Chapter 30

  Cheng Daire thoroughly collapsed, okay, maybe liberal arts otaku and science otaku are the same kind of creature, we don't need women.

  "Master, something's wrong! Little Ling has been poisoned!"

  Just then, Xu Shenji hurried over. Cheng Dairen was also startled and said, "Quickly take me to see."

  As they walked, Da Lei asked, "What happened to her? How did she get poisoned?"

  "She was picking mushrooms in the back mountain, saw red fruits on the ground and ate one, resulting in a burning mouth and sweating all over... Ah, this silly girl, just gluttonous." Xu Shenji's hands and feet were at a loss.

  Walking into Xuling'er's room, Huang San Yuan was guarding her and was also very anxious. Cheng Da Lei saw Xuling'er lying on the bed, with flushed cheeks and tears streaming down her eyes.

  "Big brother, I...I'm afraid it's no use..."

  "Ling'er, don't be afraid, I'll definitely find a way to cure you."

  It's easy to say that, but Cheng Da Lei is clueless about medicine, and no one in the entire village understands it either. Now they don't even know what kind of poison Xu Ling Er was poisoned with.

  "What poisonous fruit did she eat?"

  "It's just that, this silly girl, silly girl..." Xu Shenji held the vegetable basket: "How can things from the mountain be eaten casually!"

  Cheng Dali took over the vegetable basket and saw that there were some wild vegetables, mushrooms, and... chili peppers inside.

  "Is she poisoned from eating this?" Cheng Dairen held up a chili pepper.

  "Indeed, extremely toxic!" Xu Shenji said.

  Cheng Dalai was at a loss whether to laugh or cry, looking at Xu Shenji and Huang Sanjuan, then again at Xu Ling'er on the bed. Suddenly, he had an idea and asked: "Don't you all know what this is?"

  Three people shook their heads at the same time, and Xushen Ji said: "Does the master of the house recognize this poison?"

  "This is not a poison, this is called chili pepper, it's a kind of vegetable and can also be considered as a seasoning."

  "What's Ke Ling'er like now?"

  "It's just too spicy, she got scared again, drinking more water will be fine."

  Cheng Dalai said indifferently, suddenly paused, and a flash of lightning flashed through his mind, making his limbs tremble.

  Xu Ling'er, Xu Shenji had never seen chili peppers before. This didn't seem strange to Cheng Dairen, after all the two of them didn't have much experience. But Huang Sanjuan used to be Han Huzi's steward, this was a bit strange. Did that mean... the Empire simply didn't have chili peppers?

  Historically, when was chili pepper introduced to China? Was it during the late Ming or Qing dynasty... Cheng Dalai racked his brains, but his limited historical knowledge couldn't tell him the exact time, only that it was a very, very late era. Before then, China didn't have chilies at all, and people used ginger, mustard, and Sichuan pepper to add flavor.

  Nowadays in this world, history is somewhat chaotic, and Cheng Dairen doesn't know which time period the empire corresponds to.

  The system rewarded itself with an acre of mature chili peppers, which it didn't care about at all and didn't even bother to find any interest in. But if this world had never had chili peppers, the significance represented by this acre of chili peppers would be completely different.

  In the past life of Cheng Dairen, chili peppers swept the nation, and too many people were unhappy without them. In this world, only those who grasp the chili peppers have a good saying... things are precious because they are scarce.

  Cheng Daire's emotions became agitated, and he quickly grabbed a chili pepper and rushed to Su Qing's room, demanding proof of the matter.

  "Do you know what this is?"

  Su Ying furrowed her brow: "Shan Guo?"

  Cheng Daire's heart was racing, and even Su Qing hadn't seen chili peppers before. It could almost be confirmed that this world didn't have chili peppers yet. He remembered that in history, chili peppers were introduced very late, but they swept the country in a very short time. And because of the system's reward, he had possessed this crop thousands of years ahead of time, and it was exclusive to him.

