Chapter 36 Chapter 36 Night Road
The next day, Kang He and Fan Jing were a little late when they went up the mountain. When they left home, they were blocked by a woman at the foot of the mountain.
This woman is quite old, but the charm of her youth can still be seen in her eyes and eyebrows. She must be a beautiful woman.
"Brother Jing, have you seen our Dasheng?"
Kang He didn't know this woman at first and was very calm, but when he heard this question, his expression changed immediately.
“No.”
Fan Jing treated everyone with the same cold attitude. He did not feel particularly disgusted with the woman because she was Sun Dasheng's mother, nor did he act too friendly. He told her the truth.
"I haven't seen him for a while, and I don't know what he's been doing. Go up the mountain and call him down for me."
When Kang He heard this, he frowned. What kind of tone was this?
When asking for help, people always say it in a nice tone, but she spoke as if she was giving an order. Not to mention how much people disliked her, just hearing her words made people feel uncomfortable.
"Auntie, since you don't know where he's been, deep in the mountains and woods, he must be quite a distance away. Where can we go to look for him?"
When the woman heard Kang He say this, she said, "You are all in the mountains, how can it be difficult to find it? We are all from the same village, so it's no big deal to help."
"I still have two bundles of firewood halfway up the mountain that I haven't brought home yet. My lady, since you're free, please help us carry them back. We're all from the same village, so please give us a hand."
The woman could tell that Kang He was being sarcastic and said, "You little boy, you are so weird."
"I'm a widow, and my words are useless. If you won't agree, why don't you ask his cousin to come and talk to you?"
Kang He was even more furious when he heard this: "Don't use the village head to pressure me. If you are really worried about him, go up the mountain and look for him yourself. He is such a grown man, if you are worried about him, why don't you tie him to your belt and let him go up the mountain?"
After saying that, he ignored the woman and left with Fan Jing.
The woman jumped up and down and cursed for a while, but when she saw that the man ignored her and was getting further away, she stopped.
"Why is she so arrogant? Is it because she has the village head's backing? This is just how nosy people are. A cousin, but the nephew treats her like his own nephew."
Kang He was somewhat indignant. He had always disliked Sun Dasheng, and now that he had met his mother, he disliked her even more. He was even more disgusted by the way this kind of person had been pestering Fan Jing in the past.
Fan Jing said, "There's been some gossip in the village."
Kang He asked, "What gossip?"
"It's just gossip, what else can it be? They say the village head wanted to marry his cousin, but he was a poor boy at the time, and his cousin's family wouldn't let him, so they each got married."
Fan Jing would only say a few words to Kang He about what he had heard.
After hearing this, Kang He's doubts were immediately resolved. With this relationship in mind, it was no surprise that Chen Yushun loved his cousin.
The two of them didn't take the Sun family too seriously. They were annoying to begin with, and it wasn't worth it to keep them angry at them.
In mid-February, there were seven or eight days of sunny weather, and most of the flowers on the fruit trees in the mountains were blown open by the warm sun.
Standing under the tree, you can smell the crisp scent of flowers and plants in the wind.
Kang He felt particularly at ease when he saw the bees flying among the flowers and trees, collecting nectar and going in and out of the beehives. He just had to wait until the flowering season was over to collect nectar again.
There are so many wild vegetables in the mountains and forests in spring that you can never eat them all.
Every time Kang He went out, he would bring back a big basket of fresh shepherd's purse, stinging nettles, crispy toon shoots, amaranth, purslane... There were so many kinds of things.
Fan Jing originally didn't like to eat these wild vegetables with strong earthy smell, but after teaching Kang He how to cook them, each one had its own flavor.
Toona sinensis omelet, nettle-stirred fish...the food is different every day.
It was raining that day, and Kang He called Zhang Shili to come over for dinner.
He got up early and kneaded the dough before waking up. He chopped pork with the right amount of fat and lean meat into minced meat and added fresh shepherd's purse to make shepherd's purse and pork dumplings.
When eating at home, we are willing to use more stuffing and wrap each dumpling plump. After cooking in boiling water, they float up like gold ingots.
