An orphan girl from a farming family: Everyday farming in the mountains during natural disasters

Xia Qingyue didn't know whether the woman was really desperate and regarded her as her only life-saving straw, or she was not in a clear mind. She had clearly made it very clear. Moreover, in ancient times, there was a serious taboo on the difference between men and women, but the other party had no sense of boundaries and actually moved forward.

She took two steps back, her expression cold, "Girl, please respect yourself. My father and brother have gone to the mountain to look for medicinal herbs. I am going up the mountain to bring them some food and drinks. Bye!"

When turning around, the woman saw that Xia Qingyue was about to leave, and shouted "Wait a minute." She caught up with him and reached for the backpack with one hand.

As they got closer, a pungent, unpleasant odor rushed into the woman's nostrils. She was obviously not expecting this and was stunned, her hands hanging stiffly in the air and her steps paused slightly.

"Wang Wang Wang!"

Heihei saw the stranger harassing Xia Qingyue and jumped up and pounced on the woman.

"Ah!" The woman screamed and fell backwards in fear.

"Heihei, come back." Xia Qingyue raised her eyes and looked at the girl. "It's dangerous on the mountain, you'd better get down early."

One man and one dog went up the mountain.

The woman slowly stood up and looked at Xia Qingyue's back which was gradually getting farther away, her eyes flickering.

After walking for a while and making sure that the woman had not caught up with her, Xia Qing stopped and took out the meat buns to eat, one for her and one for the black bun.

In the morning, she also prepared some raspberries, wrapped them in large leaves and carried them with her, eating them to quench her thirst.

After resting for a while after eating, she found a thick wooden stick and used it to climb the mountain. She rested three times along the way and returned to the tiankeng at around two o'clock in the afternoon.

Xia Qingyue was so tired that she put down her things and lay on the ground gasping for breath. After she calmed down, she took a big gulp of boiled water and put away the things she had bought.

All the clothes, shoes and cloth were placed in her room.

Put the rice, flour and meat in the kitchen.

She cut the lard and fat from the foreleg into pieces and lit a fire to render the lard.

Throw the chopped pork fat into the pot and simmer slowly. As the fat spreads more and more in the pot, the meat pieces shrink and turn golden brown.

The air was filled with the delicious aroma of oil and meat.

The refined oil was poured into the waterless jar that originally contained lard and had been washed clean by Xia Qingyue. One third of the jar was poured in, which was about seven pounds.

The lard that has cooled completely is white.

After refining the oil, she repeatedly washed the big pot with boiling water and wood ash, and then purified the coarse salt.

First, she put the coarse salt into the stone mortar and crushed it. There was a total of fifty kilograms of coarse salt. It was easy to pound, but the quantity was large, so she pounded it by herself until dark. She took a few breaks in the middle, and her hands were so sore after finishing.

Although she was very tired, she didn't want to rest and wanted to purify the crude salt in one go.

Pour all the crushed coarse salt into the pot, add water and boil, stirring with a shovel during the process. When the water boils, some black dirt and sand float on the churning water.

Cover the large wooden barrel with a layer of gauze and secure it along the edge of the barrel with a rope. Pour the brine in the pot onto the gauze with a wooden ladle for filtering.

She poured the quicklime water and wood ash that had been prepared in advance into the salt water, allowing the calcium ions and sulfate ions to react with the lime to form insoluble calcium sulfate precipitate, which she then filtered again. The filtered liquid was cooled and crystallized at an appropriate temperature.

At this time, pure salt crystals will gradually precipitate out, but this does not mean that the purification is successful. Instead, the crude salt can be further purified. The above filtration, addition of lime water and wood ash water, and cooling and crystallization process need to be repeated to obtain pure salt.

Xia Qingyue was so busy that she was exhausted. When she thought about the fact that she would get refined salt after finishing all these and would not have to eat bitter salt and bitter vegetables, she felt full of energy and had endless energy. She even ignored her rumbling stomach.

When she came back in the afternoon, she went to the stream to collect the fish cages. The chickens, ducks and Heihei all got food, but she was so busy that she had no food or water.

The whole process requires someone to be there, and Xia Qingyue watched closely. Finally, she looked at the pure white crystals precipitated from the bottom of the pot. She scraped a little with her fingers and put it in her mouth to taste it.

When she tasted the salty taste, she was so excited that tears welled up in her eyes. With trembling hands, she took out the crystals and put them into a clean wooden basin without water or oil.

She weighed it and found that fifty kilograms of coarse salt could produce about twelve kilograms of refined salt.

If it were peacetime, the salt and the rice and flour she bought today would be enough for her to eat for a while, and she wouldn't have to go down the mountain in the short term. However, the situation is tense and there's no telling when a war might break out.

Xia Qingyue put away the salt and steamed some yam and eggs in one pot. It was too late and she was too tired today to have the energy to cook.

While waiting for the food to be cooked, she sat in front of the stove and counted the four taels, three hundred and forty-seven coins left in her hand.

She planned to go down the mountain again tomorrow, and use all the money she had to buy food while she could still buy things.

If a war really breaks out, the world will be in chaos and you may not be able to buy food even if you have money.

After a quick dinner, she took a shower and lay in bed until at least ten o'clock.

This is the first time I have slept so late since I traveled through time, and it is also the busiest and most tiring day.

After lying on the bed for a while, Xia Qingyue was so tired that she fell into a deep sleep.

goo goo-

The crowing of a rooster woke Xia Qingyue up. She opened her eyes drowsily, turned over, and her whole body ached as she moved.

"Oh, ouch." She grinned and took a breath, her eyelids slightly raised, and saw through the open window that it was dawn outside.

The chickens and ducks in the pen kept clucking, and it seemed they were hungry.

She was still very sleepy and could not even open her eyelids. She wanted so much to lie in bed and have a good sleep all day.

Xia Qingyue lay flat on the bed, feeling drowsy and comfortable. Suddenly, she shuddered and sat up. "No, what if a fight breaks out in the next two days?"

She woke up instantly from her doze, dragged her tired body out of bed, put on her clothes and shoes, and first chopped some reed shoots and mixed them with rice bran to feed the chickens and ducks.

Then she prepared breakfast. She wanted to eat and cook some dishes to reward herself.

There were some small stones and rice husks mixed in the brown rice. She picked them out, washed them twice, added water and boiled them in a pot, and then peeled a yam and boiled them together.

I didn’t eat the lean meat from the front leg I bought yesterday, so I cut it into slices and cut the wild onions and dried bamboo shoots into sections for later use.

Heat lard in the pan, add the meat slices and stir-fry until 80% cooked. Use a wooden spatula to push it to the side of the pan. Leave the remaining oil in the pan and fry the shallots until fragrant. Add the bamboo shoots and stir-fry. When it is almost done, remove the meat, add appropriate amount of salt, and add the scallion leaves before removing from the pan and stir-fry.

A dish of shiny, fragrant fried pork with dried bamboo shoots is ready.

The white rice was steamed just right, she had one bowl of black rice and another, and also put some vegetables into the black bowl.

The rice is sweet and delicious, the fried pork slices are tender even without being marinated, the dried bamboo shoots are crispy, and the simple salt seasoning makes the dish fragrant with onions, oil, and meat, which is fresh, fragrant, and delicious.

Xia Qingyue was very satisfied with the breakfast. She felt that this was real life and real happiness.

After she finished cleaning up, it was already dawn. She took some boiled eggs and duck eggs and washed raspberries as lunch.