Chapter 681: Picking Lotus Pods and Fishing
After letting Gao Shufang and the others get off the car, Gao Mingcheng started the car. Two minutes later, the car stopped under the tung tree on the other side of Niuweiling.
Before getting off the bus, I could hear sounds of dogs barking and sheep bleating.
The lamb's cry was very tender. Hearing this sound, Xiao Xuxu immediately remembered that the ewe at home was pregnant and was about to give birth!
"Sheep Baa Baa! I want to see the sheep Baa Baa!"
Xiao Xuxu leaned against the car window and tried to get out.
Gao Mingcheng got out of the car, opened the door, and carried Xiao Xuxu out of the car.
Little Xuxu, who is almost three years old, has already gained some weight. Usually, Gao Mingcheng did not stop Xuanyuemei from holding him. But now Xuanyuemei is pregnant again, Gao Mingcheng does not let her hold little Xuxu anymore.
"Come on, I'll take you to see the sheep!" Gao Mingcheng walked in front holding little Xuxu, and did not forget to turn around and say, "The things are in the truck bed, don't worry about it, I'll get them later."
Manyu Mei smiled unhappily and said, "How heavy can an empty bottle be?"
She was really stubborn. She immediately reached out and took down two empty bottles, and raised her chin slightly towards Gao Mingcheng as if in protest.
Gao Mingcheng smiled helplessly. Well, a pregnant woman is really not to be messed with!
He gave in and let her be.
The gate of the house was ajar and opened with a gentle push.
Following the sound, Gao Mingcheng came to the sheep pen carrying little Xuxu.
I don't know when the ewe gave birth to the lambs. There are now five lambs in the sheepfold. They all look very small. They are huddled in the ewe's belly and are sucking milk.
Goats usually give birth to two litters a year, with two to three lambs in each litter. However, the goats in Gao Mingcheng's family reproduce naturally without any human intervention, so they may not be able to give birth to two litters a year.
However, by looking at the lambs' feeding conditions, Gao Mingcheng could tell which ewe had given birth to two lambs and which ewe had given birth to three lambs.
"Oh, the lamb is kneeling to drink milk!" Little Xuxu suddenly became excited and said loudly: "Dad, is this what they say in cartoons about lambs kneeling to drink milk? Dad, why do they kneel to drink milk!"
Xiao Xuxu is still young. When he watches cartoons, he is often attracted by the colorful pictures. As for the stories in the cartoons, he cannot fully understand them, but it is normal for him to remember a few words occasionally.
Sheep kneel down to feed their mothers and crows repay their parents, this is what is mentioned in one of the cartoons.
Xiao Xuxu had no idea about it before, but after seeing the lamb kneeling to drink milk with his own eyes, he suddenly made the connection.
Xiao Xuxu looked at Gao Mingcheng with an ignorant and inquiring look. Gao Mingcheng thought for a moment and realized that he couldn't say anything like being grateful to his parents, so he said, "When the lamb was born, its bones were not well developed yet and it couldn't stand steadily, so it knelt to drink milk. When the lamb grew up a little, it would be too tall to burrow under the ewe's belly to drink milk, so it had to bend its neck, which must be uncomfortable, so it still had to kneel on its front legs to drink milk."
Gao Mingcheng has been rebellious since he was young and doesn't listen to his family. He is definitely filial to his parents financially, but there is still some emotional gap between them.
Therefore, when educating his children, he did not intend to be like the older generation in the village, constantly telling them how hard they worked and how they wanted their children to be filial.
In this life, Gao Mingcheng only hopes that his eldest son can be safe and happy, and that his youngest son can have a smooth life and not go astray again.
As for filial piety or not, as long as parents are good to their children, how many children would be unfilial?
Gao Mingcheng is quite open-minded. He feels that he will never make the same mistake again in his life.
After holding Xiao Xuxu and watching the lambs for a while, Gao Mingcheng put Xiao Xuxu down and said, "Watch it yourself. Don't go into the sheepfold. Be careful of the goats biting you!"
"Well, I won't go in." Xiao Xuxu said as if to assure.
He has never been a naughty person and is generally reassuring.
Gao Mingcheng came to the car outside the house and saw that there were still some bottles that had not been taken out, so he took them all down and put them in the utility room.
After doing this, Gao Mingcheng said to Xuanyuemei: "You stay at home with Xiaoxuxu, I'm going to go to the mountains and fields."
"Okay." Xuanyuemei responded, not indicating that she had to go to the mountains.
The slope of Xiaofushan is not high, and the mountain road was properly repaired when the fruit trees were planted. Now it is not too difficult to climb the mountain to pick fruits, but for a pregnant woman, there is no need to climb the mountain.
Gao Mingcheng walked quickly all the way, his body seemed to be flying, and in the blink of an eye he arrived at the foot of Xiaofu Mountain.
