Chapter 139 Hunt
Every family gets up very early in the morning. Even though there are no roosters, the birds in the mountains also provide a waking service, and everyone gets up before dawn.
Breakfast was Eight Treasure Porridge. Although it was called Eight Treasure Porridge, in fact, not that many ingredients were used. It only used kidney beans, black beans, red beans, peanuts, rice and glutinous rice. The various beans and peanuts were stockpiled when stockpiling grains. The food was not very expensive, but Sang Luo made it with great care. It took more than half an hour to cook it, and the base beans were also fried separately before cooking. After so much effort, the taste was amazing. Just looking at the color of the porridge and smelling the sweetness in the air, you can tell that it is absolutely delicious!
Shen An and Shen Ning got up early and did all the work they could do at home in the morning. When it was just light, they ran to the tree at the innermost side of the valley with the Xu brothers and sisters to read. Now they were returning home after morning reading. Before they reached their doorstep, they could smell the fragrance from afar, so they quickened their pace and trotted back.
Seeing the eight-treasure porridge, the brother and sister couldn't help swallowing.
"Sister-in-law, did you cook Laba porridge this morning?"
Villagers usually don't want to eat much good food, so most of the food is watery and clear soup. Although various beans are not as expensive as rice, it still takes a lot of effort and care to make them well. Therefore, this thing is only made on Laba Festival most of the time, and the children in the village call it Laba porridge.
Sang Luo nodded and asked the brother and sister, "Where is your eldest brother?"
Shen An said: "He was working on something by the pond. He said that the work at hand would be finished in a while and he would be back soon."
Chen Lie went to the Chen family next door to borrow tools early in the morning and went out. He hasn't returned yet. It is said that he is working on something by the pond. Sang Luo guessed that he was working on something, but he was also taking classes for free. The pond is close to where the children study, so he can work and listen to the books quietly at the same time.
She smiled and used the largest soup bowl in the house to serve the porridge from the pot. It would be more accurate to call it a small basin rather than a soup bowl. This large soup bowl had the capacity of four or five large bowls. At home, porridge was usually served in this bowl. Even if Chen Lie had a bigger appetite, it was enough for the whole family.
When the soup bowl was about 70% full, Sang Luo saw that there was still some in the pot. After thinking for a while, she did not continue to pour it into the large soup bowl. Instead, she took two other large bowls and asked Shen An and Shen Ning to deliver one bowl to the Chen and Xu families respectively.
Not much, just one bowl per family. Mainly because it’s difficult to make, so people don’t make it often. We send it to the children to try.
The Chen family consists of Chen Ershan and Xiaoya. The two siblings only need to get half a bowl each. The Xu family has three children, but Sang Luo also knows that the bowls among the household items purchased by Manager Xu are all exquisite, no bigger than a palm. Even if the family of five all want to have a taste of this large bowl, they can still share it if they take less.
The Shen family and the Chen family were originally the closest to each other, and it was common for them to send food to each other. Whenever something delicious and fresh was made, both families would send some. As for the Xu family, they were also close friends. Shen and Chen were the ones who were entrusted by Manager Xu to take care of, and they were neighbors as well, so naturally they were close.
The little brother and sister took up the task and left. Sang Luo took out the firewood and placed it between a few small stones piled nearby. She scooped some hot water prepared in the morning to brush the pottery pot, and took a handful of wild onions that had been washed yesterday from the pottery basin on the wooden table and chopped them finely. She took a clean empty bowl and went to the innermost shelf of the cave to find the bag of flour from the many grain bags on the second layer and scooped some flour.
Crack another egg into the bowl, put in the scallions, add a little salt for seasoning, and mix it with water to make a batter. Then start brushing oil on the bottom of the pot and spread the omelet over low heat.
Chen Lie, Chen Dashan and several young men from each family will go out today to pick up mud and shale. They may not return until nightfall. In order to save time and reduce delay on the road, this cake is mainly for Chen Lie to take away as dry food on the road.
