Go back to the past to plant trees

"Brother Feng, the vegetables in the garden have all grown, and we can't eat them all. Do you want to cut some and dry them?"

During dinner that day, Zhao Jinquan talked to Feng Cheng about the vegetable garden.

The vegetable garden wasn't big, but it was only for two people, so it was hard to finish all the vegetables. Although there were a few chickens, the grass in the nursery and the vegetable garden was enough for them.

Feng Cheng nodded: "Okay, let's sun them, but don't finish them all. Leave some that aren't growing well to fertilize the soil, so that the vegetables will grow better next year."

Thinking of the pumpkins and winter melons that were about to grow in the vegetable garden, Feng Cheng thought of a few foods: candied winter melon, candied pumpkin, and pumpkin cakes.

These are all snacks that Feng Cheng ate when he was a child. His grandmother often made them, so Feng Cheng ate them a few times. For children, these snacks tasted delicious because they were sweet, and very sweet.

However, all these snacks require sugar, and Feng Cheng doesn't have much white sugar available right now. Thinking about this, Feng Cheng's desire to make maltose became urgent again.

The winter in Bashang lasts for nearly half a year. Although the original owner survived last year with the help of supplies from the bureau, he remembers that his mouth was so dry that he could hardly eat anything. He just ate some staple food every day and barely survived.

Feng Cheng didn't want to suffer like the original owner. He wanted to live a better life. With the produce from the vegetable garden and the supplies from the bureau, Feng Cheng wasn't worried about running out of food during the winter. If he could get some snacks, he would like to do so, so he could have some treats to change things up during the winter.

Candied winter melon, candied pumpkin, sweet potato starch, potato starch, and fried rice, etc.

However, the most important thing is to produce maltose; otherwise, without sugar, many things cannot be produced.

In his previous life, Feng Cheng had heard his mother talk about a way to make sweet potato candy, which was similar to the way maltose was made, except that glutinous rice was replaced with sweet potato.

Compared to glutinous rice, sweet potatoes are much easier to obtain. They are grown in the vegetable garden, and if you don't have enough, you can buy some from the village. Even if you don't buy a lot, you can still get a couple hundred pounds.

Thinking of this, Feng Cheng asked Zhao Jinquan, "Jinquan, after the autumn harvest this year, will your team be able to buy some sweet potatoes? We don't need too many, just two or three hundred catties will do."

A pound of sweet potatoes used to cost only seven or eight cents, but now, during these difficult times, the price will definitely be higher, possibly even two or three times higher.

However, this is the black market price. The government prohibits private buying and selling, so even if you want to sell grain, you can't. Therefore, Feng Cheng can still buy some if he wants to, as there is always some surplus in the countryside.

Zhao Jinquan replied, "It's hard to say. Two or three hundred catties is a bit difficult, but a hundred or so catties should be no problem."

"Brother Feng, why do you need so many dried sweet potatoes? We grow them, don't we? Those should be enough for us!"

Zhao Jinquan looked at Feng Cheng with some curiosity.

Feng Cheng explained, "I want to make some maltose, and sweet potatoes are the main ingredient. I also want to make some sweet potato flour, which requires a lot of sweet potatoes, as the ones in the field are not enough."

Maltose? Sweet potato starch?

"I know about sweet potato flour and I can make it, but what is maltose? Is it sugar? Can it be made from sweet potatoes?"

"Yes, it's sugar, made from sweet potatoes and some wheat. I can't explain the specific steps in a short time, but it's definitely possible to make. You'll see how it's done after watching it once."

Feng Cheng had never made sweet potato maltose before, but he had seen others make it with glutinous rice. Since it was similar, the methods should be the same. Feng Cheng felt that it should be easy to make. At most, he would just need to test the ratio of sweet potato to malt on a small scale at the beginning.

"Our team probably can't buy too much, but I can go to other teams to buy. I have relatives on other teams, so buying some food shouldn't be a problem. If that doesn't work, I can also trade potatoes for it."

Upon hearing Feng Cheng say that sweet potatoes can indeed be made into sugar, Zhao Jinquan couldn't help but lick his lips. Sugar, that's a good thing. He's always wanted to eat it. He could drink several bowls of water with a little sugar in it.

"Brother Feng, when are we going to make this sweet potato candy? If you want some, I can go back to the team tomorrow and buy some. If the team doesn't have any, I'll go to other teams. It's almost harvest time, so some families should have some sweet potatoes left over."

"There's no rush. Sweet potatoes won't help. We need to get some wheat first. I'll go down to the dam in a few days to see if I can get some wheat. We'll talk about sweet potatoes after we get the wheat."

Wheat, a fine grain, is hard to come by, and Feng Cheng wasn't sure if he could buy it. He would have to go down and ask Uncle Liu, the head chef at the Forestry Bureau's canteen. Asking him to help get a few kilograms of wheat shouldn't be a problem.

"All right!"

Hearing Feng Cheng say this, Zhao Jinquan could only nod in disappointment. He didn't understand anything and was just an assistant, so he could only do whatever Feng Cheng said.

“Jin Quan, if you really have nothing better to do, I got a plane from my uncle. You can make a doghouse for Xiao Liu. Last winter he slept on the kang with me, but I don’t plan to let him do that this year. Make a doghouse that you can move and put it next to the kang for him to sleep there.”

"And the toilet, the toilet in our room isn't sealed well, and there's always a smell coming out. You could get a new one, or you could put a small toilet in the inner room, that way when we're hibernating, the smell of poop and pee won't be so strong."

Zhao Jinquan spent his days doing nothing and didn't read any books, so Feng Cheng thought about finding him something to do so he wouldn't be so bored.

"Make a doghouse for Xiao Liu, okay," Zhao Jinquan agreed without much thought when he heard Feng Cheng's arrangement.

"However, making a doghouse, a toilet, and a latrine would require a lot of wood, and it would need to be of good quality. The kind we use for cooking fires doesn't seem to be suitable."

"Then go outside to get some, or you can buy some. We need to stock up on firewood for the winter anyway, so you can start solving this problem while you're at it."

"Uh, okay!"

Zhao Jinquan felt that the more he asked, the more work he had to do, but he couldn't bring himself to refuse. After all, he had to do this work sooner or later, and if he didn't do it now, he would probably still have to do it later.

Feng Cheng assigned the work, and Zhao Jinquan immediately got to work.

However, the carpenter's tools were incomplete; he only had a plane, a machete for splitting firewood, an axe, and a few small knives, making his work quite difficult.

However, Feng Cheng didn't care about that. He just wanted to make a doghouse that would be usable and didn't need to be too fancy. His main goal was to find some work for Zhao Jinquan so that the guy wouldn't disturb his reading.

If this guy makes something good, Feng Cheng might ask him to make some stools later, such as desks, book boxes, wooden shelves, and the like.

Thinking about it this way, Feng Cheng felt that letting Zhao Jinquan do carpentry was a pretty good arrangement. It gave him a place to vent his energy and also added some usable things to the camp.

Anyway, they used firewood, so if it was poorly made, they would throw it into the stove to burn as firewood, and if it was well made, they would use it.