Chapter 143: Eat Wild Fruit + Stir-fried Chanterelles
Zhou Ye thought, he was not led astray by Ah Shu, he was bad from the beginning.
Ever since Ah Shu said she liked him, her figure was always in his mind. And since Ah Shu first came to see him at night, the things he did in his dreams became more and more excessive. He was already thinking about those things in his heart, and now they were just brought out by Ah Shu's words and actions.
After laughing, Lin Shu poked his hard chest with her free finger. "Eat well, sleep well, and don't think about this kind of thing all day long, okay? Didn't you eat my mouth enough in the mountains just now?"
Zhou Ye was certainly not enough, but he also knew that before they got married, he would never do anything more excessive to Ah Shu.
He just wanted to hold her and kiss her again at night, even if the satisfaction came with physical torture.
But when he heard Ah Shu say this, he knew that she would not come at night.
"Aye, let's go quickly. I'm hungry. After we get out of the mountains, we still have a long way to go before we can get home."
Zhou Ye responded and silently led her back.
After the two of them left the forest, Lin Shu let go of his hand without Zhou Ye's reminder. After all, this honest man was afraid of being seen.
She didn't notice that when Zhou Ye let go of her hand, a look of reluctance flashed across his eyes.
Lin Shu looked at the sun in the sky and said, "I guess my mother and Aunt Lin are already making dinner. I got home late today, so I didn't have any advice for them, and I don't know what they've been doing."
When the two of them returned, the smell of food was already wafting out of the courtyard.
Lin Shu didn't rush into the courtyard, but first looked into the small pit outside the courtyard.
Wow, it’s really full!
Aye had dug the small pit early in the morning. Now, after only one day, the pit was filled with the saltpeter-containing soil that Lin Shu wanted.
The child laborers she recruited were really capable. The soil there was of different quality, and it was obvious that it had been collected from many places with great effort.
It was not until she entered the courtyard that Lin Shu learned that her mother and Aunt Lin had made the same wild vegetable dumplings they had made the day before.
The last time they mixed the filling, the two of them watched the whole process. Practice makes perfect, but they were a little slow in rolling out the dough. However, Aunt Lin was decisive. When she decided to make wild vegetable dumplings, she fermented the dough early, and then asked Lin Xiaopu to call Wang Yingen and others to help dig cattail roots.
At this moment, Wang Yingen and several other little kids were eating wild vegetable dumplings wrapped in tung leaves.
"Sister, you're finally back!" Lin Xiaopu hurried over and helped Lin Shu take off the backpack on her shoulders.
Although she had fun with Wang Yingen and the others, she always felt like something was missing when she didn't see her sister for a day.
Lin Zhaodi and He Guixiang also looked over with a smile, and saw that the two people's backpacks were full. Although they couldn't see clearly what was in them, they knew that the two people returned with a full load.
"Wow, sister, you and Brother A'ye actually dug up two Sichuan pepper trees!" Lin Xiaopu saw the two Sichuan pepper saplings in the backpack. "And perilla? Sister, why did you dig up the tree roots too? Are you going to plant perilla too?"
Lin Shu said, "Perilla is easy to grow. Dig up two plants and plant them in the vegetable patch. You can pick them whenever you want to eat them. It's very convenient."
In addition to the two mountain pepper trees in her backpack, she also dug up two perilla plants.
On the sunny slopes of the mountains, there's a surprising amount of perilla, a variety with completely purple leaves. I don't know why they don't eat it in Tianshui Village. It's great for seasoning, especially for stewing fish or loach, removing the fishy smell and enhancing the flavor. There's also perilla tea for sale in town, but if you don't know how to make it, you can just dry some and make tea.
Lin Shu was quite surprised when she saw it. She not only picked a few handfuls to dry and use later, but also dug up two more plants.
Seeing that Lin Xiaopu was only staring at the sapling, Lin Shu took out the bulging old cloth package from her backpack and said with a smile, "Sister, your eyesight is not good. How come you only noticed the peppercorns and perilla, and didn't smell the wild fruit fragrance in this package?"
The old cloth was wrapped with the paddy field soda that she and A Ye had painstakingly collected after a trip. They picked several handfuls from each plant, and it took them several plants in a row to collect so many.
"Wash it and eat it."
Lin Xiaopu opened it and saw that it was full of red and purple radishes. She exclaimed in surprise, "Sister, there are so many!"
