After Ang Lee got on the island, he first went to the ancient well with sweet water. As for the origin of this well, it was said that when Li Bing was building Dujiang Yan, he deliberately dug it on the island so that the craftsmen could drink a mouthful of well water without worry. As there was water all around, there was no need to worry about the well water being drunk. No matter how many people there were, it was impossible to drink all the well water here.
As for why the well water here had a sweet taste, no one could explain it clearly. However, this so-called sweet taste was not really sweet. It was a refreshing feeling, just a little better than other well water. There was no sugar in the well water, so how sweet could it be? It was a bit of an exaggeration to say that it was sweet.
As the well water was not a valuable asset, no one was guarding near the well mouth. Only the people working in the nearby inn could see the well mouth. For guests who occasionally quenched their thirst, they did not need to pay. If they took a large amount of well water, they would have to pay a small amount. If they asked for help, they would have to pay double the amount.
"Assistant Minister Li, this well water is really sweet. Can I get some for you to try?"
The boatman volunteered to fetch water, and soon a bucket of water was brought up.
As the temperature outside was not high at this time, and was basically the same as the temperature of the well water, Ang Lee scooped up a ladle and tasted it carefully. The taste was not bad. It was indeed a little sweet, but it was not the taste of sugar water. Perhaps this was the sweetness!
"This water is really good. Not bad."
Ang Lee nodded affirmatively, and then drank a few more mouthfuls.
Drinking the sweet well water, Ang Lee thought of many things. In his previous life, he lived in the countryside and drank well water, but he never felt that the well water had a sweet taste. However, when his relatives in the city came, they would exclaim that the water here was so delicious and sweet. Every time, Ang Lee would be confused. This was just ordinary well water. How could it have a sweet taste?
Later on, Li An went to the city and drank plain water from his relative's house. Only then did he understand why his relative said that well water was sweet. The taste of plain water was too unpleasant to swallow. It was especially disgusting. He always felt that there was a strange taste. That was the smell of disinfectant bleaching powder. Ever since he drank plain water from the city for a period of time, when he returned to the countryside and drank his own well water again, he actually felt that there was a sweet taste.
Sometimes, the sweetness was not really sweet. It needed to be compared to feel the sweetness. Only after drinking the unpalatable tap water would one feel that the well water was so sweet. After drinking ordinary well water, one would be able to feel the sweetness of the well water.
"There are several wells on this island. Speaking of which, it is strange. The other wells are not as sweet as this one. This is really the blessing of the gods!"
The boatman said.
For this situation, it should be related to the geological structure below. Although the island was not large, the structure below may not be the same. This naturally led to the taste of the well water being different.
For example, if the mouth of the well was close to the river, it would inevitably lead to the taste of the river water due to insufficient filtration. Or due to the impact of the river whirlpool, the well water would be connected to the river water. In this way, the well water would be no different from the river water.
After tasting the well water, Ang Lee looked up and saw the vegetable garden in the distance. These were the vegetables planted by the fishermen who lived here. Several women and children were busy in the garden.
"Let's go and see what they have planted."
Ang Lee said and signaled to his subordinates to bring more well water onto the boat. This water tasted good, much better than the fresh water stored on the boat. It would be good to have more to use on the road.
These vegetable gardens were not close to each other. Each vegetable garden was close to a house. Obviously, this was the most convenient way to grow vegetables. Every family could take better care of their own vegetable garden. Watching over it was also very convenient. When working at home, they could see their own vegetable garden. If someone came to steal vegetables, they could discover it immediately. If they saw poultry coming to destroy it, they could also stop it in time.
Ang Lee actually missed this kind of life. When he was a child in his previous life, he lived in the countryside. In front of every house, there was a small vegetable garden. In it, vegetables that needed to be eaten and drunk were planted. The periphery was fenced to prevent it from being destroyed by other people's poultry. Although the vegetable garden of each house was not very big, it was the smallest one, which was more than 60 square meters. The bigger ones were one or two hundred square meters, which was not small.
