The legendary pear blossom wine is also a famous flower wine. It is famous because it tastes good. Meng Tao cannot make pear blossom wine, but she can make pear blossom wine. The pear blossom wine brewed in the space will not taste worse than the legendary pear blossom wine, but only better.

Meng Tao asked Bao Dongmei: "There are many wild pear trees on the hillside of Daqing Mountain. Are they still in bloom?"

Bao Dongmei replied: "Why not? It blooms and bears fruit every year, but the fruit is not very edible. It is either hard or sour."

"I'll go up the mountain to take a look tomorrow."

"What are you looking at?"

"See if all the pear blossoms have fallen. Bring back some clean ones."

"What are you doing with that?"

"Peach blossoms and pear blossoms are both edible. Some people make them into snacks, but that takes a bit of effort. I'll take some pear blossoms and soak them in wine."

"I'll go with you tomorrow," said Bao Dongmei.

"You don't dig wild vegetables?"

"Where are there no wild vegetables? There are some in the mountains too."

"All right then."

The little girls followed suit and shouted, "We're going too!"

Bao Dongmei waved her fist at them and said, "Go home quickly and dump the vegetables before coming back. I will take care of you for a day and guarantee that you will have four baskets of wild vegetables. You are not allowed to follow me tomorrow!"

The girls fell silent and looked at Meng Tao in unison.

Meng Tao: “…”

I can't agree to that this time.

Today we are on flat ground and the fields are relatively safe, so I let them follow me. I would never dare to take them up the mountain. There are ferocious beasts in the deep forests these days. Last time, a wild boar was killed in Daqing Mountain, and there are also tigers in Ma Fengnian's county. I can't bear the consequences if something unexpected happens.

She said to the girls, "The mountain road is difficult to walk on. You are too young and not strong enough. Even if you find wild vegetables, you may not be able to bring them down. You'd better dig some in the flat land near the village."

Although the little girls felt a little aggrieved, they still nodded obediently. They understood that the older ones didn't want to take care of the younger ones, even their own brothers and sisters were impatient. It was good enough that Sister Taohua and Sister Dongmei could take care of them for a day.

In the afternoon, Bao Dongmei did what she promised and let Meng Tao and the girls each dig up four bamboo baskets of fresh wild vegetables.

There were so many wild vegetables that they could not be eaten up in a few days. Meng Tao also learned Bao Dongmei's method. She washed the wild vegetables, steamed them, spread them on a bamboo winnowing basket, and dried them into dried wild vegetables, which could be kept until winter without going bad.

In the evening, when the educated youth came back from work, He Huijuan, Jiang Limei and Qian Xiaoyun immediately went into the kitchen and started preparing the "welcoming banquet".

Meng Tao did not get involved. She was also busy. After picking the wild vegetables, she boiled hot water to wash her hair and take a bath. She also had to wash Xiao Wangcai. This guy had rolled in the mud in the fields and came back covered in dirt. He was extremely dirty.

Two hours later, the meal was served.

There were poached chicken, pig's feet stewed with soybeans, steamed bacon, red sausage, fried luncheon meat, a large plate of scrambled eggs, and a plate of fried peanuts. The vegetables were fried shredded radish and shepherd's purse soup made with chicken broth.

Such a sumptuous meal was well worth the battle of wits and courage between the educated youth and the production team leader during the day. Under everyone's cover, Xu Guoliang escaped from the field and rode Meng Tao's Fei Ge bicycle to the commune's non-staple food store to buy some food. However, the red sausage and luncheon meat were brought by Qian Liang and Qian Xiaoyun from home. These were the only ones left, and they were all taken out.

As usual, Xu Guoliang bought two bottles of Bamboo Leaf Green Wine, and the wine was poured. The room was filled with the aroma of wine and meat. Everyone was already hungry after a day's work, so they happily clinked glasses, then ate meat and drank wine without being polite, and everyone was happy and cheerful.

Another night passed, and Bao Dongmei came to the Meng family yard early in the morning. She was going to go up the mountain with Sister Taohua today, so she was thinking about it and specially brought a backpack with her to make it more convenient to walk on the mountain road.

Meng Tao was making breakfast, Jinniu was practicing walking in the yard, Bao Dongmei put down the backpack, teased Xiao Wangcai and talked to Jinniu. They didn't know what they were talking about, but they were laughing happily together.

After breakfast was ready, Meng Tao invited Dongmei to eat together. Bao Dongmei smiled and said that she had eaten enough at home. She helped Jinniu scoop water to wash his hands, hung up the towel for drying his hands, put his chair in the right place, and helped him up. Jinniu did not refuse and naturally accepted Bao Dongmei's help and care.

Meng Tao was surprised: Are these two people so friendly?

The first time Bao Dongmei came to her house for dinner, she just looked at Jinniu curiously and didn't talk to him. Later, Bao Dongmei came a few more times, but she just stayed around Meng Tao and didn't pay much attention to Jinniu. After Meng Tao was away from home for a few days, they actually became familiar with each other.

Taurus is not a picky person. Perhaps because he has experienced severe physical and mental trauma, he has become sensitive and self-protective. He does not fully trust anyone except those he has identified, nor does he accept help from others casually.

The end of March is about to enter April. It has rained a few times and the sun is abundant. The Daqing Mountain is already full of green, tender green and red. Bees and butterflies are lingering everywhere, and the birds are singing crisply and melodiously. Xiao Wangcai is running east and west, and he is so busy that he can't keep up.

Meng Tao and Bao Dongmei climbed to the middle of the mountain and saw a sea of ​​snow-white flowers in the distance. That was a forest of wild pear trees. It was said that they had been growing there for many years. Their grandparents had watched them bloom every year, but the pears they produced were not tasty and no one was interested in them.