The back mountain was both large and small. Wang Yingen and his friends spent their days wandering around, and they had long since eaten all the ripe radishes on the mountain. Unexpectedly, Sister had picked so many for her from the deep mountains! Brother Zhou Ye had picked them before, but at most he'd bring back a handful or two for her to snack on, never so many.
"Thank you, sister!" Lin Xiaopu was delighted. She turned to Zhou Ye and said, "These radishes were probably picked by Brother Ye. Hey, Brother Ye has worked hard, too!"
Zhou Ye was tall, and when he unloaded the basket and placed it on the ground, Lin Xiaopu realized that there were also wild fruits in it. The surface of the basket was covered with bright red mountain cherries, and there were also a few orange sea buckthorns mixed in.
Lin Xiaopu exclaimed in surprise, "It's wild cherry and sea buckthorn!!"
Although the chatianpao fruit is sour, sweet and juicy, it is a wild fruit that little kids like them can pick by themselves. But there are no wild cherries and sea buckthorns in the back mountain. If they want to eat them, they have to go to the deep mountains to pick them. But the elders don't allow children to run into the mountains. Even the brave Wang Yingen only dares to wander around the edge of the mountain. Even so, if Aunt Li finds out, she will pull his ears.
But there are no wild cherries and sea buckthorns outside the deep mountains. You have to go further in. These little kids don’t dare to go there. If they want to eat them, they have to wait until the elders at home are free to pick them in the mountains.
Everything that cannot be eaten is good, so when they saw the wild cherries and sea buckthorns, not to mention Lin Xiaopu, Wang Yingen and others who were still chewing wild vegetable dumplings all gathered around them, and each of them was exclaiming "Wow wow".
They have already eaten a lot of Chatianpao, but they haven’t tasted this year’s wild cherry and sea buckthorn yet!
Wang Yingen, the leader, swallowed the last bite of his wild vegetable dumpling and said to Lin Shu, "Sister Shu, we've dug up a lot of the soil you asked for. The small pit outside is completely filled!"
They don't eat for free. They did a lot of work today. In addition to the soil that Sister Shu wanted, they also helped dig a lot of cattail roots.
Lin Shu smiled and praised a few words, "You completed the task very well. I don't have anything delicious to give you today. Ah Ye and I just went to the mountains. You can share some of these fruits later."
"Thank you, Sister Shu!" Wang Yingen and others were very happy.
"Xiao Pu, go get the colander." Zhou Ye said.
Lin Xiaopu responded and hurried to get the colander used for washing vegetables and rice.
Zhou Ye poured all the wild cherries and sea buckthorns on the surface of the backpack into the colander.
There are not many sea buckthorns, only about twenty or so, and the rest are all wild cherries, which Zhou Ye picked one by one, especially those that have already turned red. Let’s not talk about whether they taste good or not, just looking at them makes people very hungry.
"Wash these wild cherries and the radishes together and divide them among them. Don't eat them all, as your sister is going to make jam and wine." Zhou Ye reminded.
"Okay!" Lin Xiaopu grinned.
There are so many that they can't finish them. These wild fruits can only be eaten as snacks. A handful per person is enough.
When Lin Xiaopu took the wild fruits to wash, Wang Yingen and others followed him noisily.
Now they are getting more and more comfortable calling her Sister Xiao Pu. For a few bites of food, it doesn’t matter if they call her a few more times.
Wild cherry and sea buckthorn can be washed directly with a colander. Field pods are easy to break and there are many of them, so they should be placed in a basin and washed separately.
After Lin Xiaopu washed the wild fruits, he did not serve them out to Wang Yingen and the others for them to eat. Instead, he divided them up on the clean empty low table. He put two handfuls of jasmine and a handful of wild cherry in one portion, and two sea buckthorns in each person's portion. In this way, he divided the fruits into seven piles, and each person, including Lin Xiaopu himself, received a portion of wild fruits.
A group of little kids were eating wild fruits with laughter.
“The mountain cherries are delicious, sweeter than any I’ve ever had!”
"The sea buckthorn is delicious. Although it's sour, it tastes delicious!"
"Chatianpao is still the best, and it's bigger than the ones we picked in the back mountain!"
Lin Zhaodi and He Guixiang were still making the last pot of wild vegetable dumplings. Listening to the noisy laughter, they also smiled.
