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When Sang Luo mentioned she needed something, Shen Lie didn’t ask further and simply agreed.
In the morning, he and Chen Dashan went into the mountains and came back with four wild chickens and a hare. Although these creatures would ultimately end up in the cooking pot, children always loved rabbits. Shen An, Shen Ning, and the sneaky Shen Jin squatted beside the makeshift rabbit cage Shen Lie had built, endlessly fascinated.
In the mid-afternoon, Shen Lie and a few others quietly went to the county town, returning only after dark. They helped each other carry the grain back home before each went down the mountain with their carts. This trip completed the transport of all the grain Sang Luo’s families had bought from the Dongfu Restaurant’s storeroom.
Naturally, they also brought back the jar of rice wine Sang Luo had requested.
After moving all the grain, the three siblings gathered around the jar of rice wine, drawn by its particularly pleasant sweet fragrance—almost a hint of wine.
Sang Luo saw them and smiled, asking, “Never tried this before?”
To her surprise, not just Shen An and Shen Ning, but even Shen Lie shook their heads—they had never tasted it.
Sang Luo: …
Well, wine was a luxury item in those times, and rice wine was still wine. These three had never had the chance to try it before.
She raised an eyebrow and decided to be generous for once. While Shen Lie’s meal was still steaming in the pot, she took a bowl and a ladle, scooped three large spoonfuls of rice wine, and mixed in plenty of warm water for Shen An and Shen Ning since they were still children. Without rock sugar, she melted some maltose into it and added two eggs from the small jar where they kept eggs.
By the time the food was hot, she uncovered the pot and placed the bowl of egg-infused rice wine inside.
“Rice wine with eggs, also known as wine-brewed eggs. I’ll make you a bowl to try.”
Well, she couldn’t deny that she was also craving rice wine.
Eating a bowl of wine-brewed eggs in winter warmed you up all over, not to mention that the dish itself was very delicious.
So, when Shen Lie sat down to dinner, besides the food left for him, there was also a bowl of steaming, fragrant rice wine with eggs on the small table.
Sang Luo gave the two eggs to Shen An and Shen Ning, one each. As for the sweet rice wine, she only gave them a small spoonful each: “Kids shouldn’t drink wine, just taste a little.”
She then took a third of it for herself and handed the remaining half bowl to Shen Lie with a smile: “Chickens don’t lay many eggs in winter, so the eggs go to Xiao An and An Ning. You can try this wine—it’s sweet and very tasty.”
Shen Lie wasn’t sure if the rice wine was good, but he could see that Sang Luo really enjoyed it. He smiled and swapped their bowls: “It’s my first time tasting it. This bowl is enough for me; you drink the rest.”
Sang Luo looked at the half bowl of sweet wine placed in front of her and clicked her tongue: “Alright then.”
She lifted the bowl, blew on the steaming heat, and, fearing it might be too hot, took a small sip. The satisfaction made her eyes curve into crescents.
Shen An and Shen Ning also took their first sip of the sweet wine. Their eyes lit up, experiencing such a delightful taste for the first time.
Shen Ning exclaimed, “Big Sister, wine is so delicious!”
Shen An nodded eagerly and urged Shen Lie, “Brother, you have to try it. It’s really good!”
Sang Luo laughed: “Only sweet wine is tasty. Some fruit wines are good too, but other wines don’t taste like this. Also, this sweet wine is diluted with water. You’re still young, so you shouldn’t drink alcohol.”
She didn’t want to mislead the children.
Seeing Shen An and Shen Ning’s eyes shining, Sang Luo quickly added: “It’s said that drinking too much can make you less smart.”
Well, that’s what she heard.
Whether it’s true or not, she’s not sure and won’t take responsibility.
Shen An’s hand holding the spoon froze.
Sang Luo chuckled: “This bit of sweet rice wine, diluted and cooked, is fine.”
Only then did Shen An relax and happily take a second sip.
Shen Lie watched the three of them interacting, a smile spreading in his eyes. He picked up his bowl and took a sip—indeed, it was very sweet.
When he put the bowl down, he noticed Sang Luo watching him: “How is it?”
He quickly smiled and nodded, maintaining a modest demeanor: “It’s delicious.”
