The long, dark brown stem is topped with curled leaves, as if it is bent over by the dense spores and fruits above.
A large patch of tender bracken is growing not far away.
Bracken fern, also known as fist vegetable or dragon head vegetable, has a refreshing taste and tastes great whether blanched and served cold or stir-fried.
Jiang Yimian picked the tender stems one by one and put them into her basket, continuing until she had cleaned up all the bracken in the vicinity.
She hadn't gone out to pick wild vegetables for quite some time, and she was tired of eating roasted pheasants and rabbits in the low-lying area all day long.
Unfortunately, there were still quite a few pheasants and rabbits in the house that had been pickled.
The wildfire burned several hilltops, killing many animals that couldn't escape in time.
Most of them were burned to ashes or charred, with only some rabbits hiding in their burrows or some lucky pheasants that were not burned.
All of these things were picked up by Gou Sheng and his children.
The three families divided the meat among themselves, and each family received a large basket. They ate it for several days without finishing it. Fearing that the meat would spoil if left for too long, they salted some of it and made the rest into smoked meat.
Jiang Yimian no longer had much of an appetite for the pheasants and rabbits, but seeing the bracken made her feel much more refreshed.
Jiang Yimian found some bracken nearby and picked it all before carrying a full basket home.
It was nearing noon, and the sun was blazing. By the time Jiang Yimian got home, she was covered in sweat.
Wang Fengqin handed her a bowl of houttuynia cordata and mung bean soup, wiped her sweat, and said, "The weather will probably get hotter in a few days, and all those snakes and insects will come out. You should be careful every time you go out."
Jiang Yimian nodded and took the bowl.
The first taste is the fishy smell of houttuynia cordata, but it is quickly masked by the fragrance of mung beans. The sweetness of the sugar also helps to mask the fishy smell of houttuynia cordata.
She used to be unable to eat houttuynia cordata, finding the taste strange, but after drinking houttuynia cordata and mung bean water, she found the taste quite good and acceptable.
Besides Xiao Ye and her, Wang Fengqin and Xiao Nuan'er both thought that houttuynia cordata was delicious. Every time they made a cold dish, the two of them would eat it all up.
For lunch, we ate rice, stir-fried bracken with lard, and cold-dressed houttuynia cordata. Each person also had a bowl of egg drop soup.
The group ate every last drop of soup and rice.
Little Nuan'er touched her bulging little belly and said happily, "Mother, sister, I want to eat this vegetable and eggs again in the future. Can they be dried? So that I can take them out and eat them whenever I want."
Last time we ate shepherd's purse and bamboo shoots, and my sister said that they could be dried so she could eat them whenever she wanted. She also wanted to eat the vegetables we had for lunch that way.
Wang Fengqin was amused. She wiped the grease off Xiao Nuan'er's mouth before saying helplessly, "These eggs were brought by your Aunt Xiao Yun. There weren't any extras for you to dry."
These past few days, whenever the little guy eats something he likes, he always thinks about drying it and storing it for later, afraid that it will be gone after this meal.
Upon hearing that it couldn't be dried, Xiao Nuan'er immediately pouted, then looked at the bracken that Jiang Yimian had just brought back today, and reluctantly asked, "Can this be dried? Xiao Nuan'er likes this vegetable, it's delicious."
Jiang Yimian just smiled and patted the little guy's head, saying, "Of course, if Xiao Nuan'er likes it, I'll pick more tomorrow. Then I'll blanch it and dry it, so Xiao Nuan'er can eat it even in winter."
Hearing that they could eat it even in winter, Xiao Nuan'er's eyes lit up, and she immediately nodded, "That's great! How about Xiao Nuan'er and I go pick some together tomorrow?"
She likes this dish; it's crunchy and fragrant.
It's hot outside and there are lots of bugs. She's really reluctant to let her little one get tanned, since she's managed to raise him to be fair and clean.
And I'm also afraid that if I focus on digging for medicinal herbs, I'll neglect the little guy, and something bad might happen.
Jiang Yimian was hesitating about how to refuse the little guy when Xiao Ye patted his chest and said, "Sister has a lot of things to do. Xiao Nuan'er, come with me tomorrow. I saw this kind of vegetable in the small depression a few days ago, but it hasn't grown up yet. Let's go and take a look together tomorrow."
Xiao Nuan'er glanced at Jiang Yimian, then looked at her brother. Seeing Jiang Yimian nod in agreement, she quickly and happily said, "Okay, then Xiao Nuan'er will go with my brother."
Seeing that the two little ones had made a happy decision, Jiang Yimian and Wang Fengqin just smiled, cleaned up the dishes, and went into the kitchen together.
Jiang Yimian casually asked, "Did Aunt Xiaoyun come by this morning?"
While washing the dishes, Wang Fengqin said with a smile, "Of course, they even brought two eggs. I didn't want them, but they insisted on giving them to me."
Speaking of which, her two chickens are still alive! I saw them the day I went up the mountain; they were half-dead and hadn't laid any eggs. I thought they were long dead.
Jiang Yimian was also a little surprised. She didn't know that the Chen family had two chickens. It seemed that they had been hiding them for fear of being discovered and stolen. They only started raising them recently after they got their own house.
Wang Fengqin continued, "I don't know what's wrong with Xiaoyun today. She came to my house, sat for a while, and then left. She seemed distracted the whole time."
Oh, right, it seems she came looking for you. I told her you went out to dig for wild vegetables, and she said she'd come back in the afternoon.
I noticed her dark circles were really bad; she didn't seem to be sleeping well. Sigh, she's pregnant, and not getting enough sleep every day—how can her body take that?
Normally, she and Xing'er would help each other whenever they could so that the other could focus on her pregnancy. But Liu Xiaoyun was not one to stay idle. She would look for work everywhere, either washing vegetables or fetching water for them, or weaving straw sandals at home, feeding chickens and rabbits. She was never free.
This made it difficult for her and Xing'er to work in the yard, as they were afraid Liu Xiaoyun would come to help.
Jiang Yimian nodded, guessing that the other party must have figured it out and wanted her to examine Chen Tiezhu's leg, which was why they came.
After telling Gousheng that day, the Chen family didn't mention it for quite some time. She thought they didn't believe her and didn't want her to see it.
Looking back now, I guess she went to persuade Chen Tiezhu.
After washing the dishes, Wang Fengqin took the two little ones to take a nap, while Jiang Yimian washed the motherwort in the yard.
Just as I finished washing the mat and took it out to dry in the yard, Liu Xiaoyun arrived, carrying a package that looked like a woven straw mat.
"Aunt Xiaoyun is here, please have a seat," Jiang Yimian greeted.
Liu Xiaoyun waved her hand and handed over the mat with a smile, saying, "Yimian, this is a mat I wove from cattail grass last year. It's new and hasn't been used yet. Summer is almost here, so you can put it on your bed to keep cool."
Jiang Yimian simply waved her hand, "Aunt Xiaoyun, keep it. I only heard from my mother today that we accepted your eggs, so I'm too embarrassed to accept your mat as well."
Although I made them myself, it was still a troublesome task. It will take at least a month to finish these two mats.
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