Carry a fountain with you

Chapter 36

"I want to step on it too, I want to step on it too" The little guy saw his father standing majestically on the watermelon, he wanted to stand on it no matter what, and finally jumped up on the watermelon.

"This watermelon is too solid, don't be unfamiliar." Zhao Weidong believed it completely.

"Don't worry, I'm good at picking a watermelon. It must be cooked and sweet." Liu Junhao put the huge watermelon in a basket and hung it in the well water with a rope.

Iced watermelon in well water is also a traditional way of eating. Well water is warm in winter and cool in summer. The well in the yard is older than Liu Junhao, and it may have a history of decades. As soon as people approach the mouth of the well, they can feel the steam inside. There was a hint of coolness.

After soaking for about half an hour, under the urging of Xiao Haoyu, Zhao Weidong pulled the rope out of the well. Although the well was not too deep, he still heard the sound of "cracking" inside, and he didn't care at first. , I thought it was the sound of running water.

But when they lifted the basket less than half a meter away from the mouth of the well, they found a black thing in the basket wriggling constantly and making a "clicking" sound. Zhao Weidong was startled, and the well in his hand The rope almost fell off.

"What is this, Xiaohao, come and see, there is something in your well." He hung the basket there by pulling the well rope with both hands.

"What, what?" Liu Junhao was picking vegetables in the garden. Hearing their calls, he ran out in a hurry, and Professor Zhao followed closely behind.

"What did I think it was? Why did you pull Lord Jing up and put it down first..." Liu Junhao said as he put the basket into the water again, and lifted it up again when he saw Lord Jing wandering away.

"What is Prince Jing?" Zhao Weidong and his wife were very surprised.

"It's nothing but fish raised in a well," Professor Zhao explained with a smile. He often stays in the countryside and knows some customs and habits.

Rural people are more superstitious and believe that many things are in charge of gods, such as the God of Stove, God of Heaven, Lord of Land, Lord of Well, Lord of Fire, etc., all of which have to kowtow during the Chinese New Year.And I'm confused, I don't know who it was for...

"Feudal superstition" Zhao Weidong's daughter-in-law curled her lips after hearing this explanation.

"It's not all superstition. The more you use the well water, the more alive it is. It's the same principle as running water that doesn't rot. Raising a few fish in the well can not only keep the water alive but also prevent the water from breeding insects and mosquitoes. That's why people used to regard this fish as the well of the king of the well. "Liu Junhao said as he hugged the watermelon, a coolness quickly spread from his fingers to his arms, and then spread to his whole body. There was an indescribable comfort...

As his hand lifted the knife, there was a crisp sound of "bang", the watermelon split in two, the bright red flesh of the watermelon was revealed, the watermelon seeds the size of fingernails were black and translucent like black jade, countless juices splashed on the table, and along the way As the table surface flowed down, after a while, the ants on the ground were attracted by the sweet smell and gathered in a large area.

"We're all on our own, let's get our own, don't wait for me to give way!" Liu Junhao said as he took a piece and put it in his mouth. into the throat.

"It's delicious..." The little guy went forward to grab a big piece without hesitation.

"It's very sweet, I haven't eaten such an authentic watermelon for a long time," even Professor Zhao couldn't help praising it.

This watermelon is different from the ones sold in supermarkets. It is naturally cooked. It tastes rusty and has a very good taste. It tastes cool in your mouth when you eat it.The watermelons sold in supermarkets are all picked when they are half-ripe, so they are durable. Although they look very red, they taste a little skinny, and they chew like cotton.

The adults still had some scruples about the image, but Xiao Haoyu let go of his airs completely, gobbled up the food in his hand, and kept his eyes fixed on the food on the table, letting the bright red melon juice drip down his fingers.

The little guy calculated very well, cut half of the watermelon into eight pieces, but there are five people here, that is to say, two people who eat slowly should eat one piece less in the end, and he can't fall behind, so the little guy eats hazel, mouth It was so big that I didn't even have time to spit out the watermelon seeds, so I swallowed them directly.But he hadn't finished eating a piece, and his stomach was stretched so tight that he couldn't eat any more, and he was still knocking.

Liu Junhao didn't waste the watermelon seeds, but put a bamboo sieve specially for them to spit the melon seeds in. The watermelon seeds with big flower skin are big. After cleaning and drying, they are fried in a pot with five spices. It tastes very crispy and fragrant.

