Before long, the thick sugar syrup in Liu Ruoxi's earthenware pot became almost impossible to stir. Liu Ruoxi immediately removed the pot from the stove, allowing it to cool slowly and the sugar to solidify. Once solidified, it could be removed and broken into small pieces for easy storage. Ideally, the sugar would be molded before solidification, resulting in more uniform pieces. However, Wang Lun and his group didn't have that option, so they left it in the pot to solidify, even if the brown sugar pieces were irregular. But irregular brown sugar is still brown sugar; it's fine as long as it's there.
Before lunch, I filled the earthenware pot with sugarcane juice again, but I'll wait until after lunch to boil it. It's tiring and hot, and I feel really uncomfortable.
After lunch, Wang Lun told Li Ling and the other two to go rest while he made brown sugar. Li Ling told Liu Ruoxi and the other woman to rest, and she would help Wang Lun. So, at Wang Lun and Li Ling's insistence, Liu Ruoxi and the other woman went to take a nap on the kang (a heated brick bed), while Wang Lun and the other woman made brown sugar.
The process isn't actually very complicated, but it takes a long time, and it's very hot now. Also, they don't have enough tools, which is why they're slow at making brown sugar.
After Wang Lun and his companion boiled a pot of sugar water into sugar, they crushed the sugar from the pot from before noon, put it in a ceramic jar, and then continued to extract juice from the sugarcane.
Before long, Liu Ruoxi and the other girl also woke up. The four of them worked together, each doing their own things, and it was quite quick.
Before nightfall, they finally managed to juice all the sugarcane, and all that was left was to boil it down into sugar. The four of them were now quite hungry, but the pots had been used to hold the sugarcane juice. So Wang Lun went to get the stone slab they had used before, and had Li Ling slice some fish meat off the large fish from last time, preparing to have stone-grilled meat for dinner.
Wang Lun placed the stone slab over the fire pit to heat it. Once the surface was warm, he added some of the fish oil he had prepared earlier. Then he placed two large pieces of fish on it and slowly fried them. When they were almost done, he flipped them over and continued frying. He continued until both sides were golden brown, and the aroma of the fish filled the entire room. Only then did he have Li Ling and Liu Ruoling spread the prepared leaves on the table. Wang Lun picked up a piece of fish and placed it in front of Liu Ruoling first, then went to get the second piece and gave it to Li Ling. Wang Lun continued frying the fish, letting Li Ling and the others eat first, while he and Liu Ruoxi, who was making sugar, would eat later.
Although only a little salt was added to the fish, the texture was excellent and it tasted delicious. The only downside was that because it was smoked quite dry, the meat was a bit drier, so you had to drink water while eating it. Of course, that's just how it is; as long as it's edible, it's fine.
Soon after, Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi finished eating. Li Ling went to relieve Liu Ruoxi and prepare the brown sugar. Only then did Wang Lun and Liu Ruoxi begin to eat the fried fish fillets. Wang Lun took a bite and thought it was quite delicious, better than the boiled wild vegetable stewed fish, though a bit dry.
After dinner, the brown sugar simmering on the stove was ready; all that was left was to let it cool. Wang Lun and the other three finished making the clay blanks, and then put yesterday's blanks into the fire pit to continue firing. With all that done, there was nothing else to do for the day, so Liu Ruoling suggested playing cards for entertainment. This suggestion was agreed upon by the other three, so they took out their cards and began their leisure time.
Nothing happened overnight. When Wang Lun woke up in the morning, he felt sore all over, probably from overexertion. He asked Li Ling, and she said she had been a little sore the day before but had been enduring it. So Wang Lun thought he should rest for a few more days until he recovered before going out again. But then he remembered that it was already September, and soon all kinds of fruits in the forest would be ripe for the taking. If he didn't find more food now, then by winter, the only food left would be wild vegetables and fish.
So Wang Lun thought for a moment and decided that he would just take Liu Ruoling and find some wild vegetables near the camp today, without having to go too far. He put his plan into action and told Li Ling about it. Li Ling didn't say much, after all, it was all for the sake of the whole team, she just reminded Wang Lun to come back early. Then she turned around and packed the things Wang Lun needed to take with him.
After breakfast, Wang Lun left the camp with Liu Ruoling. Inside the camp, Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi watched them leave, pondering what they should do that day. Liu Ruoxi continued knitting, expecting to finish by tomorrow, so she needed to work on it today. Li Ling didn't disturb her, instead setting aside some tasks for herself. First, she weeded the vegetable garden, then irrigated both vegetable plots and the cassava plants she had previously tended. By the time she finished, it was almost noon, so Li Ling rested, waiting to cook lunch.
Wang Lun, leading Liu Ruoling, followed the stream downstream in search of wild vegetables. They also checked both sides of the stream, reinforcing the path where it was difficult to traverse by moving stones from the water. They widened narrow sections as well. Finally, around noon, they reached a large rock where the raft could no longer proceed.
Wang Lun looked at the large rock, wondering how to get around it so the raft could travel a little further, almost halving the distance. However, the rock was located at a bend in the river, and the other side was close to the bank. Widening the river would be a huge undertaking. But without widening the river, it was clear the raft couldn't pass.
Wang Lun and Liu Ruoling rested there, eating dried meat for lunch. While eating, Wang Lun pondered how to move the large rock, or how to get around it. He thought for a long time, but still couldn't find a solution.
It wasn't until Liu Ruoling had rested enough that she reminded Wang Lun it was time to head back. Only then did Wang Lun lead Liu Ruoling across the stream to the other side to search for wild vegetables, which also served as a way of returning to the camp.
When Wang Lun and his companion returned to the camp in the evening, their baskets were almost full of wild vegetables, enough for the four of them to eat for several days.
Li Ling told the two women to rest, leaving the task of processing the wild vegetables to her. Liu Ruoxi also put down the clothes she was knitting and came over to help process the vegetables. There were two whole baskets full; Li Ling didn't know how long it would take her to finish by herself, so Liu Ruoxi needed to help.
We continued to plant the wild vegetables that could be used for cultivation. We kept some of the rest for the next two days, blanched the rest, hung them on a rack to dry, and stored them for later consumption.
Although Wang Lun was sitting and resting, he kept thinking about how to conserve energy so that the raft could transport the supplies closer to the camp, or even better, directly. However, he had no clue what to do or any solutions.
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