Chief, don't hit me in the face

Chapter 6: A Culinary Delight

The first workshop cave next to the storage room was about half the size of a basketball court. The floor had been roughly leveled, and it was filled with tools Xia Lingyue didn’t recognize. “This is called a stone mill. It’s mainly used to grind grains into powder or a paste!” Xia Ye walked over to a stone platform with a sack on his back, scooped up a little over a jin of wheat with a ladle made from a dried gourd, and poured it into the mill’s hopper. “Oh.” Xia Lingyue examined the stone mill with curiosity. Its base was a large, polished blue stone, about half a person’s height, on top of which rested a small circular disc ten centimeters thick and half a meter in diameter, with another disc of the same size stacked on top. A hole half a finger wide—the grinding hole—had been chiseled into the top disk, while a groove cut into the side held a thick wooden rod. “Don’t pour too much wheat in at a time—just turn the wooden stick!” As Xia Ye applied force, a creaking sound of friction filled the air. Because they were inside the cave, the sound was slightly louder and somewhat grating. “Wow!” Xia Lingyue couldn’t help but gasp in surprise as the ground wheat squeezed out through the gap between the two small discs and fell onto the large blue stone. While turning the millstone, Xia Ye continued to pour wheat into the mill’s opening. Soon, a considerable pile of crushed wheat grains had accumulated on the large blue stone. “Let me do it!” Xia Lingyue, being quite clever, gathered them up with a broom and a willow-woven winnowing basket: “Is that enough?” “That’s just the first step!” Xia Ye smiled: “Pass me the sieve over there!” “A sieve?” Xia Lingyue had never seen this kind of tool before. It was woven from bamboo strips, but unlike the winnowing basket, it wasn’t as tightly woven; instead, it had tiny holes like pinholes. “Mm-hmm, it’s a farming tool that filters out large particles and debris, leaving only the flour behind!” Xia Ye poured the broken wheat grains into the sieve. “Flour?” Xia Lingyue watched as her younger brother shook the sieve; the larger grains remained trapped inside, while a white powder drifted down like a heavy snowfall. “You can call it wheat flour, too!” Xia Ye gathered the flour, then poured the broken wheat kernels into the mill for a second grinding. Watching the white flour gradually pile up, Xia Lingyue felt inexplicably cheerful for some reason, a strange sense of satisfaction washing over her. Half an hour later, they had ten jin of white flour! Xia Ye took a sip of water, while Xia Lingyue crouched beside the large earthenware jar, admiring the wheat flour inside—pure white and as soft as fine sand. The texture was simply amazing! “I’d love to sleep in it!” Xia Lingyue mused, but then she furrowed her brow as her gaze fell on the yellow husks: “Less than seventy percent of a shi of wheat yields flour—what a waste!” “That’s called bran. It tastes awful—it’s good for feeding mules and horses!” Xia Ye thought back to the old days, when poor families could only afford to buy a couple of jin of white flour to make dumplings during the Lunar New Year; the rest of the time, they ate coarse grains like bran mixed with cornmeal—though even that was better than what ordinary people ate in this era. “But we don’t have any livestock!” Xia Lingyue grabbed a small handful of bran and popped it into her mouth; it felt a bit gritty. “We’ll have bread, and we’ll have milk, too!” Xia Ye teased, “All right, I’ll explain how a stone mill works. See those grooves on the two discs? They extend outward from the center, getting shallower as they go. It’s the friction between them that grinds the wheat into flour!” “My little brother is so smart!” Overcome with excitement, Xia Lingyue hugged Xia Ye and planted a smacking kiss on his cheek. It was a simple principle—easy to understand once explained—yet it was imbued with a profound sense of wisdom. You have to realize, this is the world’s first stone mill. “It’s a shame I don’t have the money; otherwise, I’d send you to the Mo School. You’d surely achieve great things in the art of mechanical engineering!” Xia Lingyue sighed. “Forget it—I don’t want to be a craftsman anyway!” Xia Ye pouted. No matter how advanced mechanical engineering was in this era, could it really build a fighter jet? So he might as well work hard to become a respected Grand Wizard! “You’re not ambitious at all!” Xia Lingyue tapped Xia Ye’s forehead with her finger, then set to work grinding some flour herself. But after scooping up a ladleful, she suddenly froze—she realized she’d been so focused on the stone mill that she’d overlooked a major problem: “What about the husks on this wheat?” “There—that’s called a stone thresher. It’s used to remove the husks from grains!” Xia Ye couldn’t be bothered to show off—there was really no technical skill involved, and what kid raised in the countryside hadn’t seen one of these before? It was a platform built from several stacked stones, topped with a stone disc over a meter in diameter, with a hole in the center through which a wooden post stood upright. A cylindrical stone roller rests on the stone disk and is secured by a wooden frame to prevent it from falling off as it rolls. “After the grain is rolled, just toss it into a winnowing basket and shake it in the breeze—that’ll get rid of most of the husks. If you have livestock to pull the mill, it saves a lot of effort!” Xia Ye scooped some flour into a clay pot, added water, and kneaded it into a dough. While letting the dough rest, he went to the vegetable patch in the back and pulled up a few tender scallions. “What are you making?” When Xia Ye started cooking, Xia Lingyue immediately ran over—she was absolutely dying of curiosity. “I’m making scallion pancakes!” Xia Ye waved a smooth, polished piece of wood. “This is called a rolling pin. Use it to roll the dough into a flatbread about half a fingernail