Chapter 141: Wild Fruits: Paprika, Seabuckthorn, and Mountain Cherry…
After hearing what Lin Shu said, Zhou Ye fell silent.
He thought he knew the wild animals best. After all, he had experienced the worst famine, and no one knew more about the edible flowers and plants in the mountains than he did.
He had eaten fern roots, kudzu roots, and even the bitter, inedible Cyclobalanopsis chinensis. Not just during famines, but also regularly. His appetite was enormous, and the two meals a day at home were far from enough to satisfy his appetite. He would often go out into the mountains to find something to fill his stomach.
But these things were not tasty. He just wanted to fill his stomach. When he ate these things, his mouth was bitter and his face was numb.
If these tree roots, grass roots and bitter nuts can be made into delicacies by Ah Shu, wouldn't he have a great meal in the future?
"Ashu, there are a lot of cycads on the mountain. When they are ripe, I will pick a few baskets and take them back!" When Zhou Ye said this, there was an undisguised look of anticipation on his face.
Lin Shu grinned, a rare expression of joy and silliness. "When the cycads are ripe, we'll go into the mountains together to pick them!"
Zhou Ye hesitated a bit, but nodded. "Okay, but you have to follow me closely."
Although the location of that patch of Quercus glauca was quite deep, there were only wild boars and moles nearby, and no other powerful beasts. Wild boars do not eat people, so if they accidentally encountered one, he would just protect Ah Shu and keep her away.
Lin Shu immediately said, "When the lychees are ripe, let's go pick them first. They're ready to be picked at the end of June or early July, when it's still hot. I'll pick some and make you some ice jelly."
Zhou Ye hid a smile in his eyes and responded with "OK".
Lin Shu did not forget the important matter. When Zhou Ye took her to a dense mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forest, she saw many, many mushrooms!
There is not only the chicken mushroom sauce that the two of them are going to pick this time, but also a lot of porcini, red mushrooms, and chanterelles!
Seeing that Lin Shu was about to touch a bright red mushroom, Zhou Ye grabbed her and frowned, saying, "Ah Shu, many mushrooms in the mountains are poisonous. Don't touch them carelessly."
Lin Shu smiled and said, "This is an edible red mushroom. It's not poisonous and can be eaten!"
Zhou Ye still shook his head. "I know you're knowledgeable, but you've only seen a lot of it in books. These mushrooms, especially these brightly colored red ones, are very easy to confuse with the poisonous ones. If you're not completely sure, we shouldn't pick them."
He'd been into the mountains often enough to know how dangerous these mushrooms were. For example, the bamboo fungus, chicken mushroom, and blue-headed mushrooms, while also looking dangerous, were easy to identify. When Ah Shu was sure they were edible, he'd help pick them. But the mushrooms in the deep mountains were different. Just this red mushroom alone had countless similar-looking varieties. Could Ah Shu really identify them accurately? He couldn't play with Ah Shu's life.
Lin Shu was at a loss for words. In her previous life, she went hunting in the mountains. When she hadn't eaten any mushrooms, she had picked them countless times. How could she not be able to tell whether they were poisonous or not?
These mushrooms look similar, all red, but this red also has different shades, such as bright red, wine red, spicy red, blood red, rose red, and the aroma and wrinkles of the mushrooms can distinguish them.
However, she really couldn't explain why she was so sure. Some people might have eaten wild delicacies such as bamboo fungus and chicken mushroom, but no one would normally eat red mushrooms.
Seeing that Aye was determined, she had no choice but to give up. There were many things to eat in the mountains, and she didn't have to eat these mushrooms.
But Lin Shu still felt a little unwilling to not pick any.
"I'll never mistake this chanterelle. I'll pick it, okay?"
Chanterelles are shaped like trumpets and funnels, and have the same beautiful color as egg yolks, tender and yellow. Not only do they look good, they are also very nutritious. There is no reason why Lin Shu wouldn't pick a few to take home after seeing them.
Zhou Ye took a look, making sure there weren't any other mushrooms that looked very similar to this one, and nodded, "This one's fine."
Lin Shu was amused by his expression and deliberately asked, "Aye, can't you pick a few of those red mushrooms and take them home to eat? They're delicious, I'm not kidding."
"Ashu, let's eat other mushrooms." Zhou Ye said.
"If you don't want to pick them, then don't pick them. You react like this. If I really pick them and take them back, Dad and Mom will definitely not eat them." Not to mention that Dad and Mom won't eat them, they will definitely not allow her to eat them like A Ye.
So Lin Shu only picked chicken mushrooms and chanterelles from the mountains. After seeing several chicken mushrooms that were bigger than a human face, she forgot her regret of not being able to pick red mushrooms and suddenly became happy.
