Return to the small mountain village in 1983

Chapter 256 The delicious food in spring
Lin Heng stopped the car, and everyone got out of the car and walked towards the green river beach.

"Oh~oh~"

Xiaoxia happily pulled her aunt Caiyun and ran to the river beach, as happy as a puppy.

"It's so beautiful."

Xiulan Tianyan also walked down with joy in her eyes.

Lin Heng parked the car, walked a few steps back, and first broke off the two toona trees on the roadside.

The toon trees on the roadside are relatively small, only three to four centimeters in diameter and about five or six meters high. There is a very fat toon bud growing on the top.

The top one was the fattest, with a brown-purple color and an oily luster. Lin Heng ruthlessly broke off the tree after bending it, and broke off the three or four side buds along with it.

I held it in my hand and smelled it, and it had that strong toon smell. It wasn't smelly but it was delicious.

"There's Brother Lin Heng here too."

"No, I'm the prettiest!!" Xiaoxia ran over and said crisply with her hands on her hips.

On the other side of Hongfeng Village, the grass is so green that you can see it from a distance but there is no grass up close. Here, the grass is so green that if you ride a horse, you can definitely submerge the hooves of the horse.

After packing everything to eat, I took out a few plastic bags, then folded some branches and pulled out some grass to cover the top of the storage box to prevent it from getting too hot inside.

In addition to grass, there were various small flowers on the ground, as well as beautiful dandelions. Lin Heng picked one and blew it hard, and the dandelion seeds all over the sky were blown away by the wind and drifted into the distance.

There are three storage boxes on the sidecar. The largest one is behind the spare tire of the sidecar. The space is relatively large, with a volume of thirty or forty liters.

"Then let's go."

"I agree!" Xiulan was the first to nod in support of her husband: "It's interesting to go out and dig wild vegetables and fold toons. Let's go quickly."

Lin Heng had long wanted to fold toons. He liked the feeling of harvest.

It was only 8:20, there was still some dew on the grass, the sun was not warm, and the river breeze was very cool. Lin Heng followed Xiulan and the others, enjoying the fun of outing.

"Can I bring it to watch?" Xiulan soon made one herself and looked at Lin Heng with interest.

The wicker hat is very simple, just roll the wicker up according to the size of your head, decorate it with some flowers, and you can wear it.

"Yes, your brother is talking nonsense. Caiyun is prettier than me." Xiulan smiled and nodded.

There are two small bullet boxes next to the side bucket. This place is relatively small and is used to store some odds and ends. Lin Heng's fishing lines and hooks are stored inside.

"Let's go."

"I think it's okay too." Caiyun nodded.

After walking up for about a hundred meters, we emerged from the forest, and then everyone was stunned.

Lin Hai also broke off three or four trees and handed them to Lin Heng. He was very grateful to Lin Heng for arranging for him and Tian Yan to be squeezed together.

Lin Heng tore the wicker bark and wrapped it twice horizontally. He pulled the willow bark with all his strength and the branches and leaves were peeled off. After unfolding, it was as soft as tassels and could be tied to a wicker hat for decoration.

Lin Heng looked at the crowd and suggested: "How about we go to the mountains on the road to look for toon bracken first, so that we can have a spring outing and get a harvest, and then come to the river for dinner at noon."

"Yes, yes, you are the prettiest!" Caiyun pinched her little face.

"okay!"

"Let's go and have a look at the river."

Xiaoxia cheered and ran around, as happy as a little rabbit.

"Then let's go." Tian Yan nodded. There really wasn't much fun in staying by the river.

"Thank you aunt, I have a hat!!"

The grass is very soft when you step on it, like a carpet. Everyone walked on the grass and enjoyed the breeze and sunshine by the river.

"What about my second brother, does it look good on me?" Caiyun also ran over and asked with a wink.

Lin Heng looked at the path inside the road and took the lead to walk up.

Lin Heng smiled and nodded, turned around and walked towards the river.

"Brother Lin Hai, get us some willow sticks." Caiyun pointed at the willow tree in front of him and said.

Lin Hai agreed with a smile, quickly climbed up the willow tree, broke off the willow branches and threw them down. Caiyun Xiulan and the others picked them up to make hats.

"Xiaoxia gives it to you!"

