Chapter 290 Wouldn’t this make a lot of money?
The production of yogurt is very simple. Boil the milk three or four times, filter it and pour it into a small bowl. When the temperature drops to 37 or 38 degrees, pour in the purchased old yogurt as a starter. Then put it in an electric rice cooker and keep it warm for an hour. Turn off the power and let it ferment naturally for a period of time, and the milk will become delicious yogurt.
Some white sugar can also be added in this process. Please note that all utensils must be sterilized at high temperature to avoid contamination of yogurt by bacteria.
Compared with pure milk, yogurt is more friendly to people who are lactose intolerant. After breakfast, Lin Heng made yogurt with the remaining milk.
I wanted to do this last night, but I forgot about it because I went to catch cicada monkeys.
While Lin Heng was making yogurt, Xiaoxia took the corn to the yard to feed the chicks. After half a month of growth, the chicks in the yard were ready to be raised outside. They were no longer furry but had grown some real feathers.
Unfortunately, there are only eight left out of the ten chicks, and two of them died of diarrhea. The survival rate of unvaccinated chicks after birth is relatively low.
Xiaoxia cried for a long time because the two chicks died, but what surprised Lin Heng was that even though the chicks had grown a lot, she could still tell the ones she had named apart.
Xiulan walked in with a basket of freshly picked cowpeas and said, "The cowpeas are so beautiful now, it's a good time to pick them and make some jars."
This thing tastes ordinary when eaten normally, but it is a great choice when used to stir-fry meat after being soaked in sour water.
"You come and guide me on this. The girls I pick up always turn out badly." Lin Heng said to his wife.
Xiulan nodded happily: "No problem."
The two of them put the cowpeas on the table, picked them clean, washed them, put them in the sun to dry, and then put them into the jar for pickling.
Lin Heng bought a jar specifically for pickling sour cowpeas a few days ago, and he has only pickled a small half of them so far.
After finishing this work, Xiulan took a book and leaned back in the armchair to read. Because she was pregnant and couldn't go to the mountains, she was bored at home and gradually fell in love with reading.
It was a bit difficult to read at the beginning, but gradually I got used to it and immersed myself in it. I also practiced my penmanship from time to time.
Xiaoxia was playing games with Yang Qing, Lin Tao and his younger brother in the yard, jumping around happily.
Lin Heng was not idle. He took a knife and went to the backyard to kill the soft-shelled turtles he had caught at the foot of Taibai Mountain. After killing the one weighing one jin, there were still two in the bucket, one weighing more than two jin and the other more than three jin, both of which were pure wild.
After killing the turtle, he chopped it into pieces and blanched it, then put it into a casserole, added dried mushrooms and dried matsutake mushrooms, and simmered it on low heat. He also killed a small winter melon and prepared to throw it in to stew together when it was almost done.
The trick to stewing soup is not to add salt at the beginning, but to season it after it is stewed. This way, the nutrients in the meat can be easily stewed out.
"Wife, the lotus flowers in the backyard are blooming." After Lin Heng finished stewing the soft-shelled turtle, he touched Xiulan and said.
"I want to take a rest and watch the lotus flowers later." Xiulan said with a yawn.
"Then eat something before going to sleep." Lin Heng brought her some cold fern root noodles.
After finishing her meal, Xiulan blinked and said, "It seems that you are not so sleepy anymore. Let's go and take a look."
"Okay." Lin Heng followed her to the backyard.
He cleared some of the lotus leaves in the pond and now he could see the bottom of the water clearly. The water was clear and transparent, with koi carps playing in the water and mandarin fish catching stream groupers. At night, you could even see the giant salamander.
At this time, the sun shines on the water, and small lotus flowers bloom above the green lotus leaves. There are many colors such as pink, purple, light green, and pink and purple. They look graceful and elegant.
Leaning on the railing waiting for the wind to blow, you can also smell a faint fragrance.
Xiulan looked at it for a while and then went back to sleep, while Lin Heng went to check on the grapes. The red grapes grafted with wild grape roots grew so lushly that the branches were more than two meters long and had five bunches of grapes, which were now beginning to bloom.
This was beyond Lin Heng's expectations. It could only be attributed to the original wild grapes' strong ability to provide nutrients, which allowed the grafted red grapes to bear fruit that year. Although there were only five bunches of grapes, it was also an unexpected surprise.
The grafted Kyoho seedlings that were planted in the same way only grew branches of about 60 to 70 centimeters, and showed no sign of bearing fruit.
After taking a look at the situation here, he put on his water shoes and took a shovel to the back mountain to shovel manure for the cows and horses. He also built a composting pit on the back mountain. After shoveling out the manure, he threw it into the composting pit, then covered it with film paper and waited for it to decompose naturally.
