The boys were all happy to accept the suggestion, and then a whole bunch of them went off to find the dead wood to catch bugs.
Da Ya said, "There's not much meat in the insects, let's go find something else to eat."
The girls followed Daya away.
Daya led them to a shady spot on the mountainside. After identifying the dead plants, she said, "Let's dig here!"
They had no tools; the only small hoe they owned had been taken by the adults, so they could only dig with thick tree branches.
Er Ya was very excited to see that it was a dead Nephrolepis cordifolia. She thought she might be able to dig up a phoenix egg. Before the Chen family's good days came, phoenix eggs were her favorite snack.
Nephrolepis cordifolia is a wild plant that farmers collect to use as firewood every autumn and winter. It dries out in autumn and winter, making it ideal for starting fires and cooking.
She was more interested in the phoenix eggs on the roots of the Nephrolepis cordifolia growing in the soil.
The roots of the Nephrolepis cordifolia are somewhat different from those of other ferns; in addition to root hairs, it also grows many tuberous roots.
Its tubers are generally as large as a quail egg or as small as a broad bean, and are yellowish-brown in color, while the flesh inside the Nephrolepis root is transparent.
Because of its egg-shaped tuber, it has become known as the "phoenix egg" in their culture.
In other places, it is also commonly known as round fern, stone yellow skin, or monkey egg.
In the past, every autumn and winter, when people went to the mountains to collect firewood, they would also dig up some fern berries. They would often dig up a whole bagful. After bringing them back, they would cook them on the earthen stove. They were incredibly fragrant, soft, sweet, and filling. She loved them very much.
Phoenix eggs can be eaten raw or cooked. Raw ones taste slightly sweet, without any sour or bitter taste, and she likes them too.
Er Ya was looking forward to the delicious food and dug very enthusiastically, but when she dug to the roots, she was destined to be disappointed, as the roots had all rotted into mud.
"Sigh!" After sighing, Er Ya continued to look for a place to dig.
Through their tireless efforts, they finally unearthed a nest of phoenix eggs.
At this moment, the tiny phoenix egg seemed as precious as a chicken egg to them.
Daya picked the phoenix eggs off the stems one by one and put them into the basket, saying excitedly, "There are sixteen in total. Let's look around and dig up more so we can have some to eat tonight."
On the boys' side, Xiao Bao followed everyone and found two larvae of cow horn beetles. He patted his flat little belly; he was hungry and thirsty again.
Besides them, there were also children in the group around them, all of whom were hungry and thirsty. They hadn't eaten anything all day.
"Dog Egg, wake up, wake up! Someone come quick, Dog Egg has fainted!" a child shouted anxiously.
When Chen Nong and the others heard that Gou Dan had fainted, they rushed over.
A young man had already arrived there. After examining his symptoms, he said, "I've seen someone like him before. He fainted because he was too thirsty. I'll carry him back first."
Chen Nong and his friends got along quite well with Ci Tou. When they saw Gou Dan faint, they were very worried about him. Suddenly, Chen Nong thought of Xiao Bao's candied hawthorns.
Pulling Xiaobao aside, she said anxiously, "Xiaobao, isn't your hay almost ready to be harvested? Can I use the water that comes out later as soon as possible?"
Xiao Bao: "Is it for Gou Dan?"
Chen Nong nodded. "Yes, he needs to drink some water and eat something to get better."
Xiao Bao: "Okay, almost there, I'll give it to you in a bit."
Chen Nong: "Then let's go back with Gou Dan first."
Xiao Bao: "Okay!"
Along the way, Xiao Bao's hay matured, so he collected it and exchanged it for three seeds to continue planting. He put the watering can in his backpack, removed the useless seeds from the holes, and continued planting. This hay would be ready to be harvested at 9 PM that night, at which time he would take it out and use it.
Back at the resting place, inside the thatched hut, Xiao Bao took out the watering can, and Zhou Zhou filled it with a mineral water bottle. He stopped filling it when it was almost full, as there was still some water in the watering can.
Then Zhou Kai took out a mineral water bottle with a hole in the cap, filled it with the remaining water, leaving only a little water at the bottom of the bottle, enough for a small sip.
Chen Nong whispered, "It probably isn't enough. Pour in a little more."
Zhou Kai continued pouring water in, but his hand trembled and he poured in a large mouthful. Seeing that it was almost enough, Zhou Kai said, "That's enough."
Then they told Xiaobao to go out and distract the adults, while they secretly took the water, a sugarcane, and a bundle of sugarcane roots and slipped out.
Once out of the adults' sight, they ran as fast as they could, afraid of being caught.
"Run faster, phew—you scared me to death!" Xiao Bao said breathlessly.
They didn't know that their little tricks were things that adults had already learned when they were kids, and they had long since seen through them, but the adults just turned a blind eye.
When Zhou Kai and the others found Gou Dan, Gou Dan's mother was holding him and crying, but because she was so dehydrated, she couldn't even cry.
Zhou Kai said, "Auntie, we have some water. Quickly pry open Gou Dan's mouth."
Dog Egg's mother exclaimed excitedly, "Thank you, thank you!" and then pried open the back of his mouth.
Zhou Kai poured the water from the bottle into Gou Dan's mouth. The flow was small, but it still went straight down his throat.
Everyone was overjoyed to see that the water had been fed into the bottle.
An old woman weaving a rattan basket nearby reminded him, "Stop the water for a moment, give him a small sip, help the child sit up first, pat his back to help him swallow the water, otherwise he may choke."
Dog Egg's mother said gratefully, "Okay!"
After using up half the water, Gou Dan finally woke up coughing.
"Dog Egg, you're finally awake! I was so worried about you!" Dog Egg's mother said, hugging him.
Dog Egg said in a hoarse voice, "Thirsty, so hungry!"
Chen Nong handed him the bottle and said, "There's still water here, drink it all!"
When Gou Dan saw the water, his eyes lit up. He took the bottle, unscrewed the cap, and drank it in big gulps.
Despite being extremely thirsty, he finally saved a sip of water and handed it to his mother, saying, "Mother, you drink this!"
Dog Egg's mother: "You drink all the water, I'm not thirsty."
Zhou Kai chimed in, "Auntie, please drink. We've prepared sugarcane and a bundle of sugarcane roots for Citou."
Dog Egg and his mother exclaimed excitedly at the same time, "Thank you, thank you!"
Dog Egg took the sugarcane and said happily, "I'll treat you to roasted insects later. I caught more than twenty horned beetle larvae."
Dog Egg's mother took the grass root, untied the dry grass, and took out a small bundle for the old woman who had just helped remind her.
The old woman smiled and accepted it, saying, "I'm so lucky!"
Dog Egg's mother said, "It's all thanks to the child."
Back with her child, Gou Dan's mother rummaged through a wisteria basket and found a piece of roasted Smilax glabra. She handed it to Gou Dan and said, "Eat this quickly, and you won't be hungry anymore."
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