When making egg pancakes in a clay pot, Sang Luo really pays attention to the heat. This thing is not like an iron pot that can be used without fear of breaking no matter how you use it. But the clay pot is different. How long it can be used depends on how careful the user is. If the user is not careful and uses sudden changes in temperature, then this thing will not last long and may crack one day.
She had just started to spread the pancakes when Xu Wenyin came over with Shen An, smiling and also holding a shallow plate of pancakes in her hands.
"Sister Shen, my grandmother made some wild leek cakes and asked me to bring some to you to try."
Sang Luo was stunned for a moment, afraid that she had sent the porridge over, and the old lady was embarrassed to take it back, so she sent her breakfast over and said with a smile: "Why are you so polite? We also have pancakes at home, you can keep them for yourself."
He motioned Xu Wenyin to look into the pot.
Xu Wenyin leaned over to take a look and saw that they were really making pancakes. She laughed, "This is different. Sister-in-law, you are making egg pancakes, right? The taste is different. Try ours."
"My grandmother guessed that you, sister-in-law, would not accept it, so she asked me to tell you that she had calculated the amount early in the morning. Not only will you have some, but Grandma Chen's family will also have one. We have enough for our family, and she also asked me to thank you for the porridge you sent."
The little boy kept talking in a childish tone, but his words sounded experienced. One could tell it was Old Madam Xu's instructions. As soon as he finished speaking, he put the plate of cakes on the wooden table and hurried away.
"Sister-in-law, I'm going back to have breakfast. I'll leave the plate here. I'll come get it later."
Sang Luo didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but she didn't refuse. She knew that Old Lady Xu wanted to thank them for helping them with various things during this period of time. She smiled and asked the little girl to take a thank you to the old lady.
Xu Wenyin smiled and said no, waved to Shen An, and trotted home.
At the Chen family's side, when Shen Ning came back, he brought back a bowl of pickled radish cubes made by the Chen family.
Sang Luo laughed: "Well, we have a good breakfast today."
Six egg pancakes were fried in a short while. Seeing that Chen Lie had not come back yet, she wondered whether she should ask Chen An and Shen Ning to call him. As a result, she leaned out and looked outside, only to see that he had come back, holding something else in his hands besides a chisel and a saw.
It looks like a wooden basin, but much smaller, only a few sizes larger than a bowl? Even smaller than the largest soup bowl at home.
When Chen Lie came back and handed the things to her, Sang Luo took them and saw that they were real: "You went to make this so early in the morning?"
Chen Lie smiled: "Well, I have to go out, and I don't have much time, nor enough to make anything else. This is for you to use when you pick vegetables. I'll make this one today, and I'll make a few more for you later when I have time."
That big clay basin is too heavy.
Sang Luo laughed: "It's smoother and better looking than the one I chiseled."
It feels very light in the hand, and the outer layer is also made in a very special way. It is planed smoothly, but not a regular semicircle. It has diamonds and blocks, and the wooden object shows a different kind of simplicity.
There is nothing to say about Chen Lie's aesthetic taste.
She took it in her hand, looked it over twice, put it on the wooden table, and called Chen Lie: "Have you washed your hands? Wash your hands and have breakfast."
"I washed it and brought it back." He glanced at the wooden table and was stunned for a moment: "Is the breakfast so rich?"
Sang Luo smiled: "You are in luck, the old lady of the Xu family and Grandma Chen have sent some food over."
Shen Ning smiled and pointed at the porridge and egg pancakes and said, “This is made by sister-in-law. We don’t usually eat so well. Sister-in-law must think that brother doesn’t eat well in the mountains, so she specially made these delicious foods.”
Chen Lie felt warm in his heart and subconsciously went to see Sang Luo.
When Sang Luo saw this, she glanced at Chen Ning and asked with a half-smile, "Have I ever wronged you? I want to do something good. Can you find me some wild onions?"
Shen Ning smiled and said, "Sister-in-law is very good to me, how could she be unfair to me? I just said that sister-in-law is also very good to brother."
