Chapter 57 A Little Peach Blossom Spring

In the days that followed, I would often pick the extra bok choy and take it home to make all sorts of dishes.

As the seedlings of green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers grow bigger and bigger.

I transplanted the extra seedlings to other places; they'll be our food in the future, so we can't waste them.

After finishing these tasks, we started pulling up the corn seedlings.

Only one corn seedling should be left in each hole. Remove the strongest seedling and pull out all the rest.

Of course, this seedling wasn't put to any use, and I don't know how to eat it.

After pulling up all the vegetable and corn seedlings, there was a period of time when there was nothing to do.

I was so bored that I started wandering around the mountain.

See if there are any good wild vegetables, or any special fruit trees.

The mountain is mostly covered with apple, pear, plum, and peach trees.

I found seven or eight cherry trees at the bottom of the small slope in my yard, and they were already covered with dense clusters of small green fruits.

It should be ripe soon.

In order to find more fruit trees, I started wandering around the small hill.

Several apricot trees were found near the top of the mountain, and many pear trees were scattered throughout the hillside.

There's a large hazelnut grove on the other side of the mountain; we should be able to harvest a large quantity of hazelnuts in the fall.

And I discovered five mulberry trees directly above the courtyard that surrounds me.

This is such a pleasant surprise! Who doesn't love mulberries?

After patrolling the mountains and preparing to go home, I suddenly remembered that I had been curious about a mountain valley when I first moved here.

Since it was on the way home anyway, I turned directly into the ravine near the small slope fork in the road.

It is early spring, and the leaves and grass have not yet grown very lush.

The ravine doesn't look as scary as it did when it was first discovered.

The entrance to the ravine looks quite ordinary, just like a gentle slope.

If you didn't look at it from a high vantage point, you wouldn't even realize that it's a deep ravine inside.

Follow the gentle slope inwards, turn a corner, and then you'll find yourself in an extremely narrow passage.

Fortunately, the grass isn't too deep now, otherwise I definitely wouldn't dare to go in.

But it only looked scary; in a flash, I passed through the narrow passage.

What comes into view is a field of small wildflowers.

Yellow, purple, red, white—a dazzling array of colors that momentarily stunned me.

This reminds me of "The Peach Blossom Spring".

It truly evokes the feeling of something initially extremely narrow, barely wide enough for one person to pass through, but after walking several dozen steps, it suddenly opens up into a bright and spacious area.

However, Peach Blossom Spring requires dozens of steps to reach, while this ravine can be reached in a flash.

I began to observe the little flower.

Squatting down to take a closer look, I realized that the small purple flowers were actually wild Sichuan peppercorns.

Wild Sichuan peppercorns have a very unique flavor, and they taste especially good when added to stews.

I plan to pick some when I go back.

Then continue walking in, for about 50 meters, and you'll see a row of tall trees.

As I walked through the trees, I was stunned by what I saw.

It turned out to be an oval-shaped pond.

Beyond the pond lies the edge of the ravine, which is a high cliff.

The water in the pond flows out from the high cliffs and rock crevices.

Water gushed from the rock crevices into the pond, suggesting there might be an underground river beneath the pond, allowing excess water to flow away directly.

The pond water was a bluish-green color and looked particularly deep.

Although I was pleasantly surprised, I was still a little scared.

Pick up a stone and throw it in; it splashes loudly, sounding like it's bottomless.

I wonder if the previous owner of my house ever noticed this place.

I looked around the pond carefully, looking for any other clues.

Sure enough, they found half a fishing rod and a small stool in a patch of withered grass.

It seems someone used to fish here.

But are there still fish here now?

After two years of extremely cold temperatures of minus 60 or 70 degrees Celsius, there shouldn't be any fish left here, right?

Although I was looking forward to it, I still firmly believed in my heart that there were no fish here.

So I squatted down by the pond and looked carefully into the water.

My heart was pounding, I was so afraid that a big snake would suddenly jump out and bite my face.

While his mind raced with anxiety, he carefully observed the water.

Then I saw the scene I had been hoping for.

At the very edge of the pond, I saw some small fish, about the size of a fingertip.

They move nimbly, perhaps sensing that humans are watching, as they swim back and forth in the water.

This really surprised me. Although it was just a very small fish, it showed that there was life in the pond.

Perhaps there are big fish at the very bottom of the pond, but even if there aren't, these small fish can still be eaten once they grow up.

Great, great! I can still eat fish even after the apocalypse of extreme cold.

What's more, this is Montreal province.

After seeing the fish, I stood up and looked around.

The pond is surrounded by a two-meter-wide flat area, with a ring of thick, large trees growing around it.

The outer edge of the big tree is the cliff of the ravine.

It's likely that someone deliberately planted the large tree around the pond to hide it.

These large trees have lush foliage, and deep ravines lie between them.

When you look at it from the outside in the summer, it really feels dangerous.

Of course, I can't guarantee that this place is safe right now.

However, being able to see the whole picture is much better than the fear of the unknown.

And I always feel like this is my secret base.

I picked up the half of the fishing rod from the ground; it still had the hook attached.

When I get back, I can make a few simple fishing rods for myself based on the structure of this fishing rod.

Occasionally, you can come and experience the joy of being a fisherman.

Holding the fishing rod, I walked out and returned to the flat land I had just been on.

The ditch here is very deep, it feels like it's two stories deep.

I can build a thatched hut on this flat land, and no outsider will ever find it.

However, there is no need for this at present, and we don't know what to do with the thatched huts.

Banishing the strange, chaotic thoughts from my mind, I squatted down and began picking Sichuan peppercorns.

This wild Sichuan peppercorn tastes amazing. When I was little, my grandma used it to make stewed cured pork and green beans for me.

After the green beans are stewed, they are covered with small bubbles, and they taste incredibly delicious.

He returned home with half a fishing rod and some wild Sichuan peppercorns.

First, put the Sichuan peppercorns into an empty canning jar.

Then, following the shape of a fishhook, I made 10 fishhooks out of wire.

Use a grinder to sharpen the tip of the fishhook to a point.

They also cut down some dead tree branches from the mountain, breaking off excess branches and the thinner parts at the top.

Then, the trunk is sanded smooth with a sander and covered with wood varnish.

Once the wood lacquer has dried slightly, grind a small groove into the end of the fishing rod.

Tie a sturdy line to the slot, attach a fishhook to the other end, and your simple fishing rod is ready.

After the fish in the pond have been raised for a few months, I'll definitely go and try to catch some.

From then on, every time I went up the mountain to check on the vegetable garden, I would bring some leftover rice with me.

Enter through the small hillside entrance and scatter the leftover rice into the pond.

Hopefully, this leftover rice will help the fish in the pond grow even fatter.