At the foot of the mountain, there is a pond on one side, a chicken coop on the other side, a wide road in the middle, and a shed at the end of the road.
Gao Mingcheng noticed that the lotus pods in the pond had grown quite old. The lotus seeds in the pods showed signs of being slightly bulging, and the hard shell covering the lotus seeds also looked paler green and harder.
Lotus seeds like this are fully mature lotus seeds. After picking them, you can peel off the shells and dry them, and then use them to stew meat and cook porridge.
If the lotus seeds are a little more tender, they can be eaten raw directly. Tender lotus seeds taste sweet and fresh, just like fruit, and the lotus core is not too bitter.
Old lotus seeds taste dry, without moisture or sweetness, and the lotus core is also very bitter.
These are two ways of eating it, but obviously it is no longer possible to eat tender lotus seeds nowadays.
Gao Mingcheng reached out and picked a lotus pod near the roadside. He peeled it open and saw that the lotus seeds inside were indeed old.
He casually put it on the ground and had no intention of getting the lotus seeds now.
Gao Mingcheng walked around the pond and continued forward, preparing to see how the fruit trees in the mountains were growing.
There are many orange trees in Xiaofushan, half of which are sugar oranges and the other half are local mandarin oranges. The sugar oranges are small, but the mandarin oranges are very big. Although the oranges are still green now, they look as big as a child's fist and they will grow longer.
And the bigger the tree, the more and larger the fruits it bears.
At this time, the fruit trees that bear fruit include oranges and grapefruits, as well as chestnuts and persimmons. However, there are not many of these two types of fruit trees, so Gao Mingcheng only bought a few fruit seedlings at a nearby market at the beginning, and never bought more afterwards.
Chestnuts are delicious, but they are troublesome to peel and difficult to store. They are easily infested with insects or simply dried.
Gao Mingcheng thought it was troublesome and didn't want to plant more, thinking that enough for himself would be enough.
The same goes for persimmons. The persimmons he grows are local persimmons, which are not very big. Their sweetness and appearance are average, but they have a high yield and are not prone to insects. They are quite easy to grow.
As long as they plant two persimmon trees, it will be enough to feed the whole family!
And when the persimmon tree reaches its peak fruit-bearing period, a tree can be densely packed with persimmons! You will feel like you can never finish eating them all!
Of course, because the persimmon tree that Gao Mingcheng bought was not grafted, it takes a long time for it to bear fruit. Although it is bearing fruit now, it is still in the early fruiting stage, so there are not many persimmons on the tree.
Gao Mingcheng's eyes swept across the fruit trees and he continued walking forward.
Then he saw the peach and pear trees that were somewhat bare. It was not yet the time for the autumn wind to sweep away the fallen leaves, but the peach and pear trees already had fewer leaves, making them look like lonely old widows, with a sense of forlornness.
Although these trees have finished bearing fruit, they will still need autumn fertilizer after a while so that they can sprout more branches, leaves and flower buds next year.
Gao Mingcheng walked quickly in the mountains, as nimbly as a monkey climbing a mountain, and soon arrived at the location where the navel orange trees were planted.
The navel orange trees have been planted for a while, and we can now tell whether they are dead or alive. Those trees whose leaves are beginning to dry are basically dead.
Gao Mingcheng noticed that the leaves of several trees had dried up, but the soil at their roots was still wet. It was obvious that Chen Dasong and his colleagues were still watering these fruit trees and did not abandon them immediately.
Gao Mingcheng did not pull them out. He planned to observe them for a while until next spring. If no new buds sprouted, it would not be too late to pull them out.
The other navel orange trees should appear to be alive, but we cannot be careless and must continue to take good care of them. Only when the trees have fully grown can we feel a little relieved.
After walking around the navel orange tree, he did not return the same way, but went down the mountain from this side and went around Xiaofushan to return home.
Along the way, he observed the surrounding environment and thought in his mind how to build this road at the foot of the mountain.
The foot of the mountain is not flat. There are small mounds, gullies, and overgrown trees, especially very small wild bamboos, which grow so numerous and dense that they are difficult to clean up.
It's useless to cut off the top part of bamboo. As long as the bamboo rhizomes are still in the soil, a large number of bamboo shoots will grow again in the second year.
By the way, it is quite nice to come here to pick bamboo shoots in the spring. These bamboo shoots are small and thin, and have a tender taste, unlike the moso bamboo, which is very large.
However, Gao Mingcheng prefers to eat bamboo shoots!
The bamboo shoots are big in size and one bamboo shoot can be used to stir-fry a whole dish. How convenient!
Unlike these small bamboo shoots, it takes half a day just to peel the shells, which is too tiring!
So if Gao Mingcheng saw this kind of small bamboo shoots, he would rather step on them with his feet than pull them out and eat them.