Sang Luo saw that Chen Lie's ears were turning red, so she pretended to knock on Chen Ning's shoulder and said, "Let's eat. You have so much to say about all these delicious dishes on the table. It's obvious that you've been having a great time lately."
Shen An and Shen Ning both laughed, and Shen Lie's lips also raised.
But they really didn't talk much. They just laughed a few words, each served themselves some porridge, and started to eat breakfast.
There is no sugar in the Eight Treasure Porridge, but beans have a natural sweetness, so it tastes great without sugar, not to mention that there are cakes and side dishes to go with it.
Indeed, living in the valley was a rare luxury. When Chen Lie thought about it carefully, it seemed that Sang Luo would find a way to make something good for him every time he came back. He was convinced that what his sister said was right.
Therefore, even until he led the team out of the valley, Chen Lie still had a smile on his face.
Chen Dashan, who was traveling with him, glanced at him several times, then at Chen Lie, and then at the small bag of things in Chen Lie's basket: "Did your sister-in-law make something delicious for you again?"
Chen Lie glanced at him and said something unusual: "Is the only reason I'm happy because of food?"
Chen Dashan: "...Isn't it? The porridge this morning looked delicious."
He didn't get to eat it, and Ershan didn't eat it either. He was embarrassed to eat it, so he just watched the little girl and his grandmother eat.
Chen Dashan glanced at Chen Lie's basket again, and it didn't look like he had brought any porridge.
Come to think of it, it’s the same porridge made with beans and rice, but why does the one cooked with mulberry look so delicious?
Should he marry a wife who knows how to cook, or let his mother ask Sang Luo how to cook the porridge?
Tsk, it seems the latter is easier at this stage.
While Chen Dashan was enjoying the food along the way, Chen Lie was happy all the way and also paid attention to whether there were any animal feces and footprints left in the places they passed.
In order to avoid leaving an obvious path in the woods, they would take a different route every time they went out. Of course, they would not deviate from the general direction. Even the tree house that was built to protect the old and the young through the mountains and forests was dismantled the second time and chopped into firewood, and all traces were cleaned up afterwards.
After the last batch of food is transported, all that needs to be done is a little bit of processing on the grass at the entrance of the valley, and it will be basically difficult for anyone to notice the difference in the valley.
So today I walked on a road that I had never been on before, but I would change the route again. In fact, I just deviated slightly and did not take the same road. The area was still the same. I went there several times, and wolf packs of all sizes were hunted several times. I only encountered that one bear. All in all, the last two trips were relatively peaceful.
All the way, Chen Lie's eyes never rested, he was thinking about another thing. When he found the target place and started to set traps with local materials, Chen Dashan finally came to his senses. Besides Laba porridge, pheasant, pheasant, how could he forget it!!!
So, not only is the porridge his mother cooks not as delicious as Sang Luo's, but when it comes to finding food, he is not as interested as Chen Lie!
…
After hurrying all the way, Chen Lie and his group barely made it back to Yun Valley at the end of the You hour. By then, they had already walked a long way with torches. On this side of the valley, people from each family were basically waiting at the big cave with their belongings such as dustpans, baskets, and small baskets, and would rush over when they heard any movement.
Sang Luo knew that Chen Lie had to bring back shale in addition to the yellow clay, so she boarded up the cave door before dark and waited here with Chen An and Chen Ning.
She went over when she heard the noise, thinking that someone was there to help carry the soil, but Chen Lie handed her and Shen An two wicker baskets. When Sang Luo took over, there were two flutters inside.
This feels a little familiar.
Chen Lie grinned, "Pheasants, four, you can keep them and kill one when you want to eat meat."
Chen Dashan was also very happy, and handed a rattan basket to his mother and grandmother respectively: "Mom, grandma, we also raise some to eat meat."
Everyone in the group: "..."
greedy.
But these people are not as good as the young boys at home. They went into the mountains to transport food early, and they did not learn archery, hunting, setting traps and so on very well. Usually, when there are prey, a few people with better archery skills use arrows. When they are in an emergency, they use hoes more efficiently than arrows. That is instinct.
