Chen Kai squatted outside the wall, happily picking up the flowers that had been thrown out from inside, muttering as he did so: "Red roses, peonies, rose bushes..."
Once inside the walled area, Chen and his men, seeing that they had picked enough, moved a chair from a nearby pavilion, intending to climb out using it as a stepping stone.
Just as Zhou Yu climbed onto the wall, a servant not far from the pavilion shouted, "You little thief, where do you think you're going!"
When Boss Chen saw someone coming, he immediately urged, "Hurry up, hurry up!"
Chen Kai, standing outside, called out anxiously, "Big brother, come out quickly! We've been discovered!"
Chen Kai had already put all the flowers that Boss Chen and his men had thrown out into bamboo baskets, and he was just waiting for them to come out so he could run away.
Chen Laoda and the others jumped out just before the servant ran over.
Then Boss Chen and the others picked up Chen Kai and Xiao Tian, Zhou Yu picked up the bamboo basket, and they ran away as fast as they could.
Chen and his group wandered out of the residential area and then disappeared back into the crowd.
Chen Laoda felt his heart pounding; it was so exciting, he almost got caught.
Zhou Kai looked back and said, "Luckily, they didn't chase after us."
Zhou Yu also said with a look of relief, "Yes! We almost got caught."
Before long, they arrived at the street where animals were sold. There were quite a few people there, but it wasn't as crowded as the streets outside.
Xiao Tian frowned and said, "Give me my roses! The smell here is awful."
Zhou Yu took a rose from the bamboo basket she was holding, carefully removed the thorns, and then handed the rose to Xiao Tian.
Xiao Tian smelled the fragrance of roses, and his furrowed brows relaxed. He felt much better; this scent was just so pleasant.
Zhou Yu said, "This flower is called a rose? It's quite pretty, much prettier than the flowers on our mountain."
Chen Kai said, "Yes, roses come in many colors. There are not only red roses, but also white roses, yellow roses, purple roses... many colors."
Zhou Yu said admiringly, "Uncle, you're amazing! You know so much!"
Chen Kai said with a smile, "You'll know once you read more books. Everyone in my family is learning to read. Do you want to learn to read with us?"
Zhou Yu quickly shook his head and said, "No!" He only likes to play, not study.
Today, there are a lot of small animals for sale here, many of which are common in the mountains but difficult to catch. Zhou Kai and Zhou Yu are already dazzled by the variety.
Chen Kai exclaimed, "So many animals!"
Old Chen said happily, "Let's go take a look."
There are indeed many vendors selling wild rabbits here, as well as all sorts of birds, pheasants, wild boars, snakes, fish...
Chen Kai saw a stall selling wild rabbits, with a litter of many rabbits, so he pointed over there and said, "Brother, let's go take a look over there."
Old Chen carried Xiao Tian over and took a liking to the brood of wild rabbits. The rabbits were quite energetic, and when he held out a blade of grass to tease them, they darted around frantically.
While playing, Chen said, "Brother, you're really amazing! You wiped out the whole rabbit den!"
This family has two large wild rabbits and six small rabbits.
Chen Kai asked, "Uncle, how much are these rabbits?"
The uncle smiled and said, "The big ones are 120 coins each, and the small ones are 60 coins each."
Chen Kai thought the price was acceptable, but he wanted to save money wherever possible, as his family always bargained when buying things. So he said, "Uncle, could you lower the price a bit? We don't have that much money with us."
The uncle said, "This price can't be lowered. Otherwise, you can buy the two big rabbits and raise them for a while, and they'll have lots of baby rabbits."
Chen Kai asked, "Uncle, don't you keep rabbits at home?"
The man said, "My family doesn't raise rabbits. My kids used to raise baby rabbits, but they were too small and didn't survive, so we stopped raising them. We urgently need money to buy food right now, so we're selling this whole litter of rabbits we caught."
Chen Kai looked at his older brother, but the eldest brother turned his head away; he didn't know how to bargain either.
There's even less hope for Zhou Kai and Zhou Yu; the two of them are currently playing with birds at the stall next door.
Just as Chen Kai was about to say that they would take the whole litter of rabbits, someone across from him shouted, "Little kid, come to my house to buy them. My rabbits are fifty coins each."
Chen Kai turned his head and looked around; they only had four rabbits.
The middle-aged man said angrily, "Ergou, how can you be so shameless!"
Er Gou said, "What I do for you is none of your business!"
Chen Kai thought to himself, it seems they must be from the same village. Having someone like this dragging them down is actually a good thing for them, a divine assist!
Old Chen smiled happily and then started bargaining with the uncle. In the end, the uncle glared helplessly at the person opposite him and lowered the price by ten coins: fifty coins for a small rabbit and one hundred and ten coins for a large rabbit.
Chen Kai was so happy that he bought all the rabbits from the uncle's house, and even bought all the rabbits from Er Gou's house.
The uncle looked on in bewilderment as they happily walked away with the cage. Didn't they say they didn't have much money with them?
Then, the uncle clenched his fists and walked angrily toward Er Gou.
Chen Kai was in a great mood because he got a good deal. No wonder his grandma and the others liked to bargain when they bought things. It really felt good to get a bargain!
As Chen Kai walked along, he was surprised to see someone selling rats and exclaimed, "There are people selling rats!"
Old Chen said, "Those are field mice, they're really bad, they just steal crops from the fields. Field mouse meat is edible, but rich people don't eat field mice. It's just us country folk who, if we catch a field mouse, we can't bear to throw it away, so we'll cook it and eat it. But field mouse meat really doesn't taste good."
Compared to mice, voles are more robust, have shorter tails, and smaller eyes and ears than other rodents. Voles can live in a variety of environments. Most are terrestrial, digging underground tunnels or making nests in crevices under fallen logs, tree roots, and rocks.
Who says field mouse meat isn't tasty? After catching the field mouse, remove its fur and intestines, wash it clean, and then smoke it with rice husks or rice sugar until it turns a golden-brown color. Dried field mouse is not only delicious but also high in protein and rich in nutrients. It's often cooked with pork and winter bamboo shoots, seasoned with garlic, ginger, and rice wine, then stir-fried.
However, eating undercooked rats that carry pathogens can cause illness. Furthermore, during the slaughtering and processing, cross-contamination can occur through utensils such as knives, cutting boards, rags, and bowls, causing other foods to also carry pathogens and making people sick after consumption.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com