Chapter 55

Time flew, and autumn was just around the corner. The iron ore the group had brought back had been smelted and forged. Part of it went to replenish farming tools, part to supplement general tools, and the remainder was used to cast three large cauldrons.

One of these cauldrons was allocated to Di Wanling, putting the matter of oil pressing on the agenda. The forest had tung oil trees and Chinese tallow trees. The axles of the carts needed oil for lubrication, furniture needed oiling for a protective coat, and their candles, with the increased population, had become insufficient. White wax insects were hard to find; at the moment, Li Cunxin simply didn’t have the time or patience to slowly search the wild for them. Although these insects could be raised, she didn’t know how. By the time someone capable arrived, the insects might no longer be found—a case of trying deliberately yet failing. So she turned her attention to the Chinese tallow tree. Since insect white wax couldn’t be found, they would press the tallow seeds. The seed coat oil could be used for candles, and the kernel oil for oil lamps.

In short, they couldn’t lack lighting tools. They couldn’t be left blind when night fell.

To this end, Xia Qing and her team had started work right after the busy farming season. Wood wasn’t hard to find; trees as thick as vats covered the land, and centuries-old trees requiring ten or more people to encircle weren’t uncommon. The difficulty lay in transportation. However, the large size also had its advantages; it made planning easier for Xia Qing’s team.

By the time Liu Cuo Jin’s team finished casting the iron cauldrons, Xia Qing’s team had already cobbled together the oil-pressing equipment.

The oil pressing workshop was chosen in front of the house where Di Wanling and the other four lived, separated by about a road’s width. The building had no walls, just two-foot-long bamboo blinds hanging down. Inside, it was spacious. The oil pressing apparatus sat in the center of the room, flanked by two millstones and a stone roller.

Once autumn arrived, the group split into two parties. The men went to the construction site to lay bricks and build houses, while the women went into the forest to pick tung nuts.

After the tung nuts were harvested and sun-dried for a bit, the next step was breaking the husks and peeling out the kernels inside.

Xia Qing and several others brought round winnowing baskets and back-baskets to the open area in front of Li Cunxin and Yan Baiyu’s house. Their house was large, and the open space in front of it was the biggest, flattest, and tidiest.

Each person had a back-basket of tung nuts in front of them and a round winnowing basket for the kernels. They sat in a circle in the open space, peeling kernels while chatting and laughing.

Yan Baiyu returned from feeding the animals out back. “Where’s Cunxin?”

Liu Cuo Jin looked up and said, “The Village Chief said she’s going to check on the fields.”

Yan Baiyu went inside to change into her straw sandals. Through the doorway, she heard Xia Qing’s voice from outside. “You’re back so soon? How are the fields?”

“I came back to get something. I’ll have to go back to the fields soon.”

Yan Baiyu had just come out and reached the doorway when she saw Li Cunxin standing near the circle of women peeling nuts, craning her neck towards the tung nuts piled in the center.

Li Cunxin casually picked up the bamboo basket in front of Xia Qing, who was closest, and dumped all the nuts out.

Xia Qing cried out, “Hey! What are you doing?!”

Li Cunxin shook the basket upside down to make sure it was empty, then smiled. “I need to borrow this. I’ll bring you back something good later.”

“What kind of good thing?”

Before anyone could ask for details, Li Cunxin turned and headed toward the kitchen. A short while later, everyone saw Li Cunxin come back the same way, with Yunxiu chasing after her, shouting, “Hey! My fire tongs!”

Li Cunxin carried the bamboo basket in one hand and the fire tongs in the other, running forward as fast as she could. “Just borrowing them for a bit! I’ll return them soon!”

Yan Baiyu stepped outside and asked the group, “What is she off to do?”

Xia Qing laughed. “Who knows with her, always in such a rush.”

Yan Baiyu sat down and joined everyone in peeling the tung nuts, her hands stained pitch black by the husks. A cool breeze drifted through the front of the house, making everyone feel quite comfortable. They chatted idly while working, and before they knew it, the sun was already slowly sinking.

Yunxiu came looking again. “Where’s the Village Chief? Still not back? I’m waiting for the fire tongs to pick up firewood and start cooking dinner!”

Yan Baiyu said, “Just find a stick to use for now. She probably won’t be back for a while.”

Yunxiu said, “No, what on earth is she doing in the fields with fire tongs? What could you possibly need fire tongs for out there?”

Xia Qing said, “More than just the tongs, she also took a bamboo basket. Looked like she was going to catch something.”

