Chapter 57

While the entire village was busy harvesting rice, Sang Luo was by no means idle. Having no spare money on hand except for two liters of soybeans, she decided against making the trip to the county town and instead hawked her wares along the village paths.

Sang Luo did not exclusively accept cash; she was open to trades of grain, beans, vegetables, or eggs. Because of this, her business was no harder to conduct than going to town. Such novel food items, said to nourish the body and obtainable without spending money simply by trading local produce, proved quite popular. During this busy farming season, most households were willing to buy a piece or two.

Sang Luo did not take in many vegetables because they spoiled easily, but she imposed no limits on other items. In the end, however, she received mostly soybeans, as farmers treasured their grain and eggs too much to part with them easily.

This suited Sang Luo's plans best, as she needed to supply three households after the harvest, and she could hardly manage without soybeans. Over the next few days, she gave up going to town entirely; she kept a portion of the earned soybeans, used another part to make tofu, and then carried the freshly made tofu around the neighboring villages to sell door-to-door.

In the afternoons, she would borrow a small pointed hoe and a curved sickle from the Chen family, strap on a bamboo basket, and head into the mountains, focusing exclusively on konjac and wild jujubes.

Having a courtyard made everything much easier for Sang Luo. Once she bolted the courtyard gate, she processed the wild jujubes in the kitchen before carrying them to the backyard to dry. The chickens and ducks had long since been moved to a coop outside the courtyard wall. Even the three little ducklings, following Shen An and Hu Zi's lead, had been given a proper duck shelter modeled after the one Sang Luo built, so they too were relocated outdoors.

As for the konjac, when Sang Luo first brought it back, it had frightened Shen An and Shen Ning thoroughly.

"Eldest Sister-in-law, why did you pick snake-head grass? This stuff is poisonous; it'll kill people if eaten!"

They hurried forward, trying to persuade Sang Luo to throw it away.

Shen Ning was equally anxious. "Eldest Sister-in-law, throw it out! Did you touch it with your hands? Wash your hands thoroughly, lest you accidentally ingest some of the juice later."

Sang Luo could completely understand their panic.

Konjac, if not processed correctly and eaten raw, could instantly choke a person to death, and the entire plant was severely toxic. Yet, as long as it was handled properly, it was really not that terrifying.

"Is this what you folks call snake-head grass?"

The two young children nodded. "Yes, some call it goblin taro. The adults always warn us not to touch it. If the villagers see any growing nearby, they dig it up immediately for fear that ignorant children might accidentally eat it."

Sang Luo was speechless.

She finally understood why she hadn't seen a single konjac plant on the nearby mountains—they had been artificially eradicated.

Seeing the young siblings staring nervously at the konjac, Sang Luo could only explain, "This toxicity can be removed through processing. Just make sure you don't put anything improperly handled into your mouths."

It truly wasn't that frightening, and the plant actually offered certain health benefits. In her previous life, she would occasionally prepare it for herself later on, because consuming konjac offered modest benefits for her condition to a certain extent.

She washed the konjac directly at the outflow below the mountain spring. Seeing the siblings still trying to dissuade her, Sang Luo thought for a moment and said, "There are actually records of this in books. I don't remember the title, but the passage goes roughly like this: *'In the gardens are konjac and cornel; melon patches and taro plots.'* The commentary explains, *'Ru is a grass, its root is called ru, the largest tubers are as big as a peck, their flesh is pure white; if boiled in wood-ash water, it congeals; it can be pickled in vinegar and eaten, and the people of Shu consider it a delicacy.'* This refers to the goblin taro you mentioned."

This was a passage from Zuo Si's *Ode to the Capital of Shu* from the Jin Dynasty. Sang Luo had popularized related facts when producing a video about konjac in her past life, so she roughly remembered it.

Naturally, there was no Jin Dynasty here, nor any Zuo Si. She blurred the details, mentioning only a book without naming it or its source, using the content simply to reassure the two children that the recipe had a legitimate origin and that the item was indeed edible.

Hearing Sang Luo put it this way, Shen An and Shen Ning visibly relaxed. Although they didn't understand every single word, they grasped the general meaning.

