The last time Gao Mingcheng returned to the village, he planted Poria cocos in the mountains. Several days have passed in a flash, and he has to go to the mountains to check on the situation. When he enters the mountains, he even brings a bucket of water with him.
Poria cocos is afraid of waterlogging, but during the growth period, Poria cocos also needs to be watered frequently. Therefore, he brought a bucket of water into the mountains. If the soil was dry and the Poria cocos did not grow well, he would water it.
Entering the mountains was not a difficult task for him. Black Tiger and the Elf followed him as usual. The noise made by the man and two dogs entering the mountains scared all the small animals nearby.
A rustling sound came from the dense bushes. You didn't have to see it to know that it was small animals escaping in a hurry.
Gao Mingcheng walked with brisk steps as if he was walking on flat ground, and even had the leisure to pull off a few green leaves from the side.
The leaves are triangular, a bit similar to cat ears, so some people call it cat ears, and some people call it gangbangui.
Gao Mingcheng skillfully rolled the back of the leaf inward, then put it into his mouth and started chewing it.
The reason why it has to be rolled like this is because there are some thorns on the back of the leaves. Otherwise, it will prick your mouth when you eat it.
After the tender leaves of the Radix Glehniae are chewed, the sour and sweet taste fills the mouth.
When I was a child, I was poor and naturally had no money to buy snacks, so the wild fruits and leaves that could be eaten in the mountains became snacks for the children.
Gao Mingcheng was a little wilder than other children since he was young. He knew a lot of wild fruit trees, and whenever the fruits were ripe, he would run quickly to pick them and eat them.
This inconspicuous plant, the Glehnia littoralis, grows all over the mountains and plains. If you want to eat it, just pick it.
As for fruits like raspberry, tea bubble, wild hawthorn, twisted apple, and hairy chestnut, the availability depends on the season.
For example, it is now mid-May, and raspberries and tea leaves are out of season and can no longer be found. Wild hawthorns and chestnuts can only be picked and tasted in autumn.
The sour and sweet taste made Gao Mingcheng excited. After spitting out the chewed leaf residue in his mouth, he picked another leaf at random.
He forgot the name of the tree, but he knew that the leaves grew symmetrically and each leaf was oval in shape. This kind of leaves can be used to whistle, and the sound is softer, not as sharp and harsh as bamboo leaves.
Gao Mingcheng is not very good at music, but he can still make simple sounds.
As the intermittent sounds rang out, curious little birds on the branches were attracted. They flapped their wings and jumped on the branches, following Gao Mingcheng curiously.
The elf noticed the bird following overhead and bared its teeth at it, making threatening noises.
But birds have wings, so they are not afraid of four-legged animals like it.
With a puff, a pile of bird shit fell from the sky and landed right on the elf's head.
The elf became even angrier and started yelling at the bird again. Then, several piles of fresh bird droppings fell from the sky.
The elf had already suffered a loss once, so this time he hurriedly dodged and fortunately he was not attacked by the bird droppings shells again.
Gao Mingcheng witnessed this scene and laughed unceremoniously.
To be honest, birds are quite smart creatures. You can tell by looking at how they build nests.
Gao Mingcheng glanced at the birds nearby and recognized sparrows, turtledoves, magpies, gray-winged thrushes, and some others whose names he couldn't remember.
Soon, Gao Mingcheng arrived at the place where he had planted Poria cocos before. When he got here, he started to get busy. After confirming that the Poria cocos needed watering, he had to carry a bucket to the nearest water source, fetch water, and then bring it to the slope where Poria cocos was planted.
While fetching water, he noticed that there were small wild fish in the ditch, and some wood frogs, bullfrogs and toads living near the water source.
Looking along the winding ditch, Gao Mingcheng felt that there should be a larger water source upstream of the ditch.
After watering the Poria cocos, he walked along the ditch and found that the bottom of a hillside had sunken into a small pond.
The water in this pond comes from a spring and is formed by rainwater.
The pond is not big, but there are a lot of things in it. Gao Mingcheng saw several fish weighing more than one kilogram swimming leisurely on the water. In addition, forest frogs and bullfrogs can be seen everywhere.
A big tree as thick as a bucket fell down in an unknown year. Most of the trunk was submerged in water, and some snails were attached to the trunk and branches.
There is a natural spring here that has water all year round and no one fishes them out. Each snail is very big, which makes Gao Mingcheng quite excited.
There are snails to pick up in the paddy fields, but most of them are small in size. Because there are so many people picking them up, the snails don't have a chance to rest and recuperate.
