Chapter 100 Darkness under the Lamp
After the sap wine was brewed, Jian Mo would open it every day when he came back to have a look.
The pottery jar is quite troublesome to make, and you must not let the sap wine become smelly before it is brewed.
With the porous structure of the pottery jar, if the sap wine becomes smelly inside, the jar will take a long time to get rid of the smell, and it will be inconvenient to use it to store anything later.
Jian Mo treated the sap wine in the jar with a cautious attitude, but the sap wine was much better than he thought.
On the second day alone, the sap wine in the jar smelled of alcohol.
On the third day, the sap wine had already exuded a special fragrance, a bit like flowers and fruits and a bit like caramel, which smelled very good.
He really didn't expect that brewing wine could produce such a complex aroma, and he had many more expectations in his heart.
After waiting day by day, the tree juice wine was slowly brewed. In
less than ten days, the various flavors settled and became extremely restrained. Only Wu Jiong could smell the various aromas hidden under the slightly sticky wine liquid, and Jian Mo could only smell the smell of wine.
Jian Mo couldn't wait: "Open it and taste it, I think it's brewed."
Wu Jiong put his hand around his waist and pulled him back: "I'll taste it this time."
Jian Mo: "Okay, then you taste it quickly."
Wu Jiong took a wooden spoon without water or oil, scooped half a spoonful, and tasted it lightly.
Jian Mo looked at him eagerly: "How is it? Is there any foreign taste? Can I drink it?"
Wu Jiong handed the spoon to his lips: "No foreign taste, the wine tastes very pure and the taste is very special."
Jian Mo thought to himself, how special is it? Then he held Wu Jiong's wrist with his hand and drank the remaining wine.
As soon as the sticky wine entered his mouth, many flavors such as sweetness, richness, and slight bitterness flashed in his mind. After swallowing it, he felt that the taste was very smooth and there was a clear feeling.
This complex taste and taste is really hard to describe, but it is really delicious.
It is really different!
Jian Mo said in amazement: "It tastes very good!"
Wu Jiong nodded: "It is indeed good, do you want to let the male beast taste it again?"
Jian Mo thought for a while: "I can't bear to do it. How about we seal the wine and see if there is anything wrong today? If not, we can taste it tomorrow."
Wu Jiong: "We try it ourselves?"
Jian Mo: "I think it should be fine. Even you didn't taste anything strange. Maybe there is really nothing wrong."
Wu Jiong: "Okay."
They didn't feel any discomfort that day, and they didn't feel any discomfort the next day.
Jian Mo pulled Wu Jiong to taste it again, and the wine in the jar was more intense.
Generally, when brewing wine, when the fermentation is almost done, the wine must be filtered out and allowed to ferment alone.
There was only liquid in the tree sap, and no other impurities at all. They had no way to filter it, so they let it ferment and settle in the pottery jar.
It fermented very well, and was slowly given a more restrained taste by the years, tasting more intense and strong.
Wu Jiong saw that Jian Mo liked this pot of wine very much, and asked: "Do you want to take some more sweet juice to make wine?"
Jian Mo was a little tempted, but still refused: "It's too difficult to find sweet juice, so let's save it and wait until this pot of tree sap wine is finished."
When they went out to collect during this period, they paid special attention to the silver leaf tree.
I don't know if it's good luck or bad luck, they have never seen eight-mouthed insects, nor have they been bitten by them, but correspondingly, they have never found sweet tree sap again.
Jian Mo also tried to cut a hole in the silverleaf tree to let the sap flow out.
However, the sap that flowed out had the unique bitterness of sap, and at most a slight fragrance, which was completely different from the taste of being bitten by an eight-mouthed insect.
It is possible that after the eight-mouthed insect bit the silverleaf tree, it released some chemical substance, which made the silverleaf tree produce sweet sap.
Jian Mo said to Wu Jiong: "When we are free and well prepared, we will go to find the nest of the eight-mouthed insects, catch them and bite the silver-leaved tree."
Wu Jiong pinched his neck: "There are more than one or two, it takes a large group of eight-mouthed insects to bite the bark together to make the sweet juice flow out. If people are bitten too much, they are prone to fever and the consequences are very serious."
Jian Mo sighed: "I understand, the ticks in our place may also cause life-threatening dangers after biting people."
