It was already past three o'clock when the group of people arrived at the forest farm slowly. Before they reached the gate of the forest farm, Dahuang and Dahei came out to greet them.
Xiao Wan and Xiao Jiuer were hugging the dog and being very affectionate. Zhou Daqing came out after hearing the noise, and when he saw so many people coming to the forest farm to play, he smiled so hard that his mouth couldn't close.
After spending some time with the children, he grinned and said, "Come in and take a rest. I just brought back some soybean stalks. Wait for me and I'll cook some edamame for you."
Zhou Jiakang nodded, "Grandpa Daqing, I'm exhausted. If it weren't for my father pressing me, I would have just laid down on the road to catch my breath."
Zhou Daqing looked at Zhou Jiakang who was very happy, and said with a smile: "Come on, let grandpa carry it for you!"
"This is my duty, otherwise I will be punished!" Zhou Jiakang strode into the yard with his back to the ground.
Yang Chunyan noticed that there were more kinds of vegetables, orchids and herbs in the yard of the forest farm than before. It seemed that they were all planted by Uncle Daqing in recent years.
She saw a bunch of yellow water lilies planted under the wall. The flowers were in full bloom, and the golden flowers hung down like a waterfall, which was a beautiful sight.
The seeds of this flower look a bit like a miniature double-sided axe, and when you open them, the inside is like jelly.
Some people also call it yellow ginseng. It is a shrub or small tree under the genus Polygala in the Polygalaceae family. It can reach a height of 3 meters. It has thick roots, membranous leaves, simple leaves arranged alternately, dark green on the surface, light green on the back, and no fine hairs.
People in the mountains usually pick the yellow water lily and take it home to make soup. In the past, it also grew on the edges of fields at the foot of the mountain. But because it grew too lushly, people thought it blocked the crops, so they dug them up with their roots. Now they can’t be found in the village at all.
The medicinal part of the Polygalaceae family's water lotus is its root, which is mild in nature, sweet and slightly bitter. It has the effects of invigorating qi and nourishing blood, strengthening the spleen and eliminating dampness, and promoting blood circulation and regulating menstruation.
Seeing that Yang Chunyan and several other girls had gone to see orchids, Zhou Daqing said cheerfully, "I planted them separately. If you like any kind, just dig it up and take the soil home to plant."
Yang Chunyan smiled and said, "Uncle Daqing, does the hanging yellow flower have divisions?"
"Yes, there are quite a few!" Zhou Daqing pointed at the base of the wall, "Right there, I'll dig them for you when you want to go down the mountain."
"Okay!" Yang Chunyan and several girls went to see the flowers.
The boys all stretched their legs and sat slumped on the steps. Zhou Jiakang pounded his sore calves, "Oh! I'm so tired. If I had known earlier, I would have gone fishing or watched TV at home!"
Zhou Jiaming looked at his white calves and said, "Look at your fat body. If you don't exercise, it will become useless."
"Just take a break." Zhou Huaian stepped forward and patted everyone, "Go clean up your rooms and make your own beds."
Zhou Xiaolong looked up at him, "Dad, didn't you say there's no bed upstairs and we have to sleep on the floor? I want to sleep on the same bed with Brother Jiu!"
"Yes, there is no bed. Sweep the floor first, then go to the woodshed and get some straw mats." Zhou Huaian pointed at Zhou Jiaming, "Take care of the brothers."
"Oh!" Zhou Jiaming got up and took the boy with him, and followed Zhou Daqing to get the broom to sweep the floor.
After Yang Chunyan and a few other girls came back from viewing the flowers, they began to help pick edamame. "Uncle Daqing's soybeans are growing pretty well!"
She remembered the soybean seeds she bought later. After planting them the second year, they only grew stems and leaves, and also bloomed, but the pods were almost all empty shells.
Zhou Daqing smiled and said, "Last year I asked your mother for bean seeds. I ordered the ones from Sanxiang Field. Today is the first day to eat them. I picked the good ones and tied them with straw. When they are old, I will pull them apart and dry them for seeds."
Wan Xuejiao took a look and gave him the boat. "The seeds my mother bought at the seed station last year were not as good as these. Old man, please save some more."
"That's right!" Zhou Daqing happily took his grandson in his arms and agreed cheerfully.
Zhou Yiding pulled a chair for him to sit down. "Old man, take some time to go to the forest farm and quit your job! I'm away on a business trip, Xuejiao is alone at home, Xiaozhou likes to go out, and there are many kidnappers in the county town. I'm worried that the child will be taken away."
"Okay! I'll quit my job before school starts." Zhou Daqing looked at the herbs and flowers in the yard, "Then you guys can find some time to drive the tractor up and move all those flowers down."
He pointed at the orchids blooming on the steps and said, "Last time, a man who went up the mountain to dig orchids came to get some water to drink. He saw my orchids and asked if I would sell them. He offered me several dozen yuan for each orchid!"
Zhou Huaian took a look and said, "Aren't there several orchids planted by my grandfather that were stolen? Fortunately, Gouzi went out, otherwise they would have all been dug up."
Zhou Yiding laughed and said, "That little thief is blind. The Paris polyphylla and Panax notoginseng planted next to the orchids are growing so well, but he only pointed at the fire orchids and spring orchids to dig them up."
Zhou Huaian: "You don't know, now there are more and more people going up the mountain to find orchids to sell. I heard that if you dig up a valuable one, you can sell it for two or three hundred yuan. They don't care whether they can be planted or not. As long as they see big or small, they will dig up all of them."
Zhou Daqing: "The man who was looking for water to drink that day might have been digging orchids to sell. I saw that he had several kinds of orchids in his basket, most of which were difficult to grow."
Zhou Huaian nodded and said to Yang Chunyan, "Xiaomi is asleep. Let's go around the woods and see if we can find anything good."