What was supposed to be a solitary dinner for Shen Lie turned into a warm, shared meal, with even the flickering oil lamp seeming to cast a cozy glow in the cold winter.
…
After dinner, they talked about the situation in the county. Shen Lie said, “This afternoon, rumors of war have spread everywhere in the county. Now, everything is getting more expensive. Coarse grain prices have quadrupled since this morning. Dashan and I checked the east and west markets, and all kinds of food, including meat, vegetables, and fruits, have increased in price. Several steamed bun and flatbread stalls didn’t open.”
He paused and continued, “Do you think we should discuss with Aunt Arita and the others about whether we should stop selling tofu for now? If we do sell, should we consider trading it for grain instead?”
The main ingredient for making tofu is soybeans, and they’re not easy to buy now. If things get even more chaotic outside, the county might even restrict the sale of coarse grains.
Sang Luo sighed when she heard that the price of coarse grains had quadrupled overnight, but luckily they had managed to buy enough in time.
She nodded and said, “Alright, the beans for today have already been soaked. But there are other ways to handle this. We’ll mainly see how the supply from the Dongfu Restaurant goes, and I’ll go down the mountain later to ask.”
Before Sang Luo could go down the mountain, she heard the news brought back by her husband, and Qin Fangniang, Feng Liu, and Gan Shi came together.
Seeing the skyrocketing grain prices, they were also worried. Sang Luo’s tofu and dried tofu didn’t just appear out of thin air. The raw materials were being used up now, and it’s uncertain whether they’ll be able to buy more later.
The four of them gathered together to discuss. The next day, they decided to only supply a few restaurants and raise the prices accordingly. If the restaurants couldn’t pay with grain, then they would pause the business for now.
Qin Fangniang said, “That’s good. I’ll also practice with everyone.”
The children had started carrying baskets and running with weights. Though it was called “weights,” it was just adding one or two bags of sand to the baskets. This was to help them adapt to carrying grain and goods over long distances in the future.
Qin Fangniang had been going to the county every day recently, so she didn’t need to practice this. Despite being women, they had endured their fair share of hardships, and their endurance was not much inferior to that of the men. They had heard that Sang Luo was practicing with a slingshot at home. If they stopped selling at the stall, they would also learn. At critical moments, they could also help share the burden for the men and sons, and maybe even save their own lives.
With everything settled, Sang Luo only needed to make half of the tofu and dried tofu that night. The money given by several families was returned accordingly.
The extra beans were originally intended for each family to take a share and make some dishes at home. Sang Luo smiled and asked, “I plan to keep some for making dishes and sprout the rest into bean sprouts. If you want to stew them at home, that’s fine. If you want to try bean sprouts, I’ll bring them over to you in a few days when they’re ready.”
Every family knew how to sprout beans. In winter, adding some fresh vegetables relied on this. It would take a few days to sprout the beans, so Sang Luo planned to do it all at once. It was the best option.
The Gan family and the others smiled and agreed, “Okay, we’ll wait for the bean sprouts.”
After seeing them off, the evening chores were not too heavy. After making the dried tofu and vegetarian tripe, the family washed up and went to bed.
The next morning, Shen Lie still woke up with the crowing of the rooster. He quietly got out of bed and went to the kitchen to grind the beans. However, before he could start grinding, he heard Sang Luo’s footsteps. Following the sound, he saw her at the kitchen door.
“Why are you up so early? Don’t you want to sleep a little longer?” Shen Lie was surprised. Sang Luo hadn’t needed to wake up so early since he came back home eight or nine days ago, so he was amazed.
Sang Luo smiled as she rolled up her sleeves and said, “You’re going into the mountains today, right? I’ll get up and prepare some food for you to take along.”
Shen Lie was taken aback for a moment, remembering that every time he went into the mountains before, if he couldn’t make it back for mealtime, Sang Luo would prepare some food for him to take along. He felt warm in his heart.
But he still advised, “Actually, there’s no need to trouble yourself. We might not be back for half a month this time, and we can find food in the forest.”
Sang Luo glanced at him. “Roast meat? I know you can find food, but eating the same thing all the time gets boring. We were planning to make breakfast anyway, so I made some for you too. No need to worry too much.”
