Chapter 69 Gray Rabbit and Sweet Peach

The days are getting hotter and hotter.

Taking advantage of the sunny weather, Su Yun dried the rice and husked a small bag of rice.

These past few days I've been taking a little out every now and then to cook rice porridge.

Sometimes Rose brought back more prey than they could eat, so Su Yun suggested that she try to catch some alive.

A few days later, Rose came skipping in, carrying two little gray rabbits. "Look what I caught!"

"Wow, what an adorable little bunny!"

Rose handed two small gray rabbits, each about the size of a fist, to Su Yun. "Here you go! Alive! Spicy rabbit heads!"

These wild rabbits are different from the pet rabbits you usually see; they have bigger ears, a more pointed head, and are less attractive.

Su Yun looked at the two tiny, dusty lumps in her hands, no bigger than a fist, and exclaimed in surprise, "They're too small! Let's wait until they're a bit bigger before we eat them!"

Rose: "That's not bad either. We can raise them first and let them have lots and lots of little rabbits."

Su Yun examined the rabbit in his hand and said with difficulty, "I'm afraid this won't work."

Su Yun helped raise a new breed of rabbits in Rose's small yard after her family started raising them.

"These rabbits are easy to raise. Just give them some water and some sweet potato leaves and calamus every day." Su Yun remembered that when she was a child, her family also raised two white rabbits. Every day on her way home from school, she would carry a black pencil sharpener with her and cut some calamus when she passed by to take home for the rabbits to eat.

Su Yun remembered that they were two snow-white little rabbits, fluffy and adorable. She loved them so much that every day after school, after feeding them, she would take them out to play for a while.

However, when they were let out for a walk later, the neighbor's big yellow dog spotted them, pounced on them, and killed the rabbits...

This made Su Yun very sad for a long time.

Now that she's suddenly started raising rabbits again, Su Yun suddenly felt a little nostalgic and gave the two little ones meaningful names: "The one on this side that's all gray, you can call it 'Spicy' and 'Fragrant Scallion' is the one with a bit of white on it."

"Why do they live separately? If they sleep separately, there won't be any babies!" Rose looked curiously at the two little rabbits in separate cages.

"There's no way around it, the two rabbits you brought back are both males, they can't have babies, and they'll fight. You have to separate them into different cages."

"Oh—" Rose looked thoughtfully at the rabbits in the cage, then slipped away after a while. "Then I'll go find them wives!"

"Huh? Can you tell which one is male and which one is female?" Unfortunately, Rose wasn't listening to her at all and ran off again in a flash—

Su Yun sighed. Ever since this guy completely left his heat cycle, he's been practically never idle. Apart from occasionally helping them till the fields, he spends almost all his time running into the mountains.

But Rose, though she runs away, never fails to bring back a lot of souvenirs. Anyway, if she stays at home, she'll just destroy the house, so it's better to let her out to destroy the mountains.

Watching Rose run off into the distance, Su Yun really felt like she had raised a dog.

Recently, Rose has been bringing back different souvenirs every day, and Su Yun is always pleasantly surprised every morning when she wakes up.

The night wind sensed a great threat.

In the past, Su Yun would only be pleasantly surprised by the things he brought back. Now that she had finally finished working in the fields, she went out to find souvenirs.

I brought back a long bunch of green bananas.

Su Yun's eyes lit up. "Where did you find it?"

"Over in the orchard."

"Ah, is it that far?" Su Yun remembered the location of the citrus orchard last time, which was quite a distance from here.

"We noticed it was flowering last time; we're just going to see if it's going to bear fruit."

"But you just finished turning over the paddy fields, and you finally get a chance to rest. Aren't you tired?" Su Yun looked at the fine beads of sweat on the other person's forehead and face and felt a little sorry for him.

Because there are many paddy fields to be planted next time, turning the soil is a physically demanding task. Without machines or cattle, it's almost entirely done by hand...

After finally managing to manage all the paddy fields, Su Yun was so exhausted that she could barely straighten her back.

I never expected that the night breeze would go out to find bananas.

"It's okay, my back is fine," Ye Feng replied.

"Huh?" Su Yun's cheeks flushed slightly, and her eyes widened. What did this mean? Was it implying something to her?

Seeing the slight surprise on her face, Ye Feng continued to explain, "Cats' bones are more flexible than humans', so my back is fine."

"Oh~" So that's what it means. After hearing Ye Feng's explanation, Su Yun secretly cursed himself again. What was he thinking? Day after day.

The freshly picked bananas weren't ready to eat yet; the peels were still green, and they tasted astringent. Rose curiously took a bite, and her face instantly scrunched up like a chrysanthemum. "Not good—"

"Who told you to be in such a hurry? These need to sit for a while. Hang them up, they'll be ready in a few days." Su Yun strung the bananas together with a rope and hung them under the beam. "You have to wait until they soften a bit before you can eat them."

Rose: "Oh, but Rose is hungry."