Kang He added a large bowl to each person, and left some on the chopping board, preparing to continue cooking if it was not enough.
Dip the dumplings in some vinegar and take a bite. The filling is fragrant and the meat is firm. It is simply delicious.
Zhang Shili ate eight in one breath.
"On the day of the wedding, why didn't Big Brother Zhang come over to our house to have a drink? If Big Brother were here, he wouldn't have let those uncles and cousins from Dajing get me drunk."
Zhang Shili slammed the table when he heard this and said, "Whoever dares to force me to drink again, I'll punish him next time."
"Talking without doing is just empty talk."
Kang He said: "In the real world, there is no trace of it."
Zhang Shili heard this and said, "It's not that I don't want to come, but your brother and I have a bad reputation in and outside the village. If I go to your place, people will say you're hanging out with those thugs who beat people up and are in jail. I don't want to spoil your fun on such a beautiful day."
Kang He was upset when he heard that Zhang Shili didn't come because of this matter. "Big Brother is such a loyal person. If others say something unpleasant because of my association with you, it's out of jealousy. I won't let it go unpunished."
Zhang Shili patted Kang He's shoulder and said, "We two brothers know how to live without those empty promises. The dumplings we eat here today are no worse than those at a banquet."
After saying that, he looked at Fan Jing again: "Are you used to the knife I gave you? I asked Brother Kang what he wanted but he didn't tell me, so I didn't know what to give you two. But since he cares so much about you, I think I'll give you a knife you can use, and I think he'll be satisfied."
Fan Jing didn't talk while eating, he just focused on eating.
Hearing Zhang Shili's question, he nodded.
"Every time he comes up the mountain at the beginning of the year, he uses the knife that my eldest brother gave him."
The two talked for a while and ate a few dumplings. It had been a while since they last spoke, so they couldn't help but continue chatting.
"Has that Sun Dasheng from your village come up the mountain too? I've been losing things in my traps lately, and I didn't think about that at first. But then I saw some stranger footprints a while ago, so I'm afraid someone picked them up."
Kang He said, "That guy is a piece of shit. A while ago, her mother even asked Da Jing to find someone for her. Who has the time to look after her son? He relies on being a relative of the village head and has a lot of power over him."
Zhang Shili snorted coldly upon hearing this, "He has become so destitute and yet he still has the nerve to show off.
You don't know that he used to be a dog for some high-ranking official in the city, lending money at high interest rates, and he was very proud for a while. Later, the high-ranking official behind him offended the people and was punished, and he became a rat crossing the street and suffered many beatings.
In the past, when he was collecting debts, he used to rob and rape innocent families. Now that he has no support, there are many people who want to seek revenge, so he has no choice but to hide in the mountains."
Zhang Shili was a righteous and generous person, and he had some connections in the city, so he had heard about Sun Dasheng's story before.
Last year, some people were asking where Sun Dasheng was hiding, but he had no contact with this person, so he didn't say anything.
"He's coming to bother you two, but you can't argue with him because of Chen Yushun. I'm here to take care of him. You should have told me this earlier!"
Kang He didn't know about this yet, and he looked at Fan Jing.
Even though they were close friends, Kang He would never mention the previous incident. He only agreed, "We haven't seen him much lately. The last time we saw him was last year. If there's anything else, I'll let you know."
Zhang Shili was happy when Kang He promised to find him if he got into trouble.
After talking for a while, Zhang Shili said that he saw some beehives in the mountains over here, and he guessed that they were made by Kanghe. Who else in the mountains has as much work as Kanghe?
He said to Kang He, "There are a few big locust trees in the hollow on my hill. If you have time, you can bring a box over. Although I can't take care of them, I can help you take a look when I walk around the mountain. I won't let anyone take them away."
Kang He was naturally happy to hear this.
The Sophora japonica tree blooms in clusters, which are very dense and lush, and is an excellent source of nectar.
When Zhang Shili left, Kang He picked up the remaining uncooked dumplings and taught him how to take them back to eat.
Two days later, Kang He brought three more boxes and sent them to Zhang Shili.
The locust flowers have not bloomed this month, so it's a good time to put the boxes there to see if they can attract bees to build nests. If not, he plans to move two boxes with bees over.
