The Sweet Little Fulang

In the woods outside, the birds were singing crisply, and they turned several turns like a song, one after another, Lu Gu sat in the yard and listened while working, thinking in his heart, could it be that these birds were talking just like people.

    The mountains were quiet, so listening to these sounds could be regarded as a kind of fun.

    After chopping the firewood and sweeping the sawdust, Lu Gu carried the fish basket and basket to the river. Yesterday he came back a little late and didn’t come to check the fish. Now he saw that there were three fish in the net, one big and two small, the small one was also longer than his palm.

    These three fish must have been trapped for a long time and didn’t break free. They looked rather listless at the moment. He collected and killed them on a flat stone on the shore. He took out the internal organs and threw them into a basket to take it back and feed the ducks.

    The chickens and ducklings that Shen Xuanqing bought back were not too small, and after several days of raising, they were ready to be eaten, just chop them up.

    After killing the fish, he dug some earthworms in the mud by the river, which could be eaten by chickens and ducks.

    Before Lu Gu went back with the fish basket, he grabbed the aquatic plants by the river and the chicken grass on the ground. He didn't think much about it. He felt that people should eat vegetables and meat, and the ducks and chickens ate earthworms and fish offal, you still have to eat some grass to relieve the greasy.

    On the way back from the river, you could see the large dense fence surrounded, which was for him to raise chickens, but because he was too rare for chickens and ducks, he wanted to raise them in the backyard for another two days to make them a little bigger, otherwise if they were too small, what should he do if they couldn't beat the big bugs, or they would choke when they ate it.

    The little paws of the chickens were just that big, and they were incomparable with the big hen. He couldn't even think about how they hold the bug down with such small paws.

    No one knew about his worries, and fortunately no one knew, otherwise people would laugh at him for being childish and careless.

    Using a knife for chopping chicken grass, he crushed fish viscera, crushed the grass and mixed them together, then Lu Gu took the food bowl to the backyard to feed the chickens and ducks.

    Touching the fluffy chickens and ducks, he felt satisfied. When they grew up, they would be able to lay eggs. Ji Qiuyue told him that Shen Xuanqing loved eggs. He never dared to forget that hens lay eggs every day, so Shen Xuanqing would have eggs to eat every day.

    As for duck eggs, there was a river here, and many people raised ducks, but because duck egg were more fishy than chicken egg, it was often pickled into salted eggs instead of fried. People liked it, but he didn't know much about it yet. When he really saved duck eggs, whether they were sold or pickled, Shen Xuanqing shouldn’t care, then he could be the master for a while.

    After thinking about it, he realized that he was thinking too far, and he felt a little embarrassed himself.

    Lu Gu went back to the front yard and saw that the goji berries he had picked earlier had dried up. While the things were turning red, it was better to get more, so he put the bamboo basket on his back, put the hatchet and scissors, locked the door and went out.
 

Not far from the courtyard, there was a field of wild wolfberry, which was full of red fruits. He cut off the branches full of small red fruits with scissors, bundled them up and put them into bamboo baskets. When it was full, he picked up two small wolfberry trees that could be chopped and had more fruit, and he could drag them back even if they were not easy to carry.

    A busy morning has passed, and Lugu hadn’t picked the branches, so he made a simple lunch for himself.

    He continued to work after eating, and when the goji berries were finished and the watercress was soaked in the jar, he had time to sit and rest under the eaves for a while.

    There were fish and boiled lard in the kitchen, green snails and small purple crabs soaked in water and spit out sand, vegetables were grown in the yard, there were five bamboo plaques on wooden shelves to dry things, wolfberry, black mushrooms, mushrooms and medicinal materials, Lu Gu saw that all of these were more or less related to him, and after passing through his hands, he could also eat and use them, and even sold them for money.

    He still remembered when he couldn’t eat until full before, so he was more grateful and satisfied now that he was full, and he was never tired of working, because he could also share of these things.

    After resting, he went to his room to get a sewing basket. He had been busy going up the mountain for the past few days, so he didn't have time to make a purse.

    People who were capable of embroidery were generally dexterous, and Lu Gu was like this. He was not likely to get suntan when he was young, and his fingers looked fine and white. But his hands were different from those who only do embroidery work. They often had scars or scratches. After all, they were used for work, and the palms of his hands were not delicate.

    He sat alone in the yard embroidering things without being disturbed, and the purse came out in the afternoon, and the smaller purse also had a figure of a tiger pattern for Shen Xuanqing to use.

    When he used to embroider sachets and medicine pouches, he knew that men in towns would also use patterns of flowers and plants. They said it was elegant, because Shen Xuanqing was taller than others, and all Lu Gu could think of were patterns like lions, tigers and leopards. Afraid that Shen Xuanqing wouldn’t want it. 

In the evening, Shen Xuanqing came back, the fish soup stewed on the medicine stove was gurgling, and the smell of vegetables wafted from the kitchen, and the new money bag that Lu Gu handed over carefully, saying it was for him, surprised him and pleased him a bit.