After lunch and a short rest, everyone set out.
Four women took Feng Xinan to pick bamboo leaves, saying they were going to wrap zongzi (sticky rice dumplings).
Not long after they left, Feng Ye went with his father-in-law and brother-in-law to pick bayberries.
Ye Haishan is a hardworking person and has planted many fruit trees.
He grows fruit trees not to sell, but to eat them himself, so he can save money on buying fruit.
Of course, if there's too much to eat and we can't finish it, we'll sell it.
Therefore, he planted many varieties of fruit trees, but not many of each kind, with some having only a dozen or so trees and others only one or two.
Moreover, they were planted very haphazardly, mostly in the nooks and crannies of the fields, one here and one there.
Along the way, Ye Haishan and Ye Chenliang pointed east and west, introducing the varieties of fruit trees and their ripening times.
Loquat, pomelo, orange, banana, pear, plum, peach, lychee, bayberry, watermelon and other common fruits are all available.
At this time, among these fruit trees, only the bayberries are just ripe.
Walking slowly along the paths between the fields, we soon arrived at the place where bayberries are grown.
This is a vegetable garden, planted with a lot of vegetables such as peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, and green beans.
The bayberry trees were planted wherever there was space on the steep slope next to the vegetable garden. There were two varieties, two trees of each variety.
The trees aren't very big, so they probably haven't been planted for very long, but they're lush and leafy, clearly indicating they've been well-fertilized.
The tree was laden with fruit, each one as big as a thumb, hanging heavily on the branches.
Most of the bayberries on two of the bayberry trees were already dark red, clearly ripe.
The other two varieties of bayberries, however, looked different. None of the bayberries were red; they were either obviously unripe green or white.
Feng Ye had never seen bayberries like this before, so he asked with some curiosity, "Dad, what kind of bayberry is this? Is it ripe or not?"
Ye Haishan laughed and said, "These are wild bayberries, we call them white bayberries. The ones that have turned white are ripe."
"Are these bayberries tasty?"
"You'll know once you try it."
Ye Haishan and Ye Chenliang both laughed, but their smiles were somewhat strange.
Unaware of what was going on, Feng Ye picked a white one from a low spot.
I held it under my nose and smelled it; the fruity aroma was rich, so I felt relieved and popped it into my mouth.
As soon as you close your teeth, the juice of the bayberry flows out and fills your entire mouth.
The next moment, Feng Ye's face contorted.
acid!
It's so sour!
"Pooh……"
He quickly spat out the bayberry, spitting out saliva repeatedly, trying to get rid of all the sourness.
"Why is it so sour?"
His teeth felt so sore they almost fell out.
"I knew you couldn't handle sour things." Ye Chenliang laughed so hard he almost fell over. "Almost all white bayberries are sour; it's hard to find one that isn't."
As he spoke, he picked one and ate it, eating it with relish without changing his expression.
"Don't you find it sour?"
Feng Ye was dumbfounded.
Could it be that they ate different things?
"They're sour, but still acceptable. These two bayberries are pretty good; after all, they're still edible."
Ye Haishan also laughed and said, "These two white bayberry trees are not planted for eating, but for drying and making wine. The other two bayberry trees are for eating as fruit."
"Dad, you're not lying to me again, are you?"
Feng Ye picked another reddish-black bayberry, looked at it hesitantly from left to right, but dared not put it in her mouth.
"Don't worry, it's only slightly sour."
Seeing his brother-in-law's conflicted expression, Ye Chenliang laughed until tears streamed down his face.
After hearing this, Feng Ye finally mustered up the courage to put the bayberry to his lips.
However, just to be on the safe side, he took a small bite first.
Unexpectedly, the juice burst in my mouth, with only a slight sourness and mostly sweetness.
It's sweet with a hint of sourness, and tastes really good.
This is what fruit should look like.
Feng Ye was relieved and threw the whole thing into his mouth, enjoying it immensely.
"Today we're mainly picking white bayberries to make some bayberry wine for you to take home. We'll just pick a few red bayberries for now to eat. Bayberries don't keep long once they're ripe, so come back and pick some fresh ones to take home when you leave."
"No need for you to trouble yourself. Just tell me how to brew it, and I'll take it home and brew it myself."
"It's okay, we'll soak at home anyway, so we'll soak together."
Feng Ye shook his head and didn't argue. He nimbly climbed up the bayberry tree and stood steadily on the trunk.
Only a small portion can be picked from the ground; most of them still need to be picked from the tree.
Ye Chenliang was picking bayberries from another white bayberry tree.
Ye Haishan was too old to climb the tree, so he stood on the ground and picked the red bayberries.
Feng Ye pulled the branch with bayberries to his side, then picked the ripe, white bayberries and put them into the cloth bag he had brought.
Since the bag wasn't very big, it didn't take long for it to be full.
When he climbed down the tree, he realized he was the slowest one to pick the fruit.
Ye Haishan and Ye Chenliang were already waiting under the tree.
...
"In previous years, we could hear the drums from the dragon boats at this time. Why aren't we hearing them this year?"
On the way back to his father-in-law's house, Feng Ye asked curiously.
There is no dragon boat racing custom on Baishi Island, but it is practiced here at my father-in-law's place.
He had heard the drums before when he came, but he wasn't interested and never went to watch. He found it a bit strange that he hadn't heard them this year.
Speaking of dragon boats, there is one place where the dragon boat races are still fresh in his memory. Ever since he learned about it, he has watched them every Dragon Boat Festival through short video platforms.
That is Chancheng in Guangdong Province.
Dragon boat races in other places are all on straight tracks, and it's a race to see who gets to the finish line first.
Chancheng, on the other hand, has taken it to a whole new level. In a small urban village canal, boats not only have to stop and change direction midway, but they also have to drift and turn at a 90-degree angle.
He was quite surprised when he first saw the video.
"Sigh." Ye Haishan sighed first, and then said, "Something happened a few days ago, which angered the town leaders, and they simply stopped the project. All the dragon boats that had already been launched were sealed up."
"Isn't your dragon boat race a self-organized event? Didn't the authorities get involved? How could it have angered the leaders?"
Feng Ye became curious.
Someone died.
Ye Chenliang pursed his lips.
Just as I was about to ask, he continued, "A few days ago during practice, two dragon boats collided. It was nothing serious; bumps and knocks happen all the time. We just had to back down."
"But for some reason, a fight broke out this year, causing both dragon boats to capsize and two people to drown. The town was so angry that it stopped the event."
"So that's how it is. I was thinking of going to visit this year, but it seems like that's not going to happen."
"That's really unfortunate. You didn't go to see it when it was on, but now that it's off, you want to go."
"..."
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