"I obviously have more flowers, right sister-in-law?" Caiyun came back dissatisfied and pulled Xiulan and said.

I just walked a few meters and found a toon tree. I broke it off without hesitation and put it in my bag.

Xiaoxia put on her hat and played on the grass, running here and there to show everyone her beautiful garland hat.

Lin Heng looked at it, nodded and said, "It's very beautiful, but compared to your sister-in-law, it's still a little behind."

"Oh my god, there are so many brackens." Xiulan was stunned.

When he got to the road, Lin Heng opened the car's storage box and temporarily put the food in it.

After a while, Caiyun made a small wicker hat filled with purple lilacs and yellow dandelions.

"Of course she looks good, full of elegance." Lin Heng smiled and nodded. At this time, Xiulan looked like the sister next door.

The scenery along the river is very nice, but it’s not interesting to play here all the time. Going into the mountains may bring unexpected rewards.

"It's done, it's done, fold it quickly!" Caiyun pulled Xiaoxia and ran over to start folding it.

In this open space, curly green and red bracken stands gracefully, swaying gently in the wind, full of life.

"What a blessing."

Xiulan smiled and knelt down to open the fold. These brackens are very brittle and will break with a gentle snap, making a nice crunching sound.

Lin Heng broke a large handful in a short time, weighing more than a kilogram. Putting these brackens into Xiulan's bamboo basket, he ran to fold the toon.

In fact, he prefers Chinese toon to bracken, but in spring, he folds a little bit of everything.

There are many small toon trees on the edge of the forest. It is very satisfying to break them off one by one. It is even more satisfying to watch the bag gradually fill up.

Lin Heng broke off a circle of toon and came back. Xiulan and the others had almost broken the bracken. Xiaoxia was also studying beside them and had a great time.

"Xiulan, look at my harvest!" Lin Heng showed his harvest to her.

"So many." Xiulan was a little surprised, then gave a thumbs up and said, "It's really amazing."

"of course."

Hearing Xiulan's praise, Lin Heng was satisfied.

After a while, the bracken here was also folded. Going up is a forest of mixed trees, including poplars, chestnut trees, maples and other trees.

The most common species growing on the ground are vetch and foxtail grass, but the foxtail grass has not yet sprouted ears at this time, so wandering around in such a forest is also a kind of fun.

Although bracken was not found, some toon trees could be seen from time to time.

As they entered the forest, everyone gradually separated from each other in search of toon and bracken. Lin Heng looked around and kept walking inside. He was very excited to explore this unknown forest.

There are unknowns in all directions, and you never know which direction will have more harvest and beautiful scenery. Just like fishing, you never know where there are more fish in the water, or what fish you will catch if you drop the hook.

This kind of exploration of the unknown stimulates Lin Heng's heart. There are not many toons. Walking a few dozen meters, you can see one or two. They are all small trees, and only one toon can be broken off each tree.

But the toona at the top of this tree is of the same quality, fat and short, purple-brown and shiny, very charming.

Gradually, Lin Heng could no longer see Xiulan and the others, but some sounds could still be heard. But he didn't care. He just wanted to break a lot of toons and shock Xiulan.

"Such a big little garlic!"

After walking some distance, Lin Heng came across a stone ridge with seven or eight small garlic plants as thick as an index finger growing on the stone ridge. This was definitely a big thing among small garlics. He walked over, pulled them all out, peeled them clean and put them in a bag.

"Hey! It's posted!"

As soon as he raised his head after pulling out the garlic, Lin Heng discovered another toon tree. It was a tree as thick as a wrist, with seven or eight branches, and there were beautiful purple-brown toon trees on them.

This kind of toon tree can definitely be called a legendary toon tree. Lin Heng rushed over, grabbed the trunk and pulled it down. Suddenly, there was a scratch, and the entire toon tree was brutally broken by him.

"This toon is so good."

Lin Heng only focused on breaking up the toons. It would be better if the tree was broken. If it grows more side branches, there will be more toons next year.

After breaking off more than half a catty of chubby toon from a tree, Lin Heng was so happy that he continued to run deeper.

It's just that the next section of the road is not satisfactory. Not only are there many thorns, but there are no toon trees.

Looking at the road ahead, the trees were getting denser and denser, and there were more acorn trees. Lin Heng probably had no hope.

