"Mom, look, look! I caught a bug that can fan the wind!"
"Woof!"
Yuanbao squealed at the insect flapping its wings in Fu Ling's hand. Its determined look made it clear that it had been eyeing the insect for a long time.
This thing even has insect wings on the corner of its mouth, which means it has already tasted insects.
Fu Ling stood on tiptoe and stretched her hand out in front of Fu Wan. Feeling the cool breeze blowing in her face, Fu Wan looked closely and immediately smiled.
"I thought it was something else, but it's just a bamboo shoot worm!"
"Bamboo shoot worm? We call it a little fan!"
Fu Ling replied excitedly, and Fu Wan took the bamboo shoot worm from her hand.
"Mom, do you want me to teach you how to play?"
Fu Ling looked at her with an expression that said, "I'll show you how to play," which made Fu Wan chuckle. Back when she was playing with bamboo shoot worms, this kid was probably nowhere to be found!
She reached out and ran her hand along the worm's wings a couple of times. Soon after, the worm instinctively flapped its wings again, and a strong gust of wind blew up in her face.
Who didn't play with bamboo shoot worms when they were a kid?
Bamboo weevils are actually large bamboo weevils. These insects have reddish-brown shells with a smooth surface that feels pleasant to the touch.
This creature is a pest, typically living in bamboo forests and feeding on bamboo shoots or tender parts of bamboo.
These insects are extremely strong fliers when they mature, and their wings flap violently when stimulated. Before electric fans existed, children loved to catch these insects, which served to both fan themselves and play, and also protected the bamboo from insect damage.
Image of bamboo shoots and insects (image removed due to copyright). I really loved playing with these when I was a kid.
Don't underestimate these tiny bamboo shoot worms; they can cause significant damage when they attack bamboo. Although their lifespan is only about twenty days, they can quickly cause bamboo to stunt, turn yellow, rot, and die.
Besides catching them to play with, bamboo shoot worms can also be fried in oil like cicada nymphs, making them a kind of meat dish. When they were young, Fu Wan and Fu Ming were pioneers in catching insects among the children.
"Where did these bamboo shoot worms come from?"
Fu Wan returned the bamboo shoot worm to Fu Ling, who proudly pointed towards the kitchen.
"My uncle took us to catch them, and we caught a lot of cicada nymphs! My uncle said he's going to fry them for us to eat!"
The admiration in his words brought a smile to Fu Ming's face as he worked in the kitchen.
"Haha, the cicada nymphs will be ready soon, just you wait!"
Upon hearing this, Qin Mingzhu hurriedly ran into the kitchen. She used to be terrified of insects, and she didn't even dare to reach out when she went out to catch cicada nymphs today.
But Fu Ling wasn't afraid at all, and followed Fu Ming to visit every tree in the village.
Children have limited abilities. Fu Ming originally went to the bamboo forest to find the wild cicada nymphs, but when he saw his niece jumping around under the tree looking for cicada nymphs, he couldn't resist the urge to run home, find a bamboo pole, and use a small, broken net to make a simple cicada nymph catching device.
Then, he led the children out with great pride and confidence.
Fu Ming's skill in catching cicada nymphs was honed from childhood, and coupled with his height, he caught more than twenty cicada nymphs in no time.
This action stunned the group of children, including Fu Ling. Fu Ling felt honored and jumped for joy.
Jack, Robert, and Tom also found it amusing and caught a few themselves.
While they were catching cicada nymphs, Fu Ming also caught a few bamboo shoot worms for Fu Ling and the others to play with.
After an hour, Fu Ling's small basket was filled with cicada nymphs and bamboo shoot worms.
Jack, Robert, and the other two thought that Fu Ming had specially caught these insects to feed the chickens and ducks. Unexpectedly, when they got home, Fu Ming went into the kitchen, found a bowl, filled it with a large amount of food, and then started heating up a pan to fry the cicada nymphs.
This action left Robert and Tom speechless for a long time.
So it turns out it wasn't feeding the chickens and ducks, but feeding them!
"Wan, Ming made a big bowl of insects!"
Upon seeing Fu Wan return, Robert frowned and ran out of the kitchen to complain.
Tom's expression wasn't much better. When they came back, two bamboo worms flew to the ground, and Yuanbao quickly jumped over them, licked them with his tongue, and put them in his mouth.
The image of insect splattering everywhere still echoes in their minds.
This stuff is inedible!
If Fu Ming hadn't treated them like brothers these past two days, he would have thought Fu Ming was deliberately playing a trick on them!
Fu Wan smiled upon hearing this, "Fried cicada nymphs are delicious, you should try them later if you don't believe me."
"Is this really edible?"
Robert asked hesitantly, and Fu Wan nodded affirmatively, "It's edible, and very delicious."
"Eat early tonight and go to bed. The tide will go out at four in the morning, and I'll take you to go beachcombing then."
Beachcombing?!
We're finally going to go seafood hunting with Fu Wan!
Robert, Tom, and the other two were immediately distracted by this unexpected news.
It rained this morning, and they thought they wouldn't be able to go out with Fu Wan for a few days. They didn't expect they would be able to go fishing for seafood tonight!
Actually, this was a decision made after Fu Wan and Fu Ming discussed it. The three of them spent all day wandering around the beach, wanting to go beachcombing but too embarrassed to follow the villagers, and their appearance was too unbearable to watch.
"Wan, no need for midnight, let's go after dinner!"
Tom said eagerly, but Fu Wan shook her head and explained the recent pattern of high tides to them.
"Go back when the tide goes out, you're sure to find something then. You guys take a nap after you finish eating, my brother will wake you up when it's time."
What's more, it started to drizzle outside right now.
Seeing this, Robert and his companions had no choice but to give up and obediently prepare for dinner.
Fu Ming cooked dinner, and after he returned, Ye Xiaocui could only help out.
Watching Fu Ming humming a song while cooking, Fu Wan suddenly remembered that she hadn't told him about Qin Anning's return.
Oh dear, how could she forget about that!
“Brother, I received a call from Bai Qianzhou in Beijing a few days ago. They have completed their mission and returned to camp.”
"What?! They're back!"
Fu Ming was so startled he almost dropped the spoon he was using to scoop salt into the pot. After regaining his senses, he eagerly chased after Fu Wan and asked, "Has your sister-in-law come back yet?"
Fu Wan shook her head, "He didn't mention it, but it should be almost time. My sister-in-law hasn't contacted home lately, so she'll probably be able to take a vacation after she finishes these few days of work."
Based on Qin Anning and the others' vacation schedule, they would take a vacation after completing their mission, so the time should be about right.
Upon hearing that his wife was coming back, Fu Ming was so excited that he started planning what kind of food to prepare for Qin Anning to nourish her.
You must have lost weight from being away for so long.
Shi Jiugong's stewed soup is the most nourishing. He needs to catch two more in the next couple of days. He also needs to arrange for Qin Anning to eat mantis shrimp. He'll have to talk to his third uncle later and ask him to pick out a few pounds of the fattest ones for him.
At dinner, Robert and Tom hesitated to pick up their chopsticks when they saw the cicadas on the table. Jack, seeing that Fu Wan and the others were enjoying their food, closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and stuffed one into his mouth as well.
I thought there was no fishy or foul smell at all, but instead, there was a unique crispy aroma.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com