Continuing upstream along the ditch, a shallow, weedy pond and swamp appears.
This was formed by water filling a deep pit washed out by flash floods.
Here are some wild onions and wild leeks.
The seeds were brought over by water-drinking birds, and they grew sparsely among the dead grass. Jiang Zhi did not dig up the roots, but only cut off the leaves and ate them back.
The mountain walls on both sides gradually became steeper, and there were some dark brown rattan ropes of different thicknesses hanging on them.
Jiang Zhi knew that he finally found what he needed.
The most common and largest vine in the southwestern mountainous areas, excluding the sweet potato vine, is the kudzu vine.
This is also the plant that is most used in people's daily lives.
Kudzu can be woven into rattan chairs, rattan beds, rattan baskets, and kudzu cloth, which is the main fabric in ordinary people's homes.
However, kudzu is mostly harvested in May-June, when the kudzu vines are immature. At that time, the kudzu fibers are less broken and the kudzu silk can be cut out and used for weaving and making clothes.
Now these kudzu vines are old and hard and have no use except for burning firewood.
Jiang Zhi smiled bitterly, he was really a starving dung beetle and couldn't even make it to poop.
It would be great if we come across summer and have everything to eat and use.
The kudzu vine is not useful, but the kudzu root below is good.
The stems of Kudzu are woody and have thick, lumpy roots. The roots are thick, tender white, have hairs, and have a smooth surface, resembling a human arm.
These roots can be ground into powder to make various snacks, or they can be stewed directly.
As a plant with the same origin as medicine and food, Pueraria lobata can be eaten, and it is also a good medicine for relieving muscles and dispelling wind, and treating fever and diarrhea.
In addition, boiling kudzu flowers in water can relieve hangover, especially for hematemesis and hematochezia caused by excessive drinking. The curative effect on liver damage is very significant. It is a talisman for gourmets at the wine table.
It's just that it's a little difficult for modern people living in cities to find Gehua.
Jiang Zhi naturally won't think about the problem of relieving hangover and reducing fever. He must survive first, and that is to eat kudzu root.
She used a knife to cut through the kudzu net and look for the taproot underneath, a task that required both strength and patience.
Looking at the vines all over the mountains and plains, it may be just a kudzu. You have to find its root system in this large vine.
The old kudzu vine is very strong and cannot bear the force when it is held in the air. It jumps when it is cut with a knife, which makes Jiang Zhi's arm sore.
In order to eat in one bite, he had to rest and chop for a while. By the time a piece of vine was cut out of its main root, Jiang Zhi was already paralyzed from exhaustion.
Taking advantage of the opportunity to rest, she took out the green rice cakes and a piece of boiled meat that Qiaoyun had prepared when she went out in the morning to fill her stomach, and then took out a can of water.
People here originally drank from mountain springs wherever they went, but Jiang Zhi has developed a habit in modern times. He is worried about drinking locusts in the water, so he boils the water and brings it with him.
After eating and drinking enough, and regaining some strength, she began to dig kudzu roots.
In order to support the nutrition of so many canes, the kudzu roots grow very deep, and the soil here is gravelly and loess, so it is very laborious to dig.
While digging, Jiang Zhi picked up the broken kudzu roots and ate them.
You only need to tear off the outer skin of fresh kudzu root to eat it. It is a little bitter at first, but the more you chew it, the sweeter it becomes. The most important thing is to produce fluid and quench thirst.
By the time Jiang Zhi dug out more than two hundred kilograms of kudzu root, it was already getting dark, and she had been out for the whole day.
The kudzu was dug out, but how to move it back became a problem.
I am a person who is used to doing heavy work, and I have a lot of strength. Carrying 180 kilograms is common, but it is impossible to carry away two to three hundred kilograms at a time.
And it’s just a small backpack, which can’t even hold the clothes.
Jiang Zhi could only keep the largest tap root and pick up some broken fibrous roots and take them back.
Even the fibrous roots weighed fifty or sixty pounds. She walked out of the ditch carrying it on her back, and faced Xu Errui, who was shouting as he walked and was sweating profusely.
"Mother! Mother!"
"Shouting for the soul!" Jiang Zhi responded, imitating his original tone.
