After Zeng Wenjuan finished her breakfast, she returned to the fields to continue harvesting rice, while Goudan was picking foxtail grass under a tree.

After an unknown amount of time, Chen Yitang called out to Zeng Wenjuan, "Nannan, I'm going back first! I'll prepare dinner tonight, so you don't have to worry. Just take a rest if you're tired."

After picking snails for most of the day, Chen Yitang felt sore in his waist and back, as if his entire back was not his own. He also knew how hard Zeng Wenjuan had worked these days, but she still persisted. Chen Yitang felt very distressed, but he also respected the child's ideas.

Leading Goudan back home, Chen Yitang put down the bucket and kept kneading his back. Goudan saw it and walked up to Chen Yitang: "Grandpa, are you tired? I can give you a massage."

"Hahaha...our Goudan is so well behaved. Then you can give grandpa a back massage! At his age, he is too tired to do any work." Chen Yitang was amused by Goudan. Since the child was willing, Chen Yitang did not refuse. After all, he is a child! If he knows how to be considerate of adults, let him go. You can't raise a good child if you don't allow him to do anything.

The snails picked up from the fields were a little dirty, so Chen Yitang rinsed them in the pool three or five times. When they were clean, he put them in a bucket and let them start spitting out the mud and sand.

Chen Yitang picked up a backpack and said to Goudan, "Goudan, we have nothing to do, so let's go pick some herbs together! Pick some basil and I'll make you fried snails tonight."

Goudan nodded obediently and carried his small backpack. The old and the young went up the mountain hand in hand. Chen Yitang was going to make two tiger skin plasters. He had tiger bones, cooked rehmannia, angelica, white peony root, and Sichuan calamus, but he didn't have musk, frankincense, safflower, peach kernel, and myrrh, so he had to go to the mountain to look for them.

As soon as we got to the mountain, we saw a lot of honeysuckle. Chen Yitang said to Goudan, "Goudan, do you know what this is? It is also a Chinese medicinal material. It has the effects of clearing away heat and detoxifying, evacuating wind-heat, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial, enhancing immunity, relieving sore throat and swelling, relieving heat and thirst, lowering blood lipids, anti-oxidation, protecting the liver and promoting bile secretion, and preventing and treating cardiovascular diseases."

"Should we pick all the honeysuckle flowers? I'll pick the ones at the bottom, and you pick the ones at the top, grandpa." Goudan said to Chen Yintang simply.

Chen Yiwen shook his head and waved at Goudan: "You pick them here, and Grandpa will go over there to look for herbs. If there is anything, just shout for me and I will come right over."

"Okay, I get it. Go ahead! I often go up the mountain with my mother and I am very familiar with this place. This is the outskirts, and nothing will happen. Grandpa, don't go inside anymore. There are tigers in there that will eat people. It's scary." Goudan also imitated the way the villagers scared children and tried to scare Chen Yitang.

Chen Yitang touched Goudan's head with amusement and said, "Okay, I promise I won't go in, and you don't run around."

The two of them, one on this side and the other on that side, began to work. Fortunately, the people here didn't know the herbs, and there were many left here. Until the sun set in the afternoon, Chen Yitang finally found all the herbs he needed.

"Goudan, we're going down the mountain. We have to cook dinner later so that your mother can have a hot meal when she comes back." Chen Yintang stretched out his hand and shouted to Goudan while carrying a backpack.

Goudan, carrying his full backpack, twisted his little body and ran towards Chen Yitang. Chen Yitang found it a little funny, but was afraid that Goudan would fall, so he reminded him: "Goudan, don't run, be careful not to fall. Grandpa is waiting for you here, don't be so anxious."

Goudan quickly ran to Chen Yintang's place, and the two went home hand in hand. As soon as they got home, Chen Yintang prepared the herbs and placed them in a sieve to dry.

He went to see the snails again. They had already spit out all the mud and sand. After Chen Yitang changed the basin of water for the snails, he found a pair of pliers from the house and started to remove the snails' butts.

"Grandpa, what are you doing? The shell can't be eaten. Why don't you remove the snail shell and do the same as my mom did yesterday? That one tastes better." Goudan kept talking, leaving Chen Yitang no chance to interrupt.

After Goudan finished speaking, Chen Yitang spoke up: "Here's another way to cook it. It's delicious. I'll let you be the first to try it when I make it."

"Okay! Grandpa's cooking is delicious, mom's cooking is delicious too, and when I grow up I can also cook delicious meals." In Goudan's little thoughts, he thought that he had grown up and was just like an adult.

After Chen Yintang processed the snails and cleaned the wild vegetables, perilla leaves and chili peppers he had picked from the mountain, he carried the snails and wild vegetables into the house.

Goudan followed behind him, staggering into the house, and sat obediently on his own little stool, watching Chen Yitang cook.

Chen Yitang chopped the perilla leaves and wild vegetables and put them on a plate; minced the ginger and garlic; cut the chili pepper into sections. Pour water into the pot, add cooking wine, and put the snails in.

I then added more firewood to the stove, and put a few more pieces of firewood in. I didn't need to add more firewood later. When the snails were boiled, I took out the snails with a colander and rinsed them with cold water. I then let the snails sit in the colander and put them on a bowl to drain the water.

After cleaning the large iron pan, heat the oil in the pan, and stir-fry the minced ginger, garlic, and chili pepper until they are fragrant. Then pour the chopped perilla leaves in and continue stir-frying.

Goudan was sitting on a small stool and kept coughing. Seeing this, Chen Yitang said anxiously, "Goudan, get out quickly! It's too spicy in this room. Get out quickly. Grandpa will fry you a non-spicy dish later."

Goudan wanted to stay, but the chili pepper was too spicy, so he ran out quickly. He coughed for a while outside and finally felt better.

Chen Yitang saw that the ingredients were almost ready, so he poured the snails that had just been blanched into the pot and used a spatula like a hoe to stir-fry them evenly. Then he added light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, salt, sugar, and chicken essence and stir-fried them evenly.

Finally, Chen Yitang used a ladle to add a similar amount of water, covered the pot, and simmered it for a few minutes to allow the snails to fully absorb the flavor of the seasoning. He opened the pot lid and cooked it over high heat until the sauce thickened, then took a large bowl and served the snails.

Afterwards, Chen Yitang cleaned the pot carefully. After making sure that there was no spicy taste left, Chen Yitang first fried some wild vegetables and then fried some non-spicy snails for Goudan.

After the dishes were served, Zeng Wenjuan also came back. She cleaned her rubber shoes at the door, washed her hands and feet, and then took Goudan's hand and went into the kitchen.