At ten o'clock in the evening, a pot of delicious turtle stewed with chicken was ready.
With three men at home, they naturally did whatever was convenient. For the pot of turtle stewed with chicken, after cleaning it up, they directly used the rice cooker to stew it. After plugging in the rice cooker and pressing the button, the three of them lay in the yard, chatting and eating watermelon. When they had finished chatting, a rich fragrance came from the kitchen.
Gao Mingcheng was shocked and said, "It should be cooked. I'll add salt to season it."
Gao Yue and Lin Ye also smelled the fragrance and said impatiently, "Let's go together, let's go together."
When Gao Mingcheng arrived in the kitchen and opened the lid of the rice cooker, a stronger aroma wafted into his nose.
"It smells so good!" Gao Yue took a deep breath, his face full of enjoyment.
They are not bragging, but this soup is really delicious!
After adding salt to season the food, Gao Mingcheng took out three large bowls and served each person a bowl of soup.
A soft-shelled turtle weighing more than three pounds, paired with a hen weighing more than three pounds, plus some soup, is enough for three people to enjoy.
The meat of the soft-shelled turtle is very tender, with a full gelatinous texture on the edge. It is chewy and sweet when you bite it. The native hen also tastes great, and there are some unformed small eggs in its belly. This hen is only over a year old, which is the peak egg-laying period, so there are many large and small eggs in its belly. According to this situation, it can lay an egg every two or three days.
Gao Mingcheng ate the soft-shelled turtle and chicken first, and when he finished the last mouthful of soup, his face was filled with satisfaction.
He even had the idea of getting another turtle. The soup was delicious and nutritious, and he wanted to prepare some for his wife and children as well.
Although he thought so, he did not say it out loud immediately, because he knew that if he said he wanted to go, Gao Yue and Lin Ye would definitely go with him.
But the two of them had been rocking honey all day and were very tired and needed a rest.
So Gao Mingcheng said, "It's getting late. Go to the bathroom and then go to bed. You two can sleep in one bed."
Gao Yue and Lin Ye had no objection. They slept in the guest room, where there was a bed that Gao Yue had moved from his old house.
"It's delicious. Maybe it's because I made it myself. I feel that the turtle is not fishy at all. It's very fragrant!" Gao Yue sighed. They had dinner early, but after eating a bowl of turtle stewed with chicken, their stomachs were full and warm, which made them very satisfied.
It was indeed getting late, so Gao Yue and Lin Ye went to the toilet one after another, drank some water, and then went into the house to rest.
Gao Mingcheng also went into the house to rest. He lay on the bed with his eyes closed. When he thought Gao Yue and Lin Ye should have fallen asleep, he quietly got up and went outside the main room.
Because Gao Mingcheng was at home, Heihu and Jingling refused to sleep in the chicken coop and stayed at home. However, the chicken coop still needed a dog to look after it, and Chen Dasong alone could not do it, so Dahuang took Dahei and Xiaohei to take on this responsibility.
As soon as Gao Mingcheng appeared, the black tiger and the elf who were sleeping in the doghouse at the door opened their eyes at the same time. However, they just opened their eyes and did not get up immediately. It was not until they saw Gao Mingcheng holding a snakeskin bag and an iron fork and then opening the gate of the yard that they immediately followed him.
Gao Mingcheng's footsteps were very light, and the two dogs were also alert and did not make any sound. The man and the two dogs left quickly.
There are naturally no street lights in the small mountain village, but not every night is pitch black. When the moon is full, the bright moonlight will shine down, illuminating the mountains and rivers.
The mountains are like giant beasts, standing still. The shadows of trees are like ghosts, swaying in the wind. The brooks are gurgling, accompanied by the chirping of insects.
In midsummer, the cicadas and frogs chirp together, disturbing the silence.
In the grass, various nocturnal animals are also active, including hedgehogs, weasels, voles, snakes, etc., each moving in their own way.
Some are foraging, and some are being foraged.
Where there is life, there is death.
Walking on the quiet road, the night wind blew, bringing a slight coolness. Gao Mingcheng felt that his mind was very clear at this moment, and his thinking was particularly active. Some sentences from the articles he had read frequently appeared in his mind.
Like a poem, like a painting, like an understanding of life.
Sometimes he felt that his thoughts were very brilliant, as if he had seen through the whole world and life. But when his thoughts changed and he recalled what he had thought before, he felt a little vague.
In this ambiguous state, he came to the edge of the reservoir again.
When I came here before, there were other people in the reservoir, but now, the reservoir is very quiet and there is no one else.