There are many benefits to doing this, the biggest one being that the odor will be greatly reduced and not so many mosquitoes will breed.
Of course, this place is far away from Lin Heng’s backyard, so the smell cannot be transmitted at all.
He was taking a break today and didn't go to work at Hongfeng Mountain. He shoveled the animal manure, got water to give the cows and red dates a bath, and luxuriously brushed their fur with detergent.
The only remaining livestock here are red-maned horses, red dates, milk-producing cows, big yellow cattle, and a pig bought by my eldest brother. The rest have all been moved to Red Maple Mountain.
Basically, if you clean it regularly, there won't be much odor.
After bathing the cows and horses, Lin Heng glanced at the fruit trees on the back hill and turned back to the house.
As summer approached, all these fruit trees began to grow rapidly. The fertile soil on the back hill plus the cow and sheep manure provided by Lin Heng filled them with growth energy, making them much more lush than the fruit trees planted in the fields.
All the original tree stumps were killed by Lin Heng by wrapping them in black film paper.
He thought that next year he could let these trees bear fruit in small quantities. Unlike the orchard where the fruit was only for his own consumption, the earlier the fruit was produced, the earlier they could be eaten. It didn't matter if the trunks were not raised, it would only take two more years.
He returned to the house, washed his face to cool down, then looked at the turtle soup in the casserole. He could smell the rich aroma when he opened it.
"We can eat it after Xiulan wakes up." Lin Heng nodded and added some water.
"Dad, we want to drink sugar water." Xiaoxia and her friends were tired from playing, so they lay on the mat in the main room playing with plasticine. When she saw Lin Heng coming over, she started to act coquettishly.
"Okay, I'll pour you some honey water." Lin Heng said with a smile.
He took a small bowl and poured the herbal tea made of honeysuckle, selfheal and houttuynia cordata, then added a lot of honey. After letting it cool and filtering, it became a sweet herbal tea.
"Thank you uncle (second father)!"
When the kids drank the herbal tea, there was a sizzling sound. That was the sound of water being absorbed through teeth. He also liked that when he was a kid.
At one o'clock in the afternoon, Lin Heng started to prepare lunch. As the weather was hot, he planned to make cold noodles. He prepared the noodle soup and cucumber shreds first. After the water boiled, he went to call Xiulan.
"Is the meal ready?" Xiulan asked in surprise after washing her face and walking into the kitchen.
"You can have the soft-shelled turtle and winter melon soup. It's all dried out for you. Have this after you finish eating." Lin Heng said with a smile.
"Okay." Xiulan blinked, smiled and walked over to smell the soup.
"It smells so good." She was attracted after just one sniff. The rich aroma of winter melon and mushrooms made her saliva salivate.
Lin Heng smiled and said, "Then eat quickly. The temperature is probably just right now."
Xiulan scooped a bowl out to share with Xiaoxia. Lin Heng was preparing to eat. Father Lin opened the door and walked in from outside, holding a basin in his hand: "I brought you something good."
"Grandpa, what's delicious? Is it blackberry?" Xiaoxia excitedly ran over and hugged her grandfather's thighs.
Father Lin touched her head and shook his head and said, "There are no raspberries now. I will pick other delicious things for you another day. What I brought here is the divine tofu."
"Did my mother make it?" Lin Heng asked curiously. He and Xiulan had not had time to pick the magic leaves this year, but he did not expect that his father would be able to eat them.
"Yes, your mother made it this morning." Father Lin nodded with a smile.
"That's great. I'll make some cold noodles. Dad, come sit down and eat with us." Lin Heng nodded.
"Okay." Father Lin didn't hesitate and sat down with a smile.
Lin Heng mixed the tofu with cold sauce, added a cold cucumber, and scooped up some pickled bamboo shoots. He then cooked the noodles in a pot and scooped out the excess to make cold noodles.
Although it is dried noodles, it tastes good when served cold, especially with the addition of garlic, patchouli and chili.
Lin Heng poured a glass of rice wine for his father, and the two ate and drank at the same time. The fairy tofu was smooth and refreshing, cool in nature with a slight bitter taste, and it was rich in flavor after being mixed with garlic, chili, soy sauce and aged vinegar. It was a pleasure to eat it in the hot summer, but this kind of thing not only requires skills to make, but also requires skills to mix it cold, otherwise it will taste a little bland.
"I think the one you make tastes better. The one your mother makes is a little too bland." Father Lin said with a smile after taking a bite.
"Then next time I'll go over and teach my mom how to mix it." Lin Heng said with a smile.
