Chapter 23: Scrambled Eggs with Cattail Leaves
Sang Xingjia turned around and looked at her: "Little sister, didn't you say before that you wanted to cut some bamboo to bring back?"
"Yes!" She almost forgot about it.
It was discovered that Xiangpu was too excited and had forgotten about the bamboo forest.
Along the way, Sang Yu didn't find any stone suitable for making blades, so he simply picked up a piece from the ground and smashed it hard against the roots of the bamboo.
“Snap—”
With a dull sound, the part of the bamboo body that was hit instantly dented.
Seeing the effect, Sang Yu felt relieved instantly, "Dad, big brother, I'll hit the bamboo next. You guys should bend it in the opposite direction after I hit it."
She hit it a few more times, and only stopped after she had hit the entire root.
She walked to the side and knocked down a bamboo tree. Sang Yongjing and his son Sang Xingjia obediently came over to break up the bamboo.
Holding the upper half of the bamboo, he kept shaking it around and pressing down hard. Soon, he heard a crisp "crack" sound from the bamboo root, and the bamboo was broken.
This process was repeated several times until about ten bamboos were piled up on the ground.
Sang Yu smashed the bamboo leaves at the top with a stone, and tied the two ends of the bamboo with the vines that he had been reluctant to throw away. Sang Yongjing and Sang Xingjia each carried one end.
She picked up the pile of cattails again and led the way.
The way back was much easier than the way here. The traces of their previous walk were still there, so they just had to go back along the same route.
They returned to the shed at the foot of the mountain much earlier than Sang Yu had originally planned.
She originally thought that if the three of them could get back before sunset, they would be considered fast runners, but she didn't expect that they would be back just after noon when the sun was high in the sky.
While they were out, Xie Qiujin was not idle either. She fetched some water and waited for it to heat up in the sun, then washed the hair of her mother-in-law, herself, and her youngest son.
If possible, she would even like to take a bath, but unfortunately she didn't dare to do so in broad daylight.
Seeing the three of them coming back, Xie Qiujin quickly called out to them: "Come on, come on, the water is warm, wash your hair."
They walked all the way from the capital to Lingnan. They wore the same clothes and had their hair combed the same way when they set out as when they arrived in Lingnan.
Add to that the sweat from walking and showering, and everyone smells stinky and their hair is tangled. To wash away the smell, you have to rub it in little by little and comb it carefully.
It would be best to use some degreasing soap beans, but unfortunately I can't find them right now. I can just wash them a few more times with clean water.
Sang Yu had long been dissatisfied with the hair on her head. When she reached out and touched it, she found it was covered in grease and matted into clumps. If possible, she would even like to cut it short.
He was overjoyed when he heard this. He put the things in his hands on the ground and ran to the spring.
Sang Yongjing and Sang Xingjia were not in much better condition, both smelling of sweat.
Especially since Sang Xingjia fell into the swamp today, his calves and socks were covered in mud. He was thinking on the way that he would wash them quickly when he got back.
There were no water storage containers in the shed, and Xie Qiujin moved all the water-holding items to the spring.
Fill it with water and put it aside to dry in the sun. After it is hot, add some spring water and use it to wash your hair. It is much more comfortable than washing with spring water directly.
However, the water stored in these containers is only enough for one person at most.
Sang Yongjing and Sang Xingjia didn't even look at the dried water. They went straight to the spring to fetch water for washing, leaving the warm water for Sang Yu.
They are strong and healthy, so they don't need warm water, spring water is enough.
After washing up, the three of them felt much refreshed. They draped their wet long hair behind them and waited for it to dry naturally.
Sang Xingjia took off his trousers, shoes and socks, and rubbed them by the water to clean the mud off them.
They have to wash it. They only have one set of clothes on them, and they won’t even have a change of clothes if they get dirty.
While the weather is good, wash and dry it quickly so you can wear it to work tomorrow.
There was only one family present at the moment, so Sang Yongjing turned a blind eye to Sang Xingjia's behavior of taking off his trousers.
Your clothes are so dirty. If you don’t take them off and wash them, are you going to go out and see people tomorrow covered in mud?
If possible, he even wanted to take off his outer clothes and wash them, and then scrub his body thoroughly. The smell was really too bad.
Sang Yu, with her long hair loose, carried the pile of cattails to the water's edge and began to prepare tonight's dinner.
Xie Qiujin squatted beside her and imitated her movements to handle the cattails.
Over there, Sang Xingjia and Sang Yongjing used stones to remove excess branches and leaves from the bamboo.
Sang Xinghao squatted beside Sang Yu, holding his chin and watching her break off the lower half of the white rhizome of the cattail and put it aside.
He reached out and poked the brown cattail out of curiosity. It felt soft and bounced back.
"Sister, can I eat this too?"
"This can't be eaten, but it can be used as a candle." However, judging by their current situation, they might not have the opportunity to use the candles for a while.
I just sleep after eating every day and there is no entertainment. What’s the use of candles?
Working together, the two of them quickly cleared out a large pile of cattails, placing the roots on one side and the upper half of the leaves on the other, to be dried for other uses.
Pinch the white rhizome into several pieces and rinse them clean. Soon the earthenware jar is filled.
Sang Yu picked up the two bird eggs and hesitated whether to eat fried cattails or fried cattails with eggs in the evening.
Finally, she decided not to boil the eggs separately but to make scrambled eggs with cattails.
Everyone was so greedy that they were satisfied even if they only ate a few bits of egg foam.
The fire will naturally go out after cooking in the morning. With a fire starter, there is no need to keep adding firewood to keep the fire going.
In the morning, Sang Xinghao picked up a lot of twigs while playing at the edge of the nearby woods, so he had enough firewood for the time being.
Light a fire, place the clay pot on the fire, wait for the bottom of the pot to heat up, crack two bird eggs into it, and after they are formed, take them out and set aside.
Throw the washed water chestnuts directly into the pan where the bird eggs have just been fried. Stir-fry for two or three minutes, then add the fried bird eggs. A dish of water chestnut scrambled eggs without salt or oil is ready.
Sang Yu took out all the vegetables and added half a pot of water into the pot. After the water boiled, he added two handfuls of cattails. After boiling, he made a simple cattail soup.
Today's dishes are obviously much better than yesterday's. Everyone looked at the two fragrant dishes in front of them, but they were secretly worried in their hearts, wondering if they would really taste good.
Seeing that no one was picking up their chopsticks, Sang Yu understood their concerns after a little thought and simply picked up his chopsticks first.
She picked up a piece of cattail with chopsticks and put it into her mouth. After chewing it twice, her eyes lit up. It tasted much better than she expected.
What we are going to stir-fry today is the tenderest rhizome part of cattail leaf.
Because no salt is added, it tastes a bit bland at first, but after chewing, you can taste a light sweetness, fresh and refreshing.
It tastes a bit like green onions with a sweet taste, but not as spicy as green onions.
After swallowing the cattail in his mouth, Sang Yu couldn't wait to speak: "Well, Grandma, Mom and Dad, brothers and sisters, you all try it, it tastes really good."
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