Chapter 25 I Want to Kill

"Jiu Niang, take it and cook it." Mrs. Du handed a bamboo tube to Xiao Qin.

"So many? He'er..." Xiao Qin thought they were from her own daughter, and she smiled and pretended to be polite.

"This is the food that Dalang and the others will take into the mountains tomorrow. Cook some rice." Mrs. Du interrupted her.

"What? If they eat it, what should we do? We can't live like this?" Xiao Qin immediately turned hostile and became angry.

She withheld food from the second wife and cooked dry rice for her own husband and children. The question of whether to go into the mountains or not was just an excuse.

Su He rushed out of the house, his mouth full of wild fruits, and muttered, "If we want to eat dry rice, everyone should eat it. Grandma's special exception was canceled, and now you get to eat it yourself. Is it fair? Uncle, you can't be so selfish!"

"He'er! Shut up!" Su Laoer was so angry that he wanted to vomit blood. Can't this mother and daughter just be quiet for a while?

"Ah He, what are you talking about? How can we go up the mountain without eating enough? Uncle and the others are looking for food for everyone, so please stop being unreasonable, okay?"

Su Shiyan was also defeated by his sister. His sister was too pretentious. How could he survive the winter without enough food?

"Su He, do you want to eat dry rice?" Su Bucheng was not angry, but asked calmly.

"Who doesn't want to eat some rice?" Su He raised his head.

"Okay, you can go into the mountains tomorrow and I'll give you this dry rice! Aying won't go!" Su Bucheng said decisively.

"Why?" Su He jumped up. "There are so many ferocious beasts on the mountain, why should I go and die?"

"Haha!" Su Bucheng sneered, "It's unfair for others to go into the mountains and eat for free, but asking you to go into the mountains is like asking you to die! You can come up with twisted ideas anyway! Who's selfish?"

"Xian'e, you go and cook!" Su Bucheng would not change his mind just because of Su He's nonsense.

If you don't eat enough, how can you have the strength to run away when you encounter a wild beast? My family of three went up the mountain to find food, not to feed wild beasts. Only a fool would be provoked by Su He's words.

"Sister-in-law!" Wei came over and helped Du cook dry rice.

The men gathered together to arrange the work for the next two days.

"Oh, by the way, you should pay more attention to whether there are wild ferns and kudzu near us." Su Bucheng remembered what Hu Zi said.

"Brother, what do you want that for? It's past the season for eating wild bracken, and there's also kudzu. It's not a rare thing, and no one wants it even if you sell it as a medicinal herb." Su Lao San was puzzled.

"They are very useful. Fern roots and kudzu roots can be squeezed into powder and dried for food." Su Bucheng smiled mysteriously.

"Really? How did you hear that, big brother?" Su Lao San came close to his brother. Everyone was also very happy. This was the most exciting news for them.

"How could I have that ability! It was Aying who thought of it." Su Bucheng pointed at his daughter.

"Aying? How did you come up with this? Is it really possible?"

"It works! But the fern root doesn't produce a lot of powder. Pueraria root also depends on luck. There are two types of Pueraria root: powder Pueraria root and fire Pueraria root."

The kudzu root resembles the root of a kudzu, with a low flour yield, while the kudzu root is thick and robust, with a high flour yield.”

Speaking of food, everyone became excited and gathered together to discuss it. Old Mrs. Su also quietly moved closer and listened from the side.

"Aying, how do you tell the difference between kudzu and kudzu?"

"It's very simple. Look at the leaves. The leaves of Pueraria lobata are forked, while the leaves of Kudzu vine are not forked. They are shaped like a heart." Su Ying said as she drew leaves on the ground.

"Powdered kudzu roots are mostly spindle-shaped or oval, with concentric circular patterns on the cross section and are white in color. The root of kauri is mostly slender, like a tree root, with a yellowish-white cross section and unclear patterns."

"Starting tomorrow, we will go dig fern roots and kudzu roots after work!" Su Laosan couldn't hold back. Who doesn't want to have full granaries?