"Aye, what a big chicken mushroom! It's bigger than my face!" Lin Shu picked one and put it on her face to measure it.
It only takes a few of these big chicken mushrooms to fill up the backpack.
Zhou Ye subconsciously looked at her face and thought that Ah Shu's face was only the size of his palm, so it was not surprising that the mushroom could grow as big as her face.
Lin Shu smiled like a little mouse stealing oil and urged, "Aye, hurry up, pick the mushrooms, let's pick all of them! They will grow back after we pick them, so we don't have to worry about them all being picked."
This is just this area. The deep mountains are connected to each other, and there may be more in other places. There is no need to worry about not having enough chicken mushrooms to eat.
"Ashu, we can come and pick them anytime. These mushrooms can grow for several months, so there's no rush." Zhou Ye also smiled.
Ah Shu looked so pretty when she smiled. Every time he saw Ah Shu smile, he would smile along with her unconsciously.
But for some reason he didn't want anyone else to see it, so he only showed it to Ah Shu.
Lin Shu nodded and agreed, "That's right. When the season of chicken mushrooms is almost over, we can pick some more and dry them in the sun to store. That way, we'll have something to eat after winter comes."
Before long, the two of them had collected a whole basket and put it all in Zhou Ye's basket, but Lin Shu's basket was empty.
"Ashu, these are enough. Put some flowers and plants you like in your backpack."
Lin Shu thought to herself, what can she pretend to be? There are plenty of wild vegetables in the back mountain. If she wants to eat wild vegetables, can't she just go to the back mountain and pick them? But soon, she was slapped in the face.
Mountain pepper!
She saw the mountain pepper!
Several mountain pepper trees!
"Aye, come pick some Sichuan peppercorns. Let's take some home, dry them, and store them. We can eat them whenever we want. With so many Sichuan peppercorns, we can even make Sichuan peppercorn oil!"
Many families in the village grow Sichuan pepper, also known as green Sichuan pepper. Lin Shu wanted to dig one up and take it home, but she was afraid it wouldn't survive and would be wasted.
After hearing this, Zhou Ye said, "There's no shortage of these in the mountains. Ah Shu, you can plant whatever you want. There are a few small ones here that are easy to grow. I'll dig up a couple for you to take away."
"Okay, okay, I just happened to bring a small shovel, let's dig together!" Lin Shu said happily.
Zhou Ye looked at the small shovel in her hand and curled his lips.
This small bamboo shovel is good for digging wild vegetables and mushrooms, but it is totally insufficient if you want to dig out an entire sapling including its roots and soil.
But he only brought a sickle and an axe, not a hoe.
After thinking about it, Zhou Ye used a sickle to cut the surrounding weeds, and then used an axe to chop the ground in a small circle around the mountain pepper tree, making a circle of holes on the ground. He then changed the sickle handle to dig, and in this way, he dug out the entire mountain pepper tree with its roots and soil in a short time.
Lin Shu happened to have an old cloth with her, so she used it to wrap the roots of the two small mountain pepper trees to prevent water loss.
After digging up the mountain pepper tree, both of their hands were covered in mud. Zhou Ye took Lin Shu to find a stream flowing through the forest, and they washed their hands with the stream water.
"Ashu, are you thirsty? Drink some water." Zhou Ye pulled out the cork from the bamboo cup and handed it to Lin Shu's lips.
In the past, when he went into the mountains alone, he would drink water directly from mountain streams when he was thirsty, such as the stream he was washing his hands in front of him. It was cool, clean, and completely drinkable. However, Ah Shu was particular about not drinking any raw water except the fresh spring water he collected daily from the source in the mountains behind him. This time, the two of them naturally brought some spring water from home.
Lin Shu didn't raise her hand, but took a few sips from his hand, her lips moistened by the drink. "Aye, you drink too."
Zhou Ye nodded, and without changing the bamboo tube cup, he directly put the bamboo tube cup that had been used to feed Lin Shu into his own mouth. The rim of the cup he was sipping from was the same place where Lin Shu had just drunk. It was not known whether it was intentional or unintentional.
Lin Shu thought it was probably unintentional?
If it was intentional, Aye is too reserved.
Just thinking about it, Lin Shu couldn't help but laugh.
"Ashu, are you going back?" Zhou Ye asked.
At the end of the trip, his backpack was filled with the Acanthopanax and Chanterelles they had picked. Ah Shu also put two small Sichuan pepper trees in her backpack, so they were called small Sichuan pepper trees. After two of them, her backpack was full too.
Lin Shu didn't say whether she would reply or not, she just said, "Aye, I want to eat some fruit."
