The eel porridge was very hot, so Li Xiuju carefully blew on it to cool it down. She took a small sip and tasted the long-lost aroma of meat, which made her feel much more energetic. "There are still two acres of rice seedlings that haven't been planted yet. Maybe I can catch a few more."
Baoyu grinned, his lips burning red. "That's great! We can eat meat a few more times. Eels are free and rare. The more the better. My sister and I will definitely catch them all, leaving none behind."
Zhou Chenyu didn't like eating eel porridge.
In the past, when three or five old friends would get together for a late-night snack, they would most often order salted bone porridge, or preserved egg and lean pork porridge, along with a few skewers of grilled chicken wings, grilled enoki mushrooms, grilled chives, and grilled chicken feet, and sit at the food stall to eat and chat.
Today I had this freshly cooked eel congee. The congee was smooth and delicate, and the eel was fresh and delicious. After eating vegetarian food for so many days, I really wanted to finish the meat and gnaw on the bones too.
She now has only one thought: to achieve freedom to eat meat as soon as possible.
Thanks to the good weather, during the next two days of rice planting, they caught six or seven eels that were thicker than a thumb. They couldn't finish them all at once, so they kept them in a bucket.
The vegetable garden has been repaired, and the money for transplanting rice seedlings has been settled.
Li Xiuju couldn't stay idle, so she immediately went to the back mountain to cut a few bamboo stalks, shaved them into strips, and began to make handicrafts such as winnowing baskets, bamboo baskets, and chicken coops. After accumulating a lot, she took them all to the market to sell, earning at least two or three coins for each item.
Zhou Chenyu and Baoyu followed along for a few days, but they either broke the bamboo strips or made the dish look terrible.
Li Xiuju smiled and stopped them, "Making a chicken coop not only requires mastering the steps, but also tests your dexterity. If you're too strong or too weak, like you two, you'll never get it right. Don't think it's easy. I've been making these things since I was little, for quite a few years now. How can you learn it overnight? Go out and explore, don't just stay at home all the time. I'll do these things."
Zhou Chenyu seemed to be standing there motionless, like a stake on the bamboo pole.
"I'm just not going to learn it anyway." Zhou Baoyu squatted down by the basin dejectedly, watching a few snails stick out their tentacles and spit out mud and sand.
A thought flashed through Li Xiuju's mind: "There are only a few snails in the basin, not even enough for a meal. You two siblings are just sitting around doing nothing, why don't you go and collect some snails?"
Picking snails?
Zhou Chenyu and Zhou Baoyu exchanged glances and immediately agreed, "Okay."
The few snails they have now aren't even enough to fill their stomachs, so they'll collect more and eat their fill at once, since it won't cost them anything.
Li Xiuju brought over a straw hat and a bamboo basket. "The fields across from the gate are all for planting rice seedlings, so don't trample on other people's land. I remember there are a few abandoned fields across the river from where we wash clothes. Go and take a look there, see if you can find any."
"OK."
The two went one after the other to the wasteland that Li Xiuju had mentioned. The wasteland was a terraced field, with seven levels from top to bottom. Except for the bottom two levels which were planted with rice seedlings, the rest were all overgrown with weeds.
They stood on high ground, overlooking the entire village and paddy fields.
The rain wasn't heavy today, but if you wore a straw hat and kept your head down, it was easy for it to fall off and into the water. Zhou Chenyu and Baoyu took off their straw hats and put them aside, rolled up their trousers to their knees, and stepped into the paddy field with their buckets.
These paddy fields have been abandoned for a long time, and the mud at the bottom is hard and solid. When you step into them, you don't feel like you're walking on swamps like you did a few days ago. It's almost like walking on flat ground.
Zhou Chenyu finally stopped swaying and stood steadily.
She bent down, holding a bamboo basket in her left hand, and reached into the water with her right hand to pick up snails, putting one in her pocket as she picked them up.
