Li Lanzhen chuckled and said, "Mom can do magic. Hahaha. Come on, let's work hard."
When Li Lanzhen discovered that the boiling water in the large pot had almost run out, she lifted the lid and carefully tilted it towards the wooden bucket on the ground.
Water droplets gurgled and rolled down the pot lid into the wooden bucket.
At this point, everyone noticed a layer of white crystals in the iron pot.
Xue Nizi's eyes lit up. She reached into the pot, picked up a small amount of white crystals, put it on her tongue, and then looked at Li Lanzhen with bright eyes, "Mommy!! This is salt!!!"
Upon hearing this, everyone reached out and pinched a little of the white crystal, then smacked their tongues.
They exclaimed with delight, "It really is salt!! It's even saltier than the coarse-grained salt I bought. It's so fine and white."
When Xue Nizi saw that a lot of people had gathered around, she quickly scooped all the salt out of the pot with a spatula, put it in a small wooden jar, put the lid on, and carried it away.
The people who arrived later had only heard about it, but hadn't seen it, and were all asking what was going on.
Li Sanya loudly proclaimed to everyone, "Oh my, let me tell you, our in-laws are amazing! She had us fetch river water to boil this pot of water, then put the lid on... and in the end, the wooden bucket on the ground contained pure, drinkable water. The pot contained fine, white, and salty salt! My goodness, our in-laws are incredible!!"
As she explained, everyone's eyes widened, and they clapped excitedly, looking at Li Lanzhen with grateful and moved eyes.
The old village chief chuckled, his hands behind his back, his eyes narrowed, looking at Li Lanzhen as if she were a treasure. "Lanzhen, can we all use your method?"
Looking into those eager eyes, Li Lanzhen knew that in ancient times, a skill one possessed was not passed on to others unless the person consented, just like how everyone on the mountain learned to build carts from Li Erhan.
However, she had no intention of keeping this method to herself.
Nodding, he said, "Sure, everyone can try this method. It can extract some pure water that we can drink, and at the same time, it can refine some salt."
She looked at the old village chief and asked, "Old village chief, how long are we going to stay here? Are we going to walk along the river, or do we need to go out and cross the stone forest?"
The old village chief laughed and said, "We'll just follow this underground river. It's the same direction. Once we get out, we'll reach the mountains. After crossing the mountains, we'll reach Youzhou at the foot of the mountains."
We originally planned to walk along the underground river, at least we wouldn't be exposed to the sun. We didn't expect you to bring us such a wonderful surprise. How about this, we'll stay here for two days, everyone can produce some of this purified water, and then we can refine some salt, and then we'll leave.”
Upon hearing this, someone immediately said, "But we have no firewood to burn. The beach above is just a rocky area, without a single blade of grass. The riverbed is the same; there isn't even a green blade of grass in it."
Han Shunde stepped forward and said, “How about this, when it gets dark, if any family needs firewood, each family can send one person out. We’ll go up the tunnel and walk two kilometers from the stone forest, and we’ll find some dry firewood. We can collect a little bit each day and that will be enough.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Li Lanzhen taught them this method and then stopped worrying about these things. She and Han Mingjiang and Han Minghai decided where they would rest at night. The riverbanks were wide and close together, and the side closer to the stone wall was alright, not damp.
She ran to the mule cart, pulled out some firewood from her storage space, and told them to lay out more straw mats so Zhang Yuniang could rest and not have to work. She then handed the firewood to Xue Nizi.
Zhang Yueniang was unwilling to say that she hadn't felt unwell in the past few days and that she wanted to do some work.
Li Lanzhen waved her hand and said, "What can you do? Can you carry water or start a fire? Just lie here and rest, get your energy back, and don't hold Mina back when she walks."
He then handed her a paper packet containing brown sugar, saying, "Take care of yourself and drink a bowl of it every day to nourish the baby in your belly."
Zhang Yueniang is no longer afraid of Li Lanzhen. She knows that although Li Lanzhen's tone is not good, she knows that her mother-in-law is the best mother-in-law in the world.
Zhang Yueniang's mother, Zhang Lishi, looked at the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law with a smile. She had told her husband and son more than once, "What a wonderful person your in-laws are! Why do people always say she's a jerk? If all jerks are this good, I want to be that jerk too."
This caused everyone in the family to burst into laughter. Li Sanya whispered, "Mother-in-law, you have no idea? My sister-in-law's mother-in-law is quite a character. She's really something else."
But since we fled the famine, she has become so good again. You've forgotten that year when she bullied my sister-in-law, I chased her to her house in their village and jumped around cursing her.
Since we arrived, she's been so kind to me. At first, it made me very anxious, but eventually, seeing that she genuinely cared for me, I relaxed, worked harder, and listened to her.
Zhang Li patted her and said, "From now on, you're not allowed to be disrespectful. Just call her 'Auntie.' Work hard and follow your auntie closely. I think your auntie is very capable. Our family is going to enjoy great fortune following her."
Zhang Deshui and his son Zhang Songshu nodded in agreement. "Yes. Our aunt-in-law is truly a capable person. It was absolutely the right decision for us to come out with her this time."
Da Niu, Er Niu, and San Niu, also with their bellies sticking out, said, "That's right. It was the right thing for us to come out with our in-laws' grandma. She's so good to us."
Li Lanzhen watched as the people from Hanjiacun and the other two villages set up their tasks along the riverbank, some boiling salt water, others refining pure water, all bustling about.
With Nizi watching over her own little plot of land, she took Miaomiao and Linglong's hands and walked along the riverbank. She wanted to see if there really wasn't a single plant growing here.
They walked about a hundred meters forward when a bright ray of sunlight shone through the underground river, reflecting on its surface like a mirror.
Li Lanzhen wondered why there was a hole here.
The two children let go of her hand and ran happily ahead.
When Li Lanzhen arrived here, she looked up and saw that it was indeed a cave, but the surrounding area was still full of large rocks, and she didn't see any green trees or grass.
Looking back at the riverbank, a bright ray of sunshine shone on the water, which acted like a mirror, reflecting the light onto the stone wall on the opposite bank.
As she watched, Li Lanzhen's expression changed.
Hey everyone, grab a cold drink and give this a free boost of love!
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(Please keep urging me to update, I'll work harder on my writing.)
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