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墨書 Inktalez
As dawn broke, the sounds of commotion echoed outside the ancestral hall. Lin Dahe peered through the crack in the door and saw Aunt Wang speaking with a pale, thin boy. The boy had a fever-reducing patch on his forehead, but he looked much better now.
"Is it really the Artemisia that helped?" Li Zheng asked, stroking his beard.
Aunt Wang nodded vigorously. "Doctor Li said it was miraculous; after a night, the fever was gone!"
The sound of chains rattled as the door to the firewood room swung open. Li Zheng, with a stern expression, reprimanded, "This time, I’ll overlook it because you were eager to help. But if it happens again..." He paused abruptly, sniffing the air. "What is that awful smell?"
Lin Dahe then noticed that the potato under his shoe had been crushed, and sticky juice was smeared all over his footwear. Thinking quickly, he exclaimed, "This is... Western Secret Medicine! It’s specifically for treating dysentery!"
"Is that true?" Li Zheng asked skeptically.
"I'll cook it for you right now!" Lin Dahe hobbled over to the incense burner in front of the ancestral hall, borrowed flames from three sticks of incense, and found an iron pot from the kitchen. As soon as the villagers heard about the "Western Secret Technique," they quickly surrounded him in layers.
Once the water boiled, Lin Dahe peeled and diced the remaining potato and tossed it into the pot. With bubbling sounds, a peculiar fragrance wafted through the air. The starch cooked first, thickening the broth into a milky white sheen under the morning light.
"Can this be eaten?" Seventh Uncle asked doubtfully, stirring it with his cane.
Lin Dahe scooped up a spoonful and blew on it before drinking it in front of everyone. "It’s delicious and filling! The people from the Western Region call it... Di Bao!"
Just as he was about to serve Aunt Wang a bowl, the crowd suddenly parted. A girl carrying a bundle of firewood strode forward confidently, her wheat-colored face glistening with sweat and a short sickle tucked at her waist. Without even glancing at Lin Dahe, she tossed half a blackened grain cake into the pot.
"Hey!" Lin Dahe was about to protest when a system notification popped up: [Key Character Discovered: Cui Xiaoman, Hunting Girl].
"Playing the good Samaritan?" Cui Xiaoman sneered. "If you're begging for food, just beg; there's no need to make up stories about Western Region Treasures." She pointed at the grain cake in the pot. "Even what you feed dogs is better than this watery soup."
Laughter erupted from the crowd. Lin Dahe was furious and ready to retort when another system notification appeared:
[Time-Limited Task: Improve Composting Technology]
Requirements: Use kitchen waste to create organic fertilizer
Deadline: Two days
Success Reward: Soil Improvement Technology
Failure Penalty: Perform Square Dance at the village entrance (the system will enforce body control).
"......"
Lin Dahe stared at the words "Square Dance," his mouth twitching in frustration. By the time he regained his composure, Cui Xiaoman had already walked away, and the grain cake in the pot had soaked up all the broth, puffing up like a small bun.
For the rest of that day, Lin Dahe wandered around the village collecting "kitchen waste." What should have been an easy task in modern times turned out to be quite challenging in a rural setting during the Ming Dynasty—villagers would rather feed rotten vegetable leaves to chickens than throw them away; they saved rice washing water for cleaning dishes and carefully collected even wood ash for fertilizing fields.
"Is this some kind of joke?" Lin Dahe grumbled as he dragged a battered wooden bucket that only held half a bucket of yellowed vegetable scraps. Passing by Zhou Liangzhang's backyard, he suddenly caught a whiff of a sour odor. Peering over the wall, he saw several baskets piled high with rotting fruits and vegetables in one corner.
"Hey! What are you doing?" The long-term worker from the Zhou family rushed over with a shoulder pole.
Lin Dahe took off running, turning down two alleys before finally shaking off his pursuer. Just as he leaned against the wall to catch his breath, he suddenly heard the creaking sound of a door opening behind him. Cui Xiaoman stepped out carrying a basin of dishwater. She paused for a moment upon seeing him, then frowned and said, "Are you up to no good again?"
"I'm just collecting..." Lin Dahe's gaze suddenly fixed on the ceramic basin in her hands. "Can I have that?"
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