I Have a Countryside Gourmet Restaurant

Chapter 373: Chapter 338: Corn Silk is a Treasure

Hearing it was something good, all the customers grew interested and gathered around.

Li You set down the back basket.

”Corn!”

”It’s sweet corn!”

Some people called it by its standard name, while others used the local term for it.

Regardless of what they called it, everyone’s eyes lit up.

”This corn must have been planted really early to be ready now. On my way here, most of the corn I saw was just starting to carry its babies.”

Around here, people called the phenomenon of a corn stalk producing an ear of corn ”carrying a baby on its back.”

”Just starting to carry its babies” meant the ears of corn were just beginning to form.

”Is it already time to eat sweet corn?”

”Boss, why’d you bring back so many ears of corn?”

”...”

Li You explained the situation and finished by saying, ”If you like sweet corn, feel free to buy some. This should be just about the earliest sweet corn around here.”

”Yes, absolutely. This is the first time I’ve seen ready-to-eat sweet corn this year. I’ll buy two. By the way, how much are they?”

Li You looked at Li Donghai and said, ”Grandpa Donghai, how much are you selling them for?”

Li Donghai said, ”I was selling them for five yuan each in town this morning. Does that seem fair to everyone?”

”More than fair! For cobs this big, and this early in the season, five yuan each is a great price. I’ll take two.”

”I’ll have two as well. I’ll take them home and boil them. They’ll be delicious!”

”I love it too. I’ll also buy two.”

”I’ll take one. I’ll use it to make porridge tomorrow morning.”

”...”

Many customers immediately said they wanted to buy some.

The twenty-some ears of corn probably wouldn’t be nearly enough to sell.

Li Donghai hadn’t expected this kind of reaction. He had originally thought he’d be lucky to sell just a few.

He never imagined they would be so popular.

This made him quite happy.

However, he didn’t immediately start bagging corn for the customers. Instead, he first picked out four cobs, handed them to Li You, and said, ”Xiaoyou, I know you like sweet corn too. Take these four and enjoy them.”

Li You had originally planned to buy a few, as he really did love sweet corn.

This would be his first time eating sweet corn this year.

He hadn’t expected Li Donghai to just give him four. ’I can’t just take these. I have to pay for them.’ So he said, ”Grandpa Donghai, I was going to buy a few anyway. Let’s just say I’m buying these four. Let me give you the money.”

After speaking, he took the corn. Then he took out twenty yuan and offered it to Li Donghai.

But Li Donghai waved his hands repeatedly, insisting he absolutely wouldn’t take it. He said if Li You insisted on paying, he’d just have to pack up his stall and leave.

Li You had no choice but to put the money away. Then he said, ”Well then, thank you, Grandpa Donghai.”

Li Donghai was very pleased and said, ”I should be the one thanking you.” Only then did he take out bags and start packing the corn for the customers.

Some wanted two, some wanted one.

Soon, all the corn in the back basket was sold out. There were still some customers who hadn’t gotten any.

”Sir, do you have any more at home? Why don’t you go back and pick some more to sell?” the customers who missed out asked Li Donghai.

Li You also chimed in, ”Grandpa Donghai, it’s still early. You could definitely go back and pick some more to sell. There are still a lot of visitors from the county town exploring the valley. When they come back later, they’ll probably want to buy some too.”

Of course, Li Donghai wouldn’t refuse something like this. He agreed happily, saying again and again, ”Okay, okay, I’ll go back and pick some more.”

Li You nodded. ”Alright, Grandpa Donghai. Take your time and be safe.”

Li Donghai smiled and said ”Okay,” then shouldered the empty back basket and walked toward the parking lot with a spry gait.

”That old gentleman must be over sixty, right? Look at that spring in his step, he’s in great shape!”

”Definitely. If he weren’t in good shape, how could he grow such amazing corn? This corn is really something, so long and big.”

”This corn just looks delicious.”

”...”

Looking at the corn in their hands, the customers were all very happy.

One customer pulled off the corn silk, intending to throw it away, and said, ”The husk is enough, I don’t need the silk.”

When Li You saw this, he quickly said, ”Don’t throw that away! Don’t! Corn silk is good stuff.”

”Huh?”

The customer pulling off the silk paused and looked at Li You, puzzled. ”Boss, is this corn silk useful for something?”

Li You said, ”It’s very useful. Corn silk is also known as ’dragon whiskers.’ Did you know that?”

’Dragon whiskers?’

Some customers shook their heads, having never heard of such a thing.

However, another customer said, ”I think I’ve heard that somewhere before. But why is it called dragon whiskers?”

Li You said, ”Because it’s very valuable. It contains a lot of crude fiber, crude protein, polysaccharides, and crude fat, and it has a wide range of preventative and health uses. There’s a folk saying: ’A single strand of corn silk is worth two taels of gold.’ In traditional Chinese medicine, there’s an ingredient called ’dragon whisker,’ and it refers to corn silk.”

