Fish have actually started swimming towards the main road and even towards our doorstep!
Even in the Feng Ran family's courtyard, no one knew when fish had started swimming around.
The two children were overjoyed.
The chicken coop was flooded. The chicks huddled on the table that Feng Ran had thrown in, trembling with fear.
Luckily, the house was located on high ground. The entrance was also blocked with sacks, otherwise nothing would have happened.
However, it is indeed uncomfortable for the house to be damp every day.
The heavy rain lasted for a week before it stopped.
Rivers now flow everywhere outside the village.
There wasn't a sliver of road visible. Every household had piles of flood control sacks in front of their doors.
During the day, the man had to go out every day to clear the water channels and drain the water that was about to overflow the doorway.
After more than a week of anxious waiting, the rain finally stopped, and everyone felt relieved.
What followed was a large-scale fishing operation, with each household catching a considerable number of fish, both big and small, every day.
Yesterday afternoon, Fengran caught a large turtle in her yard.
Then this morning, this big turtle was stewed in a clay pot. Everyone was tired from working lately, so we stewed some turtle soup to replenish our energy.
The weather is hot now, and as long as it doesn't rain, the water level changes every day, and it will be almost completely drained in less than three days.
Two days later, the water level receded completely, and the entire village was surrounded by garbage. No one knew where it had come from, but everyone joined in the cleanup effort.
Men seem to be particularly enthusiastic about fishing, especially fishing during floods.
Every day, people would take fish traps and nets out to catch fish.
Every time I come back, the buckets and baskets are full of fish.
Now that the sun is out, everyone cleans the fish and hangs them to dry. At this temperature, they can be completely dried in less than a day and then stored away.
Feng Ran and the others didn't like dried fish, so they simply dried some of it, cleaned the rest, marinated them, put them in clean plastic bags, and then stored them in the storage box.
This way, everyone can take it out and eat it whenever they want. Whether it's grilled, fried, or braised, it's already very flavorful.
It's so hot now, it's summer. Everyone scattered a lot of watermelon and cantaloupe seeds on the mountain behind the house in the spring. I wonder if this heavy rain has affected them.
Seeing that the road surface had dried out, a few people stayed home to watch over the house while the rest went up the mountain to look for melons.
The soil on the mountain is sandy and gravelly, so the melons grown there should be quite sweet, especially watermelons.
Feng Ran and his group began searching up the mountain where they had previously scattered melon seeds. Before long, they spotted large, round watermelons and some small cantaloupes.
"Wow! These are all big watermelons! Feng Ran, your idea is really good! Planting watermelons on the mountain doesn't waste any land or effort, and we can just come and pick them right away," Gu Zhou's mother-in-law said happily.
"Yes! Look at these big watermelons! Just tap them and they open with a bang! The flesh is so red and fresh!" Wang Lanying said as she took a knife and started cutting the watermelon she had just knocked open.
Wang Lili brought over two more watermelons. Everyone decided to eat them first before picking more.
"Sweet!" Feng Ran said after taking a bite.
"Yes! We'll start transporting it down after we finish eating."
After everyone finished eating the watermelon, the women started picking more watermelons.
After picking them, they put them in baskets, and then Gu Zhou and the others were responsible for carrying the watermelons down the mountain.
There are also ripe honeydew melons and small cantaloupes.
Basket after basket, everyone worked all morning carrying them down; there were at least nearly 100 melons.
Everyone went home for lunch, and after lunch they went back up the mountain to look for melons, hoping to pick all the ripe melons on the mountain within a day.
The unripe watermelons and cantaloupes were ironed every few days. The ripe watermelons and cantaloupes were picked and divided equally among each household before evening.
The Sun family noticed that several families in the village ahead were heading up the mountain, and that they were all carrying a lot of watermelons when they came down.
"Brother, they must have gone up the mountain to pick watermelons. We picked a few yesterday, it must be from the same place," said Sun Laosan. He had planned to let his family eat the watermelons slowly once they were ripe. Who knew they'd be stolen!
"Yes, brother, let's go talk to those families!"
"What's there to be afraid of on the mountain? They brought down so much at once!"
"Things from the mountain?" Sun Lao Er asked dismissively.
"What are you being sarcastic about? We're going to talk to you for everyone's benefit," Sun Laosan retorted.
"People deliberately scattered these seeds all over the mountain in the spring. We're picking them to eat now, and it's already a miracle they haven't noticed. Do you really expect us to go up there and admit it?"
"Well...that's none of my business! The land on the mountain belongs to everyone!"
"Alright. Shut up, all of you!"
Fifth brother, go catch some eels. I'll take them to the Feng family. Don't go up the mountain to pick melons anymore.
If you really want to eat one, just pick one and bring it home. We grow our own every year.
"Brother! What kind of eels did you go deliver this time?!"
"Exactly! You've almost squandered our entire fortune!"
"Fifth brother, hurry up and go."
"Okay, big brother!" No matter what, I'll just listen to my big brother.
"Brother, let's take a step back to move forward. When we get to the Feng family, we'll say we only found out they grew the watermelons on the mountain after seeing them picking them today. We'll apologize for the few watermelons we picked earlier," Sun Lao Er calmly instructed.
"Um."
...
"This is?"
Seeing that Boss Sun was carrying a bucket over so late at night, Feng Ran asked in confusion.
Sun Laoda relayed Sun Laoer's words verbatim to Feng Ran.
"Oh, it's alright. We've scattered seeds everywhere, but the mountain belongs to everyone. If your family wants to eat some, just pick a few, just don't pick them all. A few of us are planning to go up the mountain every few days to pick some to eat."
"Really?" Boss Sun asked in disbelief.
"Of course. But just pick a few each time. Don't pick too many. After all, this is a joint effort by several families. I can't make that decision by myself."
"No. I won't pick too many."
"Yes. You can save the seeds after you finish eating them. You can plant as many as you want each year."
"Okay. Okay." After saying that, Boss Sun was about to leave when Feng Ran called him back.
"Take your eel home. I don't need it."
"Keep it. I'm leaving."
"Hey! I'll empty the bucket for you then."
"...Okay, okay." There aren't many buckets at home; I almost forgot to bring one.
For some reason, Boss Sun had a sensitivity towards Feng Ran and the others that he himself was unaware of.
A voice inside me was telling me that I shouldn't mess with this group of people. Even the Wang and Gu families hadn't made me feel this way.
So after learning that they were the ones who sowed the melon seeds on the mountain, Old Master Sun brought over the few eels he had at home to say hello.
The Sun brothers used to be fearless, but things are different now.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
