Chapter 137 Catching Eels
It rains heavily during the Qingming Festival.
Since planting the sweet potato seedlings, it has rained from time to time. This is because Qingming Festival is coming soon!
For the villagers, Qingming Festival is not just about visiting the graves of their ancestors, there are also many farm chores to be done.
In the mountains, it is time to pick ferns, bamboo shoots, honeysuckle, tea leaves, etc.
Many beauties wore straw hats, old clothes, and carried bamboo baskets, and went into the mountains with a few good sisters in the village to pick these things. Bracken and bamboo shoots are considered wild vegetables. After processing, they can be dried or baked and kept for later consumption.
After being dried, honeysuckle becomes a good medicine for clearing away heat and detoxifying. You can keep it for your own use or sell it to pharmaceutical factories for money.
As for tea leaves, after they are picked, they are roasted and kept for our own consumption.
For the villagers, if they can avoid spending money, they will not spend it. The tea leaves they roast themselves may not be as fragrant as the ones they buy, but so what? Drinking tea in the summer can help you cool down, that’s all!
Picking is the job of women. Halfway up the mountain, you can see crowds of women.
But leveling the rice fields is a man's job.
The seedlings are almost grown and it is time to transplant them. The fields have been plowed a long time ago and are now filled with water.
However, the surface of a plowed field may not be flat, which will affect the transplanting of rice seedlings. Therefore, special tools are needed to level the field before transplanting.
Gao Mingcheng only had one acre of land, so it was easy for him. After he had taken care of his own land, he went to help his grandmother's family.
My grandmother's family is short of labor, but they have three acres of land. Every year when they farm, Gao Mingcheng always helps a little.
Seeing that it was almost noon, the grandmother straightened up and said to Gao Mingcheng: "I'm going to go back to cook. You and Duomei can come to my house for lunch at noon."
It is a custom to treat others to a meal at home when they help you.
Gao Mingcheng did not refuse and agreed generously.
After Xi Nainai left, he and Gao Zhuang continued to level the rice fields. During the process, he found traces of small fish, loaches and eels in the fields. If you look carefully, you can also find some snails.
This was brought here by the water flow after the water level rose.
"Gao Zhuang, do you want to catch eels?" Gao Mingcheng was tempted when he saw a fat eel burrowing into the mud.
"Catch it!" Gao Zhuang was also a playful person, and the two of them hit it off immediately. They took off their old shirts, tied the cuffs into knots, and made a simple cloth bag to hold the captured trophies.
In fact, you can also take off your pants, which will be easier to wear than clothes. However, you are already a twenty-year-old guy, and taking off your pants is not very elegant!
After making the bags to pack the things, the two of them started to work.
They said they were catching yellow eels, but if they encountered loaches, they would naturally catch them as well. The two had grown up in the fields since they were young, and had already mastered their skills. Gao Zhuang was not as good as Gao Mingcheng in catching fish, but he was still good at catching loaches and yellow eels.
The main thing is to catch fish in a reservoir. You have to use both hands to slowly feel the bottom of the water. When you touch the fish, you have to catch it quickly.
But some fish are not easy to mess with, such as yellow croaker, which has thorns and is poisonous, which makes some people feel timid. When they are timid, their hands become clumsy and unstable, making it difficult to catch fish.
But catching eels is different. There is a skill to catching eels. First, observe the mud in the field and find the places with holes and bubbles. There is a high probability that there are eels or loaches in them. At this time, you just need to catch it along the hole. Your hands must be quick and accurate, and you will definitely catch it.
Whether it is an eel or a loach, they are very slippery and can easily escape from your hands, so you must catch them with strong force, and then throw them into your sleeve pocket as soon as possible to prevent them from escaping.
While the two were busy catching eels, there were also people catching them in the field next to them. They were basically half-grown children. They had also mastered the skills early on and were not slow in catching eels.
At this time, Gao Mingwan walked over along the ridge of the field. He was covered in mud, and the clothes in his hands were all covered in mud. It was obvious that he had been catching eels just now.
Gao Mingwan stood on the edge of the field and looked at his second brother.
"Second brother, how many have you caught?"
"There are some, right?" Gao Mingcheng didn't count them carefully when he was catching them. Now he straightened up and took a short break, and also took a look at how many he had caught.
You don’t know until you see it, you’ll see it smiling!
He had caught quite a few without even realizing it!
After weighing it, it should be enough for two plates.
He looked at Gao Mingwan and asked, "How many did you catch?"
Gao Mingwan also smiled and said, "Enough for a plate. I plan to catch them in the afternoon. After the rice is planted, it will be difficult to catch them."
"In fact, it is easier to catch them during the harvest time!" said Gao Mingcheng.
When the early rice is harvested, there are a lot of eels and loaches in the fields, which are quite fat. At that time, it is definitely a feast for the children in the village. Their greatest pleasure is to catch loaches in the fields.
The two brothers talked for a few more words, and then Gao Mingwan went back first.
Gao Mingcheng looked at the sky. Because he had to go to the fields to work, he didn't wear a watch. He estimated that it was almost one o'clock in the afternoon, so he called Gao Zhuang to go home.
Gao Zhuang also had a smile on his face, and it was obvious that he had caught a lot.
"I'll put my things back first, wash my face, and then go over to eat." Gao Mingcheng said to Gao Zhuang.
Gao Zhuang agreed, and the two of them went home separately.
The caught eels and loaches cannot be eaten immediately. Instead, they must be placed in clean water for a few days. They can only be eaten after they have vomited out all the mud and sand in their stomachs.
Otherwise, it will taste earthy.
Gao Mingcheng poured the eels and loaches in his sleeves into a large basin. The basin was originally used for bathing, but when it came time to catch fish, fish were kept in it. Now, eels and loaches were kept in it as well.
Gao Mingcheng thought that he had to ask the carpenter to make another bathtub. Anyway, he had some cut and dried fir trees piled up in the mountain that could be used at any time.
Because there was too much mud stuck to them, Gao Mingcheng first washed all the eels and loaches, and then poured them into clean water to keep them.
Since we have our own well, it is very convenient to use water.
Next, he picked up another bucket of water and stood not far away to wash his face, hands and feet. The well water splashed directly on his body, which was a little cold, but Gao Mingcheng could still bear it.
He changed into a set of clean clothes before heading towards his grandmother's house.
Halfway through the journey, we happened to meet Xuanmei who had just returned from picking. The bamboo basket that Xuanmei had brought in the morning was already piled high, mostly with honeysuckle and tea, and some ferns.
As for bamboo shoots, many of them did not collect them because Gao Mingcheng brought back a lot of bamboo shoots from the mountains last time. After processing them, those bamboo shoots would be enough for them to eat for a long time.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
