After dinner, Xiaoman and Xu Errui continued digging rabbit holes, while Jiang Zhi did not go out.
She brought the kudzu back and needed to process it as soon as possible. When she arrived at Xiaoman's house, she first thanked Xiaoman's grandfather for helping to repair the house.
Xiaoman waved her hand, telling her not to thank him anymore, and pointed excitedly at the kudzu root piled up in the room, saying, "What I did was just manual labor, Errui's mother, this is a life-saving thing, and so is that!"
On the other side, there are oak berries soaking in the pit. Now, every day, we pick the green berries, soak them in rotation, grind them into powder, and eat them as porridge or pancakes.
With these two things, he no longer worried about starving to death.
Moreover, kudzu root can also cure diseases. Last night, Dazhu ate stewed kudzu root and said that he felt better about his thirst and bitter taste in his mouth.
Grandma Xiaoman also said that she couldn't do heavy work, and that washing and scrubbing wasn't tiring.
The worst thing for an old person is to become useless. Only when they feel needed do they feel at ease, especially since there are two people to take care of at home.
Seeing that the two were satisfied with their current situation, Jiang Zhi didn't say anything more formal and instead taught them how to extract kudzu root powder.
The process of extracting the powder is actually similar to that of extracting kudzu root. First, crush the kudzu root into a paste, then wash the powder with water, let it settle repeatedly, skim off the dirty water on top, and finally take the powder that has settled at the bottom of the container and dry it in the sun.
Xiaoman Milk can understand it immediately.
When she learned that kudzu root powder tasted better than oak powder and was more beneficial to health, she couldn't stop smiling, and her already cloudy eyes shone with light: When did people start being selective about what they ate when they fled from war? This was something that never happened in the famine years before.
Jiang Zhi and the other two spent the morning smashing the kudzu root with wooden sticks, then filtering out the residue with a cloth, washing out the powder and letting it settle.
Nini watched from the side, holding the little rabbit, her yellowish face full of smiles.
She liked rabbits, so Xiaoman built a nest out of stone slabs, lined it with dry grass, and raised the rabbits there.
The little rabbit was still very weak and couldn't eat oak seeds, so Xiaoman's grandmother took out precious cornmeal and sorghum to feed it.
We can't just feed them grains all the time; that's something people are reluctant to eat. But yesterday we discovered that the rabbits wanted to eat kudzu root, which solved a big problem.
The house has been repaired by Grandpa Xiaoman. Taking advantage of her free time, Jiang Zhi also wants to level the courtyard in front of the house.
When the house was built before, it was simply leveled with a hoe, and it looked very rough, which could not compare to the ground that Xiaomanye paved with stone slabs.
Now the mountain is covered in dust, so black and sticky that it's impossible to sweep it all away.
Fortunately, Jiang Zhi had worked with her grandfather in the threshing ground when she was a child, and she still has vivid memories of those operations.
She and Qiaoyun first loosened the soil on the surface of the yard, picked out the stones, broke up the soil particles, and then took a small amount of the quicklime they had brought from the village and mixed it evenly.
Qiaoyun used leaves to sprinkle water to wet the soil, and after the soil was thoroughly wet, she pounded it with a wooden stick.
The hammering continued, making the ground firm and flat. After finishing, haystacks were sprinkled, and the ground was hammered again while it was still damp.
Finally, Jiang Zhi found some thin slabs of stone and neatly laid them around the eaves to prevent rainwater from dripping down and damaging the soil.
With this arrangement, the smooth and clean courtyard instantly transformed the entire small house.
Qiaoyun sat on the steps in front of the house, imagining that in a few months a child would be crawling around here, and couldn't help but show a shy smile.
Xu Errui and Xiaoman returned relatively early, and the two families gathered at Xiaoman's house at the foot of the cliff.
This time they only found two rabbits, and the two of them brought back bad news.
The wildfires are showing signs of spreading to other peaks.
Besides digging rabbit burrows, they've also been monitoring the fire situation these past two days, and they're responsible for clearing any remaining embers.
The two houses have already been burned once, so the possibility of another fire is not high, but there is also the fear that the fire might spread back and the two fires might connect.
