About twenty minutes later, Lin Momo arrived with the police.
What followed was handled by Shi Guang and the police, while Lin Momo stood behind him, playing the role of the victim.
On the way there, the police had already learned some information from Lin Momo: more than two months ago, Lin Momo had encountered a gang that trafficked women in another city, and these two people were fugitives from that gang.
Upon seeing the police, Shi Guang stepped forward and explained the situation: "One of the fugitives hit his head on a rock and passed out while running away. I think I heard a sound of bones breaking. I don't know if he's serious. Let's get him to the hospital quickly."
As he spoke, he pointed out to the police the blood-stained stone in the passageway.
Seeing this, the police did not dare to hesitate. They wanted to ask a few more questions, but swallowed back the words that were about to come out. They immediately had the officers lift the two people into the car and send them to the hospital.
Lin Momo and Shi Guang followed the police back to the station to give their statements and notified the other police to come and take over the suspect.
*
That night.
After getting into bed, Lin Momo snuggled into Shi Guang's arms, her face pressed against his strong chest. Listening to his powerful heartbeat, she felt particularly at ease.
Sensing her vulnerability and dependence on him, Shiguang felt both joy and tenderness. He gently patted her back and whispered comforting words in her ear: "It's all over now, so don't think about it anymore. You are blessed by God. After you get through this ordeal, all the days ahead will be good."
"Yes, I will."
A moment later, a deep, resonant voice responded from the chest.
*
The next day, Lin Momo returned to being the cheerful woman she always was.
After morning exercise, Shiguang noticed that pine cones and chestnuts had suddenly appeared under the eaves of the front yard, piled up into two small mountains.
Without even thinking, he knew it was Lin Momo's doing again, and couldn't help but smile helplessly.
Soon after, Lin Momo, who had just arrived, smiled and said to him, "I'll roast some pine nuts and chestnuts for you today. After breakfast, let's crack the pine nuts out first!"
The pine cones have been dried in the air, and they will fall off with just a gentle tap.
Speaking of which, we must mention another peculiar feature of this space:
Only things placed inside the small building will stay fresh and remain in the same state as when they were first placed there.
Upon discovering this, Lin Momo quickly moved all the medicinal herbs, mushrooms, chestnuts, fruits, and other mountain produce that needed to be preserved, which had been stored in the yard, into the house. As for the mountain produce that needed to be dried, such as pine cones and walnuts, she spread them out on the spot to dry.
Seeing the bright smile return to her face and her renewed interest in cooking, Shi Guang knew that she had let go of that unpleasant experience, and felt quite gratified.
Immediately, he rolled up his sleeves and said with a smile, "No need for dinner, I'll do it now, it'll be a good opportunity to stretch my muscles."
After the pine nuts were cracked out, Lin Momo couldn't wait to take out several newly bought nut shellers, such as a chestnut opener, a multi-functional nut cracker, and a pine nut and hazelnut cracker, to see if they were any good.
Chestnuts and pine nuts are delicious even when raw.
Chestnuts, in particular, are crisp and refreshing when eaten raw, with sweet juice, and are said to have kidney-tonifying effects.
The annoying thing is that the brown membrane covering the fruit is difficult to remove.
Roasted chestnuts are not only easy to peel, but also have a soft, sweet and glutinous texture.
Roasted pine nuts taste better and are rich in vitamin E, unsaturated fatty acids, phospholipids, protein, and multiple trace elements. They have antioxidant properties, can improve memory and thinking ability, and also have multiple benefits such as promoting bowel movements, protecting blood vessels, and maintaining good health.
As for how to roast pine nuts until they open, Lin Momo did her homework and found two roasting methods online, both of which utilize the principle of thermal expansion and contraction.
One method is to first stir-fry the pine nuts until cooked, then soak them directly in cold water while they are still hot. After they have cooled completely, take them out and lay them flat to dry. The pine nuts will then begin to open.
The other option is more time-consuming and laborious.
First, soak the pine nuts in water for an hour, then steam them over medium heat for half an hour. Let them air dry in a ventilated place, and finally dry-fry them in a pan while constantly stirring. Once most of the pine nuts have popped open, you're done.
Lin Momo planned to try both methods and then compare which method produced pine nuts with a higher opening rate and better taste.
Throughout the entire day.
Shi Guang was in charge of cracking pine nuts and opening chestnuts, while Lin Momo was in charge of roasting pine nuts and chestnuts.
Both of them were extremely busy.
Lin Momo had completely emptied the huge pile of pine cones she had stored in her spatial storage, yielding only about a hundred pounds of pine nuts. These were all roasted and stored in her space while still hot. The pine cones were also piled up in the space's woodshed, waiting to be ignited.
As for the chestnuts, after removing the burrs, there were still more than 300 jin (150 kg) left.
Lin Momo only cooked about 60 jin (30 catties) of food before her arms became so sore she couldn't swing the spatula anymore. She had to save it for another time when she had more time.
She also likes to eat them raw, and can also save them to make dishes like chestnut stir-fried chicken.
*
In the late afternoon, beside the stone table in the courtyard.
A man and a woman were leisurely brewing tea around a stove. In front of them were a plate of roasted chestnuts, a plate of roasted pine nuts, a plate of fresh walnuts, a tea set, and two small cans of tea.
"Hmm, this tea is quite good!" Time couldn't help but exclaim in admiration as he smelled the aroma of the tea in the air.
Taking a sip of tea from her small cup, Lin smiled and said, "I bought a lot of tea leaves in Dali last time. If you like them, I'll give you a pound of each kind."
Lin Momo is quite generous when it comes to time.
"No, I rarely drink tea." Shi Guang smiled and shook his head, putting down the white porcelain teacup and picking up a few pine nuts that had been opened to crack open.
If he just wants to drink tea, he'll buy it himself; he'd never try to take it from her.
Lin Momo didn't insist. She bit the rim of her cup, thinking that when he was about to leave, she would just put two cans of tea and a tea set in his suitcase.
Back in Dali, she bought over a hundred kilograms of tea in one go, and the shop owner was so pleased that he gave her two sets of teaware and more than a dozen tea canisters as a gift.
Later, Lin Momo also bought several beautiful tea sets and tea canisters from other stores.
I'll give you a set of Timepieces; I can still use them myself.
At that moment, Time placed the shelled pine nuts in a small blue-and-white porcelain dish and pushed it in front of Lin Momo.
Seeing that she seemed distracted, I couldn't help but ask her, "What are you thinking about? Why are you so focused? Are you eating pine nuts?"
Coming to her senses, Lin Momo looked at the plump white pine nuts in the small dish in front of her, felt a warmth in her heart, picked up two and put them in her mouth.
While enjoying the fragrant pine nuts, Shi Guang praised, "These pine nuts are really delicious!"
Looking up at him, watching him eat without a care in the world, Lin Momo couldn't help but remind him, "Shiguang, several days have passed already. Shouldn't you... check your phone? Your family must be going crazy looking for you, right?"
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