Spring comes to the desperate place

Chapter 344: One Day of Bad Play

The farce outside had no effect on the people in the house. Song Chunlin had been here for three days. According to the original plan, he would set off for Beijing in two days. Therefore, Gu Fengyue had been busy these two days just to squeeze out these two days of free time to accompany Song Chunlin.

"Have you finished your work at the military camp?"

"Well, I'm done with my work. From now on, my time belongs to you. Tell me, where do you want to go?"

Song Chunlin thought about it and didn't find anything interesting around. There were fewer mountains here, and there was almost no vegetation on the mountains. It was bare and there was nothing to see. It was far less beautiful than the scenery in the capital. Song Chunlin thought for a long time and found that instead of wandering around, it would be better to have a date with Gu Fengyue in Baita City.

As for the meeting place, the two had no idea. It was almost dusk, so they asked the steward to tell the kitchen not to cook, as they planned to eat on the street.

Seeing that the two men didn't seem to be affected by what happened to Luo Shaokun and the others, the manager also relaxed a little. He said, "Well, both of them had fought their way out of a group of barbarians, so why would they be affected by such insignificant people?"

Seeing that the two were doing well, the manager smiled and recommended to them several delicious restaurants in the city, some expensive and some cheap, in great detail.

After thanking the housekeeper, Song Chunlin took Gu Fengyue to take off their light armor and put on casual clothes. Song Chunlin also changed his clothes because the previous dispute at the door was seen by many people. Song Chunlin and the others did not want to attract other people's attention, so the two of them went out of the house together through the back door.

In the past, they always went out from the main gate. This was the first time for both of them to come to the back alley. Unlike the spacious and open front door, the alley here had a more down-to-earth feel.

Song Chunlin looked at the familiar alley and felt that it was very similar to the alleys he had seen when he was strolling in the city before. Perhaps he had also strolled here last time.

Although it was already afternoon and many stalls had started to pack up and go home, there were still quite a few small vendors who came here from other places, and most of them were selling food.

Song Chunlin liked the pancakes from Baita City the most, so he pulled Gu Fengyue to buy a big pancake each, and then went to the stall next door to order a plate of mutton, a plate of cold shredded potatoes (a new way of eating developed by the people here), and a plate of pickles. The two of them sat at the stall and ate the vegetables wrapped in pancakes.

“Chew chew chew…you said…chew chew chew…why aren’t the cakes in the capital…chew chew…as fragrant…chew chew chew…”

Gu Fengyue reached out to wipe the corner of Song Chunlin's mouth, then motioned for him to swallow what he had in his mouth before speaking.

Song Chunlin shook his head frantically: "No, after eating this meal, who knows where the next meal will be. I have to eat more so that I can remember the taste. I will go back and ask my mother to make it once to see if it is the same."

Gu Fengyue had a complicated expression. He shouldn't have had any expectations for this little foodie.

The pancake was just an appetizer. Song Chunlin was planning to eat it with Gu Fengyue from the beginning to the end of the street, but was stopped by Gu Fengyue, who still had some rationality.

"No, even if we have ten stomachs we can't eat so much. Let's go. It's quite pleasant to take a walk with you like this." After Song Chunlin left, Gu Fengyue no longer had such a relaxing moment.

The two of them strolled in the alley, and soon the road became wider and wider, and they had reached the main street.

There is no curfew in Baita City, and there are many small vendors setting up stalls on the roadside at night. If you see something interesting, you will stop and take a look. You will walk and stop until dusk falls and the shops will light up the lanterns at their doors.

Gu Fengyue brought Song Chunlin, who was reluctant to leave, back to the house. The steward had been waiting for them at the door early. When he saw them come back, he came to greet them with a smile.

"Grand Marshal, Young Master Song, you are back. We have prepared some midnight snacks. Would you like to have some?"

Song Chunlin touched his stomach. After walking around all night, the pancake he had eaten earlier had long been digested. He was actually a little hungry.

"I'm really a little hungry, Uncle Butler, what do you want for supper?"

Being called "Uncle Butler" made them feel a little dizzy, and the butler immediately introduced the names of the dishes to them.

"Didn't Young Master Song talk about wanting to eat wonton noodles a few days ago? From what he described, it seemed very similar to the wontons here, so I took the initiative to ask the kitchen staff to make some and add shredded pancakes before serving. I wonder if it will be even a little bit similar to the wonton noodles Young Master Song mentioned."

