The water was quite cool, so Gao Yue simply called a few boys to go swimming together. However, two of the boys did not know how to swim and refused.
Lin Ye can swim, and when Gao Yue called him, he was ready to take off his clothes and go into the water. However, before he could do so, he was stopped by Zhao Jinghe.
Zhao Jinghe studied medicine. She said seriously, "You can't go swimming! The sun is strong and the water is cold. Your body will alternate between hot and cold and you'll easily catch a cold and get sick!"
"Gao Yue, you should come up soon! Even if the villagers take a bath in the pond, it is in the evening, not in broad daylight."
After hearing what Zhao Jinghe said, Gao Yue lost interest in swimming. In fact, he also knew that in summer, one should not go swimming around noon as it is easy to get heatstroke.
The water in the pond was not deep, and it was even shallower at the edge. Gao Yue took a fresh duck egg and stepped into the water twice. He felt that he could reach the bottom, so he walked all the way to the shore.
Although the clothes were wet, the weather was hot and they would be almost dry soon.
Gao Yue asked everyone if they wanted to pick eggs, but found that no one was very enthusiastic, so he asked if they wanted to pick some bayberries.
"We can hide in the shade under the bayberry tree, which is more comfortable. In this weather, eating some sour and sweet bayberries can also whet our appetite!" Everyone swallowed their saliva as Gao Yue described.
I guess this is what it means to quench thirst by looking at a plum.
"Let's go! Pick bayberries!"
Everyone's enthusiasm was boosted immediately, but someone asked what to do with the peaches and pears that had been picked earlier.
Gao Yue said, "Just put it under this shed. I'll drive Mingcheng's car over and load it up and go!"
There is a road from Gao Mingcheng's home to the shed, which is convenient for cars to drive in and load goods.
Each of them picked at least 20 to 30 kilograms of fruit, a total of about 200 to 300 kilograms. It would be a bit difficult for them to carry it all back by hand.
So they left the fruits they had picked earlier in the shed and took a smaller bamboo basket over.
Gao Yue knew the way and led the way.
Bayberry likes to grow in cooler places, so when walking along the way, if you can occasionally hide in the shade, you will feel much cooler.
The mountain road was difficult to walk on. The group walked for seven or eight minutes before reaching the bayberry forest. The first thing that caught their eyes was the largest bayberry tree.
This bayberry tree has been carefully managed and is growing well. Some of its branches have been artificially shaped, so the tree is not very tall and the fruits can be picked with just a stretch of the hand. Even if there are some that cannot be picked, one can climb up the tree or stand on a simple scaffolding to pick them.
At this time, there are quite a few bayberries hanging on the tree, some are red, and some have turned dark red. This is the Dongkui variety of bayberry, so each bayberry is quite large.
Gao Yue picked a deep red bayberry and put it directly into his mouth. After it entered his mouth, the sour and sweet taste burst in his mouth, making his mouth water.
The bayberries are ripe now and taste quite good.
Gao Yue picked another ripe bayberry and said to Lin Ye and the others, "Pick the ones with this color. Don't pick the bright red ones yet. They taste quite sour."
The bayberries on a tree mature at different times and need to be picked manually. When the tree is large and has many fruits, the fruits can be picked in batches over half a month.
"Okay, we understand." Lin Ye and others nodded, indicating that they understood.
So everyone dispersed and started picking bayberries.
The bayberry trees here are not big, but the distance between each tree is not short, so after everyone disperses, they are busy and tired.
The reason why Gao Mingcheng left so much space was for the future.
Bayberry trees are fruit trees with a long lifespan and a long fruit-bearing period. Even after being planted for twenty or thirty years, a bayberry tree can still bear many fruits every year.
So you need to leave some distance in advance.
While they were picking bayberries, Gao Mingcheng had already picked eight watermelons and about twenty cantaloupes. He took out a large basin, poured the well water he had just drawn into it, and then threw the two watermelons and a dozen cantaloupes into the well water to soak.
In the past, ancient people did not have refrigerators. In the summer, they liked to hang watermelons in the well to keep them cool. However, the wells in Gaojia Village were all open and had no windlasses installed. Water was drawn entirely by manpower. A small bucket tied with a rope was thrown into the well and the bucket was pulled up after it was filled with water.
Therefore, the watermelon cannot be soaked in the well, but can only be soaked in a basin filled with well water.
After soaking the watermelon and cantaloupe, he went to Xiaofushan again.
Gao Yue and his friends were no longer in the shed at this time, but the fruits they picked were still there. On one of the baskets, there was a duck egg as big as a child's fist.
Gao Mingcheng did not rush to find them, but first took the fruits left here back home and stored them in the cool main room.
