Chapter 56 Guide Black Gold
Acorn trees are widely distributed throughout Yunzhou. There are some in the mountains near Xiaoshi Village and in Suijin Town.
The flour made from acorns can satisfy hunger, but it tastes bitter and astringent and difficult to swallow. Families with limited food will prepare some to survive the famine.
In the past, Song Zhenping and Xiao An would often roast some acorns to fill their stomachs.
Now Song Liyun wants to pick acorns. He also thinks it is a way to store food, but it is a little late.
The most important thing is that going up the mountain is dangerous. He would rather carry a few more stones himself than let his younger brothers and sisters take the risk.
"Picking acorns is nice, but there are many wild animals in the mountains around Suijin Town. You and Xiao An should not go. If you have time, go pick some sedge grass from the river and I'll weave a few pairs of straw sandals tonight."
It's cold now, and Xiao An is wearing cotton shoes that don't fit him, while Song Zhenping is still wearing a pair of cloth shoes with his heels exposed.
He had to work on the construction site and was reluctant to wear even his tattered cloth shoes.
When ordering clothes from the seamstress in town, Song Liyun also ordered shoes for the three of them. However, making the shoes took time and it would take two days to pick them up.
Song Liyun responded indifferently and didn't say anything else. She was just saying it anyway.
As long as Song Zhenping goes out tomorrow, he can take Heijin and Xiaoan with him to the mountain.
Knowing that his family would also start eating acorn flour, Song Zhenping felt a bit embarrassed the next morning when he looked at the white flour buns and eggs on the table:
"Yun'er, now that we can buy grains, don't take the things in there anymore. We won't eat these steamed buns and eggs.
In five days, the construction site will be completed, and I will be able to earn some wages and buy some coarse grains to last me through the winter.
Uncle Qin said that military households like us can take jobs in the barracks and earn a little money. I can also chop firewood and sell it to the barracks.
He calculated that even if he stopped working, as long as he could get a pound of cornmeal in exchange for firewood from the mountains to sell to the military camp every day, he and his siblings would be able to survive the winter.
When spring comes, we plow the soil and plant corn. We also raise chickens at home so we can have eggs.
They cut grass every day and raise pigs. After a few months, when the crops are harvested and the pigs are slaughtered, Xiao An and his second sister can buy some good clothes.
The more he thought about it, the happier he became, and his eyes became slightly red, as if he could already see the granary filled with golden grains and pigs and chickens running around in the pen.
Xiao An slurped down his millet porridge and took a bite of his boiled egg yolk. Seeing Song Zhenping say he wouldn't eat eggs anymore, he quickly put down his bowl and pushed his steamed bun over to him, "Brother, eat!"
Song Zhenping waved his hand: "Brother has some here, Xiao An can eat it by yourself."
Xiao An refused.
He was afraid of being hungry. He finally had the chance to eat such a delicious meal, and he was worried that his brother would refuse to eat it and he would never be able to eat it again.
At this time, he kept stuffing steamed buns and eggs into Song Zhenping's mouth, choking him so much that he rolled his eyes.
Song Liyun watched the two brothers interact with a smile.
Song Zhenping said she didn't want to boil the eggs, so she didn't boil them. There were indeed not many eggs in her space.
Now, apart from grain, the only meat we have left is two chickens, one pound of meat and a pig, so we have to find other ways to compensate for protein.
Song Zhenping swallowed the steamed bun and egg in his mouth with difficulty. He knew that Xiao An loved him and it was difficult to blame her.
When Song Zhenping, who was looking forward to the future, left home to work, Song Liyun took Xiao An to the attic.
Heijin held the iron chain with one hand and the door frame with the other, hanging in the air with his head spread out in a big shape, staring straight at the yard through the gaps in the wooden boards.
When Xiao An's figure appeared in his sight, he jumped up and down excitedly, pulling the iron chain so hard that it clanked.
The next second, it saw the woman appear behind Xiao An, and it felt like it was hit in the face by a stick again.