Zhou Ye doesn't like eating wild fruits because most of them are either sour or bitter, and few people eat them except birds.
Even if there were some that were sweet and sour, the sourness was greater than the sweetness. Although he didn't like eating them, he had indeed eaten a lot. When he was hungry, he would eat anything, and wild fruits were no exception.
Now it is the end of May and some wild fruits in the mountains are ripe.
After thinking for a while, Zhou Ye took Lin Shu's hand and walked in another direction, "A Shu, come with me."
As they walked, there were fewer tall trees and more bushes. Suddenly, Lin Shu saw a plant with red and black wild fruits.
"Aye, it's the Chatianpao that Xiao Pu mentioned!"
Lin Shu let go of Zhou Ye's hand and ran over happily.
The Chatianpao plant ripens early. Almost all the fruits on this Chatianpao plant have turned from yellow to red, and nearly half of the fruits have turned black and purple.
Lin Shu first picked a red one and put it in her mouth, then picked a purple-black one.
Delicious, sweet and sour and juicy!
Lin Shu quickly put down the backpack, untied the old cloth that wrapped the roots of the mountain pepper tree, and planned to tear it in half.
I thought I could tear it open easily, but I pulled it several times and it didn't budge.
A low laugh came from the side. When Lin Shu looked over again, Zhou Ye still had a smile on his face. "A Shu, let me do this rough work."
Lin Shu stomped her feet angrily. She thought about how she used to be a strong female warrior who could kill a zombie with one punch, but now she couldn't even tear a worn-out piece of cloth.
She couldn't delay any longer and really had to start exercising. She didn't want to become a glutton again and never feel full no matter how much she ate, but she also didn't want to be so weak that she couldn't even lift a heavy object or tear anything apart.
Zhou Ye was unaware of her shame and anger. He took the cloth and tugged it gently. The large piece of cloth split into two with a crackling sound. He tied one half back to the roots of the mountain pepper tree, and shook off the dirt on the other half and spread it directly on the ground.
Then, without waiting for Lin Shu to make a move, he stepped forward and swiftly picked the water lilies one by one into his hands.
His palm was big, so he picked a handful of them and poured them onto the spread-out old cloth. It didn't take him many passes before he had picked all the water lilies from the entire plant.
These radishes are usually only about half a zhang tall, but the one in front of him is taller, about ten zhang tall. However, even the radishes growing high up could not escape Zhou Ye's clutches, and he picked them all.
If he were alone, he wouldn't be so greedy, but since the young lady at home likes it, he doesn't need to ask. Seeing Ah Shu's attitude, he also wants to pick all the Paotianpu.
"Ashu, can we eat all of this?" Zhou Ye asked.
Whenever he went into the mountains, he would pick a handful or two of wild fruits and bring them back for Lin Xiaopu. Last time, he didn't pick any wild fruits because he had hunted wild boars and had a lot of things on him.
Lin Shu squinted her eyes and said, "What you can't finish can be made into jam, juice, and wine. I have many ways to eat it."
Then she asked, "Aye, have you ever eaten all the wild fruits in this mountain?"
Zhou Ye nodded. "I eat tree roots and grass roots, not to mention wild fruits. But Ah Shu, there are many poisonous wild fruits in this mountain. If you don't recognize them, don't pick them randomly."
"I know, you're here with me. Ah Ye, you're familiar with the mountains. Take me to find some more Paeonia lactiflora so we can pick more!"
Seeing her happy, Zhou Ye felt happy too, "Okay."
However, the second plant of the Chinese rose hip had not been found yet, so Zhou Ye first took Lin Shu to find a sea buckthorn plant.
Lin Shu looked at the sea buckthorn tree with joy. The tree, more than half a meter tall, was covered with densely packed sea buckthorns, green with thorns. But if you looked carefully, you could find a dozen ripe yellow fruits among them, some of which were golden yellow, indicating that they were already ripe.
"Ashu, stay away from it. This sea buckthorn is like a candy jar, with thorns from the branches to the fruit. If you want to eat it, I can pick it for you. But this sea buckthorn is mainly sour and astringent, with very little sweetness, so it doesn't taste good." Zhou Ye reminded.
When he was hungry, he would look for wild fruits to fill his stomach. He would only eat this if he couldn't find any other wild fruits.
"Yes, yes, yes, Aye, I want it. I'm not afraid of sourness." Lin Shu said hurriedly.
They had seen several golden cherry trees along the way, but since it was far from the season for picking them, they didn't linger on them. But this sea buckthorn was already edible.
"Aye, be careful not to get pricked."