"Can it really be eaten?" Shen Ning asked, still half-in-doubt.

Having been repeatedly warned by the village adults since childhood that this stuff was inedible—causing anything from tongue and throat pain, itching, swelling, and fever to outright death—it was still very difficult to overturn that ingrained perception overnight.

Sang Luo smiled. "Yes. Just watch carefully later. To be safe, let's use a separate, dedicated cutting board just for this, and don't store it in a wooden basin; use an earthen basin instead, and wash it clean afterward."

Since the family was running a food business, it was best to be careful.

She didn't bother making a new cutting board. She simply picked out a wooden stump from the leftover materials Chen You-tian had discarded, scrubbed it clean, and carried it into the backyard for immediate use.

Processing konjac was meticulous work. In the past, rubber gloves would have been essential, but Sang Luo genuinely couldn't find any gloves here. Instead, she left a piece of the stem attached to the konjac so she could hold it with one hand while peeling it with the other.

To be safe, she even went to the kitchen, rubbed vinegar on her hands, asked Shen Ning to start a fire, and quickly scorched her hands over the flames before beginning.

Once peeled, she chopped the konjac directly on the wooden stump into tiny dice until she had a full basin, then carried it into the kitchen.

Shen An and Shen Ning were always cautious; the front courtyard gate had been bolted shut early on. Now, as the three of them shifted to the kitchen, they watched Sang Luo briskly prepare wood-ash water.

Wood-ash water—especially for food preparation—had been stored in the household ever since the house was built, kept in a jar and fetched whenever needed.

Seeing Sang Luo take out the wood-ash, Shen An recalled the passage his eldest sister-in-law had recited earlier: *if boiled in wood-ash water, it congeals.*

He assumed she would cook it directly in a pot, but she didn't.

Sang Luo led the two children to the stone mill and began grinding the mixture, adding the wood-ash water as she ground it.

The hardest part was controlling the proportions, but Sang Luo had made this countless times in her past life and was quite skilled at it. She ground the paste, stirred it, smoothed it out, and left it to set.

While waiting for it to form, Sang Luo took some wood-ash and led the two little ones back to the backyard.

She had left buds on the konjac pieces while chopping them. Now, she rolled those konjac buds in wood-ash, put them in a bamboo basket, took the small pointed hoe, and made a trip back into the mountains to replant them.

She replanted them.

Indeed, if konjac buds were left and replanted, they would grow again.

The sensible way to ensure an endless supply of food was to plant a new one whenever an old one was dug up.

Fearing the plants might be cleared away by villagers before they matured, Sang Luo walked a bit deeper into the mountains, gathered a bunch of wild jujubes, and then turned back. By the time she returned home and rested briefly, the konjac tofu had already set.

She added cold water, cut it into large chunks, brought water to a boil in a pot, and cooked the konjac tofu blocks for an hour and a half.

Shen An and Shen Ning witnessed the entire process firsthand, feeling amazed, delighted, and somewhat dazed.

Shen Ning thought: *So things the villagers always said were poisonous could actually be made into food like tofu.*

Well, watching her eldest sister-in-law execute each step methodically, Shen Ning already believed that this stuff was truly edible.

Shen An thought: *So reading books is wonderful! Immortal tofu, regular tofu, and now the snake-head grass rhizomes that Eldest Sister-in-law is processing—all of them are learned from books.*

Yet Sang Luo wasn't done yet.

This step was far from the end.

Her favorite snack from her past life was spicy konjac strips.

Of course, later on when her health failed, she could no longer enjoy them; heavy oil, heavy spice, and strong flavors were out of the question. She could only make them while filming videos, and the final product would be carried quite a distance to give to her neighbors in the mountains.

She could only stir-fry them as a relatively plain dish for herself.

In this life, however, she could finally eat them properly, though chili peppers didn't exist...

Still, substitutes did exist, such as cornelian cherries (cornel), mustard, Sichuan peppercorns, and black pepper. Cornel, in particular, could even achieve the effect of chili oil.

Of course, Sang Luo didn't know how; she had only come across such miscellaneous trivia about ancient chili substitutes while reading casual books in her past life. Since the original owner didn't know these things, naturally she wouldn't either.