Heijin grinned and made a face, then rolled back into his nest, covered his head with his hands, pretending to sleep.
Song Liyun kicked open the attic door and chuckled at Heijin, who was pretending to sleep. "You're not even pretending to be asleep properly. Your tail is still twitching."
Heijin was stunned and subconsciously tried to grab his own tail, but missed.
Its tail was chopped off in the disaster five years ago, and as a result, its entire body accidentally rolled out of the nest.
Seeing Heijin lying on the ground with his arms and legs spread out, Xiao An laughed out loud.
Song Liyun was both angry and amused.
I don’t know how Heijin made Xiao An laugh. The shy Xiao An was originally very timid, but when he was with Heijin, he laughed out loud in just half a day.
After staying for a while, Song Liyun took Heijin and Xiaoan out of the house.
Suijin Town has a small population, and the population is concentrated in the central area of the town.
When Song Liyun took out the black gold, no one noticed.
The two men and the monkey walked through the woods outside Baolinju and headed straight for the upper reaches of the Huangsha River in Suijin Town.
The mountains near Suijin Town have been picked clean by the townspeople. If you want to pick up the best acorns, you need to wade through the Yellow Sand River.
It was Song Liyun's first time to the river, and she didn't know where the river was deep or shallow, or where was suitable for crossing the river.
But she has the most experienced guide, Kurokin.
The dry reeds by the river were taller than people's heads, making it difficult to move.
Song Liyun carried Xiao An on her back and, under the guidance of Heijin, accurately found a small path in the grass that was only one foot wide and nimbly bypassed the reeds.
After walking two miles, a wide riverbed with slow-flowing water appeared in front of us.
This must have been a gold mining site.
It is one mile long and five hundred meters wide. Piles of sifted sand and stones are piled up like mountains, staggered and undulating along the river channel. With the help of these stone piles, you can cross the river channel during the dry season.
But... things are not as expected.
Five years later, these abandoned stone piles are now covered with weeds, and due to river erosion, the distance between the stone piles is sometimes as high as three meters.
It would be difficult for a person to jump over such a distance.
When they reached the river, Song Liyun untied the black gold chain.
The naughty monkey easily jumped over the pile of rocks and turned back to squeak at Song Liyun.
He also jumped back and forth in a showy manner, doing all kinds of moves, his eyes full of provocation.
It has been detained for a long time and can no longer hold it in.
I can't beat this bitch, but I can't even beat her in the long jump.
Song Liyun remained calm. She first tied Xiao An to herself with a cloth belt, and then... to the astonishment of Xiao An and Hei Jin, she "transformed" him into a ladder.
The long ladder was placed across two piles of stones. Song Liyun tested its stability briefly, stepped onto the ladder and strode across the river.
After repeating this several times, Suijin Town became the other side of the river.
Song Liyun stood at the foot of the mountain and retracted the ladder with a wave of her hand. Then she said to Heijin, "Lead the way. If you dare to do anything wrong, I will destroy the pile of stones and leave you to freeze to death on the mountain."
Heijin became obedient when Song Liyun took out the ladder and stepped onto the river bank. When he heard the threat, he pretended not to understand.
It danced with joy towards Xiao An, who was still on its back, saying that it was very familiar with the area and wanted Xiao An to get down to the ground and play with it.
"You rascal, don't even think about kidnapping Xiao An!"
Song Liyun kicked Hei Jin over.
Although this guy behaved very well in front of Song Liyun, he still didn't trust it too much.
Especially in a mountain like this, if Xiao An is taken to the cliff by it, it will be too late to regret.
Heijin was very familiar with this forest. He took Song Liyun out of the forest and soon found a large area of dense oak trees.
No one has ever been here, and the acorns, whether fallen on the ground or hanging on the trees, are densely packed.
Heijin's wound had already scabbed over, which did not prevent it from climbing the tree, so Song Liyun drove it up the tree to pick fruit, while she and Xiao An picked acorns on the ground.
(End of this chapter)
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