Chapter 79 Dried Longan and Yellow Peach
We harvested a lot of longan.
We couldn't finish it all in one go.
Su Yun decided to dry some longan. It would keep for a long time and be easy to carry. It would be a perfect dried product, whether as a food reserve or as dry rations.
Let's get right to it.
Ye Feng was in charge of cutting the longans off the poles one by one. Su Yun was in charge of the necessary steps before drying, such as scalding the longans.
Blanching longan is simple; it literally means scalding longan in hot water and then spreading it out on a winnowing basket to dry.
Although it sounds simple, controlling the heat is very important. If it's not cooked thoroughly, the bacteria won't be killed, the longan won't dry properly, and it will mold.
If the fruit is overcooked, it is easy for the shell to burst open, which would allow the flesh to come into contact with bacteria and become moldy.
However, Su Yun had made dried longan with her grandmother when she was a child, so she was quite skilled at it.
She was very skilled at controlling the heat; once the hot water had licked away the powder on the surface of the longan shell and the longan skin had changed color slightly, it was ready to be taken out.
This was a method her grandmother taught her, and she remembered it very clearly.
I remember back then, their village planted a lot of longan trees. Every harvest season, the mountains and trees were covered with bright yellow longan fruits, which looked so tempting.
However, the fruit is grown to make money. The big, long bunches are basically all taken away by fruit merchants. What is left for the farmers to eat are usually the small, loose ones. The remaining scattered ones cannot be sold at a good price, and the fruit farmers cannot finish them all themselves, so they often share them with their familiar neighbors.
Every fruit season, the elderly couple from the neighboring orchard would always bring over a lot of loose longan fruits. Even if Su Yun and her grandmother tried their best to eat them, they couldn't eat them all, so her grandmother would dry them into longan berries.
Dried longan can usually be stored for a long time and can be used in soups and teas. It is very effective in nourishing blood and qi, and beautifying the skin.
When Su Yun was little, she didn't like eating this kind of dry dried fruit. Until one year, when she was in elementary school, Su Yun accidentally became very interested in the longan drying in the winnowing basket. She curiously peeled one open and tried it.
Then, the moment he took a bite, Su Yun was immediately amazed and fell in love with this freshly sun-dried longan.
Freshly sun-dried longan is different from fully sun-dried longan; it's not the dry, hard kind with little flesh.
Rather, it was somewhere between half-dry and not completely dried, not yet fully sun-dried.
The flesh inside the shell is still a bit thick, with a slight honey-like sheen, a slightly moist honey-like texture, half-dry and not quite dry, with a little stickiness and a little honey, soft and really, really delicious.
From then on, Su Yun's actions became unstoppable.
Every time, when Grandma wasn't looking, I would grab a handful and hide in a corner to eat. In the end, I still wasn't satisfied, so I would get up in the middle of the night, hug the winnowing basket, and eat the whole basketful... until I finally managed to make myself vomit.
From then on, Su Yun would basically avoid longan whenever he saw it.
Su Yun thought back carefully and realized that her grandmother must have known that so many longans were suddenly missing from the winnowing basket. She just doted on her little glutton.
However, because she had eaten so much, Su Yun hadn't eaten longan much since then, until now—
She looked at the night breeze in the yard, happily hugged her basket, and picked and ate the shells as she went, until a small pile of shells had already accumulated at her feet.
She simply couldn't bear to ruin the other person's happiness. After all, even after so many years, Su Yun still remembered the joy of holding the winnowing basket and eating endlessly. Even after she grew tired of it and vomited, she would still remember how she felt like a little mouse falling into a rice jar, experiencing boundless happiness and joy...
Even when I got tired of it and didn't want to eat it anymore, the joy I felt at the time remained in my memory.
Although now—
Su Yun felt that the other party was probably getting tired of it too.
But Su Yun ignored him. Looking at the happy kitten, Su Yun seemed to understand her grandmother's feelings a little better.
Well, anyway, they only harvested half, and there's still a lot left on the tree. Even if they just hug the tree and gnaw on it, it's no problem.
After blanching, the longans are removed from the water and spread out on a winnowing basket to dry.
"The sun is strong these days, perfect for drying longan." Su Yun skillfully spread the longan out on a winnowing basket to dry.
They await the magical sun to process them into delicious dried fruit.
"Oh! And yellow peaches too!"
Summer has arrived, and the late-ripening yellow peaches are slowly starting to ripen. Su Yun blinked and said, "Let's go pick some peaches!"
Unlike early-ripening sweet peaches, yellow peaches ripen a little later, around mid-summer.
The branches are laden with large, bright yellow peaches.
"It looks so delicious." Su Yun picked one casually, wiped it on her clothes to remove the fuzz, and then couldn't wait to put it in her mouth.
The fuzz on yellow peaches is less than that on sweet peaches; it can be easily wiped off with a few rubs, and you can eat it whole, skin and all, without affecting the taste of the flesh. "Wow, what a rich peach flavor! It's so fragrant and sweet. Yefeng, you should try it." As she spoke, she picked another one and handed it to Yefeng.
But Ye Feng shook his head repeatedly, his ears drooping, looking as if he wanted to avoid it at all costs.
Su Yun found it amusing, "Why don't you want it anymore?"
Ye Feng looked melancholy, head bowed, and stammered, "...I...don't want anything sweet...I have no appetite..."
This guy has been eating longan like crazy since last night, and he ate half a basket by noon. At this rate, it's no wonder he gets tired of it.
