Chapter 8

As soon as they heard it was hemp harvesting, the two children’s eyes lit up!

“I know where to find some, I’ll lead the way!”

Shen Ning was also delighted: “I’ll go get a stick, I know how to beat the hemp!”

For children, the most exciting thing was always to be busy with something.

Even if no tangible results were seen, they only saw Sang Luo leading them in all sorts of bustling activities. Though the children might have had some doubts, a sense of safety and joy was already beginning to grow within them.

One on each side, they eagerly set off to prepare.

The wild hemp Sang Luo mentioned was actually ramie, the plant widely used these days for weaving fabric.

Since most ramie fields were now cultivated artificially, every household maintained a few patches of mulberry and ramie fields, producing silk, cotton, and hemp cloth. Some of the produce had to be handed over to the imperial court, while some was kept for personal use.

Farmers were reluctant to use silk and cotton for themselves, often trading them in the county for money. Sometimes these goods even served as hard currency, bartering directly for other necessities was common. Farmers toiled from spring to winter, and the rough hemp cloth was usually what they wore themselves.

Since ramie was cultivated artificially, there were also wild, ownerless patches. When the Shen family split up, they didn’t even get any mulberry or ramie fields, not to mention rice paddies. Sang Luo naturally had to set her sights on the wild, unclaimed ramie growing in the fields.

During the five years she lived in the mountains in her past life, when she was free from illness, Sang Luo had found ways to amuse herself, and to some extent sustain herself.

Thanks to her phone and the internet, and the elderly villagers who stayed in the mountains, she had learned a great deal. Occasionally, she even recorded videos of her crafts and uploaded them to a certain video-sharing site. Her small account was fairly active, which kept her somewhat connected to society and served as a form of entertainment—and, importantly, brought in some income.

Among the skills she had learned was the ancient craft of weaving fabric.

In fact, it wasn’t just that she had learned it now; her original self had known it as well.

Of course, Sang Luo taking the two kids out to harvest ramie now was not for weaving cloth. She currently lacked everything she needed and had no skill to actually weave fabric. Every household in the village had looms, but every woman needed to use theirs, so she couldn’t borrow one.

The ramie they harvested would only be roughly processed, turning it into spun yarn. Sang Luo planned to take the finely spun yarn to the market to see if she could trade it for a couple of basins.

After all, she still hoped to make some food supplies by selling “Immortal Tofu.” The ingredients were abundant on the mountain, and wood ash was plentiful too. But with only one earthen pot and three bowls at home, how much could she make? It wouldn’t even be enough to feed herself.

Besides, she couldn’t do any heavy work these days. Spinning ramie at home was just right, and the two kids could help.

…

The little siblings were indeed familiar with the relatively safe mountains around the village. They chatted back and forth about where ramie grew, leading Sang Luo to various spots.

Since their path led toward the village, they occasionally met villagers who all stared curiously at Sang Luo.

Everyone in the village knew about the Shen family’s split, but whether before or after the division, the Sang family rarely ventured into the village. Recently, it was rumored that the Shen siblings, Shen An and Shen Ning, sometimes begged food from Shen San’s family, showing signs of running out of grain.

Now seeing Sang Luo out and about, those they met regarded her as a curiosity. Those who knew Shen An and Shen Ning exchanged a few words with the children, heard they were going to harvest ramie, clicked their tongues, and walked away.

“You can’t even get enough to eat, and you’re harvesting ramie? What a pointless effort.”

Of course, Sang Luo didn’t know these people or their thoughts, and even if she did, she wouldn’t care.

Their first destination arrived quickly. Beating ramie wasn’t very tiring. Before the family split, the two kids had worked in the family’s ramie fields, so they didn’t need Sang Luo’s guidance. They were even more skilled than Sang Luo at the task.

Unfortunately, Sang Luo’s body was too weak now. After all, her original self had been so ill she nearly lost her life. Since she arrived here, she had drunk salt sugar water and some white rice porridge, but only in small sips. After half a morning’s work, she truly couldn’t do this physically demanding task for long. After a while, her strength waned, and her hands began to tremble slightly.

Shen An noticed this and decided not to let her work anymore. The siblings efficiently finished a batch. Shen An harvested two bundles of ramie, and the three of them headed home.

