"Sister-in-law, these wild berries are so sweet!"
Zhou Xiaomei picked a wild fruit and put it in her mouth. The unique sweetness of the wild fruit filled her mouth, making her big eyes squint.
"Remember to separate the ripe ones from the ones that aren't fully ripe yet. We can make two kinds of jam and sell them in town to earn some money to help with household expenses!"
Lin Xue assigned tasks to the children, who were to pick wild fruits of different ripeness in pairs.
Each of these wild fruits is only the size of a fingertip, with the largest being only the size of a thumb and the smallest even smaller than a little finger.
Fully ripe wild berries are very sweet, while berries that are about 80% ripe have a slightly sour taste, which Lin Xue prefers.
Half-ripe fruit has a strong sour taste, making it suitable for making sour jams.
If they're not ripe enough, they're inedible; they'll be both astringent and sour.
There were two large clumps of wild fruit, which were given to the children to pick, while I took a basket and went to the nearby woods to pick some mushrooms and fungus.
Despite having traveled to so many places, Lin Xue's love for mushrooms and wood ear fungus has never diminished.
My favorite dish is still chicken stew with mushrooms, I like to eat pickled fish, and I love dishes with meat.
"Gurgle..."
"Gurgle...da..."
Not far ahead, Lin Xue heard the sound of pheasants fighting.
He quickened his pace and soon saw a hen guarding her nest ahead, and a fat snake not far in front of her.
Lin Xue had never seen such a snake before. Its head was very large, about the size of an adult's fist.
However, its body is not very thick, its tail is thin and long, and it likes to swing back and forth very quickly.
The fat-headed snake would occasionally stretch its head toward the old hen, but the old hen did not seem to be afraid of the snake.
With its wings spread, it appears to be twice the size of its actual size.
Large wings protected its front sides, and its head was held high.
The fur on its head stood on end, and it would jump up every now and then and peck at the fat snake.
Whenever it is pecked by a pheasant, the fat-headed snake will shrink back.
But after a short while, it swam back and continued to fight with the old hen.
"What kind of snake is this? I've never seen this kind of snake before, but judging from the old hen's appearance, it should be non-venomous!"
Lin Xue picked up a branch from the side and used it to fling the fat snake far away.
With the snakes gone, the pheasant turned its attention back to Lin Xue, flapping its large wings and staring at her menacingly.
"Wow, so this is a fighting rooster after all!"
With lightning speed, Lin Xue grabbed the pheasant by the scruff of its neck and lifted it up.
Then he put all the dozen or so wild eggs, along with the chicken coop, into his bamboo basket.
Lin Xue originally wanted to catch a pheasant to make soup for dinner, but after looking at the nest of wild eggs, she found that the chicks inside were almost fully formed and would hatch soon.
She gave up on the idea of making pheasant soup and decided to take it home and raise it instead.
Although pheasants are much smaller than domestic chickens, the taste of pheasant meat is not bad. If you raise them at home, they might even get a little fatter.
"Zhou Xiaocang!"
Lin Xue called out back, and soon Zhou Xiaocang came running over with an axe in his hand.
"Sister-in-law, what do you need me for?"
It seems this kid is cutting down trees. There are indeed quite a few dead trees near those two wild fruit patches; cutting them down would provide enough fuel for a while.
"Take this pheasant and its nest of eggs home. I remember there's a tattered basket at home. Put the pheasant and eggs in the basket and cover it with something so it doesn't escape!"
Lin Xue handed the basket and pheasant to Zhou Xiaocang, asking him to run an errand and return the pheasant and eggs.
"Sister-in-law, are these wild eggs almost hatched?"
When Zhou Xiaocang saw that his sister-in-law had placed the whole nest of wild eggs in a basket, he knew that they couldn't possibly eat them all.
"Yes, let's take it back and keep applying it. We'll keep it on, no matter how much or how little we apply, to nourish our bodies in winter!"
After handing over the items, Lin Xue took the axe from Zhou Xiaocang's hand.
"If any villagers make things difficult for you on your way back, just tell them directly that anyone who dares to provoke the Zhou family will be punished a hundredfold by me, Lin Xue!"
Lin Xue was worried that the villagers might resort to desperate measures after their fight that day.
Although most of the people in the village were opportunists who bullied the weak and feared the strong, Lin Xue was worried that these people wouldn't dare to openly target her, but would instead take their anger out on her children.
"I understand, sister-in-law. I'll be back as soon as possible and try my best to avoid the villagers!"
Zhou Xiaocang understood Lin Xue's concerns. Carrying a basket in one hand and a pheasant in the other, she ran quickly towards her home at the foot of the mountain.
Lin Xue stood on a large rock on the hilltop, where she could see the roof of her house perfectly!
"If someone is spying on our house here, then no secret will be kept!"
Lin Xue looked at the location of the stone, then at the roof of her house. Although she couldn't see the specific situation in the yard, she could see the vegetable garden in the backyard very clearly.
"This is making me feel so unsafe. It would have been fine in the past, but now I've just offended quite a few people in the village. I'll have to figure out a way to move this big rock later!"
Without this large rock, it would be difficult to see her house clearly from the hillside.
Lin Xue had made up her mind to move the big rock as soon as she came up tonight.
She wouldn't give anyone the chance to spy on them!
"Sister-in-law, we've picked all the fruit. There are only some unripe ones left that aren't very tasty; they'll probably take a couple more days to fully ripen!"
Zhou Xiaoting carried the basket and walked to Lin Xue's side. Following her gaze down the mountain, she saw her own roof and backyard.
"Sister-in-law, is that our home?"
"I never imagined this place could see our house so clearly. If someone were to break into our house right now, I would definitely be able to tell who it is!"
Zhou Xiaoting placed the basket on the rock, and then, imitating Lin Xue, shaded her eyes with her hand while gazing at the Zhou family's house below the mountain.
"Once you've finished picking the wild fruits, dig up some wild vegetables nearby. Don't dig too many, just enough for tonight's meal!"
"Find more tender ones. I just saw quite a few tender wild vegetables under this rock in the shady spot!"
Lin Xue glanced at the wild berries in the basket, then gave instructions to Zhou Xiaoting.
She then took her axe and went to the spot where Zhou Xiaocang had cut down trees to continue the work he hadn't finished.
Despite her seemingly frail appearance, Lin Xue chopped the withered tree in two with a single swing of her axe.
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