Catching eight-mouthed insects to bite silver-leaved trees is just a beautiful fantasy.
They did not find more sweet juice, but the recent harvest was good.
As summer is approaching, plants in the wild grow rapidly, bringing them all kinds of wild vegetables and fruits.
The wild vegetables now have a crisp and tender texture, with a lighter bitterness, and are relatively delicious.
After a while, in the summer and autumn seasons, most of the wild vegetables will become bitter and rough, and difficult to swallow.
Everyone cherishes this time and works very hard to collect various wild vegetables, and Jian Mo and his friends are no exception.
Jian Mo and his friends will make a second selection of the wild vegetables they pick, leaving the fresh and tender ones, giving the slightly older ones to the chirping beasts, and the older ones to the tuo beasts.
They have already selected them on the branches, but they cannot be selected very carefully in a short time, and the wild vegetables age very quickly. Often, they are still fresh when they pick them, but they have become old and rough when they bring them back.
In this case, they can only select them again and then blanch them in the pot.
It was only after coming to this world that Jian Mo learned that the wild vegetables needed to be boiled before drying, otherwise they would become old in the drying process. After drying, the fibers would become particularly coarse and there would be almost no edible left.
Because there was an additional process of drying the wild vegetables every day, they had a lot to do after returning.
Jian Mo usually quickly selected the wild vegetables the night before, blanched them, and dried them on a large rattan rack. He would turn them over the next morning, and then further separate the wild vegetables, and at the same time select those with poor quality to feed the Jiujiu or Tuotu beasts.
This morning, Jian Mo was selecting the wild vegetables that were drying in the yard.
The little cat Banqiu walked slowly from outside. Today, he did not jump directly from the low wall of the yard, but pushed the fence door open with his butt and walked in slowly.
Jian Mo looked up at the little guy: "Banqiu is here?"
Banqiu walked to his feet and rubbed his calves: "Meow, Brother Jian Mo."
There are many things drying in the yard, and some wild birds or insects will fly down to eat.
Jian Mo doesn't care about the loss, but he can't stand the food that has been picked by insects and wild birds, especially these guys eat and poop, making it particularly ugly.
So he asked the cubs in the tribe who couldn't transform yet to come and help him drive the birds away, and used meatballs as a reward.
The cubs like this job very much. Every day there are cubs reporting in early in the morning, and driving insects and birds away is also very effective.
For the cubs, it's just a matter of changing the place to sleep, and getting up to take a look when they hear any movement. It's even better to be able to eat meatballs in exchange. After
Jian Mo greeted Banqiu, he was about to ask him to come over and rub him, but he found that there was a figure behind Banqiu.
It turned out that Qing Kuan was following behind, so Jian Mo asked why Ban Qiu was so well behaved today and didn't even jump over the wall.
Jian Mo called Qing Kuang with a smile: "How come you have time to come here today?"
Qing Kuang: "I want to ask if you want to go with us to cut fruit pods."
Jian Mo stopped what he was doing: "Fruit pods? What type of fruit pods, a kind of wild vegetable?"
Qing Kuang: "Yes, the fruit pods that grow on a kind of vine on the other side of Ambus Mountain. The fruit is large and thick. Boil them in salt water and then soak them. After soaking, dry them in the sun. When food is scarce, take them out and stew them. It can last for a while."
Jian Mo was a little surprised. He had never heard of it and had never eaten it: "Not many people eat it?"
Qing Kuang smiled: "Many, but the chief is a single orc. In previous years, he had enough food. He never dried wild vegetables, preserved fruits and the like."
Jian Mo knew this. Last year, when they wanted to eat preserved fruits, they had to exchange them with people in the tribe.
Qing Kuan: "If you are interested, I will get you some fruit pods that were dried last year when we come back this afternoon. How about it, do you want to go?"
Jian Mo nodded vigorously: "Go!"
Qing Kuan: "Then pack up and we'll meet in the open space."
Jian Mo: "Okay, I'll talk to Wu Jiong first."
Wu Jiong was feeding Jiujiu, and Jian Mo ran over to tell him about the fruit pods. He didn't have any objections.
If Jian Mo didn't go out with him, he would take the beastmen in the tribe out hunting.
Jian Mo heard that there were a lot of fruit pods, so he brought two backpacks, stacked them up and carried them on his back.
