The next morning, when Yun Xiaotang opened her eyes, she was a little dazed.

Last night, she had a dream all night.

In her dream, she suddenly appeared in a candy factory. There were many toffees in it. Moreover, the entire factory was made of chocolate, even the doors and walls were made of chocolate.

Just as she happily took a bite of the door edge, she suddenly turned into a little rabbit.

It looks exactly like the rabbit on the White Rabbit toffee...

Yun Xiaotang never thought that she would have such a dream.

However, it is a sweet dream.

So, as soon as she woke up, she always had a cute smile on her face, and she looked very happy.

This happy smile infected Zhao Xueer.

Zhao Xueer reached out and touched her sister's head, "What's the matter? I'm so happy."

Yun Xiaotang hugged her sister's arm and said nothing, but just smiled.

The brazier in the main room is burning, and the whole room is warm.

Zhao Tian'er was still practicing catching stones, Dou Hongxia was sewing and mending with needle and thread, and Xiao Ping'an looked on curiously.

This kind of atmosphere, coupled with her sister's sweet smile, Zhao Xueer simply loved this feeling.

The family gathered around the brazier to warm themselves up, each doing their own thing. Even if no one talked, they were having fun.

Zhao Xueer poured a cup of hot water, held the cup with both hands, and warmed her hands.

Her face turned slightly red under the smoke from the brazier.

Rarely, there was a trace of blood on his face.

...

After lunch, Zhao Xueer planned to go to the mountains to have a look.

Now is a good time to dig up fern roots.

There are so many ferns growing on the back mountain in spring and summer. I don’t know how many fern roots are hidden under the ground.

It will definitely be a big harvest.

Carrying the bamboo basket and picking up the hoe, she and Dou Hongxia went out to dig fern roots together.

As soon as I walked out of the door, a biting cold wind blew, which made my face hurt.

It has been cloudy these past few days. Zhao Xueer estimated the weather at this time in the past and thought that there would be heavy snowfall in a few days.

Every winter, it snows here.

Walking on the road to the back mountain, you will occasionally see crows sitting on dead branches, flapping their wings and flying up, breaking the silence of the winter mountain forest.

In the back mountain, Zhao Xueer walked for a while and stopped in front of a messy weed field.

This place was once covered with bracken, supporting the commune members through the days without food.

Bracken leaves are eaten in spring and summer, and bracken roots can be dug for food in winter.

Bracken is really the "life-saving food" of their era.

Picking up the hoe, Zhao Xueer pushed aside some weeds and dead branches on the ground and began to dig out the fern roots.

After digging a few times with a hoe, I saw roots like dead branches emerging.

"Hey, I dug it."

Zhao Xueer continued to work hard, digging for fern roots.

The roots of this fern were so intertwined under the ground that it became impossible to dig them out anymore.

She had no choice but to put down the hoe, grab the half-protruded fern root, and start pulling it out.

Dou Hongxia put down the tool in her hand and helped to pull it out together.

The two of them worked together and couldn't help but lean back, but they finally pulled out the fern root.

The fern roots in my hand were still covered with soil, and several of them were intertwined together. I pulled out a lot of them at once, and I gained a lot.

Next, it was much easier to dig out the fern roots. The roots were not so entangled, and they came out as soon as I dug.

Soon, the fern roots they dug out formed a hill.

On the contrary, it was quite fruitful.

Put the fern roots into the bamboo baskets, and fill both bamboo baskets fully.

Afterwards, they sat on a stone to rest.

After working for a while, the two of them actually sweated a little, and they didn't feel cold even while sitting on the rocks.

After resting for a while, he got up and picked up the bamboo basket to go home.

Halfway through, Zhao Xueer thought that to make fern root powder, she had to clean the fern roots first.

There is so much mud on the fern roots that it will take several days to carry buckets of water to clean it.

So, she decided to go to the river first and wash the fern roots.

Fortunately, the river is not frozen yet.

When they arrived at the river, she and Dou Hongxia walked upstream together. The water upstream was cleaner.

After washing the fern roots, the two of them went home.

In the main room, Yun Xiaotang was instructing his brother to catch stones, and Zhao Tianer was about to leave.

My movements became more and more proficient, and I could pick up three pills without shaking the back of my hand.

Xiao Ping'an snuggled next to Yun Xiaotang, feeling a little drowsy.

She leaned on her sister's thin shoulder, looking like she was trying to sleep but trying hard to open her eyes, feeling that her eyelids were going to cramp.

After arriving home, Zhao Xueer washed the fern roots thoroughly again and could start making fern root powder.

These fern roots can be found everywhere on the mountain, but making fern root powder requires many steps and is very troublesome.

Put the cleaned fern roots into the stone spring and beat them hard until they are reduced to dregs. This process alone takes a lot of time.

Zhao Xueer and Dou Hongxia took turns pounding Shi Chun, panting from exhaustion.

In the house, Yun Xiaotang and the others heard the noise, opened the door of the main room and ran out.

Three children squatted under the eaves, holding their chins in their hands, looking at them.

"Sister, what are you doing?"

Yun Xiaotang looked at the washed fern roots that looked like tree branches and asked curiously.

"We are making fern root powder. You will know when it is ready."

Zhao Xueer took out the beaten fern roots and put them into the basin, then placed new fern roots and continued beating them.

It took a lot of time to dig out and wash the fern roots. Before all the fern roots were beaten, it was getting dark.

Zhao Xueer glanced at the three children and suddenly remembered that she hadn't cooked dinner yet.

"Look, I was so busy that I forgot to make dinner."

Dou Hongxia smiled and took the wooden hammer, "It's my turn to beat the fern roots. You go and make dinner for them."

Zhao Xueer hurriedly returned to the kitchen, heated up the earthen stove, added water to the pot, washed a few sweet potatoes, and steamed the sweet potatoes to eat.

This dinner is also simple, just eat some sweet potatoes.

When she came out of the kitchen, it was almost dark. She went back to the main room and lit the kerosene lamp. The door of the main room was not closed, and there was light in the yard.

After doing this, she went to replace Dou Hongxia, who took her turn to beat the fern roots and let Aunt Dou rest for a while.

After working for a while, I finally finished beating all the fern roots.

This is really tiring work, and it feels even more tiring than working.

Dou Hongxia breathed a sigh of relief, returned to the main room, poured a glass of water, and drank it in one gulp.

Yun Xiaotang watched the whole process, feeling tired just looking at her.

This fern root powder is really difficult to get.

...

After resting for a while, I ate some steamed sweet potatoes.

Zhao Xueer returned to the yard and continued the follow-up work.

A pot full of beaten fern roots was piled up. Zhao Xueer added water to it and washed out the starch in the fern roots.

Rub the fern roots like clothes until no more starch comes out.

Then the fern root residue was filtered out, leaving only a basin full of gray water.
Chapter completed!