Chapter 9 Afternoon Tea: I Want to Catch Fish
The park was more crowded than usual on the weekend, so Ningjia didn't dare linger in crowded places. Carrying her five little ones, she walked around in the bright sunshine, looking around as she went. She walked deeper and deeper until she finally found an ideal, secluded picnic spot.
Surrounded by tall, green trees, with lush green grass and wildflowers blooming freely beneath them, this pleasant natural environment made He Meng exclaim with joy:
"Wow, it smells so good! It's the scent of beautiful trees!"
She couldn't help but jump up and down in the basket like a little cannonball, trying to jump right out. Ning Jia was speechless. "Are you in such a hurry? Stop jumping, stop jumping. I'll let you out right now."
Ning Jia removed the plastic bag from the basket, and the little figures jumped out of the basket and rushed towards the tallest trees in the woods. Their energetic appearance completely changed their earlier dizziness.
Ning Jia smiled gently and took a deep breath of the fresh scent of grass and trees around her, instantly feeling refreshed.
Chief Canglan was right; nature truly nourishes the human spirit. No wonder the little people insist on living in places with trees and grass.
Seeing the little figures already running to the foot of the tree and nimbly climbing up, their green grass skirts quickly blending into the green of the tree, Ning Jia squinted, unable to see them clearly anymore. She simply found a sunny spot, spread out her picnic blanket, and arranged the snacks carefully.
The fruit and cream sandwiches, packaged in Lock & Lock containers, are colorful, small, and exquisite, and look very appetizing.
The fried food in the paper bag was equally tempting; the sweet potato fries exuded a sweet aroma, and the cumin-flavored tofu puffs looked incredibly crunchy.
The large thermos next to it contained slightly chilled yogurt, which was just the right temperature for this kind of weather.
Looking at the sumptuous meal in front of her, Ning Jia didn't wait for Cang Lan and the others. After taking a picture with her phone, she began to enjoy her afternoon tea.
When He Meng returned from frolicking in the tree, she saw Ning Jia eating a sandwich with her eyes half-closed.
"What?! There's something delicious to eat?!"
He Meng looked at the ordinary-looking wild fruit she had found somewhere and suddenly felt that the fruit was no longer appealing.
Ning Jia chuckled, "I forgot to tell you, I brought a lot of food today. Go and call everyone over to have some."
He Meng stuffed the fruit into her mouth, mumbled a reply, and then ran off towards the big tree.
"There's something delicious~~~ Come quick~~"
Although Ning Jia couldn't hear He Meng's voice at all, she had already automatically imagined what she would say.
Sure enough, within a few minutes, the little figures all ran back.
Feeling that this place was relatively safe, the little creatures lowered their guard and didn't completely conceal themselves in the grass. Ning Jia turned her head and saw a fairytale-like scene:
A noisy wind rustled the lush green grass, and the bright sunlight bathed the entire meadow. Little children dressed in grass skirts, holding slender twigs, leaped and ran lightly among the blades of grass, their soft laughter echoing in the distance…
In an instant, the smile on her face softened.
"Ningjia, Ningjia, can I eat now?"
Ning Jia was still immersed in the feeling of being healed when He Meng, one of the main characters in the scene, plopped down on the edge of the picnic mat, drooling excitedly as she looked at the dazzling array of food.
"Oh, okay." Ning Jia snapped out of her daze. "These were specially made for you, please help yourselves."
"Wow, that's awesome!"
He Meng clapped her hands with shining eyes, eagerly picked up a small piece of strawberry sandwich, took a bite, chewed it for a while, and then suddenly looked up at Ning Jia with a very angry look.
Ning Jia: ? ? ?
"What's wrong? Are the strawberries too sour?"
Probably not. Strawberries are at their best right now, and most of them aren't very sour. Even if the strawberries are a bit sour, the sandwich has cream in it, so the sweet and sour combination should be quite delicious.
He Meng devoured the sandwich in a few bites, and then began to accuse Ning Jia of her crimes:
"Ning Jia, you're so mean! You never let us eat this delicious food before!"
Ning Jia blushed, "That's because I thought you guys only ever ate fruit."
"How could that be? We have so many things to eat. Besides fruit, we also eat mushrooms, bird eggs, fish, shrimp, and insects..."
"Wait a minute," Ning Jia suddenly widened her eyes and swallowed hard. "You just said that you... eat insects too?"
“We haven’t eaten since we came to the city,” He Meng shook her head. “The chieftain forbids us from using fire, so we can’t roast insects to eat.”
Roasted insects? Ning Jia couldn't bear to look at that word. Seeing that Cang Lan and the others had returned, she quickly greeted them:
"Chief Canglan, these are all foods I made myself. Please don't be shy and help yourselves to them."
Canglan nodded her thanks, picked up a cumin-flavored tofu puff, looked at it curiously, smelled it, and then sat down and took a bite.
Although her expression didn't change much after that bite, she chewed much faster, quickly finishing one and reaching for another.
The other little people also seemed to be captivated by these snacks they had never tried before. Some were engrossed in munching on crispy sweet potato fries, while others were happily devouring sweet and soft fruit sandwiches.
"Oh, I forgot to prepare cups for you, so you can't drink the yogurt."
