Chapter 159: Group Relaxation and Picking Bayberries
"Aze, I want to eat something sour, but I don't want to eat sour plums anymore." Tong Shuyao snuggled in Zhang Ze's arms and said in a slightly coquettish voice.
A week had passed since he came back, during which time he had gone out to sea twice and had spent the rest of the time with his wife.
During this period, Tong Shuyao became more and more fond of sour food, which made Zhang Huihong smile every day.
It may be the saying that sour boy, spicy girl, the daughter-in-law likes sour food so much that she is sure that the baby in her belly is definitely a boy.
"I don't want to eat sour plums!" Zhang Ze pondered for a moment, and suddenly something happened to him.
It is now late May and bayberries are already on the market. Maybe he can go to Bayberry Mountain to pick some.
There are many bayberry mountains around Wenshui City and the nearby county towns, but currently no village collectively grows bayberry on a large scale.
Before the market economy was opened up, there were not many villages that engaged in these things, and those that did grow them were all free-range and not carefully cared for.
Most of the bayberry trees on the mountain grow naturally. When the season comes, villagers will go up the mountain to pick some if they want to eat them.
However, now that the market economy is open, Zhang Ze did see a farmer selling bayberries on the road these days, but he didn't pay attention to whether the business was good or not.
Thinking of this, Zhang Ze immediately suggested: "How about we go to Yangmei Mountain to pick bayberries tomorrow, and the whole family can go, just as if it were a trip?"
"I know a place where you can take a boat there. You don't have to take a car, and it won't be so bumpy if you take a boat."
Tong Shuyao was immediately interested. Although she was used to staying at home every day, she often felt bored.
Especially now that she is pregnant, Zhang's mother often doesn't let her work.
Sometimes it is difficult to control your emotions during pregnancy, and you may feel depressed from time to time. Of course, it would be best if you could go out for a walk to relax.
"Okay, then we'll go pick bayberries tomorrow."
The next morning, Zhang Ze stopped his mother from opening the store and said, "Mom, Shuyao wants to eat bayberries. I think she might be a little bored staying at home with nothing to do, so I thought of taking you to Yangmei Mountain to pick bayberries today, and I won't open the store."
"Besides, Shuyao is pregnant. If you are by her side, I can feel more at ease when I go out."
Zhang Huihong had not originally planned to go, as she could earn about 20 yuan a day by running a shop! But nothing was bigger than her pregnant daughter-in-law, and she was a little worried about her daughter-in-law going out with her, so she agreed immediately.
When they heard that they were going out to play, the two sisters Zhang Qian and Zhang Qing were very happy, but Zhang Wu was a little depressed because he had to study today.
When going to Yangmei Mountain, Zhang Ze felt that it would be more lively with more people, and it might be difficult for a man like him to take care of a group of women, so he called Zhang Qinghe and others, and asked his brother-in-law to bring his father-in-law and mother-in-law along as well, just to have an outing.
So, all four ships set off and entered the Oujiang River upstream.
However, today is the tenth day of the first lunar month and it is a low tide. In addition, it has not rained recently, so the water flow in the Oujiang River is not turbulent and the fishing boats are sailing very smoothly.
After sailing all the way and turning two big bends, we finally arrived at our destination.
"Look, there are real bayberries!" Several women standing on the side of the boat immediately noticed several bayberry trees at the foot of the mountain. The green and red bayberries on them were very eye-catching.
There are also many bayberry trees on the mountain, but there are many other green plants and trees, which block the relatively short bayberry trees.
Zhang Ze stopped the boat and dropped anchor. Several other fishing boats also came over, dropped anchors, and then just like they did before when they encountered strong winds and waves, several people worked together to tie the boats together.
Tong Yuanhang looked at the mountains in front of him and frowned, "Aze, it seems that there are not many people coming to the back of this mountain. Do you think there will be any wild animals or something like that?"
"That's why I called you along. If men are more careful, there won't be any problems. Besides, we'll just pick some bayberries at the foot of the mountain instead of going up the mountain."
Zhang Ze chose this place because he saw that there were bayberry trees at the foot of the mountain. He naturally would not go to places that require climbing mountains to find bayberry trees.
Not to mention that Tong Shuyao couldn't climb mountains because she was pregnant, the possible appearance of poisonous snakes alone would threaten the safety of her family.
Secondly, there is more than one Yangmei Mountain. He also knows two other Yangmei Mountains that are suitable for sailing there. However, those places are not on the banks of the Oujiang River, but on the coast.
After hearing what Zhang Ze said, Tong Yuanhang no longer had any problems.
Then they brought the boat down and carried everyone to the foot of the mountain.
"Aze, there seems to be something in the water plants!" Tong Shuyao stood on the boat and looked around. Suddenly, she found something strange in the dense grass next to her. She quickly patted Zhang Ze and pointed over there.
Zhang Ze turned his head and looked, his eyes suddenly lit up: "It looks like a wild duck!"
The Oujiang River is not wide and fast-flowing in all places, but rather narrow in some places. Because there is no human activity, some places near the edge are covered with dense water grass and reeds.
"Wild duck? Where is it?" When the group of men heard the word wild duck, they all became interested.
It was a regret for everyone except Zhang Ze that they did not catch a pheasant on the isolated island. They went to take revenge after the slingshot was made.