"These wild fruits are sourer than each other. Only these little kids are not afraid of sour teeth." He Guixiang said.
Lin Zhaodi also said, "That's right. Zhao San also liked to pick them before, but I really don't like to eat them. The sour taste is much stronger than the sweetness."
As the two were talking, Lin Xiaopu brought over a bowl of Chatianpao. "Mother, Aunt Lin, this is for you. You probably don't like wild cherry and sea buckthorn, but this Chatianpao is sour, sweet and juicy. You're sure to like it."
Every child who grew up in the village had eaten chatianpao and diluan (loquat). These two wild fruits are short and can be picked by even a child. Didn't A Niang and Aunt Lin also grow up as children?
"Mom, keep your hands occupied. I'll feed you a few." Lin Xiaopu handed them to He Guixiang's mouth.
He Guixiang turned her head away and said, "Mother doesn't like this, you eat it by yourself."
"Sister and Brother Aye picked so much, there's plenty for you to eat, Mom."
He Guixiang had no choice but to smile and open her mouth.
"Mother, is it delicious? Is it sweet?"
"Sweet, sweet, sweet." He Guixiang replied perfunctorily, but her face was full of smiles.
"Aunt Lin, you can take some and eat them later." Lin Xiaopu said.
Lin Zhaodi sighed and hid the envy in her eyes.
On Zhou Ye and Lin Shu's side, they found a place to plant the pepper trees and perilla trees, and then returned to the yard to do other things.
Wash the mushrooms. There are too many chicken mushrooms to use up, so half of them are processed to make chicken mushroom sauce, and the remaining half is spread out with perilla leaves to dry.
Freshly picked chanterelles are extremely delicate, and the fresher they are, the better they taste. Lin Shu didn't plan to keep them, so she made them for dinner and made a dish of stir-fried chanterelles.
But at this moment, there were wild vegetable dumplings steaming in the iron pan. She first washed the mushrooms and prepared all the ingredients such as minced garlic, so that she could stir-fry them as soon as the iron pan was empty.
When Lin Zhaodi learned that Lin Shu wanted to use the pot, she said to her, "Don't worry. We put the wild vegetable dumplings into the pot early today, and the third pot of wild vegetable dumplings will be steamed soon. By the time all three pots are steamed, the sun won't even set yet."
"Oh, Ah Shu, I found the old clay pot you asked me to find. It's in the woodshed. It's quite old. Can you take a look at it to see if it can be used? If not, I'll go find another one."
Upon hearing this, Lin Shu hurried to look at the clay pot. It was indeed a bit old, but it did not affect its use. Besides, she was using it to make saltpeter, so she didn't mind if it was a little old.
"Aunt Lin, I need this clay pot frequently. If you can give me a few copper coins, I'll buy it."
Lin Zhaodi said, "This clay pot is not worth much. I've already given it to you. Ah Shu, you can use it without worry." Before Lin Shu could say anything, she interrupted her, "Ah Shu, I know you don't like to take advantage of others, but right now, it's you who's taking advantage of your family. Please let me spend these few copper coins. It's not much to begin with. I'll feel better if I spend them."
Lin Shu gave up after hearing this and said, "Fine, I won't be polite to you, auntie."
Knowing she was anxious, he gave her a promise, "I'll start boiling saltpeter tomorrow. If everything goes well, it'll only take three or four days. If it takes longer, it could be seven or eight days, or even longer. In the meantime, you can start preparing things. You can also prepare the basins and buckets for the ice jelly and fruit, as well as the tables and benches you mentioned."
Lin Zhaodi's eyes flashed with light, and she quickly responded, "Don't worry, Ah Shu, I promise I'll take care of it!"
After the third pot of wild vegetable dumplings was steamed, Lin Zhaodi hurriedly took down the steamer and rinsed the iron pot clean.
Lin Zhaodi didn't rush to make the fried mushrooms, but gave it to Lin Shu.
While she was tidying up the tables and chairs, she glanced at Ah Shu. Ah Shu's cooking skills were no worse than hers.
Heat the pan with cold oil, fry the dried cornel fruits, remove them from the oil, add the garlic slices and stir-fry until fragrant, add the chanterelles and stir-fry over high heat until the mushrooms in the pan become soft, shrink in size, slightly burnt on the edges, and ooze out the tempting golden "chicken oil", then add salt and pepper to taste.
Finally, sprinkle a handful of wild onions.
Out of the pan!
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