"That's what I was thinking too. We'll deal with it all when there's a drought next year. We can let it grow for a while longer!" Lu Chuan said.

After saying that, he went down to pick dendrobium, while Xu Han could only obediently wait upstairs this time, unable to help Lu Chuan in any way.

After waiting for about fifteen minutes, Lu Chuan finally came up, and Xu Han quickly went forward to take the things from Lu Chuan's hands.

After Lu Chuan climbed up, Xu Han handed him a glass of warm water to drink, and after he rested for a while, she continued walking forward.

As she was walking, Xu Han suddenly tripped over something. Just as she was about to cut the rope under her feet with a machete, Lu Chuan quickly stopped her.

He picked up the vine, examined it, and said to Xu Han, "This should be the vine of the chicken blood vine. Let's follow the vine and see if we can find any chicken blood vine."

“I’ve heard of chicken blood vine before. It bleeds when you cut it, right? But I’ve never seen a real chicken blood vine,” Xu Han asked.

"Yes, its vines release a red liquid when cut, hence the name 'chicken blood vine'."

She continued, "Chicken blood vine is a good medicinal material for promoting blood circulation and replenishing blood. It can also regulate menstruation and relieve pain, and it is often used by women."

The two followed the vines and finally found the very large chicken blood vine.

"It's so big, should we cut it all down?" Xu Han asked.

“Cut them down! There are many large ones like these deep in the mountains. Now that we’ve discovered them, we can realize their value. It’s better than them withering away later,” Lu Chuan said.

So they took out a saw and started sawing the large vines, while Xu Han used a machete to cut the slightly thinner vines. Otherwise, they would be too big and wouldn't fit in the space.

Lu Chuan also kept some thinner branches, saying he would take them home to make a chicken blood vine bracelet for Xu Han!

Xu Han was overjoyed and declared that she wanted to learn how to do it too!

After they finished cutting down the entire chicken blood vine, the sun was already about to set, so the two hurriedly started heading home.

After arriving home, Xu Han went into the kitchen to start preparing dinner.

Cooking every day is a huge challenge. Even though there are so many vegetables, I still don't know what to eat every day.

He took out a pheasant from his spatial storage and wondered how to cook it. Suddenly, he remembered that the winter melons outside were ripe, so he decided to make a stew of winter melon and chicken. That would be quite delicious.

Without hesitation, I went to the winter melon patch outside and picked a big winter melon while it was still light.

After chopping the chicken, stir-fry it briefly, then add water and simmer.

Then, we started processing the freshly picked winter melon. We peeled the skin off the winter melon, removed the seeds and pulp, cut it into large chunks, washed it clean, and then put it in a pot to stew.

Chicken stew with winter melon naturally needs to be served with rice, so Xu Han prepared a big pot of rice.

After the meal was prepared, the two ate in the kitchen.

This dish was indeed very popular, and the broth was delicious with rice.

The winter melon inside was stewed until soft and flavorful, and it was especially delicious.

Xu Han even used the broth to mix potatoes and dark-colored steamed buns for the puppies! The puppies enjoyed the meal very much.

After they finished eating, Lu Chuan washed the dishes, while Xu Han continued peeling lotus seeds.

There are still so many lotus pods that haven't been peeled yet! We must peel them quickly while we still have time, otherwise they'll take up too much space.

After Lu Chuan finished washing the dishes, he also came to help. As usual, the two peeled the dishes until about 10 o'clock before going to rest.

The next day, the weather was a bit gloomy, and it might rain, so I decided not to go out today and stay at home to process the chicken blood vine I picked yesterday!

Xu Han didn't know how to do it, so she could only follow Lu Chuan around as his assistant, learning while working.

Lu Chuan first took out the tools, intending to cut the chicken blood vine into slices to save space.

Cut the chicken blood vine into slices using a guillotine, and then dry them directly in the sun on a sunny day.

We'll leave the rest for now. We didn't collect much yesterday, so we'll process them all together when we've gathered more.

After finishing, the two sat inside and peeled lotus pods. It was around noon when they finished peeling all the lotus pods.

After lunch, the rain started pouring down. It really is true that every autumn rain brings a chill; it had only been raining for a short while when the temperature felt lower.

Xu Han went inside and put on another layer of clothing, and the two of them sat down again to process the lotus seeds. This was much more troublesome than peeling lotus pods.

The rain continued to fall until dinner time, when it gradually stopped.

Xu Han made hot pot for dinner tonight, which is perfect for this weather.

First, put the beef bone broth that has been simmering in advance on the stove to cook, and then stir-fry some hot pot ingredients and add them in.

Sauté the hot pot base and fermented bean paste in oil to release their aroma. Then pour them into the beef bone broth.

Then prepare some side dishes that you need to eat. This time you can finally eat whatever you want, including tripe and mille-feuille.

Slice another portion of tender beef, and don't forget the lamb slices. The shrimp and hot pot meatballs from the fridge can finally come in handy.

It can't all be meat; vegetables are also essential. Xu Han prepared some bamboo shoots, mushrooms, kelp, and green vegetables.

It's very generous, but each serving is small, so you can have whatever you want to eat.

The rest are all ready to be stored in the space. The weather has only just started to get cold, and there will be many more hot pot meals to come!

Xu Han prepared some dipping sauce and fruit wine, and then the two of them began to eat hot pot.

They ate and chatted, enjoying themselves immensely, almost forgetting that a drought was imminent.

After finishing the hot pot, Xu Han took out a bowl of ice jelly to cool herself down from the spiciness, while Lu Chuan continued to eat noodles, saying that he always felt hungry without staple food!

Xu Han didn't feel that way at all. She was already full from eating hot pot, so she ignored him and continued eating.

The next day, the rain had stopped and the sun was out. The two of them went out again with their baskets on their backs. Their main goal for the day was to pick mushrooms, and they would also dig up any medicinal herbs they came across.

After four or five busy days, October had arrived in the blink of an eye.

During dinner that day, Lu Chuan said, "I'm going hunting in the mountains tomorrow, so I won't be collecting medicinal herbs for now. When I come back, we'll go to the county town to buy grain together. I reckon the grain tax has already been paid by now."

"Okay, go ahead! When you come back, we'll go to the county town to buy grain together."

When Xu Han woke up the next day, Lu Chuan had already gone up the mountain. The weather was getting colder and colder, and she didn't want to get up early at all. It was still more comfortable in bed!

After breakfast, Xu Han went to dig some sweet potatoes, not all of them, just enough for about an acre.

This acre of land is used to grow wheat, but not too much. It would be too hard to carry water to irrigate the land every day. We'll grow some to keep for fresh wheat to eat.