The beastmen in the tribe hadn't gone out with him to collect for a while, and they felt very friendly when they saw him, and pulled him aside to ask a lot of questions.
Everyone was chatting as they headed towards their destination. They walked a lot more briskly than before, and they were almost there.
Jian Mo looked around and said, "Aren't we going to the Ambus River?"
Qing Kuo: "Of course not, that kind of vine grows in the Grand Canyon, we have to go to the canyon."
Jian Mo: "Because the canyon is warmer and more humid, it's suitable for the growth of that kind of fruit pods?"
Qing Kuo smiled, "Almost."
The group walked along the path towards the canyon.
It was obvious that people came here often, so the path was trampled out, which was completely different from the grass on both sides.
Jian Mo had never been here before, and he didn't come here when Wu Jiong took him to collect. He mostly chose the forest where all kinds of food were abundant.
It seems that professional gatherers and amateur gatherers are different. He can go out with the tribe more often, and he should be able to collect more than when he goes out alone with Wu Jiong.
While thinking about it, they turned another corner and went directly into the Grand Canyon.
Before Jian Mo had time to look up, he smelled a strong floral scent.
He looked subconsciously and saw that the three mountains facing the canyon were all pink, blue, purple, and white flowers. These flowers exuded a strong floral scent, shrouding the entire canyon in a sweet fragrance.
Jian Mo even saw honey birds flying among the flowers.
It was so shocking!
He rarely saw such flowers all over the mountains in the wild. The flowers were so lush!
Jian Mo opened his mouth in surprise: "They are all over the mountain?"
Qingkuang: "Yes, this kind of fruit stalk blooms and bears fruit at the same time, let's pick the tender ones."
Jian Mo hurriedly followed Qingkuang.
After going up the mountain, Jian Mo soon saw the small flowers growing on the vines on the roadside.
This kind of small flower is a bit like a bird, with bulging petals in the middle to protect the pistil, and petals on both sides.
It looks a bit familiar.
Jian Mo looked at it for a long time, but couldn't remember what kind of plant it looked like.
Just as Jian Mo was observing carefully, Qingkuang pulled a vine in front of him and said to Jian Mo: "Just pick these tender fruit stalks. If they are older, the hairs on the fruit stalks will become hard and hurt your throat."
Jian Mo took a closer look and found that there were indeed fine hairs on the fruit stalks.
Wait, why does the shape of this fruit pod look so familiar?
- Isn't this a bean?!
Jian Mo finally remembered what the flower he saw before looked like, it looked like a pea flower!
Pea flowers are of a similar shape!
He looked at the fruit pod in shock, my god, this is clearly a bean pod!
The bean pod in front of him was clearly a mung bean, a lentil, or something like that, they looked exactly the same, just a little bigger.
He didn't expect that the beans he had been looking for for so long were on the mountain near the tribe.
It was dark under the lamp!
Jian Mo pointed at the pods and said excitedly: "This seems to be the beans I told you about!"
Qing Kuo was puzzled: "Aren't beans round and hard, and can be cooked and eaten directly? We don't eat its seeds, its seeds are poisonous."
Jian Mo: "But you eat the pods. Aren't the pods poisonous as well?"
Qing Kuo: "No, the poison in the pods can be boiled in salt water and then soaked away."
Jian Mo: "What about the seeds inside? Can't the toxin be soaked away after boiling in salt water?"
Qing Kuo shook his head: "We have never tried that way of eating."
Jian Mo was still in shock and didn't know what to say for a moment.
Ye Luo heard their discussion and came over with two withered pods: "This is the pod that grew last year. Jian Mo, take a look and see if it is the bean you want?"
Jian Mo took it. The pods that matured naturally last year looked more like bean pods, or large dried lentils, with bulging seeds inside and a hard and flexible pod skin on the outside.
He tore the pods open with his fingernails, and the cashew-like seeds inside fell out. Although the shape was not very regular, the skin was very smooth, and there was a seed vesicle on the side that Jian Mo was familiar with.
Jian Mo: "This is really a bean, and it looks almost exactly the same as the beans we have there."
Qing Kuang stared at the seeds: "Let's go back and try to make it, and we'll know after we taste it."
Jian Mo sniffed and nodded: "Okay."
Unexpectedly, he suddenly found beans, and Jian Mo was so overjoyed that he felt a little exhausted.
