Ordinary observers in fast time travel

Chapter 1271 Moldy Grain
Time flew by and it was already April. Ever since the Lantern Festival, it seemed like the heavens were holding a grudge; the sky was always overcast, and it rained every now and then.

By mid-March, the heavens had simply hung a curtain of rain, and it rained non-stop all day long. Shi Jia had no idea how long it had been since she had seen the sun.

After entering April, the temperature rose rapidly, and coupled with the rain that has been falling since March, the entire city of Jingzhou was filled with a strange musty smell.

That day, Shi Jia had just finished preparing lunch and came out of the kitchen when she saw Steward Luo directing the servants to move something with a distressed expression.

Shi Jia walked over curiously to ask what was going on.

Manager Luo said, "Alas, with the continuous rain and the warming weather, most of the sweet potatoes and potatoes in the manor's granary have sprouted and become moldy."

Logically speaking, the master of the Wan family did not mainly eat sweet potatoes and potatoes, so if they sprouted and became moldy, it wouldn't be a big problem given the Wan family's wealth.

However, potatoes and sweet potatoes are the staple food of the servants in the Wan family. It is only the beginning of spring, which is the time when food is scarce. In addition, there was a drought last year, so even if you have money, it is difficult to buy so much grain now.

Manager Luo happens to be in charge of purchasing for the Wan family.

"Uncle Luo, you've worked hard." Indeed, Shi Jia had been working at the Wan residence for three months, and his relationship with Steward Luo and others had finally made a breakthrough.

However, her focus at this moment was not on whether Manager Luo could buy grain, but on the moldy and sprouting sweet potatoes and potatoes.

"Uncle Luo, is there no way to preserve sweet potatoes and potatoes in the manor?" Shi Jia asked in confusion. Logically speaking, the people here have been growing sweet potatoes and potatoes for a long time, so they should know very well that these two crops are difficult to preserve for a long time.

Upon hearing this, Manager Luo said, "If we had stored them in the cellar, they could have been preserved for at least six months, or even eight or nine months."

"It's just that it's been raining for too long lately, and even the cellar has become damp and stuffy." Steward Luo glanced at the servants carrying the moldy grains. "Not only are these two kinds of grains almost spoiled, but even the rice and flour have deteriorated. Sigh, I hope the rain will stop soon and the sun will come out so we can take the grains out to dry."

Hearing what Manager Luo said, Shi Jia, who was pondering how to preserve the sweet potato brain, immediately nodded in agreement and said with a complaining look, "Yes, the last time the sun came out was seven days ago. It was sunny for half a day, and even the water on the leaves didn't dry."

“Yes!” Manager Luo had something to say about this.

That evening, Shi Jia returned home with the little guy, Wang Tiehua, and Xiao Cao, the servant she had bought two months earlier.

"Sister-in-law, you're back!" Wang Tieshan smiled when he saw them return, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sister-in-law, I've boiled the water. You should wash up quickly," Wang Tieshan said.

Shi Jia nodded. "Xiao Shan, you've worked hard. Xiao Hua, you and Xiao Cao take the little one to take a bath. I have something to do."

"Okay, sister-in-law, you go ahead and do your work," Wang Tiehua said obediently. She had been learning from Huang Rui and Lüxiang for two months and had become much more composed.

"Sister-in-law, what are you doing? Let me help you."

Shi Jia waved her hand, "No need, go do your homework. Don't look at your eyes for too long, it's bad for your eyes." Shi Jia reminded her again, still worried.

Wang Tieshan laughed and said, "Sister-in-law, I've already finished my homework."

"Hmm." Shi Jia didn't say anything more, turned around and went into the storage room, with Wang Tieshan following closely behind.

The storage room contained grain brought from Dashan Village. Because they had been eating at Wan's residence for the past few months, they still had quite a bit of grain left.

