"I don't think it will live much longer. Why don't we take it back and roast it and eat it?"
Song He'er nodded, took two leaves to cover the goose's eyes, and Chun Di grabbed the goose's wing, picked it up, and went back the way they came.
Zhang Xiue was still making clothes for herself when she saw the two women return, and she quickly put down what she was doing.
"What is that, a rabbit?"
Chun Di shook her head and laughed, "Third Sister-in-law, it's not a rabbit, it's a wild goose!"
Qin Xiaoniang was shocked and asked incredulously, "Where did you find it? We haven't seen a single bird here!"
Chun Di pointed to the birch forest not far away, "It's just ahead. Luckily we went looking for it."
Zhang Xiu'e and Qin Xiaoniang exchanged a glance. "This stuff is good, but I don't know how to cook it. How are we supposed to eat it? Grill it?"
After thinking it over, Song He'er remembered that in modern times, wild geese are smoked whole, and the taste is absolutely delicious.
First, the goose is simmered with various seasonings, then the pot is filled with smoking materials, and the goose is placed on a rack to smoke for two hours. This process is so time-consuming that not only are the ingredients insufficient, but the time required is also considerable.
Why not just grill it and eat it? The meat might be a bit tougher, but at least we can eat something faster...
"Third Aunt, let's take out the innards, then marinate them with salt and roast them!"
After thinking it over, Zhang Xiue could only nod. "I was wondering if we should make some soup, but then I thought, we don't have much water to begin with, so let's save some."
As soon as she finished speaking, Zhang Xiue began to gut the goose and clean its fur.
Li Qiang's wife looked up at the sky and reminded him, "We need to bury these filthy things somewhere. The smell of blood is too strong; we don't want to attract any unclean spirits..."
“That’s right. Geese are intelligent creatures; they might come looking for you by smell. We should be careful,” Qin Xiaoniang replied.
After Li Qiang's wife buried the entrails, she and Zhang Xiu'e used a little water to clean the bloodstained goose and then salted it.
Zhang Xiue was quick and efficient; she soon skewered the goose with a stick and put it on the fire to roast.
"This goose must weigh about six or seven pounds, right?"
"Perhaps, it's enough for us to eat."
Finding meat in the wild is extremely difficult. Song He'er was lucky today to encounter a wild goose. But if she were in the desert, she would probably only have thorny cacti to eat.
The aroma of the food made Nianjie'er's stomach rumble with hunger.
Looking at Nian'er's greedy expression, Zhang Xiu'e couldn't help but laugh and said, "Nian'er, you haven't eaten meat in a long time, have you? I'll give you my share later."
“Mother, I’ll just eat a little, not your portion. You have to do so much work every day, and I can’t bear to see you go hungry.”
Qin Xiaoniang pulled Nian'er over and hugged her with satisfaction. "Our Nian'er is so sensible. But this goose is enough for all of us to eat today, so Nian'er doesn't need to worry."
Huan Ge'er and Su Yu's wife's two children are quite young and can't eat too much oily meat, so they just boiled an egg for each of them.
Although the number of geese was sufficient, each person received only a small portion.
Everyone just wanted to satisfy their cravings; to fill their stomachs, they still needed to eat a sweet potato.
After finishing their meal, everyone kept the food close by to prevent it from being lost that night.
The shack next to it wasn't big either, just big enough for the children to squeeze together to sleep, while the rest of the people had to sleep outside.
Song He'er still needs to figure out how to sleep. Right now the weather is warm, so sleeping outside isn't a problem. But once autumn comes, the nights will inevitably get chilly, making people's muscles and bones ache.
"He'er, put on this coat of mine, so you won't be cold at night!"
Qin Xiaoniang took off her own outer garment and handed it to Song He'er.
“Mother, you’re sleeping outside, why are you taking off your clothes for me? I’m not cold. Besides, I just had some new clothes made, this is fine for me.”
As she spoke, Song He'er stuffed the clothes back to Qin Xiaoniang.
Huan slept soundly, nestled beside Song He'er, and obediently slept until dawn the next day.
Li Qiang's wife stir-fried some celery early in the morning. The group ate a few bites and then continued on their way.
After walking for half a day, we emerged from the birch forest. Now, apart from the wide dirt road, there was no forest or vegetation to be seen.
"Mother, Nian'er is thirsty!"
Zhang Xiue stopped and took out a water bag from her side, letting Sister Nian take a sip.
"Our water supply is really dwindling..."
Li Qiang's wife comforted him, "This is actually quite good. If those soldiers were here, we probably wouldn't even have a sip of water, and we'd have to be mindful of their attitude. Be grateful..."
"Why......"
After a moment, Nianjie suddenly pointed to a thatched hut ahead and shouted, "Mother, look, there are houses up ahead!"
Song He'er stopped and looked up. Sure enough, there was a simple thatched hut not far away.
But according to the people there that day, this area is under the jurisdiction of Xizhou. How could there be people living here? Could it be spies gathering information on the border to monitor every move of the Central Plains?
Zhang Xiu'e's mood improved, and she wanted to go forward to ask for some more water, but Song He'er stopped her.
"Third Aunt, let me go. Look at this house, it's just an honest, simple farmer's place. It's easier to talk to a child like me. Maybe they'll take pity on me and give me something."
"Are you sure you can manage on your own?"
"no problem!"
After saying that, Song He'er turned back to Su Yu's wife and asked, "Madam Zhou, how many eggs have we collected these past two days?"
Su Yu's wife turned around, counted, and said, "They laid twenty eggs in two days, ate eight, and have twelve left. Adding the fifty we found on the banks of the Huai River, it's about sixty-two..."
Give me thirty eggs.
"Huh? Thirty? What do you need these for?"
"We need to trade eggs for things. The conditions here are so harsh, I doubt they'd be willing to give them to us for free. I think we're missing a larger tent and some cotton for warmth. If we can trade, I'd like to get those!"
Qin Xiaoniang thought this was a good idea, since everyone had been sleeping on the grass for the past few days, which was really cold.
"Alright, everyone, don't be stingy with these eggs. Don't we still have chickens? Madam Zhou, why don't you give thirty eggs to He'er?"
Su Yu's wife nodded, got into the car, picked out more than thirty eggs, put them in a basket, and handed them to Song He'er.
"Can you lift it?"
Song He'er smiled and said, "It's alright, how heavy can thirty eggs be? Just wait here for my good news!"
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