Chapter 8 I almost thought Su Heng jumped into the river

The pancakes are crispy and soft, and paired with the dumpling soup, they have just the right amount of saltiness.

Su Heng squinted her eyes happily. Real meat is still delicious.

Looking at the chicks chirping and running around in the yard, these are authentic free-range chickens, and I don’t know how long it will take before we can eat them.

She felt sleepy after eating, so Lu Mingchuan washed the dishes as usual.

The afternoon in the courtyard is really peaceful, the kind of quiet time that Su Heng can never forget in her childhood memories.

When she got up, she saw Lu Mingchuan building a chicken coop against the wall in the backyard.

Because his other leg was disabled, he could only move a small stool and sit there to do his work.

Although the spring sunshine is not too strong, it is still quite hot at noon.

He didn't even wear a straw hat, and his cold white skin was not tanned, just a little red.

As he swung his arms to hit the bamboo poles, the veins on his arms bulged and beads of sweat dripped down his forehead.

The army green short-sleeved shirt was a little soaked and stuck to the back, highlighting her good figure with broad shoulders and narrow waist.

Su Heng swallowed unconsciously, and when he realized what was happening, he felt ashamed and angry.

Oh no, what is she looking at!

Lu Mingchuan's figure is still too impressive for Su Heng, who has been a single mother for more than 20 years.

Realizing that Su Heng had been staring at him for a long time, Lu Mingchuan finally looked up and gave Su Heng a look after hammering the last bamboo stake into the soil.

Su Heng: "It's so sunny at noon, take a break, there's no need to be so anxious."

He said he was not in a hurry, but he kept frowning when he saw the chickens urinating and defecating everywhere in the yard.

In the end, it was Lu Mingchuan who swept the floor.

Not wanting to bother with Su Heng, Lu Mingchuan picked up the blunt knife on the ground and began to cut the bamboo strips.

Chicken coops are all made of bamboo fences. After the stakes in the outer circle are driven in, the bamboo needs to be divided into thin bamboo strips and passed through the stakes to weave them like a net.

This is a very time-consuming and manual job, as bamboo has many small thorns that can prick your hands.

Even though Lu Mingchuan had thick skin and his hands were covered with calluses from gunshot wounds, he still couldn't avoid getting some small cuts.

He didn't take it seriously. When Su Heng saw this, she went back to the main room, found the enamel pot he used to drink water from, and poured him a glass of cold white wine.

"Here, have a drink of water."

Lu Mingchuan did not refuse. He was indeed thirsty. He took the bottle with one hand and drank it in big gulps.

Beads of sweat, perhaps from drinking too quickly or from sweat, slid down his angular chin and onto his protruding Adam's apple.

Following the swallowing action, it is really a feast for the eyes.

Su Heng's face felt a little hot. After Lu Mingchuan finished drinking, she took the cup and left.

After leaving the house, he didn't speak to Lu Mingchuan again.

After another busy afternoon, Chen Xiang earned full work points today, and her attitude towards Su Heng also changed.

Although Su Heng didn't look like someone who often worked in the fields, he still insisted on completing the task.

On their way home from work, Chen Xiang asked Su Heng to go to the market together in a few days.

"There will definitely be a lot of people this time. You want to buy some ducklings, right? They should be available. Maybe even rabbits!"

The market is held every two weeks, but these days collective labor is very strict, so there are few goods that can be traded, and there are usually not many people at the mid-month market.

This time they have a big fair at the end of the month, so it will be quite lively.

Su Heng hadn't even been to the market yet, so she agreed immediately.

"Okay, let's go together then."

When I got home, there was only the sound of chickens in the yard, but no one was there.

Su Heng went to the backyard and saw that the chicken coop had been built. It was a very large area, which would be more than enough to raise some ducklings.

Their yard has a good location and there are no neighbors around. Su Heng wants to secretly raise more poultry.

She was still pointing at these and eating meat.

Two feeding troughs were made by fixing bamboo against the wall of the chicken coop, and water and food had been added.