Gao Mingcheng estimated in his mind how long it would take to build the road. The weeds and trees had to be removed, the gullies had to be filled, and the hills had to be flattened to make it easier for cars to enter and exit.
After some calculation, he had an idea in mind.
Although he was not often at home and left all matters to Chen Dasong, he knew what kind of work was needed, how many people would be needed, and how many days it would take.
If Gao Mingcheng finds anything wrong after checking the account book, he will raise questions in time.
Precisely because he is not the kind of person who knows nothing, even if Chen Dasong has some ulterior motives, he dare not make them too obvious. At most, he will give the work to someone he is familiar with and do him a favor.
Returning to the pond, Gao Mingcheng took off his clothes and pants and went into the water wearing only a pair of shorts.
Before entering the water, he did a few simple muscle stretching exercises to prevent sudden cramps in the water.
He had been walking for such a long time and was already sweating all over. Now that he was in the water, he felt quite cool.
Due to the weather, the water level in the pond dropped a lot, and the deepest part was just up to Gao Mingcheng's chest.
The lotus roots were planted in shallow water. When Gao Mingcheng stood there, the water level was only up to his waist.
He held a lotus pod in each hand and was having a lot of fun picking them. After picking them, he threw them directly to the shore and picked them up later.
Just then, Gao Mingcheng heard Xiao Xuxu calling him.
"Dad, I want to pick them too!" Little Xuxu's face was full of eagerness, and he began to put his little feet into the water, but was stopped in time by Xuanmei.
Gao Mingcheng laughed, walked to the shore and said, "Don't go into the water, Dad will hold you and pick it!"
Manyi Xiaomei scolded, "Just spoil him!"
Manyimeis had discovered long ago that compared with other people in the village, Gao Mingcheng was very good to his son. He was willing to hold his son and play with him when he was free. Unlike some people, he simply did not hold his children and was unwilling to take care of them. He was only willing to take his children to do things after his children grew up a little.
Gao Mingcheng held Xiao Xuxu in his arms and took him to a place where lotus pods grew. He motioned for Xiao Xuxu to reach out and pick some of them, and reminded Xiao Xuxu that there were some small thorns on the surface of the lotus pod stems, which would prick his hands.
But the reminder was a little late. Little Xuxu couldn't wait to pick it, and then got pricked.
"Ouch, it hurts!" Little Xuxu pouted and almost wanted to cry.
Gao Mingcheng laughed without hesitation and asked, "Are you still going to pick them?"
Xiao Xuxu's face was full of conflict. He wanted to pick it, but was afraid.
Gao Mingcheng held him with one hand and picked a lotus pod with the other hand. He broke off the stem below, leaving only a smooth lotus pod for Xiao Xuxu.
"Take it and play with it! It's a pity that it's old and can't be eaten directly. Wait until next year and dad will bring you here to pick tender lotus seeds to eat! Then I'll get you a small boat and let you paddle in the water!"
Xiao Xuxu was very surprised by this big cake. Even many beauties widened their eyes and said in disbelief: "You want to get him a boat?"
Gao Mingcheng laughed and said, "What's so difficult about this? We can use the bathtub at home as a boat. Or I can get a tire inner tube. After pumping it up, it can float on the water."
It is true that as long as your thinking does not slip, there are always more solutions than problems!
Gao Mingcheng sent Xiao Xuxu, who had enjoyed his lotus harvest, back to the shore and continued picking lotus pods himself.
These farm chores were usually done by Zhang Chengyuan, but Gao Mingcheng was a man with a keen eye for work, and every time he went home, he would do something.
Xuanyuemei saw that there were already a lot of lotus pods piled on the shore, so she went to the shed in front and got an empty bamboo basket. She picked up all the lotus pods into the basket. When Xiaoxuxu saw this, he also followed her to pick them up and had a lot of fun.
By the time they had all picked their fruits, Gao Mingcheng had almost finished picking them.
After all, this is the first time I have planted lotus roots this year. Although they have bloomed and borne fruit, there are not many of them. Some lotus pods are even empty, or only a few lotus seeds are good, and the rest are shriveled.
"Mingcheng, it's almost time. We should go to the old village later." Xuanyue looked at the watch on her wrist. The time showed eleven o'clock.
Generally speaking, the meal will start around 12 o'clock, and if it's late, it may not be until 12:30.
But it’s not easy for them to go there on time, so they have to go a little earlier.
Although the lotus pods have been picked, Gao Mingcheng doesn't want to go ashore for the time being. His body is already wet, so he must get wet enough!
He began to bend down to catch fish and said, "No hurry, I'll catch a few fish first!"
When he was picking lotus pods before, he always felt that fish would hit his feet. At that time, he wanted to catch fish!
There are both wild fish and fish fry in the pond, but most of the wild fish have become food for carnivorous fish.
Gao Mingcheng was groping in the water, trying to catch a big fish.
(End of this chapter)
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