Chapter 13: Vitex Leaves

Chapter 13: The Grass Jelly Plant

Lin Xiaopu quickly wiped the corner of her mouth, lest she actually drool and embarrass herself.

But oh, how she longed to taste the alkaline-water zongzi her sister spoke of!

Lin Shu chuckled, "I'll ask Mother later if we have any glutinous rice at home. For today, we'll make a snack using what you call the 'stinky wife' plant."

"Great, great! Let's make the tofu Sister mentioned!" Lin Xiaopu remembered it clearly.

When the two returned home, both the bamboo basket and back basket were filled to the brim.

"Mother, Mother, Sister and I are back!"

He Guixiang was in the yard drying hemp. Several ropes were strung across bamboo frames, and the hemp that had been soaked for days was neatly draped over them. After two more days of sunning and drying, the hemp would be peeled, yielding clean, translucent fibers.

Almost every household in Sweetwater Village grew hemp. After harvesting, the process involved soaking, rinsing, retting, spinning into thread, winding into balls, and a series of other steps, followed by combing, starching, and finally weaving into bolts of linen cloth. However, the villagers of Sweetwater Village were poor. Most would spin the hemp into thread and wind it into balls, which merchants from town would then collect. The money earned wasn't much, but for the people of Sweetwater Village, it was a notable source of income. He Guixiang's hemp thread was well-spun, sometimes earning her a few extra copper coins.

Seeing her two daughters return, He Guixiang looked them over carefully to ensure neither was hurt and that Lin Xiaopu wasn't short of breath or experiencing chest tightness. Instead, she was full of energy, which relieved He Guixiang greatly. "You're finally back. If you hadn't returned soon, I would have gone to the hills out back to look for you."

The bamboo back basket and basket were filled with wild vegetables and weeds. She didn't know what the two girls were so happy about.

"Mother, can I use the large bamboo sieve?"

He Guixiang shot her a fondly exasperated look. "This is your own home. No need to be so formal! You can use any of the pots or pans as you please."

Lin Shu had already explored the kitchen early that morning and was pleasantly surprised. Although the main room was clean and empty, the kitchen was fully equipped. She found steamers, slotted spoons, wooden mixing bowls, bamboo baskets for washing vegetables and rice, steamer cloth for pastries, and more.

As for the yard, several bamboo frames were set up. Besides drying clothes, they could also dry pickled vegetables. Currently, He Guixiang was using them to dry hemp, but the large bamboo sieve for drying things was still empty and could dry many things at once.

Lin Shu spread the gathered yellow vitex branches on the large bamboo sieve and placed it on the bamboo frame.

The sun was strong these days, so after two or three days of sunning, it would be dry enough to burn.

He Guixiang watched indulgently without asking what she intended to do.

"When will Father be back?" Lin Shu asked.

"Your father went to town and will be busy all day. He can't bear to spend those few copper coins to take Old Man Liao's ox cart, so by the time he walks back, it will be dark. I'll start dinner soon. We'll eat first and save some for him."

Lin Shu smiled. "Then I'll make a snack so Father can have something fresh when he returns."

Lin Xiaopu immediately said, "Sister, I'll help you!"

"Good. Xiao Pu, help me sort through the leaves of the Grass Jelly Plant. Discard any that are rotten or have insect holes. Choose the thick leaves." Lin Shu assigned the task to Lin Xiaopu and went to the kitchen.

There were two jars in the kitchen, one large and one small. The large jar held water for daily use, fetched from a small stream a bit farther from the door. The small jar contained fresh mountain spring water, specially fetched by Zhou Ye from the mountain spring source, which was sweet and drinkable.

Lin Shu took half a basin of water from the large jar and poured it into the wooden basin usually used for kneading dough. She carried it to the yard and asked Lin Xiaopu to help her wash the leaves.

They washed each leaf carefully, mainly to remove dirt and insect eggs.

After washing, Lin Shu replaced the water with fresh water to soak the leaves and added a small spoon of salt.

Salt these days wasn't like in later times. A small jar cost ten to twenty copper coins. He Guixiang felt a bit pained about wasting salt but still watched them with a smile.

Lin Shu then cleaned the ash from the small stove used for boiling medicine and burned the cypress branches they'd gathered inside. "Xiao Pu, go get me a clean bowl."

"On it!"

When the bowl was brought, the burned cypress ash was collected in a clean bowl. Lin Shu leaned in to smell it; it had a fragrant cypress scent. If fresh yellow vitex couldn't be burned, using yellow vitex ash would have been better, but cypress ash was also good.

The cypress ash was mixed with water and stirred, then filtered through cheesecloth to obtain the alkaline water for coagulation.

The next step was the physical task of making the pulp. The soaked Grass Jelly Plant leaves were rinsed again, this time with the drinkable mountain spring water, using just enough to cover the leaves. Then, using a rolling pin, she pounded the leaves hard until the pulp flowed out and the leaves separated from the veins. After that, she switched to kneading by hand.

Lin Shu had been kneading for a while until her back and legs grew sore, then let Lin Xiaopu take over.

Lin Xiaopu no longer minded the leaves' smell and worked at it vigorously. Soon, she had turned the leaves into a paste, extracting all the remaining pulp.

Since there was only one wooden basin at home, Lin Shu brought out the clay pot. She placed a bamboo sieve over the wide-mouthed clay pot, laid the steamer cloth over it as a filter, poured the pulpy mixture in, wrapped the leaf residue in the steamer cloth, and repeatedly squeezed it to filter all the pulp into the clay pot.

