The ice and snow melt, everything comes back to life, and spring has arrived once again.
Wei Mo has had a great time these past few days, spending his days hunting birds or going up the mountain with his two henchmen.
With Zhou Fen and Li Xiuxiu protecting them, even Grandpa Yu no longer tries to stop them.
However, Zhou Fen and Li Xiuxiu both had their own things to do, so Wei Mo still occasionally went to play with his friends.
Wei Mo wanted to try something new today, so he took Wei Xiaomin and Wei Xiaohui, the three siblings, out of the house.
In front of the dilapidated temple of the Dragon King Temple, the willow bushes there had already sprouted, and Wei Mo clearly remembered his childhood.
Because my family was relatively poor, I would look for some particularly tender willow buds on the willow tree. The willow buds tasted slightly bitter and were quite astringent when I bit into them.
But for this era, it's a rare treat.
Because the snow and ice have just melted and the wild vegetables have just sprouted, if you want to get some snacks besides wild vegetables, you can only target willow buds.
Willow buds don't actually taste good, but who can blame me for having such childhood memories?
Wei Mo, along with Wei Xiaohui and Wei Xiaomin, prepared to go look for the willow buds, while their neighbors Tian Yue and Tian Xue also ran over.
Upon hearing that Wei Mo was going there, he nodded, wanting to go there as well, and asked Wei Mo:
"Brother Wei Mo, can we go too?"
Wei Mo nodded, and the five of them set off together for the Dragon King Temple.
After Wei Mo and his companions arrived at the willow thicket, they began searching for tender buds, about five or six centimeters long. If they were too long, the heart of the willow bud would have turned woody and would be inedible.
The five of them soon found a large bunch of willow buds. Tian Xue ran up to Wei Mo, handed him a bunch of willow buds, and said:
"Brother Wei Mo, you should try this. These are willow buds that I found."
Wei Mo looked at the handful of willow buds in his hand, then picked out one of the willow buds that Tian Xue handed him, put it in his mouth, and began to chew.
The taste of willow buds is still the same as I remember—a little bitter and astringent, but it seems to have a hint of sweetness.
Seeing that Wei Mo had started eating, everyone took out a piece and put it in their mouths, chewing it. The taste wasn't actually that good, but everyone ate it happily.
The number of birds in the willow thicket is steadily increasing because some migratory birds have returned.
The river surface beside it was completely ice-free, and the calm water was occasionally punctuated by blackfish surfacing.
Wei Mo looked at the place where he used to play, feeling particularly moved. He spoke to the four girls:
"Sister, Tian Xue, wait for me here. I'm going home to get my fishing rod and earthworms. Let's fish here for a while."
The four nodded, looking somewhat excited, because these children hadn't fished this year.
The two sisters, Tian Yue and Tian Xue, are now a year older. Last year, the two little girls didn't have such a playful spirit.
Wei Mo jogged home, actually to buy fishing hooks and lines in the space shop. Then he found a few suitable wooden sticks in the yard and ran towards the Dragon King Temple.
Seeing Wei Mo like this, Li Xiuxiu quickly stopped him and stepped forward to ask:
"Wei Mo, where are you going again? Why are you carrying a jar?"
Wei Mo turned around, smiled at Li Xiuxiu, and then replied:
"I'm going fishing by the river to show off my wife. Remember to pick up the fish later, and we'll have fish for lunch."
Li Xiuxiu nodded, while Qian Manman, who was standing not far away, was particularly excited.
She was feeding the hens there; they were the ones Wei Mo had bought last year.
Now all 15 hens have grown up, and with spring here, they will start laying eggs.
There's a saying in Northeast China: "Fish caught when the river thaws and hens that lay eggs are the most delicious."
This means that when the river ice has just melted, the fish will taste fresher, and the hens preparing to lay eggs will taste especially delicious.
Most people were reluctant to eat it, but Wei Mo's family was different; they would take a hen to eat every few days.
When he went to the county town, he bought another one to make up for it. It can be said that of the 15 hens that Wei Mo bought, probably only one in ten survived; they were all older hens that he bought later and had grown up.
Wei Mo carried the things and ran all the way to the Dragon King Temple. Then he started making fishing rods for everyone, while Wei Xiaomin and Wei Xiaohui stood by.
Even the two sisters, Tian Yue and Tian Xue, were staring intently at the fishing rod in Wei Mo's hand. After Wei Mo finished making the first fishing rod, he handed it to Wei Xiaohui.
Wei Xiaomin pouted, but she stayed close to her younger brother, waiting for the next fishing rod.
Wei Xiaohui was happy. A group of people had already started fishing. Wei Mo made the fishing rods very quickly, and soon everyone had one in their hands.
Five little boys gathered together, fishing by the river. Before long, someone kept pulling up their rods, and the five boys' catches kept increasing.
Just as Wei Mo was fishing, Captain Li Dazhuang passed by and saw Wei Mo start fishing. He quickly came over and stood beside Wei Mo.
Looking at the five focused little ones in front of him, Li Dazhuang lowered his voice and patted Wei Mo's little shoulder.
Wei Mo was startled to see that the person who came was Li Dazhuang. He then put away his fishing rod, walked aside with Li Dazhuang, and asked:
"Uncle Dazhuang, what brings you here? Is there something you need?"
Li Dazhuang only remembered after seeing Wei Mo, and he said somewhat hesitantly:
“Wei Mo, our winter fishing team has been disbanded, and now the village has no extra income. Can you see if you can think of something else to increase our profits?”
Li Dazhuang's decision was not made on a whim. He had wanted to go find Wei Mo before, but when he thought of Old Master Yu, he didn't dare to go at all.
Because every time the old man sought Wei Mo's advice, he would criticize Li Dazhuang.
The villagers are living better and better now. At least they no longer go hungry and can eat their fill at every meal. This is all thanks to Wei Mo, and of course, Li Dazhuang also deserves credit.
If it weren't for Li Dazhuang's coercion, how could there be so many good things in the village?
Wei Mo frowned as he pondered what else he could do to increase the villagers' income.
After thinking for a moment, Wei Mo said to Li Dazhuang:
“Uncle Dazhuang, if we really want to solve the problem of everyone having enough to eat, we need to start from these two aspects. The prey on the mountain is limited, but there are many medicinal herbs on the mountain.”
"We can go up the mountain to collect some herbs, but we haven't found a market for them yet. We can collect them first, and I'll take everyone there later and show you what the herbs look like."
Upon hearing this, Li Dazhuang nodded excitedly. He now trusted Wei Mo completely and would agree to whatever Wei Mo said.
That wasn't all. Wei Mo continued speaking to Li Dazhuang:
"And fishing nets, but we won't be weaving large nets this time. If we want to catch fish in the river, it's not realistic to use large seine nets now, since the river is swift and it would be difficult to catch them with large seine nets."
"Then we can just make some nets, and we can continue to collect fish later. We can even reuse the fish baskets we used before."
Li Dazhuang nodded and tried to pull Wei Mo to find Grandpa Yu, but Wei Mo refused. He was still a child and was playing. Who had time to pay attention to them?
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