Liu Cuo Jin said doubtfully, “She wouldn’t go catching snakes, would she? That’s all that’s really out in the fields. If it were fish or birds or something, you wouldn’t need fire tongs…” Her voice trailed off under the gathered stares of the group.

Yan Baiyu frowned. Xia Qing’s features scrunched up, and she said in a tone of extreme distrust, “The Village Chief, she… wouldn’t be that reckless, would she…?”

Yunxiu said with a dark face, “Hard to say.”

Yunxiu looked at Yan Baiyu, who had already stood up. “I’ll go take a look.”

Just as she said that, Li Cunxin came back, her calves and arms smeared with dusty mud.

She carried the bamboo basket straight over and placed it down in the middle of where everyone was sitting. Wiping the sweat from her forehead with her arm, she lifted a smiling face. “Look what I caught for you.” Her eyes sparkled, full of anticipation for the looks of surprise on everyone’s faces.

Jiang Beibei and Bai Ling, who were closest, shrieked and jumped up from their seats, scrambling to hide far away. Not caring who was nearby, they grabbed someone’s arm and shook violently, their voices trembling on the verge of tears. “Snake!”

The group was already unsettled by Jiang Beibei and Liu Cuo Jin’s panicked reaction. Hearing it was a snake sent them retreating in fright.

Yan Baiyu’s expression turned serious. Instead of retreating, she strode quickly to Li Cunxin’s side. Peering into the basket, she saw something long and thin. Its back was greenish-brown, its yellow belly spotted. They were tangled together, slithering.

Li Cunxin laughed. “It’s swamp eels.”

Yunxiu also came over. Swamp eels did look a lot like dirt snakes at first glance, but a closer look revealed clear differences. An eel’s head was pointed, its body not as long or flexible as a snake’s. If the things in the basket were truly snakes, they would have long since coiled into knots and crawled up the bamboo to escape.

Yunxiu couldn’t help but slap Li Cunxin on the shoulder. “If they’re eels, just say eels. What’s with the mystery? You scared us half to death.”

Li Cunxin said, “I just wanted to give you a surprise.”

Yunxiu lifted the basket and jostled it, roughly counting. There had to be over a dozen, each one plump and thick. She gave a light snort. “They look pretty good. Enough to make a dish.”

Even after Jiang Beibei and the others knew they weren’t snakes, they still didn’t want to look much longer because of the resemblance. The fear was real. But when the stir-fried swamp eel was served at the table, the fragrance was equally real.

With over thirty people, meals were split into two groups. These dozen or so eels, made into a dish, had to be divided between two plates. Each person only got a taste.

The eel meat was firmer than ordinary fish, with far fewer bones, yet not as tough and hard-to-chew as chicken. The only downside was the little meat along the backbone.

Yu Muyang asked, “Chief, don’t swamp eels come out to feed at night? Where did you catch these?”

“In the rice paddies. I blocked their mud holes and caught them. There are probably more in the fields than just these. They must have come in through the irrigation canals. We could catch even more if we go at night.”

Yu Muyang’s eyes lit up. He said excitedly, “Let’s light torches and go back with baskets tonight.”

Yunxiu rolled her eyes at him. “If you want to go, go by yourself. Stop egging her into taking risks all the time.”

Yu Muyang tapped his bowl with his chopsticks. “How is this taking risks? This is seeking benefits for the masses!”

Yan Baiyu’s gaze swept over. “It’s not just swamp eels that come out at night. Snakes, insects, ants, and beasts also emerge. If you get bitten, or worse, bitten by a venomous snake, who’s going to treat it?”

Wang Ran, at the side, teased Yu Muyang, “If you get bitten, it’s nothing. But if the Village Chief gets bitten, they’ll skin you alive, buddy. Not worth it. You lose either way.” His words made the people around them laugh uproariously.

Li Cunxin’s own stirring heart also quivered under the icy chill of Yan Baiyu’s tone. Faced with Yu Muyang’s pleading look, she could only force a smile back at him.

Yu Muyang tried to seek help from Zhao Penglai, but Zhao Penglai was wholly focused on talking to Di Wanling about the oil pressing, paying him no mind.

Wang Ran tugged Yu Muyang’s arm. “Can’t your brain turn a corner? Just have the Village Chief ask the ones with the Hunting talent, or Beibei, to weave a few eel traps out of fine hemp rope. Set them at dusk with bait, and wait for the eels to crawl in on their own. Why do you need to go catch them yourself in the dead of night?”

“Oh, right!”

