The morning mist grew increasingly cold, as if the world had changed color overnight. Golden and orange-red filled every corner of the jungle, and the ground was covered with a layer of fallen leaves as thick as ankles.
During this period, Yan Zheng kept hunting and chopping wood. During this time, there were two light rains in the mountains, each one colder than the last. They also went up the mountain to pick a lot of wild mushrooms and wood ear fungus.
While hunting, Yan Zheng discovered an orange bean in a squirrel's burrow, and he began to pay special attention to this plant.
Finally, the source was traced back to a type of bean. The plant looked like a soybean. When you peeled open the thick pod, you could find six or seven orange beans inside, which were larger and plumper than soybeans.
Perhaps because the seeds were readily available, these beans grew in large patches, which made it convenient for the two of them to harvest them.
First, pull all the beans off the mountain, dry them in the sun, and then put them in a cave to crush the pods with a wooden stick. You can then harvest two baskets of clean soybeans.
Jiang Xi dared not even think about turning these soybeans into tofu. On the one hand, in this place where tools were scarce, simply grinding the soybeans into soy milk was an incredibly huge undertaking.
On the other hand, she knew that making tofu required brine, but she didn't know what brine was. So most of the time, Jiang Xi used it to cook porridge or steam it until it was soft, and then made it into pastries.
On the other hand, Jiang Xi would sometimes go with him to dig up sweet potatoes and yellow carrots while he was hunting, but most of the time she stayed in the cave to process ingredients, such as smoking cured meat or drying dried goods like wood ear fungus and wild mushrooms. When they rested at night, the two of them would crochet fabric and sort fine duck down together.
After Yan Zheng brought back wild ducks and small-eared pork, Jiang Xi marinated and air-dried them all. She also cut down a lot of pine branches and specially asked Yan Zheng to build a smoking rack. The air-dried meat was hung on top, and pine branches were placed below. Thick banana leaves were placed on the outside of the smoking rack.
When damp pine branches are lit, they release a lot of smoke, which is used to smoke dried meat. This process not only allows the cured meat and duck to be stored for a long time, but also gives them a unique salty and savory flavor that is infused with the pine wood.
Jiang Xi watched her grandmother make this when she was little, and she helped stuff it with pine branches. She loved eating cured pork ribs the most, so her grandmother would make a lot of them almost every year and hang them in the attic.
Jiang Xi sighed, who could have imagined that these distant memories would give her so much strength and help at this moment?
The processed meat, along with potatoes and yellow carrots, filled half the cave. There were about a dozen slabs of cured pork ribs and dozens of pieces of cured pork. In the southeast corner, there were also dozens of cured ducks and about twenty dried rabbits hanging.
On the other side of the cave, there was a half-wall of dry firewood neatly stacked against the wall, as well as pottery made by Jiang Xixin and several pottery jars used for storing oil.
There was a wooden shelf inside, on which were placed several bowls, plates and lamps. As the weather got cooler, it got dark earlier and earlier, which meant that more lamp oil was needed. She made several more in case of unforeseen circumstances.
There are also two jars of salted duck eggs in the bottom corner.
Pickled salted duck eggs were a new food idea she came up with. Since they had salt and Sichuan peppercorns, they could use the most traditional method: wrap the duck eggs in high-salt red clay and let them sit in a cool place for thirty days before eating.
She had considered catching some wild ducks to raise, but not only were live wild ducks hard to catch, their cave was also very close to the wild duck habitat by the lake, and they could easily find wild duck eggs by taking a stroll. Moreover, the egg production of the raised wild ducks was not stable, so there was really no need to do such a futile effort.
Jiang Xi arranged for the deer to live near the cave entrance, and she even thoughtfully made it a nest out of haystacks.
After nearly a month of recuperation, its two hind legs have fully recovered. When it stands up, it is as tall as Jiang Xi's thigh and looks as big as a small donkey. Its horns have grown to 30 to 40 centimeters high.
It also became increasingly clingy. Sometimes when Jiang Xi was busy outside the cave, it would eagerly want someone to keep it company and would call out "yoyo" inside the cave. So when the sun was out, Jiang Xi would take it to the hillside while she was working and tie it to a wooden stake. It would dig for grass roots by itself, and sometimes Jiang Xi would feed it some grass so that it could keep her company while basking in the sun.
Most of the time, Jiang Xi would keep it tied up, partly to protect it. An immature deer, without the protection of its pack, is like a lamb to the slaughter in the mountains; it has no ability to protect itself should it encounter danger.
Amidst the hustle and bustle, late autumn quietly arrives.
One morning, Yan Zheng opened the wooden door to the cave. A layer of frost had formed between heaven and earth, and the treetops and the half-withered grass at his feet were covered with frost flowers that looked like rock candy. He took a deep breath, and the air felt even colder.