At noon, they ate directly under the leafy big poplar trees. The meals were still commonplace, including scrambled eggs with tomatoes, roasted eggplant, braised eel, wax gourd and crucian carp soup, and then boiled a large pot of mung bean soup. Qi is alive.

Although these are very common meals, Zhao Weidong and his wife still feel different after eating them.There is no fan in the yard, and they are sweating profusely while eating, but they feel indescribably refreshed.

After eating, Liu Junhao originally wanted to cut the remaining half of the watermelon, but Zhao Weidong waved his hand and refused, even saying that he was too full to eat anything now.

Ever since, a few people sat under the big poplar tree to enjoy the shade, fanning casually with cattail fans in their hands, quite comfortable.

"Haoyu, didn't you say you wanted to report the results to your Uncle Liu? Why did you forget?" Zhao Weidong's wife said to her son who was catching butterflies under the loofah seedlings.

"Oh, I forgot, you wait," the little guy immediately ran to the house, took out his schoolbag, and took out a newspaper from the inside for Liu Junhao to read.

It turned out that the composition written by this little guy was actually reported. The content of the composition was his experience in Liujiagou. Although the language was a bit simple, it was full of childlike fun.

"Well, I didn't expect that Xiao Haoyu is still a writer, and he still praises me in his composition. Uncle Liu didn't love you for nothing," Liu Junhao naturally had no shortage of words of praise.

Just as he was talking, Maozi came over to play. When he walked to the door and saw guests in the yard, he wanted to turn around and leave, but was stopped by Liu Junhao, who cut him a large piece of watermelon and said, "You little brat, what are you running for? Come and play with Haoyu,"

At the beginning, the two children were still a little strange to each other, but the children got to know each other quickly, and soon found a common topic. Regardless of the heat, they played around in the yard, catching eels for a while, and feeding the fire for a while, having fun Almost.

However, they soon became very interested in the two turtledoves raised by Professor Zhao, and wanted to catch grasshoppers outside to feed them.

There used to be a lot of grasshoppers on the grass in Liu Junhao’s yard, but since getting more than a dozen pullet hens, those grasshoppers have almost disappeared. Now this group of pullet hens are getting more and more courageous, except when laying eggs and at night. When I come back, I plan to eat outside at other times.

In summer, there are a lot of grass and insects in the woods, so this group of hens has plenty of food, and they are full every time they come back. They don't even care about the corn kernels that Professor Zhao sprinkled in the yard.

"It's a hot day, so don't run around. Just feed the turtledoves to caterpillars. There are a lot of bean seedlings. Look for them." Liu Junhao was a little worried. Liujiagou was full of water. Going out is very worrying.

After listening to his suggestion, the two children did not object, and began to look for cabbage caterpillars on the shelves. After a while, they got a few beans from the shelf. Of course, they also caught a lot of cabbage caterpillars, and each one was fat. .

The two little fellows happily fed the turtledoves. It is said that these two turtledoves are really big. They were soaked in the rain for most of the night and did not freeze to death. Under the feeding of Professor Zhao, they turned out to be different every day. It is full of off-white fluff and looks particularly energetic.

When they opened their eyes, they saw human beings, so they were not afraid of the two bear children, and even opened their mouths "chirping" to ask for caterpillars to eat.

"Grandpa, give me this turtledove. I'll take it back and let my friends see it." Xiao Haoyu became happier and happier as he fed it, and finally came up with the idea of ​​long-term feeding.

"Why do you feed it back? There are no bugs in the city?"

"Feed it rice and mung beans, and the birds can eat them all."

"No, this thing is still small, it can't digest food at all, and it will starve to death." Before Professor Zhao could speak, the little boy had already objected. He is a little expert in feeding birds.

"Then...let's talk about it when we grow up," the little guy said unwillingly.

"You won't be allowed to take it back when you grow up. Last time, the birds you took with you died in just two days. How many days have you been crying? Do you still want to raise birds?" This time, his mother objected.

It is said that Liu Junhao caught this little guy with a few imprudent birds that excited him for a few days. After bringing them home, he happily let the group of friends come to visit his house.But it didn't take long for the birds to become sluggish after being played with, and finally died one after another.For this matter, Xiao Haoyu cried a few times.

(End of this chapter)