HCB Chapter 251 Sugarcane Brown Sugar
Chapter 251 Sugarcane Brown Sugar
After the inside of the tent was fixed, Xia Qingyue took out a piece of tarpaulin and spread it inside. There was moisture on the ground in the morning, so it acted as a waterproof barrier. Then she spread two layers of soft fur and a thick quilt, and finally covered it with a bed sheet. She also took out the pillows and quilt and placed them in place.
Although it is spring, the temperature in the mountains is relatively low in the morning and evening.
After finishing, she went outside, and Han Zhibai found the fish cage and harpoon and went fishing by the stream.
She went to the stream with great interest and joined in the fun. The water in this stream was as high as a person's calf, with many stones in it and the water was clear.
He was at the top, holding up the harpoon to spear fish, while she was below, moving stones to catch crabs.
The salted egg yolk yellow light of the sunset shines through the gaps between the leaves, and the mottled shadows jump on the trees, grass, tents, and streams like elves.
Gradually, the light in the forest dimmed, and they caught enough for tonight's food and stopped fishing.
Han Zhibai caught four big fish with his fork. There were two big fish in the fish cage, and the rest were river shrimps, snails and clams. He didn't want the small ones and poured them all back into the stream.
Xia Qingyue touched eight crabs, which were of medium size.
They decided to grill them. They stuck the fish into thick wooden sticks and grilled them over the fire. They also put the crabs and large river shrimps into a small clay pot and grilled them dry over low heat without adding water.
It was completely dark and the forest was so quiet that the only sounds could be heard: the chirping of insects, the rustling of trees in the wind, and the crackling of the fire.
The big fish were roasted till golden brown and filled with fragrance. Four were given to the two kids, and the other three were sprinkled with seasoning powder and shared by the two of them.
The grilled fish had a crispy skin and was tender inside. Salt and chili powder were added to the seasoning powder, making it spicy and fragrant, which suited their taste. The fish was quite big, and she ate a little more than one and was about 70% full, so she gave him the rest of the fish.
The grilled crabs and river shrimps smelled delicious. She ate a few of the river shrimps. Although there was little meat, the texture was firm and there was a slight sweetness to the taste. She grabbed two handfuls and gave them to the two little ones who had just finished eating the grilled fish and were still reluctant to leave.
When she opened the shell of the grilled crab, she saw some yellow, but not much. After removing the inedible parts, there was not much meat on each crab. It tasted particularly sweet and delicious. She slowly broke it open with her hands and ate it, and didn't stop until she had eaten four.
If she wasn't worried that eating too much would cause her body to catch a cold and not be able to handle it, she would have eaten a few more.
After dinner, they went to the stream to wash the pots and bowls and boiled two pots of hot water, one for brushing teeth and washing face, and the other for soaking feet. After a day's journey, their feet were tired and soaking in a bath was very comfortable.
After taking a bath, she returned to the tent first. The two little ones were curled up in the corner and had fallen asleep.
After Han Zhibai finished his work outside and entered the tent, she fell asleep with her eyes closed.
The next day, Xia Qingyue was awakened by the sound of birds chirping. She opened her sleepy eyes and sat up. Han Zhibai was not beside her. He had already gotten up, but the two little ones were still asleep.
After getting dressed and going out, the first thing I saw was the white mist lingering all around, followed by a bright fire in the diagonal direction.
A fragrant smell of rice wafted over, and Han Zhibai was sitting by the fire cooking porridge.
The sky was slightly bright and the morning breeze was cool. She put on a long-sleeved shirt, but still felt cold and shivered.
"Qingyue, it's cold in the morning, put on something thicker."
She was thinking of this, so she went back to the tent and searched for clothes in her bag.
When she came out again, it was not so cold anymore. She brushed her teeth and washed her face with warm water that had been prepared long ago.
The porridge was cooked with dried meat and wild vegetables. It was light and delicious. Xia Qingyue ate two bowls.
After they finished eating, the two little ones got up. While they were having breakfast, I quickly packed up the tent.
A new day's journey began. Today, they walked for more than five hours during the day. It was not summer yet, so the weather was cool. After walking for such a long time, they did not feel hot or tired.
