Our neighborhood has been transported again.

Chapter 12 Mud Sweet Potato

"what happened?"

Deng Guang walked over from a short distance away, and his expression changed slightly when he saw that the body on the ground was gone.

"The body was carried away? Was it around here?"

"This is it."

"They acted so fast, it was gone in just a few hours."

"Judging from these marks, it's probably a big one."

Deng Guang looked in the direction the trail was spreading: "Judging from this location, it seems to be heading towards the river."

Qin Ziwen said, "That was probably done by crocodiles in the river."

Deng Guang wondered, "Does that thing have such a sensitive sense of smell?"

Qin Ziwen pondered, "It shouldn't be too bad, but I'll be careful anyway."

The two families searched everywhere but couldn't find a suitable place to smoke meat.

It's unsafe to be too far from the neighborhood, and too close is crowded with people. Everyone is out looking for food these days, so daring to smoke meat in public under these circumstances would only attract too much hatred.

So the two families ultimately decided to take some wet wood to the rooftop of the apartment building to smoke meat.

Although there are risks on the rooftop, such as giant birds in the sky, they can be avoided in advance with some precautions.

Qin Ziwen took the opportunity to check his two rope traps. Both traps were triggered, but there was no prey.

One of the traps spotted familiar grayish-brown short hairs.

Another trap was violently destroyed.

Upon seeing the destroyed trap, Qin Ziwu was furious. "Who's so rude! This is just harming others without benefiting themselves!"

Qin Ziwen simply removed both traps, planning to set up rope traps in a more distant location at some time.

The rooftop of the residential complex is unlocked, and in the past, many clotheslines were tied there for residents to hang their clothes.

Qin Ziwen looked at the clothesline on the rooftop and suddenly had an idea.

I went home and brought up a large bed sheet, then spread it out, covered the rope with it, and clipped the four corners in place. A simple sunshade was ready.

“The bird looks down from above. If we cover this area, it won’t be able to see us unless its eyes are thermal imaging.”

After a busy morning, Qin Ziwen finally managed to roast all his small meat strips into jerky.

He picked up a small meat strip; the outside of which had become dry and hard after grilling all morning.

Qin Ziwen took one and put it in his mouth, chewing slowly. The meat was cooked, and the outside was dry and hard like wood, but if you chewed carefully, it still had a moist, salty and sweet taste inside.

"Try it, is it smoked properly?"

Qin Ziwen handed one to his younger brother.

Qin Ziwu put it in his mouth, chewed it slowly, and finally swallowed it. "It's pretty good."

Qin Ziwen kicked him in the butt, "I asked if you've finished smoking it, not how it tastes."

Qin Ziwu felt wronged. "How would I know? I've never smoked meat."

Qin Ziwen thought of someone, "It seems I still have to ask a professional."

He brought a small bag, about half a pound, of dried meat downstairs.

Arriving on the second floor, I knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Qin Ziwen asked modestly from outside the door. "Grandma Li, I am a resident on the fifth floor and would like to ask you some questions."

"Oh~"

The door opened directly, and Granny Li let Qin Ziwen into the house. "Come in, have a seat."

Qin Ziwen handed over the smoked meat strips, "Grandma Li, these are the meat strips I smoked. Do you think they're done? How long can they be stored?"

Grandma Li took the dried meat out of the bag, smelled it first, then slowly broke it open with force, and asked Qin Ziwen, "I'll just taste a little bit to see if it's dry inside."

Qin Ziwen explained, "This whole bag is a gift for you; you can just eat it."

Grandma Li quickly shook her head, "I still have food, don't be so polite."

After taking small bites and chewing slowly, Grandma Li said, "The taste is fine, and the smoke is okay, but if you leave it outside directly, it might still get moldy because it's still damp inside."

“In the past, when we smoked meat in the countryside, we had to hang it in a cool, ventilated place to air dry, or hang it directly on the stove so that the smoke from cooking would keep rising and smoking the meat. This way, the meat could last a long time.”

Once you break this jerky open and it's completely dry inside and out, like a wooden stick that you can easily break in your hands, then it's good. You can store this kind of jerky well; it'll last for a year or two without any problems.

Qin Ziwen hesitated for a moment, "Can I leave it in the cellar to continue drying?"

“A cellar? Any well-ventilated one will do. The basement parking lot in our community is suitable, but don’t put it in the parking lot. I heard from someone yesterday that someone saw snakes and rats in it.”

Qin Ziwen thought of his family's grain cellar, where the temperature was lower than outside and it seemed to be ventilated; he had experienced this before when he went in.

Qin Ziwen stood up and thanked him, "Thank you."

Grandma Li got up, found the clothesline, and took down a string of sausages hanging on the wall. "I still have some sausages I made before the New Year. You can take them and eat them."

Qin Ziwen politely declined, saying, "I don't need it. You can keep it for yourself. I have plenty of meat at home."

Grandma Li found a black bag, put the sausages in it, then grabbed Qin Ziwen's hand and forced it on him, saying, "Take it, I can't eat this much."

Back on the rooftop, Qin Ziwen put all the smoked meat strips into the cellar, set up a rack, and hung all the meat strips on it.

After finishing my work, it was past noon.

I cooked four bags of noodles, added smoked meat strips and wild vegetables to them, and my brother and I ate to our hearts' content.

I laid out a mat on the ground, lay down on it, and took out the fragment of the mountain plant guide that I had received as a reward last night.

Although described as fragments, they are actually just two pages torn from a picture book.

The paper has two sides, each side recording a different plant and also including a picture.

There are four types in total across the two pages.

Moonlight moss, gray sweet potato, stone mushroom, yellow leaf daisy.

In summary, two are edible, and two are not.

Moonlight moss: It prefers to grow in forests, usually covering tree roots in damp environments. It is edible, and long-term consumption can improve eyesight. However, direct sunlight should be avoided, as it will turn bitter after exposure.

Gray sweet potato: also known as "mud sweet potato", it is a tuberous plant that grows in muddy environments. Its leaves are inedible and slightly poisonous. Its tubers, which are hidden at the bottom of the mud, are edible, have a bland taste, are very filling, and can be harvested twice a year.

Rock mushrooms: They grow in caves, are plump and juicy, have a rubbery texture, are difficult to chew, are inedible, and are poisonous.

Yellow-leaved chrysanthemum: Slightly toxic, not edible. Ingestion can cause dizziness and diarrhea. The petals can be used for dyeing.

The other three types were hard to find, so Qin Ziwen focused his attention on the gray sweet potato.

Moonlight moss needs to be found at night. Stone mushrooms and yellow-leaved daisies are not edible. Only gray sweet potato seems more reliable. It grows in muddy areas, and there are mudflats by the river. If you are lucky enough to find it, you can bring it back and plant it directly.

I had arranged to go fishing with Lao Deng this afternoon, so I thought I'd check on things while I was at the river.

(End of this chapter)