Riding the wind of rebirth

The sight of villagers living peacefully with wasps, along with the arrival of beautiful textiles, made everyone forget their fear of wasps.

The fabrics of the Lisu people are very beautiful. They like to use the blue of the clear sky as the base color, and then use the soft colors of natural dyes to weave various patterns. Combined with the special texture of fire grass, the picture is full of the look and feel of a "macaron carpet".

A closer look reveals that, to enhance strength, the warp threads are made of hemp thread, while the weft threads are made of various colored straw threads. The patterns are generally symmetrical geometric patterns composed of various colored blocks, which have a somewhat postmodern artistic style.

Not to mention the girls, even Zhou Zhi thought it was good.

The belt is also quite nice; its color is much brighter, probably due to the use of modern dyes, and the material is wool.

The woven wool belt is lined with a base layer on the back, making it perfect as a backpack shoulder strap.

The belt is also very beautiful, with silver bells of various sizes adorning both ends, which make a pleasant sound when shaken.

Xu Anxin is a woman of action. She immediately took off her backpack strap and asked the Lisu sister to help her remove the buckle, making a Lisu-style carrying strap.

This was a great idea. Mai Xiaomiao, Li Yijia, and Jike Azi followed suit and each modified one to wear on their backs. They were all very happy with it.

Only Li Laosan's eyes twitched as he watched. He could let go of the other three women's bags, but his own wife's was a limited edition LV. He could just change it as he was told!

This purchase was a great value for money, costing only two thousand yuan in total. Xu Anxin now had all the gifts she needed to give away.

We declined the Lisu sisters' warm invitation to stay and taste the wasp pupae, making an excuse that we still had a long way to go, and got back on the bus.

"They're so welcoming." After getting into the car, Li Yijia said, "If it weren't for bee pupae, I would have felt bad not staying for a meal."

Zhou Zhi laughed and said, "You spent a total of two thousand yuan. Do you know what that means? It's the entire income of four or five families here for a year. If anyone could solve my livelihood for a year, I would be very enthusiastic."

“No wonder there’s the concept of ‘Miao Gu poison’ in martial arts novels.” Huang Ruishan was a little scared: “They really raise wasps. In ancient times, when information was scarce and communication was difficult, it’s reasonable to make such an association.”

“Little Dragon Girl was also a skilled beekeeper. Jin Yong deliberately described bees as very cute and even turned them into ‘jade bees.’ Only today did I realize how terrifying they were,” Li Yijia said.

"Yes, and I even asked them specifically. They probably already have antibodies and aren't afraid of being stung. If they get stung occasionally, they just apply some medicated wine and it's fine."

"Isn't it said that wasps will chase people?" Li Yijia asked. "When they take the nest, they always anger the wasps and they come out to sting them, right? They can take one or two stings, but can they take the whole situation?"

“I don’t know. Maybe they know a lot about the habits of wasps and know how to remove the hive without angering the wasps?” Zhou Zhi laughed. “Maybe we’ll have to call CCTV and have them film a two-episode documentary to solve this mystery.”

"Putting aside the scary wasps, their textiles are truly beautiful. They are made from the white down taken from magical leaves. The wisdom of the working people is truly amazing," Li Yijia said. "Moreover, I had never heard of them before. It's because the Liangshan Mountains are too isolated, and so many good things are unknown to the outside world."

"Yes, hemp clothing is durable but not warm, while fire grass clothing is warm but not durable. They combined the two to create fire grass clothing that is both warm and durable and easy to dye. It was quite ingenious."

“Their singing is also very good,” Mai Xiaomiao said.

"By the way, Zi, can you understand the songs they're singing?" Zhou Zhi asked.

"Yes, they also speak the Yi language." "I think this grass should be called cotton grass, why call it fire grass? It doesn't look like it."

“I know that,” Gillie Azi said. “Although we no longer use fire grass to make clothes, the habit of using it to make tinder still exists.”

“Dry the leaves. These dried leaves with long fibers on the back are the best kindling, especially suitable for starting a fire with a flint!” Zhou Zhi understood immediately.

"Yes, it is said that you don't even need to dry them, you can just collect the hair on their backs to start a fire."

"Hey, now that you mention it, it seems like I've seen Tu Zi Ri play like that before. No wonder it's called fire grass, it's everywhere, it's much more convenient than carrying tinder around!"

"Shouldn't this be considered an intangible cultural heritage?" Huang Ruishan and Li Yijia have been helping Lao Chiri organize information about the Bimo Cave recently, and they now have experience in this area.

“It definitely needs to be calculated.” Zhou Zhi nodded: “We can give the prefecture some suggestions. The intangible cultural heritage of ethnic minorities in Liangshan Prefecture is a treasure trove. We can’t just focus on the intangible cultural heritage of the Yi people. You can find two of them just by stopping and asking around!”

Once you enter Dechang County, the number of Han people increases, and many braised food stalls appear along the roadside.

Besides selling braised food, each stall also had ducks stretched out like flat boards hanging on both sides.

Zhou Zhi's mouth watered: "Hehehe, stop the car, let's buy some delicious food!"

"What's good to eat?"

"Jianchang salted duck! It was a tribute item during both the Ming and Qing dynasties!"

The ancestors of Dechang began raising ducks as early as the Qin and Han dynasties. In the sixth year of the Xiantong era of the Tang Dynasty, Jianchang Prefecture was established by imperial decree, and Dechang was placed under the jurisdiction of Jianchang Prefecture. The ducks here were then called "Jianchang ducks".

"Jianchang Salted Duck" is made from Jianchang ducks. Shen Wansan collected and organized a complete production process. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Jianchang Salted Duck was listed as a tribute item, and its reputation spread among the people. Its production techniques have been passed down from generation to generation by the Shen family and have been continuously developed and promoted.

Actually, salted duck is made everywhere in Sichuan, such as in Jiachuan. However, Zhouzhi used to dislike it because it was salty, dry, tough, and had a strange duck flavor. To the picky Zhouzhi, it was an anti-human creation.

It wasn't until Li Yutang invited him to dinner at the Qionghai Hotel that he mistook a dish for roast duck and ate a piece. He discovered that it had a unique flavor and rich aroma, without any of the strange taste of the salted duck he had eaten before, nor was it too salty. In short, it was exceptionally delicious and surpassed all the ducks he had ever eaten.

Upon further inquiry, it was discovered that this thing had been a tribute item since ancient times, and like the Peking duck in the capital, it underwent an additional fattening process.

The ducks used to make pressed duck are first raised in grazing for three to four months, followed by a one to two-week fattening period. After that, the ducks can grow to 4-5 jin (2-2.5 catties), and the duck liver alone can weigh up to eight liang (400 grams).

After slaughtering, the duck and duck liver are salted and then marinated with a seasoning including green peppers, mushrooms, sand ginger, Sichuan peppercorns, and black pepper for one to two days. After that, they are hung up to air dry naturally. Then, they are stacked, shaped, and other processes are carried out to make the finished product, pressed duck.

Aside from the fact that the marinating process and ingredients are quite complex, and many of the marinades used for curing bacon are different from those used for other types of cured meat, resulting in a different flavor, the cooking method is also quite similar to that of wind-dried chicken.

When eating, it can be served after soaking, washing, cooking, and chopping into pieces.

It can also be steamed, or boiled, coated with sesame sugar syrup, and then deep-fried. The Qionghai Hotel's method was the latter, which led Zhou Zhi to mistake it for roast duck; he only realized it wasn't after tasting it. (End of Chapter)