The customers were amazed to hear this. ’Could seemingly insignificant corn silk really be that amazing?’

’There’s really a saying that ”a single strand of corn silk is worth two taels of gold”?’

’That’s just too incredible.’

’You learn something new every day.’

”So, Boss, how do you use this corn silk? Do you just eat it directly?” another customer asked.

Li You smiled. ”Of course not. When we boil the sweet corn, we put the corn silk in to cook with it. After the corn is cooked, just drink the water it was boiled in.”

’So that’s how it’s done.’

The customers all nodded. In the past, whenever they boiled corn, they would always meticulously clean off all the silk and never drank the cooking water.

’Thinking about it now, it feels like we’ve wasted so much nutrition.’

”But Boss, what are the main benefits of drinking the water from boiling the corn and the silk?”

Li You said, ”It can act as a diuretic, reduce swelling, and cleanse the liver and gallbladder. It has a good therapeutic effect on things like high blood pressure and gout. If you have someone at home with high blood pressure or gout, this is the perfect season to boil more corn silk for them to drink. It’s natural, healthy, has no side effects, and the taste is okay. It’s slightly sweet, and while you wouldn’t call it delicious, it’s definitely not bad. Of course, healthy people can also drink it often, as it’s good for the body.”

The customers all nodded. That was definitely something worth trying. Just toss the corn silk in when boiling the corn—it was very convenient.

’So corn silk is a treasure after all. I can’t throw it away anymore.’

”When I get home with these two cobs today, I’m going to boil them with the silk. And then I’ll drink the water,” one customer said.

Li You nodded. ”Yes, exactly. This water, boiled with the silk, is also called ’Dragon Beard Tea.’ You can drink it just like regular tea.”

”Dragon Beard Tea?” a customer said. ”I thought Dragon Beard Tea was Fengyang Vine Tea!”

Li You chuckled. ”Fengyang Vine Tea is indeed also called Dragon Beard Tea. But it’s not the only one! They can both be called Dragon Beard Tea.”

The customer laughed too. ”That’s true. By the way, corn itself has high nutritional value, right?”

Li You nodded. ”Indeed. As an annual grass in the grass family, corn’s vitamin content is extremely high—five to ten times that of rice and wheat. Among all staple foods, corn has the highest nutritional and health value.”

Amazing!

All the customers gave him a thumbs-up. ’It seems I really should eat more corn.’

’When Grandpa Donghai comes back to sell more corn, I’ll buy two more.’

Just then, some customers who had been catching crabs in the valley returned.

They were carrying transparent bags, and the number of crabs inside was clearly visible.

Everyone’s haul was pretty good; they each had at least ten or twenty crabs.

The customers who were already there all gathered around.

”You’re back! Looks like you all had a good haul! Did you catch any big ones?”

”Can we see inside the bag?”

”...”

Everyone was very interested in the returning crab-catchers’ harvest.

And the crab-catchers were more than happy to show off their haul.

A harvest is meant to be shown to others, to receive their praise and affirmation. It brings a sense of accomplishment.

So, the returning crab-catchers began opening their bags of crabs while describing their crab-catching experiences.

”I caught a lot of small ones, but I let them go. I only kept these twenty or so bigger ones. This is enough to stir-fry a whole plate when I get home.”

”There were so many people catching crabs today, and a lot of pretty ladies too. Everyone was secretly competing to see who could catch more, or who could catch the biggest one. It was a lot of fun.”

”Catching crabs is best with a crowd. It’s more fun that way.”

”The valley was really lively today.”

”Speaking of who caught the biggest crab? Everyone, take a look at this one I caught.” A customer in a black T-shirt held up a crab for the crowd to see, then continued, ”I think this crab of mine might just be the biggest one anyone caught today.”

Everyone looked, and it was indeed very large. Although it was nowhere near as big as Li You’s, it could still be considered a rare big one.

Its carapace at the widest point must have been five centimeters across. For a mountain crab, that was an extremely rare sight.

There was indeed a high probability that it was the largest of all the crabs caught by anyone that day.

Everyone agreed, ”Awesome! That’s probably the biggest one.”

The man in the black T-shirt laughed heartily, very pleased.

At this moment, the returning crab-catchers, including the man in the black T-shirt, noticed that many of the other customers were carrying ears of sweet corn.

’Is it already time to eat sweet corn?’

”How come you all have sweet corn? Where did you get it?” the man in the black T-shirt and the others asked.

”We bought it. An old man from the boss’s village just came by to sell some sweet corn,” replied a customer who had just bought some.

’So that’s how it was.’

”I can’t believe it’s already sweet corn season. I’ll have to buy some when I head back. I love boiled sweet corn. I eat a ton of it every year.”

”It might not be easy to buy them now. Most of the corn isn’t ready to eat yet. That old gentleman’s corn is ready now because he planted it very early. It’s probably the earliest sweet corn in the area.”

”...”

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