Chapter 27
The weather was partly cloudy and partly sunny; today was another fine day.
On Tong Shu's terrace, the blinds were all folded up; they were making some dried sweet potatoes today.
Sweet potatoes are rich in starch and sugar, and are often eaten as a staple food. Therefore, communities, supply ships, and islands all grow a large amount of sweet potatoes as reserve food. However, the island's fields have high yields and quick harvests, and the amount of sweet potatoes far exceeds that of the community and supply ships. Tong Shu's family now has to find a way to quickly dispose of this batch of sweet potatoes, and the fastest and easiest way is to make them into dried sweet potatoes.
Making sweet potato chips is very simple. The first batch of sweet potatoes for making chips had been dried on the terrace for a few days in advance. According to Grandma Tong, sweet potatoes dried in advance will make the chips sweeter.
Grandma Tong directed Tong Shu and Qin Xiaoxiao to wash the dried sweet potatoes thoroughly and then cut them into thin strips. After the flood, even on sunny days, the sun wasn't particularly strong, making it easier to dry them in strips.
The sliced sweet potato strips were placed in a large basin with lightly salted water. At the same time, they set up a large pot to steam the sweet potato strips.
Shu Hua used a slotted spoon to scoop out the soaked sweet potato strips and spread them out in the steamer. She then cooked the sweet potato strips over high heat until they were soft and tender.
On the other side, Shuli had already prepared a clean drying rack. She made it with fishing net thread, and used bamboo poles to form a frame around it. The holes were very fine, so the dried sweet potatoes wouldn't fall through the middle.
After naturally cooling, the dried sweet potatoes were laid out one by one on a wire rack, which was then hung on the terrace, where the dried sweet potatoes were baked by the gentle sun.
With limited terrace space, Shuhua couldn't process too many sweet potatoes at once, so she simply shaved the remaining sweet potatoes into slices, mixed them with corn oil, and baked several large bags of sweet potato chips in the oven.
Sweet potato chips will be ready to eat in a while, but sweet potato crisps can be enjoyed immediately.
One slice for you, one slice for me, the aroma of the red sweet potato combined with its crunchy texture made the whole family rave about it, and they quickly finished off a small bag.
Tong Shu also packed a small dish for Wen Shaocheng and delivered it to his study. He was leaning against the headboard reading a book when he took a small bite and very politely said it was delicious, which made Tong Shu a little happy.
A few days later, the first batch of dried sweet potatoes was dried and carefully stored away. Tong Shu's family's small shop also started selling homemade dried sweet potatoes.
"Oh my! Sweet potatoes! Your family is really smart!" A middle-aged woman tasted the samples Tong Shu had placed on the table and kept praising them.
"That's right! Sweet potatoes can be made into dried sweet potatoes! My family has always grown sweet potatoes in our field. After handing over the supplies to the ship and the community, we still have a lot left. It looks like we can make dried sweet potatoes too." An old man savored the sweet taste of the dried sweet potatoes and decided to make dried sweet potatoes at home.
Zhang Ming rarely comes to buy things. He packed a bag of dried sweet potatoes into his bag and said with a smile, "We all work in the cannery and don't have land. You guys who have land can make more. It would be best if you could also get some sweet potato flour or something. We workers can just wait to buy it."
Tong Shu was greatly encouraged by this and decided to go back and ask her family to think about making some other sweet potato products.
The initial mission rewards on the island included 10 super backpacks with a time-freezing function, preventing items inside from spoiling or decaying. Tong Shu equipped each member of her family with one. Considering the impending natural disaster, the family reorganized the supplies in their backpacks.
The backpacks that were originally full of relief supplies have now been cleared out except for essential survival supplies. The tents and other supplies don't take up much space when folded up, and the empty spaces are now temporarily used to store harvested fruits and vegetables, as well as freshly made ginger tea.
To prevent any unexpected accidents, Tong Shu divided each type of material into ten portions and placed them in ten backpacks, ensuring that even if someone got lost, each backpack would not contain only one type of material.
However, the most urgent task is to quickly turn the crops temporarily stored in the backpack into supplies that can be stored for a long time. As long as they are properly stored, it will not be a problem to put them anywhere.
