The young man looked up at him and said, "Black Wolf, we are mountain bandits, not men who farm and hunt every day. What good life would we have if we stayed here in Black Wind Stronghold like my father? Now that I am the leader, I will make sure my brothers live a life of luxury. Just wait, once my brothers have recovered, I will show them the power of Black Wind Stronghold!"
......
Meanwhile, in the county government office of Ningdu County.
"Sir, all the bandits we captured have committed suicide."
Master Fan entered the office to report for duty.
Yan Shuping paused, his pen still.
"Still haven't found out the whereabouts of the mountain stronghold?"
Master Fan shook his head, his face grim: "Now that those bandits are dead, it will be even harder for us to find out where Lian Shan is. But fortunately, this was a heavy blow to them, so they probably won't be able to come out and harm the people again so soon."
Yan Shuping frowned and remained silent. The bandits of Lianshan would surely make a comeback. Now that the bandits they could capture were dead, they would have to wait for another opportunity to enter the mountains and suppress them.
————
After the summer solstice, the weather gets hotter and hotter, with cicadas chirping and frogs croaking incessantly in the fields at night.
"Second Aunt, is this ugly thing really edible?"
Lin Erxi looked at the croaking frogs in the bucket with disgust.
"Second sister, I don't think they're ugly at all. They're smooth and cool to the touch."
Lin Dongzi, along with Da Xiaocao, poked the frogs with his hands and said.
"Yes, yes, Auntie, it's so smooth and cool, not ugly, not ugly at all," the little grass chimed in happily, poking the frog.
Lin Fengyao and Lin Erxi exchanged a glance and silently moved a little further away from the three of them.
Although Lin Fengyao's eyes showed some disdain, he still said, "If my mother says it's edible, then it must be true."
Song Anxin couldn't bear to watch Dongzi and the others poking at the grass with such gusto; the kids really weren't afraid of any snakes, insects, rats, or other animals.
The first batch of chili peppers has already sprouted in her family's chili field. At night, hearing the croaking of frogs, she dreams of spicy, fragrant, and hot pot flavors...frogs.
Counting down the days, she figured the frogs had grown fat, and since Feng Yao and Feng He were going home from the academy on break, she immediately sent Qingshan and the others to catch some last night. However, these green-skinned, bulging-eyed frogs were rather ugly.
She said, "Don't worry, I guarantee you'll be drooling when I make it."
"Madam, what should we do with these frogs?" Granny Zheng asked, looking at the buckets of green stuff with a troubled expression.
"Just behead them, skin them, and wash them clean. Granny Zheng and Granny Lu, I'll leave it to you. I'll go pick some chili peppers from the chili field and I'll make these myself when I get back."
After saying that, she quickly ran away; the scene was too bloody for her to bear.
Lin Erxi and Lin Fengyao followed Song Anxin around like little lambs, while Lin Dongzi and Da Xiaocao quickly caught up.
The group arrived at the chili pepper field, where Lin Fengnian was already leading Anfu Qingshan and a few others wearing straw hats to pick the peppers. The five acres of land stretched as far as the eye could see, a spectacular sight of red and green chili peppers.
When Lin Fengnian saw his mother arrive, he stepped forward carrying a basket of chili peppers and said, "Mother, you're here. I've picked these, so please take them home and use them for cooking."
Song Anxin took it and said, "Okay, Fengnian, you guys should also go back and prepare for dinner soon."
Meanwhile, the two children, Da Cao and Xiao Cao, blinked as they looked at Uncle Qingshan, who was wearing a straw hat and had a dark complexion.
Qingshan paused in his chili-picking, then squatted down and asked, "Young ladies, do you want to fly back?"
"Yay, yay, let's fly back, let's fly!"
The two, Da Cao and Xiao Cao, excitedly rushed into Qing Shan's arms.
Qingshan tossed the basket of chili peppers on his back to Qingfeng and said, "I'll take the two young ladies back and be right back."
No sooner had he finished speaking than a figure vanished, leaving Qingfeng, who was still standing there with his basket, completely bewildered. He scratched his head.
It seems like Aoyama really enjoys taking his two young ladies flying around lately; I just don't understand it.
Song Anxin watched as the grass, big and small, flew away in Qingshan's arms, and couldn't be more envious.
Alas, even if she, a mere lady, is envious, she cannot allow her own guards to carry her around and fly her around.
"Ah! Brother Qingshan, wait for me, I can fly too."
"Whoosh whoosh," "Whoosh whoosh whoosh..."
Lin Erxi saw this and quickly went after him.
"Wow, Mom, Sister Erxi can really fly a little now! It seems she's been practicing martial arts very diligently lately," Lin Fengyao exclaimed in surprise.
Song Anxin: "...!!!" ╥﹏╥ She was even more envious.
Lin Dongzi said from the side, "My second sister has worked so hard to practice this lightness skill. She has fallen off the wall countless times before she could even fly a little bit."
Song Anxin: Okay, Erxi really does practice very hard. He arrives earlier and leaves later than them, and he often falls and gets injured. This perseverance is something Song Anxin really didn't expect. Erxi deserves this lightness skill.
At noon, Song Anxin made two large pots of dry-pot frog. The red and green peppers were stir-fried together with the golden-brown and fragrant frog meat, which looked very appetizing.
Of course, chili peppers are not only used in frog dishes, but also in stir-fried pork with chili peppers, spicy duck, chopped chili fish head, spicy chicken cubes, and even pure dried tiger skin chili peppers.
Song Mei is currently pregnant and cannot eat so many highly stimulating foods, so there are other dishes that don't contain chili peppers.
As soon as the meal was served, almost everyone went straight for the dishes with chili peppers, and the table was immediately filled with loud "sizzling" sounds.
"Fengnian's mother, this is chili pepper. It's really spicy, but it's so spicy that it's addictive."
Old Bai's lips were red and sizzling from the spiciness. After finishing his sentence, he immediately picked up a piece of fish with chopped chili peppers, ate it with white rice, and exclaimed how satisfying it was.
"Second Aunt, ha, ha, wow, this is really spicy! I never expected that this green frog would have something like this under its skin. Wow, the frog meat is so tender and delicious!"
Lin Erxi kept yelling "Ha!" because of the spiciness.
Sister-in-law Lin's lips were also red from the spiciness: "These frogs croak all day in the fields, I never thought they were edible. I can't take it, it's so spicy, I need some water."
"Ah! It's so spicy and so delicious! I want to stop, but I just can't stop eating it!"
After taking a sip of water, Lin Fengyao continued fighting.
He spoke for everyone at the table; the taste of the chili peppers was truly irresistible. Even though there were non-spicy dishes on the table, they couldn't help but want to eat the spicy ones.
Even Song Mei couldn't resist taking a couple of bites. Although it tasted very good, it was indeed spicy, but she endured it for the sake of the baby in her belly.
Song Anxin thoroughly enjoyed the meal. It was the first time she had ever eaten chili peppers since she came here. Hmm, she'll try having hot pot again tomorrow.
The next day, Song Anxin instructed Anfu to buy a sheep from Uncle Lin's house. After teaching Granny Zheng how to make mutton hot pot, she and Lin Fengnian took Meizi to the county to consult a doctor about Ping An's pulse.
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