Jiang Yimian was a little curious and quickly asked, "Aunt Xing'er, where are you going?"
Zhao Xing'er said with some concern, "I'll go see my father-in-law. He said he would be back before noon this morning, but he hasn't returned yet. I'll go check on him; maybe he's suffering from heatstroke."
The old man spends all his time alone in the paddy fields, either cutting grass on the ridges or irrigating the fields, and he doesn't want anyone else to help him. He's stubborn and inflexible, so they can't say much and can only let him do as he pleases.
But now the sun is getting stronger every day, and they are really worried about the old man going to the fields alone.
Jiang Yimian nodded, washed her hands, and said, "Aunt Xing'er, I'll go. You go back to your work. I'll go check on how the rice in the fields is growing."
I haven't been there for quite a while, so I'll go check it out today.
Zhao Xing'er hesitated for a moment, but then Wang Fengqin took out a straw hat from the house and put it on Jiang Yimian before smiling and saying, "Xing'er, just let Yimian go. Children can run fast. Aren't you supposed to be gathering chicken grass with Gousheng? Go and get busy."
Liu Xiaoyun is now heavily pregnant and gets tired after standing for a short time, let alone doing anything else. Only Gousheng can keep things busy at home, but with only one child, there's not much he can do.
Wang Fengqin and Zhao Xing'er usually take turns helping out, and today it was Zhao Xing'er's turn.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Xing'er responded and gave Jiang Yimian a few instructions before returning home.
Wearing a straw hat, Jiang Yimian picked up a basket and a sickle and headed towards the lotus pond.
Rowing a raft through the lotus pond, with a breeze occasionally brushing against her face, Jiang Yimian didn't feel hot at all; instead, she felt quite comfortable.
Soon, the lotus pond in front of us gradually shrank, turning into a narrow ditch.
Jiang Yimian secured the raft to the shore and then saw another raft that was also secured; this was the one that Old Liu had rowed there that morning.
The raft is still there, and Old Liu should still be in the field.
After walking for a while, they finally saw the hillside not far away. Jiang Yimian walked down the gentle slope along the ridge. The gentle slope, which was originally sloping and used to roll mud off from time to time, had been transformed into neatly arranged terraced fields.
The green rice in the field has already reached knee-high, growing close together.
Jiang Yimian looked around while watching the field, and after searching for a while, she finally found Old Man Liu sleeping soundly in a shady spot.
You could hear the other person snoring from afar, a harmonious blend of cicada chirps and frog croaks.
Jiang Yimian smiled helplessly. It was a good thing that Aunt Xing'er was so anxious, but this old man was sleeping in the shade.
She tiptoed over, about to wake him, when Old Man Liu suddenly woke up, squinting at the person who had come.
Seeing that it was Jiang Yimian, he smiled and said, "Yimian, what brings you here? I was just thinking of coming to rest for a while, but I fell asleep. Did Dayong and his wife send you to wake me up?"
As he spoke, Old Liu leaned against the tree behind him and sat up. He reached out and pressed his hand into the grass on the ground, but the texture of his hand felt strange.
He looked down and realized he had slapped a snake's tail. He screamed and tried to pull his hand back, but it was too late.
The green snake turned its head, flicked its tongue, and tried to bite Old Liu's hand.
Jiang Yimian was startled and flung out the dagger in her hand, plunging it straight into the snake's head. The curved blade firmly secured the snake's head to the tree.
Old Liu was so frightened that he quickly withdrew his hand. He turned around and saw the snake whose head had been pierced by a dagger and whose body was still writhing. He was so frightened that he immediately got up from the ground.
Jiang Yimian walked over and, seeing Old Man Liu's panicked expression, asked, "Grandpa Liu, are you alright?"
Old Liu felt a little embarrassed when he saw Jiang Yimian. He suppressed his panic and said, "It's nothing. Grandpa is just not fully awake. Otherwise, why would he be afraid of this mere snake?"
Jiang Yimian didn't expose the other party, but simply pulled out the dagger and threw the dead snake into the basket.
Today is a good day for an extra meal.
Old Liu looked at the dagger in Jiang Yimian's hand in surprise and said, "Yimian, this dagger of yours is quite good, it's very sharp!"
At that distance, a dagger wouldn't have been able to subdue the snake so easily if it weren't sharp.
Jiang Yimian nodded, glanced at the dagger, wiped the blood off on the weeds beside her, and then put it away.
This dagger is really nice; I wonder where her father got it from.
Seeing that Old Man Liu was staring at the basket on her back without saying a word, she assumed that he also wanted to eat snake meat, so she quickly said, "I'll prepare the snake meat and send some to Old Man Liu later."
Old Liu was so frightened that he waved his hands repeatedly, "No, no need, there's not much snake meat, Yi Mian should keep it for herself."
He was terrified just looking at it and dared not put it in his mouth.
Seeing that it was getting late, he guessed that the other party had come to call him back for lunch, so he quickly said, "Go back, it's getting hot. I won't stay here for lunch. I'll come back to irrigate the fields after sunset."
Jiang Yimian nodded, "Aunt Xing'er sent me to find you because she was worried you would get heatstroke. It's too hot for Grandpa Liu to come here at noon these days."
Because they wanted to farm the land, they cut down all the trees around the area, leaving them to bake in the scorching sun.
Jiang Yimian felt unbearably hot from the sun all the way, let alone an old man walking around on the edge of the field.
He'll get heatstroke sooner or later if this continues.
Old Liu nodded, agreeing with what was said. He was still a little weak in the knees from being frightened by the snake earlier, so he followed Jiang Yimian and paddled the raft into the small depression.
Upon entering the small depression, the air felt noticeably cooler, with the towering trees blocking out most of the sun, leaving only scattered rays of sunlight.
As soon as Jiang Yimian got home, she dealt with the snake. There were too many parasites on the snake skin, so she just peeled it off.
Wang Fengqin, watching from the side, was frightened and hesitated before saying, "Yimian, is this snake really edible? I'm scared just looking at it. Maybe we should throw it away?"
In the past, many people in the village had been bitten to death by snakes, so she was extra careful every summer, afraid of encountering any snakes.
She was terrified when she heard that Old Liu had almost been bitten by a snake, and she only told the children not to go into the grassy corners.
Xiao Nuan'er and Xiao Ye didn't seem to notice anything; they just stared at Jiang Yimian handling the snake, their faces full of curiosity.
Jiang Yimian explained with a smile, "Mom, don't worry, this snake isn't poisonous, you can eat it. I'll cook it for you to try later, it tastes delicious."
This green snake usually doesn't attack people unless provoked, and it will avoid people when it sees them. If Old Liu hadn't pressed down on the snake's tail this time, it wouldn't have been able to avoid it in time.
Wang Fengqin hesitated for a moment, but seeing that the little ones weren't scared, she felt a chill run down her spine and quickly went inside.
She's afraid of this stuff, so she'll just not eat it for a while.
Lunch was quickly prepared. In addition to steaming a pot of rice, I also stir-fried a plate of spicy snake meat, two braised small fish, and a pot of egg and lichen soup.
As soon as the dishes were served, Xiao Ye couldn't wait to pick up a piece of snake meat. The first bite was spicy and fresh, and the snake meat was very tender and fragrant.
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