"Great!" Xie Jingyun was overjoyed. "The jam Dad and Mom buy at the store doesn't taste good."
"Don't worry. Maybe we can buy good jam later too," Zhu Yanyi said with a smile. Seeing Ouyang Manqing’s surprised look, she explained, "Our family plans to open a fruit processing factory. So, making this jam will be part of it. It’s natural that we’ll transport it to Modu to sell in the future."
Xie Jingyun’s eyes were full of surprise. "So, I can eat Sister Ani’s family jam every day from now on?"
Zhu Yanyi nodded with a smile. "Yes. We call our jam Azure Sovereign Jam. But there are many flavors. Mixed fruit, apple, tomato, strawberry—you name it. As long as you don’t buy the wrong one, you’ll have many flavors to try."
"Great!" Xie Jingyun was thrilled. For her, this was the best news she had heard recently.
"Jingyun, your Sister Ani just got off the train. She’s tired. Hurry and let them rest. Don’t stand at the door," Xie Yijun said, coming out wearing an apron. He had clearly been cooking in the kitchen.
"Uncle Yijun can cook?" Zhu Yanyi looked at her curiously and walked over.
Xie Yijun laughed heartily. "Today, taste my skills." He waved the spatula in his hand. "I’m making shepherd’s purse stir-fried with rice cakes for you."
"Is there still shepherd’s purse in Modu?" Zhu Yanyi asked curiously. Shepherd’s purse is a seasonal wild vegetable. It tastes best in February and March. By mid-April, it flowers. On the Dragon Boat Festival in early May, some places even boil shepherd’s purse flowers with eggs. It has high medicinal value. It is sweet and neutral in nature, helping to harmonize the spleen, promote diuresis, stop bleeding, and brighten the eyes. It treats dysentery, edema, gonorrhea, chyluria, hematemesis, hematochezia, uterine bleeding, menorrhagia, and red, swollen, painful eyes. Its disulfide thione content has anti-cancer effects. So, farmers usually dig up shepherd’s purse in spring to eat.
When Zhu Yanyi was at home, she would also go digging for shepherd’s purse when the season arrived. Of course, now that her family had more land, they specially cultivated some wild vegetables, including shepherd’s purse. So, the Zhu family had shepherd’s purse all year round. However, Zhu Yanyi still preferred the taste of wild shepherd’s purse. Although wild shepherd’s purse leaves were coarser and less tender or spiritual than cultivated ones, they were more fragrant. Sometimes, she liked this natural, wild flavor.
"This is what your family sent to Modu to sell. Many people bought it and ate it," Xie Yijun said directly. "You rest a bit. We can talk later. I just need to make a soup, and then we can eat." After saying this, Xie Yijun hurried back into the kitchen.
Seeing this, Zhu Yanyi just smiled slightly. She asked Luo Gang and Wang Ye to put the luggage aside. They didn’t unpack it because they were going to summer camp tomorrow, so there was no need to unpack her personal luggage. However, Zhu Yanyi opened one bag containing local specialties for Xie Yijun’s family.
"Aunt Manqing, here are the specialties I brought. Some are from my Dad and Mom, and some are from my Grandpa and Grandma," Zhu Yanyi said, taking out bag after bag. "Dried plum vegetable, dried Wannianqing, and these cured fish and meat are from my Dad and Mom. This bag of dried fruit and meat is also from them. This bag of sesame seeds and dried shrimp is from my Grandpa and Grandma."