As evening approached, they found a suitable place to camp. For dinner, they had a few rabbits that they had hunted during the day, and they roasted them over a fire as usual.
After washing up and entering the tent, Han Zhibai said, "We can reach the sweet tree and the mountain where there is hot water before noon tomorrow."
Sugarcane, hot springs!
She lay down, and suddenly she sobered up a bit. "We don't have a pass. Even if we pass those towns along the way, we can't enter and buy things. We don't have much sugar. Do you want to stay there for the next two days and make some brown sugar?"
Therefore, on this trip, they brought mostly clothing, various medicinal seeds, and farm tools. They did not bring much other things that were easy to find replacements for.
"I also wanted to stay for two more days."
The two of them made the final decision.
The next morning, they walked for more than two hours and arrived at their destination.
It was at the foot of a mountain. The terrain was relatively flat, and because it was sparsely populated, there were weeds growing tall and lush. Not far away, there were slender plants growing scattered around. If you didn't look carefully, you would think it was a bamboo forest, but they were not as tall as bamboos.
There were a lot of weeds and they were clearing the roadblocks as they moved forward.
As she got closer, she could see clearly the purple sugarcanes in the field and swallowed subconsciously.
Han Zhibai picked up the knife and cut a piece of good quality sugarcane with no worm holes and few joints, and then cut it into small sections.
She took a section, bit off the purple hard skin and ate the flesh inside. It was juicy and sweet. She couldn't help nodding, "Delicious, really thirst-quenching!"
After drinking the juice, spit out the sugarcane residue.
Han Zhibai imitated her and ate.
They ate a piece of sugarcane, quenched their thirst and regained some strength.
She walked into the sugarcane field, looked around, and found that because they were grown in the wild and not carefully cared for, they did not grow well overall. Their heights and thicknesses were uneven, they had more joints, and many of them had worm holes.
At noon, they found a shady place to camp, set up a tent, cooked a pot of hot and sour noodles, and the two kids ate the rabbits they had hunted themselves.
While eating, Han Zhibai pointed to the halfway point of the mountain opposite and said, "The hot water is right there. It will take more than an hour to walk up there."
"It looks so close, but it's so far to walk. Let's wait until we make the brown sugar and then go up and take a look."
After finally going on a long journey, she wanted to appreciate the scenery along the way. When they are old, every time they think back, these will be the beautiful memories they have experienced together.
After lunch, Han Zhibai said there was mountain spring water nearby, so he went to fetch some. Xia Qingyue felt a little sleepy, so she went into the tent to take a nap.
Half an hour later, she was awakened from her drowsy sleep by the noise outside. When she got up, she saw Han Zhibai coming back with a lot of sugarcane in a cart.
There were at least a hundred pounds of sugarcane piled up in the open space next to it, all of which had their leaves cut off.
She rolled up her sleeves, found a sharp knife, and prepared to get down to business.
He pushed the sugarcane back and she peeled and chopped it.
Chopping the sugarcane pieces was not enough. Han Zhibai found a mortar-like object from somewhere, washed it and brought it back. He threw the chopped sugarcane pieces into it and beat them with a rough wooden hammer to extract the juice.
This process is extremely physically demanding, and he basically has to stop and rest after every few rounds.
The juice is poured into a large iron pot, and the sugarcane residue is wrapped in gauze and squeezed to extract the juice which is then thrown away.
A fire is lit under the pot. After being heated, the juice evaporates and the brown sugar is separated out, which then cools down and takes shape.
In the afternoon, they worked for three hours and used up two hundred kilograms of sugarcane. They worked until dark and managed to make a few pots of brown sugar, a total of about twenty kilograms.
They were all extremely tired, so they quickly cooked dinner, packed up and went into the tent to sleep.
Perhaps they were too tired yesterday, so the next day, they slept until dawn.
Han Zhibai went to cook breakfast, and Xia Qingyue came to spread the brown sugar made last night on a bamboo raft, put it in the sun to dry, and covered it with a layer of gauze to prevent insects from crawling in.