"Go a little further."

He was a little bit unwilling to give up, just in case there was still more.

Looking around, he found that he had reached the depths of the forest without knowing it. There were refreshing greens everywhere, and it was so eye-catching to walk in it.

After walking forward for about three hundred meters, Lin Heng was about to walk back when his eyes suddenly saw something good.

"Prickly pear sprouts!"

He exclaimed, because this was not a single tree, but a large group of more than a dozen trees.

The thorn buds are also the old thorn buds, and they habitually call them the thorn buds here. The thorn tree is a light gray-brown tree covered with sharp thorns. Its scientific name is Aralia aralia. It is a wild vegetable that can be used both as medicine and food. It is even called the king of wild vegetables in the Northeast.

Because its whole body is covered with thorns, it is also known as the tree where no birds fall from the tree. The thorn buds contain a variety of vitamins and minerals, which have extremely high health care value.

However, there are not many such trees and it is generally difficult to find them. Lin Heng didn't expect that he would encounter such a big bush.

Taking out his Baidu Steel Dagger, Lin Heng cut a hooked branch in the forest and took it to hook Chun Ya. Fortunately, these trees are not thick, only 30 centimeters in diameter. It is easy to break off the thorn buds by hooking them down.

The thorn thorn buds and even the buds have spikes, but they are not very powerful without lignification. It took Lin Heng ten minutes to break off most of the thorn buds.

He had no choice but to give up as he didn't bring a hatchet on the remaining two trees that were as thick as his arms.

"Okay, these are two pounds."

Lin Heng looked at the thorn buds in his hand and couldn't help but smile happily. It felt so good to break off so many at once. After smelling the special smell, he couldn't wait to use it to fry bacon.

Lin Heng took out another plastic bag from his pocket and walked back along the north side. When I first arrived, I walked along the south side, but now I am exploring the north side.

Looking at the harvest in my hand, I saw a big bag of toon weighing almost five kilograms. Plus two kilograms of toon buds, this trip was not in vain.

"It's weird!"

Walking a few hundred meters down from the north, Lin Heng didn't see either Toona or Xiaolian.

After a while, he ran to a vast poplar forest and found Xiulan squatting on the ground looking for something, seemingly very happy.

"What are you digging for?" Lin Heng asked from a distance.

"Come here, good thing!"

Xiulan waved to him warmly.

Lin Heng had a bad premonition. He took a closer look and was stunned: "Morels?"

"Yes, there are a lot of them in this area. They are all in the grass, but they are a bit small." Xiulan said with a crooked eyebrow. Lin Heng suddenly withered. Just as he was about to show off his thorn buds and toon, Xiulan and the others discovered morels. This must be such good luck.

But if you think about it carefully, you can accept that morels will emerge as long as the temperature exceeds 8 degrees, and it has just rained.

"You have gained a lot, and you also discovered the thorn buds?" Xiulan looked at the thorn buds he was carrying and said in shock.

Lin Heng nodded: "Yes, I found a few thorn trees."

"You are so lucky. I like to eat thorn sprouts the most."

Xiulan took the thorn bud and smelled it, intoxicated by the smell.

"Stop pretending, I know you prefer eating morels."

Lin Heng couldn't help but smile when he saw her like this, and reached out to pinch her face. Even if I don't show off, my mood becomes very good.

"No, I like to eat them all." Xiulan said with a wink, and liked Lin Heng's help in combing her bangs neatly.

"I believe it, and I'm here to look for morels too."

Lin Heng smiled, put the things in the basket, and started looking for morels.

There are a lot of fungi here, growing in the grass, all of them light yellow thick-legged morels. It's not big, and it obviously grew just after the rain the day before yesterday.

After searching for a while, Lin Heng found a new fungus on the poplar tree stump - the crystalline coprinus.

Brown-yellow, with granular scales on the surface, it lasts a lifetime. It can be eaten when it is fresh and tender, but will turn into a puddle of black water when it is old.

Lin Heng picked it without hesitation. The taste of the ghost umbrella was still good, but he couldn't drink alcohol for two or three days after eating it.

"Second brother, you are finally back." After a while, Caiyun came over from below with Xiaoxia.

"Dad, I dug wild vegetables!"

