"Watch your step when you go out. The weather is warm now, and there's bound to be some mischievous creatures that come out..."
Li Chunhua was rambling on at the door, and Fu Wan immediately understood that her aunt was talking about snakes in the fields.
Ye Lin felt a headache coming on. They weren't children anymore, so why was his mother still nagging so much?
"Oh, Mom, we know, don't worry. Besides, I brought a knife. If we really run into a snake, I'll catch it and bring it back to make soup for you!"
Li Chunhua rolled her eyes at him and said, "Pah, pah, pah! I don't need this stuff for soup. It's best if you guys don't run into it!"
After saying this, Ye Jianguo came out of the room dressed and patted his pockets to comfort his wife.
"Don't worry, I brought snake repellent. I knew they were going out tonight, so I asked the village doctor for a lot of powder yesterday."
Li Chunhua was relieved upon hearing this and immediately waved her hand, saying, "Then you should hurry up and go, and come back sooner the sooner you go."
As a hunter's wife, it was common for her husband and son to go hunting at night.
But like Ye Xiaocui, who married a fisherman, as long as they go out, those waiting at home can forget about getting a good night's sleep.
Li Chunhua watched them leave before closing the door to the main house, returning to her room and lying down while fanning herself with a palm-leaf fan.
There was a faint scent of mugwort in the room; it was from the mugwort sticks they made by grinding aged mugwort into powder. As the weather warmed up, mosquitoes also came out.
These moxa sticks have very low cost and are very effective at repelling mosquitoes.
As they were about to reach the fields, Ye Jianguo sprinkled a ring of medicinal powder on their legs, bodies, and hands.
Fu Wan took a closer sniff; the powder had a sulfurous smell, but she couldn't detect anything else.
"Uncle, does this powder really repel snakes?"
While applying the medicinal powder to Qin Anning's body, Fu Ming asked Ye Jianguo in a low voice.
Ye Jianguo nodded, "It's useful, but we can't deliberately provoke them. Someone as bold as Eye King isn't afraid of this."
If it's a timid snake like the silver ringed snake, it usually won't come out when it smells this scent.
Fu Ming felt a pang of regret upon hearing this. "Oh dear," he thought, "I thought that applying this stuff would make me invincible!"
While everyone was applying the medicine powder, Fu Wan looked up and surveyed her surroundings.
The farmland in Qingshan Village is much larger than that of a fishing village by the sea like Fujia Village.
They stood on the path, looking out over fields of rice paddies stretching as far as the eye could see.
The rice paddies are even more lively at night than during the day, with all sorts of frogs and toads croaking and various crisp insect chirps.
Besides Fu Wan and her group, there were several other villagers in the field carrying flashlights or kerosene lamps.
Most of these people were about the same age as Ye Lin. Among them was a young man who greeted Ye Lin and Ye Jianguo in a low voice.
"Uncle Jianguo, Brother Alin, are you out catching eels too?"
"Haha, yeah, just out for some fun. How about the stones? Got anything good?"
Ye Lin responded with a smile, saying that Shi Tou's older brother, Ye He, was his good brother, and Shi Tou was more than ten years younger than his brother, just fifteen years old this year.
The young man named Shi Tou didn't hesitate and immediately opened the lid of the basket tied around his waist to show everyone.
Fu Wan leaned over and saw about five or six eels wriggling and tangling in the basket. These eels weren't particularly big, but each one was about the thickness of an index finger.
"Wow, that's a good haul! You've got about a pound!"
Fu Ming praised, and Shi Tou nodded proudly, "It should weigh more than a pound. You guys hurry up, there are plenty of eels at this time of year!"
Upon hearing this, Fu Mingye Lin was immediately filled with energy. Knowing there were eels in the field was one thing, but seeing them with his own eyes was another.
"Let's go, let's hurry! Whether we can have meat tomorrow depends on tonight!"
"Yes, hey Dalinzi, do you remember that time we went out a few years ago? We caught more than ten pounds in one night, right?"
"Wow, that was a really great time!"
As Ye Lin and Fu Ming talked, they looked down and began searching for eels along the paddy field ridges, muttering to themselves.
Hearing this, Bai Qianzhou couldn't help but ask curiously, "Are eels very expensive? How much do they cost per pound?"
Ye Lin looked up in shock, "You don't even know if eels are expensive or not?"
Bai Qianzhou touched his nose and nodded very honestly.
He really didn't know.
"Hey, Brother Lin, how would he know how much eels cost per pound?"
If you ask him about treating illnesses, he'll definitely know. Everyone has their own area of expertise. Back when we were out there catching eels, Bai Qianzhou was still diligently memorizing medical texts!
After hearing Fu Wan's words, Ye Lin suddenly realized what was going on and immediately felt a bit of sympathy for Bai Qianzhou.
"Brother, you've worked hard!"
Thinking back to those books he saw at the old village doctor's, which were thicker than bricks, he felt dizzy just looking at them, let alone memorizing them.
Bai Qianzhou had no time to pay attention to Ye Lin's words. Fu Wan had just made an explanation for him, and he was happy about it right now!
The group of people searched the area thoroughly, but there was no trace of eels left.
After thinking for a moment, Ye Jianguo immediately led them to another deserted field ridge.
On the way, Ye Lin mentioned the recent price of eels.
The yellow eel, also known as the earth dragon, does not have the distinct earthy smell of the loach.
Image of eel (image removed due to copyright infringement)
Eels have high medicinal value, especially eel blood, which has the effects of promoting blood circulation and detoxification.
So here, apart from soft-shelled turtles, eels are basically the most valuable.
However, it still needs to be sent to the county town. If it's sold at the market in Qingshan Village, it can probably fetch about 1.5 yuan per kilogram.
But if it's sent to the county seat, the price will double.
Fu Wan prefers eel meat to pork.
The eel meat is very tender. In the past, when they caught eels, they would sell the big ones, which were thinner than their little fingers. Ye Jianguo would find a nail to fix the eel in place, and then cut off its internal organs with a single cut, so that Li Chunhua could make a plate of eel for the children to eat.
It's no exaggeration to say that the pan-fried eel, stir-fried with dried chili peppers and garlic, and then sizzled with some rice wine brewed by Li Chunhua, is so delicious that just thinking about it makes Fu Wan and Fu Ming's mouths water.
When it comes to food, everyone gets excited. Eels like to hide in the small ditches between the paddy fields, and the silt under the ridges is their nest.
Ye Jianguo and Ye Lin are both experienced eel catchers. In just a few minutes, Ye Jianguo pulled an eel more than half a meter long from the field with his bare hands.
"Damn, my uncle is awesome!"
Fu Ming sighed inwardly. Before he could even feel envious for a few seconds, Bai Qianzhou, who was standing next to him, followed suit and quietly approached with a flashlight.
He patted Fu Wan on the shoulder and gestured for her to look at the field.
Fu Wan glanced over and saw an eel, at least as thick as a thumb, quietly poking its head out.
They all brought tools, and Fu Wan immediately reached over with fire tongs.
With a lightning-fast strike, it swiftly and accurately clamped down on the eel.
"Haha, the first one today!"
Fu Ming turned around and looked, and was immediately filled with envy.
"Holy crap, you guys are open for business too!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Anning's eyes lit up, and she grabbed Fu Ming's sleeve, pointing anxiously into the ditch and shouting.
"Brother Amin, hurry, hurry, hurry!"
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