So when Shen Xixi and the other returned, the family had already started cooking wild vegetable, radish, and coarse rice porridge—this would be their midday meal.
“Grandma, Mother, we’re back!” The little one carried a back basket on her back and held firewood in her hands. With a full stomach, she ran quickly.
“Oh, Xixi, why did you dig up so many tree roots? Child, the ones you dug up yesterday were thrown into the firewood pile. These things aren’t edible!”
Grandma felt a pang of heartache. This child, driven by hunger, had even resorted to bringing back tree roots when she couldn’t find wild vegetables.
“Grandma, these are edible. Last time I stayed at the medical clinic for three days, I saw someone selling these to the clinic.”
“The old physician said they aren’t worth much and are everywhere in the mountains. With grain prices rising now, it’s better to keep them to steam or stew as food. I specifically asked what they looked like back then, and there are plenty of them on Back Mountain.”
Shen Xixi came up with an explanation, though she knew the medicinal kind was firewood kudzu, while this was powdered kudzu, which tasted much better.
“Really? Oh, yesterday when we left, these were thrown in the yard. I should have brought them back earlier.”
“Mother, it’s fine. Old Man Shen and the others also just burned them as firewood.” Liu Taohua pursed her lips, unconcerned.
“Then let’s steam some for ourselves tomorrow to try. If they’re edible, that means the whole mountain is full of food!”
Grandma looked hopeful. Xixi had always been clever, and if she said so, it was likely true.
“I was just worrying. Without vegetables, just this thin porridge—even if we give them a full meal, they won’t be full!”
More importantly, the bit of rice Lizheng’s Wife brought would be eaten today. What would they do tomorrow?
“Grandma, look at my back basket! Sister used a slingshot to knock out a rabbit, caught over a dozen birds, and even climbed trees to get several nests of bird eggs. Sister is amazing!”
By now, Xiao Xingbao couldn’t hold back any longer. The little one excitedly lifted the rabbit, which had already woken up and would have run away if not tied up.
“Oh, my precious granddaughter, you’re so capable! This rabbit could sell for dozens of coins in the county town. Then we could buy some medicine for your father. There are also fourteen birds underneath—let’s stew them for soup today. We still have radishes in the field!”
“It was just luck. I’ll practice my slingshot well and hunt more birds and rabbits for our family to eat!” Shen Xixi rubbed her head, making an excuse for her good aim.
Shen Xixi was overjoyed by the praise. In her past life, she had no family, so no matter how capable she was, no one had ever praised her, patted her head, or doted on her like this.
“Mother, why don’t we steam some kudzu root for ourselves at noon? Otherwise, the people outside won’t be full with just the rice porridge. We can save the bird eggs to make egg drop soup tonight!”
“Good, good, we’ll do as you say.” Liu Taohua was overjoyed. Now that the children were sensible, even if life was hard, they would eventually get through it.
With that, she hurried off to the field they had been allotted to pull radishes.
Shen Xixi had originally wanted to stew the rabbit to eat, but for farming families, going a month without meat was common. In Grandma’s eyes, exchanging it for money to treat illnesses was the best way to maximize benefits.
Shen Xixi sent Grandma off to do other tasks while she began processing the kudzu root.
After some thought, I purchased 3 jin of flour from the Space and mixed 12 jin of steamed kudzu root into the flour. I secretly added a bit of white sugar, which made the steamed buns taste great—the sweetness masked the flavor of the kudzu root and enhanced the overall texture.
Friendly reminder: If you encounter ads like “Are you a real person?”, there’s no need to respond. Just close them, and avoid scanning QR codes or sending text messages!
Settings
By the time Shen Xixi and the other returned, the family had already started brewing wild vegetable, radish, and coarse rice porridge for lunch.
“Grandma, Mother, we’re back!” The little one carried the back basket and some firewood. With a full stomach, Xiao Xingbao ran very fast.
“Oh, Xixi, why did you dig up even more tree roots? You silly child, the ones you dug yesterday were thrown into the firewood pile. This stuff isn’t edible!”
Grandma felt a pang of heartache. She thought the child was so hungry that, unable to find wild vegetables, she had resorted to bringing back tree roots.
“Grandma, this is edible. Last time I stayed at the medical clinic for three days, I saw someone bringing this to sell to the clinic.”
“The old physician said it wasn’t worth much because it grows everywhere on the mountain. Now that the grain price has risen, he said it’s better to keep it and steam it directly or stew it as a food substitute. I specifically asked what it looked like back then; there’s plenty of it on the Back Mountain.”
Shen Xixi made up an excuse. She knew that the kind used for medicine was usually firewood kudzu, while this was powdered kudzu, which had a much better texture.
“Really? Oh, we left that stuff in the courtyard when we moved yesterday. If I’d known, I would have brought it with us.”
“Mother, it’s fine. Old Man Shen and the others probably just burned it as firewood anyway,” Liu Taohua said with a dismissive shrug.
“Then tomorrow, we’ll try steaming some for ourselves. If it’s edible, then the whole mountain is full of food!”
Grandma looked hopeful. Xixi had always been clever; if she said so, it was likely true.
“I was just worrying. We have no other dishes, and if we only have this thin porridge, the people outside won’t be full even if we give it all to them!”
More importantly, after they finished the bit of rice Lizheng’s Wife had brought today, what would they do tomorrow?
“Grandma, look at my back basket! Sister used a slingshot to knock out a rabbit and caught over a dozen birds! She even climbed trees to raid several nests for bird eggs. Sister is amazing!”
Xiao Xingbao could no longer contain himself. The little fellow excitedly lifted the rabbit. It had woken up by now and would have bolted long ago if it weren’t tied up.
“Oh, my precious granddaughter, you are so capable! This rabbit could sell for dozens of wen in the county seat. Then we can buy some medicine for your father. And there are fourteen birds—let’s stew them today. We still have radishes in the field!”
“It was just luck. I’ll keep practicing with the slingshot so I can get more birds and rabbits for the family!” Shen Xixi rubbed her head, making an excuse for her good aim.
Shen Xixi was elated by the praise. In her previous life, she had no family. No matter how capable she was, no one had ever praised her or rubbed her head with such doting affection.
“Mother, how about we steam some kudzu root for ourselves for lunch? Otherwise, the porridge won’t be enough for the people outside. We’ll save the bird eggs for a soup tonight!”
“Good, good, we’ll do as you say.” Liu Taohua was overjoyed. Now that the children were sensible, even if life was a bit bitter, they would eventually pull through.
As she spoke, she rushed off to the allotted field to pull radishes.
Shen Xixi had originally wanted to stew the rabbit to eat, but for farming folk, not eating meat for a month was common. In Grandma’s eyes, exchanging it for money to treat illness was the best way to maximize its value.
Shen Xixi sent Grandma to do other chores while she began processing the kudzu root.
After thinking it over, she purchased 3 catties of flour from her Space and mixed 12 catties of the steamed kudzu root into it. She secretly added a bit of white sugar. This would make the steamed buns taste excellent, with the sweetness masking the taste of the kudzu and improving the overall texture.