The leisurely life of farmers in mountain villages

Chapter 70

This trip to Longmen Mountain Valley was worth it. Half of the 100-jin river crabs were big ones the size of a fist, and the other half were small ones the size of a fingernail.

In Wang Shaodong's eyes, this river crab is a rare delicacy.

Before Wang Shaodong graduated from university and started working, due to economic constraints, there were very few opportunities to taste delicious crab roe and crab meat.

In my previous life, I had two deepest memories of tasting delicious river crab, one was when I was in the second year of junior high school, and the other was a few days before I reported to the university in 2002.

Both flashlights were out of power, and it was too dark to go down the mountain unsafely.

Zhao Shihai raised his wrist and looked at his watch, and said to Wang Shaodong, "It's 01:30, Dongzi, are you sleepy?"

Looking at the crabs crawling around in the woven bag, Wang Shaodong was very excited, and there was no sleepiness.

"Uncle, if you're sleepy, go to sleep. I'm not sleepy at all."

Next to the bluestone slab, a mosquito repellent rope is lit, so that mosquitoes dare not approach.

This natural anti-mosquito method is very effective, but unfortunately, the smell is too strong, and many people feel that it is difficult to breathe after asking about it.Otherwise, the sales and price of this thing will be better.

Wang Shaodong grew up smelling the mosquito repellent rope from his grandparents' house since he was a child. He has long been used to the strong smell of this thing, so he doesn't care.

Zhao Shihai, who was lying on the bluestone slab, raised his head and looked at his nephew.

"Are you hungry?"

Wang Shaodong's stomach was rumbling, because of the relatively large amount of exercise, so it is normal to be hungry at the moment.

"It's okay, uncle, I can hold on."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Shihai turned over and got up from the ground, shook his head and said, "Boy, who told you to persist? Did you tell me earlier when you were hungry? Just wait, I'll get you something to eat right away."

Watching his uncle disappear into the night, blowing the cool wind blowing down the upper reaches of the valley, Wang Shaodong couldn't help shivering, and then hurriedly added two more sticks of firewood to the bonfire not far away.

"I don't know, what did my uncle get me to eat?"

Uncle is a spirit on the mountain, a living mountain god, and Wang Shaodong believed that he would be able to get something to eat.

He was very curious about what surprise his uncle would bring him this time.

About half an hour later, Wang Shaodong heard rustling sounds coming from a distance, thinking it was something, he nervously grasped a wooden stick prepared by his uncle next to him.

According to my brother-in-law, it hurts even if a hare is kicked in the face of a black light. If I don't have something handy, I will really feel uneasy tonight.

Wang Shaodong frowned nervously. It didn't take long to see a figure appearing, and he was relieved after seeing his actions and identifying it as his uncle.

Wang Shaodong stood up, and by the light of the bonfire, he saw that his uncle was carrying a woven bag on his shoulders, and the woven bag seemed to be quite heavy.

"Uncle, what is it?" Wang Shaodong became excited when he saw the heavy back of his uncle.

It is a happy thing to follow my uncle to the mountain, and there will always be unexpected gains.

Is it a hare?But it seems that the hare is not so heavy.

Not like a pheasant, Wang Shaodong really couldn't think of what surprise his uncle brought him this time.

"It's nothing good. When I came to the mountain last month, I remembered that there was this place. I didn't expect that a month later, this thing has not been discovered by others."

While talking, Zhao Shihai gently put down the woven bag, and then baked a big and round watermelon out of it.

Wang Shaodong was dumbfounded. How come there are watermelons in this place?

"Here, uncle, did you steal someone's watermelon?"

After the watermelon was brought out by Zhao Shihai, he put it into the stream and soaked it in the cold water.

"In this ravine, where is there any watermelon field? This one grows in the sweet potato field over there. I don't think the sweet potato growers are hardworking people. If the watermelon is picked two days later, it will be ripe .”

While talking, Zhao Shihai poured out some sweet potatoes and corn from the woven bag.

In summer, someone ate watermelon and spat out the seeds, then swept them into the pigsty.Later, after the pigsty manure was shoveled out, it was transported to the field, and the melon seeds came to the wild field together.When the conditions are right, the melon seeds will break through the soil and germinate, grow into melon seedlings, and bear watermelons.

This kind of melon is commonly known as dung melon in central Shandong.

Although the name doesn't sound good, the taste of this melon is absolutely undeniable.

Seeing that his uncle had brought back sweet potatoes and corn, Wang Shaodong was busy helping his uncle wash the sweet potatoes and peel the corn.

Then, Zhao Shihai pushed aside the bonfire, threw a few pieces of sweet potatoes into the pile of firewood ash, and added several sticks of firewood on top.

Then, he inserted the peeled corn with a wooden stick, handed them to Wang Shaodong, and leaned against the campfire to roast them.

When the corn is not yet ripe and hard, it tastes good when eaten raw, sweet and full of water after a bite.And it tastes even better if it's grilled.

Wang Shaodong held a wooden stick in one hand, poked firewood with the other, and made the bonfire more intense.

The corn is still tender, put it on the bonfire, and soon the outer layer will swell, making a sizzling sound.

This thing doesn't need to be baked for too long, just roll and bake for 2 minutes, and the taste is very good.

After roasting and eating the two corns, it was just an appetizer, and the main meal came next.

The bonfire has been burning for two hours. There is a thick layer of firewood ash, and the temperature inside is as high as 200 degrees. After putting the washed sweet potatoes in it, it takes less than 10 minutes for them to be fully cooked.

Zhao Shihai carefully pulled out the sweet potato with a wooden stick, then poked it with the wooden stick, and said to Wang Shaodong, "You can eat it when it gets cold, but it's too hot now."

Wang Shaodong saw a sycamore tree next to him, so he went to pick two sycamore leaves, washed them in the water, and handed one to Zhao Shihai, saying, "This roasted sweet potato tastes good only when it's hot."

Zhao Shihai smiled and nodded: "It's because you have a good brain."

Then, he took the sycamore leaves handed over by his nephew, held the sweet potatoes carefully, and ate them.

Perhaps it was because of his hunger, but this roasted sweet potato tasted so good that Wang Shaodong choked on it very quickly.

Wang Shaodong clutched his chest, Zhao Shihai saw this, hurriedly ran to the stream to take out the big watermelon, then took out a switchblade from his bosom, cut the watermelon open, and handed a piece to Wang Shaodong.

Wang Shaodong took a big bite of the watermelon, and a large amount of watermelon water went down his throat. He gulped down the roasted sweet potato that was choked in his throat.

"Slow down, there are so many." Zhao Shihai patted Wang Shaodong's back worriedly.

Wang Shaodong waved his hand, indicating that he was fine.

"Uncle, did you bring a knife with you when you went up the mountain?"

"Not only do I bring a knife, but I also bring salt, pepper noodles, cumin and so on. This is because the sight is not good at night. If you follow me during the day, I will make you a roasted hare with mahogany wood, which is better than this roasted sweet potato. too much."

Hearing this, Wang Shaodong swallowed hard, nodded his head and said: "Uncle, this is a good relationship. When the sun rises, whatever you say, you have to let me eat a roasted hare with mahogany."

(End of this chapter)