Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Another month passed in this cycle of planting.

The soil in the sinkhole itself has the fertility of decomposed leaves, allowing fruits and vegetables to grow slowly in this unique environment.

Water spinach and amaranth have been harvested time and again, and each harvest is stronger than the last.

The loofahs and bitter gourds covered her newly built bamboo trellis, their vines winding and twining, blooming with golden flowers. Several small loofahs, about the size of a finger, were already hanging from the vines, their tips still topped with withered petals.

The chili peppers and eggplants have also borne fruit, some green and some purple, hidden under the leaves, so small that they are hard to spot unless you look closely.

The vegetables that were planted earlier have grown so far that they are everywhere. The mustard greens grow quickly, with large and thick leaves, and one plant can cover half a square meter.

Xu Xiaoyan stood on the edge of the sinkhole, looking at the vast expanse of lush green mustard greens. Instead of her previous excitement, she felt a bit worried. There was too much of it; she couldn't possibly finish it all.

She had already pickled so much sauerkraut, and pickling any more seemed pointless, because it was a very bulky thing. Taking out a small amount was fine, but taking out too much would definitely arouse suspicion. After all, who would carry such a bulky thing when fleeing a disaster?

Thinking about this, she suddenly realized a problem: the sinkhole was only a temporary place to live, and she would have to return to the crowds and face the outside world sooner or later.

At that point, it will be very important whether what she presents is reasonable and whether it will arouse suspicion.

She didn't want others to discover her space, nor did she want to be a target, so this time she decided to give up making sauerkraut and instead start drying plum vegetables.

A few days ago, she was listening to a novel on her phone, which included a scene about drying plums in the countryside, and she paid attention to it.

Dried plum vegetables are made by drying fresh green vegetables, pickling them, and then drying them again until they turn dark brown. They may sound unremarkable, but in times of food scarcity, they were a treasure for ordinary people to survive famine.

A small handful of dried plum vegetables, once soaked, can be used to make a large pot of soup. Add a handful to braised pork, and the flavor will be irresistible.

Moreover, dried plum vegetables are durable and can be stored for several years without spoiling. They are also lightweight and do not take up much space. If they return to the community later, they can use dried plum vegetables to trade with others without arousing suspicion.

She could store hundreds of kilograms in her space, and when she needed to make a transaction, she would take out a few kilograms without anyone questioning it. With that in mind, she got right to work.

Xu Xiaoyan put on the bamboo hat she had woven herself and used a small knife to cut the mustard greens one by one, keeping close to the ground.

The mustard greens have very thick stems, as thick as her thumb. You have to use force to cut them, and white, sticky sap will ooze out from the cut end. It's slippery on your hands and has a spicy, pungent smell.

Fresh mustard greens have too much moisture and cannot be pickled directly. They need to be dried in the sun first to remove some of the moisture and soften the leaves so that they won't break when rubbing them later.

She spread the mustard greens one by one on the bamboo sieve. Because the quantity was so large, she simply took out the plastic film and covered all the open space under the bamboo shed.

Leaves facing up, stems facing down, so that every leaf can get as much sunlight as possible.

The sun was very strong in the sinkhole. After an hour, the vegetable leaves started to wilt, the edges curled slightly, and the color changed from bright green to dark green. They no longer felt firm but were soft and limp to the touch.

She turned the vegetables over with her hands so that the leaves underneath could also be dried in the sun.

After drying in the sun for a whole afternoon, by evening, the more than 200 kilograms of mustard greens had shrunk by nearly a third and didn't look as impressive, but they were still piled up all over the ground.

The softened mustard greens should be cut into small pieces to facilitate subsequent pickling and drying.

She placed the cutting board on the small table under the bamboo shed, moved a small stool to sit down, and began to chop vegetables.

Cut a mustard green into three sections: cut the root into small cubes about one centimeter in size, cut the stem into sections about two centimeters in size, and leave the leaves whole.

When cutting, you should also pay attention to making the pieces uniform in size. If they are too big, they will not absorb the flavor well, and if they are too small, they will easily crumble after drying.

She chopped away, the knife making a rhythmic "thump-thump" sound on the cutting board, crisp and regular.

The chopped mustard greens were piled in a large bucket next to her, and the air was filled with a rich and spicy aroma that made her eyes sting and she couldn't help but blink several times.

She worked for nearly five hours, only stopping twice to drink water and stretch her stiff neck.

After she finished chopping, there were eight large buckets of chopped vegetables piled up in front of her. The dark green leaves, light green diced stems, and white diced roots were clearly layered and looked quite beautiful.

Xu Xiaoyan poured in salt according to the ratio of 3 jin of salt to 100 jin of vegetables, then put on disposable gloves and began to rub vigorously to mix the vegetable leaves and salt thoroughly.

When you first start kneading, the vegetable leaves are still hard and brittle, and they feel a bit prickly when you knead them. After kneading for a few minutes, the leaves start to release water and become wet and slippery. The feel of kneading them changes completely, like kneading a soaked sponge.

She scooped up a handful of vegetables with both hands, squeezed them tightly, and brownish-green juice was squeezed out from between her fingers, emitting a salty and slightly fishy aroma with a hint of the fresh sweetness of the vegetables.

Press the kneaded vegetables firmly, sprinkle a thin layer of salt on the surface, then seal the bowl with plastic wrap and let them marinate overnight.

Xu Xiaoyan was exhausted and went to sleep, rubbing her lower back.

The next morning, she took the mustard greens that had been pickled overnight out of the bucket, drained off the excess brine, and then started steaming them.

She filled the non-stick pan on the induction cooker with water, and after the water boiled, she put the vegetables into the steamer in batches, spread them out, covered the pot, and steamed them over high heat. She strictly controlled the time, turning off the heat after steaming each steamer for fifteen minutes.

Upon opening the pot lid, a strong, savory aroma of vegetables wafted out, filling the entire bamboo shed with that warm and rich scent.

The steamed vegetables darkened in color, changing from dark green to a dark green that was almost brown. The leaves drooped and stuck to the steamer, and the stems became translucent.

She picked up a small piece of mustard greens with her fingers and put it in her mouth to taste. It was salty and fresh, with a rich, mushroom-like flavor that was several times more intense than that of fresh mustard greens.

Xu Xiaoyan spread the steamed vegetables in batches on a bamboo sieve and placed it in the sunniest spot in the sinkhole, turning it over every hour so that each side could get some sun.

The sun was still intense inside the sinkhole, but the dried plum vegetables were not afraid of the scorching sun; the more they were dried, the more fragrant they became.

The dried plum vegetables were left to dry in the sun until noon the next day. By then, they had turned dark brown, and the leaves had shriveled and curled up.

She packed most of the dried plums into a snakeskin bag and stored them in her spatial dimension. Since time was frozen in her space, it didn't matter what container she used.

A small portion of the dried plums were packaged in sealed bags for easy trading with others later.