CHAPTER 1511: CHAPTER 1511: SPECIAL PRODUCT YELLOW CORN (5)

Watching the sisters’ reluctant departure, Yang Ruxin also felt a pang of sadness, but there were too many people in need, and she couldn’t help everyone at once. By taking in these sisters, what would she do if other women also came seeking her shelter? Therefore, she had to turn them all away.

In modern times, one could establish a fund to assist these people, but in this era, that was not feasible. However, if there were businesses, these people could be provided with employment opportunities, enabling them to be self-sufficient and thus avoid selling themselves.

She needed to find someone familiar with the local situation to learn more.

It must be said that Gu Qingheng really shared a connection with her. In the evening, he brought over a couple with a three- or four-year-old child. The woman’s face was heavily scarred though her modesty was preserved, and despite nearly losing her life, she survived.

Yang Ruxin recognized the woman at first glance; when she first arrived, she had seen a woman embracing a child at the top of the city gate from afar—it must have been her.

"They are long-term residents of Governor’s Office City. The man is called Cui Fu. All their family members have died, including their eldest son, but fortunately, their younger son survived," Gu Qingheng explained rapidly as he noticed Yang Ruxin’s slightly puzzled look, "They are very familiar with the surroundings here."

Yang Ruxin nodded: "I was just looking for someone like that." Turning to Cui Fu, she said, "Brother Cui, tell me about the area around Governor’s Office City. What is usually cultivated here? What are the local specialties and such..."

Cui Fu indeed was well-acquainted with the area—what crops were grown where, which lands were fertile, which areas yielded less, and where the water sources were—he knew it all clear and crisp.

"Yellow millet?" Yang Ruxin’s eyes lit up; that was essentially proso millet, wasn’t it?

"Yes, aside from producing some medicinal materials, the best yield here is this millet. It’s all yellow millet, which tastes better than that from other places, especially sticky," sighed Cui Fu, "This year could have been a good harvest for the Zhuang Family, but it was all taken by the Mongolian troops..."

"Here, every household brews their own vinegar and rice wine using this millet, and it tastes better than those from other places," Cui Fu’s wife chimed in, "Although we don’t have a specific trading port, the Imperial Court isn’t too strict either. The locals here exchange their homemade rice wine and vinegar for hunted goods or fur and medicinal herbs with outsiders, and actually life isn’t too bad, but who could have known..."

"So, Sister Cui, you know how to brew rice wine and vinegar?" Yang Ruxin raised her eyebrows slightly.

"Why wouldn’t I?" nodded Cui Fu’s wife, "It’s an ancestral skill. Without boasting, in the entire Governor’s Office City, there are few who can match my skills..." She also sighed, "But now, we’ve lost everything..." Their relatives were gone, their home was gone, even the crops in their fields were gone.

"If there were grains, how much rice wine and vinegar could you produce in a month?"

"This..." Cui Fu’s wife wasn’t expecting this question from Yang Ruxin, which caused her to pause, then she smiled slightly, "If that were the case, actually whatever amount is needed can be made. However, brewing wine and vinegar need space and also time for fermentation. So...at that time, our cellar could hold only two large vats, each container weighing about a hundred kilograms each..."