Bamboo shoots that emerge from March to May are called spring bamboo shoots, and they are generally about the size of a large sweet potato. Bamboo rhizomes that emerge from June to September are thin and long, and are called whip bamboo shoots. Bamboo shoots that emerge from October to around February are called winter bamboo shoots.
Image of winter bamboo shoots (image from the internet, please contact us for removal if it infringes on your rights).
Image of bamboo shoots (image removed due to copyright). These are very fresh and tender.
Right now, the most abundant bamboo shoots in the entire bamboo forest are winter bamboo shoots and thunder bamboo shoots.
The women naturally preferred to break off smaller, tender bamboo shoots, while the ones that were too tough to break off and required a hoe were left to Fu Ming and Fu Liang.
There's a bit of skill involved in breaking bamboo shoots. It took Fu Wan two or three tries before she got the hang of it, and soon her basket was full of bamboo shoots. After working like this for more than ten minutes, Fu Wan even broke a sweat.
She looked up at the busy crowd in the bamboo forest. Besides Ye Xiaocui and her group, there were some villagers digging bamboo shoots not far away. At this time, there weren't many vegetables in the fields, so apart from going to the beach, the only option was to try one's luck on the mountain.
"Woof, woof!"
A childish bark interrupted Fu Wan's thoughts. She looked in the direction of the sound and saw that it was coming from under the bamboo grove.
"Sister-in-law, can you hear a dog barking?"
Wang Huiping was engrossed in picking bamboo shoots and had no time to notice the barking dogs.
But she was also good-tempered. As soon as Fu Wan spoke, she stopped what she was doing, listened for a moment, and then shook her head and said:
"I didn't hear that, Awan, are you sure you didn't mishear?"
Did I hear that right?
Fu Wan was puzzled, and just then, the sound of the dog barking came again.
"Listen, there's a clear sound of a dog barking over there!"
Fu Wan pointed to the source of the sound, and Wang Huiping took off her gloves and picked at her ears in confusion.
That's strange, could it be that she has a problem with her ears?
But she really didn't hear the dog barking!
Just then, Ye Xiaocui also noticed the commotion on her daughter's side.
"Wan, what's wrong?"
"Mother, I think I heard a dog barking."
Ye Xiaocui listened attentively for two seconds, but similarly, she didn't hear any barking.
"What's that dog barking? Could it be a mountain spirit?"
Children in the mountains hear the most stories of mountain spirits from a young age, and Ye Xiaocui is no exception. The mountains are not only home to wolves and wild beasts, but also to things that most people don't know about.
From a young age, adults warned them not to go into the deep mountains, because apart from wolves and wild beasts, the only thing used to scare children was the mountain spirit.
Legend has it that the mountain spirit can mimic the sounds of various animals, not just dogs barking, but also human speech.
They use these sounds to lure people closer, then hunt and eat them.
Fu Wan didn't believe in that at all. Let alone whether there were mountain spirits or not, even a mountain spirit wouldn't want to climb to the top of this mountain, which they could reach in ten minutes.
After thinking for a moment, she figured out why Ye Xiaocui and Wang Huiping couldn't hear the dog barking: firstly, the dog wasn't barking continuously; it would bark twice and then stop.
Secondly, my hearing is more acute than that of ordinary people, and I can detect even the slightest noise.
"Mother, I'm going to go take a look."
After speaking with Ye Xiaocui, Fu Wan walked towards the direction of the voice she had just heard.
Ye Xiaocui was not at ease. Although it was in the bamboo forest, Fu Wan was still a girl.
"Hey, Ming, go take a look with your sister, see if there's a dog."
"Oh, and don't forget to bring the machete too."
Fu Ming put down his hoe and hurriedly picked up his machete to catch up with Fu Wan.
The bamboo in the bamboo forest grew very irregularly, and there were bamboo shoots and bamboo everywhere. Fu Wanshen walked for a long time, stumbling along, before finally reaching the edge of the bamboo forest.
"Brother, listen, isn't that a dog barking?"
As if it heard Fu Wan and the others making noise, the dog below started barking again.
"Hey, it really is!"
Fu Ming listened intently for a moment, then immediately used his machete to cut all the thorns on the road aside.
In front of them was a thicket of bushes covered with thorny weeds and vines.
If you're not careful, you can get a cut from the thorns on these grasses.
After Fu Ming cleared the vines from the jungle, Fu Wan discovered a disheveled black puppy lying in the thicket of thorns.
Upon seeing Fu Wan and her brother, it wagged its tail rapidly, its eyes wet with unease and a longing to be rescued.
"Woof woof!"
The puppy was whimpering, and not only Fu Wan, but Fu Ming's heart was completely melted by its cuteness.
"I don't know where this puppy came from. I guess it was a puppy that ran up the mountain and came back."
This dog must be just over a month old. It's surrounded by thorns, and I don't know how it's survived this long.
Fu Wan, relying on her sturdy rubber boots, stepped into the bushes, then reached out with both hands, comforting the puppy while trying to pick it up.
"Don't be afraid. We'll get you out of here right away."
The dog seemed to know that Fu Wan and the others meant no harm, and it didn't struggle at all, obediently letting Fu Wan pick it up.
After taking the dog out, Fu Wan noticed some bloodstains on its back, which must have been caused by thorns from the thicket.
Fu Ming reached out and touched the dog's head. The puppy had white circles around its black eyes, making it look like it had four eyes from a distance.
"This dog is nice, Wan, let's take it home and raise it!"
Although they already have Wangcai, now that they have built a new house, they have long wanted to raise two more dogs to guard the house.
Anyway, we have plenty of fish at home, and we can afford to keep a dog.
"Okay, puppy, you'll come home with us later!"
Fu Wan put the dog on the ground to see if its legs could still walk.
The dog didn't run away after landing. It circled around Fu Wan and Fu Ming twice, wagging its tail happily and sniffing their trouser legs, as if trying to remember their scent.
"Let's go back quickly, or Mom will worry."
Fu Ming pulled Fu Wan along, and just as Fu Wan was about to call the puppy to follow her, the dog suddenly ran towards the bamboo forest not far away.
"Hey, it's still ahead of us!"
The puppy ran a few steps, then stopped and looked back. After Fu Wan and Fu Ming caught up, it ran ahead again.
"Wrong, wrong, our family is here."
Seeing that the puppy had run in the wrong direction, Fu Wan quickly called out to it.
The puppy didn't come over for a long time; instead, it started digging in the dirt with its two front paws.
"Hey, what's that?"
With her sharp eyes, Fu Wan took a closer look and spotted a small object where the puppy had been pawing at. She quickly stepped forward, and Fu Ming, seeing that something was amiss, hurriedly followed.
"Woof woof!"
The puppy barked twice at Fu Wan as if showing off a treasure. Fu Wan walked up to it and then carefully picked up the thing next to the puppy's paw.
"Brother, it's a morel mushroom!"
"What, morel mushrooms?"
Fu Ming was also shocked. Morel mushrooms are a type of fungus. Like mushrooms, they have a brown cap on top and a white cylindrical stem at the bottom.
Morel mushrooms have pits on their surface that resemble a sheep's stomach, and they generally grow in moist jungles.
But this dog is amazing! It actually found morel mushrooms!
Morel mushroom image from the internet, please contact us for removal if it infringes on your rights. So fresh it'll make your eyebrows fall off!
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