Chapter 21: Did I eat your rice?

The news that Old Man Ye's family can handle the poisonous roots has spread throughout the village.

The next morning, the old banyan tree was already full of villagers, even the elderly and children had come, and the sounds of discussions and children chasing and playing were mixed together.

"Why hasn't the head of the village come yet?"

"So do Uncle Arita and the others."

"Hey, here it comes!"

The crowd looked around excitedly, and from afar, they saw Ye Lizheng and Ye Caiping's family walking towards them.

Ye Li was walking up to the big rock under the tree, and before he could speak, Mrs. Zhao said anxiously:

"Li Zheng, is it true that the poisonous root can be eaten? Have you tried the poison?"

Ye Lizheng choked and stared at her coldly: "I tried it, but it didn't kill me."

The villagers laughed out loud. How dare Mrs. Zhao say that the rat was the one testing the poison?

"If you can't speak, just shut up." Zhao Facai stared at Mrs. Zhao.

Mrs. Zhao lowered her head and dared not say a word.

Ye Lizheng coughed dryly and said, "There's no need to explain why we're gathered here today. This poisonous root is really edible. The poisonous root is actually called cassava, and as long as it's handled properly, it can be used as food."

When the villagers got a positive answer, they buzzed with excitement and started talking about it.

"These are all over the mountains. We won't have to go hungry this winter."

"Let's go dig!"

Many villagers were so excited that they turned around and ran away. Ye Li said angrily: "Wait, can you handle it after you dig it up?"

The villagers finally reacted and looked at Ye Lizheng awkwardly: "Tell us how to remove the toxins."

Some of them looked at Old Man Ye: "Uncle Youtian, how did you deal with it?"

"Quiet and listen to me." Ye Lizheng said loudly, and the crowd immediately looked at him.

Ye Lizheng said: "Processing cassava requires multiple steps. For safety reasons, let's dig and process it together this time. Then we will distribute it according to the number of people, and the number for children under twelve will be halved. Each family will provide two laborers, one boy and one girl."

The villagers were feeling unsure, but when they heard the proposal, they were extremely happy.

"The men will go up the mountain with us to dig cassava. The women will stay here and start processing the cassava after it is brought down."

"Also, as for how to dig cassava, Brother Youtian and Daquan are the most experienced. Once we get up the mountain, everyone will listen to them. As for how to process the cassava, Caiping knows best. Everyone will listen to her then."

Then, Ye Lizheng asked the laborers to stand up and divide them into two groups, men and women.

The men took hoes, sickles and baskets up the mountain, while the women stayed in the village and waited for the cassava to be transported down from the mountain.

After the distribution, a group of people went up the mountain in a mighty manner.

Because they had to direct everyone how to dig cassava and they were afraid of a shortage of manpower, all the men in Old Man Ye's family went together.

On the way, many people asked Old Man Ye and Ye Daquan how they processed cassava. Old Man Ye just smiled and said that people would know later. I’m not telling you about it now because I’m afraid that others might try it secretly.

Soon, they arrived at the cassava forest on the mountain. The villagers looked at this lush green area and were excited.

Ye Peng was sharp-eyed. He pulled Old Man Ye and whispered, "Grandpa, look."

Old Man Ye followed the direction he pointed and saw several cut down cassava branches not far away.

That's not what they left when they dug up cassava yesterday. After they finished digging yesterday, they piled the branches aside.

Old Man Ye, Ye Daquan and others would know the answer as soon as they thought about it.

It was revealed yesterday that cassava is edible. Although the villagers don’t know what to do with it, some smart people have already gone up the mountain to dig it up.

If it hadn't been afternoon when the trees burst out, I'm sure they would have dug up more than just these few.

"Okay. We can dig, and others can dig too. Don't talk too much." Old Man Ye said in a low voice.

Ye Peng nodded and said nothing more.

Ye Lizheng came over and said, "Brother, shall we start digging?"

"Okay, start digging!"

Old Man Ye and others led the villagers into the cassava forest, repeated the precautions that Ye Caiping had told them, and then started working.

As soon as a cassava plant was dug up, someone would immediately cut off the tubers with a sickle and put them into a basket.

Some people even tried to dig out the broken ones in the mud.

There are 113 households in Qinghe Village, and 113 people went up the mountain. In addition, some anxious villagers took the initiative to join in the work. In less than an hour, they dug more than 20 baskets.

Immediately, some villagers carried the things down the mountain.

The entire cassava forest was bustling with activity and everyone was busy.

…

Under the old banyan tree, a group of aunts and girls were sitting on the ground, chattering.

"Ouch, here it comes! Here it comes!"

An aunt suddenly shouted excitedly.

When everyone looked back, they saw a dozen men coming over with baskets full of cassava.

As soon as the baskets landed on the ground, the aunts immediately came up to grab them. The strong laborer who was carrying cassava was squeezed and almost fell down.

“This is mine!”

"My, my!"

Ye Caiping's mouth twitched slightly as she watched from the side.

The headman’s wife said sternly, “What are you fighting for? Can you eat them? Aunt Zhao, why did you take three by yourself? Can you take them home? Put them down! Put them down, otherwise your family won’t get a single pound!”

Mrs. Zhao was so frightened that the cassava in her hand fell to the ground with a thud.

The village women then put down the cassava in their hands and said: "We are very rare."

"Alright, alright, you'll have something to enjoy later." The village head's wife said unhappily, "Send lunch to the men first."

The village women brought the food early and piled it aside.

Most of the time, a coarse porcelain bowl is filled with radish rice and pickles, which is then covered with another bowl, tied tightly with a cloth, and placed in a clean backpack.

The men who had come down carrying cassava picked up the food and left with empty baskets.

Next, Ye Caiping began to teach them how to process cassava.

Old Mrs. Ye, Mrs. Wei and others all sat on the sidelines and watched, without a chance to try their hand at it, after all, there were only so many knives in the house.

The women sat on the ground, each with a stump for chopping wood and a sickle or hatchet in front of them.

The reason why they didn't use kitchen knives was that iron was very precious in that era, and each family only had one kitchen knife. They were afraid that if they didn't wash the cassava thoroughly after cutting it, they would get poisoned.

Ye Caiping picked up a cassava and said, "Everyone cut it diagonally downwards. This way, the cassava skin can be easily peeled off."

"Next, let's cut the cassava into thick slices. Yeah, about this thick."

Ye Caiping cut a few slices of cassava and showed them to everyone.

All the aunts and girls will know it at a glance: "This is very simple, it's just cutting vegetables."

Ye Caiping said, "Yes, it's just ordinary slicing. Let's cut the cassava and put it in the bamboo basket. We spread it about 5 inches apart with a grate, and then spread another layer until it is full."

Because the amount of cassava was too large, Ye Caiping was afraid that the cassava in the middle would not be rinsed by the water, so she thought of using a grate to separate them.

The wife of the village head had arranged for several skillful women to weave reed combs suitable for bamboo baskets. The combs were made one inch thick and sparsely woven to facilitate water transmission.

Ye Caiping helped everyone cut cassava, and her hands and feet were nimble and skillful.

The aunties in the village watched her movements and couldn't help but marvel at them.

Everyone in the village knows that Ye Caiping is extremely delicate, never touches water, and loves to act like a mischief.

Unexpectedly, she was so efficient at her work.

"Oh, I didn't expect Caiping to be able to work. Aren't you greedy and lazy?" Mrs. Zhao said while cutting cassava.

Old Mrs. Ye's face darkened. She was about to retort when Ye Caiping spoke slowly:

"Yeah, I'm greedy and lazy, but what does it have to do with you? Did I eat your rice?"