Space Food Storage: Daily Travel

Xiaoshi Village discovered a large cave nearby.

The two village chiefs decided not to leave today. It was very dangerous in the mountains at night, so they decided to settle down first and set off early tomorrow.

They all walked towards the cave. It was indeed a large cave, with a small entrance and plenty of space inside. There was a slight breeze blowing through, which made it a good place for good air circulation and defense.

The village chief ordered a few people to light torches and go in to sweep the cave to check for mosquitoes and insects. They also checked the edge of the cave to see if there was a safe place. Liu Yuhan brought some mugwort and placed it at the entrance of the cave to smoke it. A breeze blew in, just right.

After checking that there was no problem, the women got busy cleaning up the cave. Xiaoshi Village lived in the innermost part, and Liujia Village lived in the outermost part.

The men hurriedly chopped more firewood to keep as a backup for burning all night, and also built a simple wooden fence at the door.

When the women were almost done, they hurried to cook food at the entrance of the cave. Everyone listened to Liu Yuhan's instructions, boiled the water, let it cool, and then put it into the water bags.

They don't want the bugs in the water to eat their stomachs, that's too scary!

No wonder my stomach ached sometimes when I drank raw water. Maybe it was bugs biting me? It gives me chills just thinking about it...

At night, everyone slept together, and with so many people not washing, you can imagine the smell.

There was a fire burning at the door, and Liu Yuhan "fell asleep" leaning against a rock not far from the fire. Liu sat next to her and put a thin shirt on her.

They only walked to the edge of the mountain, and there was no other incident during the night except for the chirping of insects.

At the hour of Mao, everyone hurried on their journey again.

The further we walked inside, the cooler it felt. We also saw some frightened hares and pheasants.

Seeing wild vegetables that could be picked on the roadside, the villagers picked some as well.

The group walked and stopped from time to time, and stopped to look for a place to stay at Shenshi (around 4 pm) every day. Gradually, everyone developed a tacit understanding.

Every two days, we had to look for water. As long as we followed Liujia Village, we would be lucky enough to find "water". We also found yams, wild vegetables, and herbs. We didn't have time to dig for ordinary herbs.

On the fifth day, we were already in the middle of the forest near Xiaoyan Mountain. This was the hunters' judgment.

Experienced hunters often make judgments based on the terrain and the direction of the mountains and forests.

The biggest problem facing the villagers was that they were out of salt. They could survive a month and a half without food, but what about the children and the elderly? Liu Yuhan had quite a bit of salt in her space, but it was difficult to get it out, and she was getting anxious.

That night, she dreamed of a large field of strange flowers with white crystals on them. She curiously picked some and found that the crystals looked very similar to salt.

The dream was interrupted. Liu Yuhan was in a trance, and suddenly a light bulb went off in his head. He picked up his phone and searched on Baidu: Rhus chinensis.

The fruit of Rhus chinensis contains a large amount of organic acids, including a special liquid that precipitates a salty substance when dried. Its bark, leaves, fruit and petals can all precipitate salt frost.

Especially in fruits, salt frost is the most abundant component. You can collect the salt frost by gently scraping it off, thus meeting the most basic edible value.

Rhus chinensis, also known as Gallnut, is also used medicinally. It has the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, astringing the intestines and stopping diarrhea, and dispersing blood stasis and stopping bleeding. It primarily grows in woods or shrubs on sunny slopes, valleys, and streamsides. It can reach heights of up to 10 meters, with brown twigs and leaves in various shapes, ranging from ovate to elliptical to oblong.

The Rhus chinensis tree on Baidu was exactly the same as the one in her dream! What was this hinting to her?

When everyone was preparing to rest the next day, Liu Yuhan stood in a slightly open place with a telescope. Yes, the telescope that she had almost forgotten finally came in handy!

Looking towards the sunny hillside opposite, my heart suddenly jumped up, as if! It should be.

Liu Yuhan told her parents about her discovery, said a word to the two old village chiefs, and the three of them set off towards the sunny hillside.

After walking for half an hour, they found it. The Rhus chinensis trees were of varying heights. Liu Yuhan picked a fruit from the tree, gently scraped off the layer of white frost with his fingernails, and put it in his mouth. It was salty with a hint of sourness.

Liu Shinan and Liu Shi also hurried to try it. Liu Shinan was so happy that he wanted to shout. They found salt! There were dozens of Rhus chinensis trees, more than enough.

Before they went back, they picked a large bunch of salt apples.

