"With your grandma's temper, do you think I could stop her? Besides, it's all for you, you glutton."
August is the height of summer, and although the beginning of autumn is just around the corner, the sweltering heat is still unbearable.
However, many fruits and crops are also ripening.
Especially in the mountains of rural areas, many free wild fruits have ripened.
Er Ya especially loves to eat a wild fruit called "wild melon".
This wild fruit, though called "sweet potato," is not actually a sweet potato. It is also known as ground loquat, ground fruit, or ground pomegranate. It is a wild fruit that grows on roots, and some even grow underground.
As the saying goes, "Sweet potatoes ripen on the sixth day of the sixth lunar month and rot by the middle of the seventh lunar month." Wild sweet potatoes ripen in the sixth lunar month, and the fragrance of wild sweet potatoes wafts through the nearby mountains.
The village children, like ants, followed the scent to find it.
Er Ya felt that this wild melon looked a lot like a modern fig, and it was also a plant that bore fruit without flowering.
In fact, the two are related; they are both plants belonging to the Moraceae family and the Ficus genus.
Although wild yams are delicious, they can be male or female.
The male fruit has very little flesh and contains insects; only the female fruit is edible, as it is juicy and very sweet.
The first time Er Ya picked these wild fruits, she spent a lot of time picking a basket full of male ones, but she couldn't eat them, so she gave them all to the chickens at home, which gave the chickens a good meal.
Just as Chen Xiuhua was talking, she came back with a basket on her shoulder. Seeing the mother and daughter sitting and chatting in the yard, she put the basket in front of Er Ya and said like she was showing off a treasure, "Look what Grandma brought back for you, ta-da!"
Although Er Ya already knew what was inside, in order not to disappoint Chen Xiuhua, she still excitedly opened the thick layer of leaves covering the top, revealing the bright red wild melon underneath.
"Wow! Thank you, Grandma, I love you so much!"
He leaned over and gave Chen Xiuhua a big kiss on the face. His adorable, childlike appearance made Chen Xiuhua's wrinkles smooth out. She smiled from ear to ear and went to wash the wild sweet potatoes for Er Ya.
"You, now your grandma will spoil you even more in every way possible."
Chen Xiuhua overheard this and, while washing wild sweet potatoes, said, "I only have this one granddaughter, so of course I have to spoil her. Besides, these are just some common wild fruits found in the mountains. What do you mean by spoiling her? It doesn't take much effort to pick a basketful."
Jiang's mother pursed her lips and muttered softly, "When we were little, I never saw you pick any wild fruit for us. How can you be so fond of your grandchildren?"
The voice was too soft for Chen Xiuhua to hear. She handed the washed wild sweet potatoes to Er Ya and said, "Don't eat too much. Just try a few to fill your stomach. Your mother is going to cook something delicious for you today."
Er Ya's eyes lit up immediately, and she asked Jiang's mother with a beaming smile, "Mother, tell me quickly, what delicious food is there?"
"Didn't you grumble about wanting to eat some kind of hot pot last time? I heard you say it's pretty simple. Luckily we have some meat here, so I'll make you hot pot for lunch today. If you get full from eating wild fruit, don't blame me for not reminding you later."
Although it's hot now and not the best season for hot pot, it's still nice to indulge in it. Hot weather has its advantages too, like being able to drink "iced" fruit juice to your heart's content.
By now you must be wondering, how could there be a refrigerator when there's no electricity yet?
It turns out that Er Ya discovered this by chance. One time, the weather was so hot, around 40 degrees Celsius, that Er Ya complained about the awful weather. People were so hot that even the wind they fanned was hot air. She said that life without air conditioning or a refrigerator was too unbearable.
Ahhhhh, she wants to go back to the modern world.
She was muttering to herself, and as if by some telepathy, she walked uncontrollably into the backyard. In a secluded spot, she saw gusts of cold air emanating from it.
She curiously reached out and touched it; it was indeed cool and refreshing! In this hot summer, wasn't this a ready-made refrigerator? Great! It's like her wish had come true. How come she hadn't noticed this before?
Er Ya walked around again. In such a big place, this was the only one. She couldn't help but purse her lips and complain that it was useless.
She thought it would be huge, but it turned out to be a small refrigerator, about a quarter the size of a modern refrigerator, barely enough to keep a cold drink chilled.
Er Ya sighed and said, "If I had known my wish could come true, I would have made a bigger wish. I would have asked for a big cold storage room filled with all sorts of things. That would be so awesome."
It's better than nothing. It's a bit small, but it's enough for Er Ya to enjoy. She filled it with juice and drank a cup every day. Life couldn't be better.
What's amazing is that only Er Ya can see this natural refrigerator. To verify this, she even dragged Lin Xiao over to take a look, but the answer she got was that it was just some junk and not very useful. She even asked if he would move it out if he thought it was in the way.
Knowing that only she could see it, it seemed like this was a special cheat code given to her. Er Ya had a wonderful summer.
Hearing Jiang's mother say that they wanted to have hot pot for lunch, she quickly ran to the backyard to refill her juice. Sometimes she would bring it out for Jiang's mother and the others to try, but the conclusion was that it was just a little cooler than usual, not quite ice-cold. It seems that this stuff is not only something that only she can see, but also something that only she can use.
Seeing Er Ya run off like a greased rag doll, Jiang's mother shook her head and said, "This girl is always so impulsive, she doesn't act like a girl at all. What will she be like when she grows up?"
"What? You're worried about her future? Just you wait and see, when our Er Ya grows up, so many people will wear out your doorstep just to find her a husband."
Jiang's mother smiled but didn't say anything. She thought it would be great if that were the case, but she was afraid that no one would be interested in him. No, she had to start looking now, lest all the good young men be taken.
If Er Ya could hear Jiang's mother's thoughts, she would be so angry she'd vomit blood. She's only just turned five, and she's already about to have to worry about marriage?
Following Er Ya's instructions, Jiang's mother prepared various vegetables. Since the vegetables were in season, she washed a large basin of them, fearing it wouldn't be enough. She also chopped a plate of pork, a plate of roe deer meat, and prepared some mushrooms and wood ear fungus that Er Ya had brought back from the mountain. The side dishes were almost ready.
Er Ya came running over excitedly and said, "Mom, I've come to help you. Is there anything I can do?"
To be continued!
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