allonlinenovel Chapter 114: Living in Ancient Times was Suffering
Chapter 114: Living in Ancient Times was Suffering
At noon, Shen Zhiqiu and the others did not return to the cave, but went out with food.
The big guys who stayed in the cave had simpler food. Because the big pot was in short supply, they ate grass seed cotton cakes and sour bamboo shoots directly. The cakes were also made in the morning.
At noon, Shen Luming said to Shen Youyou: Sister, I almost forgot the taste of steamed buns.
When they heard about steamed buns, many children's eyes lit up. Even Sanmao from Uncle Fugui's family asked, "Lulu, are the steamed buns delicious?"
Shen Youyou was so sad and uncomfortable. From what Sanmao said, she had never eaten steamed buns.
She also knew about Uncle Fugui's family situation. The couple had to raise three children without any help, and they had lost their parents when they were young, so it was too difficult.
And their Lulu is such a sensible kid. He doesn’t dare to ask adults for anything when he wants to eat steamed buns.
Because he also knew the current situation and knew that he couldn't do it at all, he could only secretly tell his sister that he was about to forget the taste of steamed buns.
To be honest, Shen Youyou felt that life was really not easy for children in ancient times, especially Da Mao, Er Mao and San Mao from Uncle Fugui's family.
The youngest Sanmao has never eaten it, let alone the two big ones, Mao and Ermao. Shen Youyou had never thought that there were people who had never eaten steamed buns.
Shen Zhiqiu bought some fine flour, but he didn't want to make steamed buns while fleeing the famine. Instead, he mixed it with cornmeal and made corn steamed bread.
I still remember that at that time, many children ate the steamed bread and shouted that this steamed bread was delicious and sweet.
This is because corn bread mixed with white flour is sweet, mainly because white flour contains a certain amount of sugar.
These sugars will convert into sweetness during the heating process, making the steamed bread taste sweeter.
But even so, Shen Youyou never thought that there was anyone who had never eaten white flour.
Although she couldn't satisfy her brothers and sisters' wish to eat white flour buns, the combination of kudzu root powder and steamed yam made them more delicious.
It can also be eaten as pancakes or steamed buns.
The kind that is bouncy and chewy.
In order to change the taste for the little ones, Wang Fuxi and his friends did not rest after dinner. They crushed the kudzu root peeled by the adults in a wooden mortar.
Then Li Jingshu took Song Shi, Shen Zhixi, and a dozen other women to wash their powder.
The process of making kudzu root powder is similar to that of sweet potato powder and lotus root powder, so she can teach other women herself.
There was no need for Shen Youyou's instructions. After washing the powder, they just filtered it with gauze. In fact, it was the gauze cover that Shen Youyou had worn on her body before that was cut off.
Boiling it in water and disinfecting it with alcohol shouldn't be a big deal. This is the situation they are in now, and there's nothing to complain about.
Shen Youyou, who used to have mysophobia, now only says when she sees someone eating something unclean, it won’t make you sick.
Because some women are still working on making palm oil and there are not enough buckets.
Shen Youyou suggested that they use the filtered starch slurry directly in rubber water bags.
However, someone needs to hold the bag open, and once it is full, tie the mouth and let it settle on its own.
Fortunately, they had made hundreds of these water bags in order to hold more water.
The key is that this thing can be used repeatedly. After use, you can wash it and fold it up. It doesn’t take up any space at all. It’s so convenient.
It will take at least one night to settle down, so there is no point in being anxious, and everyone can only repeat the same actions.
They didn't stop until it was completely dark and Shen Zhiqiu and the others came back with piles of kudzu roots. Shen Youyou then helped her sisters beat the palm fruits.
Although she wasn't too tired due to martial arts training, she didn't know what was wrong with her hands. After swinging the hammer for half a day, three blisters appeared on the palms of her hands.
I accidentally rubbed it and it hurts so much.
