During times of famine: I have a spiritual spring space

Chapter 25 Calling for People

Chen Jian'an waited and waited, and almost an hour had passed.

Is it really that difficult to get a drink of water?

He thought to himself: Did Brother Hui take a dump over there?

I should have known better than to say anything about ghosts. It backfired; I didn't scare anyone else, but I startled myself instead.

Chen Jian'an waited a while longer, but still didn't see Zhuang Lihui. He had no choice but to bite the bullet and go look for him, otherwise, waiting here indefinitely wouldn't work.

Just then, the surrounding grass began to sway, but there was no sign of anyone and no sound was heard.

Suddenly, Zhuang Lihui's voice came from afar: "Jian'an, come here!"

Hearing the familiar voice, Chen Jian'an finally breathed a sigh of relief: "Brother Hui, you almost scared me to death!"

"If you have a clear conscience, you have nothing to fear! What's wrong? Have you been doing something wrong lately?" Zhuang Lihui teased.

Chen Jian'an: "Brother Hui, you know me. How could I possibly do anything wrong? It's getting late, why don't we head back soon?"

Zhuang Lihui suddenly said mysteriously, "Jian'an, come with me, I've found something good."

After saying that, without waiting for Chen Jian'an's reply or not, he turned around and crawled back over there.

Although Chen Jianan was scared, he was still curious about what good stuff it was, so he gritted his teeth and followed.

The two walked one after the other.

Chen Jian'an kept trying to find something to talk about behind him, his steps hurried and very close, as if a ghost were following him.

Soon they arrived at the spring, and the sharp-eyed Chen Jian'an spotted pumpkins, and quite a few of them at that—three pumpkin seedlings, each of which had grown several large pumpkins.

The pumpkins were originally hidden in the grass, but Zhuang Lihui managed to pull them out, pressing down all the grass around them to reveal the pumpkins.

"Brother Hui, we're so lucky! Nobody noticed, we're so lucky!"

Each pumpkin is quite large, weighing over 10 pounds each, and together they weigh nearly 200 pounds. If we take them home, they could replace a lot of grain.

Pumpkin is high in water and dietary fiber, so it fills you up quickly. Although it's low in calories, it's good enough to have something to eat, so there's no room for being picky.

Zhuang Lihui asked with a smile, "Is it a good thing?"

Chen Jianan didn't hesitate: "Absolutely great stuff, but there's a lot of it. It'll be a bit difficult for the two of us to carry it all back."

They went out without bringing anything. If they had known, they should have brought two sacks.

"And we can't let anyone else see this, it's so difficult!"

Should we pick a couple to take home first? We can save the rest for this afternoon, or some other time?

Chen Jian'an immediately rejected that idea, worried that if he left them there, someone else would pick them. Better safe than sorry! He was determined to pick them all back anyway, lest something unexpected happen.

Zhuang Lihui offered a solution directly: "I'll stay here and keep watch. You go back quickly and call a few more people over: Liming, my second uncle, my second aunt, and your eldest and second brothers."

If we don't have enough manpower, then we'll call in more people!

What's there to be upset about?

"Ah! Are my eldest and second brothers coming too?" Chen Jianan asked in surprise.

You know, if we call his older brothers over to help, given Hui's personality, he definitely won't let them work for nothing; they'll surely get a pumpkin or two.

"Call them over! There are plenty of pumpkins here, enough for two or three families to eat for a while." Zhuang Lihui didn't mind sharing with his close friends.

Chen Jianan was extremely grateful: "Brother Hui, thank you so much!"

Zhuang Lihui patted him on the shoulder: "We're brothers, why are you saying all this? Go on."

"Alright!"

This time, Chen Jian'an wasn't afraid of any ghosts and walked away very quickly. He even carried two pumpkins with him; he certainly couldn't leave empty-handed!

After he left, Zhuang Lihui picked the remaining pumpkins.

There were 16 pumpkins, plus the two Chen Jian'an took away, making a total of 18 pumpkins. Each pumpkin weighed about 10 jin (5 catties), so these pumpkins weighed nearly 200 jin (100 kg).

Many people don't know this and think that pumpkins are native to our country, but that's not the case. Like corn and potatoes, they originated in the Americas.

According to records, pumpkins were introduced to China during the Ming Dynasty.

Because it was introduced from the "Southern Barbarians", the ancients called it "pumpkin" or "foreign melon".

These are all ordinary pumpkins. Zhuang Lihui's favorite is the taro pumpkin from later generations, but I guess that variety doesn't exist yet.

In later generations, taro pumpkin has become a new favorite in modern diets due to its unique flavor and health benefits, forming a stark contrast with traditional pumpkin in terms of shape, taste, nutrition and market value.

Generally speaking, taro pumpkins have an orange-yellow skin with dark green stripes, forming a gourd shape that visually distinguishes them from the oval shape of traditional pumpkins.

When cut open, it releases a sweet taro aroma, and after steaming or boiling, the meat is delicate and melts in your mouth.

However, Zhuang Lihui had heard that taro pumpkins shouldn't be planted in large quantities, citing reasons such as a poor market, difficulty in sales, unstable prices, and even environmental impact.

He couldn't understand why taro and pumpkin, which are so delicious, wouldn't have a market.

In fact, the main problems with taro pumpkins are their susceptibility to powdery mildew, viral diseases, and fruit flies. Powdery mildew affects photosynthesis, causing leaves to turn yellow and hindering plant growth; viral diseases cause leaves to wrinkle, develop mosaic patterns, and become deformed, affecting fruit quality and yield, among other things.

But regardless of the crop, it can be susceptible to various diseases, not just taro and pumpkin.

Afterwards, Zhuang Lihui entered the space and took advantage of the break to continue his work.

Chen Jianan carried the two large pumpkins back, bypassed everyone, and went straight to Hui Ge's house.

"Brother Jian'an, where's my brother?" Zhuang Liming asked.

He suddenly noticed the two large pumpkins in Chen Jian'an's arms, and his eyes widened immediately. Putting aside his elder brother's concerns, he was more curious about the pumpkins.

"Brother Jian'an, where did such a big pumpkin come from?"

Chen Jianan chuckled and whispered, "When I went up the mountain with Brother Hui, he said he was going to get a drink of water and then he found three pumpkins near the spring."

How was it? Lucky, right?

"Quick, come with me to move some pumpkins, there are still plenty over there! Hui-ge is guarding over there."

After saying that, Chen Jian'an put the pumpkin in the corner of the room.

"Ah! There's more?" Zhuang Liming was both surprised and delighted.

"There are so many, we can't possibly carry them all. Go find some sacks. I'll go call your second uncle and aunt, and my eldest and second eldest brothers." With that, Chen Jian'an strode out.

Zhuang Liming quickly rummaged through all the sacks in the house and took them with him.

Zhuang Zhenmin had just returned home when Chen Jianan came over.

"Jian'an, I heard from the captain that the trees you cut down have disappeared?"

Chen Jian'an nodded: "Yes! It's not that strange. Never mind, let's put the tree aside for now. Uncle Zhenmin, and Auntie, you two come out with me quickly. Hui-ge and I found a lot of pumpkins; Hui-ge is guarding them over there!"

Upon hearing this, Zhuang Zhenmin and Huang Lan were both stunned, thinking they had misheard.