Chapter 301 Discovering Treasures in the Mountains
Li Caifeng looked around and asked curiously, "Do you have guests today?"
Lin Heng was puzzled: "No."
"Then you eat the roast duck by yourselves?" Li Caifeng asked in disbelief.
Lin Heng smiled and nodded: "Yes, it's raining and we have nothing to do and everyone wants to eat, so I killed one and roasted it."
"Okay." Li Caifeng took a deep breath and felt a little uncomfortable when she thought of the cornmeal steamed buns she had eaten in the morning. She would not be willing to eat chicken and duck unless it was Chinese New Year.
"Try the venison. I caught it before." Lin Heng handed over three pieces of dried venison. He was not a stingy person, as long as you didn't offend him.
"I can't accept this." Li Caifeng waved her hands repeatedly. Although she was poor, she was very concerned about her reputation.
"Just try it, it's nothing." Lin Heng said sincerely. He really wanted to share instead of giving alms condescendingly, and finally he stuffed it into her hand.
After taking a bite, Li Caifeng suddenly wanted to swallow her tongue. It was so delicious and fragrant. She had never eaten such fragrant meat before.
Come to think of it, the last time she ate meat was a month ago when she was transplanting rice seedlings.
But she took one bite and decided not to eat it, and planned to take it home for her son and husband to try.
Xiulan took a bottle, and Mo Shui came out and said with a smile: "This bottle should be enough, you can use it, and just return the rest to me. You don't have to return this worthless thing."
"Thank you." Li Caifeng said quickly, feeling a little ashamed. She used to target Xiulan because she was pretty, but she was still so kind even though she was so rich, and she had never retaliated.
"It's okay." Xiulan waved her hand.
After sending Li Caifeng away, Xiulan looked at the river and then at her watch. It was already eleven o'clock in the morning and the rain was still not stopping.
She went back to the house and continued the needlework she had not finished yesterday, making new clothes for the unborn baby in her belly.
Lin Heng continued to roast the duck. After another hour of roasting, the outside of the duck turned into a pleasing caramel color, exuding the aroma of fat and honey.
Lin Heng took it out and removed it from the bamboo tube, then went to the old house and got a rice bucket that was one meter high and fifty centimeters in diameter.
Hang the duck upside down at the bottom of a barrel, and place the barrel over a brazier to seal the duck for roasting. The high temperature will allow the duck to cook faster, and no one needs to watch over it.
After the roast duck was ready, he prepared the barbecue sauce for the roast duck, a dry dipping sauce made from a variety of spices such as cooked peanuts, cumin, fennel, sesame, etc., and a soup dipping sauce made from vinegar, soy sauce, garlic and chili.
He went upstairs to take a look, and after confirming the position of the large cabinet, he lay on the windowsill and looked at the vast world outside.
"I really hope the rain will stop soon!" Lin Heng went downstairs and got a book to read. He didn't disturb Xiulan who was sewing clothes at the desk.
"Dad, play with me." Xiaoxia ran over and stuck to him.
"Then let's play drawing." Lin Heng took a pencil and paper and went to the mat to play with him.
"Okay!" Xiaoxia said happily. She would be happy as long as there was someone to play with.
Before she knew it, it was already one o'clock in the afternoon. Xiulan put down her needlework and came over to ask, "Are we having roast duck for lunch?"
"I think it's enough. We can add some cold dishes." Lin Heng nodded, walked over and opened the bucket. The charcoal fire was almost out and a strong aroma of barbecue wafted out.
"Is this color okay?" Lin Heng said with a smile. The wine-red roast duck is really delicious.
Xiulan nodded: "Very good, I'll go make some salad right away."
When Lin Heng took the roast duck to cut it, a little tail followed behind him, looking at her with big eyes blinking.
"Dad, I want to eat."
Xiaoxia said in a coquettish and cute manner.
Lin Heng cut off a piece of duck skin, blew on it and fed it to her. Her lively big eyes immediately turned into a small crescent moon.
"Wow, so crispy and sweet, so delicious!"
Xiaoxia jumped up, and after eating, she hugged Lin Heng's legs and continued to act coquettishly.
"Let's wait for your mother and we can eat soon." Lin Heng said, touching her little head.
Pour some boiling water from the kettle, quickly stir-fry the fresh cowpea, bitter gourd and spinach, let them cool down, mix them together and serve on the table.
Lin Heng had also cut the roast duck into long strips. They were still steaming and tasted just right.
Xiulan dipped some barbecue sauce in it and tasted it, praising it: "It smells delicious, and it's grilled with great skill."
"Delicious!" Xiaoxia gulped as she ate.