We had already set up camp, but we couldn't find a cave nearby, so we had to sleep outdoors in a valley sheltered from the wind.

One can imagine how shocking the villagers were to see the salt-skin fruit they brought back!

In the eyes of all of them, the Liu family has taken a step forward.

Liu Yuhan poured two bowls of water into the pot. When the water was warm, he put the salt fruit in. After the white frost on the surface fell off, he took out the fruit and continued to boil it until it was reduced to half a bowl of water. When the water cooled, it became concentrated brine, which could be turned into salt after being dried.

It tastes better after cooking than eating it directly, as the acidity evaporates a little.

The two village chiefs met with their family for a discussion. Finally, they decided to find a good spot to rest for two days to collect saltwort. The hunters could then go hunting. After so much time on bland food, they needed something oily to keep them going.

Otherwise, everyone would be skinny and run away when the wind blew. If they were unlucky and encountered wild beasts, wouldn’t they become their food?

Liu Yuhan was busy planting sweet potatoes in the space at night. The sweet potato vines had grown very long, and he planted all the extra four mu of land.

I also made rice balls.

Cook diced lean meat, carrots, and cucumber with a little salt, chicken stock, rice, and glutinous rice until they are rolled into balls the size of a fist. One for each child and two for each adult.

Early in the morning, everyone set out for the place where the saltwort was found. When they arrived, they first found a place to stay. There were two connected caves one mile away, and they randomly chose one from each village.

Some women stayed behind to clean up the cave and look for firewood. More than 20 hunters formed a team and went hunting with full confidence. The village chief took the remaining women, both old and young, to pick saltbone fruits first.

If there are places that are out of reach, the young man who is good at climbing trees will be asked to go up. Xu Fugui fully played the role of a "monkey".

They worked like this until 3 p.m., when they would take the salt-fu fruit they had picked back home to process. The women worked while eagerly waiting for the harvest.

Finally, not long after, the hunters came back.

They were all small animals, pheasants and rabbits, totaling 20. The village chief told them to rest, and the young man made a fire and plucked the pheasants and rabbits, then killed them all and had some meat for tonight.

Everyone was very happy. Although there were many people, it was good to be able to share a piece. Liu Shinan also gave the children some pheasant eggs and wild fruits. Xiao Si and Xiao Wu were very happy.

The wild game was ready, and Old Mrs. Jiang arranged for her family to provide the rice, so they would prepare tonight's dinner.

Everyone was grateful and thanked them. The village chief laughed and scolded them, saying that they should go back to work since they had gotten a bargain. There were a lot of salt-fu fruits, so they were busy.

Seeing everyone busy, Liu Yuhan secretly added water to the wooden barrel and the large pot, setting up four large pots. He rinsed the chopped meat and decided to make pheasant porridge and rabbit stew with yam.

First, cook the pheasant for 35 minutes. Then add the white and brown rice and cook together with salt, chicken stock, and wild ginger. Finally, remove from the heat and add some space for the bok choy and scallions. Chop the bok choy and make porridge in three large pots.

In another large pot, heat the oil and add ginger, garlic, star anise, dried chili peppers and the rabbit. Stir-fry until fragrant. Add some cooking wine and soy sauce. Add water to cover the meat and simmer for 35 minutes. Open it and put the chopped yam in, stir, and simmer for another 15 minutes.

The fragrance wafted around, and the villagers working nearby all had empty stomachs, so no one could laugh at anyone else.

When it was time to eat, several women in the village would distribute the food according to the number of people and each household would take food.

Everyone was guaranteed a few mouthfuls of porridge, two pieces of rabbit meat and two pieces of yam. Adding their vegetable steamed buns, they were quite full, and everyone was very satisfied and grateful.

The next morning, we were busy again. There were many people today, so we finished collecting salt-fu fruit by noon.

The old people, women and children collected salt, and the men dug yams.

Liu Shinan, a member of the Liu family, Liu Yuhan, led the young men in search of water. The drought persisted, and even if they found a source, it was nearly dry. No wonder they couldn't catch much prey; the animals were incredibly clever, so Liu Yuhan resorted to the same old tricks.

The salt has been collected, and even if each family shares a little, it's better than nothing. It can last for a month or so without any problem.

Liu Yuhan was writing down the days in her notebook. This was the twentieth day since she'd traveled through time. There had hardly been a single day without work. Her phone didn't display the time.

Time had stopped on the day she traveled through time, July 2023, 7. I wonder if the old professor and his wife are doing okay?