Chapter 200: Drink the ginger soup while it's hot, and you'll feel warm all over...
Zhou Ye didn't know what Lin Shu was thinking, but he could see the anxiety in her heart.
He reached out and took Lin Shu's hand, squeezing it tightly. "Ah Shu, don't be afraid. Once the water recedes a bit, I'll take the villagers to drain the fields so they don't lose everything. We still have the mountains, and I won't let you go hungry. As for our house, it doesn't matter if it collapses. We can just rebuild it, a bigger one this time. Oh, and I've put the unused vegetable seeds you bought last time in a bamboo jar. And the flower and herbal teas you dried are all here too. I also didn't forget our oil jars. We bought a lot last time, so it'll last a long time. I took them all with the food and stored them in the cave..."
As Lin Shu listened to Zhou Ye's words, the sense of urgency that urged her to do something quickly eased. She muttered "idiot" but the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.
Forget it, take your time.
The back mountain was densely populated with trees, many of them dead. Zhou Ye quickly found a fallen log and, relying on his strength, lifted it whole. Lin Shu, on the other hand, sought out the pine forest, digging through the thick layer of conifers. She even managed to pull out some dry pine needles from the bottom. She also searched the cracks in the rocks and inside tree holes, gathering a wealth of dead leaves, hay, and wood chips. These combustibles made it easy to start a fire.
When the two of them returned with their belongings, the villagers in the straw hut had already gotten up one after another.
This sleep was not a good one to begin with.
"Aye, what you carried back is... dead wood? For making fire?" a villager asked.
Zhou Ye nodded and replied a few more times, "Cut off the outer layer of a dead tree. The inside is dry and can be burned. You can also look in places like cracks in rocks and tree holes. You can find dry leaves and hay that are easy to ignite."
When the villagers heard this, they all stood up and said, "Then I'll go look for it too!"
Although the weather was clear, the water outside was so deep that it would take at least three or four days for it to completely seep into the ground. Even after the water dried up, it would still be wet mud and impossible to pass through. It would take another two days of drying. If nothing unexpected happened, they would have to stay in the back mountain for at least five or six days.
If there are more laborers in the family, send one out to look for dead wood, and the rest will learn from Zhou Ye to build a stone stove.
Since there weren't enough conditions to build an earthen stove, Zhou Ye brought four large stones and stacked them together, creating a simple stone stove that could hold the iron pot. Because the ground was damp, he also laid a layer of gravel at the bottom of the stove. Once the fire started, the moisture on the surface of the gravel would quickly dry out.
As for making a fire, it is much easier with the flint.
However, not every household in Tianshui Village had a flint. A flint cost around a hundred coins, making it a luxury for many poor villagers. Many families in the village were reluctant to spend the money, so when they needed to start a fire, they would borrow a fire from a neighbor. After borrowing a fire, they would carefully preserve the flames, waiting for them to go out accidentally and borrow another one.
By the time Zhou Ye had finished building the stone stove, He Guixiang had already taken out the flint and said, "I'll start the fire. It rained heavily yesterday, and I don't know if the tinder has dampened yet."
He Guixiang skillfully scraped the edge of the flint with a flint, and the sparks splashed onto the tinder. He Guixiang immediately blew at the tinder.
"The tinder is still usable, it's on fire!"
After getting a bright flame, He Guixiang slowly added the dry pine needles and hay that Lin Shu brought back to the stove. When the fire grew bigger, she added the dry wood strip that Zhou Ye had just chopped.
Lin Dashan was not idle either. He took a bucket of clean spring water from the source in the mountain and poured the water into the iron pot, filling it up.
Even if it is clean mountain spring water, you dare not drink it directly because there has just been a heavy rain. You have to boil it before drinking.
Li Chunmiao asked He Guixiang directly: "Sister-in-law He, when my family needs to light a fire later, can I borrow a fire?"
Wang Yingen was the only lucky kid in her family. He had half a bun to eat last night, so he didn't starve. The others in the family were already starving. As soon as the head of the family found some dry firewood, she would immediately start a fire and cook breakfast!
He Guixiang replied, "Why be so polite to me? Just come and borrow it."
Taking advantage of this opportunity, He Guixiang also said to other villagers: "If you need to make a fire to cook later, you can come and borrow some fire."
A woman immediately responded, "Then I won't be polite to my sister-in-law. I'll come and borrow a light in a moment."
Someone else asked: "Sister-in-law, what is she going to make for breakfast? Porridge? Is the water too full?"
He Guixiang looked at Lin Shu, a hint of pride on her face. "I brought some leftover ginger with me when I left home. Ah Shu said she'd make some ginger soup and have everyone drink a bowl to ward off the cold!"
When these words came out, the villagers were surprised and happy.
Rural families eat whatever they have at home, with wild onions and garlic from the mountains, as well as green peppercorns for seasoning. Why would they go to town specifically to buy ginger? Ginger is expensive, but Lin Laoer's family not only has ginger in stock, but they're also willing to make a pot of ginger soup for all the villagers. Coupled with the kindness Lin Laoer and his family had shown, the villagers were even more grateful to them.
"Since this ginger soup is made for everyone to drink, we can't let your family waste firewood. Wait until my second son finds dry firewood and comes back, then I'll share some with you." said an old man.
The others nodded in agreement. That's right!
Zhang Lamei and the Gao family remained silent. They still didn't know if they would get a share of the ginger soup.
Slice two large pieces of ginger and then cut them into shreds. Pour all the ginger into an iron pot. After the water boils, simmer it on low heat for about a cup of tea.
Lin Shu called out, "Uncles and aunts, please forgive me. I've only made this much ginger soup, enough for one bowl per family. If you have a large family, you can take two bowls. If you have bowls, bring them over. If you don't have any, just chop a piece of bamboo."
