Chapter 54: Burial Night
Torches were lit at the place where they were staying, and everyone was preparing to taste the cooled and solidified acorn tofu when they saw Awang coming back in a mule cart.
The twenty or so strong men who had just heard the whistle and rushed to help also came back, each with a strange look on their face.
Everyone asked questions at once, and Lin Benshu waved his hands, "Nothing, the wheel hit a rock and the car flipped over. Lao Zhao fell off the car, but he didn't break any bones, just some skin. Fortunately, there were only empty buckets and basins in the car, so it's nothing serious. Everyone, go do what you need to do, it's getting dark, and there's still a lot of work to do."
Shen Anrong walked towards his father Shen Jingfu, "Dad, the acorn tofu is ready, come and try it."
Shen Jingfu smiled and said, "You guys eat, I'll try it later."
Shen Anrong wanted to say something, but his father gave him a look and said, "Okay, save it for me. Come and eat when you're done."
Shen Jingfu: "You go and accompany your grandma and your mother."
Shen Anrong pretended to be nothing and nodded, "Okay, Dad."
Everyone poured the slurry from the mule cart into a small pool made of waterproof cloth.
Shen Jingfu asked everyone to fetch water with empty buckets and basins and put them in the mule cart.
Shen Jingcai wondered, "Isn't there a well at the entrance of the village? We are allowed to use it during the day, so why can't we use it at night?"
"Everyone is resting at night, and fetching water might disturb people living nearby." Shen Jingfu replied casually.
The buckets and basins in the mule cart were filled with water, and the mule cart set out for Changqing Village again, but this time there were 20 strong men on board.
The mule cart stopped at the place where the robbery had just happened. Everyone took down the buckets and wooden basins in the carriage and rushed towards the official road with "splash! splash! splash!"
There were so many people and they were very nimble, and soon there was nothing but wet mud on the official road.
Everyone collected the buckets and basins and put them back into the carriage. Except for the driver, everyone else followed the mule cart and headed towards Changqing Village.
After saying hello to his father, Lin Benshu walked into the mill. He felt a little sad when he saw that there were still a pile of acorn kernels that had not been ground.
Lin Youxing took out a bowl of acorn tofu from the mule cart and showed it to the old men who had been guarding the place all day.
The old men were so happy that Lin Lizheng brought the food to Li Lizheng to taste.
He told Li Lizheng exactly what Lin Youcai had told him about how to process and eat acorns, and he spoke it out loud so that the villagers who had not yet gone to rest could hear it.
Li Lizheng took it and looked at the brown stuff in the bowl, which was cut into small pieces. It was soft and springy, and really looked like tofu.
Li Lizheng tried a piece himself. It was soft, tender and chewy, but just a little bitter. The texture was good. Although no salt was added, the taste was okay.
They didn't have time to soak it. If they soaked it for 5 or 6 days, it wouldn't be bitter. However, the bitter bead tofu they made didn't taste bitter at all and was edible.
During the day, he asked his family to go to the mountain to pick up two baskets of bitter pearls and bring them back. They have been soaked for half a day, and they will be able to cook them at home in a few days. Tomorrow he will go to the mountain again to pick up more and soak them.
Li Lizheng handed the bowl to the villagers and asked everyone to have a taste. Each person could have a small piece, and dozens of people could have a taste.
A bowl of acorn tofu was eaten up in the blink of an eye. Although no one seemed to taste anything, it was not bad at all and was edible!
The villagers of Changqing Village were excited and were ready to go pick acorns tomorrow morning. They said the starchy powder that had settled down could be dried into powder and stored for later consumption. They could also be boiled into tofu and cut into pieces, dried and stored for later consumption! It would be a good way to make up for the shortage of food!
The mountains are full of bitter bead trees, so we won’t have to go hungry this winter! Thinking about it made me unable to sleep, and Li Lizheng urged everyone to go back to the house and rest, instead of gathering at the entrance of the village.
After the two headmen exchanged greetings and finished their business, Li Lizheng also went home, leaving only the refugees from Nanlin Village at the entrance of the village.
Seeing that only their own people were left at the village entrance, Lin Benshu called the others to keep watch. He lowered his voice and told the old men who had been guarding the village entrance from day to night what happened on the official road just after dark.
Lin Lizheng and the others also heard the whistle, but it was not quite clear. He was about to ask something, but after hearing what his eldest son said, he was stunned.
Old Man Lin was thinking about going back to his place to try the acorn tofu to see what it tasted like. He hadn't even had a bite just now, and after hearing what Lin Benshu said, he was stunned.
The others were also stunned after hearing this, their eyes wide open in disbelief.
Lin Benshu made a shushing gesture, "Let's leave quickly after we finish grinding. They're going to deal with it. Most people don't know about it, so don't say anything. There's nothing to say. It's better not to know."
Lin Lizheng looked at the people present with a serious expression and whispered, "Watch your mouths. They asked for it. We are all in this together. This is not the fault of any one person."
Everyone nodded in tacit understanding. Along the way, everyone understood.
Zhao the Butcher, Lin Yougui, Lin Youxiang, Zhao Zhuang, and Tian Daniu drove a bullock cart with 5 corpses on it and rushed back the way they came.
After nearly 5 hours of driving, they finally arrived at an acorn forest at about 12:2 a.m. However, it was not the forest where they picked acorns, but more than hours away from the forest where they picked acorns.
Lin Youcai saw this acorn forest while passing by with a telescope. Wild boars and squirrels like to eat acorns the most, while squirrels ignore them. Wild boars are omnivores and have a strong sense of territory.
Taking advantage of the fact that there were no refugees staying on the roadside, five people carried the body along the mountain road late at night and dumped it into a ravine.
Originally, other people also wanted to come and help, but the mule cart was seriously overloaded, and adding a car would make too much noise.
They were not the only ones who were staying on the riverbank, but there were also other refugees there. The eyes of those refugees would look at them from time to time.
The five people had to work harder, so Lin Youcai said he would give them more work points and just find a reason, and everyone agreed.
Seeing that Butcher Zhao was old, he was not allowed to go, but he was unwilling to go. He had been killing pigs all his life, so he was afraid of nothing. Although it was his first time to kill someone, he was still afraid. But in times of chaos, it was either you or me.
After working hard for an hour, they finally dumped all the bodies. The cold wind blew and the five of them were sweating profusely. They sat on the side of the road, panting. After a short rest, they drove the ox cart back.
Lin Zisu saw that something was obviously wrong, and seeing that her father was free, she pulled her father into the RV to ask.
Lin Youcai looked at his wife, son, and daughter staring at him, and said helplessly in a low voice: "Don't be afraid, I told you."
Lin Zisu shrugged her nose, "I smell blood."
Lin Xianwen: "I saw blood on the clothes and shoes of those of you who came back."
Shen Xianglan: "Why are there several times more people transporting the slurry?"
Lin Youcai: "Someone robbed us on the official road, using knives and sticks."
Lin Zisu: “SO?”
Lin Xianwen: "The counterattack was successful?!"
Lin Youcai nodded.
Shen Xianglan: "How many of them are there?"
"11." Lin Youcai put his palm at his neck and measured.
Shen Xianglan covered her mouth. After all, they were souls that traveled through time from modern times and lived in a peaceful era. They had only seen crimes such as murder and robbery on the Internet and in the news.