a Princess of the Jiuli. It's not a loss, and besides, it can help us achieve our goal."

"Goal? What goal?" Changle had not heard the previous conversation between his father and Yulong, so he was very confused.

"It's nothing. When the time comes, this matter will be discussed with those few people from the Jiuli, and you will know then. Aren't you going to report your work to me? Bring your results over here."

Changle hurriedly straightened his body, ran down to get his notebook, and carried over a box of specimens he felt were the most valuable.

He handed the notebook to Baifeng, who looked through it bit by bit. Most of it was stuff Baifeng didn't recognize or couldn't remember the use of, so he ignored it directly. Then, Baifeng saw something that might be useful and pointed at the notebook, asking, "What about this? Bring the specimen over for me to see. The people from the Xuanyuan Tribe said the fruit is edible, right?"

"Yes, Father. They said it's quite sweet, but when I encountered it, it was still green, very small, and couldn't be eaten; it was extremely sour. The people from the Xuanyuan Tribe said the timing wasn't right, and it only tastes good when the weather gets cold, but it's easily eaten by birds and rats beforehand, so they rarely get to pick any."

Changle rummaged around and found the Bamboo Tube. When he gave the specimen to Baifeng, the leaves had already completely withered, but based on the leaf shape, Baifeng already had a certain judgment. Looking at the stem, he became even more certain. The specimen, a cluster with only a few fruits, had dried out completely like a mummy, but Baifeng now knew exactly what it was.

"Changle, this is a good thing. If I haven't misidentified it, this is a grape, a very good kind of wild fruit, and it can be cultivated. After you go back, discuss it with the Xuanyuan Tribe; we should trade for some of their wild seeds, preferably digging them up with the roots."

"Wait, no, I don't think that's necessary. Make a special mark for this, and when the time comes, ask the people of the Suiren clan to see if it exists in their territory. If I remember correctly, the distribution range of this wild grape is quite wide; it's impossible that only the Xuanyuan Tribe has it. The Suiren clan should have it too, and the Jiuli definitely have it. Don't worry about the Xuanyuan Tribe for now."

Changle was very happy and immediately took a pen to mark the Bamboo Tube of the grape specimen; this was already a very useful result.

"Father, the main thing is that I see the fruit is very small and sparse. Is there really a need to continue cultivating it?"

Baifeng pointed at the fruit and said, "Changle, isn't that how we in Huaxia have cultivated everything bit by bit? As long as you select the seeds well and then do the work of fruit thinning and pruning, the fruit will definitely become more lush and a bit larger. Moreover, places with large temperature differences between day and night will make it taste better and sweeter. Hmm, this should mainly be cultivated in the western regions; I think Xiao Town might work."

"Alright, Father, I've noted it down. Keep looking to see if there is anything else."

Baifeng continued to flip through it but didn't find anything useful. However, a drawing of a plant made Baifeng very interested: "Changle, is this a new Bonsai you discovered?"

"Yes, Father. I have already dug up two and planted them in the Embassy."

Baifeng raised an eyebrow: "Get one for me. I think it looks quite nice. Your drawing shouldn't be off, right?"

Changle was speechless: "Father, my drawing is quite accurate. If you like it, I will go talk to them and get one over, though I don't know if they will overthink it."

"Hey, why is there a Gu here? A new variety? Are there other varieties of Gu? Let me see, what is different?"

Baifeng saw the note about the Gu and was also very curious. How could there be a different kind of Gu? In Baifeng's memory, Gu should all be about the same; not to mention the Asian continent, even the Gu in the Americas didn't have anything special.

"Father, this is the most special discovery I feel I've made this time. It was brought out by accident. I saw that its root was actually much thicker than the roots of ordinary Gu. Mainly, I didn't see it bear fruit, so I don't know what else is different besides the root. Let me find the specimen."

Hearing Changle's words, Baifeng couldn't help but clap his hands: "Oh! It might be water bamboo! Quickly, let me see. If it really is water bamboo, then we can have one more type of vegetable."

Changle had never heard the two words "water bamboo," so he could only quickly find a few more Bamboo Tubes from the box, which contained the roots of the Gu and specimens of other parts.

Gu rice was not phased out in Huaxia, but it was not popular among the people either. The main reason was that rice tasted better, while Gu rice had a very average taste and was hard to chew even when cooked. But after all, it was wild food; who wouldn't like it, who wouldn't want it? So the wild Gu rice was not spared at all and was all collected.

Although a large amount of salt had been added to ensure it didn't rot, it had already lost its original appearance, and the moisture had been sucked dry. However, as soon as Baifeng touched it, he recognized it: it was water bamboo.

"Hahahaha! Changle, you are quite lucky; it really is water bamboo."

Changle looked at that piece of root and asked in confusion: "Father, isn't this Gu? How is it water bamboo? I think it looks exactly the same, except for this bit of root."

"It is precisely this bit of root—this piece of root is called water bamboo. Actually, this is a kind of disease, a disease for the Gu. It is infected by a fungus, so the root part swells up like this. This root is edible and tastes quite good, a bit like bamboo shoots. This is a new vegetable that we don't need to cultivate or improve further. It's truly a good thing; our Huaxia vegetable basket has become a little richer."

"Water bamboo is Gu, but such Gu can no longer bear seeds. How should I put it? It's actually similar to the smut disease of our Wheat, but this kind of disease is useful to us."