Su Heng looked at the mixed vegetable leaves and corn cobs, and secretly sighed that Lu Mingchuan was still very careful.

After returning to the house and resting for a while, she saw Lu Mingchuan's clothes hanging in the yard and remembered that the dirty clothes from yesterday had not been washed yet!

I forgot about it in the morning and didn’t think about it at noon.

She’s so tired. Can Lu Mingchuan help her wash the clothes?

Thinking of his cold face, oh, forget it.

I resigned myself to my fate and dragged the wooden basin out from under the bed. When I went to the kitchen, I found that there was no water in the water tank either.

After washing directly at the river, Su Heng carried the bucket and wooden basin to the place where he fetched water yesterday.

Fortunately, I didn’t meet Chen Xiangnan today.

It's almost summer and the sun sets later.

There were many reeds growing on the river bank. Su Heng was squatting on a stone on the bank washing clothes when she suddenly heard the quacking of ducks.

She looked up and saw a wild duck flying out from the reeds and landing on the water in front of her, drawing a long ripple on the water.

Su Heng looked at the duck, and various dish names and ways to eat duck flashed through her mind.

The duck swayed slowly in front of her, not afraid of people, stretching its neck and quacking twice as if mocking her.

Su Heng felt like she was having red eyes, so she picked up a small stone from the ground and threw it at the duck.

"Bang--" Of course the duck dodged it, and the stone fell into the water, splashing a circle of water.

“Ga ga ga—”

Su Heng stood up and looked at the reeds.

Spring is the breeding season, and there is more than one duck here, so there must be wild duck eggs!

The water near the shore is not deep and the river is quite clear. You can see the small pebbles at the bottom of the river.

Su Heng took off his shoes, rolled up his trouser legs and went into the water.

The water was still a little cold, but she didn't care much and groped her way along the shallows of the river towards the reeds.

Pushing aside the clumps of reed leaves, Su Heng was surprised to find water chestnuts here.

Stir-fried water bamboo shoots are also very delicious. She broke off some and threw them onto the shore.

Occasionally, a few startled little shrimps would pop out from under the water plants, but unfortunately, Su Heng had no tools, so he failed to catch them.

Her clothes were splashed with water and she didn't catch anything. She thought there must be fish in the river, and maybe even crayfish.

Go to the market in a few days to see if there are any shrimp cages for sale. If not, shrimp crawlers will do.

She used to be from the south. When she was a child in the countryside, she saw her grandmother using cages to catch crayfish. She wondered if there were such cages here.

Summer watermelons and crayfish, placed on the dining table under the tree at the door, enjoying the evening breeze, are the most indelible memories of my childhood.

After coming to his senses, Su Heng continued to look for wild duck eggs.

The water chestnut leaves, which were almost as tall as a person, blocked her view, but when she pulled aside a large clump of leaves in front of her, she actually saw a simple nest.

There were three wild duck eggs in the nest. Wild duck eggs were smaller than chicken eggs, but they were the most delicious when they were free.

This is the fun of hunting in the wild. Su Heng squinted his eyes and smiled, put the duck egg in his pocket, and continued to move forward.

She walked further and further away, not noticing that it was gradually getting darker.

The setting sun illuminated half the sky like spilled hot pot base. The wild ducks returned to their nests and were almost angry to death, making another burst of quacking sounds.

"Su Heng!"

Su Heng, who had picked up another nest of wild duck eggs, vaguely heard someone calling her.

When I stood up, I was surprised to find that it was already so late!

"Su Heng!"

It wasn't an illusion, someone was really calling her. Why did it sound like Lu Mingchuan?

Su Heng quickly pushed aside the reeds and climbed onto the nearest shore.

"I'm here!"

She waved to Lu Mingchuan in the distance, only to realize that she had walked quite far.

Lu Mingchuan's face didn't look very good.

He heard Su Heng coming back from the room and saw her leaving the house.

But unexpectedly, she still hadn't come back when it was almost dark.

When I came to the river and saw the pair of shoes on the stone, I almost thought Su Heng had jumped into the river.