Xiaoxia happily ran over with some bracken and showed Lin Heng her harvest.

"Xiaoxia is so amazing."

Lin Heng touched her face and praised her.

"Here you go~"

Xiaoxia took some bracken and handed it to Lin Heng, then ran to her mother with it to show off that she already had the potential of a fisherman at a young age.

"Where are Lin Hai and the others?"

Lin Heng looked at Caiyun and asked.

"They are picking morels in the woods over there. There are a lot of them over there."

Caiyun said with a smile, she folded a lot of toon and didn't pick up many fungi.

"Well, it looks like I'm the only one who didn't find the morels."

Lin Heng said helplessly and continued to pick up fungi.

After Xiaoxia finished showing off, she gave all the bracken to her mother, and then went to help look for morels in the poplar forest. She would give one to Lin Heng, and then to Xiulan and Caiyun.

As soon as she heard the compliment, she would happily take another one. Even if she found several at once, she would take them one by one and listen to the praise for each one.

When she couldn't find it, she chased the little lizard around again. She couldn't take any time off and was much more courageous than the average child.

Unexpectedly, they had been searching in the woods for more than an hour. When Lin Heng looked at his watch, it was already eleven o'clock in the morning.

The mushrooms here are all in the grass, so it's hard to find them. He picked about three or four kilograms of them, with Coprinus taking up more than half, and morels probably only weighing one kilogram.

"How many did you pick up?"

At this time, Lin Hai and the others finally came up, looked at Lin Heng and asked.

"It adds up to more than ten kilograms of fungi." Lin Heng said aloud.

"Our harvest is not bad, each person picked up two or three kilograms." Lin Hai said with a smile.

Lin Heng looked at their fungus. It was a little bigger than his own, and it seemed that there was more moisture underneath.

Lin Hai said: "Let's go down to eat, Brother Lin Heng. I also folded a few thin bamboo strips. Let's catch two poles in a while."

"Okay, I'm a little hungry too." Lin Heng nodded, his legs were a little tired after running all morning.

Xiulan also nodded and said: "It just so happens that there are no fungi here anymore, let's go."

After making the decision, everyone quickly packed up their harvest and left.

Lin Heng harvested the most toon, and there were also toona buds that no one else could break. Xiulan harvested the most morels, picking up five or six kilograms by herself.

Moreover, she folded a lot of bracken and picked a lot of gray vegetables that Lin Heng liked.

Caiyun, Tianyan and Linhai are made from toon, bracken, mushrooms, and there are quite a few of each.

This trip can be said to be a fruitful one. We have harvested so many good things and everyone is smiling.

Back on the road, Lin Heng opened the storage box, took out the food and fishing lines and hooks, and asked everyone to throw in the wild vegetables they picked.

"There is a big willow tree over there. Let's go eat under the shade."

Xiulan pointed to a big willow tree by the river and said, the sun was already very hot on her body right now, so naturally she couldn't eat in the sun.

"That's a nice place." Lin Heng nodded and walked over with his things.

When they came to the shade of the tree, Xiulan Caiyun and the others were responsible for spreading the picnic cloth and laying out the food. Lin Heng and Lin Hai went to the river to find some smooth stone slabs and used them as benches to sit on.

After they brought all the slates over, Xiulan and the others also laid out the food. Xiulan prepared soft cakes, potato cakes, cold fern root powder, as well as soaked bamboo shoots and Jerusalem artichokes.

Caiyun prepared persimmon cake, which is a delicacy in which persimmons are coated in flour and deep-fried. Tian Yan prepared red date glutinous rice cakes, while Lin Hai prepared a large bottle of brewed rice wine and some bamboo wine glasses.

"Let's eat, I won't be polite."

Lin Heng said something, first took two persimmon cakes, gave one to Xiaoxia and ate one for himself.

"Wow, these potato pancakes and cold fern root powder are delicious, and the soaked bamboo shoots and Jerusalem artichoke are also very good." Tian Yan praised after tasting it.

"Your red date glutinous rice cake is also delicious." Xiulan said with a smile. Everyone was eating each other's food.

Caiyun ate the potato cake and smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, please praise my persimmon cake."

"Persimmon cakes are also delicious, even better than mom's fried ones." Xiulan said with a smile.