"Let's go pick peaches!" The peaches on the other side of the stream are ripening one after another, and they will spoil if we don't eat them in time, so Su Yun plans to pick more at once to make some canned peaches and peach jam.

Late May marks the official peach ripening season, with pink and white sweet peaches hanging heavily on the branches, bending them over.

Although there wasn't enough fertilizer, Su Yun would come over to weed whenever she had time, so the peach orchard didn't let her hard work go to waste and truly rewarded her with a large harvest of peaches.

The first fruit to ripen during this period is the sweet peach.

These peaches are very pretty, round and plump, each about the size of a fist, with a light pink color, and they look sweet and juicy.

Rose was overjoyed to see so many peaches. "Wow, these peaches are huge! I want to eat one!" she exclaimed, picking one and casually wiping it before popping it into her mouth. "Sweet and delicious!"

"Ah! There are more over here! This one is huge too!" Rose is the type who falls in love with everything she sees. Putting her in such a large orchard is like putting her in a buffet. She picks this and that, eating and picking at the same time, having a wonderful time.

Ye Feng followed Su Yun, and whenever he picked a particularly good one, he would hand it to Su Yun, saying, "This is for you, it must be delicious."

"Thank you."

This peach orchard is quite productive.

Since the peaches began to ripen, Su Yun has been picking a few from time to time to enjoy as dessert. When the peaches are fully ripe, the flesh is soft and juicy, bursting with sweet flavor with every bite. However, Su Yun prefers them when they are still slightly green. Although they are less juicy and not as honey-sweet, they are crisp, sweet, and refreshing.

She can eat three in one go.

If you're making peach jam, you can use slightly softer peaches, but for canned peaches, they should be firmer.

Su Yun let the two of them go pick peaches as they pleased, since they would all come in handy eventually anyway.

Neither of these two things is difficult to make; just peel and chop the peach powder.

The ripe peaches hadn't even been chopped much before the juice was already overflowing.

After removing the pits, put them directly into a small earthenware pot, add a lot of white sugar, and simmer slowly.

Until the sugar melts and the fruit pulp overflows with juice.

Then mix in the red juice extracted from the peach peels, which will give the peach jam a pinkish color that looks especially beautiful.

To make canned peaches, use slightly firmer peaches. Cut them into chunks as usual, then put them in an oil-free pot with water and rock sugar and bring to a boil. Cook until the peaches become translucent, then pack them into prepared glass jars while still hot and seal them without oil.

Su Yun picked a few mint leaves, washed them clean, tore off a small amount of leaves and placed them at the bottom of the cup, then crushed them with a spoon.

Then scoop a spoonful of peach jam, pour in chilled boiled water, and stir well.

"Summer Mint Peach Special Drink!"

The transparent canned jar is filled with pink peach juice, and a small, tender green mint is garnished at the rim, exuding a strong summer vibe.

Su Yun came out of the kitchen holding a glass. "Anyone want to try my new summer special drink?"

"I want to try! I want to try!" Rose jumped up enthusiastically and snatched the glass from Su Yun's hand.

"Slow down, slow down, don't spill it, we don't have many cups left."

Rose completely ignored what Su Yun was saying, grabbed the cup, and ran away.

Su Yun handed the remaining glass to Ye Feng, "Try it and see how it is?"

"Um."

Ye Feng took the glass and looked curiously at the color of the special drink. It was a lovely pink color, which he had never seen before.

Take a sip, and the refreshing liquid carries the aroma of mint. Its icy coolness instantly dispels the summer heat. The sweetness of the peach, mixed with the minty scent, spreads throughout the mouth.

"It tastes great."

"I'm glad you like it." Su Yun smiled. She had been worried that the other person wouldn't like the smell of mint, but it seemed that they didn't.

Rose, holding her water glass, gulped down a large glass, then asked with a hint of lingering satisfaction, "Is there any more?"

"There's more, it's in the kitchen, go get it yourself." The peaches had a bumper harvest; they'd made several jars of jam alone. Su Yun generously let Rose eat and drink as she pleased. "There's also some freshly made peach syrup on the table; the middle one is yours, help yourself!"

"Okay, I got it!"

"Do you still have peach syrup?" Ye Feng loved sweet syrup the most, and his eyes lit up when he heard this.

"Yes, this year's peach harvest is bountiful, we can eat our fill!" Su Yun made a large pot of syrup in one go, and sealed it all in cans, dozens of cans of various sizes, enough to last until autumn.

"Ah, if only we had tea leaves, we could probably make peach tea." Su Yun said with some regret. Every summer, she always drank tea, and the first thing she did every morning was to brew a cup of tea and drink it all day long. It was refreshing and healthy. Her favorite was peach oolong tea, a little green tea and a little peach and dried apple. Whether it was cold brewed or hot brewed, it was refreshing with a faint peach aroma. Now she had peaches, but no tea leaves. "If only we could find some tea leaves."

"Tea leaves?" Ye Feng listened to her words with a thoughtful expression.