Chapter 16 Mixed Bean Stew
The next morning, Zhao Xuan collected two pieces of salted meat to send to the Yao family—one fatty and one pork rib wrapped with lean meat.
Before the apocalypse, lean meat was more expensive. After all, people had eaten too much rich and fatty food and preferred the light and chewy texture of ribs. In the present world, fatty meat is more popular. Fatty meat can be pressed for oil, and the oil can be used to cook dishes for a long time. At this time, fatty meat is not only a food source but can also be a life-saving medicine.
She instructed Lu An to take the two pieces of meat to the field and give them to the Yao family when she saw them. She didn't plan to go to the field today. The weather was getting more and more humid every day, and she needed to sort out the remaining grain. In addition, the charcoal used for dehumidification also needed to be replaced.
She still had some rice left from last year's harvest. The rice, which was milled by hand, was yellowish. She stored it very well, sealing it in thick plastic bags and then hiding it in a jar. She checked the quantity and figured that if she ate it sparingly, it would last until the rice harvest.
In winter, they mostly eat sweet potatoes and potatoes to fill their stomachs, and only dare to eat solid food after the rice is planted in the spring. Crops like sweet potatoes and potatoes have high yields, and some fields can even grow a lot of them wild, but eating too much of these things always makes their stomachs uncomfortable.
The flour was gone, but there were still some vermicelli left. They cooked it with the dried mushrooms and bamboo shoots from a while ago, and sprinkled some minced meat on top. It tasted pretty good. In addition, there were various small bags of grains left, such as peanuts, millet, red dates, and various beans. Some of them had been preserved because they were well hidden, and Zhao Xuan and his team found them in the farmhouses. Some of them were collected from the fields. Most of the collected grains were thin and varied in size, and did not look very appealing.
Zhao Xuan took some of the infested grains to the roof to dry in the sun, and mixed in the remaining grains, which were now only a small handful, and washed them clean with water, preparing to stew them together.
This kind of thing should have been called Laba porridge before the end of the world.
But then I thought about it and realized that it didn't make sense. The ingredients for Laba porridge are very particular. The colorful grains in my hand should be called mixed bean stew—mostly beans, such as soybeans, mung beans, and black beans. After the beans are cooked, they will swell up a lot and be very filling. However, this kind of mixed food with beans cooked haphazardly is not tasty.
Soybeans can be stewed with pig's trotters, black beans can be simmered with pork belly, red beans can be used as filling for pastries, and mung beans are delicious simply boiled into mung bean soup with a little honey. However, these many kinds of beans are not suitable to be cooked together.
Zhao Xuan has been eating this kind of thing for a very, very long time.
The camp where Zhao Xuan and Lu An previously lived was built around a granary, which contained rice and corn, but mostly various kinds of beans.
Zhao Xuan guessed that this granary might not be used to store human food, but rather to store unprocessed feed ingredients.
There weren't many houses built to accompany the granary; most of them were used to house the camp's officers. The rest of the people had to live in tents set up around the camp. The better ones were indeed tents, while the more basic ones were just bamboo poles supporting a few pieces of tarpaulin. The camp reeked of excrement and urine everywhere.
Men were generally responsible for guarding the camp and transporting food to other camps to exchange for supplies, while women could go out to gather wild vegetables and herbs, or engage in prostitution. A woman alone here lived a miserable life; she had no power to protect herself, and even the little food she earned through hard work would be embezzled, not to mention the constant need to guard against assault.
Lu An did not participate in the security work with the other men in the camp; he was assigned to repair electrical circuits or various broken vehicles brought in by the camp manager.
He was simple-minded; he promised to do the work of three people, and he really did, but he only brought back one and a half portions of grain. Every day he would leave before dawn and return at night.
They only ate one meal at the camp, which was the mixed grains of various beans that Lu An brought back.
Remove the sand and rat droppings, put the grain in water, simmer for an hour, then sprinkle with salt before eating.
Lu An always insisted on dividing a pot of mixed bean stew into two equal portions. In reality, Zhao Xuan, who spent all her time lying in bed, consumed far less energy than him. As a result, he lost weight extremely quickly that year, losing fat and then muscle. Sometimes, when Zhao Xuan hugged him, she could feel through his thin clothes that Lu An's skin and flesh had sagged, making him look like an old man.
The women in the camp were all good at picking wild vegetables, and Sister Lu, who lived next door, was no exception. During the day, when the men were all out working, she would come to talk to Zhao Xuan when she had nothing to do.
Zhao Xuan lay on the bed, staring silently at the dirty ceiling, but Sister Lu didn't care. She didn't need Zhao Xuan to reply; she just needed someone to listen quietly.
Zhao Xuan is a very detail-oriented person, and coincidentally, she also has a very good memory. Before the apocalypse, she was sensitive and vengeful, and not very likable, but at that time, she listened to everything that Sister Lu said.