"Then I'll make you something else later." Su Yun was both helpless and amused, and could only find another way to cleanse Ye Feng's palate, "After we finish harvesting the peaches."
"Um."
Peaches are at their best right now. After being exposed to the sun for a while, their sweetness has reached its peak, and they haven't softened yet. They're still crisp and crunchy, making them perfect for making canned yellow peaches. In a few more days, they might soften and only be used to make peach jam, which definitely won't taste as good as when they were crisp.
And if it rains, the sweetness will definitely be reduced.
When harvesting sweet peaches before, the timing wasn't right, causing some to ripen too much and only be used to make peach jam. Su Yun felt it was a bit of a waste, so this time, when it was almost time to eat yellow peaches, Su Yun came to check on them every day.
The yellow peaches are still crisp this time, perfect for canning.
Su Yun was very satisfied.
The harvested peaches were carefully placed in the basket on their backs, for fear of them being bumped or bruised.
This hillside is covered with peach orchards, yielding a bountiful harvest. Su Yun filled a basket, then asked Ye Feng to go back and empty the basket before returning.
Night Breeze picked up her basket and said worriedly, "You stay here and pick peaches, don't wander off."
"Okay~"
"And don't pick up anything strange."
No way!
"Don't go chasing small animals anymore. Just wait for me to come back if anything happens."
"Don't worry, it's very safe here. I come here every day."
"Okay, I'll come back after I finish putting the peaches out."
"Okay, I'll wait for you. Go and come back soon!"
......
After saying that, Ye Feng strode away quickly, carrying the basket. Su Yun watched his retreating figure and said, "Be careful, don't run too fast!"
"Okay, you wait for me here!"
"He's not a child, why is he always so worried?" Watching the other person's departing figure, Su Yun muttered to herself as she continued picking peaches. "It's not like we've never been out before, why is he suddenly so worried? It's so strange."
She continued picking peaches, her machete hanging at her waist, fully prepared to fend off any potential danger. Although she hadn't encountered any particular danger in the mountain village yet, Su Yun would remain vigilant whenever she went out.
She's no longer a novice; she's already fought many people and zombies.
In the face of ordinary danger, one can basically protect oneself.
If you encounter someone exceptionally skilled—well, maybe you can stall for three to five minutes...
Su Yun continued picking yellow peaches. The last rays of sunlight slowly faded, and the sky was filled with cracked clouds, their deep red and orange hues creating a shattered effect. In the distance, a breeze began to blow slowly through the mountains and forests, dispersing the daytime heat.
"Ugh, even the wind feels hot in this weather." Su Yun wiped the sweat from her forehead. She had specifically chosen to come and pick peaches in the afternoon, but the weather was still unbearably hot. As the sun began to set, Su Yun felt that the sun was no longer so strong and she wouldn't get sunburned, so she took off the thin shirt that was covering her as the outermost layer.
"It's so hot~ I need to take a cold shower when I get home." Su Yun felt that she was soaked in sweat and smelled bad, which disgusted her. She wiped her sweat and said, "Let's finish picking them quickly and go back to take a shower."
Even after taking off her shirt, Su Yun was still sweltering. She kept picking fruit and fanning herself constantly, saying, "It's so hot..."
But as she was picking fruit while complaining about the hot weather, she suddenly felt something was wrong.
Everything was quiet. The wind had stopped blowing, the woods were still, even the usually noisy cicadas had fallen silent. The surroundings had suddenly become too quiet, as if—
Something suddenly appeared, as if it were hiding in a corner, spying on her.
Su Yun couldn't help but look at the woods behind her, feeling a little uneasy. She had been waiting for the night breeze and had unknowingly turned her back to the forest. Now, she suddenly felt something was wrong and turned around to face the dense forest.
As the sun set behind the western mountains, the remaining shadows were blurred, making it impossible to see anything clearly.
The more Su Yun stared at the tree, the more uneasy she felt. She instinctively gripped the knife handle, stopped picking the fruit, and stared motionlessly into the dark woods.
......
But even after staring intently for a long time, she still couldn't find anything unusual in the woods.
But she remembered Ye Feng's words and dared not move easily, so she could only stand still in place for an unknown amount of time.
Suddenly, the cicadas began chirping again in the treetops, and the birds resumed their calls, as if everything had returned to normal.
Su Yun's tense nerves slowly relaxed, and she slowly exhaled, muttering to herself, "I really scared myself."
She continued picking fruit, but remained somewhat tense.
Only when she saw a familiar figure appear in the distance at the other end of the road did Su Yun's unease completely dissipate.
She subconsciously looked back at the mountains and forests behind her. The afterglow of the setting sun dyed the leaves golden in varying shades, with a faint halo. A gentle breeze blew by, making them ripple like rolling waves, beautiful and serene.
It was completely different from the eerie and terrifying atmosphere just now.
The mountains and forests were exactly the same, and the sunsets were exactly the same.
Seeing this, Su Yun couldn't help but smile. It's true, the feeling of watching something alone is completely different from watching it with someone else...
Just a moment ago it was eerie and terrifying, but now it has become adorable. Thinking about this, Su Yun felt that he really couldn't leave the other party.
Looking at the figure at the end of the road, Su Yun naturally revealed a faint smile. In that instant, she seemed to have understood her own feelings.
She couldn't help but smile and wave, "Night Breeze~ I'm over here~"
The cat-eared boy at the other end of the road saw the girl waving and smiling at him from afar. He smiled faintly in return, quickened his pace, and ran towards her.
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