But it’s not quite right to say it’s quiet. The closer you get to the water, the more noise you can hear. Frog sounds can be heard one after another, and frogs of all sizes are jumping around in the grass.
Quack~
Before the cry ended, the frog's life was completely over because a rat snake quickly swallowed the frog.
After succeeding, the rat snake turned around and ran away, using the grass as a cover and soon disappeared.
What a fat snake!
Gao Mingcheng looked at the snake's disappearing back and felt deeply moved.
Unfortunately, Xuanyimei doesn't eat snakes, so he didn't plan to catch any snakes today.
Gao Mingcheng focused his attention on catching the soft-shelled turtle.
June to September is the most active time of the year for soft-shelled turtles, and they eat most frequently. When the water temperature drops, their foraging frequency will slow down until they hibernate completely.
It was now late July, the time when soft-shelled turtles were active and eating. Gao Mingcheng chose a location and thought it would be easy to catch soft-shelled turtles. So he opened the snakeskin bag he brought and poured the chopped chicken intestines into the water.
He didn't rush into the water, but just took off his clothes and waited on the shore.
Soft-shelled turtles are omnivorous animals and they eat at night, so trapping them at this time is still very successful.
The chicken intestines were left over from the previous chicken slaughter, but no one was willing to clean them up. Gao Mingcheng chopped them up with the intention of using them as bait.
After the chicken intestines were poured into the water, they slowly spread out and soon attracted a group of small fish. Each of these small fish was only the size of a thumb, and Gao Mingcheng ignored them.
After a while, a catfish emerged from the bottom of the water. When it completely emerged, it opened its mouth wide and bit a chicken intestine.
Seeing that the catfish was about to dive into the water, Gao Mingcheng moved the iron fork in his hand and quickly speared the catfish in the water.
He moved quickly and with great force, and the iron fork instantly pierced the catfish in the water. The catfish was injured and its body twisted, as if trying to escape.
However, the iron fork had pierced its body, making it impossible to escape, but the catfish was very strong and clung tightly to the iron fork.
Under the moonlight, this catfish weighing about five or six pounds is about to die because of its greed!
Gao Mingcheng held the iron fork in one hand and put the catfish into the snakeskin bag with the other hand. He thought, it would be too difficult for him to give up such a big catfish!
Catfish have a slippery body and are generally difficult to catch with bare hands. They hide at the bottom of the water during the day and only float to the surface at night to find food. They have a big mouth and can swallow very large amounts of food.
The taste of small catfish is average, but the big catfish is worth eating. Their skin is very gelatinous and when you bite it, it is no worse than the skirt of a turtle.
The big catfish also has the belly, which is Gao Mingcheng's favorite part to eat.
Most importantly, catfish has few bones and is very suitable for children to eat.
Since Gao Mingcheng has seen so many advantages, he naturally cannot let it go.
Having caught a big catfish, Gao Mingcheng was in a very good mood, with a smile on his face, but he did not forget his goal for tonight - the soft-shelled turtle.
I waited quietly for a while, and found that the place where the chicken intestines were thrown did attract a lot of small fish, but no turtles were seen.
Gao Mingcheng felt that this position was not good, so he decided to change it.
He carried the snakeskin bag and walked through the grass until he came to a shallow area.
Because the water is shallow, the aquatic plants here are very lush, and some even have small flowers in bloom. The air is filled with a fragrance, very light but very subtle.
Soft-shell turtles are omnivorous animals, they eat both meat and vegetables, so sometimes they also eat grass roots.
The chicken intestines were gone, but Gao Mingcheng was not in a hurry. He caught a few frogs on the spot, smashed them with stones, and threw them into the water.
The smell of blood spreads in the water and quickly attracts predators to come and enjoy the feast.
The first wave that came over were still small fish.
These small fish are the most numerous inhabitants of the water and they come at the slightest sign of trouble.
Unfortunately, although they are numerous, they do not have much strength. When a large predator comes, they will flee one after another, because if they do not run away, they will also become food for the predator.
Gao Mingcheng held the iron fork in his hand and waited quietly.
The black tiger and the elf were also very smart, standing quietly not far away.
The wind blew, and the water rippled slightly. With the sound of small water, the larger predator finally came!
With the help of moonlight, Gao Mingcheng saw clearly the person coming. It was the turtle he had been waiting for!
Gao Mingcheng was shocked and ready to take action at any time.
In fact, it is better to do it in shallow water, so that when the turtle wants to escape, its body will not be as flexible as in deep water.
When the turtle started to eat, Gao Mingcheng did not take action immediately. Only when the turtle started to take the second bite did he find the right time and pounce forward quickly.