It was good enough to be able to get a bowl of ginger soup. The villagers would never think it was too little. They would ask the weak women, children and the elderly in the family to drink a few more sips of ginger soup, and the strong men and women to drink a few less sips.
Most of the villagers did not bring bowls and chopsticks. After all, they had to bring the most important things first. They also thought that there were many bamboos in the mountains, so they could make chopsticks and use bamboo tubes as bowls.
Before Lin Shu could say anything, someone had already gone to the forest to cut bamboo and soon got bamboo tubes for storage.
Someone from each family came over to get some ginger soup, drank it while it was hot, and felt warm all over.
At first, Zhang Lamei was too stubborn to go and get it, but after a while she couldn't bear it anymore. She sneezed several times last night, and her head felt a little dizzy when she woke up this morning. She had to drink this ginger soup!
Seeing that Lin Duocang, the white-breasted boy, asked someone for a bamboo tube to get the ginger soup, Zhang Lamei was afraid that if Lin Duocang got it, she would not be able to get it, so she quickly took out a large ceramic bowl from her backpack.
When she left, she couldn't bear to leave behind her pots, pans, and utensils, so she took all the pots and bowls with her. However, the bowls were heavy, so she didn't take many with her. She only took four in total: one large bowl and three small ones.
Zhang Lamei stuffed the large ceramic bowl into Lin Duogu's hand and said, "Second brother, you're smart. Hurry up and scoop up the ginger soup before your eldest brother does, and bring back more."
Lin Duogu took the big pottery bowl and ran, standing in front of Lin Duocang.
Lin Duocang opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but finally swallowed it back.
Although his wife had bedding to sleep on last night, she still started coughing when she woke up in the morning. He really wanted to scoop a portion of ginger soup for her separately. But his second brother was in line ahead of him with such a large ceramic bowl. Would his cousin Lin Shu scoop some for him after giving it to his second brother?
Lin Xiaopu was familiar with the population of the village. When Lin Shu was scooping soup for people, she would whisper how many people were in their family. If there were many people in the family, Lin Shu would take the initiative to ask the person to finish drinking and then get another bowl. If there were few people in the family, she would just fill the bowl until it was full.
As Lin Shu was filling the bowl, she saw the big ceramic bowl in Lin Duogu's hand.
Lin Shu: ...
Lin Duogu had a smile on his face, as if he had completely forgotten the previous quarrel between the two families.
Lin Xiaopu beside her secretly rolled his eyes, but Lin Shu still scooped out half a bowl according to the rules. There were quite a few people in her uncle's family, and the ceramic bowl was big, so half a bowl was enough.
Unexpectedly, Lin Duogu thought it was not enough and asked smugly, "Sister Shu, can you scoop two more spoonfuls? This bowl is not full yet."
Lin Shu glanced at Lin Duocang who was standing behind him, and said with a forced smile, "I didn't count your eldest brother and sister-in-law. Your sister-in-law seems uncomfortable, so I'll scoop a bowl for her later. This is enough for the rest of your family."
Lin Duogu had no choice but to give up after hearing this. Someone behind him murmured about his shamelessness, but he pretended not to hear.
When it was Lin Duocang's turn to scoop the ginger soup, he was too embarrassed to raise his head. However, Lin Shu not only filled the bamboo tube in his hand, but also gave him a few instructions, "I heard your sister-in-law cough a few times just now. If the ginger soup doesn't help, go to the mountains and find some mugwort to boil for her."
Lin Shu took the opportunity to talk to the other villagers, "This ginger soup is to dispel cold and warm the body. It can relieve the initial cold to a certain extent. If you uncles and aunts have other physical discomforts, those with coughs can drink more mugwort soup. If you have a fever, dig some kudzu root and boil it into soup. There are other herbal soups that can relieve coughs and dissipate heat. The grandpas and grandmas in the village must know more about them than I do."
An elderly woman smiled and replied, "Yes, yes, what Ah Shu said is correct. There's also Houttuynia cordata. In our village, if anyone has a cough, we dig up Houttuynia cordata and boil it in water to make a decoction. It was too late yesterday, so my eldest and second sons went out early this morning. One went to find dry firewood, and the other went to dig up Houttuynia cordata. After the water is boiled, I'll give you a bowl of any leftover."
It is too expensive to go to the pharmacy in town to see a doctor and get medicine, so the villagers have to bear the disease on their own. But they don’t just sit there and do nothing. The elders have passed down many folk remedies from generation to generation. There are actually herbal soups that are effective for headaches, fevers, coughs, etc.
A woman smiled and replied, "No need, Auntie. This Houttuynia cordata is available everywhere. We can dig it up and boil it ourselves. And the Pueraria root that Ah Shu mentioned should be the Gan Pueraria root we are talking about? I didn't know that this thing can reduce fever, but when I was a child, my grandfather told me that digging Gan Pueraria root and soaking it in water is very good to drink. It can also be used to eat during famine!"
A young boy from a poor family suddenly interrupted and said, "My family used to dig up some sweet kudzu and eat it. It was really filling, but it had a lot of hairs in it, so it wasn't very tasty, hehe."
His mother beside him immediately hit him on the forehead and said, "Why are you telling others this? Aren't you ashamed?"
The villagers laughed good-naturedly, "Why beat the kid? There's a big flood in the village this time, and the food at home won't last much longer. I'm afraid every household will have to go to the mountains to dig up this sweet kudzu to eat in the future!"
"If you don't want to eat gankudzu, what else can you do? The chestnuts in the mountains will be ripe in a month. Let's go into the mountains and pick chestnuts together!"
"There are a lot of mushrooms on the mountain. If we pick mushrooms every day, we can eat them for a long time!"
The villagers chatted with each other, and suddenly they felt that the days ahead would not be so hard.
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