At home, the two bundles were naturally insufficient, yielding only a small amount of fiber. Yet Shen An didn’t want Sang Luo to make a second trip: “These are common wild patches near the village. Ning and I can handle it. Sister-in-law, you rest at home.”

Shen Ning glanced at their sister-in-law’s pale face and hesitated for a moment. “Why don’t you dissolve the other malt sugar that Granny Chen gave you and have some?”

Having two pieces of sugar in one day was an extravagance, especially during the New Year, so they hadn’t dared to do that. But Shen Ning didn’t forget the frightening look their sister-in-law had worn the day before; sugar was nothing compared to her health.

Sang Luo wasn’t worried about the two kids harvesting ramie at the village edge, so she nodded: “Alright, you two go harvest ramie. I’ll stay home and peel it.”

As for eating the malt sugar now, she knew her own condition well enough not to rush it and shook her head: “No need to eat the sugar yet. It will be useful later. Wait until you bring back a few more bundles, and then we’ll eat it together.”

Immortal tofu with a bit of sugar water—when the two kids tasted it, it would be a delightful surprise.

Shen Ning didn’t catch the hidden meaning, only hearing that sister-in-law said they would eat it together.

Thinking of the taste of the salt sugar water they had at dawn, she swallowed instinctively, then quickly shook her head in embarrassment: “I don’t need it.”

If she were healthy, how could she possibly take sister-in-law’s sugar water?

Sang Luo smiled, letting the two kids go harvest ramie while she sat on a stone outside the house to start peeling the fibers.

Having food after work was the best motivation there was.

The two children scampered down the mountain and returned after about an hour carrying two large bundles of ramie.

When the siblings went out again to find other patches, Sang Luo put down the peeling and went inside to fetch some spring water by the mountain, carrying the earthen pot. She placed it on the stove, lit a fire, and melted the malt sugar Granny Chen had given her.

This time, she didn’t add salt to make salt sugar water, only plain sugar water. After turning off the fire, she placed the pot on a stone slab with a few thick leaves underneath to cool. Then she checked the state of the two bowls of “Immortal Leaf” juice that had been solidifying.

Quite good—the ratio of wood ash water was just right, and it had already formed its shape.

When Shen An and Shen Ning returned from their third trip, Sang Luo looked at the sun and decided not to let them go out again. She put down the ramie she was peeling and called them: “Go wash your hands, then wash your faces, and then come inside to eat something delicious.”

“Eat something delicious.”

To Shen An and Shen Ning, those words sounded like a dream.

Since their eldest brother left home, they had never heard such words.

But thinking about sister-in-law’s promise to drink malt sugar water together, the two kids quickly went to wash.

When the three came inside, without Sang Luo saying a word, the siblings’ eyes naturally fell on the stone slab used as a table. When they saw the two bowls of greenish, glistening substance on it, they both froze.

What is this???

The bowls were the same two bowls, the color was the same, but now the substance was a deeper shade, a vibrant jade green.

Shen An and Shen Ning stared wide-eyed at Sang Luo: “Sister-in-law, this can’t be the juice from those leaves just now, can it?”

Sang Luo smiled: “It is. I told you it’s edible. Wait, I’ll cut some so you can taste it.”

She took a bamboo strip that had been used to hold the malt sugar and began slicing the tofu in one of the bowls into pieces.

Indeed, that bamboo strip was the one Shen An had gotten someone to carve into a knife for them. It usually wasn’t very useful since most of their food was wild vegetable soup, which they just tore apart with their hands.

Sang Luo skillfully cut the “Immortal Tofu” into small cubes about two centimeters square. Then she ladled some of the cooled malt sugar water from the pot and poured a couple of spoonfuls into the bowl, gently stirring. She scooped up one piece and brought it to Shen Ning’s mouth: “Ning, try this first.”

The jade-like tofu wobbled slightly on the wooden spoon, soft, glutinous, and springy.

The little siblings had never seen anything so beautiful. Before tasting it, just looking at it made them swallow hard in unison.

Shen Ning no longer cared whether it was edible or not. With the spoon already at her lips and a faint fragrance wafting from it, she took the wooden spoon from Sang Luo and popped the piece into her mouth.

The sweetness, the fragrance, the refreshing, springy texture—“!!!”

“Brother, this tastes even better than the meat we had at New Year!!!”