As for Ang Lee's vegetable garden, because his father and uncle's family were close to each other, the area was also relatively large. It was at least 100 square meters, which was about two or three parts of the land. Such a piece of land was naturally too small for growing grains. If it was used to grow vegetables, it was enough for daily life. Basically, there was no need to go to the market to sell vegetables. Especially in summer, cucumbers and loofahs were constantly planted. All kinds of vegetables were planted according to the batch. When the old batch stopped growing, the new batch would bloom and bear fruit. In such a cycle, vegetables simply could not be eaten. Even in winter, vegetables would be planted and temporary greenhouses would be built. In the cold season, vegetables could still grow very well.
For vegetables that were not afraid of the cold like cabbage, they could be harvested continuously in winter. But because they needed the root system to maintain their growth, it was best not to directly pull them out, but to pick the leaves. After the big leaves were removed, the small leaves would grow in a few days. This did not affect the root system, so they could be harvested continuously. If they were pulled out and seeds were scattered again, even if they sprouted in winter, it would be very difficult for them to grow. Picking the leaves to eat was the best way.
Ang Lee looked around. These vegetable gardens were planted with very ordinary home-cooked vegetables, mainly leafy vegetables, and some vine-like leguminous vegetables. There were also a lot of root vegetables such as radishes.
Compared with the small vegetable gardens of Ang Lee's family in his previous life, the vegetable gardens of these fishermen's homes were much larger. Each vegetable garden was more than one mu of land. In addition to vegetables, there were some spice trees at the edge. Spice trees such as pepper and cinnamon seemed to be planted in every household. For fishermen, these fragrances were very important.
The live fish and valuable fish they caught could naturally be sold, but some dead fish and low-grade fish were not easy to sell, and they could not finish them themselves. Therefore, they could only dry them and store them as their own rations. However, fish meat had a fishy smell. Whether it was fresh or dried fish, there would be a fishy smell. In order to get rid of this fishy smell, they had to use spices.
Pepper and cinnamon were very good spices to change the taste. Ginger and coriander were also good spices. Therefore, in order to get rid of the fishy smell, the fishermen's vegetable gardens would plant pepper trees and cinnamon trees. Ginger and coriander would naturally be planted as well. The more spices prepared, the more delicious the fish would be.
With fish and vegetable gardens, these fishermen did not have to worry about food and drink. What they lacked was oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar. After selling some live fish and good fish, the money earned was enough to buy these oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar. Therefore, as long as they did not have too much desire, they could live happily on this island for a lifetime.
There were enough vegetables on the ship, but it wouldn't be a problem to replenish them. Since Li An was on the island and saw these fresh and tender vegetables, he naturally wanted to replenish them and take care of their business at the same time.
Generally, people who lived in remote areas were more timid and shy. When they saw Ang Lee coming with a group of people, the children who were playing in the vegetable garden were scared and ran away quickly.
The adults who were working stood up and looked curiously at the people who were coming from afar. The adults in the nearby vegetable gardens stood and looked over. Everyone's eyes were full of curiosity and doubts.
This was a common habit of the countrymen. As long as they saw outsiders, they would always pay attention. Even a little too much attention. As long as a stranger appeared, they would always stare at him. This habit was inherited. The villagers of later generations were also like this. As long as you entered a village, everyone in the village would look at you. When hundreds of people looked at you at the same time, the feeling was really not particularly good.
Most of the men went out to fish. Those who stayed in the vegetable gardens and at home were the women, the elderly, and the naughty children. This was the optimal allocation of resources. The strong men with good physical strength naturally had to do the most difficult work of fishing. The weak elderly and women were also able to do the work in the vegetable gardens.
Ang Lee walked to a vegetable garden and saw that there was only a woman working in it. Beside her were two timid children, a boy and a girl. There were only three people in the house. With so many people coming in all of a sudden, they were naturally a little scared.
The boatman walked over and looked at the woman. He said, "We are here to buy vegetables. How much are the vegetables here?"
Seeing that they were here to buy vegetables, the woman relaxed a little. Then, she directly quoted a price. It was quite fair and she did not ask for a sky-high price. In addition, she did not want to sell all the vegetables. She wanted to leave some for her family.
