It has to be said that Lu Chuan has an excellent sense of direction; he's practically a living map.
Xu Han has been to the deep mountains so many times, but she still often gets lost. Everywhere she sees feels familiar, as if she has been there before, but she can't remember where she is.
The strange thing is that all the trees grow the same, in a chaotic and disorderly manner, without any special markings.
Xu Han silently complained to herself, unwilling to admit that she had a terrible sense of direction.
After resting in the cave for a night, Xu Han, who was deep in the mountains and had no pits, found it particularly cold at night. In the morning, she made herself a cup of brown sugar ginger tea to prevent catching a cold.
After breakfast, the two took their dogs into the mountains to find yams.
After digging yams all morning, Xu Han was searching for yam vines after lunch when she suddenly spotted a very familiar vine.
Out of curiosity, I followed the trail, and lo and behold! Isn't this kudzu root? How could I have forgotten about it!
To make sure she wasn't seeing things, Xu Han dug along the vines and found that it really was kudzu root!
Lu Chuan, who had finished digging up yams, saw what Xu Han was digging and asked, "Why are you digging up kudzu roots?"
"You recognize kudzu root! This really is kudzu root, isn't it? I'm not mistaken."
"Yes! This is kudzu root. It's a Chinese medicinal herb!"
“This kudzu root can be used to make kudzu root powder, which can be brewed and eaten. It’s good for your health,” Xu Han said.
“Oh, I see! There are many kudzu roots in the mountains, some of them are decades old and very large. This one is considered small. After we dig it up, I'll take you to find more,” Lu Chuan said.
After saying that, he started helping Xu Han dig up kudzu roots. The two of them worked quickly and dug them up in no time.
Then Xu Han followed Lu Chuan to look for kudzu. After searching around for a while, they saw a kudzu vine as thick as a calf, which was particularly large.
"Is this also kudzu root? Wow, these vines are so thick!" Xu Han asked.
“Yes, no one digs them up in the deep mountains, so they grow very thick over time.” After saying that, Lu Chuan started pulling the vines.
Xu Han sawed off the vines, while Lu Chuan picked up tools and started digging up the kudzu roots.
Because the kudzu roots are very large, two people work together. Some roots have branches, so they dig along the direction of the roots. If they encounter stones, they need to dig them out first.
After digging for a short while, Xu Han saw super thick kudzu roots in the ground.
“The kudzu roots inside are even thicker! This one root alone would probably weigh several hundred pounds,” Xu Han said.
"Yes, it weighs about 300 jin (150 kg)," Lu Chuan said excitedly.
Kudzu is harder to dig than yam. It grows big and long, and the two of them didn't manage to dig it out until almost dark.
Then they headed towards the cave. By the time they reached the cave, it was already getting dark.
"We've been digging all day, and we're still digging near this cave. We haven't gone very far," Xu Han said while eating dinner.
"Are we still digging for kudzu roots tomorrow?" Lu Chuan asked.
“Let’s dig some more! Focus on digging yams, and if we come across any big, easy-to-dig kudzu roots, let’s dig those too! We can make a lot of kudzu root powder later, so we can make a cup whenever we have time,” Xu Han said.
"Okay, I'll do as you say. I've never tried it before, so make a lot so I can try it too."
In her previous life, Xu Han had bought kudzu root powder to drink, but she didn't know if it was wild kudzu root. Now that she had come across wild kudzu root, she was definitely going to dig some up and make kudzu root powder herself.
After dinner, the two rested, and the next morning they set off again to find yams and kudzu roots in the mountains.
They dug for eight days in a row. On the ninth day, they dug yams all morning. After lunch, the two started heading home.
In the few days since we came out, our space has been overflowing. We'll send the kudzu root and yam home first, rest there for a couple of days, and then come back into the mountains.
The sun had just set when they arrived home. After feeding the livestock, the two of them sat down in the main room to rest.
After resting, Xu Han went to heat the bathwater, while Lu Chuan went to light the charcoal brazier.
After the two had a comfortable bath, the kang (heated brick bed) was heated up, and the room was warm. They sat on the kang, set up a kang table, and Xu Han took out food from her spatial storage and leisurely ate dinner.
Xu Han was in a particularly good mood and brought out some crabs and duck products. The two ate and chatted.
The next day, Xu Han gave Lu Chuan the kudzu root by the river. Lu Chuan brushed the kudzu root there, while Xu Han rinsed her clothes and took them home to wash them.
During their stay in the mountains, the two of them had been digging for things, and since it had just rained, their clothes were covered in mud.
Fortunately, Xu Han and Lu Chuan were wearing outer coats over their cotton-padded jackets. When they got hot while digging, they would take off their cotton-padded jackets and put on their outer coats to continue digging.
My clothes are all dirty after these few days, and washing them is a huge task.
Lu Chuan forbade Xu Han from washing clothes in the river, saying that the water was too cold and bad for a young woman's health. In addition, Uncle Zhang had previously said that Xu Han's health was not good, so he should try to avoid letting her touch cold water.
Since the weather turned cold, Xu Han has tried to wash everything with hot water, and there is always hot water boiling in the big iron pot in the yard.
Lu Chuan threw the clothes into the river to rinse them, washing away most of the mud. Then he put them in a wooden basin, and Xu Han took them home to wash them with hot water.
Lu Chuan stayed by the river and used the running water to wash the mud off the kudzu roots.
I'll wash it first while I have time, and then make kudzu root powder when I have some free time.
When Xu Han arrived home, she started washing clothes, and after washing the clothes, she cleaned the house.
After a busy morning, I went to call Lu Chuan for lunch.
Upon seeing Lu Chuan, she first handed him a bowl of brown sugar ginger water to drink. Even the healthiest person shouldn't keep washing things with cold water in the dead of winter!
"Let's not shower this afternoon! The water's still pretty cold, and we're not in a rush to use it now!"
"It's okay, it'll be easier to store after washing. I just gave it a quick wash to remove the dirt. When I make kudzu root powder, I'll wash it thoroughly with hot water at home."
"It's quite cold there! No matter how strong your temper is, you can't keep showering! Take a break this afternoon and shower tomorrow!"
"Okay, then we'll wash it tomorrow. My wife is worried about me, so I'll definitely listen to her!" Lu Chuan said with a smile.
After Lu Chuan finished speaking, Xu Han put all the things into her spatial storage, and then the two of them went back together.
When she got home, Xu Han put the washed kudzu roots in the yard to dry, and then put them in the cellar to store temporarily after the surface moisture had dried.
Lu Chuan spent the whole morning in cold water, so Xu Han made chicken soup noodles for lunch, which was warm and comforting.
After lunch, they couldn't rest for a moment, so Xu Han took out the pine cones and the two of them processed them together.
There are still some pine cones that weren't hulled last time! Lu Chuan was in charge of removing the pine cone hulls, while Xu Han continued to smash the remaining pine cones.
There aren't many pine cones left, but I can process them at home in the next couple of days.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com