The wild rapeseed field was filled with a new swarm of bees. By then, the rapeseed flowering period had passed and the locust flowers were almost in bloom.
Harvesting honey means pointing to these luxuriant flowers.
A few days later, when Fan Jing came back from circumambulating the mountain, he was carrying a large adult deer on his shoulder.
Seeing this, Kang He's eyes lit up and he hurried to help catch the deer.
When I touched the deer's body, I found it was still warm. It was the new arrow wound on its leg that caused its death.
Kang He said: "Is it hunted?!"
Fan Jing responded.
The two men moved the deer into the yard, closed the door, and let it flutter around or lie on the ground.
Kang He had been following Fan Jing up the mountain for such a long time, but this was the first time he saw him hunt a deer. He felt both fresh and happy at the sight of it.
"This deer is probably worth a lot of money."
Fan Jing carried the deer all the way back from the border, sweat forming on his back. He drank two bowls of warm tea and said to Kang He, "It's worth more than a goat."
A black sheep hunted at the end of last year was exchanged for more than one string of coins. Deer are harder to come by than sheep, and the wealthy families in the city also love venison. They buy whole deer and even prepare them for banquets. For this reason, the price of deer can be twice as high as that of sheep.
In order to get a good price, Kang He and Fan Jing took advantage of the weather and took the deer to the city that day.
The two of them took turns carrying the child and arrived in the city before dark. It was getting late, so they took him directly to a restaurant on Changjiao Road.
It happened that Mr. Li was counting the bill at the restaurant. When he heard that someone had delivered a deer, he put down his account book and came over to see the novelty.
The waiter told Kang He that Mr. Li's father was celebrating his birthday and he wanted to prepare a deer roe to eat at the banquet.
Sure enough, Mr. Li was very happy to see the healthy adult deer, and the restaurant had not had any deer for a long time.
Kang He took advantage of this opportunity to say a few nice words to congratulate Mr. Li's father on his birthday.
Mr. Li was delighted to hear this and was so generous that he gave Kang He a dime of heavy silver, which was at least five taels.
This deer could be sold for a little over three strings of silver at most, and five taels of silver was almost half more than that, and a lot of it was reward money.
After leaving the restaurant, Kang He pulled the waiter aside and gave him a hundred coins as a thank you.
The young man never expected that Kang He would share so much money with him. It was almost as much as his half-month salary. He was so happy.
"If my second brother hadn't told me about the happy event in Mr. Li's family, how could I have received such a reward?"
The clerk said, "I was just saying it casually. It's really because you sent the deer at the right time, and you are so good at speaking, that it makes our master happy."
The two exchanged a few polite words. Seeing that it was getting dark, the young man went to the kitchen to get a wrapped torch and gave Kang He a fire starter, telling them that it would be useful on their way back even after dark.
Kang He is very grateful.
After saying goodbye, Kang He and Fan Jing hurried towards the city gate.
Even if he was willing to spend a few copper coins to take an oxcart back, the barn outside the city was empty. The night wind made the curtains of the rain shelter rustle. There was no oxcart driver anywhere, as they had all gone home long ago.
The two of them had no choice but to hurry on their way, but darkness waited for no one, and it was dark within an incense stick of time after they left the city.
Kang He lit the torch and went to Fan Jing.
"I can see the road."
Fan Jingjiao and Kang He were so close that they felt the road was difficult to walk on.
Kang He shrank his neck and said, "Listen to how scary that mountain owl's cry is. It's pitch black on this road, and I have to follow you closely. If it gets caught by some mountain ghost or strange bird, where will you find it?"
After saying that, he freed his hand and stretched it out in front of Fan Jing: "Hurry, hold my hand."
Fan Jing glanced at Kang He and thought to himself that this was not the first time they walked at night. Why didn't he seem scared in the mountains, but he acted strangely on the official road?
He looked at the road ahead, without saying a word, but still pulled the person's hand.
Kang He looked at Fan Jing's indifferent profile, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up.
He stroked the calluses on Fan Jing's palms. "After all, hunting is the way to make money. Look at the money we earned today. It's enough to keep us busy for a long time. Just like what Brother Zhang said last time, you should teach me archery too."