After a pause, he began to collect pods.
The small bean pods are very similar to lentils, just enlarged versions.
In addition to the newly grown fruit pods on the vines, there are also fruit pods that have not fallen from the branches last year and flowers that have not yet turned into fruit pods.
Jian Mo looked at the flowers all over the mountains and suddenly thought of the beans on Earth that he could never finish eating once summer came, and a smile appeared on his face.
It is true that after searching for a long time, you will find it without any effort.
It is fate.
Jian Mo's mind was full of various thoughts, but his hands were not slow at all.
The fruit pods were big and full, and soon the two backpacks that Jian Mo brought were full.
He carried one backpack on his back and the other on his chest, tested the weight, and felt it was okay, not too heavy.
Although it is a bit of a hindrance to walking, the road here is easier to walk, and there is someone leading the way in front, so it doesn't matter much.
Qingkuang and the others have now figured out that Jian Mo really likes this thing he calls bean pods.
Jian Mo said seriously: "If it's according to what you said, after processing, even if we can't finish it ourselves, we can feed it to Chirp or the Tuo Beast."
Qingkuang: "Yes, you have a Tuo Beast at home."
Jian Mo: "It's not entirely a matter of feeding the Tuo Beast. Bean pods are easier to pick than flour fruits. We picked flour fruits last year."
Qingkuang: "But it's really poisonous. If you eat too much, you will vomit and have diarrhea. It's not good."
Jian Mo: "Then wait until I process it. I'll see if I can develop other ways to eat it."
Seeing Jian Mo like this, everyone said nothing more.
When they reached a place where the road was more difficult to walk, Qingkuang took the initiative to help him carry the basket on his chest.
They went all the way back to the tribe, and everyone who saw Jian Mo was a little surprised that he had picked so many fruit pods. When
Jian Mo returned home, several cubs including Banqiu were obediently guarding the yard to chase birds.
Seeing Jian Mo coming back, the cubs ran up, some pulled their pants, some pulled their shirts, and looked at his basket curiously.
When they saw that it was fruit pods, the cubs jumped off him lightly and ran away.
Jian Mo: "Do you really need to worry about this?"
The little white wolf Zhou Dao shook his tail: "Awooo - Brother Jian Mo, this is not delicious, it's poisonous."
Jian Mo: "I'll try to make it more delicious?"
Zhou Dao stood there and looked at it, and finally stepped back a little: "Forget it, I'd better not try it."
Such a greedy little white wolf doesn't like fruit pods. Jian Mo really doubts whether this thing is completely different from the bean pods on Earth.
But beans are really good, and he himself is full of good feelings for all kinds of beans.
Seeing that Jian Mo came back and the task of guarding the wild vegetables was completed, the cubs ran out to play with the meatballs they received.
Jian Mo collected the dried wild vegetables and put the wet ones into the house. He will continue to dry them tomorrow and then deal with the fruit pods.
The pods are a bit rough, and even if they are small, there are still fuzz on the shells.
Jian Mo rubbed them with salt, washed them as clean as possible, then chopped them up and squeezed out the water, and boiled them in salt water in the kitchen.
After they were cooked, he picked up a piece and tasted it. As soon as he put it in his mouth, it really had a bitter bean taste. It was not too bad, but it was definitely not delicious.
The seeds inside are more like tender beans, but they taste more bitter than the pods, and the unique smell of the plant is more obvious.
This thing is indeed different from beans.
Jian Mo has seen so many beans that he knows that not every kind of bean is delicious.
Some beans are bitter in themselves, such as the famous mung beans, which are a bit bitter?
It doesn't matter if it's bitter, as long as it's not poisonous and can be eaten.
Beans can provide a lot of protein and a variety of nutrients. They are a very superior crop. If they are not poisonous, you can prepare more of them.
Steam is rising in the kitchen.
Wu Jiong came in at some point and asked from behind Jian Mo: "Cooked fruit pods?"
Jian Mo turned around and saw: "Yes! This is probably the beans I told you about!"
Wu Jiong stepped forward, held his waist and looked into the pot: "Aren't beans very delicious?"
Jian Mo: "Huh? It seems you don't like this kind of fruit pods?"
Wu Jiong stared at the fruit pods in the pot: "It's a bit poisonous."
Jian Mo: "Process it first to see if the toxin can be soaked away."
