0p0 Chapter 163 Daily Life in the Valley (3)
Chapter 163 Daily Life in the Valley (3)
"If it's not enough, I'll go get some more honey."
Xia Qingyue was slightly stunned. "Are we going to cut it on the mountain here?"
He nodded and said, "Yes, I raise bees in the valley."
Oh my god, is this possible?
After all, it was poverty that limited her imagination.
"I think it should be enough."
The two walked and talked until they came to the kitchen.
The hot water in the pot was bubbling. Xia Qingyue took the pot and wanted to put it in to boil it, but a big hand took the thing from her hand.
Han Zhibai said, "I'll do the ironing and washing."
The hot water steam was scalding hot, and he had thick skin, so even if he got burned accidentally a few times, he would be fine.
"Okay, then I'll light the fire." She sat on a low stool in front of the stove and picked up the fire tongs.
Several pots of water were boiled, and the jars were thoroughly washed and sterilized. The plums were poured into the clean iron pots. Now it was Han Zhibai's turn to light the fire and Xia Qingyue's turn to make the food.
Add a few scoops of water to the pot, pour in some honey, and boil it for more than ten minutes. The cooked food tastes very fragrant, with a light sour taste and the sweet aroma of honey.
The plums turned darker in color after being cooked. She scooped them out and put them into jars. "This is canned fruit. I was afraid it wouldn't last long, so I only made two jars."
If you have a refrigerator, you can can more so that it can be stored longer.
I also made two cans of canned peaches and put them aside and covered them to prevent flies from getting in.
Making jam is just as simple, but a little more time-consuming. Pour the fruit pulp and sugar into the pot in a 1:1 ratio and simmer over low heat. The longer you simmer, the thinner the fruit pulp becomes and the thicker the sugar liquid becomes.
The plum jam she made first was light green in color. The sticky sugar liquid was slightly stretched when she moved it with chopsticks. She tasted it and found it tasted good, retaining the light sour fragrance of the plum and full of sweetness.
She found a wooden spoon, scooped a little and handed it to Han Zhibai, "Try it."
He put it in his mouth and looked at her, "It's sweet and delicious."
"Then make peach jam. By the way, jam can be used for cooking or drinking."
The peach jam was ready. It looked very beautiful, a bright pink color. Her heart melted at the sight of it. She liked peaches more than plums.
Finally, the loquats are boiled together with the washed and chopped loquat leaves and sugar. By the end of the cooking, the loquat paste turns dark brown.
Since there are not so many loquats, the resulting mixture can only fill up half a jar.
After finishing, the whole house was filled with sweet smell, and Xia Qingyue stood in the kitchen cabinet to organize the prepared jams.
Han Zhibai poured out the hot water from the pot in the back stove to wash the pot. After washing, he picked up a wooden barrel and took a kitchen knife.
"Qingyue, I'm going to go to the river and catch some fish for lunch."
Thinking of the big river, Xia Qingyue wanted to go over and take a closer look. "Go to the river? I want to go too."
"Then let's go together."
As soon as the two of them walked out the door, the two little ones followed them. The rain was not so heavy at the moment, so they just left them alone.
I looked at the river at home. It was not far away, but I walked over there and it took me more than three quarters of an hour to get there.
Because of the rainy season, the river water is surging and turbulent, and white waves are hitting the big rocks in the river. In the low-lying places on the shore, the water is splashing down and wetting this piece of pure land.
Han Zhibai took Xia Qingyue to a bend in the river downstream, where the water was not flowing so fast. He rolled up his trouser legs and went into the river. He placed the two backpacks he brought a short distance apart in a depression surrounded by rock crevices. He also found some large stones and piled them around the backpacks to protect them.
He was busy with his own things, and she walked around curiously to check it out.
The riverside is covered with green grass and wild flowers in full bloom, white, blue, and yellow, colorful and beautiful. There are also several tall trees not far away.
She thought the tree looked familiar, "Is that a persimmon tree?"
Han Zhibai: “Yes.”
That's it!
She immediately understood. No wonder last autumn when they were collecting mountain products in the dense forest and finally found persimmons, Han Zhibai didn't want them. That was because he had more persimmons at home.
Glancing at the fairyland-like distant mountains, she thought to herself that there were not only persimmon trees and bees, but there were probably many more mountain products in those places on the mountains.
Living here, you don't have to worry about food and drink, except for mountain products, right...
She looked at him with sparkling eyes, "Han Zhibai, is there any prey on this mountain?"
Han Zhibai walked ashore from the river, with a doting smile in his eyes, "Yes, after dinner, if you want to go up and take a look, we can go together."
"Is it okay?" She was a little embarrassed.
It was already a nuisance for her to be a guest at his house, and the mountain was rich in resources. Taking her up there was like Han Zhibai presenting all his wealth to her.
Han Zhibai didn't hesitate at all. "Why not? As long as you want, anything is possible."
She suddenly raised her eyes to look at him, and her heart felt a little numb, as if a budding tree had been watered with nutrient solution and had grown thin and dense branches and buds.
"Thank you, Han Zhibai."
He is always so easy to talk to.
She looked at him, her eyes as clear and warm as a piece of fine jade, dotted with smiles.
Han Zhibai's throat rolled when he was looked at by her, his wheat-colored face began to feel hot, and his breathing became disordered.
"I should thank you for helping me process the fruits. Otherwise they would have gone to waste."
"That's all trivial." She waved her hands, and a sound came from the backpack. "Hey, maybe they caught a big fish in there? There's a lot of noise."
She walked towards the shore curiously, wanting to see it more clearly.
"Be careful, the road is slippery." Han Zhibai stretched out his big hand to block her. "The shore is very slippery. I'm used to walking on it all year round."
She looked down and saw a lot of green moss growing on the ground beneath her feet. She was frightened for a few moments, thinking that if she slipped, she would fall into the river.
"Stand back a little bit, the fish is almost caught, I'll go get it out."
Han Zhibai stood there watching her, and only went into the river after he saw her retreat to a safe area.
"Did it get online so quickly?" She was surprised by the amazing speed and stood on tiptoe to take a look.
Soon, Han Zhibai brought up two backpacks that were still draining water. There were fish jumping in the baskets, and the baskets were shaking a little.
She took a look and said in surprise, "How could you catch so many fish so quickly?"
There were at least 80 kilograms of river fish in the two backpacks, mainly large fish weighing three or four kilograms, including grass carp, carp, crucian carp and silver carp, all of which were lively and energetic. The smallest fish was as long as a chopstick.
There were also river shrimps and stone snails, which were twice as big as the ones she caught in the creek.
"Because the river is flowing fast recently, we have to net a little faster than usual." Han Zhibai squatted and picked up the chopstick-sized fish, river shrimps and snails in his hands.
She was anxious, thinking he was going to throw them back into the river. "River shrimps and snails are edible."
"I know, but they are too small. It's better to leave them for the chickens and ducks to eat."
"Feed these to the chickens and ducks?" Such good river shrimps and snails?
The corners of her mouth twitched violently twice.
In the past, if she had found such good river shrimps and snails in the stream, she would have been so happy.