The kang (heated brick bed) for left-behind women

Night fell, and the chill was even greater than during the day.

Inside the house after dinner, the fire in the stove burned brightly, dispelling some of the chill.

Lin Dachun and Li Ruoxue are processing the sea buckthorn berries they picked during the day.

In one corner of the room, the stone mill that hadn't been used for a long time was being cleaned.

Lin Dachun rolled up his sleeves, revealing his strong forearms, and was pushing the grinding rod with all his might.

crunch...

crunch...

The heavy millstone made a rhythmic grinding sound.

Li Ruoxue stood to the side, carefully scooping the sea buckthorn berries mixed with water into the mill hole one spoonful at a time.

The orange-red slurry flowed slowly down the grinding groove and collected in the earthenware basin below.

An extremely strong, sharp sour smell filled the air, making people's nasal passages itch.

"This smell is really strong." Lin Dachun stopped what he was doing and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.

"It's sour, but it smells quite fresh." Li Ruoxue's eyes lit up as she looked at the increasing amount of red juice. "The book says that this juice should be freshly squeezed like this."

"You say this stuff is so sour, how can you drink it?" Lin Dachun asked, puzzled.

"It's sour, but what if we add sugar? Wouldn't it stop being sour?" Li Ruoxue suddenly had a flash of inspiration and came up with an idea.

"Add sugar?? Oh yeah." Lin Dachun slapped his forehead, speechless. "How could I not have thought of such a simple thing? I'm getting senile."

"Do you have any candy?"

"We can make our own sweet potato candy or maltose. We have plenty of wheat and sweet potatoes." Lin Dachun was excited, as if he had found some secret to wealth. In reality, it was nothing special.

"Look at what you're saying, adding sugar will make it less sour. Let's try making it, maybe it will taste good," Li Ruoxue replied.

"Hmm. You're so smart. You're my good wife." Lin Dachun blurted out, but immediately realized his mistake and quickly added, "My darling."

Li Ruoxue blushed.

The other part of the sea buckthorn berries that were in good condition were carefully selected by Li Ruoxue and put into a large, clean glass jar.

Lin Dachun opened the bottle of strong liquor that he usually couldn't bear to drink, which he used to ward off the cold.

The clear, transparent liquid poured into the bottle with a "glug-glug" sound, quickly submerging the orange-red fruit.

The fruit floated slightly in the liquor, and a faint yellow hue began to separate out, blending with the liquor.

"I wonder what this sea buckthorn wine tastes like." Lin Dachun put the stopper on the bottle and shook it.

"We have to try to know whether it will succeed or fail," Li Ruoxue said softly.

"I've heard my dad say that sweet bayberry wine is made with rock sugar. What if sea buckthorn wine also has rock sugar in it?" Li Ruoxue didn't know how to explain it.

"We can give it a try," Lin Dachun said excitedly.

"Well, it's still far from certain. Our key is still large-scale planting of sea buckthorn; that's the prerequisite," Li Ruoxue said.

"Um."

By the time I finished all that, it was already late at night.

The fire in the stove gradually died down, and the temperature in the room began to drop.

It's time to rest on the kang (heated brick bed) again.

Lin Dachun put enough corn stalks into the kang (a heated brick bed) so that it would stay warm all night.

Lin Dachun's home has only one large kang (heated brick bed).

When Lin Dachun built this large kang (heated brick bed), he included his entire family in the calculation.

The two washed their feet with hot water and then got onto the kang (heated brick bed) together.

The lights went out, and the house was pitch black.

"Ruoxue, are you cold?"

Lin Dachun turned to the side and looked in the direction of Li Ruoxue in the darkness.

"It's not cold, the kang (heated brick bed) is very warm," Li Ruoxue replied.

"In the latter half of the night, the firewood on the kang will gradually run out, and the temperature at the head of the kang will drop. If you get cold then," Lin Dachun said, feeling a little embarrassed, but he was of good character and only concerned about Li Ruoxue's well-being. He mustered his courage and said, "If the head of the kang gets cold, you can move over and sleep here with me. It's warmer here."