Chapter 103 Digging Winter Bamboo Shoots/Wet Shoes
Chen Lie not only hid the bow and arrow well, he also hid the bamboo tube that Sang Luo brought him in the morning. Now that he had packed up his things and put the bow and arrow away, the first thing he did was to wash the bamboo tube clean, and then he washed the backpack and hung it in the yard.
When he returned to the kitchen with the bamboo tube, he saw Sang Luo lighting a fire in front of the stove. He was a little surprised. Why was she lighting a fire at this time?
Then I remembered that he had just said that he would kill a pheasant for dinner today. Yes, let’s boil water and scald the chicken.
He put the bamboo tube back on the wooden rack and stepped forward to take over the smoky and fiery work: "Let me do it."
It was originally meant to be a hot meal for him, so Sang Luo didn't bother to be polite and stood up to let him do the job of making the fire.
Chen Lie fiddled with the smoking stove fire and blew on it, then ignited the fire skillfully. As he was adding more firewood, he saw Sang Luo move the pottery cauldron onto the stove.
The yan is a cooking utensil for steaming things, with the li below and the zheng above. He asked curiously, "Isn't it for boiling water?"
Sang Luo smiled: "What are you boiling water for?"
Using his brain circuit to think about it, he asked: "Kill the chicken?"
When Chen Lie was asked these two questions by her, he was at a loss for words because it was definitely not the case.
Sang Luo's eyes curved up: "No need to kill the chicken so early, I'll heat up lunch for you."
She looked at Chen Lie and said, "We only eat three meals a day. We left food for you at noon. You've been walking in the mountains for more than half a day. Aren't you hungry?"
"Hungry!"
How can you not be hungry!
He didn't bring many cakes in the morning, and Chen Dashan rushed to take half of them. Although it was not time for dinner yet, Chen Lie's stomach was almost empty.
I thought they were boiling water to scald the chicken, but it turned out to be hot food for him to eat. The corners of his lips kept rising and couldn't fall down.
Sang Luo couldn't help but look at him twice more. The young man really loves to smile. His eyebrows and eyes are well-shaped, and his eyelashes are thick. When he smiles, his eyes bend, and there are a few small bags under his eyes...
Tsk.
Even she seemed to be laughing more.
She averted her eyes, took the steamer with two large bowls of rice and food inside to one side, scooped two spoonfuls of water into the pottery pot, then put the steamer back on and covered it with the lid.
"Just light the fire yourself. Don't add too much wood. You can eat it when it's hot."
Then he went out.
Chen Lie tilted his head to look at her back, then turned back, and couldn't help but tilt his head to take another look. When he looked away, he smiled with his eyes curved, and when he looked at the pottery steamer again, there was expectation in his eyes.
After waiting for less than half a quarter of an hour, steam finally began to rise from the steamer. He silently calculated the time and waited for a while, then turned down the fire and opened the lid of the steamer.
He didn't even need a piece of insulating cloth, he just started working. If Sang Luo were here, she would most likely praise him as a ruthless iron hand in her heart.
As the lid was opened, a burst of hot steam rose up. When the steam dissipated, Chen Lie saw what was left for him inside.
A full bowl of rice and a shallow bowl of vegetables, um, fried leeks with sauce and stir-fried radish shreds.
He brought out both bowls, and without going into the house, he took a pair of chopsticks and started eating in the kitchen.
The rice was steamed very fragrantly, and the dishes tasted good too. Chen Lie cherished and enjoyed every bite. Well, perhaps he even tasted a kind of happiness and satisfaction.
Sang Luo left the kitchen, looked at the half-melted snow outside the yard, thought for a while, then took a small hoe and a dustpan and went out.
Outside, Shen An and Shen Ning saw her holding a hoe and asked where she was going. Sang Luo saw the two children were still feeding the chickens and ducks, and smiled and said, "Go see if you can dig some winter bamboo shoots and stew chicken for dinner."
When they heard that they were going to pick winter bamboo shoots, the two little ones wanted to follow them. Sang Luo waved her hand and said, "Don't follow me. My shoes are dirty and I don't have thick shoes to change into. I can go alone."
Otherwise, the three of them would have to dry their shoes together later.
Shen An and Shen Ning were full of regret, but what the sister-in-law said was right. No one went out when it snowed, and that was because of this.
"Then be careful, sister-in-law."