There were more than five hundred people in Li An's group. Even if they bought all the vegetables on the island, they wouldn't be able to last for more than a few days. However, if they wanted to satisfy Li An alone, they could just buy a little bit.
"Hey! What is this child wearing? "
Ang Lee saw a child wearing a black and white leather coat, very much like a panda.
"Assistant Minister Li, this is a flower bear! The kind you caught alive in Min Mountain. "
The boatman answered.
Ang Lee was very surprised. Flower bears were pandas. A few days ago, Ang Lee caught some alive in Min Mountain and had already transported them back to the capital. He did not expect to see them here in Dujiangyan. Moreover, an ordinary village child could wear panda fur. It was too extravagant. Even the rich people in the future could not afford it. Whoever was on the boat would be unlucky.
"A little child can wear panda fur. Are there pandas around here?"
Ang Lee asked in surprise.
The boatman nodded and said, "Yes! Of course, there are flower bears, which are pandas, around here. They are not less than in Min Mountain. The panda fur is not valuable. Perhaps his family caught a panda in the mountain. After eating the meat, they gave the skin to the child as clothes. "
Obviously, in the Tang dynasty, pandas were not precious at all. There were more pandas in this era, far more than in the future. At the same time, pandas were widely distributed. In the whole Central Sichuan, there seemed to be traces of pandas in many places. Even an ordinary child could wear panda fur, which showed the popularity of pandas.
Judging from the size of the panda fur on the child in front of him, he should be a young panda. Because it was too small, it could only be used to make clothes for children. It could not be worn by adults.
Ang Lee was very excited to see pandas in Dujiangyan. However, since he had caught a group of pandas in Min Mountain, he did not need to catch them here. It was not necessary to have too many pandas, just a few would be enough.
After leaving the fisherman's house, Ang Lee walked for a while on the island and saw a kiwi tree. This fruit actually existed in the Tang dynasty, which surprised Ang Lee.
In the future, the kiwi sold in fruit stores was called kiwi fruit. It was a variety from foreign countries and tasted quite good. It turned out that the kiwi was produced in China. It was taken back by foreigners to improve it and then sold to us at a high price.
"There is a kiwi tree here. Good."
Ang Lee said casually.
The boatman said, "What kiwi? Isn't this a mao pear?"
"Mao pear?"
Ang Lee was very curious. After thinking about it carefully, he found that the kiwi was a bit similar to a pear. It was just that the kiwi had more hair on its body. It was quite appropriate to call it a mao pear.
"Assistant Minister Li, in Central Sichuan, this is called a mao pear. Not far away on Mount Qingcheng, there are people who use the mao pear to make wine. The mao pear wine is very delicious. They call it Heavenly Paradise Milk Wine. Assistant Minister Li, you can go and try it. "
The boatman said.
"Heavenly Paradise Milk Wine? Why is it called this?"
Ang Lee asked curiously.
The boatman explained, "The reason why it is called Heavenly Paradise Milk Wine is that the place where it is made is inside the cave. It is said to be the fifth cave in the world. The wine made in this cave is naturally called Heavenly Paradise Milk Wine. This is one of the Four Unique of Qingcheng in Mount Qingcheng."
"Four Unique of Qingcheng? What is that? "
Ang Lee asked.
The boatman said, "The Four Unique of Qingcheng are all about eating and drinking. In addition to the Heavenly Paradise Milk Wine, there is also Qingcheng Tea, Gingko Chicken stew, and Qingcheng Pickles. These are all delicious. If you go to Mount Qingcheng and don't try the Four Unique of Qingcheng, it is equivalent to not having been to Mount Qingcheng."
Ang Lee smiled when he heard that. This kind of talk was too common. In ancient and modern times, there were always such talks, saying that going to a certain place and not doing anything was equivalent to not having been there. If you don't go to a certain place, you are not a man. These exaggerated words were a bit unbearable. However, at least it showed that these things were really good. If you don't try it, you will miss a very good opportunity to experience it.
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