Hearing the echo, Xu Errui fluttered his arms and ran over.
Feeling happy and complaining at the same time, he took the backpack and carried it on his body, and kept talking: "Mom, why do you go out all day? My uncle said that you came to this ditch, and he was worried that something would happen to you. He asked me to come and pick you up quickly."
Jiang Zhi had also been tired for a day and didn't want to talk to him, but was upset by his repeated thoughts. He couldn't help but ask: "Er Rui, you weren't so talkative before, what's wrong now?"
Other time-travelers were worried that they would be betrayed. She was a seductress, and her son did not dare to doubt her but was questioned instead.
Xu Errui was dumbfounded. He didn't know why he talked too much.
Obviously, my mother used to curse a lot, but now she seldom curses, so he forgot about it.
Afraid that his mother would scold him again, Xu Errui hurriedly took a few steps forward: "It's getting dark soon, let's go back quickly!"
After returning home, Jiang Zhi realized that he had indeed come back too late. Xiaoman and Xu Errui had gone home long ago.
The two boys gained a lot. In the shed of Xiaoman's house, there was a pile of black animals that had died in the wildfire.
By the light of the fire in the center of the shack, Xiao Mannai was busy running around, disembowelling, shaving and skinning.
Master Xiao Man was also peeling snake skin on the wooden pillar, and Xiao Man was working as an assistant.
As soon as he saw Jiang Zhi coming back, Xiaoman immediately came over to show off: "Aunt Jiang, Brother Errui and I went out today. What do you think this is? It's a big snake!"
The mountain fire also suffocated the snakes that had been hiding in their holes for the winter. The two of them dug rabbit holes to dig them out. Xu Errui said this while walking on the road.
But Jiang Zhi was also surprised when he actually saw the snake.
She often goes up the mountain and is not afraid of anything, except those with long legs and those with no legs.
Taking one look at the snake, she quickly dodged it: "I'm afraid this snake must weigh six or seven pounds, right? Could it be a snake demon that has achieved enlightenment?"
When Xiao Man heard about the snake demon, he immediately panicked: "Master, this, this..."
Jiang Zhi chuckled: "What are you afraid of, Xiaoman? If you are burned to death by a mountain fire, you haven't cultivated well. You are doing harm to the people!"
Xiao Manye and Xiao Mannai also laughed: "This kid is so careless. Your Aunt Jiang will make you afraid when she teases you. You will eat less after a while."
This smile made everyone in the room laugh.
There is no threat of hunger for the time being. Even though there are still wildfires and bandits are following us, those who want to survive must work hard and be happy, otherwise they will definitely be scared to death.
Qiaoyun spread out a stack of soft pancakes made with green corn starch as the staple food, and the meat stewed in the pot was also fragrant.
Jiang Zhi took out the kudzu he dug and said, "Here is kudzu. Quickly cut it and stew it in the pot."
Scrape off the brown outer skin of fresh kudzu root, then cut it into small pieces and stew it in a pot, or boil it in plain water. It is not astringent or sweet, and has a texture similar to that of yam. It can fill your stomach.
"Oh, you go dig kudzu by yourself. Is this edible?" Xiao Mannai asked in surprise.
Everyone in Xujia Village knows that kudzu can weave cloth, and kudzu can also be used to make baskets, but no one has ever eaten the roots.
Can we eat things like tree roots?
Jiang Zhi was also surprised. Kudzu root powder is a health product in modern times, and it is naturally the first choice to satisfy hunger in years of famine.
Xiao Mannai knew that thatch roots could be eaten, but why didn’t she know that kudzu roots could also be eaten? Maybe it was because kudzu roots looked too much like tree roots.
But there’s nothing to show off. Being able to know green ginkgo seeds and kudzu root to satisfy your hunger, as well as many strange and delicious foods, is because our ancestors have experienced too much suffering for a long time.
In order to survive, grief is turned into food. Hunger makes people eat everything in a strange way.
If you start by plundering like those robber countries and only eat pork chops and steaks, who will bother with these things.
Since no one had ever eaten kudzu, Jiang Zhi personally picked out the thickest fibrous roots, scraped off the skin, cut them into pieces and put them into the pot.