"No! Uncle San! Don't be anxious!" Su Ying tried to persuade him. "We still lack stone mortars, wooden mallets, large vats, dustpans and other processing tools. Even if we dig them up, we won't be able to get them."

"Hey!" Su Lao San just remembered and was too happy. "It's so frustrating to see it but not be able to eat it!"

Everyone was also anxious and angry because of Su Ying's words, "What should we do?"

"Tomorrow we will go into the mountains. In addition to looking for food, we will see if we are lucky enough to find something good. If we are lucky enough, we won't have to worry about these belongings." Su Ying comforted.

"Fern root powder and arrowroot starch can not only solve our food shortage, but also be processed into vermicelli during the slack season. They are durable and easy to store and transport, and can be sold to other places."

"Vermicelli? What is vermicelli?" Everyone became even more excited.

"It's just making fern root powder and kudzu starch into noodles like wheat flour and drying them. This kind of vermicelli doesn't break easily and tastes different from wheat flour noodles. It can be used in cooking or as a staple food." Su Ying explained in detail.

"So, we will be busy in winter! We don't have to starve, and we can even make money!" Su Laosan slapped his thigh excitedly, and his whole body was full of energy.

"Sister-in-law, who did Ah Ying take her smarts from? Why is she so smart?" Wei whispered to Du.

"Don't praise her, she's just imagining things!" Mrs. Du said with disdain, and she couldn't suppress the smile on her lips.

At least there is hope, and life doesn’t seem so hard anymore.

Mrs. Du sprinkled some salt mulberry seeds into the rice, and the air was filled with the aroma of burnt rice.

It had been a while since we smelled this flavor. Everyone swallowed unconsciously and turned their attention to the rice.

After turning off the fire and simmering for a few minutes, Mrs. Du scraped the rice to loosen it and let it cool, divided it evenly, and kneaded it into rice balls and put them into three bamboo tubes.

Su He smelled the fragrance of rice and was so hungry that he could not bear it anymore. He quietly came behind Du and stared at the bamboo tube.

"Bang bang bang!" Mrs. Du scraped the rice crust from the earthenware jar, added a bowl of water, and cooked rice crust porridge.

The delicious smell made Su He feel like a hand was reaching out from his throat, and he wanted to swallow the earthen jar together.

"Oh!" Mrs. Du sighed.

"Sister-in-law!" Wei shook her head slightly.

Mrs. Du smiled bitterly. She couldn't be so cruel after all. She poured out the rice crust porridge and said, "Second brother! Give it to He'er."

"Sister-in-law, don't spoil her!" Su Laoer was ashamed.

"Forget it, this won't happen again!" Mrs. Du handed it to Su Laoer.

A pair of hands suddenly appeared from behind and snatched it away. It was Su He.

"Oh! Be careful, it's hot!" Before Mrs. Du finished her words, Su He took a big gulp.

Just imagine how hot the porridge must be when it's just out of the pot! Su He couldn't swallow or spit out the hot porridge in his mouth. He stood there in a daze, holding the bowl.

It took him several seconds to react and he swallowed it in one gulp.

My tongue was numb from the heat, and there was a burning pain from my throat to my chest. Several blisters suddenly appeared on my lips.

"Bang!" The bowl of porridge fell to the ground and broke into pieces.

"Ah! Ah!" Su He screamed.

"Hurry! Drink cold water!" Mrs. Du hurriedly handed Su He a bowl of cold water.

Su He drank it in one gulp and shivered in pain. His lips, tongue, throat, and entire esophagus felt as if the skin was peeled off.

"What's going on? He'er!" Xiao Qin, who was angry in the house, heard her daughter's screams and hurried out.

I saw my daughter covering her throat and chest, jumping and screaming, with big, shiny blisters on her lips.

"Oh my God! Who did it?" Xiao Qin's voice trembled, and she even wanted to kill someone.