Chapter 105 Food Problem Solved
Everyone was excited. Word spread from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred. One by one, they even gave up their work points and ran madly to the mountains to dig fern roots.
Fern root flour steamed buns—I can't say they taste particularly good. If they were, they would have been discovered long ago. Why haven't we heard of them yet? They taste pretty average, are difficult to make, and aren't necessarily very nutritious. But they do have two advantages. One is that they're everywhere in the mountains, so you can dig them up anywhere. If you're willing to dig, you can dig up hundreds of pounds a day. Another advantage is that even if they're not good enough, they're still flour, a starch that's filling.
Just having a full stomach is enough. Why bother worrying about white or black? In the past, when people were extremely hungry, they would eat the poop of wild geese! Even the cows raised in the commune would poop and a group of people would gather around to grab the poop. That was because they were extremely hungry.
Compared to this, the fern root powder steamed buns are really a good thing, the best of the best. You don’t have to grow them yourself, you don’t have to spend money to buy them, you just need to go to the mountains to dig them.
If you don’t dig now, you’d be a fool!
So the people of Pingxi Production Brigade went up the mountain like crazy to dig fern root powder.
Shen Hongying stamped her feet, hating herself to death. Why hadn't she discovered such a good thing earlier? Why had she been so stupid as to not dig it up yesterday?
Dig, dig quickly!
As for Nie Laosan's wife, she was still dumbfounded.
What exactly is that thing? What does it taste like? Is it edible? Why are so many people rushing to dig it up?
She thought, should she go digging too?
She ran home frantically: "Hurry up, hurry up, everyone else has gone to dig, we have to dig too!"
Shengyin frowned. She was really exhausted and tired recently.
First, she did not do well in the exam and ranked last, which made her feel that she was really useless. After feeling useless, she felt resentful.
We were supposed to take that exam, so why did they switch the exam papers? Why did the teachers switch the exam papers?
As for the matter of grain, she had known about the disaster long ago and had put in a lot of effort to get her father to buy so much grain and store it. She never expected that the grain would be moldy.
Can moldy food be eaten? How should it be dried before it can be eaten?
She was just thinking about this when she heard her mother yelling that she wanted to go dig fern roots. She immediately frowned and said, "What fern root powder? Stop it."
If this isn’t nonsense, what is?
She remembered hearing about fern root powder in her past life. It was a kind of medicine, and it seemed edible. She had forgotten, but it was definitely not something they had in Dagunzi Mountain. If it was, she would have known about it long ago. Why would she wait for Fubao to discover it?
She was just about to curl her lips when she saw her mother getting anxious: "What do you know? That one can be eaten. I saw them eat it with my own eyes. That bastard Fubao is such a heartless bastard. He actually gave it to others to eat and didn't even leave one for me. I raised her for four years after all!"
Now Nie Laosan's wife is resentful of all the topics about Fubao, and she always manages to bring the topic back to the sentence "I have raised her for four years after all."
Shengyin ignored him. She thought it would be better to see how to dry the moldy grains. Although they were moldy, they were still good during famine. And those with sand in them could be picked up and eaten.
But Nie Laosan's wife couldn't wait any longer. Her husband Nie Laosan had gone to work, so she called Shengjin and ran out with a hoe in her hand.
She was happy: "We are still obedient!"
Sheng Jin: "They robbed it yesterday. I told you to go dig it up, but you didn't believe me!"
Nie Laosan's wife: "Stop talking about that, let's go dig!"
In an instant, all the people in the production team rushed to the mountains, and no one was left behind.
Only Gu Weidong's family kept looking. Finally, Liu Guizhi asked Fubao, "Do you think we should go dig some?"
Fubao: "Let's go dig some too. It doesn't matter how much, we can dig some and eat it cold. We can also dig some other wild grasses and vegetables."
Liu Guizhi thought about it and rushed to the mountains with Gu Shengtian Fubao.
Everyone dug and dug, digging madly, as if they were grabbing food.
The last person came back carrying dozens of kilograms of fern roots. The next day, the man continued to dig, while the woman cleaned and processed them at home.
But how to do this? A group of people came to look for Fubao, and some went to look for Nie Dashan.
Nie Dashan: "I don't understand either. I just chiseled it. Fubao knows."
So everyone rushed to the Gu family.
When Chen Youfu saw this situation, he simply used a loudspeaker to call everyone to the wheat field, and then gave the loudspeaker to Fubao, asking Fubao to tell everyone how to make fern root powder.
This was the first time for Fubao to use this kind of loud speaker, and it was a bit new to her. She found that when she exhaled slightly, there was a crackling sound in the loudspeaker, and the sound could be heard from far away.
She quickly held her breath and looked up at everyone.
Everyone stood there expectantly, waiting for her to start talking about fern root powder.
They were all farmers who were used to working. They wore round-necked shirts made of homespun cloth. Most of their faces were dark and rough. The men had unshaven beards, and the women had their hair tied up in nylon headbands at the back of their heads.
Some of them were carrying shovels or sewing tools in their hands, and they took time out from their busy work to listen to her.
They were obviously full of anticipation, and everyone's eyes were filled with desire.
The desire for food and a full stomach.
