Chapter 169 Bamboo Forest Food
After leaving his mother-in-law's house, Zhang Ze continued to drive Zhang Wu to Lianhua Mountain. As for the two nephews who did not follow, they were waiting for his fishing rod at home.
The main peak of Lotus Mountain is composed of seven hills, like a lotus bud about to bloom.
Because there is a spring under each hill, the locals call it the Seven Wells.
The drinking water in the village is actually mountain spring water, which is much sweeter and more delicious than the well water that Zhang Ze drank in Qinghe Village.
Zhang Ze walked up the winding path of the village, and what came into view was a vast bamboo forest that stretched as far as the eye could see. The sunlight shone through the bamboo leaves, casting uneven, mottled shadows that were simply beautiful.
He heard from Jin Sanbao that as soon as winter comes, the villagers will go into the mountains to dig winter bamboo shoots. If they are diligent, they can dig about 100 kilograms a day. Selling the winter bamboo shoots alone is enough to allow their families to have a good new year.
But it is not easy to make money and save money by this means, after all, the money earned is small.
Zhang Ze knew there was a large bamboo forest here, but he didn't expect it to be so large.
With such resources, the villagers can live a good life just by living off the mountains, let alone relying on the sea.
In another month or two, the mountain will probably be full of wild mushrooms. When he has time, he can go pick some mushrooms with the villagers.
Red umbrellas and white poles, they eat together and sleep on the same board. If he doesn't follow the villagers, he is afraid that his whole family will be wiped out.
When he arrived at the place, Zhang Ze parked the tricycle in an empty space at the foot of the mountain.
He locked the car, picked up the hatchet and went to pick bamboo. Zhang Wu also got out of the car and came over.
There are both thin and thick bamboos in Lianhua Mountain. Zhang Ze selected three thin bamboos as thick as a one-dollar coin, chopped them down diagonally with a hatchet, and then scraped off all the thin branches.
No matter how thick or thin the bamboo is, it has to be cut at an angle.
I shook the bamboo in my hand and it felt quite tough.
The toughness of freshly cut bamboo is naturally not as good as that of dried bamboo, but it is definitely okay to fish for stream fish in the small stream not far away.
After putting the bamboo on the tricycle, he was about to call Zhang Wu, who was looking around nearby, back when he heard him suddenly shout, "Wow, what a big rat!"
"Rat?" Zhang Ze was stunned and quickly turned his head to look in the direction he pointed, but he only saw a fat butt and a short, thin tail.
His eyes suddenly lit up. This was not a mouse at all, it was clearly a bamboo rat with plump and tender meat!
People on the Internet say that bamboo rats are delicious. Zhang Ze doesn’t know whether it’s true or not, but he is definitely interested in this thing.
"Awu, this is a bamboo rat. It's much bigger than a mouse. I heard it tastes great. Do you want to try it?"
"Really? Is it better than the field mice you caught before?" Zhang Wu immediately became interested.
In the past, when field mice were a pest to farmers, the village would organize people to catch field mice. The caught field mice were not directly disposed of, but those who wanted to eat them would take them home and cook them for themselves.
It's meat after all. Although it's not as fatty as pork, it can still satisfy your craving.
At that time, the family could only eat some meat during the Chinese New Year. Field mice were a rare meat for Zhang Wu, so he naturally remembered it vividly.
"I don't know if it tastes better than field mice. We'll know if we catch two and try it!" Zhang Ze said as he opened the tricycle seat and pretended to take out the slingshot he made in Wenshui City, but he actually took it out from the small space.
Putting a handful of marbles in his trouser pocket, he said, "Let's go and take a look in the bamboo forest."
With such a large bamboo forest, Zhang Ze estimated that there should be quite a few bamboo rats.
However, other wild animals may also appear, but they will generally be fine as they just hang around at the foot of the mountain.
It is summer now and food is plentiful. If there are really ferocious beasts in Lotus Mountain, they would not come here.
Moreover, Zhang Ze also heard from Jin Sanbao that the wild animals in the mountains had been almost wiped out by people from several villages at the foot of the mountain in the past few years, so he dared to take Zhang Wu into the bamboo forest to look for bamboo rats.
The two men walked into the bamboo forest, subconsciously lowering their footsteps and looking around for the bamboo rat that had run out of the cave.
After walking in for a while, Zhang Wu suddenly stopped and then quickly patted his arm.
Zhang Ze turned his head and saw a fat bamboo rat digging on the ground.
The distance was about twenty meters. He picked up the slingshot and gestured. At this distance, even if the slingshot was quite powerful, it would probably not be able to hit the bamboo rat.
So he gestured to Zhang Wu to keep quiet, asking him to stay where he was, while he slowly moved towards that side.
But after taking only two steps, the bamboo rat raised its head alertly and looked around. Zhang Zedun didn't even dare to breathe, for fear that a heavy breath would scare it away.