Ning Jia, who was about to distribute the yogurt, slapped her forehead and said with some annoyance, "Yogurt? What's that?" He Meng leaned over and asked, "Yogurt? What's that?"
Ning Jia opened the lid of the thermos to show her, but He Meng was only a third the height of the thermos, and she couldn't see it no matter how much she jumped around, which made her very anxious.
Ning Jia chuckled and poured the yogurt into the cup lid to show her. "Look, it's this thick, white liquid. It tastes sweet and sour, and it's delicious!"
He Meng swallowed hard after hearing Ning Jia's words, then puffed out her chest and said, "A cup? What's so difficult about that? Wait a minute."
As she spoke, she looked around and quickly picked up an oval-shaped green leaf. Using some unknown method, as if by magic, she rolled the leaf into a tube shape in a few moments, tied it tightly with grass, and instantly it became a natural little cup the size of a chocolate ball.
He Meng held out a green leaf-shaped cup to Ning Jia, "I'd like to drink yogurt, thank you."
"Okay." Ning Jia carefully poured the yogurt into the mini leaf cup little by little. The white yogurt paired with the green leaves looked quite tempting.
He Meng didn't stand on ceremony and started chugging the leaf-shaped cup, leaving a ring of white yogurt around her little mouth.
"It tastes so good!"
He Meng put down the leaf cup in her hand, and lay down on the grass, contentedly cradling her little belly.
Seeing this, the other little people followed He Meng's example and used leaves as cups to pour yogurt and drink it.
Just as they were enjoying themselves, Ning Jia suddenly remembered the purpose of their visit to the park and couldn't help but ask:
"Chief Canglan, do you have any herbs here that can be used to make sachets?"
Canglan nodded. "There should be, but—" she changed the subject, shaking her head with some regret:
"There are far fewer herbs here than I expected."
Ning Jia asked curiously, "Such a large meadow, with so many flowers, trees, and shrubs, shouldn't there be lots of fragrant herbs?"
Canglan shook her head. "Although this place is large, there are not many herbs that meet the requirements. Most of the wild herbs are domesticated varieties and have lost their original fragrance and medicinal effects."
Domesticated? Ning Jia thought for a moment, "This park is indeed not naturally formed. It was originally just an open space. All the plants were transplanted later, and people regularly maintain them. They are definitely not wild plants."
"I see."
"Based on your description, I mistakenly thought this place was similar to our forest."
Canglan narrowed her eyes. "It seems I misunderstood."
"How should I put it? There are very few truly natural environments in the city; most of them are man-made."
Ning Jia is not a local and only knows that most of the nearby parks are man-made, so it is not easy to find a pristine natural environment.
"The suburbs do have some preserved mountains and trees, but it's much farther from our neighborhood than it is from here..."
Seeing that Canglan remained silent, Ningjia comforted her, "Don't worry, I will definitely take you to a real forest when I have the chance in the future."
Canglan laughed, "No rush. Now that our clan has settled in that garden, we will wait until all our clansmen have recovered before we consider leaving."
Ning Jia, Cang Lan, and Bai Su chatted about the future plans of the little people, not treating this trip to the park as a leisurely outing.
Only He Meng, ever carefree and like a wild horse, excitedly ran towards the artificial lake not far in front of the big tree, brandishing his spear: "There's a river here! I'm going to catch fish to eat."
Ning Jia was speechless: Why does this guy only think about food all day long?
The others shook their heads helplessly and followed Canglan to look for herbs.
Ning Jia said she was bored, but she was actually quite interested and followed He Meng to the river. She was really curious about how such a small girl like He Meng would catch fish.
Under the sunlight, gusts of spring breeze made the lake surface shimmer.
Believe it or not, although there aren't any big fish in this artificial lake, there are plenty of small, transparent fish. In the distance, there are adults with children using toy fishing nets to catch the small fish.
Ning Jia stared wide-eyed, and it took her a while to make out the tiny fish in the water, which were no bigger than a fingernail. The fish were small and translucent, and they swam around in the water, sometimes visible and sometimes hidden, making it hard to see clearly.
"He Meng, can you really catch these little fish?" Ning Jia asked with a doubtful look.
Don't let their small size fool you; these little fish are incredibly agile when swimming in the water.
He Meng remained silent, but raised the spear in his hand and suddenly thrust it into the water, quickly throwing a bright, shiny fish at him.
"Wow, that's amazing," Ning Jia picked up the small fish, looked at it in her palm, and said casually, "It's just that this fish is too small, not even enough to fill my teeth. I can only take it back and fry it into salt and pepper fish for you guys."
Salt and pepper anchovies? That sounds delicious!
Upon hearing this, He Meng's eyes lit up, and she immediately became excited.
Then, she kept throwing various small fish at Ning Jia's feet. Ning Jia simply took the Lock & Lock box that had been used to hold sandwiches and carefully picked up the small fish and put them inside. In no time, the box was more than half full.
"That's about enough, we can't fit any more," Ning Jia said to He Meng.
But He Meng was already addicted to the game and wouldn't listen to any advice, continuing to spear the fish one after another.
Ning Jia had no choice but to squat in the grass by the river to keep her company.
Just then, a strong gust of wind suddenly swept in, bringing up countless sand and dust particles that blinded Ning Jia.
When she opened her eyes again, He Meng, who had just been spearfishing by the river, was gone!
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