Chapter 102 The Hot and Sour Noodles "Lu Family General Store" Opens! ...
Xiong Mao, who was among the villagers who ate the best food besides the Lu family, said with a displeased expression, "Why should I have to eat coarse food for a bunch of ungrateful wretches! Who do they think they are!"
Li Tuo, young and impetuous, chimed in, "Exactly! We work so hard every day farming and hunting, isn't it all for a better life? If you ask me, we should eat whatever we want, feast on meat and fish every day. The more jealous they are, the better we eat, and the angrier they'll be!"
Some villagers agreed with them, while others felt it was better to keep a low profile to avoid trouble.
After chatting for a while, the group finally asked Lu Xuan, "Lu Xuan, what do you think?"
Xiong Mao sneered.
Is there even a question?
Lu Xuan's family has always been the ones who eat the best food; he has long since demonstrated his preference through his actions.
As expected, Lu Xuan said, "As long as you are strong enough, you don't need to care about others."
All concerns and fears, when laid bare, stem from a lack of strength and a fear of getting into trouble that one cannot handle.
If they have the strength, what does it matter to outsiders if they eat half and throw the other half away?
[Actually, with the streamer's level seven superpower, in ancient times, if the streamer wanted to, he could have turned the sky upside down for him, hehe.]
[Brilliant! With chaos reigning during this cataclysmic period, maybe the streamer could really become an emperor and have some fun? Then build a harem of three thousand beauties and all that.]
[Is this a change of theme? Giving up on survival, switching to domination?]
[Let's stop now. I think it's fine as it is. Streaming with ancient characters dominating is so unoriginal.]
Lu Xuan glanced at the comments section.
dominate?
Weigh an egg.
The climate may be harsher during a catastrophe, but he can still live a life of luxury, so why bother with something so thankless?
They brought the villagers along because they appreciated how well the original owner of the house had taken care of him.
If he really wanted to dominate, wouldn't he have to manage not only the villagers, but also all the disaster victims of this era?
Does he seem like such a great person?
Zhang Chengming sighed, "Our abilities are no match for yours, but I don't want to wrong my family just to protect myself from outsiders. Maybe we should just stop rescuing outsiders altogether."
Saving them only brings trouble. If you drive them away, it's not an option, but if you don't, they might cause more trouble. It's a dilemma, so annoying.
Li Jing hesitated and said, "But if I really encountered that situation, and I just stood by and watched someone die..." He just couldn't get over the mental hurdle.
Lu Xuan said, "There's no need to completely harden your heart and not save anyone. It's just best not to have too much sympathy or expectation. If you do save someone, don't worry too much about it. Be ruthless when necessary."
If they hadn't just threatened him with bows and crossbows without actually taking any action, the matter might have been over by the time he returned with his men.
The disaster victims must have realized that the villagers dared not actually harm their own kind, which is why they were so fearless.
Everyone nodded, indicating that they had learned something and would do it that way from now on!
They gave away a lot of medicine and cooling patches to save people, and now they probably won't be able to get them back. It's a huge loss!
If I have to pay out of my own pocket every time I save someone... forget it, it's fine if I don't save anyone. During the disaster, I should just take care of myself. If I really can't hold on and die, that's my fate.
Li Tie then addressed everyone, especially the guards, saying, "Pay close attention to the disaster victims during patrols in the future. If you notice anything amiss, act decisively without hesitation!"
Zhang Wende, as the representative, nodded and said, "Don't worry, I know what to do."
Li Tie looked around, then suddenly slapped his forehead as if remembering something and looked at Lu Xuan: "You've all been confused by those disaster victims. How was your trip? Did you find any sweet potatoes? Did you dig them all up?"
The others suddenly remembered the purpose of Lu Xuan and the others going out, and they all looked over curiously.
Before Lu Xuan could even speak, the others who had come along couldn't help but start showing off.
"We dug them all up! Don't be too surprised, we had a huge harvest this time!"
"The valley was full of sweet potatoes, and we dug them all up, nearly 10,000 jin!"
"What!?" The villagers were in an uproar.
Seeing baskets filled with sweet potatoes appear before them, the gloom caused by the disaster victims' riots vanished instantly. The villagers were overjoyed and happily began to distribute the sweet potatoes.
After hearing Lu Xuan explain how to make sweet potato starch, especially that the water used to wash the starch needs to be left to stand overnight to obtain the starch, the villagers saw that it wasn't too late and, not wanting to delay their important task for another day, simply rolled up their sleeves and got to work on the spot.
First, wash the sweet potatoes that are covered in dirt, then cut them into small pieces, mince them with a large meat grinder, add water to wash the powder, pour the water into the plastic bucket that Lu Xuan bought in advance, and let it sit.
Wild sweet potatoes don't taste good, so almost all of this batch of sweet potatoes were cut up, and the buckets filled with starch slurry ended up covering most of the square.
After letting it sit overnight, pour out the water early the next morning. What's left at the bottom is sweet potato starch. Dig it out and lay it on a bamboo mat to dry. In this weather, it will be completely dry in less than an hour.
Nearly 10,000 kilograms of sweet potatoes were ultimately yielded just over 2,000 kilograms of starch, a shrinkage rate of one-tenth that broke the villagers' hearts.
However, once they turned the sweet potato starch into noodles and made hot and sour noodles as Lu Xuan had taught them, they had no other ideas.
The reason is simple: hot and sour noodles are just so incredibly delicious!!!
