Wen Qian exchanged her wheat that she had originally planted in Xia Province with her neighbors.
In those days, the volcanic winters often prevented her from growing crops, and the wheat yield back then was not high either, so she didn't have much left and decided to trade with her neighbors.
She still had wheat that she had collected from her hometown in An Province in her space, so she didn't mind exchanging game for grains with them.
As for the flour she had bought initially, she would absolutely not trade it now, because the current processing methods could not achieve the same fine and white quality as before, and trading it would make others find it strange.
Exchanging ordinary wheat so that her neighbors could settle down would also benefit herself.
Her conditions were good, and she even prepared to make sugar from wheat, so it was no problem to trade with them.
When the child returned home and told his parents that Auntie Wen Qian was willing to trade, the child's mother was delighted and prepared to exchange the freshly hunted game.
Additionally, they had a bottle of wild honey they cherished, which they wanted to give to Wen Qian as a gift.
The husband's name was Jin Yongjie, and the wife's name was Ning Wan, so their child Wen Qian called them Little Jin and Little Ning.
This couple was slightly younger than Wen Qian, so Wen Qian called the two adults Big Jin and Big Ning.
Perhaps because Wen Qian could also hunt, this couple felt that her willingness to trade was out of kindness rather than necessity.
So the amount and weight of the game they provided was far more than what Wen Qian had imagined, and there was even a bottle of honey.
Since there was no currency, and only weights were used for measurement, Wen Qian could see that what they gave far exceeded the value of her wheat, and there was also a bottle of honey.
So Wen Qian asked Big Ning what they planned to plant this year, and how many types of seeds they had, saying that the two sides might be able to exchange.
Although she clearly knew that the variety and quality of the seeds in their hands would not be better or more than hers, she didn't want to owe them either.
They planned to plant more wheat this year, as well as corn and beans. They also had rice seeds but didn't plan to plant them this year, as managing paddy fields was much harder than other crops.
Wen Qian asked if they had potatoes and sweet potatoes, as she also had seedlings to plant some.
Especially for sweet potatoes, which could propagate many slips, she could give them some as well.
Big Ning happily agreed to the exchange, as the potatoes and sweet potatoes she had brought last year couldn't be stored for that long, let alone used for planting.
Originally, she had also wanted to exchange with Wen Qian, but unexpectedly, Wen Qian brought it up first.
Then she thought that her game was obviously not enough, so she agreed on the quantity and said she would exchange it in several batches later.
So the two also exchanged potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn, among which the corn was not traded as a seed but as food.
Wen Qian had a lot of corn that she had collected initially, and she had shelled the kernels into bags, but the consumption rate was slow.
Mainly because she had hoarded various things, and she was the only one eating, and every year she would try her best to grow things or find food, so she always had income and didn't just sit and eat for free.
So bags of corn kernels were left like that.
Big Ning and her family had corn seeds, but they didn't have much land to open up, so they could only plant a little of each, just enough to save some seeds, but now they didn't have much corn to eat.
Unlike Wen Qian, the seeds that others kept had an expiration date, and the longer the time, the lower the possibility of the seeds germinating.
Wen Qian didn't have this problem. The seeds she stored were the same as when she first put them in, even after so many years.
It's just that when she needed to use them, she had to change the packaging and put them in glass jars or pots.
Among the many seeds she had bought, she also noticed that some seeds could only be planted once, and what grew from them couldn't be saved as seeds, because their traits were unstable and their yields were also unstable.
So she had initially stored a batch of old seeds, which could be kept for planting the following year after harvesting, but the yield would definitely not be as high as the former.
After exchanging these, the neighbors' family had wheat and corn, and with the other grains they originally had, combined with vegetables and the game they hunted, they could eat until the new season's grains were out, because they couldn't just eat meat.
Wen Qian prepared the goods, and when they had fresh game, they would send it over directly, and then take the corresponding grains.
Wen Qian didn't give them everything in advance out of trust, and they could understand her approach. If they owed her, they would always have it on their minds, which wasn't good either.
After deciding on the exchange, it was just about time for the wheat to sprout, so Wen Qian started making malt sugar.
First, she washed the sprouted wheat clean, removing the unsprouted grains and debris, then chopped it and mixed it with cooked glutinous rice.
Afterwards, it was placed on the heated brick bed to ferment for eight hours. After fermentation, a lot of water would come out, and then it was filtered twice with a gauze cloth.
The water was put in a pot and boiled over high heat, and when it changed color, it was turned to a low heat and slowly simmered until it turned an amber color with big bubbles forming.
At this point, it was scooped into containers, and later, a wooden stick could be used to pull out long threads.
If a thicker consistency was desired, it could be further heated over low heat, but then it might not be easy to eat after cooling, and an iron spoon would need to be used to scoop it out.
So it was better to remove it from heat a little earlier, just using the residual heat.
At this time, one part could be cooled and sealed in jars directly, while for another part, Wen Qian left it and tried to make white hard sugar cubes.
After further heating and constant stirring to make the sugar thicker, it would gradually turn white. Finally, it was poured onto a floured surface in one large piece, and Wen Qian pulled it into long strips, a process that required a lot of pulling.
Finally, after setting it became hard, and she used the back of a knife to break it into small pieces, then coated them with toasted flour and packaged them separately. And so the malt sugar was done.
This way, in addition to rock sugar, white granulated sugar, and honey, she now also had malt sugar.
This spring, Wen Qian didn't spend too much time hunting, so she could focus on planting all the fields in the forestry area.
She took out the hand-held seed drill she had bought previously, which made it convenient to plant corn, peanuts, and soybeans.
Human energy is limited, so she still tended towards farming, putting hunting aside.
But fortunately, she had exchanged quite a lot with her neighbors, so she didn't have to worry about not having fresh meat to eat.
Usually, it was the elderly grandmother or Big Ning from their family who would come to exchange grains with Wen Qian, and occasionally children would also come along.
This time, it was the old grandmother bringing the hunted game, and since it was not a complete catch, they had already skinned and cleaned it before placing it in a basket to bring over.
The older children helped carry it, while the younger ones walked in front, with bags containing dried salted meat prepared by the adults.
When they saw Wen Qian, one of the little ones reached into the bag and gave her a long strip of dried meat.
Wen Qian had made dried meat herself before, but it was quite difficult to chew, requiring constant chewing while holding it in the hand, sometimes causing the cheeks to ache.
Seeing the child's generous sharing, Wen Qian asked them to wait a moment, and brought out a small box of malt sugar cubes that she had made herself.
Each cube was about the size of a thumb, and she handed them to the old grandmother to distribute among the children.
