Chapter 5

How did we end up eating dirt!

All six of us in the thatched hut were, to varying degrees, wringing our hands and sighing.

Du Shanü, however, stayed calm, giving the bamboo basket a gentle push to reveal, under the stones, acorns big and small, glossy brown.

That's obvious—not just eating dirt, but eating acorns too.

But seeing the bitter acorns, Ouyang Yan, who had known a bit of medicine since childhood, instantly felt even more distressed, his face clouded with worry, as if it might break:

"Miss, we all know your family's situation is tough, and you want to use acorns to stave off hunger; when we came we saw plenty of acorns around the village, but do you know why, with acorns littering the ground, no one bothers to pick them up?"

Everyone turned to look at Ouyang Yan at his words, and he let out a long sigh and said:

"That's because acorns are bitter and astringent, and also slightly toxic!"

"Removing the toxins from acorns requires a very complicated soaking process; one must strictly follow the 'seven soaks, eight boils' principle, using running clean water to soak for seven to ten days, changing the water more than three times a day."

"Processing this stuff is time‑ and labor‑intensive; aside from a year of great famine, hardly anyone bothers with it. You've brought this basket of acorns back—by the time it's processed, I'm afraid……"

Ouyang Yan didn't continue, but everyone could read the expression on his face.

After a few moments of silence, the darkest‑skinned, most resolute Leitie spoke up directly:

"Miss, we've discussed it among ourselves and feel your family is indeed too poor to support itself."

"How about this: we each give you an IOU, register our household under yours, then go find work—I'll tend my wounds and become a blacksmith, the scholar will work as a scribe, Elder Brother Ouyang will gather medicinal herbs to make a living… Later, when we've saved enough money, we'll come back to redeem our body‑sale contracts."

Du Shanü had indeed thought these people would eventually go their separate ways, but that it would happen so quickly struck her as somewhat amusing:

"Fine, if you really must leave, I'll let you go tomorrow."

This reaction was so refreshingly straightforward it left people a bit at a loss.

The tall Leitie instantly brightened up and began asking the scholar and the married man where they planned to settle.

Du Shanü, meanwhile, took the opportunity to beckon Ouyang An over, having him pour the acorns that had already been drying for a few days—brittle, hard shells—onto the bamboo mat in the courtyard, spread them out evenly, and tread lightly on them with her feet.

The young man, not overthinking it, worked quickly; with a light crackling, the reddish‑brown shells split open to reveal the pale yellow‑tinged kernels inside.

Du Shanü then had Yu Hen and A Chou turn the household's only small stone mill—its only valuable piece—slowly grinding the kernels.

The mill's core was loose; we weren't rushing to extract slurry, just aiming to grind it into a coarse meal.

The coarse meal was placed in a cloth bag, immersed in clean water, and kneaded.

The clear water quickly turned into a murky ochre, giving off a raw, astringent smell.

We repeated the water changes and kneading many times until the water faded to an extremely pale straw yellow and the astringent smell was almost gone.

The damp powder was spread on the sole straw mat in the courtyard, baked by the afternoon autumn sun; after another hour or two, we had a mat of reddish‑brown, dry, gritty acorn flour.

Du Shanü went out once, exchanging the fine silver hairpin left by her parents for some supplies; upon returning and seeing this scene, she again picked up a lump of raw lime, placed it in a cracked old earthen bowl, and poured clean water over it.

A soft 'hiss' sounded, and a puff of white smoke rose, carrying the pungent smell of lime.

The water bubbled as if boiling, released a few small bubbles, then gradually subsided into a bluish‑white turbid slurry; after it cleared, we scooped off the top layer of clear lime water.

Below lay undissolved grayish‑white sediment.

We took another empty basin, poured in the dried acorn powder, drew well water and let it flow in slowly, while the other hand held a wooden spoon, steadily stirring in circles.

The powder and water first clumped together unwillingly, then gradually blended into a uniform thick slurry, showing a raw, earthy brown.