All they could do was watch Sang Luo walk alone toward the hilltop with a bamboo forest nearby.
…
After Shen Lie finished eating and washed the dishes, he returned to the house. Shen An and Shen Ning were already practicing calligraphy in the house. Shen Lie watched for a while and asked Shen An how to pronounce a few words. After a while, he couldn't help asking, "Where is your sister-in-law?"
It seemed like there was no one in or outside the yard.
Chen An: "My sister-in-law went to the bamboo forest to dig bamboo shoots. She said that if she can dig up some, she will make winter bamboo shoots and chicken stew tonight."
"Digging bamboo shoots." Winter bamboo shoots are hard to find, so he looked toward the bamboo forest outside the house and said, "I'll go take a look."
Shen An, who was originally concentrating on writing, turned his head to look at his brother: "Sister-in-law didn't let us go, saying that our shoes were wet and there was no change."
Chen Lie moved his feet: "It's already wet, it doesn't matter."
Shen An and Shen Ning looked down together and saw that their eldest brother was wearing a pair of straw sandals. They had been outside for most of the day, so they were already wet.
Shen Ning was anxious: "Brother, change it and warm it up. Your feet are so cold."
Chen Lie didn't care. The snow in the place where he stayed for the past two years was freezing cold. Coming back here, he was more resistant to the cold than others. "It doesn't matter for a while. You guys write. Winter bamboo shoots are not that easy to find. I'll go take a look."
He picked up the stone hoe that Sang Luo had made in the yard and went out.
Winter bamboo shoots are indeed hard to find. Spring bamboo shoots will sprout out of the ground, but winter bamboo shoots are completely hidden underground, not to mention that there is still snow at this moment.
Well, but that's for others.
As for Sang Luo, she has lived in the mountains for so many years. Even if she didn't make videos, she would not miss such delicious food. She has encountered setbacks before, and she can check and learn from them. Thanks to Baidu and the Internet.
She spent some time and effort back then, and slowly learned how to identify the winter bamboo shoots relatively accurately.
When Chen Lie arrived, there were already two trophies in Sangluo's dustpan.
He was quite surprised. Could this be luck? Many people would dig in the woods for half a morning before they could get anything.
When he saw Sang Luo squatting precisely in front of a bamboo with relatively intact leaves and roots, and checking the bamboo joints, he looked at Sang Luo several times for no reason.
When he was a teenager, he often went to the mountains to look for these things because he was short of money and wanted to get more food for Xiao An and Aning in private. The mountains were the only place to make money.
At first, like most people, finding these things in the forest required a bit of luck, but luck doesn't always favor you. The most anxious thing he had ever done was to turn over the entire bamboo forest...
Later, I slowly looked for patterns and gradually figured out the growth patterns of winter bamboo shoots and learned these little experiences to judge the direction of bamboo roots.
But how could Sang Luo do that?
Sang Luo had heard the noise when he came over, and she knew it was him, but she just happened to find a new bamboo where winter bamboo shoots should be, so she asked now, "Why are you here?"
Chen Lie: "Come over and help you. I see you know how to find winter bamboo shoots?"
How long had he been standing next to her? He noticed it in just a few glances.
Well, this is also an expert.
Sang Luo used a small pointed hoe to dig up the remaining snow, and naturally used the same method she used before to deal with Shen An and Shen Ning, and said, "There used to be a miscellaneous book at home, which recorded some of the various edible things in the mountains, and also described how to collect or make them."
When Chen Lie heard that what he had spent a whole winter to figure out was actually recorded in the book, he couldn't help but feel envious and yearning, and sighed: "It's great to be able to read."
Sang Luo turned her head to look at him and smiled.
Shen Lie looked at her suspiciously: "What are you laughing at?"
Sang Luo curled her eyes and said, "Xiao, you and Xiao An are indeed brothers. Your reactions are exactly the same."
When Shen An heard her say that all her prescriptions were recorded in the books at home, her words and tone were exactly the same as Shen Lie's.
"Because it's what's in your heart, but it's amazing that you can use it after reading the book."
He smiled and said, "I'll help you find it, it will be quicker."
As he spoke, he picked up a stone hoe and started walking around in the bamboo forest. When he found a place where there might be winter bamboo shoots, he would start working with the stone hoe.
The stone hoe is naturally not as easy to use as the iron hoe, but it does not affect Shen Lie's search for winter bamboo shoots. He dug up the soil, revealing the winter bamboo shoots. He said hello to Sang Luo, "Here are three."
