Chen Kai said, "I want to go pick mulberries too, Xiao Tian, do you want to come?"
Xiao Tian shook his head and said, "I'm a little tired and want to rest for a while. You guys go ahead!"
So Chen Kai went to the vegetable garden with Er Ya and San Ya to pick mulberries.
Er Ya said, "Uncle, let me carry you there."
Chen Kai looked at the thin and small Er Ya. Although their family had been eating well recently and Er Ya had gained some weight, she still looked tiny. So he said in a spoiled tone, "No need, Er Ya, I want to walk there by myself."
Er Ya couldn't stand her uncle's coquettishness the most, and said helplessly, "Okay, but the vegetable garden is a bit far away, so don't complain about being tired, Uncle!"
Chen Kai said with a smile, "I won't complain about being tired."
Er Ya went to the kitchen and found two bamboo baskets and a regular basket. After she came out, she handed one of the bamboo baskets to San Ya.
Chen Kai was led by Er Ya to the vegetable garden. His family had two vegetable gardens, which were far apart, and he didn't know which one to go to.
On the way, Sanya saw several butterflies and chased after them, trying to catch one.
Suddenly, a butterfly landed on a flower by the roadside. Sanya tiptoed over and quickly clasped her hands together to catch the butterfly.
After catching the butterfly, Sanya excitedly ran over to Chen Kai and said, "Uncle, do you want to play with the butterfly?"
Chen Kai shook his head and said, "No need, Sanya, you can play by yourself!"
Sanya played with the butterfly for a while, then released it and ran off to catch other animals to play with.
As Chen Kai walked, he looked to the left and right of the road. He remembered that there were many grass jelly plants in his village. He had seen them by the roadside before but hadn't paid attention to them. Now that they would be useful, he remembered a way to cook them and decided to cut some to take home and try.
Before long, Chen Kai saw lush green grass growing by the roadside, with large patches of it in the ditch.
In some places, it's also called "fairy grass" or "fairy jelly." It's commonly used as a main ingredient in jelly, hence its name.
Mesona chinensis not only contains abundant nutrients, but also has medicinal value. It has the effects of clearing heat and promoting diuresis, relieving summer heat and detoxifying, and has good effects on heatstroke, thirst, muscle pain, and joint pain.
Mesona chinensis prefers to grow along ditches and in dry, sandy grassy areas; in short, it thrives in slightly damp environments. Mesona chinensis does indeed look very similar to mint, and many people mistake it for mint at first glance.
However, mint has a strong fragrance, while grass jelly does not. Grass jelly plants are taller than mint plants, with leaves that are mainly ovate or ovate-oblong, with small serrations on the edges, and obvious fine hairs on both sides of the leaves.
Chen Kai held Er Ya's hand with one hand and pointed to the grass by the roadside with the other, asking, "Er Ya, will anyone eat those grasses?"
Er Ya looked in the direction Chen Kai pointed and said, "Yes, everyone in the village eats it. There's a lot of this kind of grass in our village. But we don't eat it directly; we drink the water boiled with it."
Sanya chimed in, "That's right, I like to drink water boiled with some salt."
It seems they haven't discovered other ways to prepare grass jelly here, but that's normal. Basically, no one would bother with these herbs just for a bite to eat. I wonder if they've discovered them elsewhere.
Chen Kai said, "Er Ya, when we go home later, let's cut a basket of this grass to take back with us."
“Okay! You can boil some water to drink when we get back,” Er Ya said.
Chen Kai said with a smile, "I read about another way to prepare this herb in a book, and I want to try it."
When Sanya heard that her uncle was going to cook again, she immediately asked excitedly, "Uncle, uncle, what is it? Is it delicious?"
Chen Kai said with a smile, "It's a kind of food called liangfen (cold jelly). I think it's quite delicious. Now that we have ice at home, it will taste even better after being chilled for a while."
Sanya said happily, "I want to eat, I want to eat! Sister Erya, let's cut more when we come back!"
"Okay! Let's pick some mulberries and talk about it later!" Er Ya said with a smile.
After walking for a short while, they arrived at the vegetable garden. The garden was quite large and surrounded by a fence, with several tall trees visible from the outside.
Er Ya pushed open the fence gate and said with a smile, "Our mulberry tree is planted in this yard. My dad also dug up a lot of other fruit trees and planted them in the vegetable garden."
After they entered the vegetable garden, Chen Kai's eyes lit up. There were many kinds of vegetables in the garden, including many that he had never seen before.
Sanya had already climbed up the tree and was picking and eating mulberries.
Chen Kai walked to the mulberry tree and reached out to pick mulberries, but he couldn't reach them even when he stood on tiptoe.
Er Ya looked at Chen Kai with amusement, walked over and picked a handful of mulberries, handing them to him and saying, "Uncle, just sit here and eat, I'll pick some for you."
The bamboo baskets were placed under the tree. Er Ya and San Ya picked mulberries from the tree with their baskets. After filling their baskets, they climbed down from the tree and poured the mulberries into the bamboo baskets.
When the bamboo baskets were almost full, Chen Kai said, "Alright, Er Ya, San Ya, no need to pick anymore, that's enough for us to eat. Let's go home!"
On their way home, they came to the place where there were many grass jelly plants again. Er Ya said, "Little sister, let's cut some and go home!"
"Okay!" Sanya replied, and then ran off to cut the grass.
After returning home, Er Ya grabbed a handful of mulberries and handed them to Xiao Tian, saying, "Xiao Tian, here, have some."
Looking at the dark mulberries, Xiao Tian didn't really want to eat them. Seeing this, Chen Kai simply stuffed one into Xiao Tian's mouth. Xiao Tian smacked his lips and thought the taste was pretty good, so he grabbed some and ate them one after another.
After eating for a while, Xiao Tian went to wash his hands. Chen Kai watched from the side and couldn't help but laugh. Xiao Tian's lips were purple and his hands had turned black, which looked particularly funny.
Xiao Tian glared at Chen Kai and said with a smile, "Do you think your mouth looks pretty?"
Chen Kai lay beside the water vat, mouth agape, and looked at himself. His tongue had changed color. He had eaten quite a few mulberries earlier, and although Er Ya had found him a clean ditch to wash his hands and mouth, he hadn't rinsed his mouth with the water. Now, his purple tongue was visible as soon as he opened his mouth to speak.
Chen Kai said helplessly, "Alright, let's each take a step back and stop making fun of each other, okay? I'll go make you something delicious."
Xiao Tian said, "Who's arguing with you? Hurry up and go make something to eat!"
Chen Kai thought to himself, "Sure enough, no one can resist the temptation of delicious food."
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