Fruits on the island ripen relatively slowly, and because there are no fixed growing areas, the yield is much lower than that of vegetables.
Even so, Tong Shu's family picked fruit every few days and accumulated a considerable amount.
“These grapes…” Tong Shu looked at the dozens of baskets of grapes that had just been picked in the square, and then took out the ripe grapes that had been picked earlier from her backpack and put them together: “There are too many of these. Are we going to make raisins?”
"Raisins are great! If we make them into raisins, we'll use them all up in no time." Qin Xiaoxiao agreed wholeheartedly.
“No, we can’t make all of it into raisins,” Wang Jianye said seriously. “We need to keep at least half for brewing wine.”
"Brewing wine, brewing wine, brewing wine! What time is it and you still want to drink!" Shu Li raised her hand and slapped Wang Jianye on the back a few times.
"Hey, sis, there are so many grapes here. Another batch will ripen on the vine soon. Making wine would be a good idea..." Qin Jiaqiang stepped forward and quietly expressed his support.
Tong Songming and his grandfather nodded in agreement.
Shuli and the others looked at the expectant eyes of these men, and after keeping a straight face for a while, they couldn't help but laugh: "Forget it, let's make wine then. Honestly, even at a time like this, you're still thinking about this. You're living too comfortably."
Upon hearing this, several strong men quickly stepped forward, some carrying loads and others carrying baskets, their joy infectious and uplifting everyone's spirits.
The family worked hard for more than half a month.
Standing in her island villa, looking at the dazzling array of supplies stored in the small warehouse, Tong Shu felt incredibly satisfied.
Her small storage space was about the same size as Tong Songming and the others' super backpacks, except that time didn't freeze. Fortunately, her villa had electricity, so she put all the supplies that needed to be frozen or refrigerated into the refrigerator, mostly juices and vegetables.
On a shelf in the corner are all kinds of canned fruits. Because they contain a lot of sugar, they spoil easily even when stored at room temperature and can be eaten within a few months.
Raisins, dried sweet potatoes, dried plums, dried apricots... these kinds of snacks were also placed in a separate layer, and Tong Shu also put a label on the transparent bag indicating the production date.
Semi-finished products, such as sweet potato starch, mung bean starch, pickled vegetables, and pickled mustard greens, are placed below the snacks. These products, which need to be cooked and processed before they can be eaten, are categorized by Tong Shu.
Since brewing their first barrel of wine, Tong Shu's father, grandfather, and uncle seemed to have opened a new world for them. After finishing their important tasks, they started thinking about brewing some new kinds of wine. Their backpacks would always contain several jars of wine, such as grape wine, bayberry wine, and plum wine. Tong Shu didn't like drinking before, but after tasting the wine they brewed themselves, her opinion of alcoholic beverages changed drastically, and she began to support Tong Songming and his friends' winemaking activities.
If there's anything more abundant than canned goods, it's probably the handmade sauces that take up an entire shelf. Besides sauces made from various fruits, there are also incredibly fragrant sauces like chili sauce, fermented bean paste, and perilla sauce. These sauces sell very well at the Tong family's small shop.
Now, Tong Shu's family is the only one in the north of the city with a relatively abundant supply of goods. Not only residents of the community, but also many people living nearby will row a long way to buy things. Now everyone affectionately calls this small warehouse Tong's Convenience Store.
Nearly two months have passed since Nini made her first prediction.
Over the past two months, Tong Shu has become more and more anxious.
But seeing the gradually increasing supplies on the island, Tong Shu felt a little more at ease. The processed rice and wheat were packed into bags and piled up in the service center square, as the farm's warehouse was already overflowing. Warm-weather supplies such as cotton-padded coats and quilts made by Shu Li were also lined up in the open-air stadium; these were enough to distribute to an entire neighborhood. She had now started making smaller items like socks and gloves.
Wen Shaocheng continued to stay at his home temporarily.