She said it was just a side thought, but when it came time to actually make it and she used that sweet fermented rice, Shen Lie couldn’t help but laugh.
“Just a side thought.”
Chewing on those words in his mind, he couldn’t help but smile. Afraid of Sang Luo seeing, he quickly turned around and started grinding the beans.
Sang Luo didn’t see him grinning foolishly behind her. She was busy scooping out flour and using the sweet fermented rice to ferment the dough.
Fermenting dough with sweet fermented rice was considered an ancient method. At least in the future where yeast powder was readily available, most people wouldn’t know about it. Sang Luo knew because she lived in the mountains. When they first moved in, they didn’t have yeast powder at home, so when they wanted to eat steamed buns, they had to find a solution online.
She found several methods online, including one that used sweet rice wine for fermentation. Feeling interested, she ordered yeast powder and rice wine koji online. After receiving the goods, she made steamed buns with the yeast powder once and also made a pot of sweet rice wine.
She made the sweet rice wine herself instead of buying pre-packaged because the pre-packaged ones were sterilized, which meant they couldn’t ferment.
After that, she tried fermenting dough with sweet rice wine twice and succeeded.
Yesterday, when Shen Lie mentioned wanting to catch some mountain chickens to raise at home so they could occasionally have some to eat, she was touched. Remembering they originally had flour at home, she asked Shen Lie to buy a jar of sweet fermented rice from the county. That’s how this morning’s task of fermenting dough to make provisions for him came about.
…
Shen An and Shen Ning woke up just before dawn and left home with their elder brother and Qin Fangniang, who had come to pick up tofu. They ran off carrying baskets with weights strapped to their backs.
When they returned, the sweet scent in the courtyard immediately caught their attention.
The siblings looked at each other, sniffing the air.
Shen An: “Doesn’t it smell like the steamed buns in the county?”
Shen Ning: “It’s like the buns Mr. Xu gave us.”
Then they both ran into the house, exclaiming in surprise.
The breakfast in the Shen family’s main room today was particularly sumptuous, with fragrant soy milk and several types of warm, soft, fragrant, and white pastries. There were round steamed buns and buns with various fillings, including mushroom and chicken, leek and egg, and shredded radish. There were even scallion egg cakes!!!
“Elder sister-in-law, what day is it today?”
It definitely wasn’t Chinese New Year; they hadn’t reached that yet.
Sang Luo: “…”
Asked about the day when there’s food?
“It’s the first day of the twelfth lunar month.” She casually reported today’s date.
Shen An and Shen Ning looked at each other. Shen Ning asked, “Isn’t Laba Festival a holiday? And we don’t make this on Laba Festival; we make porridge, right?”
Sang Luo: “…”
Shen Lie chuckled to himself.
Seeing this, Sang Luo stopped teasing them and patted the two of them. “Your elder brother is going into the mountains today, and he might not be back for over half a month. I just made a bit extra for him to take on the road. Alright, go wash your hands and come eat breakfast.”
With the words “shun”, Shen Lie listened again, and his eyes curved like the crescent moon.
“Big brother is going into the mountains?”
Shen An and Shen Ning had known that their big brother would be going into the mountains for a while. When they heard it again, they were momentarily stunned but then reassured him, “Big brother, be careful in the mountains.”
They had been taking survival lessons in the jungle recently, so they knew there were many dangers in the mountains.
Shen Lie rubbed the heads of the two little ones. “I will. Listen to your sister-in-law at home.”
The two little ones nodded repeatedly.
Sang Luo: “…”
Where did this strange feeling of being an old couple come from?
…
Knowing they were preparing provisions for their elder brother, the siblings washed their hands and came in to look at the buns. They reached out for the steamed buns with synchronized movements.
This affection.
Sang Luo shook her head as she watched. “Take whatever you want to eat. I left some for your elder brother in the kitchen. This stuff doesn’t keep for too long, so taking too much is useless.”
In the dead of winter, it could last about six or seven days at most. The longer it was kept, the worse the taste. After three or four days, it wasn’t much better than eating roasted chicken or wild rabbits.
