That evening, Zhang Wenyuan had just watered the osmanthus tree with diluted spirit spring water. Before he could eat, the elder son of the village chief, Wang Gui, invited him to his house for a drink.
The old village chief was about the same age as Zhang Wenyuan's father, but he had a son long ago. Wang Gui was now thirty years old, six years older than Zhang Wenyuan. He was a genuine farmer from the north, and he was honest and straightforward. As the eldest son of the family, he had to work hard for a living early on. In his early years, he had been wandering outside. With his hard work and tight finances, he had indeed saved some money. In the past few years, as the old village chief was getting older, he retired home to take care of the elderly. He grew mushrooms at home based on the knowledge he had accumulated outside. Every day, he rode a motorcycle and tricycle to the town. It was more than enough to support his family.
Although it was called a small village, it occupied a large area. The houses were not tightly clustered together like in towns, but scattered and scattered. Even neighbors were separated by dozens of meters. Zhang Wenyuan's courtyard was built against the mountain, a few hundred meters away from the center of the village.
After leaving the house, Wang Gui gave Zhang Wenyuan a cigarette and lit one for himself. The two of them walked in the evening breeze. Wang Gui was the kind of person who was silent. In addition, the two of them did not have a deep relationship, so they did not say anything for a while and only smoked silently.
After finishing a cigarette, Zhang Wenyuan flicked the tip of the cigarette out, and the scattered sparks fell into the river by the roadside in an arc. "I wonder why Uncle Han Min called me over?" Zhang Wenyuan asked.”
"It's about the wild boar coming down the mountain." Wang Gui grinned.”
Zhang Wenyuan turned his head to look at the smile on Wang Gui's face. When he was silent, he looked honest and simple. When he smiled, the smile on his ordinary face was like a spring breeze, but it gave people a feeling that he was trustworthy. Zhang Wenyuan suddenly thought that this kind of person was either a fool or a loyal general.
Zhang Wenyuan paused and frowned.”
"That's not it. In our village, no one dares to offend us unless he doesn't want to live on this piece of land anymore. Tonight, they were mainly discussing how to prevent wild boars. The corn was about to turn yellow. The wild boars had been going down the mountain for the past two days, and a few acres of land had been harmed. It was not easy to grow a season. It was not a solution to go on like this, so the village was prepared to set up several patrol teams to take turns to watch the cornfield.”
Zhang Wenyuan nodded and didn't say anything else.
There were already more than ten people gathered at the village chief's house, waiting for Zhang Wenyuan. Originally, Zhang Wenyuan would not have been informed of such matters. According to his previous style, even if he knew, he would not have participated. In view of his performance a few days ago, the village chief specially asked his son to go and greet him.
When the village chief saw him enter, he went forward and patted his shoulder, arranging a seat for him. Wang Peng was also there. When he saw Zhang Wenyuan come in, he moved his chair over.
He prepared a few simple cold dishes, a large pot of old hen stewed with wild mushrooms, and a self-brewed wine.
When he was drunk and full, the old village chief pressed his hand and said,"I called everyone here tonight to take care of the corn. The wild boar is a terrible scourge. In the past ten days before the yellow corn, a group of people would patrol the fields every evening. The wild boars would only come out in the evening to harm people, so they only needed to guard until ten o'clock.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Sixth Wang's loud voice sounded," Brother, don't say anything else. Just arrange the manpower directly. I think everyone here is not a sac seed."”
The old village chief saw that everyone below agreed, so he directly distributed the manpower. As expected, Zhang Wenyuan became the captain of a five-man team. Although he was young, no one objected because his valiant performance that day had already spread throughout the village.
When he went out, Zhang Wenyuan turned around and glanced at Wang Gui, who was sitting in the corner smoking. He felt that this person was not simple.
When he returned home, he had another bowl of corn porridge. After taking a bath in the river, he sat under the laurel tree and told Ya Ya a few stories until she fell asleep in his arms.
