Chapter 7

Sang Luo led the two children over two hills until they finally found their target for the day – the Six-Path Winged Wood.

This plant also goes by other names, such as "Immortal Tree" and "Guanyin Wood."

Before setting out, while Shen An was cooking the porridge, Sang Luo had been contemplating what food they should forage for.

After recovering slightly from her illness and hunger, Sang Luo was cautious not to overexert herself. To conserve energy, she knew it was crucial to have a plan for everything they did.

She had searched through the original owner's memories and vaguely recalled this plant, but the memory was fuzzy and fleeting. It was not easy to locate this specific memory, and Sang Luo wasn't sure exactly where nearby she had seen it. All she could do was lead Shen An and Shen Ning around the neighboring hills, searching along the mountain paths.

Fortunately, their persistence paid off, and just when she was about to collapse from exhaustion, they finally found it.

Sang Luo was pleased but too weak to harvest it herself, so she instructed the children to pick the branches with vibrant green and relatively thick leaves.

Shen An and Shen Ning were taken aback, unsure of what to do.

Although they were poor, the surrounding mountains had plenty of wild vegetables, so surely they didn’t have to resort to eating leaves, did they?

Shen Ning, with her gentle nature and closer bond to Sang Luo, voiced her doubts, “Big sister, can we really eat these leaves?”

Her question echoed what Shen An was thinking.

“Of course, they're edible. Not just that, we might even be able to trade these for some grain,” Sang Luo assured them.

The plant Sang Luo referred to was known to the older generation as "Immortal Tofu." Sang Luo herself wouldn’t have known about it if she hadn't spent several years in the mountains. It was similar to a more common plant known to most people as grass jelly or jelly grass.

Immortal Tofu, when prepared, looks quite similar to grass jelly, although it's made from different ingredients and has a slightly different color and texture.

Of course, Shen An and Shen Ning were unaware of this. They found it hard to believe that anyone would trade valuable grain for mere leaves.

Sang Luo didn’t elaborate much. In her memories, tofu existed in this dynasty, but its production methods were closely guarded by a few privileged families. A girl from a commoner background like her had only heard of it and never tasted it, let alone the general populace.

Most ordinary people probably hadn't even heard of it.

Sang Luo couldn't help but reflect on the enduring nature of class privileges across different times.

The Daqian Dynasty, despite its relatively small population compared to the later expansive 'Flower Nation', had a unique administrative division. Each 'Li' consisted of a hundred households, and five 'Li' made up a 'Xiang', meaning a small village like Shili only had about twenty households, with several villages needed to form a single 'Li'.

The memory of the original owner revealed that the population density in her hometown was also low, indicating that the overall population of the dynasty couldn’t have been very large.

The population had been steadily depleted by constant warfare, natural disasters, diseases, and labor conscription.

Yet, most of the fertile land in Shili Village wasn't owned by its twenty households but concentrated in the hands of a few wealthy families in the township. Apart from wasteland and mountains, there was little good land left for ordinary villagers, who were forced to tenant-farm lands owned by the more affluent families.

This monopolization extended beyond land to include books, technologies, and various heritages, all controlled by the upper class.

Therefore, the product Sang Luo planned to make was indeed novel in this area. Dreaming of striking it rich by selling the recipe was unrealistic, as there were no such wealthy buyers in the local market. Even if there were, it was unlikely they would stumble upon her or be interested in her invention.

Sang Luo thought it best to keep this recipe secret for the time being, ensuring no unwanted attention. Her immediate goal was to earn a few coins to buy rice and grain to sustain herself and the two children.

Although Shen An and Shen Ning were puzzled, they effortlessly gathered branches and leaves. Working together, they soon had two large bundles.

Back home, they washed the leaves and set the branches aside to dry outside. Dried Guanyin wood ashes were ideal for making Immortal Tofu.

Without dried Guanyin wood, however, other plant ashes would suffice, like the leftover ashes from their simple stove, which they used that morning for cooking porridge with stored rape stalks.

Sang Luo scooped a handful of ashes onto a plate, placed them in a bowl, and mixed them with cool boiled water from the jar, stirring and then letting it settle.

Shen An and Shen Ning just watched, no longer voicing any opinions.

Their big sister had started with picking leaves, claiming they were edible, and now she was fiddling with stove ashes... The siblings observed with a mix of skepticism and an inexplicable calm, even becoming curious about what Sang Luo would come up with next, unable to resist hovering around to watch.

Shen An thought the whole situation was absurd.

Yet, he couldn't shake off the feeling that something was off with his sister-in-law today.

Shen An couldn't quite pinpoint what was off about his sister-in-law, but after observing for a while, he attributed it to her recent illness, especially her prolonged unconsciousness the day before.

In fact, if it weren't for Sang Luo's seemingly knowledgeable approach to fishing earlier, Shen An might have even suspected that her illness had caused some brain damage.

Of course, this thought was just a fleeting one in his mind; it was too impolite to voice such a notion. He quickly dismissed and extinguished the thought.

While the ash water settled for future use, the challenge of dealing with the "Immortal Leaves" arose – there was no cheesecloth...

Sang Luo, despite her patience developed during her previous life's illness, couldn't help but inwardly sigh at their poverty.

Really, they lacked everything they needed.

After pondering, she cleaned the only handkerchief from her belongings and boiled it in the pot as a makeshift filter.

While sterilizing the makeshift filter, Sang Luo instructed Shen An and Shen Ning to wash the leaves they had gathered. The siblings then watched the entire process of Sang Luo turning the pile of leaves first into a boiled mush and then filtering them into two bowls of bright green leaf juice.

Indeed, two bowls were used - aside from the one with the ash water, the other two bowls contained the porridge that Shen An had saved and the malt sugar left by Old Lady Chen. The former was given to the siblings to share, while the latter had been moved to the stone platform during breakfast.

Poverty indeed – they only had one pot and three bowls...

As Shen An and Shen Ning reluctantly shared the meager amount of porridge, they couldn't help feeling wasteful. In those times, most families only ate twice a day, but here they were, having sugar water at midnight, thick porridge at dawn, and another meal mid-morning.

Though the portion was pitifully small, it was no different from their usual meager meals over the past few months.

Most of the porridge ended up being fed to the sick Sang Luo by Shen Ning. But that's a different story.

Once the bowl was cleaned, Sang Luo filtered the remaining liquid into the second bowl, filling two large bowls about three-quarters full.

Shen Ning, looking at the pleasing green liquid, turned to Sang Luo and asked, "Are we just going to drink this?"

"Of course not," Sang Luo replied with a smile. In front of the astonished siblings, she began stirring the previously settled ash water into the leaf juice. She poured a generous amount and continued stirring in one direction until she felt a change in texture, then stopped and treated the other bowl in the same way.

Shen An and Shen Ning were dumbfounded. They had doubts about drinking the leaf juice, but now with the addition of ash water, they were certain it was undrinkable.

Amused by their expressions, Sang Luo said, "It's done. Take a look after an hour."

Seeing the siblings' worried faces, she added cheerfully, "Don't just stand there, let's do something else."

Their curiosity piqued, the siblings asked in unison, "Do what?"

Sang Luo picked up a small sickle from the wall, the only iron-containing tool among the meager farming equipment allotted to their household: "Let's go cut some wild hemp."