Although she saw the pear blossoms, she couldn't find the way to them. Bao Dongmei said in frustration: I took the wrong hilltop. I should have gone up the hill in another direction to reach the pear orchard.

After finally reaching this height, we couldn't just turn around and go down the mountain and climb up again from the other side. The two discussed it and decided to try to open a way to get there.

They swung the hatchet into the bushes but didn't walk far before they found good stuff: lots of chicken mushrooms, morels, and button mushrooms, large patches of fresh wolfberry sprouts and green wormwood tips... The two were not in a hurry to clear the way and picked the good stuff first.

There were quite a lot of wild mushrooms and vegetables. The two people's backpacks were almost half full. When they parted the grass, they found a large area of ​​them, which seemed endless!

Meng Tao deliberately kept a distance from Bao Dongmei so that it would be easier for her to store the picked items into the space.

Bao Dongmei also found something interesting. She followed Xiao Wangcai and ran away. Meng Tao asked where they were going. Bao Dongmei replied in a low voice: "Let's eat something delicious!"

After a while, the two came back and had indeed caught something delicious: Bao Dongmei was holding a fat gray rabbit in her hand and was smiling from ear to ear, and Xiao Wangcai also looked very happy.

After passing through the low jungle, we came to a relatively open slope. The grass mixed with yellow and green was full of fresh Artemisia selengensis, which is also a delicious wild vegetable. Bao Dongmei said that her mother loved to eat this the most and was busy picking it.

Meng Tao also picked two handfuls, and when she stood up, she saw Xiao Wangcai chasing a few pheasants with colorful feathers and long tails. He chased them very far away, but finally ran back dejectedly, looking a little pitiful: pheasants can fly, and he can't catch them, so his self-confidence has been hit.

Meng Tao patted Xiao Wangcai soothingly, and while Bao Dongmei wasn't paying attention, she unscrewed the lid of the kettle and sprinkled the boiling water mixed with pine needle dew on the grass and leaves. Then she motioned for Xiao Wangcai to find a place to hide, while she walked away and went down the slope to continue picking wild vegetables and fresh mushrooms.

After a while, Bao Dongmei's scream was heard: "Sister Taohua! Sister Taohua! Where are you? Come quickly... come quickly!"

Then came the excited barking of Xiao Wangcai, it seemed that he had gained something.

Meng Tao rushed back and saw Xiao Wangcai hiding in the grass chasing and biting prey, while Bao Dongmei was in a panic, quickly tying up the hare with vines and shouting loudly for Sister Taohua to come quickly. There were still a few pheasants in the grass that were bitten by Xiao Wangcai and were still flapping their wings to try to escape... No wonder she was shouting in a hurry.

Meng Tao went up to help clean up the battlefield. This time they harvested three hares, five pheasants, and a gray rabbit they had just caught in the bush, a total of nine small prey.

The two backpacks were also filled with wild vegetables and fresh wild mushrooms. Bao Dongmei's backpack was full to the brim. Meng Tao put a lot of them into the space, so her backpack was only half full.

It was already a huge harvest, and they couldn't carry any more, so they decided to go back home by the same route. As for the pear blossoms, they would leave them there for now and go up the mountain from the correct route tomorrow.

It is easy to go up the mountain but difficult to go down, but as long as you are careful, you can go down the mountain quite quickly. Meng Tao used vines to hang nine wild rabbits and pheasants on her backpack. Bao Dongmei knew that she was strong and could not beat her.

The two men and the dog went down to the foot of the mountain. The sun was still in the sky, around two or three o'clock in the afternoon.

Meng Tao looked at Bao Dongmei's backpack, which was still sticking out, and couldn't help laughing: Although this guy is fat, he is quite agile in his movements. He worked hard along the way and managed to keep the fruits of her labor from falling at all.

Bao Dongmei also smiled and said, "Let's go pick pear blossoms tomorrow, and then the day after tomorrow, how about we take the same route again? There are still a lot of mushrooms in the bush, it would be a pity if we don't pick them."

"Okay, as long as you don't feel tired, we'll go. It's strange, I've never seen so many mushrooms in Daqing Mountain before. Only that short forest is special. Has no one ever been to that forest?"

"Of course there are, but people just don't talk about it. It's the busy season of spring ploughing, and it's the easiest to earn work points. As long as the laborers work, they basically get full points every day. The production team doesn't allow people to take leave casually. Everyone is busy in the fields, and even the half-grown children at home are rushing to the fields to earn work points. The mushrooms on the mountain seem plentiful because no one is picking them. After a few days, when the work in the fields is done, Daqing Mountain will be full of people, and no amount of work will be enough."

"That's right. We'll take the opportunity to pick more in the next few days. When others have time to go up the mountain, we won't join in the fun."

"Yeah, that's what my mom taught me, haha!"

“…”

The two parted at the entrance of the village and went back to their respective homes. Meng Tao divided the pheasants and rabbits in half, but Bao Dongmei disagreed, saying that there were many people in the Meng family's yard. She only took a gray rabbit and a pheasant. Meng Tao chased her and stuffed two pheasants into her, so she took one more and refused to take any more, and ran away along the path.

Meng Tao's home was a little higher up, and he walked along the main village road, and he quickened his pace to go home - he was carrying a chicken in his left hand and a rabbit in his right hand, and his backpack was full to the brim, which would really make anyone jealous.

She was the main labor force in the production team. She did not participate in the labor but went to the mountains to hunt game. Although it was not illegal, it was not good to be gossiped about.

(End of this chapter)