Gao Mingcheng put down the bucket in his hand, took off his shoes, rolled up his trouser legs, and prepared to go into the water to catch fish!
He didn't bring a bag into the mountains today, but he had a bucket, which was just right for holding fish and bullfrogs!
When it comes to fishing skills, Gao Mingcheng is definitely among the top three in Gaojia Village!
Catching fish can actually be said to be fishing by feeling. After he got into the water, he bent down and reached his hand to the bottom of the pond, then walked and felt his way over.
As he walked, the clear water instantly became turbid.
It is easier to fish in muddy water. He walked and felt along the way. Soon, he felt fish passing by with his fingertips. One fish even hit his leg.
When you have a feeling, you need to be steady, accurate and ruthless in your action, and soon you will catch the first fish!
Gao Mingcheng caught the fish from the water and at one glance he recognized it was a crucian carp the size of a child's palm.
He didn't think it was too small and threw it towards the shore, right into the bucket.
The crucian carp bounced in the bucket, trying to save itself, but obviously failed.
After the first fish, the second fish came soon. This time we were lucky and caught a three-pound grass carp.
Grass carp is very strong and it is difficult for most people to catch it with bare hands, but once Gao Mingcheng catches it, he will never let it escape.
The struggle of the grass carp made the water in the pond more turbid. Gao Mingcheng held the fish's hands tightly and lifted it out of the water. The fish's tail swung, and a string of water droplets splashed up and slid down.
When the tiny water droplets are illuminated by the sun, they flash faintly with colorful light.
Gao Mingcheng walked towards the shore. He held the grass carp tightly in one hand and picked up the bucket with the other hand. He scooped some water into it and then put the grass carp, which was a bit heavy, into the bucket.
The fish should be eaten fresh, so keep it in water first and then slaughter it when it is time to eat.
Gao Mingcheng found a deserted pond in the deep mountains and began his happy fishing time. Black Tiger and Elf can swim, but their fishing skills are close to zero!
Therefore, when Gao Mingcheng was fishing in the water, the two dogs could only lie on the ground and wait for Gao Mingcheng to come ashore.
After spending about half an hour, Gao Mingcheng finally straightened his back and was ready to stop.
He went ashore and washed the mud off his feet with water. Then he looked down at the bucket and saw half a bucket of fish and snails. He felt quite satisfied.
He shook the water off his hands, then looked at his fingers. There was a small red dot on his left index finger, which was pricked by the thorn of the yellow girl.
The yellow girl is delicious, but the thorns on the sides and top of its back are difficult to deal with. If you get pricked by one accidentally, the pain is unbearable.
Some people let go immediately when they feel pain, and the girl they have caught will run away. Some people may even develop a fear of slacking off after being stabbed many times.
Gao Mingcheng rarely gets stabbed, but today he was unlucky and got stabbed.
But he could still bear the pain. When his feet were almost dry, he put on his shoes and prepared to go down the mountain.
Because of his behavior of fishing in the water, the frogs living here fled to the shore one after another.
At this time, you can see a lot of wood frogs and bullfrogs in the grass beside the pond. Wood frogs are smaller than bullfrogs and look similar to frogs, but their colors are different.
Gao Mingcheng is a pragmatist, so of course he chose the bullfrog with more meat!
Gao Mingcheng's sharp eyes scanned the grass and the water's edge. While he was sitting on the ground waiting for his feet to dry, some frogs seemed to feel there was no danger and moved closer to the water's edge.
After Gao Mingcheng put on his shoes, he did not move for the time being, preparing to find a better opportunity to take action.
Looking at these bullfrogs, he remembered that when he was a child, he went to the rice fields to catch frogs. At that time, he used a thin bamboo pole and cotton rope to make a simple fishing rod.
At the other end of the cotton rope was a small frog torn in half.
These little frogs are small and easy to catch. On summer evenings, you can see little frogs jumping everywhere in the grass in front of and behind houses.
After catching it, split one into two and use it as bait.
People stand beside the ridge of the field, throw the cotton rope with bait tied to it into the lush rice field, and then wait for movement.
With such simple equipment, it is more than enough to catch frogs!
But... the second half of my memory was that the old people in the village caught these naughty children and taught them that frogs are beneficial insects and cannot be caught and eaten.
The memory was a bit distant, and a trace of recollection emerged in Gao Mingcheng's eyes, and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
He was alone in the mountains fishing, picking snails and catching bullfrogs, but he didn't feel lonely at all. Instead, he felt like he was reminiscing about his childhood.
Of course, the rich harvest was also one of the reasons that made him happy.