Holding the kerosene lamp, Shi Jia looked at the faint bluish tinge in the rice jar, the stench emanating from the pile of sweet potatoes, and the tender yellow-green sprouts emerging from them, and couldn't help but sigh. Her gaze shifted to the left, and a small pile of sweet potatoes came into view. Perhaps because there were only a few of them and they were sparsely arranged, this pile of sweet potatoes had only sprouted and had not rotted or become moldy.

"Hiss! How could this happen!" Wang Tieshan exclaimed, squatting on the ground looking at the moldy grain with a pained expression.

“He was perfectly fine before.” Since he started attending the private school, he rarely ate at home. The last time he cooked at home was eight days ago, when the school was on holiday. “Sister-in-law, what should we do?” Wang Tieshan looked at Shi Jia with a pained expression.

“Sigh, the weather has been bad lately. Sweet potatoes and yams, which have a lot of moisture, are prone to mold. There’s nothing we can do about it.” Shi Jia shook her head. She wasn’t Li Yunniang after all. Although she felt it was a pity to waste so much food, she wasn’t heartbroken.

Wang Tieshan stared blankly at the moldy grain.

Shi Jia didn't comfort her, but murmured softly, "Let's try making sweet potato starch tomorrow?"

Ever since she heard that the sweet potatoes at the Wan family's house had gone moldy, Shi Jia had been pondering the matter. She even asked other chefs about it, but after much inquiry, she discovered that the people there really didn't know how to make sweet potato noodles.

"Huh? Sister-in-law, are you hungry?" Wang Tiehua, who was tending the fire, looked at her carrying a basket of sweet potatoes and was quite puzzled.

Shi Jia shook her head. "No." She walked to the water vat, which was almost empty. So she put down the sweet potato and picked up the bucket from the wall.

"Sister-in-law, let me go fetch some water." Upon seeing this, Wang Tiehua quickly stood up from behind the stove.

"No need, you can start the fire." Shi Jia shook his head, looked at the drizzling rain outside, frowned, took out a raincoat and put it on, then picked up the buckets and plunged into the rain.

The well was full of water; Shi Jia could almost reach it with her hand, so there was no need for a windlass. She quickly carried the two buckets of water back to the kitchen.

"Madam, let me do it." Xiao Cao looked somewhat apprehensive as she took the bucket of water.

"Has the little guy finished washing up?" Shi Jia waved his hand, half-squatted down to take off the carrying pole, and then kept going to get the wooden basin.

“Yes, the young master has already fallen asleep,” Xiaocao said.

"Okay, then you should go wash up too," Shi Jia said.

"Sister-in-law, why didn't you call me to fetch water!" Wang Tieshan had just composed himself when he came out of the storage room and saw Shi Jia's attire, looking annoyed.

"It's not heavy work, and the well is right in the yard." Shi Jia waved his hand, poured more than half a basin of water into the wooden basin, and began to wash the sweet potatoes.

The first step in making sweet potato starch is to wash the sweet potatoes thoroughly, then grate them into a paste. After that, the starch is washed, allowed to settle, and then dried.

Afterwards, it can be made into sweet potato noodles, which can be used as a dish or a staple food. The shelf life will also be greatly extended, and the storage conditions will no longer be so demanding.

Shi Jia quickly washed a basket of sweet potatoes, but she couldn't find the iron plate for grating them.

"Sister-in-law, what are you looking for?" Wang Tiehua asked when she saw her pacing back and forth in the room.

"It's nothing, I'll just go to the blacksmith's tomorrow and order a grater," Shi Jia said. Hmm, I also need to buy some sweet potatoes; the little sweet potatoes we have at home probably won't make many pounds of flour.

In her memory, sweet potatoes didn't seem to have a high starch yield.

"Huh?" Wang Tiehua was even more confused. What is a rubbing board?

"Go wash up and get some rest," Shi Jia said, patting the little girl on the back.

"Oh, okay." Wang Tiehua didn't dwell on it.

After the family members took turns washing up, they returned to the house to rest.