Aunt Fang had tried eating pili fruit before, but the taste was indescribable. However, it was okay to add a couple when making soup.
“Xiao Yao, this fruit is edible if used to make soup, but it’s not good to eat raw. There are many wild fruits in the mountains this season. Why don’t you go up the mountain and pick some lychees or bananas? Those are much better than this lychee. Go up this road, and there are many lychee trees on the hills ahead.”
Aunt Fang went up the mountain today to pick wild lychees, and now her basket is full of them.
Aunt Fang's words reminded Pei Yao, so she asked again, "Aunt Fang, do you know where I can find this Thunder Fruit?"
Aunt Fang pointed upstream: "They're everywhere along the riverbank. If you want some, you can walk up this road. There are plenty of Thunderfruit vines not only along the riverbank, but also in this mountain."
Pei Yao was in a very good mood after hearing this: "Okay, thank you, Aunt Fang."
Aunt Fang saw that Pei Yao continued picking fruit and didn't say anything more. She figured that once Pei Yao realized that the Thunder Fruit was inedible, she would stop picking it. There was no point in trying to persuade her now.
She took some lychees and bananas from the basket and gave them to Pei Xuan and Shen Cong: "These wild fruits are delicious. I left them here for you. You can peel them and eat them later."
Upon seeing the lychees, Pei Xuan sweetly thanked Aunt Fang, saying, "Thank you, Auntie."
Aunt Fang waved her hand: "Why are you being so polite with me? There are plenty of lychees in this mountain. I'll have your older sister take you to pick some later. They're much tastier than these lychees."
After Aunt Fang finished speaking, she glanced at Pei Yao, who was as agile as a monkey in the tree, shook her head, and then pulled her daughter Li Juhua away.
Pei Yao and the others picked a lot of Thunder Fruits, and only stopped when their stomachs started to rumble.
Liu Yu and her brother also came over after they finished catching fish.
Seeing that Pei Yao had picked so many Thunder Fruits, he also said that the fruits were not tasty.
Pei Yao smiled awkwardly and didn't say much, only that she would need it when she took it back.
Just then, Pei Yichen also came over from home with some things, followed by Yunniang.
When Pei Yichen returned home, Yunniang was hanging clothes out to dry in the yard. When she saw him looking for a basket and a bag, she asked him and found out that Yao'er had picked a lot of thunder fruit and needed something to put them in.
When Yunniang saw that Pei Yichen had brought so many bags, she wondered how much fruit it must have been to require so many bags. Worried that the children wouldn't be able to carry them all, she followed Pei Yichen to help.
Everyone was there when we were packing, and they all helped out. We packed everything up quickly, filling three large sacks and a basket.
If she weren't a little hungry and it wasn't almost lunchtime, Pei Yao felt she could have picked a few more.
Anyway, dried pili fruit is easy to store, and you don't have to worry about it spoiling no matter how much you have.
Liu Yan and Liu Yu caught quite a lot of small fish, and when they parted ways with Pei Yao and the others, they even gave Pei Yao and the others some small fish as a gift.
After returning home, Pei Yao poured all the Thunder Fruits onto the open ground in the yard.
Yunniang glanced at the green fruit filling the courtyard, unsure of where to begin: "Yao'er, how are we supposed to eat these fruits?"
"Mother, this fruit can't be eaten yet. We need to cut it open and dry the seeds inside before we can eat it."
Pei Yao found a knife and demonstrated the process to them. She cut the Thunder Fruit in half, then scooped out all the seeds and poured them onto a bamboo sieve.
"Then just put it in the sun to dry."
Looking at the seeds inside the Thunder Fruit, Yunniang couldn't understand how these seeds, which didn't seem to have much pulp, could be eaten.
Yunniang: "Is it mainly about eating the seeds?"
“Yes.” Pei Yao nodded. After teaching Yunniang and the others, Pei Yao went to cook. She planned to finish lunch early and then go find some more Pili fruit to dry in the afternoon.
This is the perfect time to pick thunder fruit, and Pei Yao thought she should pick as many as possible to dry and store at home.
I'll make it into jelly and sell it in town.
Pei Yao washed the shrimp she had caught today several times, put the snails in a bucket, covered them with a breathable lid, and let them sit for a day to purge the sand.
These river snails are much cleaner than those from fields, so they only need to purge themselves of sand for one day.
This noon, Pei Yao stir-fried river shrimp with chili peppers, and also deep-fried the small fish that Liu Yan and the others gave her, frying them until the small bones were crispy, and then stir-fried them with chili peppers. When eating, you can chew the bones along with the fish.
Then I steamed some rice.
........
Chen Fang didn't need to go shopping after delivering the goods today, so she returned earlier than usual.
Upon entering the courtyard, one sees a yard full of green fruits, and everyone in the family except Yao is digging out the seeds from those fruits.
"Yunniang, what are you doing?" Chen Fang and Niu Qingshan, who was also staring blankly at the Thunder Fruit, exchanged a glance before asking Yunniang.
Yunniang was engrossed in digging for thunder fruit when she was startled by Chen Fang's sudden voice.
"Oh, sister-in-law, you're back." She said, getting up to help unload the things from the oxcart.
Niu Qingshan asked, "Auntie, why did you pick so many Thunder Fruits?"
There are tons of these fruits growing in the mountains and along the riverbanks, so much so that even the clinics in the city don't want to take them.
Therefore, Niu Qingshan recognized the entire yard full of Thunder Fruits at a glance, and was also puzzled when he saw that they had picked so many.
Yunniang explained, "Yao'er and the other children picked it, saying that this fruit is edible."
Niu Qingshan suddenly understood, but was still somewhat puzzled: "These Thunder Fruits can be used to make soup, which is good for the body, but..."
This is far too many. Two or three pili fruits are enough for a pot of soup. It would take forever to eat all of these.
Niu Qingshan didn't say the last sentence, because it wasn't his own family's business and he didn't want to say too much.
The group unloaded the items in no time. Niu Qingshan and Chen Fang had already washed the buckets with Niu Qingshan when they passed by the small river at the village entrance, so they could simply put them in the yard to dry after returning.
Chen Fang saw Yunniang and the others peeling the Thunder Fruit, though she didn't understand why they had to remove all the seeds from the fruit.
But since it was something Yao wanted, I helped her get it too.
That girl is cunning and mischievous; I wonder what kind of trick she's up to this time.
........
After preparing lunch, Pei Yao realized she had caught far too many river shrimp today. She stir-fried several large bowls of them and divided them into three bowls. She kept one bowl at home and gave the other two bowls to the Shen and Liu families who lived nearby.
When Pei Yao returned, the people in the courtyard had already consumed more than half of the Thunder Fruit.
Pei Yao couldn't help but click her tongue in amazement. Indeed, many hands make light work; so much work was almost finished in no time.
"Dinner's ready!" Pei Yao went to the kitchen, brought out the dishes, and called everyone to eat.
But everyone is working hard right now, hoping to finish the remaining work in one go.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com