Chapter 36 Kudzu Root
The village head quickly gathered the villagers to introduce them to kudzu. Upon hearing that this little thing was edible, the villagers couldn't wait to dig it up.
The vegetables have already been planted in the fields, and the village has no shortage of people to go up the mountain.
The kudzu vines on the mountain had been growing for many years without being dug up, and the kudzu roots buried underneath were quite large. After three days of digging, they dug up over a thousand kilograms of kudzu roots, which truly delighted the villagers.
Fortunately, their village is surrounded by mountains on three sides, where kudzu vines are very common. Other villages would not have been able to dig up so many.
The commotion caused by digging up kudzu was quite significant. When the officials came to inspect, they were astonished by the kudzu roots scattered all over the ground. After tasting the kudzu roots and confirming that they were indeed non-toxic, they hurriedly returned to report to the county magistrate.
County Magistrate Gu Cheng has been busy dealing with the drought. The grain sent by the imperial court is almost gone, so he can only distribute it to those who need it most. But he knows that this won't last long, and the imperial court won't send another batch of relief grain in the near future.
"We can't harvest any grain this year. The old grain from previous years in the granaries has already been distributed. If we can't get more grain, we're afraid we won't be able to get through this winter."
"My lord, I heard that a village suddenly organized its villagers to go up the mountain to dig up kudzu roots, saying that this stuff can fill their stomachs. The officials have gone to check and should be back soon. If it's true, it can alleviate the food shortage and help us hold out for a few more days." The retainers who came with Gu Cheng were also busy. They were all practical people and were very good at finding information.
Gu Cheng was surprised to hear this. Nowadays, most villages rely on emergency food supplies to survive, but he didn't expect that there would be such a farsighted village that had already found enough food to get through the winter.
Soon, the officials who went to investigate returned with a piece of kudzu root.
To ensure that this stuff was truly harmless, Gu Cheng even went to find a doctor to examine it. The conclusion was that kudzu root could be used as medicine, was non-toxic, and therefore safe to eat.
The news that kudzu could stave off hunger quickly spread through the villages, and more and more teams went up the mountain to dig for kudzu. Nowadays, food was too precious, and having more food reserves meant having more chances to survive, so the people in these villages did not choose to sit idly by and wait for death.
The surrounding mountains and forests of Weijia Village have been thoroughly searched. After digging up the kudzu roots, the pits were filled in, because they didn't want their descendants to have no kudzu roots to eat if another disaster were to occur many years later.
There was a lot of kudzu root in the village, and the village headman distributed it directly to each household, so that each household could take the kudzu root home according to the number of people in the household.
On average, each household received ten to twenty jin (5-10 kg) of grain, which, when mixed with relief food, could sustain them for quite some time.
Before long, the weather started to get cold. Wei's father took his two sons up the mountain every day to chop firewood for heating in the winter.
“In the past, there would be some wild fruits on the mountain, but this year there’s nothing left,” said Brother Wei, who was leading the way with a stick.
Originally, they didn't want to take Song Yushu up the mountain, since it was physically demanding and potentially dangerous. However, Song Yushu knew a lot about things, including discovering that kudzu could be used to stave off hunger. Thinking that they might find something else of value, they didn't stop her from going up the mountain.
"Dad, do you think I'll have any business if I open a shop in town this winter?" Song Yushu was a man who couldn't stay idle. He had been cooped up for so long since the drought, and he felt that if he stayed cooped up any longer in winter, his bones would rust.
"That depends on what kind of food you want to eat. With the current food shortage, I'm afraid the supply won't be enough," Wei's father knew she was a woman of her own mind, so he didn't make any absolute statements.
"Forget about food and such. I need to think about what we have in abundance right now," Song Yushu originally planned to sell roast meat and hot pot at his restaurant during the winter, but the drought has disrupted his plans. Now that supplies are scarce, he can forget about those things.
No matter how carefully Song Yushu searched the mountain, he couldn't find anything new. However, Wei Erge found some chestnuts, so Song Yushu had no choice but to descend the mountain in disappointment.
Back at the Wei family home, she pulled Zhou Chengzhu into the conversation and they started brainstorming ideas. Zhou Chengzhu had been wanting to open a shop in town, and the mother and daughter hit it off immediately. They even lit oil lamps at night to think of new dishes.
"Putting everything else aside, we can't sell staple foods, and these days everyone is starving, so why would they buy things outside?" Seeing that the mother and daughter were obsessed and still not sleeping in the middle of the night, Wei's mother poured cold water on them.
“It’s so boring to stay indoors all winter. Why don’t you think of something with us, Mother?” Song Yushu wanted to get Wei’s mother involved.
"Why don't we make some New Year's goods to sell? We still have quite a bit of flour at home. No matter what, everyone will buy New Year's goods during the New Year. Why don't we open the shop during that time? There will definitely be a lot of people in town."
Before Wei's mother could speak, Zhou Chengzhu quickly answered.
“Good idea, but there’s still more than a month until the New Year. We can sell other things first, and then sell snacks when the New Year is closer!” Song Yushu didn’t expect Zhou Chengzhu to have such a good business sense, and she thought the suggestion was very feasible.
"You two can keep arguing! But don't mess up our food too much," Mother Wei said helplessly.
The next day, Song Yushu went to town to buy things. She decided to sell sweet soup before the New Year. There was a shortage of food, but the Wei family still had some maltose stored up. She would add a little bit when boiling it, just enough to make it slightly sweet.
She had made a bag of kudzu root powder and a lot of chicken manure vine powder, which will come in handy later.
There weren't many things to sell, so Song Yushu quickly moved his things back to town. The town was relatively quiet now, and most of the shops still open were general stores and clothing stores.
Although Wei's mother disagreed verbally, she was still worried about the two of them, so she came along to help with the tidying up.
Having not returned for several months, the restaurants in town still need to be cleaned before they can reopen.
After Song Yushu's restaurant opened for dessert, people from the neighborhood peeked out to watch the excitement.
"Mr. Wei, that's impressive! You can still open for business at this time. What are you selling this time?"
"We only have kudzu root powder and chicken manure vine syrup, three coins a bowl. We only sell these two buckets of syrup a day. Once we run out of stock, we close the shop. Want a bowl?" Song Yushu spoke naturally and amiably when doing business.
“I know about kudzu root, but I’ve heard it’s usually cooked before eating. Why did you grind it into powder? Give me a bowl to try.” The townspeople lacked food, but they had plenty of money.
Song Yushu put three spoonfuls of kudzu root powder into a bowl, poured in boiling water, stirred it quickly for a while, and then added some dried osmanthus flowers. The transparent kudzu root powder was then ready and served on the table.
"I never knew kudzu root powder was eaten like this! The taste is different from when it's cooked. It looks nice and tastes quite good too," the customer said, quickly developing a liking for the kudzu root powder.
"Give me a bowl of kudzu root powder too!" The people who come to Songyu Bookstore to drink sweet soup are all neighbors from the neighborhood. They see that the lotus root powder looks very good, so they come over to buy some.
Although there weren't many customers, they kept coming in, and the kudzu root powder they brought quickly sold out.
"Why don't you try this chicken dung vine sweet soup? It may not sound appealing, but it tastes pretty good!" Song Yushu said, quickly promoting his sweet soup as someone approached.
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