Returning to their campsite, Gu Zhaobei went to the riverbank and washed the wild vegetables clean.
Only half of them needed to be cooked tonight; the other half would be saved for breakfast the next morning.
Wild vegetables were an excellent source of vitamins and fiber, perhaps even more free of pollution than the vegetables sold in the mountain cat supermarket.
Gu Qingcheng tested it and found that the mountain cat supermarket could accept wild vegetables, not rejecting external supplies, which facilitated their storage.
In the future, when they had time and energy, they could pick more wild vegetables, as they could be preserved and were convenient to access.
Although they had eaten barbecue all morning, the half-day trek had made the family hungry again. Faced with significant physical exertion, their bodies strongly desired to replenish energy.
"Sixth Brother, do you have any salt left? Can I trade some coarse flour for it?"
Just then, the villager Gu Buku walked over with a pained expression and sheepishly asked Gu Zhaobei.
Compared to coarse flour, salt was undoubtedly much more precious.
According to the history books Gu Qingcheng had read, at its peak, one jin of salt could exchange for a hundred jin of grain, and even at its lowest, it could exchange for twenty jin of grain.
Now, Gu Buku was offering a bowl of coarse flour for salt – how much could that possibly get him?
However, salt was indispensable. Without it, one would feel weak all over and suffer from swelling. Gu Buku's family had already begun to show signs of swelling and could no longer endure it, so he had to steel himself to ask Gu Laoliu.
The reason he asked Gu Laoliu first was not because he thought Gu Laoliu's family was "wealthy."
It was primarily because Gu Laoliu was usually easygoing, kind, and honest. Furthermore, he had noticed Gu Laoliu's family adding salt when cooking wild vegetables these past few days, seemingly having a good supply.
Although Gu Buku didn't know how Gu Laoliu had obtained so much salt, one thing was certain: Gu Laoliu's family had at least a comfortable supply of salt.
"Yes, how do you want to trade?"
Gu Zhaobei was caught off guard. Having never experienced an era of salt scarcity, he hadn't realized how precious salt was and readily agreed.
Moreover, a bag of salt from the mountain cat supermarket, weighing 500g, cost only one yuan and was enough for their family for a month.
Gu Zhaobei hadn't yet grasped the preciousness of salt.
Gu Qingcheng wanted to stop her father from agreeing so readily, but it was too late. Since her father had already agreed, she could only consent to the trade for now.
"Can you give us a small spoonful?" Gu Buku's face flushed with embarrassment, holding the bowl of coarse flour. Seeing that Gu Laoliu had generously agreed, and fearing he might go back on his word before he could reply, he quickly added, "Or you can give a little less."
To his surprise, what Gu Laoliu did next shattered his worldview. Gu Laoliu poured a large spoonful of salt into another bowl in his hand and asked without the slightest hesitation:
"Is this enough?"
Good heavens, this spoonful of snow-white salt covered the entire bottom of the bowl. Used sparingly, it would last their family at least ten days.
"Sixth Brother, thank you so much!"
Gu Buku was moved to tears by his gratitude.
After Gu Buku quickly took the bowl back to his campsite, Gu Zhaobei happily said to his wife and daughter:
"Now that we have flour, we can make wild vegetable and egg pancakes tonight."
Gu Qingcheng's mouth watered at the thought. Her father's pancake-making skills were exceptional; the pancakes were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and she always loved them when they were served with egg rolls and bacon at home.
The mountain cat supermarket also sold flour, but the three of them had only arrived a few days ago and were still in a disoriented adjustment period, not daring to act rashly.
After getting familiar with things over the past few days, they had become more adept at making small moves when no one was paying attention.
Their campsite was chosen to be a certain distance from others, and now, under the cover of night, they couldn't see what each other was doing, which provided them with great convenience for their clandestine activities.
"Qingcheng, give me two eggs."
Gu Zhaobei mixed the bowl of coarse flour paste with cold water to create a batter.
Gu Qingcheng took out two eggs from the mountain cat supermarket – the sterile, edible-from-raw kind.
Gu Zhaobei cracked the eggshells, poured the eggs into the batter, and then burned the eggshells in the fire, destroying the evidence. He then added the finely chopped wild vegetables prepared by Hu Lanfang into the batter and mixed it all together.
Gu Qingcheng took out a handful of chopped scallions, a leftover from the morning, and sprinkled them directly into the batter.
The aroma of scallions was the soul of pancakes; without them, no pancake would be delicious.
Gu Zhaobei added MSG, salt, and a little pepper to the batter, and then asked Gu Qingcheng to fetch a frying pan for making the pancakes.
A regular frying pan was not expensive, costing 32 yuan. Gu Qingcheng bought one and handed it to her father.
The frying pan had a retro design, black all over, made entirely of cast iron, and was a bit heavy. It had no red paint, making it barely plausible as an artifact of that era.
While Gu Zhaobei was frying the pancakes, Gu Qingcheng took out the barbecue leftovers from the morning.
Grilled squid, grilled shrimp, bacon, grilled leeks, grilled cabbage – these cooked ingredients were still warm.
Gu Zhaobei made three pancakes. After they were cooked on both sides, he used a spoon to roll these ingredients inside.
A "roll-everything" wrap was thus prepared.
When Gu Zhaobei's wraps were ready, the family of three each took one. They were thick and generous.
Gu Qingcheng still wanted to dip them in sweet bean sauce, so she went back to the mountain cat supermarket and bought some garlic-flavored sweet bean sauce, which she poured into a bowl for everyone to use as they pleased.
Hu Lanfang cooked a bowl of wild vegetable soup for each person – an absolute delicacy!
With a bite of the wrap and a sip of wild vegetable soup, the three of them ate with immense pleasure.
Moreover, the filling in the wrap was incredibly rich. With one bite, you tasted chewy squid; with another, crispy beef bits, followed by slightly salty and fragrant bacon.
The wrap was a symphony of flavors.
If it felt a bit greasy, a sip of the refreshing and light wild vegetable soup would cleanse the palate.
After finishing their wraps, the family of three felt completely full.
Gu Qingcheng took the bowls and chopsticks to the river to wash them clean, then carried a bucket of water back, added a purification tablet, and prepared it for the family's teeth brushing and face washing that evening.
"Qingcheng, do you have any tea leaves? I'll boil some water, and we can have tea."
Gu Zhaobei was someone who never forgot to enjoy himself, regardless of where he was. He had become accustomed to life here; no matter how difficult it was, as long as the family was together, they could endure any hardship.
Although the river wind was howling, Gu Laoliu's family were all wearing thermal underwear and pants, and with a bonfire burning nearby, they were so warm they were almost sweating.
In contrast, the surrounding villagers were in rags, their necks hunched, their faces expressionless, shivering in the cold wind.
"Dad, of course, we have tea. What kind do you want? Jin Jun Mei? Fo Shou? Tie Guan Yin? Or white tea?"
"Fo Shou, the living is too bitter; it needs some fragrant flavor."
Gu Zhaobei was sophisticated and experienced when it came to tea.
"Alright, Fo Shou has a very fragrant aroma; no wonder you like it."
Influenced by her father, Gu Qingcheng was familiar with various teas at home, so she could also appreciate the nuances.
Hu Lanfang heard this, stretched, yawned, and said:
"I won't drink tea. I'm going to sleep first."
"Okay."
Gu Qingcheng settled her mother behind the wind-sheltered stones.