After standing for a while, because of the hot weather, sweat had already flowed down his forehead, but he didn't dare to wipe it off.
Fortunately, the bamboo rat seemed to feel safe at this time and continued to dig the hole, and Zhang Ze continued to approach slowly.
Perhaps because its head was already buried in the pit, the bamboo rat's alertness was significantly reduced, allowing him to get three or four meters closer.
However, even if it didn't notice him approaching, the bamboo rat would suddenly raise its head and continue to observe its surroundings to see if there was any danger.
Zhang Ze stopped the moment it raised its head, breathed slowly, and continued to approach when it dug a hole again.
After repeating this twice, Zhang Ze came to a position ten meters away from the bamboo rat and hid his body behind several bamboos.
This distance was considered the limit, because the bamboo rat looked up and observed for significantly longer periods of time the next two times, and even stared in his direction for a long time the last time.
Zhang Ze picked up the slingshot and began to aim at the side of the bamboo rat, because his head was buried in the pit and he could not hit it.
Secondly, it is difficult to cause fatal injuries to the buttocks, and he is not sure he can hit the opponent's buttocks.
With the power of a slingshot, hitting someone sideways is likely to break bones and cause serious injuries such as ruptured internal organs.
Zhang Ze pulled the slingshot to its full extent, aimed, and let go, and the marble flew out. The next moment, a dull "bang" sound was heard.
The bamboo rat in the distance suddenly jumped up. He thought it would run away, but it lay on its side on the ground, waving its limbs rapidly and struggling hard, but it couldn't even get up.
The power of this slingshot was a little beyond Zhang Ze's expectations. He didn't expect that it would directly take half of the bamboo rat's life, leaving it no chance to escape.
But he reacted quickly and ran over and picked up the bamboo rat by the scruff of the neck.
The bamboo rat opened its mouth and bared its teeth, but blood flowed down the corners of its mouth.
This scene made him understand why the bamboo rat couldn't escape. It turned out that it had suffered very serious internal injuries from his marble. The bamboo rat's defense was worse than he thought.
"Awu, come here, take it!" Zhang Ze walked back and handed the bamboo rat to Zhang Wu, who was full of excitement.
"So this is a bamboo rat, brother. This bamboo rat is much bigger than a field mouse. One of these should be enough for us to eat!"
"That's enough, but since you're here, let's kill a few more."
Zhang Ze turned around and continued to look for it. He planned to catch a few more so that he could share some with his mother-in-law and the neighbors.
He was lenient towards others and the neighbors accepted his benefits, so Zhang's mother, daughter-in-law, and sisters could live a better life in the village in the future.
Zhang Ze has a good relationship with his neighbors, but it is more for the sake of his family.
He himself doesn't care. At most he will go out to sea every day to work, and then come back to eat and sleep. This way he won't have much time to interact with his neighbors, but it's not the same for his family.
Perhaps it was because it was too hot in the afternoon, so few bamboo rats came out of the bamboo forest. Plus, Zhang Ze couldn't hit them every time, and even two of them ran away before he could get close.
It took him more than an hour to finally hit the one he had just hit.
"Brother, these bamboo rats react too quickly. I'm so hot, how about we go back first?" Zhang Wu was sweating profusely and was already panting while carrying the dead bamboo rat.
Zhang Ze himself was also thirsty. Since he couldn't handle the marbles, he decided to try another method. He took Zhang Wu and rode the tricycle back home.
"Mom, look what this is?" After arriving home, Zhang Wu immediately climbed out of the car and carried the bamboo rat into the house to show off.
"Wow, where did such a big rat come from?" Zhang Huihong asked in surprise when she saw the bamboo rat in her youngest son's hand.
"Hey, this is called a bamboo rat. We found it in the bamboo forest. I shot it to death with my slingshot."
At this time, Zhang Ze also walked into the house: "Mom, you deal with this bamboo rat, and have some wine and meat dishes tonight. I will continue to go around the bamboo forest, and if I can catch a few more, I will send two to Shuyao's mother."
Zhang Huihong took the bamboo rat hesitantly, looked at it and said, "What kind of bamboo rat is this? Is it delicious?"
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"I haven't eaten it, but Sanbao said that bamboo rat meat is no worse than field mouse, so it shouldn't be any worse!"
After hearing what her eldest son said, Zhang Huihong no longer had any doubts. At worst, if it didn't taste good, they could just eat it among themselves and not serve it to others.
Zhang Ze came back to prepare tools.
Since they are all staying in the cave, we can use other methods to catch them.
Zhang Ze found a piece of wood in the yard, about 80 cm long and more than 20 cm wide.
Then use a hatchet to sharpen one end to make it easier to insert into the soil.
A piece of wood and a wooden stick that is nearly one meter long and as thick as an arm. These two are enough to catch bamboo rats.
Picking up the backpack and riding the tricycle back to the bamboo forest, Zhang Ze took the two pieces of wood he had found and cut a piece of bamboo, then began looking for the bamboo rat's cave.