  Exclusivity means monopoly, and monopoly means wealth.

  Cheng Dalai had a faint feeling in his heart that chili peppers might become the capital for him to dig up his first pot of gold.

  "Do you think this can sell for a good price if it's sold?" Cheng Dairen asked Su Qing, seeking her opinion.

  "What flavor is it? Sweet?"

  "No, it's spicy."

  "I haven't eaten it before, I don't know."

  "Then I can leave some for you to try, and we can cooperate in the long term." In fact, some powerful mountain strongholds have connections with business firms in the city. Cheng Dali thinks he can develop Su Jing further, after all she is the daughter of Four Seas Business Firm.

  "Come to think of it, you've been kidnapped for so many days now, how come no one has come to ransom you? Don't you have anyone who wants you?"

  Su Ying, who had always been calm, changed her face greatly after hearing this sentence, with resentment and helplessness hidden in her eyes.

  "At this time, Cheng Da Lei said with deep feeling: 'Don't worry, even if the whole world betrays you, I will betray the whole world with you.'"

  Before Su Qing could react, Cheng Dairen quickly left the house. He still had to ask Xue Linger where the chili peppers were picked from.

  Xu Ling'er was frightened for a moment, and her own actions caused the entire mountain stronghold to worry. When she saw Cheng Da Lei again, she felt somewhat embarrassed.

  She brought Cheng Dairen, Xu Shenji and Huang San with several others to a hillside outside the mountain stronghold. Cheng Dairen saw that there were mature red peppers growing here, with bright red ripe fruit hanging from them.

  The yield of chili peppers per mu is far higher than that of wheat and soybeans, with several thousand catties of chilies per mu. According to the principle of scarcity being precious, one catty of chilies can be exchanged for over ten catties of grain.

  This is more cost-effective than planting any crop in a mountain village.

  And the pepper matures in a relatively short period, it can be mature in two or three months. The mountain village's ten acres of land are all planted with peppers, and before winter arrives, they can harvest tens of thousands of kilograms, which will be an astronomical figure when converted to grain.

  Cheng Dalai became excited and patted Xu Shenji's shoulder, saying: "Military strategist, let's pick all these peppers, we'll plant peppers this year."

  "Master, you're not joking, are we really going to plant poisonous things? What will we eat by winter?"

  Cheng Dali was speechless and really couldn't communicate with this kind of person. He only gave Cheng Dali a heavy pat on the shoulder: "Get to work, that's an order."

  ……

  This world is very slow, with no advanced productivity, everything needs to be done manually. And the mountain stronghold has only six people in total.

  Six people picked chili peppers, then pulled them back to the village to dry in the sun, and then dug out the seeds inside for planting.

  Time passed day by day, and several people in the mountain stronghold were busy from dawn till dusk, but even so, the progress of work was still very slow.

  But even if it's slow, Cheng Dairen didn't let Su Qing join in. With great difficulty, he had accumulated some good feelings, and he didn't want them to be destroyed.

  "Is Shaoyu on duty at the foot of the mountain today?"

  "Hmm, tomorrow it's my turn." Qin Man said.

  Chili peppers need to be planted, and the main job of the mountain stronghold cannot be lost. So Cheng Dairen arranged for himself, Qin Man, and Lin Shaoyu to take turns standing guard at the foot of the mountain. His task was still to brush.

  "Big boss, let me go tomorrow too, it's not fair that only you guys get to work hard."

  "Shut up!" Cheng Dalai scolded him: "Don't think I don't see that you don't want to pick the peppers."

  At this moment, Lin Shaoyu slowly came in from outside. Cheng Dairen hurriedly asked: "How was it? Was there any harvest today?"

  For a long time, no one passed by under the mountain, and Cheng Dairen's task progress was still 1/10.

  "It's a gain after all." A little girl flashed out behind Lin Shaoyu: "She is looking for Miss Su."