"So good." Zeng Wenjuan praised Goudan, and after arranging a seat for Goudan, Zeng Wenjuan went to cut bamboo with a sickle. She could see Goudan just by looking up, so if anything happened, she could notice it immediately.
After Zeng Wenjuan sharpened the sickle, it is now quite useful. She cut down two trees in just three or five strokes. When she was cutting the third tree, something unexpected happened.
When the bamboo fell towards the open space, a blind rabbit ran over and was directly crushed to death by the bamboo. It was really... delicious!
Zeng Wenjuan came over and picked up the rabbit. She raised a simple smile, looked at Goudan and said, "Goudan, I'll roast a rabbit for you later."
Goudan also ran over anxiously, looked at the rabbit in Zeng Wenjuan's hand, and said happily: "Mom is so amazing! She can even catch a rabbit."
Zeng Wenjuan smiled and led Goudan: "Come on, Mom will take you to find a cave, we can roast the rabbit and eat it, it's just noon now."
Goudan looked at the bamboo that had fallen to the ground and said anxiously, "Mom, what should we do with the bamboo?"
"Never mind, there are plenty of bamboos in the bamboo forest anyway. We can just cut two more after we lose his mother. Now the most important thing is to feed Goudan's stomach." Zeng Wenjuan carried the backpack and said while holding Goudan's hand.
The two found a cave with better lighting. After putting down the backpack, they picked up some firewood outside the cave and built a fire. There happened to be a stream nearby, so Zeng Wenjuan took Goudan, carrying the rabbit and the sickle to the stream.
"Goudan, come here with your eyes closed. Killing rabbits is a bit bloody, and you are still young and cannot see these." Zeng Wenjuan said to Goudan.
After seeing Goudan close his eyes, Zeng Wenjuan took a sickle and cut open the rabbit's stomach and peeled off the rabbit's skin completely. She learned this when she was a child and followed Zhao Jianguo into the mountains and was used to eating wild game.
After she had taken care of the rabbit, she found two sticks to hold it up. Back at the top of the mountain, Zeng Wenjuan found two stones that were easy to ignite and lit the fire. She put the rabbit on the fire and all Zeng Wenjuan had to do was slowly turn the rack.
"Goudan, you stay in the cave and watch. Just shout if anything happens. Mom will go outside to pick some seasoning so that the roasted rabbit will taste even more delicious!" Zeng Wenjuan stood up and said.
Goudan nodded obediently: "Okay, I'll take good care of the fire, mom, you have to come back soon!"
Zeng Wenjuan came out of the cave with a basket on her back. As soon as she got out of the cave, she found fresh ginger, fresh peppercorns and chili peppers. Zeng Wenjuan bought all three spices.
Back in the cave, the rabbit was already sizzling with oil, and Zeng Wenjuan used a clean sickle to cut a few slices of ginger and sprinkled them on the rabbit. She also sprinkled salt, pepper and fresh chili peppers on it, making it taste even better and more tempting.
"Mom, the rabbit smells so good! Mom is so great!" Goudan praised generously.
"I learned this from your father. When you were young, we would often go to the mountains to look for food. Your father was very good at it. He could always catch pheasants or rabbits. He roasted them and they smelled really good every time." At that time, the food at home was first given to Zhao Zhaocai, then to Zhao Lao, and then to Deng Nu. In the end, there was very little left for the two of them.
Especially Zhao Jianguo, at that age when he was starving to death, he was even more hungry. So he often looked for food in the mountains, and whenever he had something delicious, he would secretly share it with Zeng Wenjuan.
After Goudan heard the news about his father, he blinked his big eyes and listened very carefully. Every time he heard the news, he refreshed his imagination of his father and wanted to meet Zhao Jianguo very much.
The fire was extinguished, and the rabbit was done roasting. They just had to wait for it to cool down. Otherwise, it would be difficult to start with, so Zeng Wenjuan simply broke off a hind leg with her hands, as this leg had the most meat.
"Come here, Goudan. This piece of rabbit leg is for you. You can bite it, right? Do you want your mother to help you tear off the meat?" Zeng Wenjuan said as she handed the rabbit leg to Goudan.
Goudan shook his head: "No, mom will eat it too. It smells so good! So delicious. When I grow up, I will make delicious food for mom." He took a bite of the rabbit meat and said vaguely.
Zeng Wenjuan saw that Goudan didn't need her help, so she tore off a piece of the front leg and ate it directly. She thought to herself, the taste is still not good enough! I don't know how Zhao Jianguo made it so delicious.
After eating four rabbit legs and the meat in the belly, Zeng Wenjuan and Goudan were full, so they found a piece of wild taro lotus leaf to wrap the remaining rabbit meat.
"Goudan, let's go! I saw chicken shit ahead, so there must be pheasants around. I'll set a trap later. If I can catch a pheasant tomorrow, I'll make chicken soup for you." Zeng Wenjuan stretched out her hand and said to Goudan.
Goudan held Zeng Wenjuan's hand obediently and walked outside, stopping at a place where pheasants were. Zeng Wenjuan took off the backpack and said, "Goudan, sit here while I set the trap."
"Okay, I'll just watch from the side. In the future, I will set traps to catch pheasants and rabbits for mother to eat. I will feed mother until she is as plump and white as Dabao, and others will praise her." In Goudan's imagination, this is the happiest thing, at least until now.
Zeng Wenjuan looked at Goudan and smiled: "Okay, by then mom will be plump and white. When she goes out with Goudan, others will praise Goudan for taking such good care of his mother. He is a filial and good child."
"Hehehe...Mom is so pretty." Goudan laughed out loud because of the compliment.
In that era, people were already unable to get enough food, and those girls and boys with plump bodies were the envy of others, symbolizing that they had enough food to eat and had a good family background.
After setting the trap, Zeng Wenjuan laid branches on it and marked it to prevent anyone from falling into it and not having to pay compensation, and the other person would also suffer.
"Let's go! Goudan, let's go home." Zeng Wenjuan took Goudan's hand and returned to the bamboo forest.
The cut bamboos were still there. Zeng Wenjuan said to Goudan, "Goudan, you walk in front and I'll follow you. If you get tired, stop and rest."
"Okay, I'll lead the way for my mother." Goudan had just eaten and was full of energy. Since the separation, Goudan was indeed more lively and happy than when he was in the Zhao family.
When she got home, Zeng Wenjuan threw the bamboo on the ground, put down the backpack, and placed the roasted rabbit meat in a clay pot and covered it.
Zeng Wenjuan began to saw the bamboo section by section. Goudan squatted beside her and watched Zeng Wenjuan's movements, picking up some bamboo rings to play with.
After sawing all the bamboo, Zeng Wenjuan felt a little distressed when she saw Goudan having so much fun playing with the bamboo circles. She took the remaining bamboo, divided it into strips, and then weaved them into bamboo dragonflies.
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