Father Lin nodded, took a sip of rice wine and continued, "I asked someone to look for a good date this morning. They said that May 29th of the lunar calendar, which is June 28th of the solar calendar, is a good day for raising livestock."
"Five days later? Then let's not build the compost pit for the time being. Let's wait until we buy the cattle and sheep." Lin Heng said after thinking for a while.
The time is short, as we are going to add shrimps in two days. The composting pond needs to be built after the foundation is dug and leveled, so it would take more than one or two days for me to finish it.
"That's fine." Father Lin nodded, and then asked, "Are you going to release the shrimp fry in the next two days?"
"Yes, we can release the shrimp fry after testing the water in the next two days." Lin Heng nodded.
"Okay, I'm going to the mountain to dig herbs, so I won't go there for the next two days." Father Lin said.
After lunch, Lin Heng and his father went to Hongfeng Mountain to test the water. The so-called water test is also very simple, that is, use a bucket to get some pond water, and then throw the shrimp fry in to raise them for one or two days. If there is no problem, the shrimp fry can be released on a large scale.
After staying here for a while, Lin Heng returned to the house and looked at the yogurt made in the rice cooker.
He took a bite and shouted, "Xiu Lan, the yogurt is ready. You can come over and eat it."
"I'm here, Dad!" Xiaoxia was the first one to run over, standing on tiptoe with a greedy look.
Lin Heng fed her a bite, and she immediately shook her head happily with her big eyes curved.
"Daddy, I want more!" She opened her mouth again.
"Take it and eat it yourself." Lin Heng gave her some and gave the rest to Xiulan.
Xiulan tasted it and said with a smile: "It's delicious. It tastes very good."
"I'll make you some yogurt with red date juice in a few days. It'll taste even better." Lin Heng said with a smile. He particularly liked yogurt with red date flavor.
Xiulan smiled and said, "The apricots are almost ripe, you can make one with apricot flavor first."
"No problem." Lin Heng waved his hand and asked again: "I want to catch scorpions tonight. Do you want to go?"
Xiulan nodded: "Sure, but I don't know how to catch it."
"It's okay. I'll teach you. I'll go make the tools first." Lin Heng said, patting his chest.
He turned around and found a bamboo and cut it into a 30-centimeter-long bamboo strip that was wide in the middle and narrow at both ends. He then roasted the middle part over fire and bent it into a clamp that could automatically rebound. It was more useful for catching scorpions than tweezers.
To hold the shoes, use a plastic bottle with a portable rope installed and make a small hole on the top of the bottle that is just big enough to hold the scorpion.
After it was done, I put it aside and waited for Caiyun to get home from school, so that she could come over and help take care of Xiaoxia for a while.
Caiyun was shocked after learning about the situation: "Second brother, your sister-in-law is pregnant and you still took her to catch scorpions. If mom knew about this, she would beat you to death."
Xiulan smiled and said, "My belly hasn't gotten bigger yet, I'm just walking around, nothing special."
"Well, second brother, please take good care of my sister-in-law." Caiyun reminded him again. If her sister-in-law wanted to go, she couldn't stop her.
Lin Heng waved his hand to indicate that she didn't need to worry about it. After getting some food, it was already dark. He said something to his sister and took Xiulan to catch scorpions.
When they got to the road, Xiulan asked curiously, "Aren't we going up the mountain?"
Lin Heng smiled and explained: "Scorpions like that kind of stone steps, but there are not many in the forest. The most are in the cracks of the stone steps of the terraces we built."
"Is that so?" Xiulan was a little curious.
They started looking after they turned a corner along the road and left the center of the village. Lin Heng turned on the ultraviolet lamp and shone it on the stone steps inside the road and immediately saw several of them.
"So many! Wouldn't that mean we're going to make a fortune?" Xiulan exclaimed. Scorpions are not cheap. The price of a live scorpion is the same as that of Ganoderma lucidum, thirty or forty yuan per pound.
It's just that this thing is too difficult to catch, and it's hard to catch in large quantities, so not many people do it. But with an ultraviolet lamp, it's different, you can see it as soon as you shine it, and it's so easy to catch.
"Of course, but I mainly catch them to eat." Lin Heng said with a smile. He wanted to catch scorpions last year, but unfortunately he couldn't buy ultraviolet lamps in Taibai City.
He did buy it when he went to Ancheng this year, but he no longer needed the money.
After saying that, Lin Heng picked up the scorpion with bamboo tweezers and threw it into a plastic bottle. The scorpion couldn't climb out of the smooth bottle at all.
"Let's catch them first. It looks like there are a lot of them," said Xiulan.
