During dinner in the large kitchen, Chen Lan remembered the matter of Tilia wood and tremella. She carried her rice bowl to her mother-in-law's table, where several older women were seated, and took the empty seat next to her mother-in-law. Her mother-in-law and the other women looked at Chen Lan with surprise. Her mother-in-law quietly asked, "Xiao Lan, is there something you need?"
Chen Lan swallowed the rice in her mouth and asked in a low, curious voice, "Mother-in-law, how are the tremella you're growing in your greenhouses coming along?"
Her mother-in-law smiled proudly and replied, "We've already harvested a crop, and the quality is quite good. It's just not a lot. I reckon another ten days to half a month and we'll have another harvest."
Afterward, she added with a hint of curiosity, "Xiao Lan, did you see any more Tilia wood tremella on your trip to collect honey this time?"
Chen Lan shook her head and replied, "Today we were mainly collecting honey and picking Tilia wood flowers. I didn't really pay much attention to the Tilia wood tremella."
Her mother-in-law was a little disappointed to hear that Chen Lan hadn't found any more Tilia wood tremella. She mumbled softly with a hint of disappointment, "You didn't find any? What a shame!"
Seeing her mother-in-law's disappointment, Chen Lan quickly reassured her, "Mother-in-law, don't worry. Tomorrow, when I go to the Tilia wood forest, I'll keep a closer eye out. I'm sure there will be some. If not, I can always cut down a few more Tilia wood trees tomorrow and we can grow more ourselves."
Her mother-in-law's expression immediately brightened. "Yes, yes, Xiao Lan! That's a great idea. If there isn't any, we'll grow more ourselves. We've already been growing it for a year, so we have some experience now."
Chen Lan then asked, "Oh, by the way! Mother-in-law, Mama Liu and Mama Cui are both at the kindergarten now. Who are you having help you manage the tremella greenhouse?"
Her mother-in-law said with a pleased smile, "I've put Zhao Tie, Xu Hao, and Zhou Sixi in charge. They're young and handle things very professionally. They're also resourceful. They took care of the second crop of tremella, and it seems to be growing well."
Chen Lan suddenly remembered that there were books on growing tremella. She said, "Right, Mother-in-law, I recall there are books on how to grow tremella. I'll find one for you when I get back."
Her mother-in-law became even happier. She replied with a smile, "That would be wonderful! We'll try scientific cultivation of tremella."
Since she had the idea of growing Tilia wood, that evening, after Chen Lan had tucked the twins to sleep, she used her mind to open the system and search for books on Tilia wood cultivation. Although she didn't find any professional books on Tilia wood cultivation, she was surprised to find posts that introduced content on growing Tilia wood. Chen Lan couldn't help but marvel at the power of the online system from her previous life.
It truly was as the saying goes: "There's nothing you can't think of that it doesn't know!"
Chen Lan immediately got up and sat on the bed, picking up a pen and paper to start recording. This action startled her mother, who was sleeping beside her. Her mother mumbled sleepily, "Lan'er, you've been busy all day. Why aren't you sleeping? What are you doing with paper and pen now?"
Chen Lan replied apologetically in a low voice, "Mother, I'm sorry, did I wake you? I just remembered some things, and I'm afraid I'll forget if I don't write them down. I'll write them down and then sleep. Mother, you're also tired from a whole day's work, so you should go back to sleep and don't wait for me."
Her mother didn't say anything else. She turned over and was soon asleep again.
Chen Lan thought to herself, "You know, Mother's sleep quality is really good now!"
Chen Lan wasted no more time and immediately began recording the text displayed on the system's screen.
It turned out that tall and upright Tilia trees reproduce by seeds! When selecting seeds, one should choose a vigorous 30-year-old tree as the mother tree for seed collection.
In mid to late September each year, when the Tilia wood seeds turn yellowish-brown, it signifies maturity. At this time, collect the mature seeds, air-dry them, and store them. By March of the following year, before the ground thaws, the seeds should be germinated in advance. After germination, sow them in specially constructed, heated nurseries. They require careful management for three years before they can be transplanted out of the nursery.
Chen Lan mused that this process was quite long! No wonder in her previous life, Tilia wood was listed by the state as a precious, key protected plant. Not only because of its very high economic value, but also because cultivating it to maturity was truly not easy.
The next day, Chen Lan took everyone to the Tilia wood forest again. They harvested another six buckets of Tilia wood honey, which Chen Lan also stored in the system's warehouse. Then, she set up all the dozen or so new beehives she had prepared and hadn't dealt with yesterday. Sudannovel.com
Seeing that she still had time, she opened the system with her mind and searched for Tilia wood tremella within a five-hundred-meter radius. The search results were not optimistic; only three locations were found, and their growth was not very good.
Chen Lan decisively sawed down one of the Tilia wood trees with tremella. She left two trees and picked the tremella from them, letting them remain in the Tilia wood forest.
As for why she didn't saw them all down and bring them home, Chen Lan couldn't quite explain it herself. It was a gut feeling to do so! Chen Lan didn't dwell on why she had such a strange thought. She stored a large portion of the Tilia wood, sawed into sections, in the system's warehouse, and carried the rest in a large backpack.
Upon returning to the valley, her mother-in-law assigned a few people to wash the protective clothing that everyone had returned and to clean and put away the honey-cutting knives.
Cui Qiao and Hu Yuzhen led the others in an orderly fashion to process the Tilia wood flowers and honey brought back.
Cui Qiao, along with Zhang Dani and Chen Dasao and other sisters-in-law, dried the Tilia wood flowers.
Hu Yuzhen, with Qian Yingzi, Liu Man'er, and Wang Yuling and other young wives, sorted the buckets of Tilia wood honey. They transferred the honey from each bucket into small glass bottles and sealed them tightly. Once all the bottles were filled, they were all placed in the large kitchen's storeroom.
At this point, Qian Yingzi, who was quite curious, asked in a low voice, "Sister Yuzhen, can I ask you something? What are we putting all this Tilia wood honey into those small bottles for? Besides, there's no market here, so we can't sell it."
Hu Yuzhen looked up at everyone looking at her with curiosity. She then said mysteriously, "How should I put it? This matter... it's a bit strange! If I tell you, you must not tell anyone else, okay?"
Upon hearing that there was gossip, everyone became even more curious and interested. They immediately assured her, "Sister Yuzhen, we absolutely won't tell anyone. You can speak freely."
So, Hu Yuzhen cleared her throat and lowered her voice, whispering mysteriously, "These are for our relatives, for Xu Mingxuan's father. He takes the Tilia wood honey to their place to exchange it for things for our valley! Like the new houses you just moved into, and everything inside them, were all exchanged for by our relatives for the valley."
When everyone heard Hu Yuzhen's words, they gasped, their faces filled with shock.
Qian Yingzi couldn't help but exclaim loudly, "Xu Mingxuan's father, didn't he pass away a long time ago..." Before she could finish, Qian Yingzi realized something was wrong and immediately covered her mouth tightly, her eyes wide with horror.
For a long time afterward, no one dared to ask any more curious questions about the valley.