CHAPTER 431: CHAPTER 2: PRESSING DAMASCUS ROSES FOR OIL (PART 2)

"My roses here are not meant for drying into flowers like mummies; our Meijia Village never provides those," Mei Nian had guessed Xiao Xian would have objections, and she explained unhurriedly.

"Are they not for making dried flowers, could it be they are meant to be eaten?" Xiao Xian glanced around at the seas of roses.

"The residue from the flowers is what’s edible, these five acres have much more use than that," Mei Nian finally let the cat out of the bag. To her surprise, this young girl raised in a family that cultivates sweet potatoes in Yanqing could identify the varieties of roses on the ground, and even accurately name the yield per acre and the parts of the flower used.

Even Mei Nian herself wasn’t confident about estimating this year’s yield with a simple glance, "Since you are doubtful, I should clarify things. Around hundreds of acres here, we have Russian Roses, Indian Roses, and also roses from Egypt, Turkey, and Morocco, not to mention the domestic ones. Each kind of rose has a different price, but only these few acres of Bulgarian Damask Roses have plump petals, superior quality, and a high oil yield."

Oil yield? Xiao Xian had only heard about peanuts and rapeseed yielding oil, and didn’t know that roses could produce oil too.

One-tenth of the Bulgarian Damask distilled rose oil

Russian Roses are mild, Indian Roses are thin, Egyptian Roses have a rich fragrance, Turkish Roses are sweet, Moroccan Roses are bright, but none of the varieties can match those few acres of Bulgarian Roses.

"Do you know about rose essential oil? The best time for picking roses is in June each year. On average, one kilogram of rose essential oil requires 3000-5000 kilograms of petals to extract 1 kilogram of oil. If calculated using market price, one and a half kilograms of gold is equivalent to one kilogram of rose essential oil, and one kilogram of gold’s market price ranges from three hundred thousand to four hundred thousand. You understand what I mean now?" Mei Nian glanced at Xiao Xian.

"That still doesn’t seem right though. The yield of Bulgarian Roses here is five to six hundred kilograms per acre, and all the petals produced don’t even make up one kilogram of oil. How can you calculate a price over two million?" Xiao Xian felt a sweat break out, with such calculations, she might go bankrupt trying to afford it.

"You’re quite the calculator. I was talking about the polymer extraction method, but I use another method called the semi-biological extraction, which has lower production costs and a higher oil yield, three times that of regular yielding," Mei Nian wasn’t a pushover, she immediately had a new calculation ready.

"Even if it’s triple, it still doesn’t add up to over two million," Xiao Xian continued to stubbornly resist.

"And a million is for compensating the villagers for the shock, imagine, sleeping soundly at night and being woken up by a car that seemingly fell from the sky. The village is full of old people and children, the elderly get insomnia and anxiety while kids are frightened into wetting their beds from the noise, don’t these require compensation?" Mei Nian argued sharply, without mincing words.

"..."

Among Mei Nian’s words, sixty percent was filler, but it’s true that the five acres of rose farms in Meijia Village suffered substantial damage.

"Master Uncle?" At a critical moment, Xiao Xian remembered Mei Nian’s new identity.

"Calling me Master Uncle won’t help, you have two ways to compensate: one is by having your guardian come over and pay ransom, the other is doing hard labor in the village, such as turning soil, pruning, picking flowers, and fertilizing. If one year of hard work isn’t enough, then two years or three, until the debt is completely paid off," Mei Nian put on a mean face, threatening Xiao Xian.

"No way, I can’t tell my aunts," Speaking of which, the farm still owes Mao Dazhu over eighty thousand yuan, postponed for a year before execution, and now she’s suddenly been saddled with a debt over some rose essential oil; in this day and age, earning money isn’t easy, but incurring debts is.

"Then it’s the second method? Let’s do it then, get moving and help Sister-in-law Hua with dinner preparations, you’ve been pampered like a Bodhisattva for two months, it’s time to stretch those muscles," Mei Nian pointed towards a single-story house in front.

Xiao Xian was just recovering from a serious illness, so heavy physical labor like fertilizing or turning the soil was beyond her ability, but helping with dinner preparations was still feasible.

After the recent conversation, as dusk turned to night, Xiao Xian followed Mei Nian directions and entered a house also built with thatched straw.

Having stayed in the modern world for five years, entering Meijia Village, Xiao Xian did take some time to adapt. It was certain that Meijia Village was a secluded place, using very little electricity and water, much like how she remembered Ge Village before it was well-developed.

The residents here didn’t use gas stoves or rice cookers but primitive cookstoves.

Even the furniture was still stuck in the era of black-and-white televisions and radios, unlike hundreds of kilometers away in Beijing City.

Fortunately, the Sister-in-law Hua mentioned by Mei Nian was a very amiable middle-aged woman. Knowing that Xiao Xian was brought back by Mei Nian as a patient, she didn’t make her do any heavy lifting, just asked Xiao Xian to help with washing rice and vegetables.

After washing the rice, when Xiao Xian went to wash the vegetables, she found that the so-called "vegetables" were not vegetables at all, but a bowl of freshly picked rose petals.

"Sister-in-law Hua, are these roses also going into the dish?" Xiao Xian wondered.

Sister-in-law Hua smiled without responding, but then, through her actions, she answered Xiao Xian’s question. The dinner table had a plate of crispy golden fried rose patty and a small dish of sauce for flavoring.

"It’s really delicious, roses have so many uses?" Xiao Xian realized only after tasting a few bites that the sauce she was eating was made from crushed roses.

"In Meijia Village, every type of plant can be eaten. You’ve just arrived and know very little. After dinner, Sister-in-law Hua will take you to see what you’ll be working on for the next few days," Sister-in-law Hua said, handing Xiao Xian a piece of rose patty.

**

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