After two trips back and forth, he brought all the fruits back home, and then he went to the chicken coop to pick up eggs.
Chen Dasong had already picked up eggs once in the morning, so there were not many. He only picked up about ten eggs. When passing by the grass beside the pond, he did pick up two duck eggs.
Duck eggs are larger than chicken eggs, and their eggshells are green, so there is a pigment called duck egg green. Because ducks often eat small fish and shrimps, their eggshells are harder than chicken eggshells.
Speaking of which, if chickens do not take in enough calcium, they will lay soft-shelled eggs. So if you want the chickens to grow well and lay more eggs, you still have to feed them some appropriate feed and provide gravel for them to peck.
Don't worry about the gravel. Xiaofushan is a big mountain, enough for them to peck at it for hundreds of years.
Gao Mingcheng picked up the chicken and duck eggs, and also picked some seasonal vegetables. After Gao Yue and the others came back, he would prepare to cook lunch.
Just as I was thinking this, I saw Gao Zhuang riding a bicycle towards me from a distance.
"Brother Mingcheng!" Gao Zhuang greeted him cheerfully from a distance.
Gao Mingcheng looked up and saw him, picked up the basket full of vegetables and walked towards Gao Zhuang.
Although Gao Zhuang was riding a bicycle, he was holding the handlebars with one hand and holding a small wooden bucket with the other.
When Gao Mingcheng walked over, Gao Zhuang also stopped the car under a camphor tree.
He handed the wooden barrel to Gao Mingcheng and said with a smile: "Brother Mingcheng, I saw that you brought your friends here, so I specially brought you some food. I caught these five yellow eels in the field a few days ago. I have kept them for a few days and spit out all the sand. Brother Mingcheng, look - each yellow eel is so big, each weighs at least one kilogram! I also picked up some snails, but there are not enough for you to eat."
Although everyone was in the village, there was still some distance from the old village to Niuweiling. In addition, the weather was hot and it was tiring to walk all the way. So when Xiaonainai called Gao Zhuang to deliver eels to Gao Mingcheng, Gao Zhuang simply rode his bicycle over.
He rode his bike wearing a straw hat and didn't feel hot all the way here. Instead, he had the carefreeness of a young man.
Gao Mingcheng took the wooden barrel containing the eels, looked down and felt very happy. This kind of big eel is very nutritious.
People here believe that eels are very nutritious. Generally speaking, smaller eels are used to stir-fry peppers, while larger eels are stewed with meat. Eating both the soup and the meat is more nourishing to the body.
Gao Mingcheng first thanked him, then said, "I called a few of Gao Yue's friends to come pick fruit today. They should be picking bayberries now."
The two brothers walked into the house side by side, and then Gao Mingcheng asked Gao Zhuang to sit on the recliner.
The recliner was placed under the eaves. The sun hadn't hit it yet, so it felt cool when he sat on it. Gao Zhuang liked it very much. As soon as he lay down, he felt completely relaxed.
"This recliner is great. I'm going to buy a few in the future!" Gao Zhuang said with a smile.
Gao Mingcheng said, "Of course, it's good to sit occasionally, but you can't sit for too long, it's easy to hurt your waist. By the way, the kindergarten starts in September, but in August, we have to prepare in advance. We have to clean the entire kindergarten, arrange the odds and ends, and enroll students in advance, so I will come to the village to pick you up in August."
"Gao Zhuang, go back and tell Grandma Xi that she needs to be prepared in advance! And Xiuman, she was trained last year, but it's been so long, so she may need another few days of emergency training."
Gao Zhuang nodded. They had already made preparations for going to the county.
Gao Zhuang said, "August is not bad either. It's just after the double harvest season. There won't be much work to do in the fields by then. We can take away any vegetables we can."
Around mid-July is the time for the double harvest. By then, the villagers will be very busy. They have to go to the fields to harvest rice, thresh millet, and dry millet. They also have to plow the fields and plant rice seedlings.
When this was mentioned, Gao Mingcheng said, "My tractor and plowing tools are all here. You can discuss it with Uncle Chen and the others and we can take turns using them."
"Okay." Gao Zhuang nodded with a smile, looking forward to it.
Last year, he learned how to drive a tractor to plow the fields. However, Gao Mingcheng did not return to the village often at that time, and tractors were generally used in the county, so most of the time, he had to rely on the old method, which was to borrow a cow to plow the fields.
We can use tractors to plow the fields this year, so people will have a much easier time.
Gao Mingcheng hadn't chatted with Gao Zhuang for a while, so the two brothers chatted for a while. Until they heard Gao Yue and the others coming back, Gao Zhuang stood up and prepared to say goodbye and leave.