Considering the future sustainable development of the snails, Zhou Chenyu preserved her last bit of kindness as a hunter, picking only the larger ones and leaving the smaller ones behind.
Nevertheless, the paddy water was still quite clear, and snails of all sizes were clearly visible, some scattered on the surface of the mud, and some with half their bodies burrowed into the mud. Picking them up was easy, but you couldn't see them all with just two eyes.
She and Baoyu walked in the same direction, the water beneath their feet already murky, the dirty water spreading like ink, forcing them to quicken their pace. Otherwise, if they stirred up the water, they wouldn't be able to see anything and would have to rely on touch.
The two men's bamboo baskets made a series of thumping sounds as they unknowingly reached the end of the field. The baskets became heavier, and at first glance, they appeared to be half full.
"This is enough for us to have a meal, right?" Zhou Baoyu patted his stomach, itching to set up a wok and cook it right away so he could satisfy his craving.
"One meal isn't enough! We've come all this way, we have to leave with a full load!"
Zhou Chenyu walked to another barren field and saw a dense mass of snails. Suddenly, she thought of the secret to wealth and turned to Baoyu, "Hey, you said that those high-ranking officials and nobles treat eels as treasures. These snails also grow in the fields. Couldn't they also fetch a good price?"
“I haven’t heard any rumors about that.” Zhou Baoyu shook his head and pouted. “Sister, these snails are just something those roughnecks use as snacks with their drinks. They don’t sell for much.”
Zhou Chenyu's confidence was shaken. "That's right, how could such an obvious wealth code possibly fall into our laps?"
She picked up two snails. "But we've always done odd jobs, earning only a few coins. It was okay when we were young, but it's not a long-term solution as we get older. We still need to find a way to make money."
As for what she was up to, Zhou Chenyu couldn't figure it out for the time being. If it were that easy, she would have been rich long ago.
"Sister, you don't need to worry about that. When autumn comes and the animals in the deep mountains become plump and meaty, I'll go into the mountains for a while. If I'm lucky, I'll hunt wild boar, wild goat, or wild deer, and each one can sell for several hundred coins. If I'm not lucky, I'll hunt some pheasants or rabbits, which will be enough for us to have a good New Year."
"Catch wild boars and deer?"
Although young people are energetic and this should be encouraged, Zhou Chenyu looked at his thin frame and silly personality and expressed doubt, "Can you do it?"
Um?
How could he not be able to do it?
Zhou Baoyu rolled up his sleeves, revealing a section of lean flesh, and patted it vigorously: "Sister, I can definitely catch pheasants and rabbits with my bare hands. If I really run into a wild boar or deer, I... I'll kill it with one punch."
That's it?
Before even starting to fight on the front lines, morale has already been halved.
"You'd be more like a pig being ripped to death." Zhou Chenyu's lips twitched. "You hit me so hard, doesn't it hurt?"
Zhou Baoyu's arm was burning hot, and he immediately revealed his true colors, "Sister, it still hurts a little."
The two of them picked another patch of land, and just as they were about to fill their bamboo baskets, a sudden downpour forced them to roll up their straw hats and run home like drowned rats.
"Mom, we're back!"
When they left, Li Xiuju had already seen dark clouds on the horizon, so she set up a pot early to boil water so that they could take a hot bath when they returned.
"You're all soaked. Go wash up, I'll take care of the rest."
Zhou Chenyu obediently followed instructions and brought a bucket of hot water to rinse.
Li Xiuju helped empty the snails from the bamboo basket, filling a large basin. "Wow, so many! Keep them in clean water for three to five days, then we can stir-fry them."
Zhou Baoyu recalled the days when they couldn't even afford to cook, and felt incredibly satisfied. "Mother, with snails and eels, we won't have to worry about not having enough to eat anymore."
“Yes, things will always get better.” Li Xiuju quietly wiped away her tears. “Qingming Festival is coming soon. When that time comes, let’s make some of his favorite foods and visit him.”
"Okay, sure."
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