A husband found in the village? I bought a regent for a penny!

After not seeing each other for a while, Master Gu looked haggard.

His hair was disheveled and had many gray hairs. He was not as energetic as before and seemed to be carrying a kind of lingering melancholy.

Facing Gu Xixi, Second Master Gu gritted his teeth and told the truth, "Do you think I dare to buy it! Even if I go to buy it with other people, can you sell it to me smoothly?"

Gu Xixi smiled enigmatically, "You'll have to ask An Qinghe about this; I'm not the boss."

Master Gu felt a bitter taste in his mouth. "Him? Everyone knows he listens to you in everything! Even the ingredient recipes he uses in his workshop were given to him by you?"

Gu Xixi remained noncommittal.

Master Gu became more and more upset as he spoke, "If I had gone to the front lines this morning, I would have let it go as long as I could buy fertilizer, even if it was embarrassing. But I'm afraid you're holding back your evil intentions and waiting for this moment to take revenge on me."

"Either ask for an exorbitant price that I simply cannot afford, or don't sell it to me at all."

He stared blankly, chuckled to himself twice, as if possessed, and slowly turned to walk away.

"Why did I humiliate myself like this? I knew the outcome all along..."

"Yes, I should have known. This is what they call reaping what you sow. Everyone blames me for being too hasty and doing such a thing, which has now ruined the whole family..."

"Damaged the whole family?" Gu Xixi frowned slightly.

To be honest, I didn't see anyone from Master Gu's family that afternoon.

Perhaps because of what happened before, they didn't dare to come, and blamed all the blame on Master Gu.

Seeing that Second Master Gu was hunched over and had already reached the door.

Gu Xixi turned around and said to the main room, "Brother An, someone couldn't buy fertilizer. Why don't you come out and talk to him?"

After saying that, Gu Xixi didn't look at Second Master Gu again and went into the kitchen.

Master Gu was a little slow to react. He had already stepped over the threshold with one foot before turning around and staring incredulously at the spot where Gu Xixi had just stood.

The screen door to the main room was pushed open, and An Qinghe and He Jinglan came out.

During the wheat harvest, Gu Erye staged an accident to extort money, and the Gu family besieged and pressured Gu Xixi. An Qinghe was also present at the scene.

So when he saw this old man, he naturally didn't have a good impression of him, and simply said coldly, "You should know the price, calculate the total number of acres yourself."

"Once Miss He has calculated the weight for you, you can pay and pick up the goods at the same time."

Master Gu had initially held out hope.

As he listened to An Qinghe's words, his cloudy old eyes gradually brightened.

"really?"

An Qinghe and He Jinglan simply looked at him without saying a word.

Since Gu Xixi had stated beforehand that each matter should be handled separately, then let's just treat it as a normal business transaction.

Don't even think about being greeted with a smile and treated with great hospitality!

Knowing he wasn't well received here, Second Master Gu forced a smile and nodded, "Alright, alright, I'll hurry home and tell the children I'll be there soon!"

"I won't keep you waiting too long, you must reserve the goods for me!"

As Master Gu turned around and smiled apologetically, he wiped his face with his sleeve and almost tripped as he crossed the threshold.

Once he stepped out the door, he took off running, as light as if he had just shed a tremendous burden...

He Jinglan asked in confusion, "Why is he laughing and crying at the same time?"

She saw it clearly; the old man's eyes were red and glistening with tears.

He kept wiping his tears with his sleeve to stop them from falling.

An Qinghe shook his head. "Who knows? Anyway, we didn't bully him!"

Inside the kitchen, Gu Xixi had overheard the entire conversation that had just taken place outside.

She picked up the small bowl on the table, which contained a clear, colorless liquid. As she shook it, tiny bubbles began to escape.

I just tried a little bit, and it tasted pretty good.

Gu Xixi happily tilted her head back and drank it all in one gulp.

When He Jinglan and An Qinghe came in, they saw her put down her bowl, revealing a cheerful expression, and then let out a loud burp...

Gu Xixi rarely does anything indecent in public.

He Jinglan was somewhat shocked. "Xixi, how long have you been thirsty? You can drink water in such a hurry?"

An Qinghe found it quite cute and laughed, "Xixi, is it delicious? I'll try drinking it like this too, it should be very satisfying."

Gu Xixi smiled and sighed, saying, "There's no other way. The homemade soda doesn't have enough carbonation. I can only pour it out and gulp it down in one go to get any real taste of it."

Soda?

He Jinglan and An Qinghe exclaimed in unison with delight, "You've made something delicious again?!"

A few days ago, the old doctor returned from a house call and showed Gu Xixi something, saying he had never seen it before.

Gu Xixi opened the paper package, her pupils contracted. These were dried lemon slices!

She looked at the old doctor with surprise and mixed feelings, "This is indeed a good thing, a rare item."

According to the old doctor.

The patient had been treated for a period of time and had now recovered. His family gave him this as a token of their gratitude to the old doctor, saying it was a gift from relatives in Lingnan. It is called citron fruit, and its flesh is extremely sour, like vinegar, but has a unique and pleasant aroma.

They even specifically instructed that it's best not to eat it directly, but just soak one slice in water and drink it; it's incredibly fragrant. Those who are afraid of sourness can add some rock sugar.

Gu Xixi's surprise was not because she was surprised that the Daye Dynasty had lemons.

Lemons have actually been recorded in ancient books. They were originally a wild fruit that came from the far south of the mainland and the southern islands. They were called citron or citron.

However, due to its own taste limitations, citron is not suitable for direct consumption. Basically, only some locals know how to eat it. It was originally a wild fruit that people looked down upon, and it is not as famous as lychee and longan.

It didn't even have the same status as the tribute fruit from the capital.

Moreover, the extremely remote Northwest was a place I had never even heard of.

Because the old doctor was blind, Gu Xixi carefully described the shape, color, and taste of the citron slices to him.

The old doctor smiled and nodded, "It smells sour enough, but the fragrance is indeed citrus, yet it's different from oranges, and the fragrance is stronger."

"Since this is a fruit, pregnant women crave sour foods, so perhaps it can be a good medicine to stop nausea and promote salivation."

The old doctor kept two pieces for his own research, and gave the remaining seven or eight pieces to Gu Xixi.

Gu Xixi then considered what kind of beverage it could be made into.

Lemon flavor, summer.

The first thing that came to her mind was ice-cold Sprite!

In the north, there are many wild pine and cypress trees. Fresh pine needles are picked, washed, and filled into a clean jar.

Boil three citron slices in water, add rock sugar to dissolve, let it cool, and then pour it into a jar along with the citron slices.

After sealing, wait three or four days for fermentation, and bubbles will form in the liquid, making it a natural soft drink.

Gu Xixi had seen a classmate use this method when she was in graduate school.

Unfortunately, before she could even taste the results, she went to the Northwest with her mentor to investigate mushrooms.

Now, still in the Northwest, she makes her own soda.

He Jinglan and An Qing each had a bowl.

Seeing the strange bubbles rising in the bowl, both of them unconsciously swallowed.

Is this stuff... really drinkable?