Return to the small mountain village in 1983

After grinding the konjac, Lin Heng washed his hands, sat down and drank a cup of tea.

After waiting for the konjac and lye water to react, they put it into the pot and cook it. After boiling, they soak it in cold water for a while to wash away the excess lye water.

After lunch, Lin Heng did not go out, but helped at home.

He and Xiulan took out the chestnuts they had picked in the fall, cut a cross in them with scissors, and roasted them on the fireplace for about ten minutes.

After roasting, take it out and soak it in boiling water. When the water is warm, you can peel the chestnuts. The outer shell becomes soft and the inner membrane expands, and the golden chestnut flesh can be easily peeled out.

But there were three greedy little guys right in front of them, and they could not peel the fruits as fast as they could eat them.

"Okay, go and play by yourselves. You are not allowed to eat the leftovers." Xiulan warned them after seeing them eat some.

Xiaoxia went to play by herself, but Luming and Duheng didn't believe it and stretched out their little paws to take it.

Only after being beaten did he run away quickly and couldn't come back.

"Chinese chestnuts are better than hairy chestnuts, and they are easier to peel." Xiulan said with emotion after peeling the chestnuts.

"Next year I will graft the hairy chestnut trees in our forest. In two years, there will be a lot of chestnut trees." Lin Heng said while eating chestnuts.

This kind of inbreeding has a survival rate of 80 to 90 percent and is very simple.

"Of course. There are a few hairy chestnut trees on Hongfeng Mountain that don't bear chestnuts. There are even more on Huangliupo, dozens or even hundreds of them." Xiulan nodded. She felt that this was very necessary.

Not only are chestnuts delicious, they are also not cheap to sell. If they are all grafted into chestnuts, it would be a harvest.

"I will go to graft the chestnuts in the spring, and then the place will become a chestnut forest." Lin Heng said. Regardless of whether to sell them or not, it will be good to eat them at home.

After saying that, he took the iron pan, chopped up the legs of the beaten golden chicken and placed the whole thing at the bottom of the pan, then added chestnuts and yam, and a small amount of red dates, astragalus, codonopsis and shiitake mushrooms.

Just fill it up with water and let it simmer slowly on the fireplace.

While the golden chicken was stewing, Lin Heng helped Xiulan prepare eight other dishes.

I originally wanted to have hotpot, but because I wanted to eat chicken stewed with chestnuts and yam, I gave up and chose to stir-fry.

By the time they finished cooking, it was already five o'clock in the afternoon. After resting in the house for a while, Lin's father and mother pushed the door open.

"It smells so good. What is being stewed? The whole house is filled with fragrance." Father Lin walked into the house and said with a smile.

"There's delicious food again today." Lin's mother also said with a smile.

"It's golden chicken stewed with chestnuts and yam." Lin Heng said with a smile. There was no one else today, just their family and their parents.

My eldest brother and his family went to his father-in-law’s house for dinner and couldn’t come over.

"I knew it smelled so good, it turns out it's stewed golden chicken!" Father Lin said in surprise.

The table has been set, and the three children, Xiaoxia, Luming and Du Heng, have already sat down in a row waiting for their meal.

Xiulan and the others went to the kitchen to serve the dishes, while Lin Heng took out a small white porcelain bowl with a red peony flower print, which was very classic of that era. He scooped out the whole golden rooster, and also scooped out some yam and chestnuts, filling the bowl up.

The golden soup has a light oily sheen, and paired with chestnuts and yam, it looks mouth-watering.

After all the dishes were served, everyone started to eat the golden chicken first. Some served the soup while others ate the meat. The chicken was already soft and could be torn apart with chopsticks.

Lin Heng scooped some for each child and then ate it himself.

This soup looks light, but it has a very rich aroma. The aroma of chicken and the flavors of chestnuts, yam and other ingredients blend together, leaving a lingering fragrance in your mouth.

"It's true that three ounces of bird are worth three pounds of beast." Father Lin sighed with a smile.

"This mink meat tastes pretty good." Lin Heng took a bite himself and picked up some for Xiulan.

In addition to these, there are also ham and fried bacon and pork belly. Compared with fresh meat, these two types are harder to chew, but the taste is more fragrant. They are perfect with a glass of rice wine in this deep winter season.

After drinking, the main course in the evening is white flour steamed buns, which are delicious whether used to soak in golden rooster and chestnut soup or cut open and eaten with some sour beans.

Lin Heng prefers to spread a layer of spicy fermented tofu, then add meat and sour beans. The taste is extremely rich and he can eat several in one go.

A day passed like this, and the next day was still cloudy with no sun and no rain, but the wind was very strong and you could hear the whistling wind when you walked out of the yard.

