Author: round head and round belly

"Red and blue flowers? Is there such a flower?"

After hearing Li Yi's description, Liu Yifei was a little curious.

"It's actually a red flower."

Li Yi cleared his throat and explained: "It's the kind of red flower tea that you girls often drink. It can stimulate menstruation and activate blood circulation."

After hearing what he said, Liu Yifei immediately knew what kind of flower he was talking about.

But the topic was a bit private. In order to cover up her embarrassment, she quickly asked: "That red flower is orange, right? Why is it called red and blue flower?"

"Because its leaves are very similar to those of plants such as indigo, indigo, and woad, which can provide blue dyes."

Li Yi explained: "Malan is Banlan, and its root is Banlangen. Polygonum, woad is also called indigo, indigo, and blue grass.

Their leaves contain natural dyeing ingredients, and before the invention of synthetic dyes, the leaves of these plants were used to make dyes in China.”

"Oh! I remembered it!"

Zhao Jinmai suddenly realized: "Is the indigo factory in HD District the same place where dyes were produced in the past?"

"That's right."

When the elevator arrived downstairs, Li Yi walked out of the elevator and said with a smile: "Have you ever heard of "Exploring Qingshui River"? The story of that ditty happened in the Indigo Factory."

"I've heard of it! I can also sing!"

Zhao Jinmai began to sing: "The peach leaves are pointed to the top, and the willow leaves are covering the sky. This wise man in your place, listen carefully to what I have to say!"

Hey, this happened to the Jingxi Indigo Factory! There is a Song Laosan in the Firearms Camp of the Indigo Factory~!"

Liu Yifei looked at her in surprise and asked with a smile: "Can you still sing this?"

"Haha! Isn't it amazing?"

Zhao Jinmai laughed and explained: "When I was in school, my roommate liked to listen to cross talk. I listened to it every day, and I learned it after listening."

"Awesome, awesome."

Liu Yifei smiled and praised.

Zhao Jinmai raised his chin proudly, then looked at Li Yi and said with a smile: "Hey! That's too far off topic, Brother Yi, where did you go?"

"Speaking of the red and blue flowers, the leaves are very similar to Isatis root."

Liu Yifei made a joke.

"The leaves are very similar."

Li Yi smiled and said: "In ancient times, blue often referred to the indigo grass used to make dyes. Bai Juyi's poem said that in spring, the river water is as green as blue, which means that the green river water is as dark green as the leaves of the indigo grass.

"

Hearing him mention Bai Juyi, Liu Yifei thought of something and suddenly realized: "There is a sentence in Bai Juyi's "Red Thread Carpet", which is about picking silk and practicing thread red and blue dyeing. Does it mean using red and blue flowers for dyeing?"

Seeing that she actually mentioned this poem, Li Yi was a little surprised, then nodded and said with a smile: "That's right."

"No wonder."

Liu Yifei thoughtfully said: "When I read that poem, I was still a little puzzled why it was obviously dyed red and blue, but the title of the poem was Red Thread Carpet."

Then, she curiously asked: "Can red and blue flowers also be used as lipstick?"

"Yes, red and blue flowers are the main raw material of the earliest rouge."

Li Yi took out his mobile phone, opened the map, and searched for the wholesale flower market while explaining: "Red and blue flowers were actually introduced to China from the Han Dynasty through the Western Regions.

There is an ancient Xiongnu song handed down from the Han Dynasty. The lyrics are: Losing me in the Qilian Mountains will cause my animals to have no rest; losing me in the Yanzhi Mountains will make my women colorless.

This song was written by the Huns in grief after being defeated by Wei Qing and Huo Qubing."

"Eh? I seem to have heard this song."

Zhao Jinmai frowned and recalled: "It seems to be a ballad, but I don't remember who sang it. What's the name?"

"It's called September."

Liu Yifei thought about it.

"Yes, it's September."

Zhao Jinmai patted his forehead: "That song is pretty good, but it feels very sad."

"The song of the defeated army is certainly sad."

Li Yi smiled and said: "At that time, the Xiongnu were driven out of Qilian Mountain and Yanzhi Mountain, and the Han army brought back a lot of rouge and red and blue flower seeds from there, as well as many prisoners.

Yanzhi Mountain was the main production area of ​​red and blue flowers in the Western Regions at that time, and the noble women of the Xiongnu at that time would use rouge made from red and blue flowers mixed with mutton oil to make up.

War was also one of the main ways for ancient cultures to blend. After seeing the captives of the Huns' nobles, women in the Central Plains gradually began to try to apply rouge.

Because this kind of cosmetics was obtained from Yanzhi Mountain in the Western Regions, people in the Central Plains called this kind of cosmetics Yanzhi, and then it gradually evolved into the later name rouge."

"So that's it."

Zhao Jinmai nodded and sighed: "I always thought we invented rouge!"

Li Yi confirmed the location of the flower wholesale market, put away his mobile phone, and said with a smile: "Civilizations are constantly integrating. Our Chinese civilization is an eclectic civilization. Even foreign cultures can be used for our own purposes.

Just like the suona and erhu, they are musical instruments imported from the Middle East. Haven't we integrated them into our own culture and turned them into one of our traditional musical instruments?"

Liu Yifei also smiled and said: "History is quite interesting. If it were in ancient times, if we came from different places, we might have to fight!"

"yes!"

Zhao Jinmai lamented: "Just like the Huns mentioned in history books, aren't they our compatriots from Mongolia Province now?"

Li Yi looked at her and joked: "In the past, going to your hometown meant being exiled."

"..."

Zhao Jinmai was immediately speechless: "Can we still be friends happily?"

While they were joking, several people had already arrived at the underground parking garage of the shopping mall.

After putting the purchased things in the car, Liu Yifei and Zhao Jinmai looked at Li Yi and asked, "Where should we go next?"

"Go to the wholesale flower market."

Li Yi smiled and said: "Making rouge requires a lot of flowers, so I will buy more this time."

"That's great! I like flowers so much!"

Zhao Jinmai suddenly became energetic and couldn't wait to get in the car.

The group of people immediately set off and headed straight to the flower wholesale market.

If you want to buy enough kinds of flowers, the flower wholesale market is undoubtedly the best choice.

Soon, several people arrived at the flower market in Yuquanying.

This is the main area where people in Beijing go to buy flowers before the Spring Festival. All kinds of flowers are relatively complete and the prices are relatively affordable.

It was summer at this time and it was not a holiday. There were not too many people in the flower market, but the flowers were still in full bloom.

Strolling through the flower showroom, Liu Yifei and Zhao Jinmai felt dizzy. Every flower they saw wanted to go up and look at it, smell it and touch it.

Compared with their leisurely style, Li Yi's purpose was very clear. When he entered the store, he asked: "Boss, are there any red roses?"

The boss, a middle-aged woman with an accent from Hebei Province, came over after hearing this and asked with a smile: "Yes! Is it right to buy roses for my girlfriend? How many do you want? I have the best quality ones."

As she said that, she also saw Liu Yifei and Zhao Jinmai who followed Li Yi in, and she immediately exclaimed: "Are these your partner and sister-in-law? Ouch! How handsome are they?"

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Chapter completed!