The roast duck has a crispy and sweet skin, and the meat is soft and chewy. It tastes much better than the force-fed duck that is fed for half a month.
Lin Heng likes to eat it with vinegar, garlic and chili, which makes the taste richer.
A bite of roast duck and a bite of cold vegetables, the combination was not greasy at all. It took three people half an hour to kill this big duck weighing more than three pounds.
The two dogs, Xiongba and Fengshou, were eating the bones happily below, and were fighting for them with loud cries. However, they did not dare to snatch them from people. They could still distinguish between a full meal and an insufficient meal.
Fengshou didn’t understand before and was taught a lesson by Lin Heng many times. He was also beaten up by Xiongba several times. Now he is much more obedient.
"The rain has stopped!"
After dinner, Lin Heng walked out and found that the rain had turned into a light drizzle, and he immediately became happy.
Xiulan looked at the sky still covered with dark clouds and shook her head, "I guess it's just a break. It will rain again like this."
"Never mind. It's good that it's not raining anymore. I can go out for a walk now. Do you want to come?" Lin Heng turned his head and asked.
Xiulan shook her head: "Let's wait for the weather to clear up. It's all muddy outside now. I'm going to continue making clothes."
"Okay then, I'll go to Hongfeng Mountain and get some grass." Lin Heng said, spreading his hands.
When I went outside, the cold wind mixed with drizzle hit my face, the cool feeling was very comfortable, and the air after the rain was no longer so hot.
Lin Heng walked along the road towards Hongfeng Mountain, looking at the scenery inside and outside along the way.
At Hongfeng Mountain, it wasn't raining at the moment, so Lin's father and mother came out. Father Lin ran to check the water level in the shrimp pond, while Mother Lin went to the vegetable garden to pick vegetables.
Seeing Lin Heng coming over, Lin's father said, "I'm afraid we don't need to add water to this shrimp pond anymore. The water level has risen by 20 centimeters after this rain."
"Not for now." Lin Heng nodded, looked over here and then at the musk deer, cattle and sheep, observing their health conditions.
“That’s a lot of mushrooms!”
Lin Heng talked to himself while looking at several delicious porcini mushrooms growing on the roadside. This period is the season when porcini mushrooms grow in large quantities, and the yield is super high.
He walked around the area and picked up seven delicious palm-sized porcini mushrooms and two tricholomas, enough for tonight's dishes.
“I wonder what the mushroom tree from last year is like this year.”
Holding the porcini mushrooms, Lin Heng recalled the tree full of shiitake mushrooms he encountered last year. He had a great time picking them that time.
He decided to go up the mountain as soon as the rain stopped and the weather cleared up for a day. His hands were itching and his heart was thirsty for hunting. He wanted to go into the mountain immediately and teach his prey a lesson.
These days he also read several hunting books and learned a lot of hunting knowledge, and he couldn't wait to verify it.
Because fur could not be artificially produced in this era, resources such as wild animal fur were extremely precious and were resources that could be exported to exchange for foreign exchange. Therefore, there were also special hunting books for sale.
Lin Heng was originally dismissive of this, thinking that those scholars knew nothing about hunting. But after reading it, his attitude changed. There were indeed many practical methods in it, which benefited him a lot.
On the pasture side, a new round of grass has started growing again under the influence of the rain. The grass seeds have been harvested, and the land can be reclaimed and the planting scale can be expanded in the second half of the year.
He cut a bundle of fresh grass and went home. As soon as he came down, Lin's mother came over with a bag and handed it to him: "Take these pumpkin tips back to Xiulan. She likes to eat them when she was little."
"Okay." Lin Heng nodded, carried the hay and the pumpkin tips and went home.
"hiss!!"
Hongzao, who had been eating hay for two days, started to neigh when he saw the grass and was very eager to eat it. The cow also raised its head and looked at the grass on Lin Heng's shoulders.
"We have them all!" Lin Heng smiled and put down the grass and distributed it to them.
After taking a look, he went over and let Kunkun out for a walk. Keeping them locked up for a long time is not good for their health. More exercise can help them avoid depression.
Although there are many fruits and vegetables in the back mountain, the chickens only peck at the seedlings when they are young, and they don’t peck at them much when they grow up. Even if they peck the fruits to pieces, they are just fed to pigs, because they are planted everywhere anyway.
And compared to vegetables, they prefer insects and earthworms.
Lin Heng found a big, plump green caterpillar on the konjac. It had eaten half of the konjac's leaves clean.
“Gugugugu!!”
After catching the insect in his hand, he called out, and a group of chickens ran to him. Leading the group was a big rooster with white feathers, a black beak and black feet. It stretched its neck and looked at him.
