After successfully building the first kang in Jiang Zhi’s main room, she immediately set about constructing another in the former charcoal shed.
For the past few days, they had been sleeping on piles of leaves. Though thickly layered and covered with quilts, the chill from the ground still seeped through.
Moreover, as Xiaoman’s grandfather had pointed out, the season of continuous spring rain—damp and humid—should have arrived long ago. Once the rain started, there would be no clear skies for a while.
Even if the shed didn’t leak, the leaves on the ground would become damp with moisture. It would no longer be suitable for Qiaoyun, who was pregnant, to sleep there.
Jiang Zhi had personally built the first kang, a skill she had picked up from watching short videos every day.
Eastern heating methods involved building kangs and installing underfloor heating, while Western ones relied on constructing fireplaces—each had its own advantages.
Jiang Zhi felt that the kang was best suited to the constitution of Chinese people. During the damp, rainy season, clothes and other items could be dried on the kang, making it even more useful.
Xu Errui and Xiao Man worked diligently, serving as laborers and assistants under Jiang Zhi’s direction.
Qiaoyun, accustomed to farm work, didn’t idle for a moment either. While others laid stones in front, she used mud to smooth and polish the walls from top to bottom.
The four of them worked from morning till night. In just a few short days, they had transformed a proper main room of about twenty square meters, along with a shed of over ten square meters, and built two kangs.
Xiao Man was particularly fond of this earthen bed called a kang. During the day, he helped build kangs and repair the house, and at night, he returned home determined to build one for his own family.
That very evening, Xiaoman’s grandfather came to speak with Jiang Zhi.
He was a proud man, and even in such pressing times, he maintained proper etiquette.
When Jiang Zhi heard that Xiaoman’s grandfather wanted to build a kang for his own home and, fearing she might not agree, had brought five eggs as a gift, she couldn’t help but feel both amused and touched.
After seeing the kang, Xiaoman’s grandfather had thought of his paralyzed eldest grandson.
During the cold winter, the grandson dared not leave his quilt, and with no sensation in his legs or feet, he couldn’t tell if they were cold or warm. Only when frostbite sores appeared or he was scalded by a hot water bottle did he realize.
If they had such a warm kang, at least they wouldn’t have to worry about him catching a chill or freezing from inadequate bedding.
But this technique was taught by Jiang Zhi. His grandson had learned it without paying, so now that his own family wanted to build one, he felt he had to bring a gift and ask permission.
"Uncle Changgeng, if you want to build a kang, go ahead and build it. Xiao Man has already learned how. There’s no need to exchange anything for it. Your family needs these eggs more," Jiang Zhi pushed the eggs back. With elders, children, and a sick person in Xiaoman’s family, every one of them needed nourishment.
Xiaoman’s grandfather insisted on giving them: "Sister-in-law, these five eggs are too few, hardly worth offering, but they’re a token of my gratitude. Consider them as this old uncle’s way of helping Qiaoyun nourish her body.
Ah! This old man has no real skills left, just this bit of pride to keep me going.
It’s also because of the chaos and turmoil down below. In the old days, with your skills, you could have sent Xu Errui and Xiao Tian out to build kangs for others and earned some silver each month. Now, all it’s worth is five eggs."
With things put so plainly, Jiang Zhi had no choice but to accept: "Uncle Changgeng, besides building a kang for your family, you can also construct a huoqiang. Later, you can hang things on it to dry as well."
With a huoqiang, the heating area would be larger, allowing everyone in the household to stay warm. Even the paralyzed patient could leave his quilt and move around more.
After finishing her own house, Jiang Zhi sent Er Rui to help Xiaoman’s family with their work, while she began preparing the Cyclobalanopsis acorns.
During the house repairs and kang construction, Jiang Zhi hadn’t forgotten the Green Fruits she had been soaking—these would be everyone’s food supply in the days to come.
Every day, water was drawn into the earthen pit for soaking and stirring, ensuring each Green Fruit was fully submerged.
For better texture, the longer the soaking time, the better.
In fact, there was another method to remove the slightly toxic and bitter tannin from the Cyclobalanopsis acorn.
That was boiling.
Repeatedly boiling and changing the water until the broth turned clear and bright could significantly reduce the time, but it would consume a large amount of firewood.
Now, with the family urgently building a house, no one had the spare time to gather firewood, so the simplest soaking method was used.