He moved quickly, and with water splashing everywhere, the turtle that Gao Mingcheng had targeted was successfully caught.
After making some judgment, Gao Mingcheng felt that the location here was good and he could try to catch it with his hands, so that the turtle would not get hurt and he could raise it and take it back to the county town tomorrow.
Gao Mingcheng was in a good mood because he had caught a big catfish before, but then he remembered that the weather was hot now, and the catfish would be injured and die, so it would need to be slaughtered in time and then salted and preserved.
Gao Mingcheng has very strong hands, and once he catches the turtle, it is very difficult for it to escape. Gao Mingcheng is careful to avoid the turtle's head, then throws the turtle into a snakeskin bag and ties the bag to prevent the turtle from escaping.
This turtle weighed only a little over one pound, not as big as the one they had eaten before. Even if it was stewed with chicken, it would not be enough for the family, so they had to catch another one.
Gao Mingcheng continued to squat on the shore, waiting for the turtle to come.
While waiting, Gao Mingcheng thought that he should buy a few fish cages, put the bait in the cages, and then he would be able to catch fish and shrimp.
The reason he thought so was not because he felt it was tiring to catch turtles in this way, but because he remembered that lotus roots were planted in the pond in Xiaofushan this year. Although there were more lotus seeds and lotus roots to harvest, there were many lotus leaves in the water, which made it impossible to use a net to reach from one side to the other and then catch the fish as before.
Using a cage would save some trouble, but when catching fish at the end of the year, his goal is to catch big fish rather than small fish. When using a cage to hold fish, those that go into the cage are generally small fish.
Therefore, the fish entrance of the cage should be larger so that small fish can swim out after entering, but big fish will be trapped once they enter.
In this case, a lot of bait will be wasted.
But it’s okay, just think of it as feeding the fish. When the fish grows up, won’t it go into his stomach?
Gao Mingcheng's mind was full of random thoughts, but his eyes were always fixed on the water, checking the fish situation.
About ten minutes later, Gao Mingcheng found another turtle.
When he saw the turtle, his eyes lit up!
A lot of small fish had come into the water before, including some catfish, crucian carp and carp weighing about one kilogram, but Gao Mingcheng didn't take any of them.
In fact, he came here suddenly to catch the soft-shelled turtle today, and the preparations were not sufficient. Whether the soft-shelled turtle would come or not depended entirely on luck.
But the god of luck obviously favored him. After catching a turtle weighing more than one kilogram, another turtle came!
In order to ensure success, Gao Mingcheng held back until the turtle came from the deep water area to the shallow water area with abundant aquatic plants before preparing to catch it.
During the day, due to the high temperature and loud noise, big fish and turtles rarely come near the shore, but as the temperature drops at night, they are willing to move around and forage for food.
If Gao Mingcheng had prepared in advance, chosen a suitable place to bait the fish during the day, and then come back at night, his success rate in catching big fish would have been much higher.
However, the location Gao Mingcheng chose tonight is good. There are water plants, some aquatic insects, and small insects resting on the water plants, which are all food for carnivorous fish.
Not far away, there is a ditch. The water flow in the ditch is not large, but it flows continuously and constantly flows into the reservoir.
The movement of water will also attract fish.
Due to various reasons, Gao Mingcheng finally waited for the second turtle tonight!
This turtle is dark in color and looks to weigh about three or four kilograms!
Gao Mingcheng stared at the turtle, following its movements until he felt the time was right, then he quickly pounced on it.
The sudden noise of the splashing water silenced the chirping of insects nearby for a moment.
The turtle in the water was still trying to struggle, and it was quite strong, but Gao Mingcheng was obviously stronger. He could throw a two-hundred-jin stone lock at will, so it was very easy for him to catch a turtle.
The water splashed all over Gao Mingcheng's face. Gao Mingcheng held the turtle with both hands, making it inconvenient to wipe his face. He could only use his arms to wipe the water droplets around his eyes, and then put the newly caught turtle into a snakeskin bag.
After getting two turtles as he wished, it was probably already early morning. Gao Mingcheng didn't want to continue and prepared to pick up the bag and leave.
"Black Tiger, Elf, let's go!" Gao Mingcheng called out, picked up the snakeskin bag and walked to the place where he had taken off his clothes before. After putting on his clothes, he was ready to leave.
The black tiger and the elf hurriedly followed, with the black tiger holding a small snake in its mouth.
It turned out that when Gao Mingcheng didn't notice, the black tiger and the elf were not completely still. They were also attracted by the frogs and snakes in the grass, and then a small snake became the food of the black tiger. (End of this chapter)
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