Chapter 297 An unexpected surprise

The winter climate in Gao Mingcheng's place is not very warm, so migratory birds will fly south. In autumn, if you look up at the sky, you can see geese flying south.

But birds such as turtledoves and sparrows still stay here, searching hard for grass seeds and insects to survive the food-scarce winter.

Every time at this time, the villagers would find ways to catch turtledoves. Turtledoves are large in size, have delicious meat, and are nutritious, making them a kind of wild game that everyone likes.

There are two ways to catch turtledoves. One is to buy a sticky net, prop it up with a bamboo pole, and place it in the field or at the foot of the mountain. The sticky net is very fine and transparent, and the mesh is not large. When the bird flies between the mountains and forests, its wings can easily be entangled in the sticky net. Once entangled, the bird cannot free itself and can only hang on the net and wait to die.

This kind of sticky net is very efficient in catching birds, and it can catch any bird. It is quite harmful to birds, so in later generations, it is clearly stipulated that sticky nets cannot be used to catch birds, otherwise it is illegal.

In addition to using sticky nets, there is another way, which is to use a cover to cover the turtledoves, but this requires some bait and someone has to stand by.

Fortunately, in winter, most people have nothing to do, especially children, who are very interested in catching turtledoves.

After Gao Mingcheng returned to the village, he found traces of the villagers catching turtledoves in several places. At this time, he was walking in the deep mountains. In the silence, the sound of birds became more and more quiet. Looking up, he could see various birds flying around on the treetops.

This time when he entered the mountain, he had no purpose in mind, so he was in a more relaxed state of mind, planning to go wherever he wanted. Black Tiger and the elf were unwilling to just walk like this, and they lowered their heads and sniffed in the woods, as if they were looking for something.

Sometimes they used their front paws to pull down the dry grass, and sometimes they barked at a cluster of lush bushes.

Suddenly, their barking became rapid and louder. Heihu even ran to Gao Mingcheng, gently bit his pants, and motioned him to come over and look.

Gao Mingcheng looked over curiously and saw a yellow muntjac hiding deep in a bush.

This yellow muntjac was not big, probably only about 20 to 30 kilograms. It seemed injured and was hiding inside without moving. Gao Mingcheng walked over and pulled it out, only to find that it had a broken leg.

The yellow muntjac was timid, and when it was frightened, it immediately started to cry out. The cry was not pleasant to hear, and it even wanted to escape. However, it was a good runner, but now not only did it have a broken leg, it was also restrained by people and could not move!

Gao Mingcheng checked the condition of the yellow muntjac and felt that its leg must have been broken and completely fractured. As for the specific cause of the injury, he had no idea.

Apart from the broken leg, the rest of the body looks healthy.

In that case, why not just give it to me?

Thinking so, Gao Mingcheng took out a dagger from his waist and killed the yellow muntjac directly.

With little food in winter and a broken leg, the fate of this yellow muntjac is already sealed.

Gao Mingcheng was very happy to receive this unexpected surprise, and said to the two dogs, "I'll give you a snack when I get home!"

Although there is still a lot of wind-blown meat at home, it is all salted meat and not as delicious as fresh meat. Besides, the yellow muntjac is also a kind of deer and is very nutritious.

He had originally planned to slaughter two sheep during the New Year, but because he had killed so many wild boars before, he didn't have time to slaughter the sheep.

Now, he decided to slaughter one sheep tomorrow. As for the remaining one, he would let it live for the time being. Next spring, the wild grass on Xiaofu Mountain would be waiting for it to eat.

"Let's go home!" Gao Mingcheng looked at the sky. It gets dark early in winter, and the light was already a little dim, so he decided to go home.

The two dogs barked and followed Gao Mingcheng down the mountain.

When I got home, the light was getting dimmer. The lights in the main room were on and Xuanmei was writing at the table, or to be more precise, practicing calligraphy.

She has recognized the commonly used characters, but still can't write them well. She didn't pay much attention to it before, but now she has to keep accounts every day, and she feels that her handwriting is ugly. Therefore, she will take some time every day to calm down and practice calligraphy.

Under her guidance, Gao Shufang also practiced calligraphy. After a period of time, the handwriting of both of them became better and better. At least it was neater and there were no missing limbs.

Hearing the sound of someone coming in, Xuanyuemei put down the paper and pen in her hand and came out to greet him.

"Ming Cheng, you're back? I'm just about to cook." Xuanyuemei said, looking at the yellow muntjac in his hand.

Having eaten wild boar meat for a while, her eyes lit up when she saw the yellow muntjac.

She said quickly, "Mingcheng, I'll go boil some water. Let's pluck the hair from this yellow muntjac, and don't peel its skin! The skin is delicious and will be chewy when stewed!"

As she spoke, she hurried to the kitchen to boil water.

Gao Mingcheng smiled and said, "In that case, he would throw the muntjac on the ground and wait for the water to boil before scalding its fur."

Before the water boiled, he went to find a wooden basin, a kitchen knife and other tools, and then moved the light in the main room to the eaves.

Although the houses in the village were equipped with electric lights, they were very common pear-shaped bulbs that emitted an orange-colored light. They were not completely fixed but could be moved.

A nail was nailed on the eaves to make it convenient for hanging the wire there.

While he was busy with these things, Xuanyuemei was also busy washing rice and vegetables. The advantage of having two large iron pots at home came into play. They could cook rice and stir-fry vegetables at the same time, which saved a lot of time.

Of course, this also increases the requirements for fire watching. Many people have to watch the fire, add firewood in time, and cut vegetables and cook at the same time. It's really busy.

The fire was burning fiercely in the stove, and the heat gathered at the bottom of the pot, causing the water in the pot to gradually boil.

Manyu Mei immediately shouted, "Ming Cheng, the water is boiling!"

"Okay." Gao Mingcheng responded, using a ladle to scoop boiling water into the bucket, and then pouring it into the wooden basin. The yellow muntjac was already placed in the basin, and the fur would fall off easily after being scalded with hot water.

The couple each performed their duties. Gao Mingcheng was busy processing the yellow muntjac in the yard, while Xuanmei was busy cooking. After the yellow muntjac's internal organs were processed, Gao Mingcheng took them to the kitchen. These internal organs would serve as tonight's dishes.

As for the two dogs, Gao Mingcheng also gave them about one pound of meat, and he picked out the meat from places with more bones, so the two dogs made crisp sounds when they chewed.

It was a very quiet night. Although the Chinese New Year was approaching, they lived in seclusion and had no neighbors around. The excitement of the Chinese New Year seemed to have nothing to do with them.

For this reason, Gao Mingcheng decided to have a baby!

When it comes to creating humans, it was arranged long ago, but fate is like this, it will not completely go according to people's wishes. Sometimes you want something but it is always difficult to get it.

Sometimes you don't want something, but suddenly you get it.

(End of this chapter)