She planned to consult Old Mrs. Chen later and would need to ask the old lady for some cornel and Sichuan peppercorns.

What she needed to do right now was to further process the konjac tofu by cutting it into textures resembling tripe.

Using the clever trick of two chopsticks, a task she had mastered long ago, she processed the tofu simply. She picked up a piece and gently stretched it—ah, if only there had been ice cubes! To chill it first and then steam it for twenty minutes, that crisp and refreshing texture would have been truly peerless.

Still, the current version wasn't bad either.

The vegetarian tripe took shape in her hands. All that remained was to cook it briefly, prepare the seasonings and chili oil, and toss it together to create a delicious dish that would keep anyone from stopping.

Although the chili oil and seasonings were yet to be acquired, Shen An and Shen Ning, who had watched the entire process, were still left in awe.

Such an ugly snake-head grass could actually be turned into this?

Seeing the dumbfounded look on the siblings' faces, Sang Luo smiled. "We've barely scratched the surface. Later, I'll go ask your Grandma Chen for some seasonings so you can taste the tossed version tonight. That's the real masterpiece."

Shen An and Shen Ning found themselves swallowing involuntarily.

Having set up stalls with Sang Luo, the young siblings both knew their eldest sister-in-law possessed a magical skill: whenever she talked about food, simply hearing her describe it would make anyone's mouth water.

And that was precisely their current state.

...

Obtaining the condiments went smoothly. The old lady grew cornel right at her home, and she had Sichuan peppercorns too. As for black pepper and mustard, the old lady had never even heard of them.

Hearing that Sang Luo was experimenting with a new food, the old lady fetched everything she had, even contributing garlic and scallions along the way.

Once home, Sang Luo busied herself in the kitchen. After tossing the vegetarian tripe in the dressing, the one adult and two children tasted piece after piece, panting and hissing from the spice.

Shen An and Shen Ning—the very ones who had claimed the snake-head grass was lethal and needed to be thrown away immediately—now declared: "Delicious, truly fragrant!"

Of course, since they had borrowed ingredients from the old lady, a finished portion had to be sent over. Sang Luo cooked, Shen Ning tended the fire, and the errand-running duty naturally fell to Shen An.

Poor little Shen An trotted all the way holding that bowl of vegetarian tripe, struggling immensely to keep himself from extending his wicked claws toward it.

In his heart, he wildly envied his eldest sister-in-law and younger sister. The two of them were cooking at home—do you suppose they were continuing to eat that dressed vegetarian tripe right then and there?

Were they?

Were they?

They were!

Shen An wailed internally; he wanted to eat too. Did they know what eager anticipation meant?

He was craving it so badly that tears were almost spraying from the corners of his mouth.

As soon as he arrived at the Chen family courtyard, he hastily called out for Grandma Chen. The handover was completed in a flash: a bowl of vegetarian tripe—so fragrant it made his mouth water—was poured into the bowl the old lady brought out, and he turned and bolted.

Old Mrs. Chen was left speechless.

Was it really necessary?

She looked down at the food in the bowl and thought, *Well, it certainly looks mouth-watering.*

She pinched a small piece between her fingers and put it into her mouth—and Old Mrs. Chen's eyes lit up too!

It was necessary! This was truly necessary!

She took another piece.

The old lady ate five pieces in a row before finally stopping herself. Her good habit of making sure her family got to taste any delicious food she received allowed her to exercise extreme restraint over her hands.

Only then did she sigh inwardly: *That Sang woman has conjured up a new food again.*

I wonder if she'll let us sell this one too.

If she gives this out to be sold as well, people are going to crave it like crazy. It's bound to make a fortune!

Tomorrow, the busy farming season would finally draw to a close. The Shi and Lu families should have decided who would run which stall and where, so she would go ask about it tomorrow.

Author's Note:
1. The entire passage is excerpted from Xiao Tong's *Selections of Refined Literature* (*Wen Xuan*). The phrase *"In the gardens are konjac and cornel; melon patches and taro plots"* originally comes from *Ode to the Capital of Shu* by Zuo Si of the Jin Dynasty.