Lin Xiaopu squatted in front of the clay pot, watching intently as the filtered pulp turned a vibrant green color.

"Mother, will you need this clay pot later?" Lin Shu asked, turning her head.

He Guixiang replied with a smile, "No, the iron pot is already steaming rice. Later, I'll use the iron pot to stir-fry a couple of dishes and make a pot of wild vegetable soup."

The iron smelting technology in the Da Yan Dynasty was quite advanced, and iron pots were common in commoner households. However, some backward places like Sweetwater Village still used clay pots. The family had an iron pot only because Zhou Ye had brought some scrap iron with him when fleeing famine. The iron pot was made from that scrap iron, and they only paid the blacksmithing fee.

With the iron pot, the clay pot wasn't left idle and was often used for simmering soup or porridge.

Hearing this, Lin Shu felt relieved to use the clay pot as the container for coagulation.

The prepared cypress ash water was poured into the pulp in the clay pot and stirred evenly with a long wooden spoon. After letting it sit for a moment, she added another round of cypress ash water, stirring quickly in one direction to ensure thorough mixing.

"Alright, let it sit for another half an hour, and the Grass Jelly Plant pulp will solidify."

Lin Xiaopu watched closely, curious about how this large basin of 'stinky wife' juice would turn into tofu.

While the pulp was settling, He Guixiang finished cooking. All the freshly picked wild vegetables were simmered into a soup, though she had thrown out several types, mistaking them for pigweed or weeds.

Lin Shu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Each type of wild vegetable had its own cooking method; simmering them all together wouldn't taste good. Plus, she had even gone and discarded some delicious varieties. Today, she was busy with the Grass Jelly Plant, but next time she would take charge and cook a wild vegetable feast to show her mother her culinary skills.

Dinner consisted of brown rice porridge and a few leftover pancakes from breakfast. While eating, Lin Shu noticed her mother glancing at her surreptitiously. She pretended not to notice and ate heartily.

In the post-apocalyptic world, the soil and water were poor, making it hard to grow crops. Eating such coarse rice was a luxury. Though not as refined as polished rice, this coarse rice with bran was far more nutritious.

He Guixiang saw her eat without reluctance, and breathed a secret sigh of relief. If they had to eat white rice and porridge every day, the family truly couldn't afford it. She just felt sorry for her daughter, who had once enjoyed delicacies in the Marquis's mansion but now had to eat coarse rice and simple meals at home.

After dinner, Lin Shu offered to help He Guixiang with the dishes but was waved away. "There's no need for you two to help with this little bit. Go play in the fields with Xiao Pu!"

Lin Shu's gaze landed on her mother's rough hands, which didn't match her face. Meeting her smile, she paused slightly before saying lightly, "Xiao Pu says there are lots of loaches and field snails in the fields. We'll go get some to add for Father's dinner!"

"What's the big deal about those things? They're too fishy. Go on then, if you want. Ah, wait, wait! I haven't finished—be careful of the leeches in the fields…"

"We will—" Lin Shu responded, already out the yard gate with a wooden bucket in one hand and holding Lin Xiaopu's hand with the other.

When they were farther away, Lin Shu asked her sister, "Was Mother often bullied before the family split up?"

Lin Xiaopu hesitated, then nodded. "Grandmother didn't like our mother…"

Old Man Lin had passed away early, and the old lady had struggled to raise her three sons. Lin Dashan had been sensible since childhood and was known in Sweetwater Village as a filial son. However, he had once defied his mother to marry He Guixiang after seeing her at the market. Furthermore, He Guixiang's family had demanded a full string of cash as bride price, making the old lady dislike He Guixiang even more.

In rural areas, marrying a wife was usually simple. In some poor places, a few pounds of meat and some candies or pastries might suffice. Sweetwater Village was poor, and every household stretched every copper coin. Saving a full string of cash took a long time. Spending so much to marry a daughter-in-law, the old lady made sure to work her hard.

He Guixiang's family had essentially sold her off. Without her natal family's support and feeling guilty, she did whatever her in-laws asked after marrying, making her already rough hands even rougher.

Later, she gave birth to two children, both of whom were unwanted daughters, and worse still, they had poor health. The elder one was slightly better—though frail at birth, she became healthy and plump after a few months of feeding. The younger one, however, often fell ill. Each time, the home remedies failed to cure her, and they had to take her to the town to see a doctor, so He Guixiang constantly had to ask her mother-in-law for money.

These were the reasons why He Guixiang felt she could not hold her head high in the He family. Even when her mother-in-law and sisters-in-law mocked her with sarcastic remarks, she took it all without complaint.

Lin Dashan also felt sorry for his wife, but he was foolishly filial and, because of the hefty bride price of one string of cash paid for the marriage, he could not stand up for her. He dared not speak out on her behalf, only working extremely hard in his daily chores. He showed respect to his elder brother Lin Laoda and doted on his younger brother Lin Laosan, always ready to fulfill any requests from his nephews.

Yet, all their humility and submissiveness over the years only resulted in mockery from the eldest brother's family and disputes with the third brother's family when the family property was divided. They argued fiercely, red in the face, over wanting an extra acre of land. If it weren't for the strong-willed female protagonist, Lin Yao, they wouldn't even have been able to keep the five acres of land and two strings of cash for settling down—they would've lost even more.

Author's Note:

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* The series of steps for the preparation of hemp are sourced from the internet.

The method for making Guanyin Tofu is referenced from the internet.