Most of the food in the valley had been sent away, and Chen Lan felt she should find a way to get more food back as soon as possible. The weather had been decent recently, only cold in the mornings and evenings, but the daytime temperature was still good.
So she decided to take advantage of the good weather to go up the mountain a few more times to hunt more game, to alleviate and supplement the shortage of food in the valley.
Because if everyone had more to eat, they would naturally eat less rice, which would save a lot of grain.
Chen Lan knew this from her previous life. The benefit of doing this was that if enough game was hunted, there would be no worry about the remaining grain not lasting until the next autumn harvest for the people in the valley.
Everyone in the valley was still in their respective positions, doing what they were supposed to do. Everything was proceeding in an orderly manner, only the progress of the house-building project was constantly accelerating.
The only change was that Chen Lan went out hunting alone every day, going to the deep mountains and old forests to hunt. Cui Qiao, Hu Yuzhen, and Qian Yingzi still led everyone to search for mountain goods all over the mountains every day. This time, as long as it was edible, they brought it home, no matter what it was.
The mothers-in-law and aunts, besides tending to the winter vegetables in the vegetable plots, were also pickling sauerkraut, pickling radishes, making fermented bean curd, and helping the aunts in the big kitchen to sort the mountain goods collected by Cui Qiao and the others, as well as to cure and dry the game brought back by Chen Lan.
One day, after breakfast, Chen Lan was about to put on her backpack and set off. Xiang Dong and Er Hu, each with a backpack and holding a bow and arrow, were already waiting by the side.
Chen Lan asked in surprise, "Brother Xiang Dong, Brother Er Hu, have your houses been built?"
Xiang Dong said with a smile, "They are basically finished. The remaining small details will be left to them to finish slowly. It's estimated to be completely done in another seven or eight days."
As Xiang Dong spoke, he added, "By the way, Xiao Lan, Teacher Zhou wants to discuss the solar power generator set with you these days. He estimates that there are many more people in the valley now and is worried about excessive electricity consumption in winter. He plans to ask you to prepare three more sets of solar power generator sets. He wants to take people to install them now while the weather is good, so they can be used when winter comes."
Chen Lan thought it made sense. This year there were one to two hundred more people than last year, and more than a dozen houses were built, as well as warehouses and greenhouses, plus sheep sheds and pigsties, so the power generation needed to be increased.
So she replied, "Okay! I understand. I'll prepare the three sets of solar power generator sets and place them outside the big kitchen. Teacher Zhou can install them anytime he has time."
The three of them hunted small game as they traveled over mountains and across ridges. The first place they went was the valley where they had hunted wild boars and wild goats last year. After arriving at the valley, they carefully circled it. Besides hunting a few pheasants and rabbits, they found no trace of any large animals. All three were very disappointed.
Chen Lan also found it very strange. Had the wild boars been scared away because she had hunted them there several times?
The three of them did not stay there long. They immediately turned back. Chen Lan led Xiang Dong and Er Hu to the valley where they had previously found red deer.
The three of them continued to hunt as they walked towards that valley. This time, they were not disappointed.
Chen Lan didn't expect this valley to be quite large. Last time, she had hastily hunted a few roe deer and left, thinking the valley wasn't large. She hadn't observed it carefully. It turned out the valley was ring-shaped, with a mountain in front blocking the view of the back. The valley behind was very spacious, with a small stream.
Frankly speaking, this valley was more suitable for human habitation than the valley where everyone lived now, because there was a ready water source.
In the valley, they found wild goats, red deer, and roe deer. The three of them decided to split up and tackle them one by one. All three were experienced hunters, so the harvest was bound to be bountiful. They hunted a total of six red deer, ten wild goats, and six roe deer. The three of them hunted as they walked back, finally returning fully loaded before lunch.
Perhaps heaven pitied kind people. It was already the end of October, and the weather was still not too cold. Chen Lan, Xiang Dong, and Er Hu went into the deep mountains every day and brought back many rabbits and pheasants. Combined with the wild rabbits raised in cages in the sheep sheds, they had already bred several litters. It could be said that there would be enough rabbit meat for the winter.
One day, the three of them went into the mountains again. As they walked past a hillside, Chen Lan found a large patch of wild yam vines growing by the stream at the foot of the hillside. Its vines were covered with many yam fruits.
Because the yam leaves were very distinctive, shaped like peaches at the tip, but with a longer tip, Chen Lan recognized it at a glance. She just didn't expect that even at this time, the yam leaves had not completely withered!
Great! It was truly heaven pitying good people! It couldn't bear to see good people starve.
Yams were a good thing. They were not only rich in starch and other nutrients, making them a good vegetable, but they could also be made into many filling dishes like staple food. They were good for both main courses and side dishes, and regular consumption could strengthen the spleen, nourish the stomach, and aid digestion. They were very suitable for the elderly and children.
Moreover, they were also a good medicinal ingredient. When processed into medicinal materials, they had the effect of strengthening the body and reducing phlegm.
Chen Lan immediately excitedly ran down the hillside, took out a hoe and shovel from her system warehouse, and started working. Following the yam vines, Chen Lan quickly found its root and immediately picked up the hoe to dig. After digging a few times, a tuber appeared. She then continued digging downwards in the direction the yam was growing.
Xiang Dong and Er Hu saw Chen Lan busy and helped her. Fortunately, it was by the stream, and the sandy soil was easy to dig. After digging about a meter deeper, they finally reached the end.
The yams here had no idea how many years they had been growing and had certainly never been dug up before, so they were thick and long.
Xiang Dong and Er Hu saw that they had indeed dug up yams, and they were quite large! So they immediately joined the yam digging team. Today, the three of them would not go searching for game all over the mountains, but would stay and continue digging wild yams, because Chen Lan had said that digging up yams was equivalent to finding food.
As Chen Lan dug wild yams with Xiang Dong and Er Hu, they chatted about everyday matters. Chen Lan described the dishes that could be made with wild yams, such as yam stewed with chicken soup, yam braised with pork, yam braised with ribs, sweet and sour yam, kung pao yam, pulled sugar yam, stir-fried yam, yam date cake, yam pancakes, etc. The two of them drooled, and Chen Lan also drooled at her own descriptions.