Zhou Ye carefully pulled apart the branches and leaves of the sea buckthorn tree and picked off the golden sea buckthorns inside, picking seven or eight in a row.
"Ashu, this sea buckthorn has thorns and cannot be kept together with the radish. There are only a few of them. Just eat them." Zhou Ye said as he wrapped a few sea buckthorns with the hem of his clothes, rubbed them with his hands, and after rubbing the thorns off, he began to peel the skin. After peeling, he cut the skin in half, dug out the seeds and hair inside, and then handed them to Lin Shu.
Lin Shu took it, put it into her mouth and chewed it slowly.
It is indeed sour, but also has a slightly sweet taste. The flesh is crisp and tender, with a special rich aroma.
Seeing that she was eating without changing her expression, Zhou Ye paused for a moment and peeled one to eat as well. However, the sour taste made him frown, which made Lin Shu laugh out loud.
"Let's wait until all the sea buckthorns in the mountains are ripe, then we can pick them."
Zhou Ye looked surprised, as if asking her: It's already like this, and you still want to pick it?
Lin Shu was very happy. "This sea buckthorn is not meant to be eaten raw. We can pick it and make sea buckthorn honey paste, which will be delicious."
Zhou Ye asked in surprise, "Ah Shu, have you ever eaten wild mountain fruits like sea buckthorn before?"
Lin Shu raised her eyebrows. "There's so much to eat in the capital. I've tried fruit wine made from chatian mushrooms, honey paste made from sea buckthorn, wine made from golden cherry fruit, and cakes made from sour jujube..."
Anyway, A Ye has never been to the capital, and unless something unexpected happens, it is impossible for her to go to the capital in this life, so she can just make up stories.
Zhou Ye didn't doubt what he said and asked, "How many sea buckthorns are left?"
Lin Shu's eyes rolled around, "I'm not going to eat it anymore. I'm going to take it back for A Niang and Xiao Pu."
Zhou Ye secretly curled his lips, but didn't let Lin Shu see it.
Zhou Ye threw the remaining few sea buckthorns directly into the backpack behind him.
"Ah Shu, do you still want to find wild fruits?"
"Yes, it's still early. Don't you want to stay with me a little longer?" Lin Shu held his hand, leaned towards him, and smiled sweetly.
Zhou Ye immediately wrapped her small hand into his big palm again.
Of course he wanted to stay with Ashu for a while longer, especially in these mountains where there was no one else but him and Ashu. Even if the two of them did something impolite, no one would say anything.
He was just afraid that Ah Shu would be tired.
Zhou Ye took Lin Shu for a long walk, but they didn't go deeper into the mountains. It seemed like they were going around in circles. Even so, Lin Shu was surprised by what she saw along the way.
The wild fruits in the back mountain, such as wax gourd and golden cherry, are basically all available in this mountain, and there are also some that are not available in the back mountain.
She saw the pyracantha fruits that had begun to turn red, as well as wild kiwi trees, sour dates and wild hawthorns.
These wild fruits are naturally incomparable to the improved large and sweet fruits of later generations. They are hard to eat raw, but they can be eaten raw. They are good for making wine, boiling paste, or making preserved fruits.
There is also the pyracantha. Aye said that it is particularly abundant in the mountains. This thing is also called rescue food, and it is a good thing to use to satisfy hunger in years of famine.
The biggest surprise was the wild chestnuts. Lin Shu saw several wild chestnut trees!
However, among so many wild fruits, only the sea buckthorn and the jasmine are ready to eat, and the others will have to wait a little longer.
As they were walking, Lin Shu's eyes lit up. She suddenly pointed to a tall fruit tree in the distance and asked, "Aye, is that a mountain cherry?"
Zhou Ye's expression was indifferent. "Ah Shu, this tastes sour and not tasty."
"There must be something sweet, Aye, I want to try it." Lin Shu hugged his arm and looked at him with her little face slightly tilted up.
The mountain cherry tree was very tall, and the fruit on the top was not accessible to most people. She guessed that Aye would definitely be able to climb the tree.
Zhou Ye looked at her slightly upturned face, tried to hold back, but couldn't, and suddenly lowered his head to suck on her rosy lips.
Lin Shu's eyes suddenly widened, and after Zhou Ye left, she immediately covered her mouth. She looked embarrassed and annoyed, but in fact she was secretly happy, "Wow, Ah Ye, you dare to kiss me without my consent!"
Although she asked Aye to take her into the mountains to pick mushrooms because she wanted to be alone with Aye, she thought Aye was so reserved that it would be difficult for her to hold his hand. She never expected that Aye, who she thought would never do anything in broad daylight, would actually kiss her secretly.
In that case, don't blame her for transforming into a fairy to seduce him!
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