Fubao glanced at everyone. She saw her parents and brothers all with joy on their faces, her grandmother who had experienced many hardships with a proud smile on her face, and the educated youth over there. They were also looking at her curiously. Huo Jinyun and Su Wanru had the same smiles on their faces as her grandmother, relieved, proud, and honored.
At this moment, Fubao suddenly felt that eating braised pork in private was not as delicious as it is now.
Sometimes happiness is not only about having enough food to eat and eating delicious food, but also about having others eat enough so that no one around you is hungry.
Having a full stomach is the most basic dignity and need for a human being.
Fubao cleared his throat and began to talk about how he made fern root powder.
Hundreds of people from the entire production brigade were there quietly listening to the twelve-year-old girl.
She also explained how to collect, clean, and pound the fern roots, filter and precipitate them in clean water, and finally how to extract the fern root powder. Finally, she explained how to make this powder delicious: "Now you can add some shredded radish to steamed dumplings. Later in winter, you can pick some chopped mushrooms and put them in. Next year, when the weather warms up, you can also add elm seeds and other things. This way the taste will be even better. You can use it as a pancake, steam dry food, or whatever you want."
Twelve-year-old Fubao is almost 1.4 meters tall, which is relatively tall among her peers. The little girl is delicate and slender. She stands in front of the wheat field and explains to everyone in her soft and pleasant voice.
When she finally finished, everyone cheered, clapped, and shouted, "There's food! There's food! Fubao! Fubao!"
Grandma Hu, who was already very old, said: "Fubao, you are really our lucky star, the lucky star of our entire production team!"
As she spoke, she wanted to wipe away her tears.
When Miao Xiuju heard her voice, she remembered the time when she was hungry. She suddenly wanted to cry, but she tried her best to hold it back and said happily: "My Fubao is such a good girl!"
When she said this, everyone heard it and praised her: "Fubao, this is going to save everyone in our production team!"
Someone also suddenly said: "I want to kowtow to Fubao!"
When this was mentioned, some people actually knelt down and kowtowed.
Although feudal superstitions have been eliminated now, some of the elderly people still grew up in the old society. When they encounter such natural disasters, they hope that God will have mercy on them and that Fubao can find food for them. They think that Fubao was sent by God to save them.
Fubao was also shocked when he saw this.
She didn't do anything, so why did others kneel down to her? She was young and of course she didn't deserve it.
He immediately stopped them: "I just discovered it by chance. We can dig more in the mountains and try more. Maybe we can find other edible food. Grandparents, uncles, please don't kneel!"
As she spoke, she looked at Chen Youfu for help.
Chen Youfu motioned for her to stand aside. He took the loudspeaker and began shouting to everyone, "Kneeling is not acceptable in New China. Fubao is a good child with a good heart. He studies hard, which is why he understands culture and scientific knowledge. He even found out from books that fern roots can be made into flour and eaten. If you are truly grateful to Fubao, then let your children study hard and learn knowledge. Raise your children to become the vital force in building the Four Modern Societies!"
After he said this, those who wanted to kneel down gave up the idea.
But even so, everyone is still full of respect for Fubao, and the way they look at her is like a living Bodhisattva fallen from the sky.
At this time, everyone thought of the past.
Fubao, who was less than one year old, was carried down the mountain by Secretary Li Mingshuan and brought to their production brigade, where he was adopted by the Nie family.
This Fubao is a living Bodhisattva, a savior of suffering! As soon as she arrived, she brought a pair of twins to Nie Laosan's family.
What a wonderful child this is! What a blessing it was for Old Third Nie's family at that time!
As a result, he didn't even know how to cherish her, and instead said that she was a jinx and wanted to drive her away.
Thinking back to the past, and remembering that they had the opportunity to adopt Fubao but didn't, everyone felt upset and regretful.
The frustrated and remorseful guys all cast angry glances at Nie Laosan's family.
"How did her family treat Fubao back then? How could they treat Fubao like this?"
"Yes, they bullied Fubao. If Fubao was bullied too badly, God would punish us and would definitely not let Fubao find fern root powder for us to eat!"
Originally, Nie Laosan's family was quite happy, but suddenly they saw everyone looking at them like this and were dumbfounded.
Nie Laosan's wife argued back: "We didn't know that at the time..."
Who knew that as soon as these words came out, Wang Fugui's wife spat at her fiercely: "You shameless person, how could you bully a child back then? You are so ungrateful!"
Others chimed in: "Heartless!"
Someone else shook his head and sighed, "People's hearts have changed. How could the Nie family have lost their conscience?"
Nie Laosan and his family couldn't even raise their heads. They were looked down upon and stared at by everyone. In the end, they had no choice but to find a chance to run away in shame.
In the crowd, Nie Dashan looked at the little girl who was like the moon surrounded by stars from afar.
This sister is really getting further and further away from him, and she is out of reach.
Behind Nie Dashan, the eldest and second oldest sons of the Nie family were both aggrieved. "She did such a heartless thing and implicated us! How can we be considered family members?"
It’s so unfair when you think about it.
When people scolded the Nie family, they directly accused them of having no conscience.
Hey, I’m embarrassed to admit that my last name is Nie!
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