The next day, as soon as he opened the door of the middle court, a faint sweet fragrance assaulted him. Zhang Wenyuan was stunned and raised his head. The osmanthus tree that had not bloomed for several years was full of dense clusters of pale white flowers.
He jumped up and picked a bunch of osmanthus flowers. He put them under his nose and sniffed. The four yellow-white flowers could not block the fragrance.
Osmanthus was a rare and precious thing. Not only was it beautiful and fragrant, but it could also be used as spices, drinks, and ingredients.
The fragrance of osmanthus flowers was rich and would not easily dissipate. Its fragrance was elegant and outstanding, and it would not irritate the nose. It had the effect of refreshing the nose and could eliminate a variety of odors in the air. It was also easy to store and use. It could be stored for a long time as long as it was dried and pressed in a bottle or packaged with white sugar. Therefore, it was widely used as a spice. Osmanthus could also be made into osmanthus tea. The method of making it was simple. One only needed to put the freshly picked flowers into boiling water and then dry them. When drinking osmanthus tea, the tea leaves were pleasing to the eye, and the fragrance of the tea was overflowing. After drinking a mouthful, the rich sweet fragrance rushed straight to the head, making people feel relaxed and happy. Osmanthus wine was once famous in the world, but most of the secret recipes had been lost, and very few people knew how to brew it. Osmanthus was also an ingredient that could be used to make soup or porridge. The most famous ones were osmanthus cakes and osmanthus yuanxiao.
Osmanthus flowers could also be used as medicine. It had the effect of dispelling cold and breaking knots, reducing phlegm and producing saliva. It was formulated with Osmanthus Flower Dew and Osmanthus Flower Seed. It was mainly used to dispel cold and break knots, reduce phlegm and cough. It was mostly used for toothache, cough, phlegm, amyostasia, and abdominal pain.
There were many types of osmanthus trees. The common ones were osmanthus, and osmanthus. The flowers of the Silver Osmanthus were white and slightly yellow. The leaves were thinner than other Osmanthus trees, and the fragrance of the flowers was similar to that of the Golden Osmanthus. When the osmanthus blossoms in autumn, the flowers are mainly white, white, milky white, and yellowish white. Very few special flowers will be light yellow. Yingui was further divided into Yu Linglong, Liu Ye Yingui, Long Ye Zao Yingui, Zi Yingui, Bai Jie, Zao Yingui, Late Yingui, and Jiu Long Yingui.
Judging from the shape of the flower and the leaves on the tree, the one at home was the nine-long osmanthus among the silver osmanthus.‘'Jiulong Osmanthus' grew fast and formed early, which was closely related to its strong branch force and large growth of new shoots. It was more resistant to water and drought, but it was less resistant to disease and was prone to falling leaves.‘The sapling of 'Nine Long Osmanthus' would sprout new shoots three times a year, namely spring shoots, summer shoots and autumn shoots. Each new shoot was purple-red when it set off, and it could be maintained for 10 days to half a month. During these periods, it could be used as a leaf-picking tree species.‘The flowers would only bloom after eight years of age. The corolla was silver white and the stalk was slender, like a string of white silver bells hanging from the branches. It was very cute.
The biggest highlight of the nine-long osmanthus tree was that its branches naturally twisted and grew. According to the fixed-point observation in 2004, the early spring and late autumn shoots grew straight and straight, and there was no phenomenon of curved growth. On the other hand, the late spring, summer, and early autumn shoots would naturally curve and grow to form a "long" shape. It was possible that the late spring, summer, and early autumn shoots were soft and drooping under the direct sunlight of about 30 ° C. When the temperature dropped, they would resume their upward growth due to extreme factors, and finally form twisted branches.
Long was the symbol of the Chinese nation. Throughout China's 5000-year history of civilization, whether it was paintings, sculptures, or folk customs among the masses, the image of long was everywhere.‘The branches of the Nine Long Osmanthus had a strange shape. Its curved twisted branches were purely formed naturally without any artificial processing. This was one of the highlights of its cultivation. In addition to its purple-red new shoots and fragrant silver-white corolla, it became an excellent osmanthus variety that integrated greenery, beautification, and fragrance. It was suitable for the cultivation and viewing of public squares and public green spaces, and could also be used as high-end decorative potted flowers in rooms, hotels, conference halls, etc.