Song Chunlin didn't expect that the manager actually took his casual remark to heart, and his favorability towards the manager increased a lot.

"Thank you, sir. Please thank the cook for me."

"Alas, it's all part of my job. Sir, you are too kind."

When the so-called wonton shreds were served, Song Chunlin stirred them with a spoon. It really looked like wonton noodles, especially the shreds that were baked golden brown. After being cut into shreds, they looked like a thicker version of bamboo noodles.

But when he took a bite, he found that the wonton was actually filled with mutton...

Seeing him staring at the soup bowl without moving, Gu Fengyue immediately realized that he could not accept wontons stuffed with mutton, so she silently scooped half of the wontons into her own bowl.

It was not until the end of the meal that Song Chunlin recovered from the shock of the mutton wontons.

"I've eaten crab wontons, corn wontons, shrimp wontons, and dark cuisine century egg wontons, but I never thought I'd be able to eat wontons stuffed with lamb in my lifetime. Wow, what a strange combination."

Gu Fengyue pinched his cheek amusedly and said, "Is it really that strange? When you were in Linyuan before, weren't you eating mutton buns happily? Why didn't you seem so shocked then?"

Song Chunlin waved his hand away: "You don't understand, this is different. I've eaten mutton siu mai before, which is similar to that bun. And one is boiled and the other is steamed. The taste is completely different."

"Then the food tonight is not delicious?"

Song Chunlin smacked his lips and savored the taste: "It's OK, not too bad, but I couldn't quite accept it at the time. If I had another bowl, I would be able to accept it."

"..."

Very good, Gu Fengyue understood that this ancestor was not full yet.

But it was too late now, and eating too much would easily cause indigestion, so Gu Fengyue did not mention it again. After washing up, they lay down to sleep.

The next morning, Gu Fengyue was going to accompany Song Chunlin back to the vineyard. They did not have breakfast and rode out of the city. Song Chunlin took out two rice balls and a cup of soy milk from the space. Thinking that Gu Fengyue had a bigger appetite than him, after eating the rice balls, he took out two big meat buns from the space. Gu Fengyue was finally full.

After having breakfast on horseback, the horse slowly ran out of the vineyard.

Fang Siyi was making breakfast at home while Fang Chen and his younger brother and sister were busy working in the grape field. The summer here rises early and the sun is very strong at noon, so all the work in the field must be finished before noon, otherwise the sun will burn their skin.

Fang Siyi was busy when he heard some noise in the yard. He came out and saw that it was Song Chunlin who came over. Then he looked again and saw Gu Fengyue following behind him.

Fang Siyi had seen the other person before, but at that time Gu Fengyue was not the Grand Sima. Now that the other person has become the Grand Sima, he suddenly felt a lot of awe.

"Gu... Grand Marshal." Fang Siyi's mouth seemed to be out of control and he almost called out the wrong title. Although he had never been to the capital, he had heard that the nobles in the capital were most particular about these red tapes. He would not be punished by the nobles for making such a mistake, right?

The fact was that he was overthinking. Gu Fengyue didn't mind his mistake in addressing her. Instead, she smiled at him kindly.

Song Chunlin also said: "He is wearing casual clothes today. Uncle Fang, don't be too nervous. Just treat him as me. After I leave here the day after tomorrow, he will come to visit me often on my behalf. Uncle Fang, just treat him as your own junior."

Fang Siyi agreed verbally, but in his heart he did not think that someone like the Grand Marshal of the current dynasty was a junior whom he could treat casually. Of course, this remark slapped him in the face later, because with Song Chunlin's instructions, Gu Fengyue really treated Fang Siyi as an elder. Because of his deliberate care, those who were eyeing Fang family and wanted to make trouble retreated, for fear that they would accidentally offend the Grand Marshal and be caught and whipped by him.

Hearing Fang Siyi say that the Fang brothers and sisters were still working in the fields, Song Chunlin took Gu Fengyue with him to inspect his vineyard.

As soon as they entered the vineyard, three big black dogs rushed up and circled around Song Chunlin, their tails leaving afterimages. Fang Lanxin followed the dogs and came out of the vineyard. She smiled sweetly when she saw Song Chunlin.

"I said that Dahei and the others ran so fast, it must be Brother Chunlin who came, but the eldest and second brothers still didn't believe it, hehe."