Fan Jing said: "We need to practice a little."
“I don’t look old now.”
Kang He said, "Even if we don't talk about hunting, it would be good to know some martial arts to protect yourself. If I learn it, I won't rely on you like this when I walk at night."
Fan Jing glanced at Kang He and asked, "I won't let you stay here anymore?"
"It's not a matter of being dependent or not. If I could master this skill, wouldn't I be able to protect others?"
"Who are you going to protect?"
Kang He shook Fan Jing's hand: "Who else could it be except you?"
Fan Jing said: "I will use you to protect me."
Kang He was unhappy when he heard this: "If you don't agree, then I'll go find Brother Zhang. He'll be happy to teach me anyway."
Fan Jing heard the voice and said, "You run there every day, aren't you afraid of the trouble?"
"Is it me who wants to make such a fuss? Are you willing to teach me or not?"
"Um."
When Kang He heard this, he leaned close to Fan Jing's cheek and asked, "Did you really agree?"
Fan Jing grabbed the dangling torch and said, "Be careful of the fire."
As they talked, they felt that time passed very quickly and soon they arrived home.
As we walked through the village, those who had gone to bed early to save money on lamp oil had all turned off their lights.
The Fan family had not gone to bed yet, and the light in the kitchen was very bright.
"Why are you home so late, my son? Have you two had dinner?"
Chen Sanfang was making konjac and tofu with two maids in the kitchen when he heard a dog barking outside. He thought it was someone passing by on their way at night, but it turned out to be Kang He and Fan Jing returning.
Father Fan was washing his feet in the main room. When he heard some noise outside, he hurried out to see what was happening with his wet feet stuffed into his straw sandals.
Seeing that it was Kang He and Fan Jing, he breathed a sigh of relief, greeted them without saying much, and went back to the room to continue soaking his feet.
When Chen Sanfang heard that the two children had sold live animals in the city and had not yet had dinner, she hurried to get four large duck eggs to fry a large plate of omelets for them.
When Kang He saw that Chen had given so much, he told her not to do so much.
"We have so many chickens and ducks stored at home that the rice jar is full. Luckily, the day before yesterday, Mrs. Wang's daughter-in-law gave birth, and she bought thirty of them to take back for her to eat during her confinement."
Chen said, "Also, we're going to have red chickens for the Hundred Days Banquet, and that's been reserved for us. We've got a place for the chickens, but the ducks are piling up."
"When I went to the city to sell konjac and tofu, I told the men and women that we had chickens and ducks, and I had two maids carry a basket each to sell. Sometimes they sold well, and sometimes there were some left over for us to take home."
Kang He was helping to light the fire under the stove and asked, "Is the konjac harvest easy these days, mother?"
"If we follow your recipe, word will spread quickly, and anyone who has konjac or sees where it's found will be happy to get it and bring it to our house.
Not only are our prices better than in the city, but we're also closer, so everyone who knows our place comes here. Even though a head of konjac only fetches a few dollars, farmers appreciate even a few cents to help with pocket money."
Chen said, "There are more than a dozen kudzu heads piled on the corner of the table in the main hall. I've been cooking them and selling them these past few days, and your father has been planting the tubers in the field."
Chen was surprisingly happy when she spoke of this. She whispered to Kang He, "Mom has earned over two hundred dollars these days! Even if we buy konjac and sell it, it really doesn't make a loss."
But at this time of year, which is neither a festival nor a business opportunity, the price is not high, three cents per square, and sometimes old customers will pay two cents per square.
Chen doesn't know business, but she is kind. She is not afraid of anything else but not being able to sell her things, so she is kind to others for this reason.
Although it is not as good as during the Spring Festival, it is still very rare to make money in the spring. In the past, it was impossible to make such money.
With money in her pocket, she felt at ease and was in good spirits every day.
Kang He felt relieved when he heard that Chen was doing well.
He said to Chen, "Since we have so many ducks, and they're not easy to sell in the city, we've decided to try something different. The weather's getting warmer, and we're eating porridge more often. We might as well pickle the extra ducks and make them salted duck. We can also make preserved duck. What do you think, mother?"
