Chapter 710 Catching Snails

As the old lady walked, she said that when she got closer, she realized that the small basket was full of snails.

"You touched it?"

As they spoke, they quickly took the wooden basin from him.

Shu Yu nodded and rubbed her wrist. This wooden basin was too heavy to carry clothes in. It would be better to use a basket instead, which would be lighter and more convenient.

She followed the old lady home. "When I was washing clothes, I saw that the river was full of snails. The river water was clean and the snails were very big. I thought I would catch some and stir-fry them as a snack."

She had originally planned to retrieve the clothes first, but after walking only a few steps, she ran into Aunt Fang, who was on her way to the village to cook lunch. Aunt Fang was carrying a basket and said that after cooking at the village, she would go to the mountains to collect some pine nuts in the afternoon.

Seeing that Shuyu needed it, they gave her the basket.

Shu Yu originally wanted to refuse, as she used the basket to hold pine nuts, and it would inevitably get dirty if she used it to hold snails.

But Aunt Fang dropped the basket and ran away.

Shu Yu could only put some large leaves under the basket before she went to collect the snails.

She didn't go into the water either. If she dared to go into the water in this weather, the old lady would beat her.

Fortunately, there were plenty of snails along the riverbank, and Shu Yu could easily fill a whole basket with them.

After hearing this, the old lady frowned. "What's so good about these snails? They don't have much meat, and they have a muddy, fishy smell."

They're from the countryside, so they prefer to eat meat in a substantial way. These snails look like there's a lot of meat, but there's only a tiny bit, and it takes a long time to eat them.

Shu Yu pushed open the courtyard gate and couldn't help but laugh, "That's why I said we should eat them as snacks. As for the muddy taste, we can use perilla leaves. Do we have any perilla leaves here?"

"Perilla?" The old lady thought for a moment. "I haven't seen it. I'll ask about it later."

Shu Yu had seen them on the outskirts of the mountain. Since there weren't any nearby, she would ask Fang Xiyue to pick some for her when she went down the mountain tomorrow.

"No need to ask, I'll have someone pick them."

Shu Yu poured all the snails from the basket into a basin of water and said to the old lady who was hanging clothes to dry, "I'll take our bucket and go get some more later."

"Want more?"

Shu Yu nodded, "Yes, there are plenty in the river. After they purge the sand in a couple of days, we'll stir-fry them and eat them. I'll send some to the village so the others can try it. I just arrived, and they've been very kind to me."

The old lady didn't say anything. Although it wasn't the season for eating snails, the people here either didn't know how to cook them, didn't have the time, or, like her, disliked the snails because they had little meat and a muddy taste, so hardly anyone touched them, and they were everywhere.

"Okay, let's eat first, then we'll go. I'll go with you." She had to keep an eye on things to prevent A-Yu from going into the water.

Shu Yu had no objection, "Okay."

She soaked the snails in water, stood up, and wiped her hands. "Why haven't Da Hu and San Ya come back yet?"

"That's right, the Zhang family starts eating at this time, so they should be back soon." Both children are sensible and wouldn't stay at someone else's house during mealtime.

The old lady planned to go look for it after she finished hanging up the clothes, when she heard Da Hu's voice at the door.

"I'm back."

She went to open the door and saw Zhang Ping'an standing at the door with two children.

The old lady immediately smiled and let them in, "Both children have been well-behaved, haven't they? They haven't caused you any trouble, have they?"

Zhang Ping'an smiled somewhat naively, "No, no, they are very nice. Da Hu taught me quite a few characters."

(End of this chapter)