I felt so bad for Shen Zhiqiu, but I couldn't tell him to stop working and take a rest.
I can only helplessly say: "His daughter, she has to be paid for doing a job, I really can't afford it, my hands are full of blisters after an afternoon."
After talking back and forth, everyone could see that he was distressed. If it really didn't work, he could take the girls to dig kudzu roots tomorrow.
They don't need to dig, just peel the bark.
After dinner, the men who had been digging kudzu roots all day did not rest. They were all washing, peeling, and mashing the roots. Even Shen Zhiqiu did not need Li Jingshu to lead the men to wash the kudzu roots. He led a dozen men to wash the roots himself.
Let his wife boil palm oil. It’s not that they don’t know how tiring it is, but they are competing with the severe cold. The weather is getting colder day by day, so they will feel at ease if they finish it early.
While Shen Zhiqiu was working, he turned around to drink water and whispered to his wife and daughter: "Do you know why livestock were valuable in ancient times?"
Shen Youyou was about to tell him: Because in ancient times...
What she meant was: Because in ancient times livestock were important tools of labor, used for farming and transportation, and were also indispensable sacrifices in sacrificial activities.
In ancient times, cattle were regarded as the highest level of sacrifice, even more valuable than human lives.
As soon as he started, he was interrupted by Shen Zhiqiu: "Because in ancient times, people had to be used like animals. No, they were more capable than animals."
Shen Zhiqiu really felt his whole body aching, but he had to stop. There were 268 people in total. Even if each person worked one kilogram per day, that would be eight thousand kilograms in a month.
Grandpa had said before that one meal a day would be enough to get through the winter. He saw that there were only about 400 to 500 kilograms of grass seeds left, which would not be enough for two days.
He saw that the old man was still talking big. If they couldn't find food, each person could drink a bowl of grass seed noodle porridge every day, which was the thin kind, and it would be enough to get through the whole winter.
People will become so thin that their bones are visible. Will they be able to walk after that? Their strong laborers will all become chickens.
Of course, there were only four or five hundred kilograms left. That was also the reason why they tried to eat as much as possible in order to have strength to work these days, so the grass seeds were eaten very quickly.
Without further ado, let's work hard just to be able to eat the yam and kudzu root steamed bread my daughter asked for in two days.
Of course, he couldn't work all night, so he rested in the early morning. At dawn, he had to lead people to dig kudzu roots. He dug more before it snowed.
The main reason is that this ground is really difficult to dig. Some of it is frozen and the soil is hard. It takes about half a step to dig deeper before it becomes easier to dig.
"The third one?"
Shen Zhiqiu was distracted: "What happened to Dad?"
Father Shen was still turning the hemp rope fork in his hand: "We have already set up the kang, so we don't need to burn adobe bricks anymore. Do we still want to burn bamboo charcoal?"
Shen Zhiqiu didn't hesitate for a moment and nodded: "Burn it. Keep burning the bamboo charcoal as long as it can be burned. It's safer to have more."
Old Man Shen now had a general understanding of the new words coming out of San'er's mouth. He nodded, turned around and called a few boys to cut the bamboo early tomorrow morning, and they would be responsible for making charcoal.
The boys were messing with the kudzu roots while shouting, "Got it."
It’s true. The men washed the kudzu roots one by one, and then used machetes and kitchen knives to peel them.
Baskets of peeled and washed Pueraria roots were carried to the pounding place. Young men and strong laborers started pounding them in groups of two. The "dong dong dong" sound continued.
Some people were carrying water out of the cave bucket by bucket. Although the groundwater in the cave was warm to the touch, it turned ice cold shortly after being taken out.
I don't have the time to heat it up, and there's no extra pot to boil water, so it's all occupied.
The men who wash the Pueraria root can only wash it like this. Several people have to take over washing it every now and then. There is no other way. The water is too cold and their fingers cannot move.
To use Li Jingshu's previous words: "Living in ancient times was a torture!"