Drying the Sauce

  The next morning, after breakfast, Changan went out with her aunt to fetch water.

  Although there was still a lot of water in the water tank, Wu didn't want to use such clear water to wash pots and dishes, so she had to go to the well to fetch some.

  Changan followed behind with a small bag made by her aunt on her back and a small shovel in her hand.

  When she passed by the door of Song Jizu's house, she saw Song Chengye glaring at her with a dark face.

  Changan didn't have time to glare at him, so she had to pretend not to see it.

  When she arrived at the well outside the village, she saw several people carrying buckets and queuing up to scoop water from the pond next to them.

  The water in the pond had dried up, but the villagers dug a deep pit in it, and a lot of water was produced overnight, but it became very turbid after being scooped by many people.

  Even with such turbid water, people didn't dislike it and carried it back one after another.

  Wu also scooped two buckets, and halfway through she met Xiao Zhao.

  Xiao Zhao lowered her head and hurried to the pond with the bucket on her shoulder.

  The two sisters-in-law passed by each other, treating each other as air.

  While her aunt was fetching water, Chang'an found a few cat's eye grasses by the pond, each of which was very big.

  Seeing that no one was paying attention to her, she dug two and put them in her bag.

  When she got home, Chang'an took out the cat's eye grass and hung it on the fence of the vegetable garden to dry.

  Wu sighed as she looked at the turbid pond water she had brought back. She thought about going to a farther ditch to see if there was any water, so that she could dig some reed roots and cut a bundle of hot pepper to make soybean paste.

  Summer is the time to dry soybean paste, and now the sun is very good, so why not dry more soybean paste to eat in winter.

  "Chang'an, do you want to dig reed roots?" Wu found a backpack and put it on her back, and took a shovel and a sickle.

  Chang'an nodded vigorously: "Yes!" She wanted to dig a lot of poisonous grass and store it.

  The book of the little goldfish said that poisonous grass is also a kind of medicinal material, and if used in the right amount, it can cure many diseases.

  For example, applying cat's eye grass slurry on warts can make them fall off, which is called fighting poison with poison.

  But if it is not handled properly, it will also cause skin ulceration and swelling.

  So, the mother and daughter locked the gate and walked to the ditch outside the village.

  There was not much water in the ditch, and it was full of black and smelly mud.

  Wu asked Chang'an to stay by her side, and she used a shovel to dig the reeds by the ditch.

  Fresh reed roots are white and tender, and taste sweet and delicious.

  Chang'an took the peeled reed roots by her aunt and took a bite. The voice of the little goldfish came from her mind: [Fresh reed roots are sweet and cold in nature. They have the effects of clearing heat and promoting body fluid, stopping bleeding, stopping vomiting, and diuresis.]

  Chewing the reed roots, Chang'an picked up the shovel and looked around for poisonous weeds.

  Suddenly, she touched a plant with clusters of small white flowers.

  [Water hemlock, commonly known as wild celery, has purple stripes on its leaves and is highly poisonous. Its toxins can damage the central nervous system. If eaten by mistake, it will cause loss of consciousness, muscle contraction, epileptic seizures, and even death in severe cases.]

  Chang'an looked at the plant for a while and decided to dig it out with its roots.

  As a result, after a long time of effort, he still couldn't dig out all the roots.

  At this time, Wu had already dug half a basket of reed roots and cut a bundle of hot water pepper, and called her niece home.

  Seeing that she was digging a poisonous weed, she hurried over to stop her: "This is poisonous, you can't have it."

  Chang'an: "Yes!" She dug it because she knew it was poisonous.

  "What do you want this for?" Wu asked, holding Chang'an's hand.

  Chang'an: "For bad people to eat."

  Wu:

  "No, this will kill people." Wu was determined not to let her niece touch this poisonous weed. "Be good, let's go home first, and I'll come alone to dig it later."

  Even if she really wanted to fight back, Chang'an couldn't do it. If she did, what would she become?

  Changan was led back by her aunt, and she looked back unwillingly.

