Chapter 59: Jelly Fruit
As the temperature continues to rise, there is more preparation to be done at home.
The first thing to be addressed is the rice fields and corn fields, especially rice. Continuous high temperatures for too long may result in the rice ears not being able to form in the later stages.
The next morning, Zhao Yeqing got up before five o'clock.
Before the sun comes out, water the vegetable fields first, and then water the rice fields and corn fields.
I picked some Chinese cabbage yesterday and sowed the seeds on the ground again. It depends on luck whether they can grow in this weather.
The dried peaches and pumpkin seeds that were drying in the sun were quickly brought in. The pumpkin seeds were packed in bags, and the dried peaches were sprinkled with a layer of white icing sugar and packed in plastic jars with lids.
Last night, the two little leopards drank milk with minced meat for the first time, and this morning they immediately showed their dislike for the milk without minced meat.
It's not that she was stingy and didn't want to give up this little bit of meat, she just wanted to observe the situation and give them a little extra food if there was no problem.
Zhao Yeqing had just finished feeding the two little guys when Mu Xi got up. The first thing he did when he went downstairs was to take a shower.
It was so hot that she was sweating even when she turned on the fan. I guess Mu Xi wouldn't be able to sleep well that night.
I made a simple bowl of noodles, and after eating, I put up the awning.
Mu Xi went to cut bamboo, and she was cutting thatch nearby.
The thatch leaves are sharp, so she has to wear work gloves. She hasn't worn them for a long time, and she hasn't paid much attention to them since she started to get calluses on her hands.
But thatch is different. Although the leaves are thin, if you cut them at the right angle, you can see the bone and the wound will be very itchy.
Walking towards the wild grapes, there are thatch grass all along the way. The way to cut the thatch is to grab a handful of thatch grass just above the roots and then cut it off at the roots with a sickle.
The thatch was dense and she was still afraid of snakes and insects, so she took a wooden stick and knocked back and forth in the grass. She waited for a long time before she felt at ease to take action.
The tall and dense thatch was gradually cut down, and Zhao Yeqing discovered a wild fruit tree deep in the grass.
The more she looked at it, the more familiar it looked. The fruit was emerald green, about the same size and shape as a kiwi, and somewhat like a wild pear grown in the mountains.
Zhao Yeqing reached out and picked one to smell it. The moment the branch and the fruit separated, a white milky liquid gushed out from the broken top of the fruit.
Her memory instantly came back to her. She pried it open with force. It was full of tiny grains, like a fruit filled with sesame seeds. The grains also tasted like sesame seeds. People in her hometown call this fruit "jelly fruit", and its scientific name is Ficus microcarpa.
These tiny particles can be used to make chewy jelly.
She hasn't eaten it for many years. After all, a bag of jelly powder only costs one or two yuan, and no one would think of spending time and energy to make this thing.
There was a lot of thatch and no backpack, so I could only carry the thatch back first and then come back to pick them up and take them home later.
It took three trips to move all the thatch. On the last trip, I didn't forget to carry a basket to bring back all the picked fruits.
Mu Xi had already carried the bamboo back and was dividing it. There were still some piles missing from yesterday's use of the remaining wood, so he used bamboo to complete the piles first.
The two of them decided that it would be more convenient to use a detachable roof. If the temperature can be lowered at the back, it would be best to keep the crops in full sunlight.
Zhao Yeqing suggested, "To seal the roof, we can put a rope through the middle of the bamboo strips and roll it up like a mat when not in use."
Mu Xi had no objection, but this job was very tiring and it was difficult to thread the rope with gloves on. He was afraid that her hands would be pricked by the bamboo thorns, so he brought it to her and did it himself.
His hands were covered with thick calluses that not even bamboo thorns could penetrate.
Zhao Yeqing took over his job of splitting bamboo strips. The two plots of land were not small, so even if the bamboo strips were sparsely spaced, a large number of them were still needed.
One person chopped the bamboo while the other weaved the bamboo curtains. They worked from eight in the morning until two in the afternoon.
Zhao Yeqing's fingers were so exhausted from chopping bamboo that he couldn't straighten them up, and his fingers remained in the same position as he was holding the hatchet.
He hurried out under the sun, spread the bamboo curtain and covered it with thatch. When he was done, he ran home without looking back.
In less than ten minutes after I went out, all the exposed skin turned red and felt burning with pain.
It was hot and I was busy working, sweating all over and had no appetite at all.
But people cannot hold on even longer without food, so Zhao Yeqing made a cup of honey water for himself and Mu Xi, adding several ice cubes.
The two of them sat on a bench and fanned themselves for a while, waiting until their body temperature dropped a little and the ice in the cup had melted more than half, then they picked up the cup to drink water.
Zhao Yeqing drank the iced honey water with a straight look in his eyes, "This weather is really not suitable for human beings."
She missed air conditioning terribly.
Mu Xi pulled the warm towel around his neck to wipe away the sweat that was pouring out of his forehead. "Wait a little longer. If the high temperature continues, I will find a way to go to the nearby village to find supplies."
If the high temperature continues, all the vegetables and crops they plant will stop growing and die, and most of the plants in the mountains will die one after another in this unsuitable environment.
Her stockpile was not enough to last long. If she harvested the sweet potatoes and potatoes in advance, she would run out of food even after a few months.
But even if a large amount of supplies were found, the manpower could not transport all of them back.
If the climate really reaches this point, some things will be beyond human control.
Zhao Yeqing drank the iced honey water in the cup in one breath and said, "We'll go together then."
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The sun is extremely hot from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and the brightness is so high that you can hardly look directly at it. Staring at it for just two seconds will make you dizzy.
Unable to go out and with no appetite, Zhao Yeqing remembered the jelly fruits she picked when cutting thatch. She asked Mu Xi to help, and cut all the fruits in the middle and scooped out all the grains inside.
Some of the particles will clump together and need to be broken up by hand. After breaking them up, spread them all flat on the dustpan.
It still needed to be dried a little more, so Zhao Yeqing carried the winnowing basket to the eaves, stood at the boundary between shadow and sunlight, and gently pushed the winnowing basket out.
She wouldn't be happy if the sun touched her any more.
It can't be exposed to the sun for too long. Normally it would take half a day to be exposed to the sun, but this sun only needs ten minutes. If it's longer, she's afraid that the small particles will be carbonized.
After drying, bring it in, wrap it with gauze, take out a large shallow plate, like a serving tray, put a thin layer of water in it, put the gauze filled with particles in it and rub it vigorously.
The water gradually seeped into the gauze, and as Zhao Yeqing continued to rub it, a translucent liquid gradually precipitated out.
After everything is rubbed well, you have to filter it again with gauze. Pour the liquid in the tray into the gauze, grab the gauze with your hands and pull it from top to bottom to squeeze out the liquid in the gauze to get a full bowl.
The light pink viscous liquid has a color and texture like a bowl of freshly prepared lotus root starch.
Pour the liquid back into the tray, spread it shallowly on the bottom of the tray, and wait for it to cool and solidify before eating.
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