0p0 Chapter 185 Valley Life
Chapter 185 Valley Life
Han Zhibai brought Xia Qingyue to the middle reaches of the river, chose a good location, and placed two fish cages and two backpacks there.
Xia Qingyue found a shallow water area, stepped on the stones to get over there, squatted down and turned over the stones to feel for crabs. She turned over several stones in a row, but didn't see any crabs. Instead, she startled several small fish that swam away quickly.
She didn't believe it, so she went to the other side and turned over some rocks. After turning over a few, she caught a few crabs, some big and some small.
Han Zhibai walked ashore from the river, his legs were wet, his pants below the knees were wet, his legs in the pants were slender and thin, the fabric was close to his calves, the smooth lines of the muscles on his legs were clearly visible, showing a strong and powerful feeling.
"It hasn't rained for more than a month, so the water volume is less than during the rainy season, and it's not as turbulent, so fishing is not as fast as before."
"It's okay, don't worry. It's good enough that we can catch some fish. Look, these are the crabs I caught." She happily picked up the crabs in her hand and showed them to him.
"There's a place down by the river where there are lots of crabs, and they're big. We can go catch them now."
The word "Okay" almost came out of Xia Qingyue's mouth. She wanted to go, but she had to visit Li's house later, so time was tight.
"Next time." She glanced at Han Zhibai's wet trouser legs and asked, "Do you want to go back and change your trousers?"
Han Zhibai smiled and said, "No need to change it. It's hot and it will be dry in a short while."
"Okay." Xia Qingyue put the crabs she had caught into a wooden barrel and walked on the stones. When she was almost at the shore, Han Zhibai stretched out his hand to her. She naturally put her hand into his big palm and, with the help of his strength, got ashore steadily.
Just now she saw a lot of fresh wild vegetables growing on the surrounding grass.
"Didn't you pick some wild herbs from the grass?"
Han Zhibai said honestly: "During the rainy period, there were no crops, so I picked them and ate them. After the rain stopped, I planted crops in the fields and stopped picking them."
Xia Qingyue looked at the wild vegetables. It was such a pity that there were so many of them. During the flood, there was a long period of time when there were no green vegetables. She often soaked mung bean sprouts and ate them almost every day. Later, she got a little tired of them.
One night she even dreamed that she had planted a large vegetable garden with all kinds of vegetables. She cooked them into a table full of dishes in different ways and was so happy while eating that she woke up laughing.
Now there are crops planted in the fields and there is no shortage of vegetables, but some wild vegetables are delicious and are no worse than those grown by ourselves, such as shepherd's purse, wild onion, fern, dandelion and so on.
She looked at him and asked, "I want to pick some wild vegetables to make dumplings for lunch. The wild onions here are big and good. Can I pick some to plant?"
"Of course!"
The two of them bent down together to pick shepherd's purse and pull wild onions.
While busy, Han Zhibai said that he had collected wild cherry tomatoes from the valley some time ago to keep seeds, dried them and preserved them.
Xia Qingyue shared her experience in practicing archery in recent months and the problems she encountered.
They found a lot of wild vegetables in the chat.
It was almost time, so Han Zhibai went back to the river to put away the fish cage and backpack.
As expected, just as Xia Qingyue had thought, a lot of fish were caught. However, compared to last time, this time there were more small and medium-sized fish and snails caught, and most of the river shrimps were large.
"The big fish are very smart. Before, due to the rain, they swam along the current and were easy to catch. Now they are very smart and usually hide in the cracks of the rocks." Han Zhibai picked out the big fish, killed it by the river, and cleaned it.
After finishing, he poured the fish from the two fish cages into the backpack and lifted it onto his back with one hand.
She looked at the sparkling river and the towering mountains in the distance under the blue sky and white clouds. "It would be nice to go fishing here if I have time. It's so relaxing."
Han Zhibai glanced at her with a smile on his face, "There is a fishing rod at home, let's go fishing together in the future!"
She smiled and nodded and said okay.
The two were walking home, and on the way they saw Heihei and Xiaobai running up the mountain to play.
As soon as he got home, Han Zhibai took off the backpack, frowned slightly and glanced at his clothes that were wet from the fish in the backpack and had a faint fishy smell, "Qingyue, I'm dirty. I'm going to take a bath. You sit and eat the pear."
He ran to the kitchen and brought out a large bowl of pears. "If you feel bored, you can go to the backyard or the mountain."
"Okay, go ahead."
Han Zhibai went to the kitchen with warm water, applied tea seed powder, rubbed his hands repeatedly to wash them clean, went to the room to get a set of clean clothes, and carried water into the bathroom next to the kitchen to change.
Xia Qingyue walked from the bamboo forest beside to the backyard.
The backyard was also surrounded by a high fence and separated by a wooden door. She unbolted the door and walked in. The first thing she saw was a thatched hut diagonally in front of her.
The shed was built of wood, with a thatched roof and a door ajar.
That was the large single room where Xiao Hei lived alone.
She opened the door and walked in. She waved to Xiao Hei, who was sleeping on the floor. He half-opened his eyes and looked a little dazed when he heard someone coming. "Hi, Xiao Hei, are you okay?"
Xiao Hei saw clearly that it was her. He stared at her calmly with his big eyes. He exhaled heavily through his nose, then closed his eyelids and went back to sleep.
Its long, dense, and slightly curled eyelashes looked kind and benevolent, a bit like human eyebrows, which made Xia Qingyue envious. She squatted there and looked at it for a long time.
"That's great. I envy you so much."
Xiao Hei didn't open his eyes, but moved his mouth and ground his teeth, making rapid "ugh, ugh, ugh" sounds.
She smiled and touched its head, "Are you so happy to see me?"
Xiao Hei tilted his head, turned over, and faced the inside of the wall.
Seeing this, Xia Qingyue thought it was very happy to see her, but couldn't resist being sleepy, so she stood up and said, "Go to sleep if you're sleepy. I'll go check on Li Zi."
The backyard is larger than the front yard. There are two loquat trees and four pear trees. The extra space is fenced off for growing vegetables and is kept neat and orderly.
The pear trees are tall, with branches hanging with brown-skinned pears of varying sizes, also known as Autumn Moon Pears. The sun is scorching, and the leaves on the branches are curled up.
She walked around under the tree. There was a layer of fallen pear leaves on the ground, and on top of that were fallen pears. Some were rotten, some were half rotten, and a few were good. She picked out the good ones and took them back.
When Xia Qingyue returned, she saw Han Zhibai slicing fish in the kitchen. On the kitchen counter were a bowl of pickled cabbage and pickled peppers, a bowl of ginger, garlic, and onions, all chopped.
Take out the flour and other ingredients needed for cooking and lay them out.
The big pot on the stove was covered with a lid, steam was rising, and a fishy smell could be smelled.
"I steamed a few big fish for Xiaobai and Heihei to eat." said Han Zhibai.
There was a whole big piece of firewood burning in the stove, and the fire was blazing. Xia Qingyue rolled up her sleeves and said, "I'll wash the vegetables, and then knead the dough."
Han Zhibai remembered how Xia Qingyue had handled the fish before. He added seasonings and mixed the fish evenly to marinate it. He then washed his hands in the basin on the wooden rack. "The water in the jar has boiled. I'm going to kill the chicken."
She looked up in surprise while washing vegetables, "We still need to kill a chicken? Make two kinds of dumplings, cook some pickled fish, and boil a bowl of vegetable soup, and that'll be enough."