Song Chunlin bent down and touched the little girl's nose, then introduced Gu Fengyue to her.

"Here, this is Brother Gu. When I'm not here, ask him to come visit you more often, okay?"

Fang Lanxin bit her lower lip and looked at the tall and handsome Gu Fengyue. He was taller than Song Chunlin, and his face was cold and expressionless. The little girl looked a little scared.

Song Chunlin poked Gu Fengyue's shoulder and said, "Don't be so stern. You scared the little girl."

Gu Fengyue was somewhat helpless: "I didn't have a stern face. I was like this in the barracks on weekdays. No one in the barracks would say that I was fierce."

Song Chunlin: "Your army camp is full of grown men, how can you compare with a little girl? Be obedient and friendly, she is still a child."

Gu Fengyue remained silent and tried hard to correct his expression, but it ended up looking even more ferocious, which frightened Fang Lanxin so much that she quickly hid behind Song Chunlin.

Song Chunlin: “…”

Gu Fengyue spread out his hands, indicating that he had tried his best.

Fine……

Song Chunlin asked Fang Lanxin to go back to help Fang Siyi with the work, and he took Gu Fengyue to find Fang Chen and the others.

Three dogs followed the two people all the way. Song Chunlin looked around and saw that there was no one around, so he found some dog snacks from the space and threw them to the dogs. The three dogs wagged their tails even more happily after getting the snacks.

Fang Chen and Fang Yi had heard the barking of dogs a long time ago, but the grape racks were too high and too many, so they had no idea where the people were. They could only guess where the other party was from the barking.

Today, the size of the vineyard has nearly doubled compared to when it first started. It took Song Chunlin and his team nearly half an hour to walk from one end to the other. When they came over, they saw Fang Chen and his brother doing grafting.

Song Chunlin looked at the grape branches in their backpacks, and then at the large field of grapes waiting to be grafted. He felt not only his feet but also his hands were a little tired.

"Such a large area, do we need to graft all of it?"

Fang Chen nodded: "Yes, all of them are grafted. Didn't the master say that the new variety I gave you last time was delicious? Look, this area is full of them. We got those few plants through grafting at that time. After we came back, we tried to plant them, but found that those branches could not survive at all, so now we can only rely on grafting. As for whether we can have grapes next year, it is still uncertain."

Song Chunlin had also grown a lot of fruits, and he immediately realized that the survival rate of this new variety was not stable enough. He estimated that it would be remarkable if the success rate of this patch of grafted grapes could be even half.

Fang Chen and Fang Yi were busy and sweating profusely. Song Chunlin wondered why they didn't find someone to do the work.

Fang Chen looked at his brother, then shook his head and smiled bitterly.

"No, Master, you don't know. We don't know what's going on with our vineyard. When we first started grafting, we hired people to do the work. But no matter how well those people did their job, the success rate was very low. Only when the three of us brothers and sisters do it ourselves, the survival rate will increase, or even double."

Song Chunlin coughed lightly, then couldn't help but look at Gu Fengyue. Both of them had a look of understanding in their eyes.

The three siblings of the Fang family all have wood spiritual roots, especially the youngest sister Fang Lanxin, who has a top-grade wood spiritual root. With this kind of talent, wouldn't it be twice the result with half the effort when it comes to farming? How could ordinary people compare with the three siblings of the Fang family? Song Chunlin felt that if it weren't for their incredible talents, even if they used the same method, it would be a long time before they could produce a new variety of grapes.

As the sun rose higher, Fang Chen knew that he might not be able to finish the work today, so he called his brother to finish the other work, and accompanied Song Chunlin and Gu Fengyue to stroll around the vineyard.

Fang Chen and Fang Yi knew everything about what kind of grapes were planted and where in the vineyard. The four of them talked as they walked, and before they knew it, they had returned to the front yard.

Fang Siyi had already prepared breakfast. It was called breakfast, but in fact it was almost the same as lunch. The whole family got up early in the morning before dawn, ate something simple to fill their stomachs, and then went to work in the vineyard under the starlight.

Song Chunlin and his friends had just finished their meal, and he and Gu Fengyue ate a few bites just for the sake of politeness.

Fang Siyi was a little worried when he saw that they ate so little, fearing that it was because of his poor cooking skills that the two nobles lost their appetite.