The osmanthus tree was a symbol of nobility, chastity, honor, friendship, and good fortune. Anyone who achieved success in his career was called "breaking the osmanthus tree." The myth of the "Moon Palace Immortal Osmanthus" gave people endless imagination. After the Tang and Song Dynasties, osmanthus flowers had been widely used in gardens for cultivation and viewing. In Song Zhiwen's poem " Lingyin Temple," there was a famous poem," Osmanthus seeds fall in the moon, and the heavenly fragrance clouds float outside." Therefore, later generations also called osmanthus flowers " heavenly fragrance." In Li Bai's poem "Ode to Osmanthus", there was a poem: "An Zhi Nanshan Osmanthus, green leaves drooping fragrant roots." I can also entrust you with pure Yin. Why should I cherish planting your garden?" It shows that the poet should plant it in the laurel garden, which can be admired and encouraged from time to time. This kind of need led to the growing of osmanthus flowers in the garden becoming more and more common. For example, Mei Yaochen of the Song Dynasty,"Lin Xuan Gui":"There are no evil trees on the mountain pillars, but there are green laurel bushes." In Ouyang Xiu's "Xie Ren Ji Shuang Gui Shu Zi","Xiao Lu Qiu Hui Fu, Qing Yin Yao Lan Qu" implied that the osmanthus flowers had been transplanted to the peony railing in the poet's courtyard. In the Song Dynasty, Mao Pang's "Song of Osmanthus","the shadow of osmanthus on the jade steps is graceful in autumn", indicating that osmanthus was planted in front of the jade steps. In Ni Zan's poem "Osmanthus" of the Yuan Dynasty,"Osmanthus flowers stay in the evening color, and the curtain shadows pale autumn light" pointed out that osmanthus trees were planted in front of the window.
In the long-term historical development process, osmanthus had formed a profound cultural content and distinctive national characteristics.
Therefore, there was now a " laurel flow " in the market. People loved laurel trees and planted them one after another. Many potted osmanthus trees came into being. Most of these potted osmanthus trees were made by transplanting. They were famous for their unique shape and long flowering period. They sold well in the market and formed a unique cultural trend.
Zhang Wenyuan held a bunch of osmanthus flowers and was lost in thought. His thoughts were open. There was a bright future in appreciating flowers and making trees. In the future, he could cultivate some potted plants that could be used for viewing. If he was interested, he could even participate in some flower exhibition.
He went to the front room and waved the osmanthus skewer in front of his wife. His wife did not understand what he meant. Zhang Wenyuan placed the osmanthus in his wife's palm and said.
"Osmanthus bloomed last night."
Jiang Yazhi carefully held the osmanthus as if she was holding a peerless treasure. There was no woman who didn't love flowers. Moreover, this was the first gift from Zhang Wenyuan.
Looking at his wife's bright eyes, Zhang Wenyuan involuntarily lowered his voice, afraid of disturbing this charmer's coquettishness.
"Do you know how to make osmanthus cakes?"
His wife shook her head. Her face was filled with curiosity. She was asking if flowers could be used to make tea or pastries?
Zhang Wenyuan replied," I don't know if other flowers can be used to make pastries, but osmanthus cakes made from osmanthus flowers are very fragrant and delicious." She remembered that when her grandmother was still alive, she could eat osmanthus cakes every year. At that time, she was very picky. After she had osmanthus cakes, she would not eat anything else for a few days and treated osmanthus cakes as the best.”
Jiang Yazhi gestured and asked," Do you know how to do it?"
Zhang Wenyuan nodded and said jokingly,""When the time comes, I'll teach you the method. This is a secret recipe passed down from generation to generation.”
His wife nodded seriously like a little girl.
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