When Zhang Ze came back from Nanfang, the few pheasants on the island had been shot to pieces by Zhang Qinghe and others with slingshots.
"We'll pick bayberries in the water grass first, and then go hunting for wild ducks after we get back to the boat."
Now his father-in-law, mother-in-law, Zhang's mother and others have been sent to the foot of the mountain. Tong Shuyao will also arrive soon on the boat. He will not feel at ease if there is no group of men at the foot of the mountain.
After hearing what he said, Tong Yuanhang and others gave up the idea of causing trouble for the wild duck and went ashore obediently.
By the time Zhang Ze and his friends had tied up the boat, his father-in-law was already picking bayberries with a group of people.
Tong Yuanhang walked over, picked a black and purple bayberry, rubbed it with his hands and put it directly into his mouth.
"Hmm~ This bayberry is good, very sweet, almost no sour taste!"
"real?"
Zhang Qinghe also picked one after hearing this. His was not as dark purple, but dark red, and seemed to be ripe.
The schoolboy rubbed it and put it into his mouth. The next moment, a strong sour taste reached his head, making his facial features wrinkled.
"Tsk~"
Zhang Qinghe spat out the bayberry directly: "What the hell, how can I eat it when it's so sour?"
"No!" Tong Shuyao had already picked more than a dozen apples in the basket she was carrying. She picked up one that was similar in color to Zhang Qinghe's, rubbed it, and took a small bite. "The sour taste is just right."
"Hiss~" Zhang Qinghe took a breath, "Sister-in-law, you're not jealous at all?"
"Are you stupid?" Zhang Ze patted the back of his head. "Your sister-in-law is pregnant. She can eat sour food the most right now. Why don't you ask her?"
While chatting and laughing, they soon picked all the ripe fruits from the bayberry trees at the foot of the mountain.
In fact, the quantity was not large. Many ripe fruits were either eaten by insects or birds, so a group of people only picked about 20 kilograms.
The ones that were particularly ripe were similar to the first one that Tong Yuanhang ate, and they only weighed about four or five kilograms. The rest were all a bit sour, which was just right for Tong Shuyao.
The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!
However, these can also be used to make bayberry wine or bayberry soup.
Lu Man felt a little unsatisfied. With more than 20 kilograms of bayberries, no one could get much, so she wanted to pick some more.
"How about we go up there and look for some? These bayberries are not enough to eat!"
Zhang Huihong had the same idea: "I think it's okay, what do you think, Aze?"
Zhang Ze touched the slingshot and marbles he brought with him. With weapons in hand, he was not afraid of small wild beasts.
There probably weren't any large ones here, so he picked up the bamboo pole beside him and nodded: "Then we men will be responsible for clearing the way. Aqian and Aqing, you two hold Shuyao."
Then a few young men held bamboo poles or sticks and cleared the way in front, and the women followed slowly behind.
If you startle the snake, it may not only scare the snake, but also the highly poisonous insects and other animals.
Zhang Ze took a bamboo pole and hit the branch in the middle of the tree in front of him. The noise immediately scared out a wild rabbit in the bushes not far ahead.
"Fuck, hare!"
"Where is it?"
“He’s already gone!”
"Fuck, Aze is so fast, he has already caught up."
“We’ll chase too.”
"No, no, no, let's keep going. That rabbit is fast and Aze can't catch up."
Tong Yuanhang stopped several other people who were eager to try, picked up the bamboo pole thrown by Zhang Ze and continued to clear the way.
Pheasants are not as agile as hares and they cannot dig holes, so they are indeed much easier to catch.
So Zhang Ze couldn't catch the hare, he could only watch the hare hide in a hole.
However, he did not leave, but waited for Tong Yuanhang and others to come.
After a while, they came to Zhang Ze.
"What's going on? Did the rabbit go into a hole?" Zhang Qinghe hurried over after seeing him.
"Yes, we went into the cave, but there are a few bayberry trees next to it, so I might as well wait for you here." Zhang Ze said, pointing to the bayberry tree ten meters to the left.
There's not just that one tree, there are several scattered around, so there's obviously no need to keep looking.
"Aze, why are you standing by this hole? Are you trying to dig out the rabbit?" Seeing him standing by the hole, Lu Man couldn't help but tease him.
But Tong Guisheng asked, "Aze, do you want to catch the rabbit in the cave?"
Zhang Ze nodded and said, "Yes, you guys go pick bayberries later. Ah Hang and I will go find the exit of the rabbit's burrow, block it, and then smoke it out."
Tong Guisheng raised his eyebrows: "I was originally going to tell you how to catch it, but I didn't expect you to know it all!"
As a former soldier, he naturally had the ability to survive in the wild, and the army had taught him all of this. He had originally wanted to teach his son-in-law, but he realized that he had underestimated him.
In this case, he decided not to get involved in the younger generation's affairs and continued picking bayberries with a group of women.
Zhang Ze and his companions swept the bayberry tree and the surrounding area. When they found no threats, they came back to look for other cave exits. Once they found them, they blocked them all.
“Are they all blocked?”
"Everything is blocked, leaving only one exit."
"Okay, I'll go back to the boat and get the casting net. You leave one person to guard the exit, and the rest of you go pick up the wet branches and leaves."
After giving the order, Zhang Ze went back to get the net and fan. He buried the net at the entrance of the hole, and when the hares came out, he would catch them one by one, so that they would not run away.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com