Although she didn't go out to pick wild vegetables with the women in the camp, she knew what vegetables to pick in what season and what they looked like. Little by little, what Sister Lu said unintentionally was taken to heart by her.
The area where they lived was inhabited by only her and Sister Lu, but at night, various men would enter her tent to amuse themselves.
The tent wasn't soundproof, and she could often hear Sister Lu's painful wails and frantic curses, as well as the man's disdainful laughter.
So Sister Lu often says she envies Zhao Xuan. She says her man is dead and now only a dog is with her, but Zhao Xuan is lucky because her man has always protected her.
“In this world, some men are worse than dogs, but your man, sister, is better than a dog, and better than many men.” Sister Lu’s words were often rough.
Her dog was her only companion. The mongrel named Huangdou was usually very docile; when Zhao Xuan stroked its ears, it would soften them to let her touch them. But at night, when men entered the tent, it would bark wildly at them. Once, a man, annoyed by its barking, kicked it in the head, sending it flying a considerable distance, blood seeping from its nose. Lu Jie fought with that man, and in the end, she and the dog were both beaten so badly they couldn't get out of bed.
Those few days, Zhao Xuan went to her tent to cook for her.
Lu Jie's food is hard-earned, but she will share half with the dog. She eats half of a bowl of mixed grains and lets the dog lick the other half. She doesn't mind the dirt, but she does dislike the bowl of mixed grains: "I shouldn't have named this beast Soybean. Soybean, Soybean, it makes me want to vomit even when I call its name now. Ugh!"
Later, after dark, Sister Lu locked Huangdou outside the tent, letting the dog bark wildly.
Soybean is a female dog. She probably knows what her owner is going through. She is very anxious, but there is nothing she can do to help.
When Huang Dou was pregnant, Sister Lu cursed at the four-sided tent for nearly an hour. Zhao Xuan listened quietly, not knowing whether she was cursing the unknown male dog or the men in the camp.
Although Sister Lu was scolding, she still left most of the food for Huang Dou. She had made Huang Dou her only food source, and the dog, who was pregnant with puppies, needed to eat more.
Zhao Xuan was present when the dog gave birth. Sister Lu had raised pigs and knew how pigs give birth. She also taught Zhao Xuan how to help the sow give birth, so Huang Dou's delivery of puppies went relatively smoothly. There were four puppies in total, three yellow ones that looked like their mother, and one pure black one that probably resembled the stray male dog of unknown origin.
The black puppy seemed a bit slow-witted; it would only eat when its mother's nipple was put in its mouth, otherwise it would just lie there whimpering. At the slightest noise, all the other puppies would rush into their mother's arms, but this one waited a full half minute before being startled and then squinting as it went to find its mother.
But for some reason, Huangdou's four children died one after another, leaving only the thin, stupid black one.
Sister Lu held the dead puppy and cried for a while. Then, half a day later, Zhao Xuan heard Sister Lu call her over to drink meat soup. Huang Dou stared quietly at the pot of meat soup without blinking.
At that time, Sister Lu's illness was already very serious, and she needed nutrition, which Huang Dou should have known.
Sister Lu wasn't very pretty; her skin was dark and rough, and her hair was a mess from years of neglect. She was also very thin, with sunken cheeks, and even her nails were grayish-yellow. Malnourished people usually don't grow long nails, and Sister Lu said she hadn't cut her nails in a long time.
Everyone in the camp was thin, but Zhao Xuan knew that she was thin from illness, because in addition to being thin, there was a nauseating stench coming from her genitals.
She wasn't pretty to begin with, and with the infection, even fewer men came to visit her. She often went hungry for long periods, and Zhao Xuan couldn't bear to see her like that, so he deliberately saved a little of his own food ration and brought it to her every two days.
On the night she left, she visited Sister Lu for the last time.
"Sister, we're getting ready to leave here." Inside the foul-smelling tent, Zhao Xuan pulled back the blanket, which had been smothered in darkness, and found the desiccated body lying inside.
"Let's go, where are you going?" The woman opened her lifeless eyes and whispered a few words. She hadn't cleaned her teeth in a long time, and Zhao Xuan smelled the pungent stench, but she didn't move away.
"Anywhere is fine. This camp is running out of food, and I think it will fall apart soon."
The dying man only caught the first half of her sentence. Sister Lu actually laughed: "Good...good, leave here, there's nowhere bad to go. Find a deserted village to live in, grow crops, catch fish, raise chickens...anything is better than rotting away in this camp. Sister, you're luckier than me..."
"Sister, I also brought you some bean soup. Have some. I'm worried about you after I leave..." Zhao Xuan choked up a little. She wasn't heartless. This sister was very good to her, but she didn't have enough ability to protect her.
When she was being assaulted by those three men, it was Sister Lu who ran to find Lu An and saved her life.
She has always had a good life. She has a kind grandmother, doting parents, and Lu An who has always protected her. Even the one time she was about to be hurt was nipped in the bud by this neighbor who was originally a complete stranger to her.