Yu Muyang wolfed down his last few bites of rice. Before he could even stand up, someone outside, peeling tung nuts in front of the house, beat him to the punch. Di Wanling had gone over to discuss the oil pressing with Li Cunxin.

Now that the equipment was ready and the tung nuts were peeled, they still lacked manpower. Extracting oil was strenuous work, so naturally, Di Wanling had to ask Li Cunxin for people.

Li Cunxin asked, “Who do you want?”

Di Wanling had already thought it through. She immediately began naming names. “Uncle Xu, Wang Ran, Miao Bing, Lin Zhao.”

“Sister Wanling, you really know how to pick.” She’d selected the four strongest.

“The work benefits everyone; naturally, I want the best.”

“Fine!” Li Cunxin drawled. “I’ll let them know.”

The four men didn’t hesitate long before agreeing. A day later, they skipped the construction site and followed Di Wanling, working as she instructed.

The steamed tung nut kernels had already been ground to powder by the stone roller. The four learned how she wrapped the powder into oil cakes and finally packed them into the press.

The entire press beam was hollowed out in the middle. Oil cakes were placed in one side of the hollow, and wooden wedges—pointed at one end and thick at the other—were driven into the other side until there was no more space. A large wooden mallet hung from the roof beam. Like ringing a bell, the men swung the mallet to strike the thick ends of the wedges, driving them deeper in. The wedges squeezed the oil cakes, pressing out the oil.

The pressed oil flowed out along a groove at the bottom, collected in a waiting clay basin.

Li Cunxin asked, “Is this tung oil? Can it be used to brush wood now?”

Di Wanling said, “This is raw tung oil. Usually, it’s boiled tung oil that’s used for brushing wood. This still needs to be boiled down.”

“Oh.”

A few onlookers couldn’t resist their curiosity and leaned in for a closer look. They saw oil truly being forced out from the wrapped cakes of tung nut powder. The liquid in the basin was golden and clear. It involuntarily reminded them of the cooking oil used back home, making them swallow hard.

The fat they consumed now was animal fat. No pig had been slaughtered last year, and the lard was long gone. The rendered rabbit fat was so little the cooks couldn’t bear to use it.

Even though it was summer, the heavy physical labor made them crave oily, rich food, and this would only get worse in winter.

Tung oil was toxic and couldn’t be eaten, but it was oil nonetheless. Just looking at the appearance of this oil made them think of rapeseed oil or soybean oil, making their hearts itch and mouths water.

Taishi Huan mumbled a couple of times, but under the threatening glares of the others, he clicked his tongue. Then he said to Li Cunxin, “Village Chief, I have something to suggest.”

“Go ahead.”

“Seeing this tung oil reminded me. I was thinking, could you arrange for the team to go out again in a while? Look at all the things we brought back from the last trip. If we go out again, who knows what else we might find. If we could find rapeseed or soybeans, or even sesame or peanuts, then the kitchen crew wouldn’t have to worry about oil anymore, right?” Having tasted the satisfaction of returning from the last long journey, Taishi Huan was thoroughly convinced. When negotiating, it was no longer out of coercion but a sincere, improved attitude.

The others quickly echoed, “Yeah, yeah.”

During the summer, the exploration team had brought back a bundle of walnut branches. Bai Ling had found nearby Chinese wingnut trees to use as rootstock for grafting. But whether they would survive, and how many, was uncertain. Even if they all survived, it would be years before the walnut trees grew large enough to bear fruit.

If they went to the open-pit iron mine to pick walnuts now, they’d have to wait for autumn. There weren’t many walnuts there, and the distance was too far; the transportation costs would be too high, far less worthwhile than hauling back a cartload of iron ore. The group would rather put that effort into searching for new seeds and minerals.

They couldn’t rely on walnut oil for the next couple of years, so they treated it merely as a backup. They were much more eager to find soybeans or rapeseed.

“Hmm…” Li Cunxin mused, muttering to herself, “It’s not something you just find because you want to.”

Lin Zhao, who handled logistics with the team, seized the chance to say, “The more we search, the better the chances of finding something, right?”

Li Cunxin calculated. “In a while, it’ll be the autumn harvest for rice. We’ll be short on hands then.”

Xu Yin lent his support. “It’s just in time for autumn; it won’t be as hot.”

Seeing Xu Yin speak, Li Cunxin knew he was also interested. “Alright then, after the rice harvest, you can set off again. But if it gets into winter, movement will be difficult, and the weather conditions harsher. So, don’t take as long this time. Try to be back before it snows.”

“Okay.”