Chapter 30 Poisoning
It has only been a few years since the three-year natural disaster, and the cost of harvesting from the fields is not high. It would be good enough if the grain distributed to each household can provide enough food for the family to make ends meet.
Most of them still have to dig for food in the mountains and rivers to make up for the shortfall. This only shows that fewer people are starving to death, but it is not enough to fill their stomachs.
When distributing grain, it was based on family as the unit. The work points earned by the original owner had been converted into food rations and distributed to Old Wu's family during the autumn harvest.
When winter came, the little grain reserves in the village were converted and redistributed among households, so now there is not even a little surplus grain in the village.
There is no place to borrow money.
Every household has elderly and children to support, and the whole family needs food and drink, so it is impossible to have any surplus.
Ma Daming rambled on and on for a long time, and finally left with a sigh. Before leaving, he repeatedly told me to come to him if I had any problems.
Su Tong walked around the adobe house inside and out.
Although the house is a bit shabby, Old Wu has lived here for many years. He has a small courtyard in the front and a vegetable garden in the back. There is also a well next to the vegetable garden. Everything that should be there is well organized.
The main body of the house is still very solid, but there are several damages on the courtyard wall and two obvious leaks on the roof. It probably needs to be repaired for fear of leaks.
Su Tong thinks it’s not bad!
The main thing is that I don’t have to get mixed up with that family, which is great!
The house was empty. Everything that could be burned had been burned by Old Wu. Except for some worthless household items, all the large items that could be moved away had also been taken away.
There were two stoves on the stove, and there was a pot left on one of the stoves. Perhaps there was a hole on the edge, so it was not taken away.
Su Tong washed up, found a wooden barrel to fill the big pot with water, put firewood in the stove, and then walked towards the cowshed.
The cowshed had been bustling with people coming and going for the whole morning, but now it was quiet, with only a few cows lying listlessly in the pens.
Su Tong opened the door of the cowshed and went inside. He felt the cow's body temperature and found it was normal.
She looked at the trough again and it was still full.
There was dry straw, cattle feed and even oil cakes in it, but the cattle hardly touched it.
Although Su Tong has never treated animals, the pathologies of mammals are similar.
Diarrhea and loss of appetite must be problems with the digestive system.
If the water and food are fine, then what is the problem?
Su Tong walked around the cows for a few times, and suddenly squatted down and sniffed the mouth of an old cow. He smelled a subtle iron smell. This smell...
She went to check on several other cows and found the same situation.
Su Tong thought about it, took the wooden fork for picking grass and rummaged around in the trough, pushing the hay and feed aside. He found some scattered green grass stems in the corners around the trough. Judging from the degree of withering, they should be the leftovers of the cows from the previous few days.
Ma Daming said that during the winter, he would cut some fresh grass for the cows to eat every few days.
Su Tong picked up a handful of grass stems and looked at them. He found that there was not only grass but also broken leaves mixed in...
Leaves?
Su Tong put it to his nose and sniffed it, and he immediately understood that there were actually mang leaves mixed in it.
Mangye is an evergreen shrub. Here, with Yunshan Mountain behind it, mangye can probably be seen everywhere.
Mang leaves can be used as medicine, but they are poisonous if eaten directly and can directly cause digestive system disorders.
It is the middle of winter now. Although the area in Yunshan Village is not freezing cold, it may not be easy to find fresh grass for cattle.
I think the people who were cutting grass for the cows were lazy. When there was not enough grass, they picked leaves and mixed them in to make up the number. The cows ate them and ended up in this situation.
No wonder the gastrointestinal medicine didn’t work properly. This is not an illness, it’s poisoning.
Su Tong threw away the grass clippings in his hand, clapped his hands and stood up. It would be easy to solve the problem once it was found.
I walked back to the adobe house slowly, and the water in the big pot had just boiled.
Su Tong put out the fire under the stove and cleaned the house thoroughly from top to bottom with quick hands and feet.
There was nothing left in the house. There was only an old wooden bed that was about to fall apart in the east room. There was a heavy square table and several benches in the main room. The paint had peeled off so much that the color could not be seen clearly. One of the benches had a lame leg and was propped up with bricks.