She used a flashlight to see the road, and Lin Heng used an ultraviolet lamp to look for scorpions. There was no need to go anywhere else. There were a lot of them on the stone walls on the road, and you could see a lot of them after just a few steps.
After a while, Xiulan also learned how to catch them and started catching them with the ultraviolet lamp herself.
The two of them started fishing at seven o'clock and before they knew it, it was past ten o'clock. They fished for a while on the road and then went to the stone steps beside the terraced fields.
There are more stone steps on the terraces than on the roads. These stone steps are full of small holes, which are perfect for scorpions to hide in.
"Let's go back." At ten ten, Lin Heng looked at Xiulan and said, he was not tired but he was afraid that Xiulan would be tired.
Xiulan nodded, looked at the pile of pale yellow scorpions in the bottle and said happily: "I think I caught another half pound."
"Almost." Lin Heng nodded. No one had ever caught scorpions on the mountain. There were so many of them that they were easy to catch.
When they got home and knocked on the door, Caiyun and Xiaoxia ran over.
"Second brother and sister-in-law, you are finally back. I thought you were lost." Caiyun said to the two of them.
Xiaoxia rushed towards the two of them without caring about anything, and Lin Heng was so scared that he quickly raised the plastic bottle. If it was knocked over and hit her, it would be a big deal.
"I was so obsessed with catching fish that the harvest today was still very small." Lin Heng said with a smile.
"Yes, it can be sold for a lot of money." Xiulan also said.
Lin Heng returned to the house and found a plastic bucket to pour the scorpions into. Caiyun looked at the pale yellow scorpions and couldn't help but be shocked and asked, "How did you catch so many?"
"It's very simple!" Xiulan turned on the ultraviolet lamp to demonstrate and Caiyun immediately understood it.
Caiyun exclaimed: "No wonder they caught so many. They can really sell for a lot of money."
Lin Heng took it to the scale and weighed it, and the net weight was eight taels.
Xiulan shook Lin Heng's arm and said in surprise: "We can definitely catch them and sell them. Even if we catch half a pound in one night, we can make more than 20 yuan."
Lin Heng patted her on the shoulder and said, "Don't think about it for now. Just grab it and play with it."
Xiulan argued, "If I don't catch him, you can ask Dad and the others to catch him. They will definitely be happy to do so, and they will probably catch him and not come home all night."
Caiyun also said, "Yes, second brother, if we can really catch so many every day, it will definitely be worth it. I want to catch some too."
"Okay, okay. Let me find out where to buy it first." Lin Heng said.
Because scorpions are difficult to catch and are in small quantities, purchasing stations do not buy them. You have to find a Chinese medicine clinic or other channels, ask clearly before catching them. Otherwise, if you can't sell them after catching them, you will have to eat them yourself.
After chatting for a while, Lin Heng put the scorpion where Xiaoxia couldn't reach it, and then made a mixed dish of cucumber, spinach and lettuce as a midnight snack.
I also boiled the milk that I didn’t finish drinking in the morning twice, then added white sugar and yogurt and put it in the rice cooker to make yogurt, so that I would have something to eat when I woke up the next morning.
The next morning, Lin Heng got up early and made breakfast. Caiyun got to eat some yogurt, and then she took a jar away to share with her classmates.
After breakfast, Lin Heng started to process the scorpion. Xiulan asked in surprise, "Are you really going to eat it?"
"Just like the cicada monkey, it's very good." Lin Heng said with a smile that to deal with the scorpion, one only needs to cut off the tail.
Lin Heng added: "But pregnant women can't eat this, so you can only watch."
"I don't want to eat it." Xiulan shook her head, indicating that she had no interest in it at all.
Lin Heng just needs to clamp the scorpion and cut off the tail hook, and there is no need to do anything else.
In fact, the tail hooks do not need to be cut, as high temperatures will inactivate the scorpion venom. He cuts them out of habit, and the cut tail hooks can be soaked in wine. Scorpion venom has the effect of treating rheumatism, and the soaked wine is very effective for massaging rheumatic areas.
After cutting off the tail hook, scald the scorpion with boiling water and clean it. Heat oil in a pan and fry the scorpion. Fry it again and sprinkle it with fine salt, cumin and chili powder before it becomes a delicious delicacy.
Lin Heng took one out and ate it first. He chewed it and it was crispy and fragrant. He took one and looked at Xiulan and said, "You can eat one. It tastes better than Zhiliaohou."
"Forget it, I'm scared." Xiulan was still a little scared of this thing.
"Dad, I dare to eat it." Xiaoxia was like a newborn calf that was not afraid of a tiger. She ran over, took one from the plate, put it in her mouth, and started chewing it with a crunching sound.
(End of this chapter)
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