Yang Chunyan nodded, "Okay, don't delay too long."
"Okay!"
After Zhou Huaian and the other man left, Zhou Daqing went to pull some bean stalks back. With more people around, work happened faster. After a short while, all the edamame were picked, filling a full basket.
Wash it, cut off the two ends, add some salt, pepper, star anise, fennel and cinnamon, then cook it and filter out the water. It tastes salty, fragrant and refreshing.
Yang Chunyan and Wan Xuejiao boiled water to prepare dinner, while Zhao Meina and the others ate edamame while picking the mushrooms.
Zhou Daqing took out the mushrooms and pheasants from the culvert in the backyard and made soup for the two of them.
Zhou Xiaowen ran to the door of the room with a bowl of edamame in his hand, "Xiao Jiuer, Brother Ming, come out and eat edamame."
Zhou Jiaming turned his head and looked, "I'll come after we lay out the mat."
Little Jiuer came out barefoot and grabbed a handful, then looked outside, "Sister Wen, has my old man gone up the mountain?"
"Let's go! Dad said to go for a walk in the woods." Zhou Xiaowen said in a muffled voice while holding a bean in his mouth.
"Hmph~" Xiao Jiuer pouted, "You are disloyal and didn't even wait for us!"
"Dad is too much!" Zhou Jiaming and the others all looked sad when they saw the two men leave without waiting for them.
Zhou Xiaoqian glanced at the others and said, "What's so fun about hunting? When it's hot, there are old maggots in the forest. They will fall from the trees. It's okay if they are not poisonous, but if they bite you, it will be troublesome!"
Zhou Jia understood her at a glance, "Holding a gun and hunting is something men do, what do you know as a girl?"
Zhou Xiaoqian curled her lips, "You haven't even learned how to aim or shoot, how can you shoot? Didn't you listen to what Grandpa Shrimp said? If the old bear slaps you, you'll lose a big chunk of flesh."
Xiao Jiuer: "I know how to aim. I often help my old man clean his gun."
"A good man doesn't fight with a woman. Don't tell your sister Qian." Zhou Jiaming rubbed him, "Let her say a few words. It's not like we'll lose a piece of meat."
Xiaolong took over and said, "Right! My old man said that men with brains don't mess with women. If they make you cry, then you'll waste your energy trying to please them!"
Zhou Daqing smiled and went over to touch Xiao Wan's head. "You've been walking for most of the day and you're all tired. You should have a good rest in the forest farm. Tomorrow morning we'll go to the pine forest to play. There's an old forest there, and there are pheasants and wild goats. Let's go together tomorrow."
Zhou Jiakang's eyes lit up, "Grandpa Qing, are there really wild goats? Let's kill some and have a barbecue?"
Zhou Daqing: "Okay, I'll take you to hunt tomorrow. Wild goat meat is delicious!"
Zhou Jiaming: "We have eaten it before. My father and Uncle Yiding often take it back to eat."
"Brother Ming," Xiao Jiuer pulled him curiously, "My old man made it, how come I haven't eaten it before?"
Xiao Wan was also surprised and asked, "Why haven't I eaten it before?"
Zhou Jiaming and the others all laughed, "You are too young, you are still drinking milk."
Xiao Jiuer suddenly realized, "No wonder, I thought I was asleep and didn't know it!"
Yang Chunyan came out with a basket and said to the pouting little Jiuer, "Have you finished making the mat? If you have, come in and get some hot water to wash it in the backyard. Eat and go to bed early so you can have enough energy to play in the mountains tomorrow!"
"I understand!" Xiao Jiuer nodded.
After washing, the boys took flashlights to look at the ice hole. Zhou Xiaoqian and a few others went in to take a look and felt that nature was truly magical.
Yang Chunyan and Wan Xuejiao boiled some hot water for the girls. After everyone had packed up, Zhou Huaian and Zhou Yiding came back with the dog.
Zhou Xiaowen walked forward and pulled the rooster's long tail feathers, "The rooster's feathers are so beautiful."
Zhou Huaian: "This is not something good to look at. The golden rooster tail feathers I hunted before were good-looking. I didn't even see the shadow of one when I went there today."
Xiaomier also grabbed one, "Big cock, looks great!"
"Good girl!" Zhou Huaian patted her head, "Dad will find you something better tomorrow when we go up the mountain."
Zhou Jiaming saw the wild animals on the ground and said with disdain, "Dad, you used to hunt wild goats, red deer, bears, badgers, pigs, etc. when you came to the forest farm before. How come you only hunted so few today?"
Xiao Jiuer nodded, "Yes, I thought we could eat roasted wild goat tonight."
"I still want to eat!" Zhou Huaian hung up his gun and came out. "I was busy for two or three hours and shot a pheasant and two wild rabbits. Even if there were no wild goats before, there would be several pheasants and rabbits."
"Forget it, let's go read baby books!" Seeing that there was nothing special, the boys went back to read baby books.
Zhou Daqing came out of the house and said, "We are lucky if we can catch pheasants and rabbits nearby. I tell you, there are more hunters now than before. There are people coming to the forest farm every few days. I haven't seen an old bear in the past two years."
Zhou Huaian nodded, "People who go hunting in the mountains want to kill old bears and sell them for money, as well as wild musk deer and red deer."
Zhou Yiding thought of what Huang Yongcai said that day, "I heard that red deer meat now sells for five or six yuan per pound, but we only sold it for more than two yuan back then."
Zhou Daqing laughed and said, "Don't even think about catching a red deer. I haven't seen any caught in the past few years. They all ran away to the old forest."
Zhou Yiding said to Zhou Huaian thankfully: "Look, it's only been a few years. Fortunately, I don't rely on selling mountain products to make money to support my family." (End of this chapter)
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