Su Tong quickly dismantled the wooden bed that was about to fall apart and piled it all in the woodshed as firewood.
I rinsed the few remaining household items several times with boiling water. After completing the thorough cleaning, the room became much brighter.
Unexpectedly, when cleaning the woodshed where firewood was stored in the kitchen, a cellar was also discovered.
It's not big, but very clever, with a partition on top.
Usually there are bundles of grass piled on top, so it can't be found at all.
There are quite a few residents in this village who have the habit of digging cellars, but most of them are in the backyard. Old Wu's family also has one, but it is not as hidden as this location.
Although she doesn’t know how long she will live here, this is her “home” for now.
Ma Daming said that Xing Dongyang had sent the commune's veterinarian back, and they just needed to get the luggage from him and then pack it up.
I looked at the watch and it was already two o'clock in the afternoon, long past lunchtime.
Su Tong glanced at the empty house, dug out a backpack and a rusty hoe from the utility room, and walked towards Yunshan behind.
Yunshan can be regarded as a famous mountain within a radius of hundreds of miles. It extends all the way westward, connecting with the dangerous peaks and ridges of Sichuan Province.
Normally, people in the village only hunt game and look for mountain products in the front mountain. No one dares to go further in. It is said that some people have seen large wild animals there.
Su Tong had been to tropical rainforests full of poisonous insects and dry and barren deserts. Entering Yunshan was like entering a back garden.
There must be villagers who often come up to the front mountain. You can vaguely see a path trampled out, and traces of felling and picking can be seen everywhere.
She didn't stay in the front mountain, but went straight to the sparsely populated back mountain.
It took a while, but it didn't take much effort to find most of the basket of herbs, shoot two pheasants, and get a nest of pheasant eggs.
This season is also the time when animals in the mountains are short of food, which makes them the easiest to hunt, especially pheasants. When they hear any noise, they will flutter their wings, which not only exposes their position but also makes them unable to run fast.
With Su Tong's previous skills, a sharp stone would have been enough to do the job. Of course, although her strength is a little weaker now and her accuracy has been affected, she can still do the same by using a few more stones.
Su Tong was already feeling hungry, and thinking of the empty stove in the house, he decided to have lunch on the spot.
She had always kept the dagger Qin Yi gave her with her, and it came in handy now.
The dagger was shiny and easy to hold. Su Tong found a mountain stream and easily cleaned a pheasant.
There was a wild pepper tree beside the stream, with many dried wild peppers hanging on its bare branches. She picked a lot of them and threw them into her backpack, then found a sheltered valley and started a fire.
This valley was formed by a landslide. There are bare rocks on one side and a few trees growing sparsely in the middle. It is an area of about 20 to 30 square meters, a rare open space in this dense forest.
Dead branches and weeds could be seen everywhere in the mountains. Su Tong cleared the isolation zone and then found some herbs from his backpack. He crushed them one by one and smeared the juice on the pheasant meat.
Each herb has its own characteristics, which can remove fishy smell and add fragrance.
After applying the paste, he stuffed a lot of the freshly picked wild peppercorns into the chicken's stomach, and then roasted the pheasant over the fire.
Survival in the wild is a common occurrence for Su Tong. She is also well versed in traditional Chinese medicine and is familiar with the smells and effects of herbs. She is an expert at using local materials to turn decay into something magical.
Before long, the roast chicken began to emit a fragrant aroma.
To prevent fire, this place was chosen to be relatively open so that the afternoon sun can shine directly in. Although it is not strong, it is very comfortable on the body.
Su Tong turned the roast chicken from time to time, which was a rare pleasure.
She narrowed her eyes slightly, wondering whether she should dig a few traps on the mountain. This was a wild mountain with pristine ecology, and there were countless small animals. She could set up a "long-term supply chain" for herself, which would save her a lot of time.
Just as he was thinking about it, he heard the sound of dead branches breaking not far behind him. Although it was only a small sound, it did not escape Su Tong's ears.
Someone is nearby.
who?
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