She was grateful to Sister Lu, who, like her grandmother, taught her many survival skills.
At this time, Sister Lu had lost her ability to move. Zhao Xuan remembered that when she first came to this camp, she wanted to support herself by gathering herbs, but after she went out, no one guarded the house. When she came back, all the food and supplies in the house would be stolen. Helpless, she could only guard this tent and do prostitution year after year.
She is a hardworking and strong person, but this world doesn't give good people a way to live.
Zhao Xuan helped her sit up on the bed, letting her rest her head on his shoulder. The bowl of mixed bean stew in her hand was not the usual watery kind; instead, it was very thick. Zhao Xuan knew this was the last time she would see Sister Lu, and she was using this thick bowl of mixed bean stew to thank her for taking care of her for so long.
Mixed beans stewed with too much water have a strong beany smell, but when the flavor is strong, it becomes very mellow and fragrant.
She scooped up a spoonful, blew on it gently, and put it into Lu Jie's mouth.
The moment the lips were moistened, Sister Lu seemed to wake up as if remembering something: "If you're leaving, take the soybeans with you..." She paused for a long time, as if gathering her strength, her tone pleading: "Take it with you, it doesn't eat much, in case you really have nothing to eat, there's still it..."
"Sister Lu..."
"Take it with you, please, I'm just begging you this once, okay?"
Zhao Xuan felt a sharp pain in her heart. She nodded vigorously, "I'll take it with me. Don't worry, even if I starve to death, I won't eat it."
"Okay, okay," the woman said, tears streaming down her face. "Sister, you're a good person, one of the few good people I've ever met in my life..."
After feeding Sister Lu, Zhao Xuan wiped his eyes and covered her with a blanket. The person on the bed was breathing very weakly, and after Zhao Xuan helped her lie down, she looked no different from a corpse.
She turned and went to Huangdou's den, intending to untie the rope connecting the dog's neck to the iron fence, but suddenly realized that Huangdou had died sometime earlier.
Its stiff body was coiled into a circle, protecting the little black dog in the middle. The little black dog didn't know its mother was dead; starving, it was still biting its mother's cold nipple.
Zhao Xuan then realized that he hadn't heard Huang Dou chirping for several days.
Knowing its owner was dying, the dog followed its owner to the afterlife—isn't that another kind of perfect ending?
Wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes with her dirty hands, she carefully picked up the thin puppy, feeling a mix of wanting to cry and wanting to laugh.
That night, it was pitch black, the sky was covered with dark clouds, and the stars were dim. While everyone who had worked hard all day was fast asleep, Lu An and Zhao Xuan quietly left the camp, dragging a cart.
The cart carried all their belongings, not much. In the corner of the cart was a hut made of a tattered blanket, where a small, pure black mongrel dog slept.
Lu An pulled from the front, while Zhao Xuan pushed from behind. They hurried forward aimlessly, unaware of their destination, but in Zhao Xuan's eyes, there was a faint hope.
"Lu'an, shall we name this dog?"
The blurry figure in front thought for a moment and said, "It doesn't seem very smart, so let's call it 460!"
Zhao Xuan smiled, which was taken as tacit agreement.
They were gone for more than half a year. During that time, they suffered a lot and met many people. All sorts of things and faces flashed through Zhao Xuan's mind, making her realize that people cannot be confined to one place. The mixed bean stew in the camp can keep them alive temporarily, but the four seasons outside will make them live like real people.
—In a daze, Zhao Xuan recalled many things from the past.
Memories are long, and so is the future.
I carried this small bag of mixed beans downstairs, washed it with clean water, and then put it into an earthenware pot to simmer slowly. After a long time, the beans and grains will expand, become soft and sticky, and then emit the unique aroma of grains.
The beans of various colors tumbled and rolled in the jar, which looked quite nice.
After the porridge was cooked, Zhao Xuan scooped up a small spoonful and tasted it. It was very fragrant and had none of the unpalatable bean-like taste he remembered.
Cover the pot and let the beans simmer for a while longer; the longer they simmer, the better they will taste.
Make two more side dishes. As for the mixed bean stew, we can wait until Lu An comes back and see if he wants it savory or sweet.
A wide variety of foods can soothe the soul to a great extent. Zhao Xuan thought that perhaps her current life had healed her, allowing her to taste the original flavor of the mixed bean stew.
There is no such thing as bad food, only people who don't like it.
The meal was ready, and Zhao Xuan habitually sat on the steps outside the big iron gate to wait for Lu An to return. The view from here was excellent; no matter whether Lu An came back from the top or bottom of the village, she could see him as quickly as possible.
Under the blazing sun, cicadas chirped like thunder.
The heat rose from the path, and just then, Zhao Xuan saw a blurry figure walking towards them.
"Lu An!" she waved to him.
Thinking it was its owner welcoming it, 460, with its tongue lolling out, rushed into Zhao Xuan's arms.
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