Poor but talented scholar

Chapter 12 Vitality

"You child, how dare you speak to your elders like that!" Lu Youcai's face turned bright red, and he made a move to snatch the paper.

"Make him remember!" Uncle Lu Dehuang stomped his cane, his cloudy eyes flashing with a sharp light as he stared intently at Lu Youcai.

"Chuan'er is now the 'accountant' of our Lu family. Anyone who dares to touch him is endangering the entire clan! You Cai, do you want to go before the ancestral tablets and learn the clan rules?"

Lu Youcai was so frightened that he immediately shrank back and hid in the corner of the wall.

Outside the window, the sound of the floodwaters crashing against the door grew louder and louder.

Lu Chuan blew on the ink on the paper, looking at the densely packed names. This was not just a grain ledger; it was a register of life and death for the post-disaster reconstruction of Lu Family Village.

On the morning of the fifth day, the rain that had lasted for several days finally stopped.

The ancestral hall door was slowly pushed open, and a smell mixed with the earthy odor wafted out.

Lu Chuan waded through the still-receding water and walked out of the stone steps.

Looking around, Lujia Village is completely unrecognizable.

Most of the mud houses in the low-lying areas have collapsed, and the once lush green wheat fields are now covered with silt, with broken branches everywhere.

"It's over...it's all over."

Lu Shouye, who was following behind, suddenly collapsed to his knees in the mud. Looking at his three acres of land buried in mud and sand, his eyes instantly reddened.

Although we managed to harvest some green wheat, how could that little bit be enough to pay the summer taxes? How could it last until the autumn harvest?

Villagers emerged one after another from the ancestral hall, their cries of grief echoing across the fields.

"Stop howling! Your life is saved, there's always a way!" Uncle Lu Dehuang, though trembling with heartache, still managed to maintain the composure while leaning on his cane.

"Sixth Uncle, my two bags of wheat... I just opened them and they smell sour!"

Lu Dafa slapped his thigh in frustration, "There's too much wheat pulp; it won't dry in this weather. If it rots, we'll still starve!"

Lu Chuan walked to his own cart and reached out to grab a handful of green wheat.

The wheat grains were indeed not fully mature; they could be squeezed with a fingernail and sap would come out. In this hot summer, if they were not dealt with quickly, they would mold within a day.

In an instant, the joy of surviving the disaster vanished, and despair once again enveloped everyone.

"I have a way."

Everyone turned to look at him. His uncle, Lu Youcai, scoffed, "Chuan'er, this is farm work; it's not something you can do just by knowing a few words."

"Green wheat doesn't produce flour; it only yields bitter residue when ground, even pigs won't eat it. What can you do?"

Lu Chuan ignored him and instead looked at his sixth uncle: "Sixth Uncle, the book says that if there is a disaster and wheat is harvested quickly, it cannot be ground raw; it must be steamed first and then sun-dried. As long as the heat is right, the wheat will not only not be bitter, but it can also be stored for a long time."

"Steam first, then sun-dry?" Uncle Liu was stunned; he had never heard of such a method before.

In fact, Lu Chuan was thinking about the modern techniques of "baking greens" and "cooking wheat".

In ancient times, this was called "killing the green." Through high-temperature steaming, the biological activity in the wheat grains can be instantly killed, locking in the tiny amount of starch, and at the same time removing the astringent taste of green wheat.

"Yes, before it rots, the whole village should set up big pots and steam the green wheat, ears and grains together, until thoroughly cooked."

"After steaming, spread the wheat out to dry. At this time, the wheat will not only be free of insects, but it will also have a fresh and pleasant aroma."

Lu Chuan looked around and said, "Moreover, flour made from cooked wheat, although it's a bit dark, is very filling and can last a long time."

"Will it work?" Lu Dafa asked, somewhat doubtful.

"If we don't try, they'll all get moldy and have to be thrown away tomorrow. If we do try, at least half of the people will survive the winter." Lu Chuan stood his ground, staring directly at his sixth uncle.

Sixth Uncle was a decisive man. Looking at the mess in the field, he gritted his teeth and said, "Listen to Chuanzi. Sixth, take some men to dismantle those collapsed roof beams for firewood. Women, come out, set up the pots, and boil water! Steam all the village's green wheat in batches!"

In an instant, Lujia Village sprang into action once again.

Lu Chuan wasn't idle either. He knew this was just the first step. The more difficult part was the "summer tax" that followed.

On the other side, the water in the large pot was boiling. The first batch of green wheat was poured into the steamer, and with the steam, an unprecedented fragrance spread.

"Amazing...it really doesn't hurt anymore!"

Lu Dafa couldn't wait any longer and reached into the steamer to grab a handful of cooked wheat grains. Although the grains weren't fully mature yet, the high temperature had locked in the tiny amount of starch, making them incredibly chewy.

Ignoring the heat, he stuffed mouthfuls into his mouth, his eyes instantly welling up with tears: "Edible! This is truly life-saving food!"

Seeing Lu Dafa's appearance, the villagers, who had been in despair, rushed towards the large pot like madmen.

Sixth Uncle Lu Dehuang wiped away his tears and directed the able-bodied men to maintain order: "Don't grab! Don't grab! One family at a time! Anyone who breaks the rules now, I'll be the first to kick them out of Lu Family Village!"

Lu Chuan stood by the stove, his face flushed from the smoke, but his eyes remained calm.

"Lu Ming, write down the color of the flour from this pot. Lu Gen, take a few people to sweep the stone dam in front of the ancestral hall clean, lay down mats, and make sure the steamed wheat is spread out immediately; it must not be piled up together to generate heat."

Lu Chuan methodically assigned tasks, and the two former classmates, who had once been classmates in class, now acted like soldiers who had received orders, straightening their chests and charging into the crowd.

"Sixth Uncle, although the rain has stopped, the water is receding slowly. We can't sit here." Lu Chuan walked to Lu Dehuang's side and pointed to the still muddy water at the entrance of the village.

Sixth Uncle wiped away his tears and looked at Lu Chuan: "Chuan'er, whatever idea you have, just say it. Your uncle believes you."

"All you men who can swim, step forward!" Lu Chuan shouted, mimicking the imposing manner of the leaders he remembered.

Soon, a dozen or so young men who were good swimmers gathered around, led by Lu Chuan's eldest uncle Lu Youcai and second uncle Lu Shoutian.

Although Lu Youcai was unhappy, he had no choice but to obey orders at this critical moment of life and death.

"The flood destroyed the crops, but it also swept the fish from the river and ponds to the vicinity of our village. This is a way out that God left us!"

Lu Chuan pointed to the waters outside the ancestral hall, "Uncle, you take a team and build some rafts. Make use of any floating door panels and wooden barrels in the ancestral hall. Second Uncle, you take another team and look for iron hooks and broken nets."

Lu Chuan calmly made arrangements: "We need to take advantage of the current relatively calm water and catch fish quickly! The smaller fish we catch can be used to make soup for the elderly and children to nourish their bodies, while the larger ones can be rubbed with coarse salt and hung under the eaves of the ancestral hall to air dry."

"Just like the meat strips we slaughter for the Lunar New Year, we should store them up; that's our capital to survive the disaster!"

"Yes! We'll do as Chuan'er says!" the men roared in agreement.

The instinct for survival unleashed astonishing power in these men.

Soon, the makeshift raft was pushed into the water, and the men, armed with hastily sharpened wooden sticks and ropes with iron hooks, searched for fish.