"Spring is generally the best time to pick wild vegetables. They are freshly grown, tender, and taste the best."
"In the summer, some wild fruits will mature in the mountains. However, the quantity will be smaller."
"Autumn is our favorite season because there are the most wild fruits and animals in the mountains in autumn."
"Live by the mountain, eat by the mountain. This saying is absolutely true. The harvest in the mountains in autumn alone is enough for everyone to eat for a long time."
"After the snow falls in winter, usually only hunters come to the mountains. In winter, due to the lack of food, the wild animals in the mountains also lack food and their temperaments become much more violent."
"If ordinary people encounter this, they will usually get hurt. That's why winter is the season when people least go up the mountain."
Xie Zirui was surprised, "It is indeed very particular."
"Ouch, it hurts!" Xie Zirui cried out.
"What's wrong, Brother Zirui?"
"I was pricked by a thorn on a Sichuan pepper branch. It hurt and was numb."
Yun Yiyi sighed, "Brother Zirui, you should take a break. Picking peppercorns is similar to picking sour dates; both are prone to getting pricked by thorns."
"However, we should pick a small amount, just enough for our family to eat."
Xie Zirui shook his hands and said, "It's okay, I'll pick them slowly. If you pick them alone, it will be even slower."
Yun Yiyi stood under the pepper tree, carefully picking peppers. The peppers on this pepper tree today were all in large clusters.
Even though she picked slowly, Yun Yiyi picked more than a pound of peppercorns in a short time.
Yun Yiyi felt her neck was numb from always keeping her head up.
She rubbed her neck with her hand, and suddenly she saw a clump of tall plants that looked a little familiar.
The leaves of that plant are big and green, and its stems are also very thick.
What kind of plant is it? Yun Yiyi thought, touching her chin.
"Brother Zirui, you pick them first. I'll go around to the front. It's by that green plant."
"Okay, Yiyi, go ahead. But don't go too far."
"Got it, Brother Zirui."
Yun Yiyi held her small hoe and walked forward while thinking.
When she came under the plant, she found that it was much taller than herself.
Its leaves are thick and very green, a bit like lotus leaves.
However, Yun Yiyi was sure that this was not a lotus leaf.
That's right, this should be taro. Yun Yiyi remembered that taro, like sweet potatoes, grew in the soil.
You can also eat taro, it is soft and delicious.
It is rare to find taro in the mountains, and it grows so tall.
Yun Yiyi thought about it and decided that she had to cut off the stalks of the taro and then dig the taro out of the soil.
Just do it when you want to. Yun Yiyi ran back and got her small sickle, then cut the taro stalks hard. Great, all the stalks were cut off.
She threw the pole aside, picked up her small hoe and swung it at the roots of the taro.
The soil in the mountains is a bit dry, but the land where the taro grows is not bad, it's all soil and no stones.
As long as you have a little more strength, you can dig it very quickly.
After more than ten minutes, Yun Yiyi finally dug out the big piece of taro.
She gently shook off the dirt on the taro. Wow, this must be a taro nest.
Yun Yiyi picked the taro one by one, finally piling it into a small pile. She estimated it weighed about six or seven pounds, enough for the whole family to eat.
Yun Yiyi stood up and continued walking forward.
Soon, there was another big taro more than ten meters away from this taro.
Yun Yiyi used the same method to dig out the taro. Soon, she harvested another seven or eight kilograms of taro.
Yun Yiyi thought that the basket she carried up the mountain was not big, and after filling it with taro, it couldn’t hold anything else.
So she planned to pack the taro and go down the mountain.
"Brother Zirui, I just dug up two big taro plants over there. They weigh more than ten pounds together. Our baskets aren't that big, so let's load them up and head down the mountain, shall we?"
Xie Zirui stopped picking peppercorns and rubbed his eyes. "Okay, Yiyi. Everything looks like peppercorns to me now."
Yun Yiyi laughed heartily. "Brother Zirui, let's not pick the peppers anymore. Let Big Brother and the others pick them tomorrow. Besides, the pepper trees are tall, and we can't reach the ones on top."
Xie Zirui nodded and said, "I think I can do something else. Picking peppercorns is too difficult."
"Brother Zirui, pour the peppercorns you picked onto the large leaves of the taro. Use your basket to hold the taro."
"Okay, Yiyi."
Yun Yiyi and Xie Zirui wrapped the peppercorns they had picked with large taro leaves, and then tied them tightly with small rattan sticks. This way, the peppercorns wouldn't leak out.
Xie Zirui held up a piece of hairy taro and said, "Yiyi, is this what taro looks like? How do you eat it?"
"Brother Zirui, taro can be boiled, roasted, or made into porridge. It tastes soft and smooth, and I think you will definitely like it."
"I just feel a little weird. This taro has a layer of hair on the outside, it's so ugly."
"Hey, Brother Zirui, it doesn't matter if the taro is ugly, as long as it tastes good. I just checked, and the two big taro plants yielded over ten pounds of taro, enough for us to eat for several meals."
"That makes sense. You know a lot. You can spot the taro from such a distance. If it were me, I wouldn't be able to spot it even if it was right under my nose."
"Brother Zirui, by this time next year, you won't be saying that anymore. The longer you stay in the mountains, the more plants you'll get to know."
"In the mountains, as long as you're diligent, you won't starve to death."
"That makes sense."
The two people quickly divided the taro into two baskets, and the baskets were almost full.
Yun Yiyi also stuffed the taro leaves wrapped in peppercorns into one of the baskets.
She saw that the other basket had nothing to cover it, so she picked a large taro leaf to cover it.
"Yiyi, shall we go down the mountain now? The baskets are full."
Yun Yiyi stuffed the hoe and sickle into the basket and said, "Let's go, Brother Zirui, follow me closely and don't fall behind."
Xie Zirui carried the basket and carefully followed Yun Yiyi down the mountain.
In fact, Yun Yiyi could carry these taro by herself, but the basket was too small and she couldn't carry it even if she wanted to.
Yun Yiyi wasn't tall enough yet, and if the basket was too big, she wouldn't be able to carry it. So, when she went into the mountains, she would either carry her own small basket or not carry a basket at all.
The sun was still high in the sky, so Yun Yiyi and her friend didn't need to rush. They carried baskets on their backs and walked, stopping and starting.
It took the two of them half an hour longer to reach the foot of the mountain than when they came here last time.
Yun Yiyi looked into the woods with the basket on her back. It was very noisy in the woods, as if a lot of people were talking.
"Brother Zirui, put the basket down. Let's rest for a while before we go on. It's very noisy in the woods right now."
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