The hot and sour soup made with broth, topped with glass noodles, minced meat sauce, sliced sausage, blanched greens and bean sprouts, and crispy fried soybeans, and then sprinkled with chopped green onions and cilantro, is so delicious it's absolutely irresistible!
The villagers were all snoring and slurping away, oblivious to the time, their intoxicated expressions suggesting they had taken some kind of inappropriate drug.
Eating hot and sour noodles on a hot day inevitably leaves you sweating profusely and feeling uncomfortable, but the feeling is completely different when you're in an air-conditioned cave with a variety of cold drinks.
In short—it was absolutely awesome!
The viewers in the live stream went crazy too.
[Aww, this is so delicious! It's so incredibly delicious!!!]
I never imagined I'd get to eat such divine food in my entire life! I was so moved I cried!
[I can't believe this was made from those awful, scratchy sweet potatoes! They're completely different things!]
After eating hot and sour noodles, I can't stand any other food.
[It's absolutely amazing! Absolutely incredible! A true delicacy!]
The Lu family's dishes were more abundant than others, with a lot of thinly sliced fatty beef, making them even more savory. Not to mention the audience was mesmerized by the aroma, Lu Chen was so engrossed in eating that he even had snot bubbles coming out of his nose.
Considering that some people cannot eat spicy food and there are young children, in addition to hot and sour noodles, we also made dishes such as stir-fried bean sprouts with vermicelli, stewed pork and cabbage with vermicelli, and minced meat with vermicelli, also known as "ants climbing a tree".
Its savory, tender texture is a completely different kind of deliciousness from sweet potato starch.
Viewers in the live stream who had picky eaters at home were invited to try the food. Their picky eating habits were cured without any medicine, and they ate with gusto, turning into little pigs on the spot.
...
Over the next few days, the villagers were completely engrossed in eating hot and sour noodles and vermicelli dishes.
Many families ate there for three days in a row, indulging themselves to the fullest before finally curbing their cravings.
It's not that we're tired of it so quickly, but rather that the stock is running out too fast, and if we keep eating it, there won't be any left to eat soon.
Having already tasted this delicious food, they couldn't bear not having any until the next harvest.
It's practically impossible to find someone else to exchange it for.
Nobody has much stock left; they're barely enough to eat themselves, so why would they want to give it away?
They are now just hoping that the fields will be cleared up soon so that they can plant more sweet potatoes next time!
Twenty pounds of vermicelli is not enough for the whole family to eat, even if they eat it sparingly!
We need to stock up on at least a hundred kilograms!
With such anticipation, the crops planted for half a month finally ripened, and the villagers ushered in their first bumper harvest since moving into the mountains.
The entire village, fully equipped with protective gear, harvested the crops for two days, and then spent another two days drying, threshing, and grinding them into flour, finally obtaining an accurate yield.
The average yield of dryland rice reached an astonishing 500 jin per mu, and wheat 400 jin per mu!
Radishes and cabbages yielded over 900 jin per mu, nearly 1,000 jin per mu!
Of course, no one actually grows an acre of radishes and cabbages; the actual harvest is only half of it, or half an acre.
Nevertheless, the figure of x is still quite astonishing.
"Oh my god, am I dreaming?" A villager, looking dazed, couldn't help but pinch himself.
Ouch, that really hurts!
It's not a dream!
"I never dared to dream of having so much grain."
Although the villagers knew there would be a bumper harvest from the plump grains of the wheat before the harvest, they were still overjoyed when the exact yield was confirmed.
There are too many, really too many!
However, some calm villagers reminded others: "Don't just be happy. Don't forget that 30% of this food belongs to Lu Xuan, and 10% is public supplies. The rest is ours."
"I know, I know, I remember it all. Even if we subtract 40%, there's still a lot left."
Only a few widowed, orphaned, and childless people actually only cultivate one mu of land. Most families cultivate two mu, and even if 40% is deducted, they can still have at least six or seven hundred jin left.
Although it's not all grain, this is only half a month's harvest!
They can plant it two more times, and the yield will double again.
Li Jing looked up at the leaves overhead, which were noticeably less lush and much yellowed than when they first entered the mountain, and said regretfully, "If it weren't for the hot weather now, which definitely has some impact, the yield per acre could probably be dozens of kilograms higher."
Zhang Chengming laughed and said, "Be content. This is enough for us to eat for a long time."
As the village head, Li Tie was naturally pleased to see that every household's granary was full and that there was an extra 4,000 jin of grain in the public supplies.
But he didn't give the villagers much time to immerse themselves in it. He quickly organized everyone to reorganize the fields and prepare for the second round of planting.
Lu Xuan still helped turn the soil over, and after the next rain, the villagers planted the seeds.
This time, they will not only plant the five to ten mutant crops that each household harvested in the previous round, but also plant a wider variety of crops.
In addition to rice and wheat, sweet potatoes, soybeans, and mung beans also need to be planted, as well as the first batch of potatoes and corn that Lu Xuan brought out to exchange for the villagers.
The specific amount to plant depends on each family's planting area and dietary preferences.
With the addition of more variants, and the optimization of other seeds in the first round of planting, it is foreseeable that the yield will increase even further in the second round of planting.
The Lu family owns one acre of land, almost entirely planted with mutated varieties, while the remaining two acres are planted with unmutated potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, and various beans.
Since we already have enough wheat and rice in stock, we didn't plant any this time.
It was on the second day after the second batch of crops was planted that the small cave in the Lu family, which had only been used to sprout beans, finally began to play a new role.
'Lu Family General Store' is now open!
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