"Good heavens, where did these rat snakes come from at this time? Shouldn't they be hibernating?"
Fu Ming leaned closer for a look and, upon seeing that it was a non-venomous rat snake, he swallowed hard, not out of fear, but because he was craving it.
Thinking back to the snake soup I had in Qingshan Village, it was so delicious!
Ye Lin took the snake out of the basket. The snake's thick body was only slightly thinner than his arm. Perhaps because the snake was dead, its scales were not as black and shiny.
Instead, it looked rather dusty and gray.
The king cobra, also known as the rat snake, is non-venomous and typically feeds on mice, frogs, and birds. Due to its large size, the king cobra usually constricts its prey with its body, killing it before swallowing it.
However, it's the dead of winter now, and even rat snakes hibernate. This rat snake looks to weigh about five or six pounds. I don't know how Ye Jun got it.
Seeing Fu Wan, Fu Ming, and Qin Anning all looking at him, Ye Jun nudged Ye Lin with his elbow, then turned around and plunged back into the cowshed.
"Brother, you tell them, I'll go get some food for the chickens and ducks!"
"Okay, sure!"
Ye Lin threw the snake back into the basket, slung the basket over his shoulder, and then explained what had happened.
Before dawn today, Ye Jun came to the chicken farm early to collect eggs.
Unlike before, he heard the dog barking urgently even before he reached the chicken farm.
Ye Jun's dog was a wolfhound puppy he got from the next village. It was only a month old, small in size, but very fierce.
He initially thought it was the chicken thief again, but when he ran closer, he found the dog barking in the chicken coop, and the chickens were flying around in fright.
Seeing this, Ye Jun's heart sank. It must be that the chicken thief was incredibly audacious to dare to sneak into the chicken coop.
When he picked up the shovel and tiptoed toward the chicken coop, he found it empty. In the direction the wolfhound pup was barking, a snake as long as a carrying pole was wriggling, its mouth wide open, swallowing an egg!
Ye Jun couldn't stand it. No matter what kind of snake it was, he raised his shovel and slammed it down hard.
In the dead of winter, the snake was also afraid of the cold and had no energy. It barely struggled before Ye Jun slapped it to death.
He casually picked up the snake and tossed it into his basket. Afterward, he checked the surroundings again. The chicken coop hadn't been cleaned for a while, and the ground was covered with a thick layer of droppings from the chickens and ducks.
Because chickens and ducks rest lying down, the chicken coop is still somewhat warm in the dead of winter.
This is probably why the snake crawled into the chicken coop.
It was cold outside, but warm inside the chicken coop. Although it smelled a bit like feces, the rat snake itself didn't smell any better.
Moreover, there are some geese outside the chicken coop. Geese are generally a bit smarter than chickens and ducks, and they don't like to live with chickens and ducks. Otherwise, with geese around, the snake wouldn't dare to come in.
After Ye Lin finished speaking, Fu Wan and the others basically understood the ins and outs of the matter.
It's nothing more than the rat snake sneaking into the chicken coop and getting all warm and drowsy. Its large size startled the chickens and ducks, and the puppy barked at it for a while. When the snake woke up and saw the eggs so close by, it naturally decided to have an extra meal!
To be honest, even if the creature hadn't been eating the eggs, Ye Jun wouldn't have let it go. Back in the 1980s, snakes weren't protected animals; getting a bite of meat was a luxury. How could he possibly let go of a snake he already had?
Snake meat is meat too!
Moreover, this snake is so big that, apart from its internal organs, it will weigh at least three or four pounds when we take it back!
As they were talking, Ye Jun came over carrying a chicken with half a wing flapping.
“This chicken broke its wing somehow, it’s been like this for several days. You can take it back too, it’ll make a soup with the snake.”
The snake soup alone was a bit bland. Ye Lin didn't say much after hearing this. He took the chicken, which weighed about two or three pounds, and gestured for Fu Wan and the others to go back.
Before leaving, he reminded his younger brother, "The New Year is coming soon, so clean up the chicken coop. I'll bring you the food when it's ready."
"Okay, sure!"
The idea of doing a thorough cleaning before the Lunar New Year is not only found in Qingshan Village, but also in Fujia Village.
There's already a lot of chicken droppings in the coop; shoveling them out will make excellent fertilizer, perfect for composting in the field.
Before leaving, Ye Jun was carrying a bucket of mixed chicken feed and called out a few times. The chickens, ducks and geese immediately ran towards him, and Fu Wan and the others even felt the ground beneath their feet tremble.
Just then, two figures with brightly colored tail feathers flew down from the tree and quickly joined the fray for chicken feed.
Ye Jun, standing to the side, seemed completely unfazed.
Fu Wan couldn't help but pat Ye Lin and ask, "Brother Lin, are those two pheasants?"
"Oh, right, it ran down the mountain a while ago. Ah Jun originally wanted to catch it and eat it, but this pheasant was very clever and ran away after eating it."
However, since they lay two wild eggs every day, Ah Jun thought he'd keep them to see if he could raise a flock of pheasants.
After saying that, he chuckled again, "Hey, it's just for fun!"
Winter weather is cold, and it's difficult for animals in the woods to find food. But Ye Jun's chicken farm happens to be at the foot of the mountain, a place where wild pheasants, unable to find anything on the mountain, can find fortune in danger.
Believe it or not, maybe two today, four in a couple of days, and you could actually raise a whole flock of pheasants.
The group chatted and laughed as they walked home. When they arrived, Ye Jianguo was cleaning up the pig offal.
Seeing this, Ye Lin simply handed over the basket as well.
"Father, you can take care of them all at once!"
"What is that, a raptor snake?"
Ye Jianguo emptied the snake out of his basket. He was very happy to see such a big snake.
"Okay, I'll clean it up. We added another great dish for lunch today!"
Ye Jianguo likes to eat snakes. In his words, snake meat is smooth and delicate, and tastes better than chicken, duck, or pork.
"Ah Lin, skin the wild rabbit you caught this morning, and stir-fry it for lunch."
"Alright!"
Seeing that everyone was busy, Fu Wan, Fu Ming, and the others didn't sit idle either, and all found something to do.
The water in the back pot was boiling. Li Chunhua quickly killed the chicken, drained the blood, and then scooped up boiling water to scald the feathers.
Seeing this, Fu Wan simply picked up a stool and started plucking the chicken feathers. Qin Anning, who was standing next to her, also wanted to come and help.
Fu Wan was worried that she wouldn't be able to stand the fishy smell from the scalding, so she asked her to fetch half a bucket of clean well water so that it would be easier to clean the chicken after plucking its feathers.
Fu Ming's task wasn't so easy. Ye Jianguo had finished cleaning the wild boar's large intestine, but the small intestine hadn't been cleaned yet. Fu Ming didn't mind the dirt and rolled up his sleeves to help.
Everyone was busy in the yard when the aroma of pork cracklings wafted from the kitchen. Fu Ming sniffed and couldn't help but sigh:
"Wow, this lard smells so good!"
Ye Lin, standing nearby, nodded in agreement, "It does smell delicious, but it's a pity that wild boar fat isn't as thick as domestic pig fat, so you can't render much lard from it!"
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