By the time the house was completed, the first batch of soaked Cyclobalanopsis acorns was basically ready to eat.
Thus, Jiang Zhi and Qiaoyun peeled off the hard shells of the Cyclobalanopsis acorns and ground the kernels into slurry using a stone mill.
Cyclobalanopsis acorns belong to the same family as oak acorns—both are large evergreen trees of the Fagaceae family.
The starch content in the fruit exceeds that of soybeans. As long as the toxic tannin is properly handled, it becomes a delicacy.
Through stone mill slurry extraction, repeated rinsing, and filtering to extract the starch, it was mixed with water and boiled into a thick paste, then ladled into earthenware bowls to cool.
Qiaoyun was pregnant, so all these tasks were done by Jiang Zhi alone.
It was pitiful—in modern times, she had the heart of a great chef but cooking skills comparable to a master alchemist; the outcome of her dishes depended entirely on luck.
Here, with the original host’s mediocre cooking skills as a foundation, her cooking was barely passable.
Moreover, she didn’t have to worry about lack of appreciation, as Qiaoyun and the others were so hungry that anything tasted delicious.
The oak jelly was dark brown and looked unappetizing. Jiang Zhi used a knife to cut it into thin strips the size of a finger.
Now, having just moved to the mountain, everything was a fresh start.
The kitchen had no ready-made scallions, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, or vinegar. She was reluctant to use the few chili peppers saved for seeds, so only the aged brine and pickled radish from the jar were available.
But eating oak jelly couldn’t do without the numbing and spicy flavor. Jiang Zhi added crushed cornelian cherry and Sichuan pepper to the seasoning, achieving the same numbing, spicy, and savory taste.
Looking at the dark oak jelly, Qiaoyun felt both fear and curiosity. Even though she had watched it being made step by step, it was still hard to believe.
"Mother, is this really edible?" she said, her eyes fixed intently on the dark jelly.
Although they now had thick porridge for every meal and had even eaten meat twice, as her pregnancy progressed, Qiaoyun still felt unbearably hungry every day.
Jiang Zhi placed a bowl of seasoned oak jelly in front of her: "Of course, it’s edible. But since you’re pregnant, eat a little less first to let your stomach adjust!"
Qiaoyun had already caught the sour and spicy aroma, feeling her stomach churn and saliva pooling under her tongue. Hearing she could eat it, she eagerly picked up the bowl and took a big bite.
"Ah! Mother, this tastes really good! Can I eat more? After finishing this bowl, can I have another?"
Qiaoyun devoured half the bowl in just a few bites, her eyes sparkling. At that moment, she felt that even if the Cyclobalanopsis acorn was toxic, she would eat her fill first.
Jiang Zhi shook her head: "No, you can only have one bowl. Later, I’ll boil an egg for you."
Although the oak jelly wasn’t toxic, it was heavy in starch and hard to digest, so it was better for pregnant women to eat less.
"Only one bowl?"
Qiaoyun was disappointed. Even the prospect of eating an egg wasn’t particularly appealing now. She couldn’t disobey her mother-in-law, only regretting having eaten too hastily earlier.
Jiang Zhi also tasted the oak jelly, finding it completely free of the astringency she had expected.
The texture in the mouth was an indescribably refreshing chewiness, while the lingering hint of bitterness added a rich complexity to the sour and spicy flavors. No wonder Qiaoyun couldn’t put her bowl down.
By evening, Xu Errui returned after helping Xiao Man’s family build a kang and having dinner there. Seeing the dark-colored qinggang liangfen (oak jelly), he was curious.
He knew that his mother and wife had been soaking Cyclobalanopsis acorns in water for the past few days and had been busy with them all day today.
Hearing that this could be eaten, he didn’t share Qiaoyun’s cautiousness at all. Instead, he directly took a large bowl, poured the seasoning and toppings over it, and started eating.
While eating, he marveled, “I only knew before that Cyclobalanopsis acorns could be roasted and eaten. How did I never think of turning them into such a jelly-like skin?”
Back in the village, during the lean seasons when every household faced food shortages, he, Xiao Tian, and other village children would secretly gather Cyclobalanopsis acorns behind the adults’ backs and roast them to eat. Though they smelled fragrant when roasted, they were still bitter and astringent, almost impossible to swallow.
Jiang Zhi smiled and said, “This is just a small basket from what we’ve ground today. Tomorrow, we’ll grind more. Once it’s ground into flour, we can eat it every day.”