Then Du Shanü lifted the bucket of lime water, her left hand continuing to gently stir the slurry in the basin while her right hand dripped the lime water in thin streams.

The instant the lime water met the acorn slurry, there was an extremely faint 'hiss', and a burst of astringent aroma like raw chestnut skins surged upward.

The slurry's colour changed, from earthy brown to a reddish‑ochre with a hint of yellow.

She stirred more slowly, and the slurry in the basin gradually thickened into a semi‑solid, wobbling mass.

Du Shanü then poured the entire basin of gelatinous substance into a bamboo sieve lined with fine hemp cloth.

Below the sieve, an empty jar caught the excess gray‑yellow liquid, which dripped away in a steady patter—drip, drip.

After the liquid had drained completely, we were left with a wet, dark lump of paste.

We turned it upside‑down into a coarse earthen vat, smoothed the surface, poured in well water until it covered the paste by about two finger‑depths.

The sun quietly crept past the eaves, and the water in the vat had already been changed three times.

She reached in, her fingertips lightly touching the edge of the paste—cool, smooth, with a supple elasticity.

Du Shanü scooped out that lump of paste, sliced it diagonally with a knife, and obtained translucent, wobbling jelly.

The jelly was piled in a chipped earthen bowl; though the bowl itself was plain, the quivering jelly within shone with the lustre of small pieces of pale‑brown jade.

Du Shanü then added some chopped scallions, cilantro, cucumber sliced into strips, a few grains of salt, two drops of vinegar, two drops of animal oil…

A simple seasoning, and yet this acorn jelly sprang forth, making mouths water.

Du Shanü squatted outside the thatched hut, gulping down a big bowl with audible 'huff‑huff' sounds, finally feeling that her hard work hadn't been in vain!

Acorns contain tannins, and lime water can quickly remove the astringency, eliminating the mild toxicity while saving the time required for the 'seven soaks, eight boils' process!

Today's production of acorn jelly was a great success!!

Du Shanü was happily eating, until at this point someone finally realized something was wrong——

Acorns are toxic, and Guanyin clay cannot be eaten.

But when combined, how did they turn into an edible paste in the vat?

Moreover, the paste, after being mixed with scallion fragrance and animal oil……

Could it be that Miss's family originally possessed some secret technique not passed on to outsiders???

Leitie and the other two had been going back and forth in the house, unable to reach a decision, but seeing this scene only then did they realize they'd been nearly hungry for two days, their throats gurgling and their stomachs growling.

Du Shanü snorted inwardly, rose to her feet, beckoned and served three fresh bowls of jelly, placing them respectively in the hands of Yu Hen, A Chou, and Ouyang An, and then said:

"You've worked hard this afternoon; you eat first, I'll go sell the remaining food, then get you some more things." 】

Six people, only three bowls were divided.

Du Shanü, holding a water jar full of paste and a packet of seasoning, prepared to leave home, seemingly completely forgetting the three more useful people inside the house.

Inside, Leitie looked somewhat dazed, speaking in a jar-like voice, instinctively asked:

"Little, little miss, why don't you give us a bite to eat?"

As soon as he said that, Leitie himself felt it wasn't quite right.

Just now he had said he would seek his own livelihood, yet now he was turning to people to beg for food...

But the words were already out; taking them back would also be awkward.

Leitie had no choice but to continue steeling himself, speaking in his jar-like voice:

"How can you not understand? We three are an ironsmith, a scholar, and a husband; if we're fed, we can do far more than a blind, mute child."

Du Shanü still wore a smiling expression, but this time when she spoke, she had completely lost the politeness she had when she first brought them back.

"Then how can you not understand... To me, you're all actually useless; I keep you only because I like you."

"You just didn't help; now I don't need you—what are you pretending for with me?"

?? is lei, the heroine is actually a smiling tiger.....! She's incredibly scheming!