The next day, after Lin Yan and others had sold all the ingredients, they followed Zhao Shiyun to buy moxa sticks. Moxa sticks are usually available in clinics or markets. The stalls in the market are not fixed, and some people only sell them occasionally, so Zhao Shiyun usually doesn't bother to look for them and goes directly to the clinic to buy them.
The old doctor happened to be there, and Zhao Shiyun asked him to take Lin Yan's pulse. The old doctor told Lin Yan to relax, eat as much as he could, eat small meals frequently if he couldn't eat, and not to think too much on daily basis.
Lin Yan took note of it, and while Zhao Shiyun went to buy moxa sticks, he asked the old doctor what else could be put in the sachets besides moxa?
The old doctor stroked his beard and said slowly: "Ligustrum lucidum fruit, Cassia seed, Huangjing fruit, etc. are all fine."
Lin Yan thanked the old doctor, stood up, and went to the front to find Zhao Shiyun. By the way, he asked the medicine boy to get him some cassia seeds. Zhao Shiyun glanced at Lin Yan without saying a word. After taking the moxa sticks and cassia seeds handed over by the medicine boy, he asked, "Brother Yan, what are you buying cassia seeds for?"
"Let's make a little gadget," Lin Yan kept the secret. Yesterday, inspired by Yu Ge'er's sandbags, he wondered if he could fill a strip of cloth with mugwort and then roll it into a ball. He'd seen Yu Ge'er make purses with mugwort in them before, but he wasn't sure if the dried mugwort at home would be enough, so he asked the doctor if he could add something else.
After returning home, Lin Yan took out the scraps of cloth from yesterday, stretched them a little, and felt that they were too shredded and difficult to wrap. He then found two larger pieces of cotton cloth, which were left over from the last time he made baby clothes. Lin Yan planned to sew two layers so that they would be thicker and less likely to tear.
Lin Yan found the mugwort that had been dried before. During the Dragon Boat Festival, his family picked a large bundle of mugwort, dried it, and made purses for Yu Ge'er to sell at the embroidery shop. There was still some left. Lin Yan plucked the mugwort, removed the hard roots and impurities, put it in gauze, added some cassia seeds, and tried to wrap it with gauze first.
However, the mugwort was too fine to be formed when wrapped. Lin Yan used a little strength and began to knead and shape it like dough. After all, he had never done this before. He could only try to knead and press the mugwort and cassia seeds repeatedly to let them gradually form a ball and press it as tightly as possible. However, the cassia seeds were easy to fall off. Lin Yan took great pains and added some mugwort before he kneaded it into a slightly fixed mugwort ball. He carefully lifted the gauze and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the mugwort was not loose.
Then Lin Yan found a wooden stick of appropriate size and length and inserted it into the top of the mugwort ball. Lin Yan originally wanted to insert it all the way in, but was afraid that the mugwort ball would fall apart, so he inserted it most of the way in, turned it around, and made sure that the wooden stick was firmly fixed in the mugwort ball.
Pick up the cotton cloth you just found and place the mugwort ball in the middle of the cotton cloth. First, wrap one end of the cotton cloth around the mugwort ball and the wooden stick, tidy up the wrinkles to make it look smoother, then wrap the other end over, and pinch the cloth with your hands so that the mugwort ball is tightly wrapped inside.
Lin Yan held the cotton cloth tightly, pulled the cotton thread beside him, and started wrapping the cotton thread around the joint of the cotton cloth, one circle after another, trying to tighten the cotton thread as much as possible to fix the cotton cloth, the mugwort ball, and the wooden stick tightly together to prevent it from loosening.
Lin Yan felt like he had been wrapping the cotton thread for what felt like an eternity. When it finally reached the base of the stick, he breathed a sigh of relief, twisted his stiff neck, cut the thread with scissors, and tucked the end of the thread into the gap between the twisted threads, hiding it. A small back-beating hammer was now complete. He had originally intended to make two layers, but it seemed unnecessary; one would suffice, and it was quite sturdy.
He tried tapping his arm, and it felt a bit heavy, and if he pressed hard enough, it did have some effect in relieving the pain. Seeing Lin Yan tapping his neck with a strange object, Yu Ge'er came forward curiously and asked, "Brother, what is this?"
Lin Yan handed it to him and said, "I just made this. It contains mugwort and cassia seeds. It's used for back and neck massage."
Yu Geer tried it and felt quite comfortable. The feeling was wonderful. "Brother, I want it too."
"Let's do two more. I'll teach you."
So the two guys started kneading the mugwort and wrapping the cotton thread under the eaves. Because they had experience, the second one was much faster. Brother Yu even reserved a piece of cotton thread to make a hanging rope. Lin Yan followed suit. In this way, the two of them spent more than half an hour to make the hammer.
"Brother, this is made of mugwort, let's call it a mugwort hammer." Yu Ge'er looked at the mugwort hammer he made from left to right and couldn't let it go.
"Okay." Lin Yan was also very happy. As he watched, he suddenly slapped his thigh and said, "Oh no, I forgot to cook." Father, mother and brother Shi Yun were still in the fields and had not come back yet. He was so busy making the mugwort hammer that he didn't even notice the time.
Lin Yan quickly put down the wormwood hammer and rushed to the kitchen with Yu Ge'er to prepare dinner. "Yu Ge'er, hurry up and steam the rice. I'll chop the vegetables."
Lin Yan had a small piece of pork belly at home, so he decided to make a simple sweet potato flour pudding. He scooped a large spoonful of sweet potato flour into a large bowl, added a pinch of salt, and slowly poured in water, stirring as he went. He mixed it into a smooth batter and set it aside for a while.
Cut the pork belly into slices, chop the garlic sprouts into sections, chop the green and red peppers into small pieces, and also chop some garlic and ginger slices for later use.
Add oil to the pan and heat it on the lowest heat. Pour the batter into the pan and stir constantly with chopsticks to prevent it from sticking to the pan. Continue until the batter is completely solidified. Flatten it with a spatula and turn it over. When both sides are slightly cooked and golden brown, you can serve it. Let it cool and cut into small pieces.
No need to put oil in the pot, pour in the pork belly and stir-fry to release oil, add green and red peppers and garlic slices and ginger slices and stir-fry until fragrant, add soy sauce to taste and continue to stir-fry for a while, then you can add the chopped sweet potato starch cubes, add salt, stir-fry evenly, and sprinkle with a handful of chopped green onions before serving.
There was no time to cook several dishes today, so the portion of sweet potato noodle cakes Lin Yan made was quite large. He hadn't eaten this dish for a long time. Now, when he held the plate and smelled it, his appetite was whetted.
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