Soon he saw the bamboo rat's cave on a small slope, and it could be seen at a glance because the soil at the entrance of the cave was very loose.
Zhang Ze used a thin bamboo to poke into the cave to determine its depth.
Then insert the sharp side of the board into the cave and measure to the top of the deepest point. Then slowly place the freshly cut bamboo at the entrance of the cave and use the hatchet to make a few scratches at the position where you hold it.
Then use your thumb to scratch the scratches hard, and the bamboo pole will make a continuous harsh sound that makes your scalp tingle.
But for bamboo rats, this sound is a signal of courtship, just like a man is excited when he sees a beautiful woman wearing sexy underwear just for him.
This time we were lucky, as inside the cave was a bamboo rat that had been single for ten years. It couldn't resist the temptation and kept poking its little head out.
Zhang Ze looked down when he saw the soil was loosening. When he saw that the bamboo rat had reached the entrance of the cave, he immediately picked up a thick wooden stick and hit the wooden board hard.
The wooden board suddenly became much shorter, directly cutting off the bamboo rat's retreat.
The bamboo rat was immediately frightened and let out a panicked cry, and kept backing away, but its retreat was blocked.
Zhang Ze used bamboo to dig a hole. Every time he dug, the bamboo rat made a "ha~" sound, as if it was yelling at him.
He dug open the entrance of the cave, and when half of the bamboo rat's body was exposed, he pressed down the bamboo rat's neck with a bamboo and grabbed the back of its neck, then lifted it out of the cave with force.
The bamboo rat tilted its head back with its short limbs spread out, looking quite cute.
But don't be fooled by its cute appearance, it is quite strong and Zhang Ze has to pinch it hard when it struggles.
“So cute, and looks delicious!”
Zhang Ze chuckled, then picked up a wooden stick and pointed it at its nose. With a "bang", the bamboo rat's limbs twitched, blood spurted out of its mouth and nose, and soon it became unresponsive. He then put it into the backpack on his back.
No animal can survive a knock on the nose.
And his method of catching bamboo rats is indeed useful. He saw it when he was watching videos in his previous life, but he didn't expect that he would use it one day.
Zhang Ze then continued to catch bamboo rats, but he found that this method was not 100% effective in catching bamboo rats. Perhaps he was unlucky, and all the rats living in the caves he found were female.
After staying in the bamboo forest for another two hours, he successfully caught six bamboo rats. Together with the one at home, he caught a total of seven today, all of them were males.
Seeing that the time was almost up, Zhang Ze went back with a basket full of bamboo rats.
"Aze, where have you been?" Lu Man asked in confusion when she saw that her son-in-law was covered in mud.
"I went to the bamboo forest to get some bamboos to make fishing rods. I didn't expect there were so many bamboo rats in the forest, so I caught some." Zhang Ze took out two bamboo rats from the backpack and handed them to his mother-in-law. "Mom, these two are for you. I heard from the villagers that bamboo rats are a rare delicacy."
Lu Man looked at the bamboo rat handed over and quickly refused: "Hey, hey, hey, you keep it and take it home. Mom has no shortage of food here."
"I have a lot more here!" Zhang Ze showed her the bamboo rats in the basket. Only after seeing so many did she put them away.
"Aze is really capable. He can get good stuff wherever he goes." Tong Yuanhang's wife laughed when she saw this, and the other two sisters-in-law also agreed.
Some people in later generations may not dare to eat bamboo rats, but in that era of meat shortage, women would eat field mice, let alone bamboo rats, so they would not be pretentious.
So even though bamboo rats look a little cute, they still eat them.
After leaving his mother-in-law's house, Zhang Ze went to Jin Fan, Chen Xudong and Jin Sanbao's homes respectively. He gave each of the three families a bamboo rat and asked them to remember to come over for a drink in the evening.
Jin Sanbao and the other two were surprised that he caught so many bamboo rats. This creature is actually very difficult to catch without some good methods. They were really surprised that Zhang Ze could catch so many.
After giving away the bamboo rat, he took the last one home and continued riding his bike to the market to sell meat.
I bought some pork, some cooked food, and some peanuts to go with the wine.
Zhang Ze didn't buy the wine, because when he delivered the bamboo rat to Jin Fan, he brought out the rice wine he brewed at home and asked Zhang Ze to take it back home on the tricycle first.
After buying the things and returning home, Tong Shuyao and Zhang Qian, who were taking a nap, had already woken up and were helping Zhang's mother prepare the ingredients.
The hair of bamboo rats can be easily pulled out by simply boiling them in water for one minute, and they have already cleaned both bamboo rats.
After removing the fur, the bamboo rat becomes white and tender, looks more appetizing, and is exactly the same as a field mouse.
Zhang's mother picked up one of them and roasted it over the fire to clean the fur on the bamboo rat.
Having dealt with field mice before, she was familiar with bamboo rats.
(End of this chapter)
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