Seeing that Xu Han didn't respond, Lu Chuan obediently started eating his breakfast. After finishing, he went straight to the camping tent to rest.
As Xu Han burned firewood, she wondered what else she hadn't done!
There are still two months until Chinese New Year, and today is already the first day of the eleventh lunar month. Time really flies! I've been thinking about it and there are still so many things I haven't done! The most important thing is to take advantage of the time to stock up on food and water.
The cabbages at home haven't been harvested yet. They've all frozen over these past few days, so it's best to pick them quickly. I'll go get them when I get home this afternoon.
Lu Chuan slept for about two hours and woke up at lunchtime.
The two had lunch together at the earthen kiln, and then Xu Han went home.
They stopped by the cabbage patch, not needing to go home for tools; the cleaver was in their inventory, so they could just chop the cabbages and take them back.
After making up her mind, Xu Han took action. She could easily pull the cabbage off with a twist and then cut off the root with a knife.
While we're at it, we'll also break off the old vegetable leaves from the outside, put them in our baskets, and take them home to feed the chickens, ducks, and corn.
After cutting all the cabbages, Xu Han started walking home. It was already three or four in the afternoon.
Lu Chuan should be back soon, so there's no need to keep the fire burning today. After the fire is stopped, it should be fine to let it sit for about two more days.
It was still a bit early to cook, so Xu Han started pickling sauerkraut, the kind of whole sauerkraut with large leafy greens that she had already pickled before.
Xu Han plans to pickle these cabbages into the kind of sauerkraut that is cut into thin strips, similar to those found in Northeast China.
There's no need to wash the cabbage. After removing the dirty outer leaves, cut it in half lengthwise, and then shred it finely.
Place it in a wooden basin, add an appropriate amount of salt, stir well, and marinate for a while until a lot of water comes out.
Next, pour the pickled cabbage into a large, dry, and oil-free jar, press it down firmly, but don't fill it too full, leaving some space for fermentation.
Then pour in the brine from pickling the cabbage, add a layer of cabbage leaves, and weigh the cabbage down with a stone slab to prevent it from floating and spoiling. Seal the jar and store it well; it will be ready to eat in a few days.
Xu Han was pressing down the cabbage when Lu Chuan returned. He looked up and saw that it was already dark outside.
"You're back. Is everything settled over there?" Xu Han asked.
"Hmm! The fire's out, don't worry! What are you doing?"
"I picked some cabbage today and pickled it into sauerkraut. It will be ready soon."
"Okay! I'll go feed the chickens and ducks in the back first. I can hear them squawking."
There are rotten cabbage leaves outside, take them and feed them to them!
"Okay, I understand." Lu Chuan said, then picked up his basket and went to the backyard.
After Xu Han finished preparing the food, Lu Chuan also fed the livestock. The two of them went to the kitchen together to start making dinner.
It's getting cold, so let's make a lamb offal soup today!
These offal dishes are leftovers from the previous batch that we didn't finish eating; the new ones haven't been processed yet!
Chop the lamb offal into small pieces, stir-fry it briefly in a pot, then add boiling water and start cooking.
If only I had sweet potato vermicelli, lamb offal soup with vermicelli and cabbage would be delicious, but I've been too busy lately to make vermicelli!
Xu Han simply added some cabbage to the mutton offal soup, adjusted the seasoning, and then served it.
I took out the fried dough sticks I had made earlier from the space and ate them with it. They were delicious and filling.
After dinner, it was already late, so Xu Han brought the meat that was drying outside inside and went to bed.
The next day, after breakfast, Lu Chuan went to saw wood and prepare another batch of charcoal. He needed to get the wood ready so he could start burning it later.
Xu Han took advantage of the good weather at home to dry some hawthorn berries.
Simply slice the hawthorn and remove the seeds.
Sun-dried hawthorn berries can be used to make tea, which is good for stimulating appetite and aiding digestion. It's especially good to soak some when you've eaten a lot of hawthorn berries.
You can also eat dried hawthorn directly, but it will be a bit sour. When I have time, I'll make some hawthorn snacks myself.
Xu Han cut three baskets of hawthorns before stopping to rest.
Seeing that it was almost noon again, I ate some fruit and went out to deliver lunch to Lu Chuan.
On the way back, we can also bring back some firewood, killing two birds with one stone.
When Xu Han arrived at the woods, Lu Chuan was cutting down a thick tree!
"Why did you cut down such a thick tree! This tree looks quite old and is very thick."
"This tree is already ruined. Cut it down and use it as firewood. There's no need to dry it in the sun."
"Alright then, be careful! Let's eat first!" Xu Han took out the food she had brought for Lu Chuan from her spatial storage. She had just eaten some snacks and wasn't hungry yet!
After lunch, the two of them trimmed the remaining branches together. Those that could be burned into charcoal were cut into uniform lengths, while the rest were collected and taken home to be used as firewood.
Lu Chuan also cut down some trees, left them here to dry in the sun, and planned to take them home later to use as firewood.
For two days in a row, they finally managed to prepare more than half of the firewood for winter, which was the amount Lu Chuan usually prepared, and even more.
But this is probably still not enough. Besides heating the kang (a traditional heated bed), we also need to cook a lot of food this winter! It would be better to prepare more.
On the third day, the kiln was ready to be opened. Xu Han and Lu Chuan finished breakfast early and went to the earthen kiln.
Lu Chuan pried open the cave entrance and saw the burning charcoal inside.
He picked one up, examined it, and tapped it. Lu Chuan said, "It seems this kiln of charcoal was fired quite well! It should be quite durable for burning."
"Let's take out the charcoal first! Put the large, neat pieces on this straw mat, and put the broken pieces separately later," Xu Han said.
"Okay, I'll go in and pick it up. You don't need to go in; it's full of charcoal ash."
“Okay, I’ll take care of tidying up outside.” Then the two of them got to work.
By lunchtime, they had finally collected all the charcoal, and the two of them busied themselves arranging new wood, planning to burn it again tomorrow!
After the sun set, the two, who had been busy all day, began to walk home.
Once home, Xu Han went to heat water for a bath, and it was Lu Chuan's turn to rest.
After spending a day in the charcoal kiln, they were now completely blackened. Although Xu Han hadn't gone in, she had also been handling the charcoal all day and was already covered in soot.
After rubbing against her face so much, it was no longer recognizable. At first, Xu Han even laughed at Lu Chuan! But then Lu Chuan started rubbing his dark hands against Xu Han's face.
In the end, both of them ended up covered in charcoal ash, and after playing around for a while, it took quite a bit of effort to wash it off.
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