  She had spent so much effort to dig it, but her aunt just ruthlessly threw it away.

  When she got home, she saw Goudan and Xiaochutou at the door on time.

  They had already eaten breakfast and played outside for a while before they came to make clay figures.     "What have you been doing?" Goudan asked.

  "Digging grass." Chang'an was led by her aunt to wash her hands, and then washed some reed roots and gave a few to Goudan and Xiaochutou.

  The three children ran to the backyard while chewing reed roots and started to knead mud.

  Chang'an concentrated on making the dragon god statue. Before she knew it, it was afternoon, and a dragon god clay sculpture was finally completed.

  But the statue had not been painted yet, so it was not a finished product, and the leaves on her palm had not grown.

  Aunt Wu had already soaked soybeans and was pouring them into the pot to simmer over the fire.

  "Chang'an, my mother said she would take me to the temple fair tomorrow. Are you going?" Goudan asked.

  Chang'an shook his head: "Uncle can only go when he comes home."

  Goudan felt a little regretful: "Okay, I'll bring you maltose when I come back."

  Chang'an nodded.

  Xiaochutou was also going to the market tomorrow, and immediately promised the young master: "I will also bring you maltose."

  "Okay."

  After sending the two children out of the door, Chang'an pushed the door open and stood on tiptoe to insert the bolt.

  When she ran back to the kitchen, she saw that her aunt had already prepared dinner.

  Fragrant brown rice porridge, two fried cakes, and a plate of pickled radish.

  Wu moved the small dining table to the yard, and the mother and daughter sat down to eat.

  "Chang'an, how many characters do you know now?" Wu asked after taking a sip of porridge.

  Chang'an spread out her fingers, counted them seriously, and said, "One thousand." She had already recognized all the Thousand Character Classic, so there were one thousand characters, right?

  "One thousand?" Wu thought her little niece was talking nonsense, so she smiled and said, "Then recite a few sentences for your aunt to hear."

  So Chang'an recited the Thousand Character Classic, and kept reciting until "Sitting in the court and giving up the country, You Yu, Tao and Tang. Comforting the people and punishing the criminals, Zhou Fa Yin Tang."

  Wu was so shocked that she even dropped the food on her chopsticks. "Chang'an, who did you learn this from?"

  "Yu Yu." Chang'an grabbed the cake and ate it.

  Wu was silent.

  The last time she asked her, little Chang'an said the same thing. Could it be that there was really a monster named Yu Yu who taught her to read?

  Thinking of this, Wu couldn't help but spit a few words in her heart.

  Good luck, little Chang'an won't encounter any monsters.

  "Then can you write?" Wu couldn't help asking again.

  Chang'an nodded: "Yes." She had already written half of the Thousand Character Classic in her dream.

  "Wait until after dinner, write it for Auntie to see, okay?"

  "Okay." Chang'an scooped up the rice porridge and said proudly: "I can write a lot."

  After the two finished their meal, Wu fed the dog and Huahua with rice porridge, scooped water to wash the dishes, and then poured the water into the vegetable garden.

  While it was not dark, Chang'an lay on the small table to write.

  No ink was used, just a brush dipped in water to write on the table.

  After a period of copying calligraphy, Chang'an could already write very well.

  Wu kept watching with her eyes fixed, her heart was in turmoil.

  Although she couldn't understand what Chang'an was writing, she knew that she wrote very well.

  What kind of adventure did her little niece have? How could she know so much at once?

  At night, Wu put the cooked soybeans into a bamboo plate, spread them out to dry, let the heat dissipate a little, mix all the soybeans with flour, and then cover them with a layer of hot water to let them slowly ferment and produce bacteria.

  After waiting for seven or eight days, when the soybeans are yellow, they can be put into an open jar, add salt and cold boiled water to mix evenly, and then move them to the sun to dry.

  A jar of sauce must be dried in the sun for three consecutive months before it can be put into a jar. In winter, these sauces are the condiments for people to eat with rice. (End of this chapter)