Chapter 81 Winter is really coming
It’s a pity that Sang Yu could only barely learn how to set a simple trap to catch rabbits and pheasants.
But if she wanted to catch muskrats specifically, she had no idea how to do it. She didn't know if mousetraps would work, because musk rats were still rats after all.
There was obviously not enough time to look for the muskrat today, so Sang Yu put this matter aside for the time being and found a stone to draw a big cross on a nearby tree as a mark.
After returning, she would tell Sang Yongjing and the others that when they saw this mark when entering the woods, they should go around it, otherwise they might run into a white-headed viper and get scared.
She walked around the tree where the white-headed viper was lying and continued forward. Today she walked on the sunny side of the left side. The vegetation on the road was not as lush, making it easier to walk.
The reeds in the swamp were a little more yellow than when she had last been there, their flower spikes had turned silvery white, and the plants were beginning to wither.
Even though the temperature is still hot right now, plants are most sensitive to the seasons, and winter is really coming.
After putting on bamboo shoes, Sang Yu walked into the swamp.
There are fewer puddles in the ground than the last time I came. Many shallow mud pits are exposed, and there are some dried fish at the bottom of the pits, which may be related to the high temperature and exposure in recent days.
Sang Yu has never seen rain since he came to Lingnan.
Sometimes she would worry that if there was a sudden heavy rain, the shed would leak all over.
Fortunately, it is not the farming season now, otherwise with the continuous drought, I am afraid the crops in the fields will not survive.
As the saying goes, "After a severe drought, there will be a severe flood." I don't know when the first rain after the drought will fall.
The overall water level of the swamp dropped a lot, and the previously soft ground became hard, which made it easier for Sang Yu to walk.
Coming to the reeds, Sang Yu gently shook the reed branches, and the reed flowers in the flower spikes fell down like snow.
...She could already foresee that when she came out of the reed marsh after finding the bird eggs, her body would be covered with reed catkins.
But no matter how miserable you are, you have to go through the reed marsh.
Sang Yu went in with her small basket and started searching everywhere, deliberately avoiding the places she had searched last time and going to some areas she had never been to.
From time to time, a few female birds incubating eggs in the reeds would be startled by her and fly away flapping their wings.
In many bird nests, there were baby birds spreading their wings and chirping to beg for food from the female birds. When Sang Yu picked up bird eggs, he deliberately avoided the nests with baby birds.
If she accidentally touches the chicks, they may be abandoned by the female bird.
Even if there are unhatched eggs in this bird's nest, the fertilized eggs inside are most likely formed and about to hatch.
Even so, the basket in her hand was soon half full, and she had only walked through one-third of the area.
Instead of stopping immediately, Sang Yu waited until the basket was full and could no longer hold any eggs before stopping.
If nothing unexpected happens, this should be her last chance to pick up bird eggs this year.
Bird eggs generally need to be incubated for half a month to a month, and it also takes a certain amount of time for the chicks to grow and leave the nest.
At this point in time, no birds should continue to lay eggs, only hatching.
If I come back later, I'm afraid I'll only be able to see chicks in the bird's nest whose eggshells and feathers haven't fully grown yet.
After picking up the bird eggs, Sang Yu used a kitchen knife to chop some cattails, taking only the tender stems and rhizomes. He tied them up, picked them up in his hand, and went straight back with a basket.
The forest looks deserted during the day because many animals are nocturnal creatures and night is the time when they officially start looking for food.
Sang Yu didn't want to run into a ferocious wild beast. She only had a kitchen knife in her hand. Let alone large beasts like bears and tigers, even if she met a wild boar or a wolf, she might not be able to escape.
As for counterattack? Don't even think about it.
They quickened their pace all the way over the mountain ridge, and just as the sun was setting, Sang Yu emerged from the forest.
Sang Xingjia, who had been staring at this side, saw her figure and immediately breathed a sigh of relief, then walked forward with his crutches.
"Little sister, you are finally back. If you hadn't come back, I would have gone into the mountains to look for you."
"Your legs haven't healed yet, why are you going into the mountains for no reason?" Sang Yu glared at him. He still had the aspiration to try walking without the crutches, right?
Sang Xingjia smiled awkwardly and quickly changed the subject: "Let me carry the basket. Why did you bring back a bundle of cattails?"
"No, it's a bit heavy. I can do it myself."
Sang Yu was worried about letting him carry the basket because it was full of bird eggs. If he accidentally dropped it, he would have to eat an egg feast tonight.
"The cattails at home are a bit wilted, so I just cut some new ones."
The remaining water chestnuts at home were picked a few days ago. Although they were placed in a cool place to avoid direct sunlight, they were still severely dehydrated and the skin was wrinkled.
After soaking in water, it can recover a lot, but the appearance is not as green as fresh ones.
It was fine for eating at home, but it wasn't good enough to give as a gift to others, so she just chopped some back on the way.
I happened to have a knife with me today, so I cut the upper half of the cattail with one stroke. I then just held the tender stem and cut it again at the base.
It is much easier than plucking a small handful at a time and does not waste much time.
Sang Yu came back earlier than Sang Yongjing and his wife. She put down her things and was very satisfied to see the dried gray vegetables and marinated rabbit meat.
The preparations are done, and the next thing to do is to actually cook.
The rabbit takes a while to roast, so Sang Yu plans to skewer it and roast it before doing other things.
She asked Sang Xingjia to bring firewood and set up a fire in a sheltered place outside the shed not far from the wall. She then took a kitchen knife and found a piece of bamboo as thick as her arm.
With one chop, the blade penetrated straight into the bamboo, and its sharpness was no less than the hatchet he had borrowed before.
The bamboo stem was chopped hard into the ground, and the knife cut the bamboo in two with a very smooth stroke. The two halves of the bamboo were put together and then split in half, and the whole bamboo was evenly divided into four parts.
After removing the nodes inside the bamboo, four long bamboo sticks are ready.
It cannot be used directly. It needs to be soaked in salt water for a while to prevent it from being burnt or broken.
The two brothers Sang Xingjia and Sang Xinghao were still looking for stones. Without an oven or grill, it was not easy to roast a rabbit. It would take at least two hours.
After Sang Yu killed the rabbit, he weighed it and found that the wild rabbit still weighed about six or seven pounds after hollowing out its internal organs. It was obviously unrealistic to roast it by hand.
At this time, you need to use some external tools, such as building a rack with stones and then piercing the rabbit with bamboo sticks, so that you can free your hands and turn it over from time to time.
Fortunately, there is not much else here, just stones everywhere.
The stones on both sides of the fire do not need to be piled too high but not too low either. It is easy to burn the rabbit when roasting it with an open fire, so use a low fire and keep a certain distance to roast it slowly.
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