thick, then brush it with oil—not too much!” “Mm-hmm!” Xia Lingyue nodded eagerly. This yellow, viscous substance was vegetable oil—oil that her younger brother had forcefully squeezed out of peanuts using an oil press he’d crafted from wood. This oil, with its refreshing aroma, and that oil press—which wasn’t particularly complex in design—were both her younger brother’s inventions. Thinking of all this, Xia Lingyue felt a deep sense of pride. The Xia family’s “useless twins”? Hmph. She might be, but her younger brother definitely wasn’t—he was a genius! “Of course, you could use lard instead—it’s even more fragrant—but eating too much of it will make you fat!” Xia Ye explained that in this era, the very concept of vegetable oil didn’t exist; even the nobility exclusively consumed fats rendered from animal fats. “Once you’ve brushed on the oil, sprinkle the chopped scallions mixed with salt evenly over the top. Then, starting from the bottom, roll the flatbread into a long strip. Fold both ends toward the center, press gently with the palm of your hand, and roll it out into a thin flatbread.” Xia Ye demonstrated. The charcoal was lit, and the thin stone slab was heated. He reached out to test it; once it felt hot enough to burn his hand, he used a brush made of pig bristles to coat the slab with a layer of oil, then placed the dough on it. Sizzle! The originally white pancake immediately changed color upon contact with the hot oil, and the aroma of scallions wafted through the air. “Wow, that smells amazing!” Xia Lingyue couldn’t help but take a deep breath. Brush oil onto the flatbread, then flip it over and cook the other side. Repeat this a few times, and it’s done. “It’s ready!” Xia Ye called out, using a wooden spatula to transfer the golden-brown scallion pancake onto a ceramic plate: “Give it a try!” Xia Lingyue tore off a small piece; as soon as she popped it into her mouth—with just a light touch of her tongue—the rich aroma of the pancake immediately exploded on her taste buds. Crunch! The light crunch of her teeth sounded just like the gurgling of a clear spring—utterly delightful. Even without eating it, the mere act of chewing was a supreme pleasure. The slightly salty scallions, baked to a golden brown, infused the pancake with their delicate fragrance. Combined with the natural aroma of the wheat, it created a wholesome, natural flavor that instantly conquered her taste buds! Xia Lingyue closed her eyes. Her whole mind was trembling! The sky was a deep blue, with wispy white clouds drifting by; the wheat ears, caressed by the summer breeze, rippled like waves of golden light, one after another. “What a shame—it would taste even better if we had a griddle!” Xia Ye took a small bite, looking somewhat dissatisfied. “Buy one!” Chewing on her scallion pancake, Xia Lingyue spat out a single word with fierce determination—any enemy standing between her and that scallion pancake must die! With their bellies full, they naturally turned their attention to their money-making scheme. Xia Lingyue followed Xia Ye into the deepest storage room, where she saw a row of well-crafted wooden barrels. She gave one a push—it was very heavy. “What’s inside these?” “I’ll tell you later. For now, help me carry the sugarcane!” “These were all stored away last fall!” “Isn’t this bamboo?” Xia Lingyue was puzzled. What on earth was “sugarcane”? “This is pretty common down south!” Xia Ye pulled out a stalk of sugarcane and peeled it with a stone knife: “Give it a try!” “Don’t try to trick me!” Worried this might be her younger brother’s prank, Xia Lingyue shook her little fist before taking the sugarcane and taking a bite. Crunch! The sugarcane was crisp; she bit off a large chunk in one go. As soon as her teeth closed, sweet juice flooded her mouth. “Mmm, so sweet!” Xia Lingyue shuddered slightly and immediately began chewing much faster, then held it out to Xia Ye: “You try some too!” “Too sweet!” Xia Ye turned his head away. “Honestly, how many more things are you keeping from me?” Xia Lingyue followed behind her younger brother, watching his back. Over the years, he must have been working hard to maintain this utopia. “A lot!” Xia Ye replied succinctly. “You’re so annoying!” Xia Lingyue reached out and pinched her younger brother’s arm, then covered her mouth and giggled softly. Xia Ye had already made all the necessary preparations and was just waiting for a sunny day to get started! After bringing the sugarcane outside, they washed it, cut it into sections, and placed it on the stone mill. As it was pressed, the sweet juice inside flowed out, trickling down the grooves and collecting in a wooden barrel. “Once we’ve collected enough sugarcane juice, pour it into the stone pot. During this process, filter it through a five-layer hemp cloth, then heat it up!” Xia Ye demonstrated the process. “After heating, pour it into a wooden barrel to let it settle. Wait an hour, then pour the settled sugarcane juice into another stone pot.” “Does it have to be this big?” Xia Lingyue was astonished; the stone pot was enormous—big enough to boil an entire cow. “It has to be—because as the sugarcane juice evaporates and concentrates, only a small amount remains in the end. If the quantity is too small, it won’t even cover the cost of the charcoal used for heating.” This was an eight-meter-long earthen stove, with nine pots set upon it. “Next comes the most critical part—the boiling process!” Xia Ye explained the key points: “First, bring it to a rolling boil over high heat. You need to bring the sugarcane juice to a boil as quickly as possible. As the temperature inside the stone pot rises, the pulp and impurities in the juice will float to the surface with the bubbles—you have to skim them off immediately.” “What exactly are you going to do?” Xia Lingyue rolled up her sleeves and joined in to help. “I’m going to give this world a little sweetness!” Xia Ye smiled, her laughter as bright as spring sunshine, warming everyone’s hearts!