He opened the earthen stove and threw firewood into the firebox. On the stove was the meat soup that Jiang Xi had simmered last night, made with half a wild duck and small pig bones, along with a few dried wild mushrooms. The pot of soup was placed on the stove before going to bed, simmering against the embers in the firebox.
Jiang Xi walked out of the inner room wearing a cardigan. She had just woken up, and the ends of her hair were slightly curled. She casually combed her hair a few times with her hands and mumbled, "It's so cold, it's getting colder and colder."
Yan Zheng saw that she was awake, poured her a cup of warm water from the stove, took the down jacket off the "clothes rack" and put it on her, and then told her, "It's frosty outside, and the ground is wet. Don't go out before noon."
Jiang Xi wrapped her down jacket tighter and nodded.
They've only been here for two months, and there's already frost. They're afraid winter will come sooner than they expected.
After drinking some warm water, she carried the warm water from the earthenware jar to the "toilet," which Yan Zheng had recently built a few days ago. As the weather grew colder, it was located in a naturally formed depression in the corridor in the middle of the cave.
Yan Zheng built a toilet around the hollow with straw curtains and wood, and thoughtfully made a door curtain, which could barely accommodate two people.
Inside, there was a wooden washstand with a ceramic basin on top, used for washing in the morning and evening. When the weather gets colder, a simple toilet can be placed there at night.
After washing up, he returned to the front cave. The aroma of meat soup mixed with wild mushrooms wafted from the earthen stove as it boiled again. Yan Zheng ladled two bowls and placed them on the wooden table. The table was made together with the washstand, using mortise and tenon joints to nail together fist-thick pieces of wood, and then using four pieces of wood for the table legs. The entire table was about 1.5 meters long, just the right size for placing things and eating.
The pork bone soup had a slightly yellowish hue, with some oil floating on the surface and a few wild scallion flowers as garnish. It looked very appetizing. Yan Zheng then took out a plate of boiled yams, a small dish of wild scallions and dried rabbit meat shreds dressed with Sichuan peppercorn oil.
The two sat on straw mats to enjoy breakfast. After simmering overnight, the pork bones were tender and the meat was so soft that it fell off the bone with a touch of chopsticks. The meat was fragrant but not greasy.
The wild scallions and dried rabbit meat are full of numbing and spicy flavors. With the addition of Sichuan peppercorn oil and hawthorn vinegar, the taste is refreshing and not spicy.
The hawthorn vinegar was also brewed by Jiang Xi herself.
Fresh hawthorns are picked, crushed, and boiled until soft. After two natural temperature fermentations, the clear liquid on top of the fruit vinegar is taken. The resulting fruit vinegar not only has a sour taste but also a strong hawthorn aroma, making it excellent for cold dishes or as a side dish with meat.
Wild scallions paired with stewed pork, and finally a piece of soft and glutinous yam.
Jiang Xi sighed, "It's still good food that soothes the soul."
After dinner, Yan Zheng went to the lake to fish. He planned to make some salted and smoked fish in the next couple of days. If the lake freezes over in winter, fishing would be a hassle. He had thought about making a net out of fiber, but the vine fiber was not strong enough and its elasticity would weaken when it got wet.
Jiang Xi obediently stayed in the cave and took out the down she had stored away some time ago. After autumn arrived, the temperature difference between day and night became larger and larger. By the early morning, Jiang Xi estimated that it would only be in the teens, so the down comforter needed to be put out in advance.
After being sorted and cleaned, the duck down is snow-white and free of impurities. After being dried and then pounded for a long time, the duck down will become fluffy and soft again.
Jiang Xi filled the fiber duvet cover little by little, spreading each piece out to form a thin layer. She didn't fill it too thickly; the duck down she had collected was enough to make another thick duvet, so she planned to make a thin one for now. Finally, she used a needle and fiber thread to sew on a mesh pattern to prevent the down from shifting.
After finishing sewing the quilt, she took out the rabbit fur that she had cleaned earlier. Because there was no strict method for processing the fur, the resulting rabbit fur was rather stiff. Fortunately, the fur of the two-legged rabbit was very long, and the furry side felt quite soft to the touch.
She used bone needles to piece together the rabbit fur, intending to make two mattresses from the rabbit skin. Currently, they were sleeping on dry grass covered with a layer of fiber cloth. Fortunately, it was summer, so while it wasn't very comfortable, it wasn't cold.
As the weather gets colder, a single layer of fiber cloth provides very limited warmth, so a rabbit fur mattress should be much warmer.
After finishing two fur rugs, she noticed that the sun was already setting. She cut off a small piece of cured meat, washed it, and put it in a pot to boil. She also started another pot of earthenware to boil a small half pot of soybeans.
With several rabbit skins left, Jiang Xi used a dagger to trim the edges clean and made two pairs of the most traditional cylindrical rabbit fur gloves without any finger seams. She tried them on, and their warmth was yet to be verified, but the fluffy texture looked very retro. She carefully folded them and put them away.