Chen slapped her thigh upon hearing this and said, "I think that's great! More variety will always attract more customers than just selling one thing."
"Mr. Shen, who I'm good friends with, is a very good cook. His salted duck is so delicious that it's runny and just the right amount of salty and light. Even your aunt, who's a very picky eater, always says it's good. In the summer, whenever I want to make salted duck, I always call him over to help me."
Kang He can make salted duck eggs and preserved eggs, but he just knows how to make them and his skills are not necessarily good. It is a good thing to hear Chen say that there are people who know how to make them well.
But he still said: "I just don't know if Mr. Shen is willing to come and help us. It will take more than one or two people to make these things to sell."
Chen Sanfang said, "Mother knows what you mean. He's such a nice guy. His family isn't rich, but he doesn't mind our poverty. He's so nice to me. I go to him when I have something to do, and he goes to me when he has something to do."
"We'll ask him to help with salting the ducks. It'll take him a day or two. Then I'll give him a basket of ducks and a square of smoked meat. What do you think?"
Kang He nodded.
The next day, Kang He did not go up the mountain, so Chen went to call the man she mentioned, Shen Fulang.
Mr. Shen is younger than Mrs. Chen, but he is dark and thin, and looks a little old.
Just as Chen said, his family was not rich. He was wearing a linen dress with patches on the knees and shoulders of his trousers.
"I've made salted duck a lot, so I'm pretty good at it. I haven't made preserved eggs in a while, so I'm not sure how they taste."
When Mr. Shen heard that Chen Sanfang was going to make salted duck, he came happily. He loved making this, but his family was poor, they had few chickens and ducks, and not many eggs, so it was rare for him to show off his skills and make some salted duck to eat.
Kang He heard people say they didn't know how it would taste, but they didn't say whether it would be good or not. He thought that people could make preserved eggs, and it would take some skill.
Because preserved eggs are not like other kinds of eggs. If they are not cooked well, they will be shapeless when peeled, and they will be mushy and smelly, and they are not edible.
"If you don't know yours, then come and make some with us. You know mine, and I've made these things in such a mess that I still have to ask you for help."
Chen Sanfang said to his fellow man.
"I'll pickle as much salted duck as you want. Just pick a few Songhua ducks first. When the time comes, if you like the taste, I'll make more for you. Don't make too much at once, or it will be ruined if it doesn't taste good later."
Mr. Shen knew that Chen had been selling konjac and tofu recently and had sent him some several times. Since they had a lot of chickens and ducks at home, they were also planning to do some business, and he was afraid he would miss out on her business.
Hearing this, Kang He felt that Shen Fulang was very cautious and responsible, so he said, "According to Shen Fulang, I'd like to trouble you to come home at this time to help delay the work."
Mr. Shen said, "It's no problem. It's just a matter of helping out. When I have problems at home, your mother always puts aside what she is doing to help me."
As they spoke, several people got busy.
"Salted eggs are usually pickled in salt water, which is the simplest method. But if you want them to be oily, dry-curing is better."
Mr. Shen said to everyone.
With great skill, he soaked the washed and dried duck in white wine to kill the bacteria, and then evenly coated it with salt.
The duck shell moistened by wine is quickly rolled in thick salt grains, and then the duck is tightly wrapped to prevent the salt from falling off and causing uneven marinating.
Finally, place the cured duck in a cool place and marinate for more than twenty days.
Kanghe used to soak it in salt water, but now he has tried dry pickling it for the first time.
Chen was willing to do so, and since there were more people on hand this time, she pickled sixty ducks at once, so there were not many ducks left.
He took out ten more and gave them to Mr. Shen to make preserved eggs, and said he would send them to Kang He when they were done.
If it tastes good, I'll make more.
Although I originally wanted to sell salted duck and preserved eggs, I still have to try it out first. Things cannot be achieved overnight.
Making things is a craft, and selling them is also a difficult job.
If you try to make a few hundred pieces at a time and then can't sell them, you'll end up with a lot of them. That would be a disaster.
Ducks are laid by poultry after eating grain, and a lot of salt is used to make salted duck.
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