“Eat it!”
Lin Heng threw the insect, and the big white rooster flew up, pecked the insect in mid-air, and then ran away with its wings flapping. A group of hens behind it chased it with a clucking sound, trying to grab the food.
The big white rooster found a place, pecked the insect into pieces and swallowed it in two bites, then turned around and looked at the hens arrogantly, and grabbed one and jumped onto its back, which was a breeding method.
After taking a look, Lin Heng turned back to the house, handed the bag to Xiulan and said, "I've got some pumpkin tips and some mushrooms I picked up. You can cook them tonight."
Xiulan took it, looked at it and said, "This mushroom is beautiful. Tianqing really wants to pick it up."
Lin Heng looked at her and said, "You'd better stay at home and pick up some at most by the Red Maple Mountain. After the baby is born, I will accompany you to pick up some every day."
Before she became pregnant, she could stroll in the mountains, but now she dared not run around. The leaves in the forest were very slippery, and he would be heartbroken if she fell.
Moreover, the mountains are far away from the hospital, so it would be difficult to deal with any problems.
"I know, I'm just saying it." Xiulan pursed her lips, looking a little unhappy.
Lin Heng looked at her and said, "I'll take you to the Black River to fish in a few days, and I'll help you."
The riverside is much safer than the mountains. It is generally flat and not easy to fall.
Xiulan looked at him and said, "Well, you have to listen to me then."
"No problem, I'll do as you say." Lin Heng said with a smile.
The rain stopped for a while, and the three of them played in the yard and picked some vegetables.
However, the rain didn't stop for long before it started again. It was a light rain that didn't splash water on the ground, but it kept falling.
It wasn't boring at home. I would read a book with Xiaoxia, or chat and joke with Xiulan, discussing the contents of the books she read. As she read more books, they had more topics to talk about in this regard.
In the evening, we had rice and bacon fried with the mushrooms that Lin Heng picked.
After dinner, Lin Heng suddenly wanted to write a diary, so he found a notebook and started writing in the room.
He also thought about the novel he was going to write, a novel based on his miserable life in his previous life.
However, the more books I read, the less I knew where to start. It took me a long time to write an outline.
Time flies, and soon it is already the morning of July 17th.
"The rain has finally stopped."
When he got up in the morning, Lin Heng walked over, opened the window and took a deep breath. This time the continuous rain had lasted too long.
Seeing the blue sky and sunshine after a long absence made him a little excited. He didn't hate rain, but he hated it when it rained endlessly, which would make people feel depressed.
"Wife, get up and go out for exercise!"
Lin Heng returned to the bed and shook Xiulan.
"Ah~ It's sunny now~"
Xiulan pulled Lin Heng up and yawned loudly.
After getting up and washing up, the two ran to the front yard to exercise, because here they could bask in the long-lost sunshine. After being away for so many days, they really missed the feeling of the sun on their bodies.
"Stretch it for me!"
Xiulan stretched her hand in front of Lin Heng and said in a somewhat coquettish tone.
"Okay." Lin Heng took her hands and stretched them, and then Xiulan did some chest expansion exercises on her own, revealing the huge outline of her breasts.
After they finished their exercise, Xiulan picked up the bucket and said, "I'm going to milk the cows today."
"Sure." Lin Heng went to the back mountain with her and found two ripe watermelons here, so he picked them and took them back.
"Let's eat something in the morning. We haven't eaten for a long time." Xiulan said as she looked at the watermelon. She was greedy.
"I just picked it to eat. The melon was cold early in the morning." Lin Heng nodded.
Breakfast only consisted of eggs, milk, and a watermelon. The watermelon grown with farm fertilizer was particularly chewy and sweet, and the three of them couldn't stop eating it.
After dinner, the sun grew brighter and the moisture on the blue bricks in the yard evaporated quickly. Lin Heng lifted the tarpaulin of the sidecar to dry it in the sun.
It was too early to do farm work as the weather had just cleared up, and the villagers went to the mountains in groups to pick mushrooms. Lin Heng went to his eldest brother's house to discuss going into the mountains to hunt tomorrow.
"Dad, my parents went to the mountain to pick mushrooms early in the morning, so my brother and I are the only ones at home." When he opened the door, there were only Lin Tao and his brother in the yard.
"Okay." Lin Heng was helpless, thinking that his elder brother and the others were really proactive, running out to pick mushrooms so early.
Back in the house, Xiulan saw that he was bored and said, "Go pick some mushrooms quickly. We can eat some tonight. I can stay at home. You don't have to accompany me."
She had long noticed that Lin Heng wanted to go out for a walk. After all, neither of them could stay at home.