The konjac tofu was a complete success. After breakfast, Lin Heng gave some to his elder brother and took some to Hongfeng Mountain. When he passed the center of the village, he happened to see many people in the village gathered together to make sweet potato vermicelli.

When he arrived at Hongfeng Mountain and told his father about it, he took the 50 kilograms of sweet potato flour that he had dried this year and went over there, naturally intending to use a machine to press it into sweet potato vermicelli.

It is easier when many families work together to make it, but it would be troublesome if you are alone.

When thinking of sweet potato noodles, Lin Heng thought of fern root noodles. Fern root noodles taste great when served cold, but they are too difficult to extract, and few people make it here.

He came to the village where sweet potato flour was made and asked, "Has anyone dug fern roots to make flour this year?"

"No, fern roots don't produce much powder, it's too much trouble!"

"Yeah, digging fern roots is not as good as digging kudzu roots!"

Everyone shook their heads, saying it was not worth it and they were unwilling to do it.

"Okay!" Lin Heng spread his hands helplessly.

Father Lin looked at him and said, "Son, if you want to make it, we can go dig it. If we dig two or three hundred kilograms, we can make twenty or thirty kilograms of fern root powder."

"Okay, we'll go dig it in a couple of days." Lin Heng agreed. The process of making fern root powder is very complicated, but he is willing to put in the hard work just for this bite of food. As long as he feels happy, it is meaningful.

When he got home, he told Xiulan about this matter. Xiulan nodded and said, "Sure, I will help you."

She didn't think it was troublesome at all. It was very interesting to make delicious food by herself.

"Okay, let's do it in two days." Lin Heng said happily.

The vermicelli was ready in the afternoon. Father Lin brought them all over and asked Xiulan to put them in the yard to dry. When they were dry, he could give some back to them.

"Son, when are you going to dig fern roots?" Father Lin asked with a smile.

Lin Heng looked at his father and said, "My brother has asked me to go hunting in Sanchagou tomorrow, so I have to go in two days."

"Okay, I'll take a look at where there are more fern roots in the next couple of days so we can go dig them." Father Lin nodded.

In the afternoon, Xiulan made steamed buns for him. The next morning, Lin Heng took the steamed buns, five kilograms of rice, and some sauces and seasonings and went hunting with his elder brother in Sanchagou.

This time he brought a double-barreled shotgun and brought Xiongba with him.

The two walked slowly all the way to Sanchagou. When they were almost there, Xiongba noticed some movement in the grass by the water and stopped to observe. Lin Heng looked carefully for a while and found something moving in the wormwood bush. He was not sure whether it was a rabbit or a pheasant.

Holding Xiongba down, he took out a double-barreled shotgun, loaded it with birdshot, and fired a shot at that location. With a loud bang, the thing in the grass stopped moving.

"Ouch!!"

Xiongba trotted in and soon came back with a fat grey pheasant. Lin Heng grinned and rubbed Xiongba, saying, "You are amazing today. You found something right after you got here."

Pheasants like to hide in bushes and grass, so people usually can't find them. This pheasant is very fat, weighing about three pounds, which is a big harvest.

"You shot such a big pheasant, awesome!"

Lin Yue heard the gunshots and rushed over from the other side. He was surprised to see the pheasant Lin Heng was holding.

Lin Heng grinned and said, "We are lucky. It is Sanchagou again. Let's go up a little to where we built the shelter before."

There used to be a natural platform at that place, close to the stream, which was an ideal location.

"Okay." Lin Yue nodded, and the two of them walked along the road towards that direction.

It was already dark when they arrived at the place. It took them a long time to explore around on the road, otherwise this wouldn't have happened.

However, the two were not worried about where to stay at night, because they brought enough plastic film this time. They just needed to build a simple frame and surround it with film paper, which was done very quickly.

After it was done, I covered it with dry leaves and branches from the outside, and then started a fire inside. Because the roof was two meters high, I didn't have to worry about burning the film paper by starting a fire in the house.

Compared with tree branches, the heat preservation ability of film paper is obviously better, and it will warm up quickly after making a fire.

"It's really cold in this mountain. The stream water is frozen." Lin Yue said as he brought in a bag of stream water. This was a soft water bucket made of rubber.

"That's for sure. The altitude has risen by at least three or four hundred meters, so the temperature must be lower."

Lin Heng placed a tripod made of steel bars as thick as a finger on the fire, and then put the iron pot on it to boil water. These were specially made equipment that could greatly save the time spent on camping in the mountains.

After boiling water, they poured some into the kettle and used the remaining water to scald the pheasant. After plucking the feathers, the two went to the stream to remove the internal organs and cleaned them, preparing to make some chicken offal and sauerkraut noodles for tomorrow.