After the soybeans are cooked until soft, they will become mushy when gently squeezed by hand. Jiang Xi drained the water, leaving only the soybeans, sprinkled some salt and Sichuan peppercorn powder on them and mixed them evenly. The soybean paste was then formed into walnut-sized balls, pressed into patties on a stone slab, and finally baked in the oven for several tens of minutes.
After being baked a second time, the soybean cake will become golden and crispy, with a crispy exterior and soft interior. This method can also be used to make potato cakes, which are equally delicious.
As darkness began to fall, she wrapped her cardigan tighter around herself and stepped out of the cave. The autumn wind was rustling all around. Jiang Xi gazed at the shadowy mountains in the direction of the lake until she saw figures walking uphill at the foot of the mountain before returning to the cave.
The cooked and cooled cured pork was crystal clear, with a distinct separation of fat and lean meat in the cross-section. It was cut into equally wide slices with a dagger. The lard in the pot was heated and then sautéed with wild scallions. The cured pork slices and the wood ear mushrooms she had soaked that morning were then added. The aroma of smoky meat mixed with the fragrance of scallions instantly filled the entire cave.
Jiang Xi served the stir-fried wood ear mushrooms and cured pork, along with soybean cakes, on the wooden table. She added two more bowls of water to the pot, threw in the cleaned scallops and shepherd's purse, added a little salt, and after the water boiled for a short while, the fresh river fish and shepherd's purse soup was ready.
Jiang Xi finished cleaning up the dishes, glanced at the orange-red sunset on the horizon, and waited for a long time without seeing anyone return. She went out of the cave to check again, but still did not see the expected figure. Jiang Xi began to panic.
She closed the cave door, led the deer back up the hillside to search again, but still couldn't find Yan Zheng, so she hurried down the mountain.
Just as she passed the cave entrance, a sound suddenly came from behind her. Before she could turn around, something suddenly hugged her from behind, startling her so much that her heart skipped a beat. Suddenly, a bouquet of fiery red flowers appeared in front of her, and Yan Zheng's voice rang in her ears: "Were you scared?"
Still shaken, Jiang Xi was filled with a mixture of surprise and annoyance. Suddenly, she turned around, her cheeks puffed out in anger, and pinched the troublemaker's cheeks, pulling them apart: "Was that fun?"
Seeing that she was really angry, Yan Zheng quickly wrapped his arms around her waist and coaxed her, "I was wrong, here are the flowers for you."
Jiang Xi snorted and reluctantly let go of him, taking the flowers from his hand. There were about ten flowers, fiery red with a hint of orange, petals overlapping each other, looking both passionate and sunny. Each flower was about the size of a palm and looked like a peony from the countryside.
"Where did you pick this? From a tree or a bush?"
Yan Zheng led her toward the cave: "It's a thicket of bushes. I don't recognize the species, but I picked a few because I thought they looked pretty."
Jiang Xi paused, her hand holding the flower. She thought of something. She often went to the foot of the mountain, but she had never seen this plant before.
She took out an unused jar, scooped in a few spoonfuls of water, put the flowers in it, placed it on the table, and looked at him, asking the question that had been bothering her: "Is it far?"
Yan Zheng took off the sword pouch from his back and scooped a ladle of water into the basin by the door: "It's not far, just by the lake."
After a second or two of silence, Jiang Xi couldn't help but voice her concerns: "Don't run so far anymore. We'll eat whatever's nearby. There are so many sweet potatoes and two-legged rabbits, we won't starve."
After autumn arrived, he needed to store a lot of food, so he started going out early and returning late, sometimes for the whole day. Jiang Xi followed him a few times out of concern, but she needed to dry and process the ingredients, collect vine fibers, or process dried goods. They had a clear division of labor and each had their own strengths. Most of the time, she stayed in the cave. Because of this, the time he spent hunting outside every day was also the time when Jiang Xi was most uneasy.
Now that the food reserves in the cave are increasing and resources are no longer scarce, she is increasingly reluctant to let him go out frequently.
Yan Zheng looked at her furrowed brows and his heart softened. He took a towel to dry his hands, pulled her to sit down at the dining table, and stroked her hand: "After all, there are no people around here. I always want to... plan ahead."
Recalling the scene of his serious injury last time, he didn't say the words "for you".
He sighed inwardly, paused for a moment, and said, "However, I'll listen to you and not go out tomorrow."
Yan Zheng looked into Jiang Xi's eyes and lightly kissed the corner of her lips: "I'll give you a gift tomorrow."
Jiang Xi looked into his eyes, her heart fluttering, and asked in return, "What gift?"
"If you tell it out loud, it won't be a surprise anymore."
She slept incredibly well that night. She had never felt so relaxed since arriving in the jungle. The soft down mattress and quilt gently enveloped her. She dreamt that she was sleeping in her apartment in Bei'an City, with a soft and relaxing Simmons mattress. She had a rare good night's sleep.
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