He also wanted to pass on this happiness to his children, so he decided to take them to the mountains to pick wild fruits and to the water to catch fish when the children grew up!
Soon, Gao Mingcheng got a dozen bullfrogs, enough for a plate of food. He was no longer greedy and went down the mountain with his two dogs.
There was a song coming from the forest.
The pond is full and the rain has stopped.
The mud beside the field is full of loaches
I wait for you every day, waiting for you to catch loaches
Big brother, please, let's go catch loaches~
The song "Catching Loaches" was released by Bao Meisheng in 1978. It has become the childhood memory of many people and has been sung ever since.
Because Gao Mingcheng was slacking off to catch bullfrogs, it was already noon when he got down the mountain. Even so, he had to run very fast when he got down the mountain.
When he went down the mountain, he saw Chen Dasong practicing driving in a spacious area, and the one he was practicing was naturally his tractor.
Before that, he drove back to Niuweiling, and then asked Chen Dasong and others to go to the old village pond and drive the tractor back.
Chen Dasong and his friends learned how to drive a tractor from Gao Mingcheng last time, but each of them only drove it for a short while and were not proficient at all!
Gao Mingcheng asked them to drive the tractor back by themselves, which was a heavy responsibility for them!
After a discussion among the few people, it was finally Chen Dasong who went with his youngest son Chen Duoxi to drive the car, because Chen Duoxi patted his chest and said that he had learned it and he guaranteed that he could drive the car back.
But unfortunately his father Chen Dasong didn't believe it, so the father and son went together, so that if something happened, they could still discuss it.
Gao Mingcheng put down the bucket, looked at it for a while, and then said to Chen Dasong, "Uncle Chen, the plow installed on the tractor is piled in my utility room. When you become proficient in driving the tractor, install the plow and practice on the wasteland nearby. When the late rice is planted, you can go out to plow the fields."
"I brought back two barrels of diesel. If the gas in the car runs out, I can refuel myself."
Chen Dasong agreed repeatedly, and felt that he drove well, so he asked Gao Mingcheng how he drove.
Gao Mingcheng affirmed this, "It's not bad. If you practice more in the future, you will naturally get better."
After receiving Gao Mingcheng's affirmation, Chen Dasong grinned, his joy beyond words.
Seeing that it was almost time for lunch, Chen Dasong pulled the car over and turned off the engine.
"Mingcheng, are you hungry? Go home and have dinner!" Chen Dasong invited Gao Mingcheng to his home for dinner.
When delivering noodles to the old village, his grandmother and his parents asked him to stay for dinner, but Gao Mingcheng didn't want to run back and forth, so he declined.
Later, I told Chen Dasong that we would have lunch at his house and asked Aunt Liu to prepare more food.
"Okay, I'll go in a minute." Gao Mingcheng was indeed hungry. He first carried the bucket into the house, then took out a large basin. After filling it half full with water, he poured the fish in the bucket into it. As for the bullfrogs and snails, they remained in the bucket.
Chen Dasong also walked over to watch him work, and when he saw a basin of fish of different sizes, he couldn't help but be amazed.
Only Gao Mingcheng could get so many things because he went into the mountains as if it were for fun. When he went into the mountains to collect firewood before, he couldn't see a big puddle after walking for half a day!
Gao Mingcheng was going to Chen Dasong's house for dinner, so he naturally wouldn't go empty-handed, so he used a colander to scoop out some small fish.
He took the small fish and had an authentic farm meal at Chen Dasong's house.
At the dinner table, Chen Dasong asked if he could let Chen Duofu drive Gao Mingcheng's tractor to pick up the bride at the wedding banquet at the end of the month.
Gao Mingcheng naturally agreed to this.
Gao Mingcheng also said: "You can use the car privately in the future, but if you use the car privately, you will have to pay for the gas yourself."
Chen Dasong was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly, saying, "Of course, of course."
At noon, the sun was a little strong and no one was in a hurry to go out to work. Gao Mingcheng chatted with the Chen father and son, and after Aunt Liu cleaned up the dishes, she brought out a basket of pea pods and prepared to shell peas.
These peas were planted in March and are now ready to eat. There are several ways to eat peas, one of which is to eat pea tips, which people in Sichuan love to eat, but people in Gaojia Village hardly eat them.
In Gaojia Village, people mainly eat peas in young pods and old pods.
Pick the bean pods when they have just grown and the beans inside have not yet fully grown. Then stir-fry them with lard and they will be crisp and delicious.
The beans in the old pods are already full, so if you peel the beans and cook them, they will taste very soft and sticky. If you add a little pork, it will be even sweeter! (End of this chapter)
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