The New Kitchen

Jian Mo took out two large bowls and hummed a song as she prepared.

He was boiling water to cook noodles when he suddenly remembered that he hadn't made the broth yet. So he went outside to get some cured pork bones and then cut off a piece of fresh meat to make the broth.

Anyway, any leftover feed can be given to Jiujiu, so nothing will go to waste.

The room quickly became warm and steamy, and the soup in the pot turned a milky white. The cured bones gave the soup a rich aroma, while the meat brought out its freshness.

Jian Mo picked up the cut noodles, shook them, and put them into the boiling water to cook.

As soon as it was cooked, he immediately scooped it out and put it in cold water to cool it down and wash away the excess starch—he would also give the cooled boiled water to Jiujiu later, so nothing would go to waste.

He placed two portions of noodles into two bowls, one large and one small, then topped them with soft-boiled quail eggs, fried sausages, and pickled vegetables. He then placed fresh, tender green sprouts on top of the noodles and poured the thick, white broth into the bowls.

Instantly, a fragrant aroma wafted over.

Jian Mo then added the pan-fried ribs, topped them with pepper sauce and garlic powder, and sprinkled them with chopped nuts.

Two bowls of noodles with plenty of fillings will do: dark yellow pickled vegetable bits, orange-red quail egg yolks, brown fried ribs, and bright green tree buds—a vibrant mix of colors and aromas that look both fresh and delicious.

Jian Mo couldn't hold back any longer. She picked up two bowls of noodles, ran to the table, shook her red, scalded fingers, and shouted, "The noodles are ready! Come on!"

Wu Jiong strode in from outside. "I smelled that delicious aroma just now, and my stomach has been rumbling ever since."

Jian Mo: "I was calling out to them while I was cooking the noodles. I never really liked noodles before, but now I can't resist these noodles with all that filling."

Wu Jiong: "Let's eat!"

Jian Mo sat opposite him, picked up her chopsticks and first took a large mouthful of noodles, which she ate while they were still piping hot.

The noodles are chewy and elastic, with a wonderful aroma of starch.

He finished his noodles, took a small sip of the broth, and breathed out a satisfied sigh.

After finishing the noodles, take a bite of tree buds.

After blanching, the tree buds were indeed less bitter, fragrant and crisp, making a crunching sound when bitten, as if they had bitten off spring itself.

Jian Mo couldn't help but sigh again.

Only someone who hasn't eaten many vegetables all winter can imagine the taste of these fresh and tender vegetables he's eating now. Although they're a little bitter, bitterness is delicious. They're so refreshing, like a gentle breeze blowing in his face.

Jian Mo ate until her nose was sweating, then paused briefly to ask Wu Jiong, "How is it?"

Wu Jiong: "Delicious."

Jian Mo, biting into a rib, said, "I think it's delicious too. Springtime is just so wonderful."

Wu Jiong: "Tomorrow, the two of us will go out alone, and I'll take you to pick another kind of wild vegetable on the cliff."

Jian Mo became interested. "What kind of wild vegetables?"

Wu Jiong: "It's a kind of wild vegetable that's tender and not bitter. You can eat it after blanching it briefly. It's very fresh, but there's very little of it, and very few people know about it."

Jian Mo immediately made the decision. "Go, go, we'll go first thing tomorrow morning."

As a result, the two of them didn't make it the next morning.

Qing Kuo came to find them early in the morning and said, "It seems the tribe has produced cement."

Jian Mo was taken aback, her drowsiness instantly vanishing. "What do you mean, 'it looks like cement was produced'?"

Qing Kuo: "Didn't you tell us before? Cement is hard, grayish-black, and harder than lime after it dries. It's also stronger than lime for bonding stones. We found a big piece of this when we went to the mine."

Jian Mo was completely confused and unsure what it meant, so she quickly said, "Let's go take a look."

So the three of them hurried toward the mine and soon saw a large lump not far from the mine.

The large lump was grayish-brown and looked remarkably like a stone from a distance.

Jian Mo had seen it several times during the winter, but because it was half-buried under the snow, he didn't pay attention and assumed it was just a piece of discarded stone that had been transported there.

I never expected it to be a man-made product.

Qing Kuo kicked the hard lump. "I've already asked around, and nobody remembers who made it. They just remember that some waste lime was produced when it was burned, and they threw it directly into the pit. Later, they threw some slag and waste clay into the pit, and that's how it ended up like this."

Jian Mo thought for a moment, "It could be an accident."

Jian Mo guessed, "Our lime is all quicklime. It's fine when it's dry, but when it snows in winter and the snow melts, water seeps in and it turns into slaked lime slurry. The lime slurry binds other things together, and that's how this hard lump forms?"

Qing Kuo suddenly realized. "So it wasn't created by humans at all; it was just created by a series of coincidences, right?"

Jian Mo: "Possibly. Let's test what this is first, and see if it can be considered a cement lump?"

If they actually manage to get the cement, they can start planning to build their kitchen.

Chapter 70 The New Kitchen

The Jian Mo looked at it, the more convinced she became that the lump was just a piece of cement.

The materials were readily available. Jian Mo and his family brought over lime, clay, and slag, crushed them into powder, carefully mixed them, brushed the worn areas on the outside of the mine, and then attached stones to build a low wall outside Jian Mo's land.

After the low wall was completed, Jian Mo gently touched the stone. "Now we just have to wait for it to dry and see how it differs from the previous lime mortar."

Jian Mo, being from the construction industry, was somewhat unable to distinguish between these building materials.

However, the lime mortar they used before would start to crumble after a while, especially behind the house. Jiujiu would occasionally run there to scratch itself, and it rubbed off a large chunk of the lime mortar on the wall, making it look less usable.

Qing Kuo: "If that's true, then we can build A Hu's and the others' house."

A Hu and his family's house collapsed last winter, and now they live in an old house in the tribe.

When the conditions are right, they will definitely build new houses.