Tong Shu always felt that he seemed to know something, but every time she went to the study to get information out of him, he always acted nonchalant. Once Tong Shu subtly asked about the reason for his injury or inquired about when he planned to return to the team, Wen Shaocheng could always skillfully steer the conversation away from the topic. In short, he was so shameless that Tong Shu was starting to change her opinion of him.
Anyway, it will probably take a few more months for this gunshot wound to fully heal. Let's just consider it a contribution to the country and take in a meritorious person.
Tong Shu thought to herself.
A night that was no different from any other.
After a busy day, Tong Shu's family dragged their tired bodies to bed and soon fell asleep.
The cold air arrived suddenly.
Tong Shu trembled all over, forced herself to open her eyes, and immediately realized that something was wrong.
She flung open the curtains, the drastic temperature difference causing a thick layer of frost to form on the windows. Shivering, she grabbed the thick cotton-padded coat she'd kept at the foot of her bed for the past two months, quickly wrapped it around herself, and rushed to Grandpa and Grandma Tong's room. Sure enough, the two elderly people were shivering with cold.
Unlike younger people, the elderly usually have underlying health conditions, and a sudden drop in temperature can easily trigger these illnesses, potentially causing them to lose consciousness and never wake up again. Tong Shu quickly unfolded the thick blankets and wrapped the two elderly people up, then turned on the air conditioner in heating mode and set the temperature to the highest setting.
"Grandpa and Grandma! Grandpa and Grandma!" Tong Shu shouted loudly.
Fortunately, Tong Shu woke up quickly. The two elderly people slowly opened their eyes and said groggily, "Shu Shu... why is it so cold? Has the temperature dropped?"
"Yes! It's getting colder!" Tong Shu hurriedly took out a bottle of ginger tea from her backpack, poured it into two cups, and fed it to the old man.
Grandpa Tong has recovered. After Tong Shu put thick clothes on him, he was able to hold his cup and drink tea by himself. Grandma Tong is still a bit weak, but she doesn't seem to be in any serious condition.
"Shushu, go check on your parents. I'll watch over your grandma; everything's alright." Grandpa Tong took the ginger tea from Tong Shu and told her to go outside and check on things.
Knowing the situation was urgent, Tong Shu didn't say anything more. She told the old man to call for help immediately if he felt unwell, then turned and left in a hurry.
Fortunately, the whole family had made preparations beforehand, with a quilt placed at the foot of each person's bed. When Tong Shu arrived at her parents' room, the two of them were feeding each other ginger tea.
"Shushu, are your grandparents alright?" Tong Songming asked, his lips trembling. He had struggled to cover himself and his wife with a cup after realizing the temperature had dropped. He had wanted to go see his parents, but he was too cold to do so and could only lie in bed and wait for his body to warm up on its own.
"It's alright, I've already checked. I'll turn on the air conditioner for you guys, and then I'll go check on the others." Tong Shu deftly turned on the air conditioner and ran off to another room.
There were no major problems with the other rooms, except for Wang Jie, who shared a room with Wen Shaocheng.
Fearing that the astute major might discover something, Wang Jie had hidden his thick clothes and blankets under the bed. That night, he had just eaten something that upset his stomach, and when the cold air arrived, he didn't wake up at all. It was Wen Shaocheng who pulled his thick blankets out from under the bed and wrapped him up.
"Shushu..." Wang Jie called out to Tong Shu, holding a cup of ginger tea and crying with snot and tears streaming down his face.
Tong Shu's face turned green, and she asked him through gritted teeth, "Where did you get the ginger tea?"
"Ah..." Wang Jie's mind was frozen and he hadn't reacted yet: "The major handed me the bag and told me to carry it myself."
After saying that, he turned back to Wen Shaocheng and asked, "Major, do you want it? It's still hot."
Wearing Wang Jie's thick cotton-padded coat, Wen Shaocheng stared intently at Tong Shu, a knowing smile playing on his lips, and replied, "No need, you can drink it yourself."
It's over.
Tong Shu thought.
He must have guessed it all.
[Author's Note]
Because I usually save up several days' worth of drafts and post them at a set time, many thank-you messages are only seen a few days later.
In short, thank you to everyone who added this to their favorites, and a special thank you to those who donated nutrients! I will try my best to update daily!
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