Gao Mingcheng invited him to have dinner here, but Gao Zhuang refused.
He is not very familiar with Gao Yue, let alone Gao Yue's friends.
He felt uncomfortable staying here for dinner and thought it would be better to go home, so he declined the offer, making the excuse that Xiao Yuanyuan was waiting for him to go home for lunch.
"Ming Cheng, did you bring the fruit back? I was planning to drive over to get it back later." Gao Yue spoke with a smile as he entered the yard. When he saw Gao Zhuang, he immediately greeted Gao Zhuang.
Gao Zhuang also greeted him and said, "I'm here to bring you some yellow eels. I have something else to do at home, so I won't stay any longer. I'm leaving now."
"Hey, don't leave in a hurry. Bring some fruit back to eat." Gao Mingcheng called Gao Zhuang. He poured the eels in the small wooden barrel into his own bucket, then filled the small wooden barrel with peaches, pears and melons and handed it to Gao Zhuang.
"I'll get you a smaller watermelon so you can put it in the basket." Gao Mingcheng went into the house and picked out a smaller watermelon, about seven or eight pounds. However, the skin had turned yellow and the patterns were spreading, so it was obviously ripe.
There is a wire mesh basket installed in front of the bicycle, which is just big enough to hold a small watermelon.
Gao Zhuang felt a little embarrassed for a moment when he saw that Gao Mingcheng had prepared so many things for him.
At this time Gao Yue hurriedly said: "There are also bayberries, which we just picked!" So he grabbed a few handfuls of bayberries and put them on the top of the bucket. Well, in this way, the whole bucket was full.
"This is too much. How can I finish it?" Gao Zhuang was dumbfounded. He felt that there was no need for so much.
It was such a hot day and fruits didn’t last long. Besides, there were only a few people in his family and they couldn’t eat so much.
He wanted to take some out, but Gao Mingcheng didn't let him. Instead, he said, "If you really can't finish it, send some to my grandma."
Gao Zhuang understood, he nodded, and happily agreed: "Okay!"
So he rode towards the old village, just like he did when he came here, carrying the heavy wooden barrel in one hand and holding the handlebars of the bicycle with the other.
When he returned home, he first kept the fruits that his family needed to eat, and gave the rest to Grandma Gao, and made it clear that they were sent by Gao Mingcheng.
Grandma Gao was already a little confused, and her thinking was not as clear as before. Gao Zhuang had to speak loudly several times before she could react.
But Gao Zhuang did not get tired of it and kept saying it over and over again until Grandma Gao realized that these fruits were given by her second grandson Gao Mingcheng. Only then did Gao Zhuang go back satisfied.
When giving something as a gift, the recipient must at least know who is doing the favor, Gao Zhuang thought.
On the Niuweiling side, after Gao Zhuang left, Gao Mingcheng also invited Gao Yue and the others to come into the house and sit down.
There are no fans in the village, but by opening the front and back doors of the main room, there will be a breeze that can keep people cool.
Gao Mingcheng fished out a large watermelon from the well and said, "Are you thirsty? Cut a watermelon to quench your thirst first!"
The watermelons he held in his hands were all old varieties, particularly large, weighing more than ten pounds, with thick skin and red flesh.
With one cut, watermelon juice dripped down the cut edge, and the fresh fragrance of watermelon instantly spread.
Gao Yue and his friends ate a lot of bayberries when they were picking them, but now when they saw the watermelons with green skin and red flesh, they suddenly had an urge to eat them.
The knife that Gao Mingcheng used to cut watermelons was the same knife used to cut honeycombs. The blade was very long, making it very easy and convenient to cut large watermelons.
With just a few cuts, a big watermelon was divided into more than a dozen small pieces.
There is some melted sand in the middle of the watermelon. This old variety of watermelon tastes sweet and sandy and is very delicious.
Gao Mingcheng invited Gao Yue and the others to eat watermelon, but he was also very greedy. He picked up a piece of watermelon and started eating it. After eating, he threw the watermelon into a bucket and said to the others: "Don't throw the watermelon rinds around. Throw them in this bucket and feed them to the chickens later."
Watermelon rind has many uses. It can be made into pickles, fed to chickens and pigs, and made into watermelon frost!
The process of making homemade watermelon frost is not very complicated. The main ingredients are watermelon and Glauber's salt.
Put a layer of watermelon and a layer of Glauber's salt into an unglazed earthenware jar, seal it, and hang it in a cool and ventilated place. After a few days, white powdery crystals will precipitate from the outer wall of the jar. This thing is the traditional Chinese medicine watermelon frost, which is a good medicine for treating oral ulcers. (End of this chapter)
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