As he said that, Jian Mo pinched another piece of fruit pod and threw it into his mouth: "It's not too bad."
Wu Jiong: "Maybe you like it better."
Jian Mo now finally understood why there were beans all over the mountains, but few people picked them, and no one associated them with beans.
It seems that most people in the Riverside Tribe don't like this kind of food, and their acceptance of it is not as good as processed noodle cakes.
While Jian Mo was busy, Qing Kuan's voice came from outside: "Jian Mo, are you there? I'm here to give you the dried fruit pods from last year."
Jian Mo: "In the kitchen! Come in quickly."
Qing Kuan came in with a basket and showed Jian Mo the dried brown fruit pods: "This is the dried fruit pods from last year. Try it first. It's not poisonous, but it tastes just average."
Jian Mo pinched a small piece and put it in his hand to look at it. It felt like dried beans. He took a light bite, and a salty and astringent taste of the plant filled his mouth.
Jian Mo scooped clean hot water from another pot and soaked it in a ceramic basin: "We'll try it later."
Qing Kuo: "Okay, when you've finished eating, just come back to me. We still have a lot of fruit pods that were dried last year, but I estimate that by the time we've finished eating them, the fruit pods you dried this year should have fallen."
Jian Mo: "Maybe."
Wu Jiong didn't like this kind of fruit pods very much, but he had no complaints about the work.
After Jian Mo blanched the fruit pods, Wu Jiong helped to carry them to the upper reaches of the river and soak them in running water.
Jian Mo also specially peeled out some of last year's dried bean pods. The beans inside were smooth and full, without any signs of insect infestation.
The beans did have a stronger bitter taste than the fruit pods. They didn't smell good, and they tasted average.
Jian Mo also boiled them in water, and then took them to the river to soak and rinse.
If this kind of beans are still very different from the beans on Earth after being processed, then this world may not have the kind of beans he wants.
Thinking of this, Jian Mo couldn't help feeling a little frustrated.
But thinking back, they already have enough food, so whether there are beans or not doesn't really matter to them.
He still has to keep a calm mind.
After the people in the tribe boiled the pods with salt water, they usually put them in the river to rinse overnight, and they can be brought back to dry the next morning.
Jian Mo pursued the taste, so he just put it outside to rinse for three days.
The rinsing time was long enough, and the bitter taste of the pods was indeed much lighter, but in contrast, the pod flavor itself was also much lighter, and it tasted a little bland.
You can't have your cake and eat it too, and Jian Mo couldn't do anything about it.
Jian Mo cooked the fruit pods twice, once with the fruit pods sent by Qing Kuang, and once with the fruit pods that he had dried at home.
Wu Jiong didn't like either, but Jian Mo thought it was okay. With the stewed meat, he could vaguely taste the flavor of stewed meat with dried beans - a bland version.
The fruit pods were not very tasty, and the beans were even less tasty.
But they were not poisonous. Jian Mo tried it with a male tuk-tuk, and the male tuk-tuk ate half a bucket of beans and half a bucket of fruit pods and was alive and kicking, and didn't die for several days.
It seems that both fruit pods and beans can be eaten, and there is no need to worry about food safety issues for the time being.
The only thing that made Jian Mo a little depressed was that the male tuk-tuk, which had eaten too many pods and beans, had a mild case of bloat, with a bulging belly and farting all the time.
During those days, Jian Mo didn't want to go into the barn, and he would wear a mask if he had to go in.
The male tuk-tuk was rejected by the female and shrank into a corner, with an embarrassed look on his furry face.
It seems that the amount should be controlled well, otherwise the consequences will be quite embarrassing.
After finally finding the beans, Jian Mo was unwilling to let it end like this.
He thought about it for several days, and said to Wu Jiong: "Let's go to the salt lake to get some salt water, and I'll try to make tofu."
Wu Jiong: "Tofu?"
Jian Mo didn't know how to describe it, so he said: "A kind of food similar to noodles and cakes, it has to go through a complicated process, and the salt lake water is used in this process."
Wu Jiong: "Okay, we'll go tomorrow, just in time to get some salt back, and the salt in the tribe has almost been used up."
The water in the salt lake is brine, which is rich in metal ions. There is no problem using it to make tofu, at most it will be a little worse.
The beans are not delicious, but the tofu can't be too bad, right?
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