Natural disasters in books: I stockpiled goods to escape famine in ancient times

Song Shiwei went to the carriage, got a sack and walked in the direction where Shen Yan and the others had left. Li Gui and his wife were also traveling with him.

Li Gui's wife Cao Hong walked quickly to Song Shiwei and thanked him for the potatoes that he had asked Zhang Wu to send. But she was afraid that others would hear her, so she spoke in a low voice.

Song Shiwei had excellent hearing, otherwise she couldn't hear what she was saying. She just smiled and said, "Aunt, you don't have to thank me. Didn't you bring me some water before?"

"It is my duty to deliver water. You saved my man, so you are our family's benefactor. Now we are all following the village chief to escape famine, and I can't give you anything good to thank you. I only have some water and food. If there is anything that Mr. Song can do for our family, just let us know. Don't be polite."

Song Shiwei nodded with a smile: "Okay, if you really need help, I will trouble you, aunt."

Seeing Song Shiwei win, Cao Hong's smile deepened, and she looked at him with a kinder gaze: "You are only a few years older than my son Shuanzi. No matter how capable you are, you are still a child. If you have any problems, just come to your aunt. Don't be afraid of trouble."

"Okay, I'll listen to you, auntie."

Song Shiwei was known to be very skilled, and his words and deeds were mature and steady. Even Huang Changyuan, Chen Qiang and others subconsciously ignored his age. It was because women were more delicate and paid more attention to new things than men.

When Song Shiwei arrived, he saw that quite a few people had gathered near the chestnut tree. Some of the younger guys climbed up the tree to knock the chestnuts down, while the rest picked the chestnuts into sacks.

Seeing this, Song Shiwei joined in and did not stop until the sack was full.

A total of fifty kilograms of chestnuts were picked from the five chestnut trees. The chestnut shells had cracked, so the women took out the chestnuts according to Shen Qianxue's instructions.

After picking the chestnuts, Song Shiwei wandered around the area, trying to see if he could find more chestnuts. After all, fifty kilograms of chestnuts were not a lot.

Shen Qianxue and Xie An were also searching in the forest. Seeing Song Shiwei coming over, Shen Qianxue smiled and greeted him, "Mr. Song, are you here to look for chestnuts too?"

Song Shiwei nodded: "Let's look for it."

"Xie An and I have the same idea, but we don't know if we will be lucky enough to find it."

"Ms. Shen is lucky and will definitely get what she wants," Song Shiwei said and walked in the opposite direction.

Song Shiwei strolled around the chestnut tree. When he came to a small slope, his eyes fell straight on the ground with hesitation. He simply squatted down and dug out what he found from the soil. Something similar to a tree root was completely exposed, and Song Shi smiled.

It seems that I am lucky. I didn’t find chestnuts, but I found wild yam.

Whether it is wild yam or wild chestnut, most of them are autumn crops. If it were not extremely hot, it would be autumn now. It is no wonder that crops such as potatoes can be found in this mountain, and they are growing in large areas.

Finding one means there are many more next to it or nearby, just like the small slope we are on now, which is full of wild yams.

Song Shiwei took the yam back and told Huang Changyuan about it. Master Xu Shihe and his disciple were there, and their eyes lit up when they saw the yam.

"Is it really yam?" Xu Shihe asked hurriedly, regardless of his unfamiliarity with Song Shiwei.

Song Shiwei nodded: "Isn't this right here? Doctor Xu has also heard of this thing?"

Xu Shihe took the yam in his hand and examined it carefully, and nodded quickly: "It is yam, for sure. I have not heard of it before, but I have seen it. My master told me that it is not only edible, but also has medicinal value. Most people don't know about it."

Huang Changyuan couldn't stand it any longer: "Xiao Song, where did you find this?"

"It's not far from the chestnut tree. The village chief has called for someone to come up. I'll lead the way."

Huang Changyuan didn't call everyone one by one. He just picked up the iron pot next to him and started hitting it with a wooden stick, drawing everyone's attention to the matter of yam he had just mentioned.

Led by Song Shiwei, the large group of people walked to Xiaopo.

"Wild yams grow in clusters, so be careful when digging them up so as not to break the skin, or else the yam juice will cause itching."

Everyone nodded and was extremely careful while digging.

They were still looking for chestnut trees in the forest. It was not until Xie An heard the noise and brought Shen Qianxue over that they learned that Song Shiwei had found wild yam. Their eyes instantly fell on Song Shiwei in the crowd, especially Shen Qianxue, whose eyes brightened several degrees when she looked at Song Shiwei.

Xie An turned around and saw Shen Qianxue looking at him excitedly. He was silent for a moment, then reached out and gently tugged at her sleeve: "Qianxue, are you really that pretty?"

Shen Qianxue retracted her gaze and looked back at Xie An with a puzzled look on her face: "What's so good about it?"

"That Mr. Song, how does he compare to me?"

Shen Qianxue rolled her eyes when Xie An wasn't looking, then took a deep breath, turned around and said with a smile: "Why do you want to compare yourself with Young Master Song? You and he naturally each have your own strengths, how can the two be compared? Besides, I don't have much contact with Young Master Song, and I don't know him very well, so it's not good for me to make rash comments behind his back."

Seeing that Xie An still looked a little uneasy, Shen Qianxue continued: "You are all capable people. Since ancient times, capable people always have exceptional luck, and the responsibilities placed on them are heavier. Apart from you, how can I say anything about others?"

Although the words were not very nice, they finally dissipated the boy's jealous heart.

"Qianxue, why do you underestimate yourself? You are much more capable than us. At least we don't have such a treasure. Let's go and dig yams too."

The two smiled at each other and walked towards the hill side by side.

A large number of wild yams were discovered this time. Everyone dug out all the yams on the downhill side and piled them up like a small hill. The scene was very spectacular, with about a thousand kilograms of them.

Huang Changyuan was so happy that he almost lost his sight, and danced like a child: "Great, great, great, there are so many. Now we don't have to worry about food for the time being."

When distributing the food, Huang Changyuan asked Huang Ping to send 20 kilograms of yam to Song Shiwei, and another 20 kilograms to Shen Qianxue, as a thank you for helping everyone find potatoes and chestnuts. Then he gave each person 3 kilograms based on the number of people.

Some families have many people and they share dozens of kilograms of yam at a time. They are inevitably worried that the yam will go bad. When Xu Shihe knew about this, he suggested that everyone could peel the yam and cut it into thin slices. Because of the current water shortage, he did not suggest that it should be washed. Then the sliced ​​yam slices should be boiled or fried to soften them, and finally ground into powder. Then they can be diluted with water for consumption, which can also increase the storage time.

After learning about this, Song Shiwei also prepared to grind the 20 kilograms of yam into powder, and keep the 6 kilograms of yam distributed per person to eat while they are fresh. It should taste good when used to stew pheasant.

Everyone followed Xu Shihe's instructions and took the yams that were distributed to their homes to dry in the sun. After they were dried, they ground them into powder. Since they had some time, the men in the village went to look for stones that could be used to make millstones nearby.