He followed Chen Dashan's example and asked Chen Lie to share some grains to make traps. However, the grains were gone and the chickens were not caught...
So except for Lu Er who got one, they didn't get anything else.
Lu Sanlang originally came to pick up his second brother and help him carry mud. When he saw the pheasant, he was tempted: "I should go with you today. I think I'm pretty good at trapping and archery."
There's no doubt that I can get three or four, but I should be able to get one, right?
Lu Sanlang’s archery skills are really good. Lu Erlang smiled and said, “There will be a chance in the future.”
Wang Chunniang, who came to pick up the man, felt uncomfortable.
Her husband didn't catch any pheasants, and what made her even sadder was that Lu Erlang caught one, but their main house had already been divided out, with all the food, stoves, and tables.
There were two stoves in one cave, and meals were served in two places. So, tomorrow or in a few days, they would eat chicken over there, and they could only chew and smell wild vegetables.
She felt even more uncomfortable when she saw her sister-in-law Feng Liuniang smiling as she took the wicker basket.
No one paid attention to Wang Chunniang's sadness. Most people were happy. Even if they didn't hunt anything, they at least got some fresh wild vegetables. Besides, they didn't have to eat them just because they hunted them. If they really wanted to eat some, there were ways to do it.
Like the Xu family, Old Lady Xu directly discussed with Sang Luo: "A Luo, can I trade you some food for one?"
Zhou Cunzheng's family also went to the Chen family to discuss exchanging grain for half a head.
I can't afford to exchange one, and food is still very precious.
Shi Erlang looked at his child, who was drooling with greed, and was reluctant to give up the food. He coaxed him, "Dad is inexperienced this time. Just practice more and maybe you can catch it next time."
Sanniu: "...will there be a next time?"
Dad, you're really not that good.
He touched his belly and said, "Then Dad, you should work hard."
Seeing that his son was so greedy, Shi Eryi gritted his teeth and went to discuss with Chen Dashan. He decided to exchange grain for half a chicken, cut it into small pieces and stew it, so that the child could have a taste of meat.
Before Chen Dashan agreed, Erniu and Sanniu jumped for joy.
Look, it's just like Chinese New Year. Fortunately, I remembered that this is the outskirts of the canyon, so I am not allowed to make loud noises and can only jump on the spot.
How could I not respond to this?
Chen Dashan smiled: "Change, change, change everything."
Chen Lie watched with a smile as a group of people transported all the things that needed to be transported into the valley. After the entrance to the canyon was sealed tightly, they went back.
…
Of the four pheasants, one went to the Xu family, and Chen Lie found some relatively thick branches and prepared to build a chicken coop to keep the other three. He was mainly afraid that the pheasants were wild and difficult to tame, and would attack the chicks and ducklings again. If they really pecked or killed one of them, the loss would be huge, as they would have to rely on them for eggs in the future.
Chen Lie surrounded the chicken coop, and Sang Luo and others helped. However, Sang Luo saw the harvest of each family tonight and remembered that everyone had mainly eaten dry food along the way, and they would work together to pick up weapons if they encountered wild animals. This was the first time they had taken the initiative to set traps and hunt.
This time, except for the two veterans, Chen Lie and Chen Dashan, and the semi-experienced Lu Erlang, everyone else failed the first time.
Sang Luo thought of Shen Jin.
"You think, Xiao Jin is so small, can he get pheasants and rabbits by himself?"
Shen An and Shen Ning also looked at Shen Lie after hearing this.
Chen Lie sharpened one end of the stick and hammered it into the ground while saying, "Yes, catching pheasants does not require strength or age, as long as the technique is right. Xiao Jin will definitely not work once or twice, but you will slowly get it done after trying eight or ten times. That's how I figured it out in the past."
He paused here and said, "We have been in the mountains for more than a month. Even if his talent is poor, he should be able to do it now, right?"
And Shen Jin is actually not stupid.
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