"Then I'll go to the back mountain to pick up some." Lin Heng said with a smile. He really wanted to go into the mountain.
"Go, go." Xiulan waved her hand.
Lin Heng picked up the basket and took two bags, then took Xiongba into the mountains.
This time he did not go to the back mountain, but headed straight towards Shuijinggou. He did not pick up anything on the way and just hurried on. His destination was Baishigou, where a large area of Ganoderma lucidum was discovered last year.
They set out at 9:30, and the man and the dog traveled very quickly and reached the mountain of Baishigou at 10:30.
"It's just ahead!"
Not long after Lin Heng left, he discovered the X-shaped mark he had made last year. Although the tree's wound had healed, he still recognized it at a glance.
I excitedly came under the tree and took a closer look but was a little disappointed. I didn't see the red Ganoderma lucidum that was everywhere last year. I only found some Ganoderma lucidum that were infested with worms because I came too late.
Only the Ganoderma lucidum with a white back is useful. The black ones have little medicinal effect, let alone the ones with worms on them.
He picked up several in a row but they were all not very good, which made him depressed. The reality was too different from his imagination.
“Woof woof!”
At this time, Xiongba made a sound from a position lower down.
Lin Heng walked over and saw that they were two very beautiful Ganoderma lucidum. He picked them up happily and touched Xiongba's head.
Xiongba stuck out his tongue excitedly. He liked coming to the mountains with Lin Heng because it was too boring to stay at home.
The man and the dog continued searching nearby and found a few more. Lin Heng also found a few very beautiful wrinkled boletus, which were much more delicious than delicious boletus.
“Not bad!”
In the end, Lin Heng was satisfied. Although it was not as good as last year, he still picked up twelve very good red Ganoderma lucidum.
After putting the Ganoderma lucidum into the bag, Lin Heng took Xiongba and walked towards Baishigou. There was not much change here since they hadn't been here for more than half a year, except that the water in the mountain stream was very fast today, and a white waterfall could be seen.
When he came to the woods beside Baishigou, Lin Heng saw many mushrooms on the rotten wood. They were light yellow and not big, but very plump.
These are delicious mushrooms, and this is also one of the reasons why he came here.
After picking along the ditch, his basket was full and he probably picked up about 17 or 18 kilograms of shiitake mushrooms, in addition to some tricholoma and white fungus.
"Let's go home."
After touching Xiongba, Lin Heng walked back with it.
I was not as anxious to go back as when I came. I just found a random road and looked for mushrooms along the way.
“Oh my god, so many chanterelles!”
Arriving at an acorn forest, Lin Heng was stunned by the clusters of chanterelles in the forest. They were not only large but also numerous. I guess they were coming to repay their gratitude.
"Damn, the rain has been going on for too long!"
Lin Heng squatted down and picked up some and was immediately disappointed. Many of them had bugs. Stir-fried chanterelles with meat are particularly delicious, but they also attract a lot of bugs. As long as it rains for two more days, most of the ones he picked will have bugs.
After giving up at least one-tenth of the mushrooms, Lin Heng finally picked up ten kilograms of chanterelles. The resources in the deep mountains are so good.
The mushroom resources in this place are so good that he didn't even bother to pick the most delicious porcini. There were only enough chanterelles and blue-headed mushrooms to pick up, and from time to time there were also egg mushrooms and wrinkled porcini.
In addition, he also dug more than a pound of wild Gastrodia elata. It’s not that he only had this much, but he was only willing to dig this much. He couldn’t finish eating any more.
"etc!!"
Just as he was about to leave, Lin Heng suddenly saw something special, and when he walked closer and took a look, he was stunned.
"It's really the silver thread lotus!" Lin Heng walked closer and was stunned when he saw it.
This is a good thing. There are not many of them even in the Qinling Mountains. It can be used for medicinal purposes as well as for viewing.
Although it is called silver thread vine, it is actually an orchid and is very beautiful when it blooms.
As a traditional Chinese medicine, it has the effects of clearing away heat and detoxifying, promoting blood circulation and relieving pain, softening and dispersing nodules. It is used in rural areas to treat joint pain and bruises.
The purchase price is not low, about 20 to 30 yuan per pound.
He searched around again and found quite a few more, which made him excited.
"If I find you, I'll dig you up and take you home." Lin Heng found a wooden stick, dug it up along with the soil at the roots and placed it at the bottom of the basket.
He got ten with soil on them and pulled out the other twenty or so with their roots. He didn't dig up the remaining small ones. He was not the kind of person who would drain the pond to catch all the fish, unless he was extremely poor and had no other choice.
(End of this chapter)
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