Move on to the next place.
This time, Sang Luo was convinced. How could she know so much...
Chen Lie searched five or six places and dug out a bamboo shoot nest next to a bamboo tree. There were six bamboo shoots in it, five of which were big and plump.
Looking at the dustpan that Sang Luo brought, he stopped looking for it and walked over to Sang Luo who was digging bamboo shoots: "You take a rest, I'll do it."
To dig winter bamboo shoots, one has to cut them off from the roots of the bamboo. Chen Lie is indeed stronger and his aim should be much better than hers. When Sang Luo heard that he wanted to take over, she did not refuse and directly handed over the iron hoe.
Chen Lie was really skillful. Sang Luo watched from the side. The same hoe had completely different efficiency in her hand and in Shen Lie's hand. He had originally dug the soil with a stone hoe, and now he used the iron hoe and dug up one piece at a time. Tsk, she felt relieved just watching.
Chen Lie was digging bamboo shoots, and Sang Luo had nothing else to do, so she followed him with the stone hoe and dustpan. When they got to the back, the dustpan sank and the dustpan fell directly into Chen Lie's hands, so she didn't even have to lift it.
A dustpan was full of twenty-two large winter bamboo shoots, which was a great harvest.
Chen Lie also tilted his head and asked: "Is it enough? If not, send it back first and I will come back to look for it later."
Sang Luomo calculated and said, "It's okay to find some more, and get another dustpan. I should be able to sell them all by sending them to the county tomorrow."
There are not many vegetables in winter, but winter bamboo shoots are so fresh, and there are also pheasants for sale, so Dongfulou can buy them all for her.
Shen Lie smiled: "Okay."
The two went back together. Sang Luo's shoes were a little wet, so she went into the house and changed into a pair of thinner shoes. She was going to boil water in the pot and kill a chicken later. It was a good opportunity, as the wet shoes could be placed by the stove to dry.
Chen Lie brought the winter bamboo shoots to the kitchen, and was about to go out with an empty dustpan. As one was leaving the kitchen and the other was about to enter, the two met each other. Sang Luo thought that her shoes were wet, so she looked at Chen Lie's feet. Only then did she realize that he was still wearing a pair of straw sandals, and they were already soaked.
Yes, after living in the mountains for so long, it was a great achievement that she didn't turn into a savage. It was also her carelessness. She had been in the mountains for more than half a day, so how could her shoes still be dry?
Sang Luo felt a little embarrassed. When Chen Lie took a few steps, she hurriedly called him, "Chen Lie."
This was the first time she called Chen Lie's name. Before, she would either speak directly or call him "you". Chen Lie stopped and turned to look at her: "What's wrong?"
Sang Luo: "I thought about it. We will only have four pheasants to sell tomorrow. This dustpan of winter bamboo shoots is enough to sell. If we catch more pheasants next time, we can dig some more and send them over. It will be the same. They will be fresher."
Shen Lie frowned: "No need to dig anymore?"
Sang Luo shook her head: "No, please help me boil a pot of water for killing the chicken later."
There is work to do, no matter what kind of work it is, it's the same to Shen Lie, as long as she is happy. He nodded: "That's fine."
He turned around and carried the empty dustpan back to the corner of the kitchen, then went out to wash his hands, and returned to the kitchen to quickly carry the clay pot to the stove, scooped enough water into it, and then went to the firewood shed in the backyard to get firewood.
When he brought the firewood back, he saw that a small wooden stool had been placed on the inside of the wall next to the stove. On the stool was a pair of simple but small and delicate shoes. Judging from the size, they were obviously Sang Luo's.
The shoe was slightly wet, as if soaked by snow water. Well, I should have wiped the surface with a wet cloth.
It is placed here, not close to the stove, but the temperature of the stove fire can be transmitted there. Is it to be dried by the stove fire?
Chen Lie looked down at the wet straw sandals on his feet and suddenly understood why she changed her mind halfway and told him that there was no need to dig winter bamboo shoots anymore.
It felt like his chest was touched by something very lightly, and a strange and unfamiliar feeling surged in his chest that he couldn't describe.
He wanted to capture it, to savor it more clearly, but the feeling came so suddenly and slipped away without a trace. He put his hand on his chest, and only a little aftertaste of palpitations remained there.
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