I feel a little shy when talking about Ningxia. The sewer system is no longer working, and the toilet at home is just for decoration. The three siblings have to go far away to solve their personal problems and bury them on the spot. The conditions are not good now, so we can only build a dry toilet, but it is better than the wild.
Li Gang said as he assigned tasks, "You three little ones will continue to build your stoves. Xiao Mu will stay and help Ningxia process the meat. The rest of you, come with me to the mountain to pull up the trees."
A group of people were busy with their own things, and Ningxia was eating the meat and food very quickly.
In one day, Li Gang and his team brought back a lot of wood as thick as an arm from the mountain, waiting to build a simple shed for Maomao the next day. It would be impossible to build a sturdy shed under the current conditions, but fortunately, this place was earthquake-proof and the back of the house was not exposed to the sun. When the scorching sun came, Maomao wouldn't feel too bad about staying there. After all, animals are much better at adapting to the environment than humans.
In the evening, the yard was still bustling with activity and no one was sleeping. Ningxia tried out the stove built by the three children and found it worked.
Ningxia mixes dried Sichuan peppercorns with salt and chili peppers, grinds them into a not-too-fine powder, and then begins to bake the meat. Although these seasonings are simple, they are made by Ningxia contributing half of its chili peppers.
Ningxia kept one chicken for stewing soup, and asked Lao Chen to debone the other two and the rabbit and dry the meat.
About twenty pounds of lean pork, rabbit meat and chicken were mixed together, cut into strips, sprinkled with seasonings and left to dry.
Knowing that the meat wouldn't be left out that day, Li Gang and his men took turns rotating the meat in the middle of the night, keeping the stove burning until dawn. Even so, there was still a small pot of meat left to bake, but Ningxia wasn't worried. After all, there was always someone at the stove, so if there was more, it would be done.
Ningxia tried to break open a strip of meat that was as thick as a finger after drying. The meat had become shredded and was extremely tender. She put it in her mouth and tasted it.
The taste of the snacks from before the disaster seemed to return to my memory at that moment. The chewy meat jerky with a salty and spicy aroma was much less delicious than before, but it was a rare delicacy at this time. After all, few families could afford to use meat as snacks.
Ningxia gave each person a small handful and carefully sealed the rest in bags. Li Gang and the others, who had been busy all night, had no objections and simply savored their food. It was delicious, truly delicious. Don't even think about trying this delicacy back in camp.
By the time Li Gang and others had finished setting up their shed, the dried meat project in Ningxia was nearing completion. She had been cooking in different ways these days and was really exhausted.
While Li Gang took people to other houses in the village to look for usable things, Ningxia took out the few chestnuts left in the cupboard. These were given to her by the monkeys.
Ningxia has been eating a lot of oily and spicy food these days, so she thought of making a pot of chestnut stewed chicken in the evening and steaming some corn cakes to clear her stomach.
Unexpectedly, the village had such a bounty. Li Gang and his companions brought back a stone trough for livestock, a wooden barrel large enough for an adult to bathe in, and tons of hay. Ningxia was most surprised by two working hoes. She'd been so busy these past few days that she hadn't had time to search the house for useful items. The only thing missing from the house were two hoes. She'd always carried a shovel, which wasn't as convenient.
After eating, Old Liao was ready to work. He found all the knives he could see in Ningxia's house and sharpened them again and again. He even sharpened the two hoes.
Maomao finally packed up and moved into his comfortable new nest filled with hay.
The dry toilet issue was on the agenda. Ningxia rejected Li Gang's suggestion to dig one behind the house, opting instead to dig one in the woods outside. After all, it was a dry toilet; she didn't want it too close to home, making it look dirty. In fact, for six years, ever since she lost her toilet, Ningxia had resisted using it, but she had no choice but to stay alive.
"Ningxia, what are you doing!" Li Gang pushed away the two packages Ningxia handed over and refused to accept them.
In a blink of an eye, the group had stayed in Ningxia for a full six days. Seeing that the time to return to the camp was imminent, they had to say goodbye.
Ningxia didn't allow him to resist and stuffed the bag into Lao Liao's backpack. "Squad leader, stop pushing the issue with me. The three of us siblings have received so much kindness from you. This little bit of money can't even repay you, not to mention that it was originally yours."
In the bundle were about twenty large steamed buns made of flour and cornmeal, which are luxurious products from Ningxia. Another bundle contained about ten pounds of dried meat, and five or six pounds of crispy meat wrapped in flour and fried in Ningxia. All of them were ready to eat and convenient to take with you on the road.
Li Gang couldn't help but smile bitterly. "Helping the residents in the forest area is our mission. Why is this even being a favor?"
"Squad leader, you don't need to say more. I understand. Be careful on your way back. We'll see you after the scorching sun moon."
Li Gang touched his head, unable to refuse. He just wanted to take better care of her in the future. The group parted ways, and there was a sense of separation in the air. Everyone felt a little depressed.
After watching the tall figures walk away, the three siblings returned to the yard and locked the gate. Xiaojie did not forget to sweep the yard clean before leaving, and the bowls used by several people for eating were left to dry in the yard. Looking at the suddenly empty yard, the three of them were a little uncomfortable.
"Let's go. Your Uncle Li Gang and the others have almost finished cleaning. Let's take a good nap first." Ningxia stretched and took the two little ones back to the room.
The past few days had been busy from morning till night, leaving no time for the luxury of a nap. On the rare free afternoon, Ningxia didn't want to think about Lieyangyue's preparations anymore. She slammed herself into the mattress, and soon the three siblings were fast asleep in a mess.
"Xia Xia~" Sangsang rubbed her eyes and came out of the house holding her plastic dinosaur.
Ningxia turned her head and saw the toy in the little girl's arms, speechless. Ever since the dinosaur was washed, Sangsang had been hugging it to sleep. Every time Ningxia woke up, she found it either under her butt or under her belly. The dinosaur was plastic, and she didn't know if it would be uncomfortable for her.
Lin Yi walked forward and took Sangsang's hand without saying a word.
Ningxia whispered, "Take her outside to take care of it and come back. I'll take off the sheets that the squad leader and the others slept on, and we'll go to the river to wash them."
They had already experienced dry toilets in Ningxia, and they were not much better than those in the wild, but the advantage was that they did not have to move to a new location every time they shot.
The weather was scorching, and Ningxia couldn't bear to think about the scorching sun moon arriving. Their dry toilet was likely to be overrun by rat-tailed maggots. Thinking of those indescribable creatures, Ningxia retched.
It's worth mentioning that Ningxia supervised Lin Yi and Sang Sang daily, making them urinate in the small pot in the original bathroom, which was then collected in a basin in the yard. In the hot weather, the fermented urine didn't smell strong. Lin Yi insisted on watering the vegetable seedlings in the bathroom every morning and evening, regularly adding urine to the water.
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