Chapter 101 Fishing

For dinner we had soybean stew and smoked chicken.

The beans that had been soaked in advance were stewed until they were soft and glutinous, and the chicken was rubbed with salt before smoking, and the meat had turned a little red.

The soup is infused with the salty and fresh taste of the chicken and exudes a special smoky aroma. You know it will be delicious even before you taste it.

Zhao Yeqing ate what was in the bowl and the pot, but was still thinking about what was missing.

She missed the bacon made by Feng Chunyan.

Her favorite food is actually cured pig's trotters, and the soup stewed with them is so delicious.

Next time a wild boar comes to eat her food, she will show no mercy.

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The construction of the stable took neither long nor short time.

It was completed on the morning of the second day.

Having learned from the experience of the recent heavy rains, not only was the foundation of the stable dug deep, but a waterproof platform was also built underneath to prevent water from seeping in during heavy rains.

The wooden board in front is also removable up and down, so it is completely closed during the rainy season. When it is not raining, the upper part of the board can be removed for convenient feeding, and the lower part can also be opened to lead the horse out.

The original bathrooms and toilets all had some problems after being hit by the heavy rain.

The foundation is not stable enough and there is some leakage on the top. Fortunately, the pool under the toilet has drainage. When the water level reaches a certain height, it will flow along the bamboo pipes buried in the soil to the steep slope in the distance without backflow of water.

The ripe vegetables grown in the greenhouse have been picked, and the only ones left are the beans which are still growing on the vines.

Leafy vegetables need to be re-planted. Fortunately, the weather is good now, so there is no need to bother with raising seedlings and transplanting them indoors. You can just sow them directly in the ground.

The soil had lost a lot of nutrients after the rain, so Zhao Yeqing mixed a lot of sheep manure into the soil again.

Well-rotted manure is highly fertile but will not burn roots. It can make soil that has become dry and compacted after waterlogging become suitable for planting again.

Mu Xi was repairing the toilet and bathroom at home, while Zhao Yeqing took Xiaohong out to eat grass.

By the way, bring back the mushrooms that I didn’t pick yesterday.

Zhao Yeqing tied a rope between the two bamboo baskets and placed the rope on the horse's back, so that there was a basket hanging on each side of Xiaohong.

Go out with the rope and collect the trap.

There was no harvest in the three traps. It was probably because the animals that ran away left to find a place to shelter from the rain and have not returned yet.

Zhao Yeqing set up the trap again and walked towards the stream, hoping to pick the mushrooms he had found yesterday.

There were only a few white spots on the ground yesterday, but today they're all there.

They are white and each one is about the size of an egg.

This is a puffball.

Unlike other mushrooms, it consists of an upper cap and a lower stem.

This kind of mushroom looks like a whole, round, white and plump, and can grow very large.

Zhao Yeqing didn't want to wait any longer. Sometimes the puffballs wouldn't grow big and would become old in just a few days, and then they would be inedible.

Fresh puffballs look like oyster mushrooms when cut open, with white and firm flesh.

When it gets old, it turns brown and the flesh inside turns gray. It contains a large number of spores, which will spray out like a smoke bomb when poked with your hand.

Zhao Yeqing let Xiaohong eat grass nearby while he picked mushrooms along the way. When he had a handful full, he put them in the basket, then took Xiaohong for a walk forward and continued picking mushrooms.

By the time we got near the lake, both baskets were half full.

Today the water level at the lake seems to have receded a little, revealing the original lake beach.

On the beach closest to the lake, the grass does not grow very lush and the soil is mostly sandy.

Zhao Yeqing held Xiaohong's hand and walked slowly by the lake. The breeze blew gently and the sun was warm. It was blocked by white clouds from time to time and then came out again.

Time seemed to slow down.

The lake is very deep. Near the lake, the water that is blown towards the shore by the wind is still relatively clear. But just two steps into the lake, the water changes from clear to azure blue.

The distance of two steps was like a cliff.

Deep lakes are as mysterious as the deep sea, and no one knows what is underneath.

Especially this kind of lake on the plateau mountain.

She wasn't quite sure about the altitude of the lake, but it was definitely higher than the meadow and Meishan.

This area was already very familiar to Xiaohong, so Zhao Yeqing let go of the reins and let it find grass to eat on its own.

The strong winds a while ago broke many branches, including some saplings that were less than a year old.

Zhao Yeqing found a long, fresh and tough one and brought it back, then gathered a handful of cattails by the lake.

The cattail reed stalks are tough, and Zhao Yeqing used them to weave a small basket in just a few strokes.

Her craftsmanship was not very good, and the hastily woven work was rough and had many gaps in the middle.

But it is enough for fishing.

The basket is only the size of a mineral water bottle. Insert the wooden stick from top to bottom and fasten it into the gap between the vines of the basket.

There was no shortage of bait on the sandy ground of the lake beach. Zhao Yeqing dug up a few earthworms and caught several crickets, and stuffed them all into the gaps in the vines at the bottom of the basket.

Grab the stick and lower the basket into the lake a few inches.

Wooden sticks are not as tough as bamboo and cannot be as sensitive to underwater conditions.

Zhao Yeqing counted the time, and when it was almost one minute, he immediately picked up the basket and pulled it back.

The moment she lifted it up, the lake water in the basket leaked out from the gap on the side. After pulling it over, she leaned over and looked inside.

Three or four palm-long and three-finger-wide fish were jumping around in it.

It was estimated to be about six taels in weight, and looked like some kind of carp, but different from the ones sold in the market.

It is probably because not many people come to fish in this lake on a regular basis, or it may be because the west side has been developed into a tourist attraction where fishing is prohibited.

This fish was particularly stupid. It got into the basket and couldn't get out.

I think people came to visit this lake in the past.

When she was picking cattails just now, she also picked up a faded plastic bag that was washed up by the lake.

Zhao Yeqing washed the plastic bag, filled it with water, and then put the fish in it.

I plan to do the same thing again.

This time she did not choose the original location, but found a place with aquatic plants, where there happened to be a diversion of a small stream.

Zhao Yeqing inserted the basket into the water in front of the diversion outlet, where it was blocked by plants.

The water here is relatively shallow, and people's shadows are easily reflected.

She stepped back and waited two minutes before coming to look at the basket.

A dozen small willow fish in the basket were vying for the bait under the basket. They felt a shadow covering their heads and tried to run away in a hurry.

But the fish were crowded together and he couldn't get out at all, so he could only sink his head to the bottom of the basket.

Zhao Yeqing picked up the basket, pulled out the stick and threw it away, then walked back with the basket full of small fish.

I was out for more than two hours and gained a lot.

Zhao Yeqing took Xiaohong, who had eaten her fill, and put all the puffballs in a basket, and then put a basket of small fish in a basket on the side.