"Yes, it's delicious." Tian Yan also tasted one.

Lin Heng tasted all of them and found that the craftsmanship was pretty good. But he liked the potato pancakes made by Xiulan very much. They were caramelized and crispy. They were so delicious when eaten with the spicy and sour fern root powder.

Bamboo shoots and pickled Jerusalem artichokes are sour, spicy and crispy. They taste a bit spicy, but it's strange that I can't stop. I take a sip of sweet wine and continue.

Hiding in the shade of the big willow tree, eating the meal, feeling the warm river breeze, everyone chatting and laughing, this day is simply perfect.

After eating, I leaned against the willow tree and looked at the rapeseed fields on the other side, the sparkling Black River, and the charming green mountains in the distance.

The tender green in early spring is so attractive. The wind is full of the rhythm of life, making people immersed in nature both physically and mentally.

This seems to be what life should be like, and Lin Heng is willing to squander his life like this.

Xiaoxia was tired of playing and huddled in Caiyun's arms, tearing away grass, while Xiulan leaned on Lin Heng's shoulder.

Tian Yan next to her glanced at Lin Hai, who wanted to make a move but didn't dare to move. She took his hand and leaned her head on his shoulder, leaning in sweetly.

Lin Hai was excited, his heart was beating with excitement, and he slowly put his arms around Tian Yan's waist. His face was so happy that he couldn't hold it back.

"Huh~~"

Caiyun made a long sound, picked up the remaining potato pancake and took two bites.

Lin Heng was too lazy to move at all. Hiding in the shade of the tree and blowing in the wind felt so good that he slept against the tree and squinted for half an hour.

Unknowingly, it was already two o'clock. Xiaoxia had had enough rest and was having fun again.

Lin Heng also stretched out, whittled the thin bamboo strips, tied them with fishing line, and then used a dagger to dig through the soil to look for earthworms.

"Found it, let's go fishing!"

Lin Heng looked at Xiulan and said with a smile.

Lin Hai shouldn't think about it anymore. He would have fallen into the land of tenderness and was already dead. Tian Yan was lying on his lap, obviously pretending to be asleep. He was still motionless, not daring to put his hands around, and his face was full of aunt's smile.

"it is good!"

Xiulan stood up, took a bamboo pole and went out with Lin Heng. Caiyun also brought Xiaoxia to the river.

“As the saying goes, you can fish shallows in spring and deep pools in summer. This grassy shoal is very beautiful.”

Lin Heng found a shallow water with aquatic plants and threw the fishing rod in. Xiulan followed him and dropped the fishhook.

"Brother, this doesn't seem to work?"

More than ten minutes passed before Caiyun asked aloud.

Lin Heng was a little embarrassed. Logically speaking, it shouldn't be unsuccessful.

"Maybe he didn't make a nest." Lin Heng thought for a while and said.

"Hubby, I caught a fish!!"

At this time, Xiulan suddenly pulled up the bamboo pole, and a large golden crucian carp flew out of the water and landed on the grass, jumping back and forth.

Lin Heng: "..."

"What a big fish!"

Xiaoxia surrounded the big crucian carp, dancing and cheering.

"Sister-in-law Xiulan is amazing. This crucian carp weighs one or two pounds."

Caiyun was shocked by such a big fish.

"I fished blindly." Xiulan said with a smile. She didn't understand anything anyway, she was just imitating Lin Heng.

Lin Heng caught the fish and said with a smile: "I just said I can catch it, right?"

Putting the fish into a small puddle at the back, he got into his element and concentrated on fishing.

I fished for more than ten minutes, but no fish was caught. Lin Heng changed to another earthworm and the same condition persisted, which made him suspect that it was because it was too hot at noon.

"The fishing rod is weighted with rocks. Let's go for a walk by the river and then get ready to go home."

Xiulan said after seeing that she still couldn't catch the fish. It wasn't that she couldn't wait, but the sun was a little too bright.

"also."

Lin Heng nodded, pressed the fishing rod with a stone, and the four of them walked up the river, taking a walk while blowing the river breeze.

"Hey, look, there are poplar forests over there, are there morels too?"

After walking a few hundred meters up, Caiyun pointed to a poplar forest by the river and said.

(End of this chapter)