Beside the old peach tree, Lin An's mother put down the children and carried a large pile of tree roots to the ground.
A large number of people from Linjia Village had already gathered around.
"Madam An, are these tree roots really edible?"
"Madam An, you're not lying to us, are you? Only in years of famine do people end up eating tree roots. It's not even next year yet, and you've already brought tree roots?"
A group of people, with very loud voices, quickly spread the news throughout the entire village.
Grandma Lin and Grandpa Lin over there also heard it.
Grandma Lin snorted coldly: "She's just a troublemaker. You dug up tree roots for us to eat, I don't know why our ancestor trusted her so much!"
Old Master Lin was already exhausted. He warned, "Just talk about it at home, but don't go and provoke her again. Otherwise, if she kicks down our door again, where will we get the money to repair it?"
Nowadays, even the ancestors of Linjia Village are on the side of the third son's wife. Even if they report it to the authorities, they won't get any good results!
The old lady's voice lowered again: "I understand!"
Then she muttered to herself, "Our eldest son will be taking the exam next year. He'll definitely pass with flying colors this time. Let the third son's wife and her two daughters regret it!"
"Anyway, they're now third-family, so they won't benefit from our influence anymore. They'll regret it!"
"Sixth Uncle, Madam An is inviting us to eat at the old house. Are you going?" someone called from outside the door.
"Go where? Do you think a tree root is edible? From now on, don't call us if it comes to anything related to the third son's wife! She's no longer part of our family!"
Old Master Lin roared and slammed the door shut.
The young man outside got a cold shoulder, while a young scholar behind him muttered, "I told you not to go to this family, but you insisted on coming!"
The young man was speechless and vowed never to come again.
The Lin family's old house.
The old house was very lively today. Some farmers who had gone out to store grain had returned, and they all had rosy cheeks.
“I told you to hurry up and buy the grain, because the prices in the county town have gone up again. Our group went early and bought it before the price went up.”
"Those unscrupulous merchants are really wicked. They just had to raise prices at this time. Those few shops have sucked up so much of our hard-earned money by relying on these grain stores!"
"There's nothing we can do about it; there are only a few grain shops in the county town."
"If food prices rise again, we won't be able to afford it. How can we stockpile food?"
Although these people were very happy to have bought a bag of grain before the price of grain rose, it was only temporary, and they couldn't possibly buy only that one bag of grain.
According to the prophecy of our ancestors and the Mountain Goddess, next year will be a year of famine. At that time, the price of grain in the county town will definitely skyrocket. Where will they get so much silver to buy that grain?
"Didn't our ancestor say that she has already contacted grain merchants in Chongzhou and that a batch of grain will be shipped over?"
"The price negotiated personally by our ancestor certainly won't be as expensive as what's sold in the county. Shall we wait a little longer?"
The group of women sighed, thinking that this was the only way.
However, they were still very anxious. Even if the grain was delivered by that grain merchant, it would eventually run out. Who knew if it would be gone in one winter? What would they do next year?
This winter is so cold, and they only have a few thin clothes at home. How are they going to keep warm?
"Let's save some seeds. We can plant them in the mountains later. Even if the harvest is bad, it will be enough to fill our stomachs."
"As long as we can get through these disasters, the years to come will definitely be bountiful!"
They comforted each other.
"What do you think Madam An can actually make? Why did she bring back so many tree branches?"
"I don't know. Madam An is going to treat us to a meal. Is it stir-fried tree roots, cold tree root salad, or steamed tree roots?"
The group of people looked at each other in bewilderment.
In the backyard, a group of aunties were helping to peel the outer skin of the kudzu root according to the steps Lin Anniang had instructed them to take.
"The kudzu root peel must be completely removed, otherwise there will be sand in the food."
"Next, we need to cut these kudzu roots into small pieces, add water, and pound them into a paste."
Lin Anniang took the lead and personally demonstrated. She already had the steps in her mind, and she was very strong, so she made the work very quickly and finished it in no time.
"This water needs to be filtered with a cloth to remove the kudzu root residue."
Lin Anniang scrubbed and washed it several times, filtering it again and again, until she had five large vats of kudzu root powder water.
Fortunately, Grandma Gongsun had a lot of jars, otherwise there wouldn't have been enough to store the kudzu root water.
"Aunt An, can this powder made from mixed tree roots really be used to make dumplings and noodles?"
Grandma Gongsun was also stunned. In all the places she had been to in her life, she had never heard of using tree roots as a staple food.
At this moment, Lin Anniang finally smiled and said, "Grandma, this is what the Mountain Goddess told me."
"I am showing this step now because I don't want the Mountain Goddess's blessing to be wasted."
"Is this a blessing from the Mountain Goddess?" Old Madam Gongsun's expression instantly turned solemn.
"These vats must be protected well; no one should be allowed to approach them easily!"
While the kudzu root water was settling, Lin Anniang took out the ginseng and medicinal herbs from her basket.
"Grandma, look, what year are these ginseng roots? And are these medicinal herbs valuable?"
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