Now we are increasingly hoping for rain, because only rain can truly extinguish the wildfires.
The usual evening meal was stewed soup with kudzu root. Although we were still full, the initial joy was gone.
The houttuynia cordata was placed on the table, and the children all liked it. Even Nini and Xu Dazhu tasted it.
After finishing her meal, Jiang Zhi didn't rush to leave. She played with Nini while chatting with Grandma Xiaoman.
In addition, Xu Errui, Xiaoman, and Xiaoman's grandfather were setting up a kang (a heated brick bed).
I prepared the materials for building the kang (a heated brick bed) the day before the fire started, but I didn't expect the wildfire to come up that night. The soil and rocks covered the grain, and now I have time to start over.
Because space needed to be made to build a kang (heated brick bed), Xu Dazhu's bed board was moved to the side of the hearth.
By the firelight, Jiang Zhi could see his face clearly. He was just an ordinary country boy, but he was so thin that he looked unrecognizable, and his eye sockets looked frighteningly deep.
Perhaps it was because he had eaten meat these past two days, or perhaps it was the warmth of the firelight, but Xu Dazhu's pale face looked a bit healthier.
Xiaoman's grandmother talked to Jiangzhi about eating, drinking, defecating, and sleeping.
However, Jiang Zhi inquired about the detailed process of Xu Dazhu's treatment back then, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
The villagers only knew that they had found a doctor to treat them, but they didn't know exactly how the treatment was being carried out.
Xu Dazhu said in a soft and weak voice, "At first, it felt like my legs were being bitten by thousands of ants, and I couldn't lift my legs."
The doctor said it was a spinal misalignment, and he carried me around the room with my back turned to set it. I fainted from the pain.
When I woke up... I found that although my legs were no longer numb or painful, I couldn't feel any pain even when someone pinched me, and I couldn't lift them either.
Jiang Zhi was speechless for a moment.
Xu Dazhu was harmed by a quack doctor.
The worst thing you can do with a bone injury is to move it around carelessly, let alone shake it upside down. This is mistaking a spinal cord injury for a herniated disc and will worsen the condition.
But I can't say that.
Saying it now will only increase the two elderly people's guilt, and will not serve any practical purpose.
They found the doctor, and the treatment was performed in front of them.
If they knew then that their grandson's condition had worsened right under their noses, they would be heartbroken for the rest of their lives.
There's nothing we can do about it.
Not to mention that folk medical skills vary greatly, and miracle doctors are rare and hard to find, healing still depends on fate.
Even with modern medical technology and numerous instruments and equipment, it is still impossible to treat the sequelae of spinal cord injury, and there is still the possibility of walking into the hospital and leaving lying down.
Seeing that Aunt Jiang stopped talking after asking her question, Xu Dazhu cautiously asked, "Auntie, can I... use herbal medicine for this?"
He kept in mind the fact that kudzu could cure diseases.
Jiang Zhi did not answer directly, but said vaguely, "You can try using herbs, but you need to eat well and get your body healthy, fat and strong first, then you will have the opportunity to use medicine. Otherwise, even if your bones heal, you will not be able to stand up."
"Station?" Xu Dazhu's eyes lit up.
Jiang Zhi nodded and silently repeated three times: I am not a doctor and cannot be responsible for my words. I am just comforting him.
As the condition has progressed to this point, dietary supplements are worse than medication. The first thing we can do is to regulate his body from other aspects.
That means eating, eating all kinds of food, to make up for what your body is lacking.
Xu Dazhu could no longer stand up, but he could move his upper limbs.
Once he regains his strength, he can use a wheelchair, get out of bed, accompany Nini as she grows up, and take care of his elderly grandparents without becoming a burden to Xiaoman.
When a person faces adversity, as long as there is a glimmer of hope, they will become incredibly strong; sometimes, a person's willpower can change their destiny.
Xu Dazhu, knowing he might be able to stand up, visibly perked up.
Not only did she have the mood to watch Xiaoman and the others build the kang (heated brick bed), but she also offered a few words of advice, and before she knew it, her voice had become louder.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com