Hearing that there was still some in the kitchen, the siblings smiled and reached for their favorite buns, each taking one to taste a different flavor.
After breakfast, Shen Lie packed up his things and came out. His belongings were simple, just a backpack with some essentials inside, wrapped in animal hide, except for the weapons he needed.
He changed his clothes, keeping the jacket but switching to his old clothes for the outer layer.
Seeing Sang Luo glance at his clothes, Shen Lie explained, “The roads in the mountains aren’t so easy to walk on. I’m afraid of ruining new clothes.”
Sang Luo smiled and took out the things she had prepared for him, putting them in the backpack. Shen An and Shen Ning also helped pass things over.
As she packed, Sang Luo roughly explained, “I didn’t prepare much for you. There are buns and steamed buns. The steamed buns can last longer, so eat those first. This bamboo tube and jar are for drinking and boiling water. If you find a place to stay at night, you can boil some hot water and soup to keep warm. The oil paper contains salt, and the lotus leaf contains some dried mushrooms to add flavor to the soup.”
Once everything was packed, she looked at the teenager who was much taller than her and said, “Be careful. The world is becoming chaotic. Shen An, Shen Ning, and I are counting on you to protect us.”
She had never been kind to someone for no reason. Her intentions were always clear.
Shen Lie smiled and nodded. “I’ll be back as soon as possible.”
He whispered, “Uncle Shi and Uncle Lu will stay in the village while I’m gone. Things shouldn’t get chaotic here for a while, but you and Shen An and Shen Ning should stay close to them for safety. If anything happens, they can respond the fastest.”
Sang Luo nodded. “I understand. Don’t worry.”
Only then did Shen Lie look at his two younger siblings, rubbing their heads. Before he could say anything, they heard Mrs. Chen’s voice outside. Sang Luo hurried out, and Shen Lie picked up his backpack. The three siblings followed her outside.
It was Mrs. Chen who personally brought Chen Dashan over.
The old lady’s ancestors were hunters, so she wasn’t particularly worried when her grandson went deep into the mountains. She smiled and instructed them to be alert and prioritize safety, without much further ado.
Influenced by Mrs. Chen and Sang Luo, Shen An and Shen Ning weren’t as afraid this time compared to when their elder brother was conscripted. They knew their brother had some skills and would return after a short time.
They waved to Shen Lie and Chen Dashan as they followed Mrs. Chen and Sang Luo.
Shen Lie and Chen Dashan had already descended the mountain. They turned back to glance at the courtyard and their family, waving before turning and leaving with Mrs. Chen.
Chen Dashan smiled at him. “This time you feel much more at ease coming out, right?”
Shen Lie smiled with satisfaction in his eyes.
Chen Dashan clicked his tongue and peeked into the backpack behind Shen Lie. “What did your little sister-in-law prepare for you to eat? I smelled something delicious just outside your courtyard.”
As he spoke, he accurately followed the scent and found the cloth-wrapped bundle on top of the backpack. With a quick glance, he frowned.
It was pastry, the kind he had never eaten before, only seen in the kitchen of Dongfu Restaurant!
“Give me two for lunch.”
“One.”
“Two, I’ll trade mine with yours!”
“No trade!”
“Are we not brothers who share weal and woe?”
“Not right now.”
Chen Dashan: “… Tsk, can’t deal with you anymore. I’ve decided, I’ll only marry someone who can cook, and she has to make you jealous too!”
Shen Lie chuckled, his eyes brightening even more. “Yes, that’s right. You’ll have your wife cook for you in the future.”
Chen Dashan glanced at Shen Lie and couldn’t resist elbowing him. “Okay, okay, stop smiling like that.”
Shen Lie couldn’t contain his smile, but he did sober up a bit. “Dashan, I feel like fate has compensated us for all the hardships we endured in the past with Aluo.”
They exchanged a glance, and Shen Lie continued, “Let’s explore the direction we’ve never gone before. A week at most. Whether we find a satisfactory place or not, let’s come out first, stash some supplies in a backup location, and if anything happens, we can leave immediately. I don’t want to take any more risks.”
Whether it was Shen An, Shen Ning, or Aluo, he wanted to protect them all.
Chen Dashan nodded at his words. “Okay, seven days.”