"I can't even see any fish in the water. It seems they all went to deep water." Lin Yue shone a flashlight into the water and sighed.

Lin Heng was already walking back with the pheasant in his hand: "It's freezing, let's go back to the house quickly. I won't catch fish even if there are fish."

"well!"

After a while, the two returned to the shelter. Xiongba did not go out. He lay on the dry moss by the fire, warming himself leisurely, just like a person.

"Let's not eat the pheasant for now. Let's grill some steamed buns." Lin Heng said as he took out the steamed buns and homemade lean meat and mushroom sauce, grilled the buns, cut them open, and ate them with hot sauce.

It was already very good to be able to eat such good food in the wild. While eating, Lin Heng threw a roasted one to Xiongba for him to eat.

"Ouch!"

Xiongba placed his paw in front of the lean meat and mushroom sauce, as if to say that he wanted to taste it.

"It's too spicy, what can you eat!" Lin Heng slapped it. Xiongba started eating the steamed bun with a humming sound, seeming aggrieved and as if cursing someone.

Lin Heng ignored it and gave it another one after it finished eating. Although Xiongba didn't have meat to eat every day after following him, he had meat at least every two or three days. His meals were usually specially prepared and there were rarely leftovers.

After finishing their meal, the two men hung the pheasant at the door and lay down to rest. They were not afraid of being attacked by wild animals at all. With two 'Truths' in their hands, they would not be afraid even if a tiger approached.

After all, with Xiongba here, even a tiger would not be able to get close without being discovered.

The next day, the two got up early to go hunting. Lin Heng hung the pheasant on a tree to prevent it from being eaten by wild animals. He also tried to collect valuable things because there were many people hunting in Sanchagou now and they couldn't be as casual as before.

The two of them kept a distance from each other as they explored together, getting familiar with the environment first. After all, they hadn't been here for more than half a year and didn't know the situation well.

After a morning of exploration, they didn't catch any prey, but they had a certain understanding of the place. In the afternoon, Lin Heng put a chicken liver on a fishhook and threw it into the swamp to see if he could catch a big catfish.

He brought a lot of fish hooks this time, and placed some in the grass near the swamp where pheasants often appeared. They were all hooked with corn and soybeans.

Hunting in the afternoon was still fruitless. The traces of various prey were not easy to find, and even Xiongba often lost them. Lin Heng passed by the wild honey nest he found and took a look. He was relieved to see that the bees were alive and well.

He didn't think about harvesting honey. The bees rely on it to survive the winter, and he doesn't need a little honey now.

"It's another day in the Air Force!" Lin Yue sighed as he ate rice mixed with sauerkraut and lard in the evening.

Lin Heng raised his head and said, "I think there is still hope. Although there are many people coming here now, I can still see a lot of fresh footprints and feces. This shows that there are still prey in this place, but they are more vigilant."

"That's right. I hope we'll have better luck next time." Lin Yue sighed.

The next day they went to another ditch early to look for prey, but unfortunately they still found nothing.

When he came back at noon, Lin Heng looked at the fish hooks he had set up again. He failed to catch any fish in the water, and he failed to catch any chickens on the shore. He really wanted to look up to the sky and sigh, "Why is the world like this?"

"Let's get some bugs." Lin Heng found a rotten piece of wood, dug out some longhorn beetle larvae, and used these longhorn beetle larvae to thread the fish hooks and rearrange the fish hook trap.

He didn't believe that he would not get anything this time.

In the afternoon, we searched for prey until dark. It was not boring in the woods. It felt good to explore and search all the time.

They thought it was just another day for the Air Force, but in the evening they made a new discovery.

"Listen, brother, that's the cry of a golden rooster, right?" Lin Yue said excitedly.

"It is indeed the crowing of the golden rooster." Lin Heng nodded.

Then, without saying a word, the two of them headed towards the forest where the golden rooster was crowing. They must get something out of it today.

Half an hour later, accompanied by a loud bang of gunfire, they successfully shot two golden roosters.

"Finally, there is something to gain!" Lin Yue said happily.

"Yes, we have been here for two days." Lin Yue nodded. The plan this time was to hunt for three days. If we didn't catch anything, we would have to go home. After returning to the shelter, he cleaned the golden rooster and hung it up with the golden rooster.

It’s cold in winter, so the chicken won’t go bad if it is hung for ventilation for ten days or half a month.

The next day, they still got up early to explore. When they didn't find any prey, Lin Heng went to collect the fishing hooks at noon.

"Look!"

When Lin Heng reached the first place to put the fish hook, he exclaimed.

"I really got it!" Lin Yue opened his eyes wide and saw a huge pheasant lying on the ground. It was not dead yet, but it was breathing in less than it was breathing out. (End of this chapter)