It rains heavily during Qingming Festival.
Ever since I planted the sweet potato seedlings, it has rained from time to time. This is because the Qingming Festival is coming soon!
For people in the village, Qingming Festival is not just about visiting the graves of their ancestors, but also a lot of farm work.
In the mountains, bracken, bamboo shoots, honeysuckle, tea leaves, etc. are all ready to be picked.
Many beauties were wearing bamboo hats, old clothes, and carrying bamboo baskets. They went into the mountains with a few good friends from the village to pick these things. Bracken and bamboo shoots are both wild vegetables. They can be dried in the sun or dried after being processed. Save it and eat slowly.
After the honeysuckle is dried, it becomes a good medicine for clearing away heat and detoxifying. You can either keep it at home or sell it to a pharmaceutical company for money.
As for the tea leaves, I pick them, roast them myself and keep them for my own consumption.
For people in the village, if they can get something for free, they won’t spend the money. The tea they fry themselves may not be as fragrant as the ones they buy, but so what? Drinking tea in summer can relieve the heat, that’s good!
Picking is a matter for women. Halfway up the mountain, you can see crowded figures of women.
But the matter of leveling the rice fields is a matter for men.
The seedlings are almost grown, and it's time to transplant them. The fields have been plowed a long time ago and are now filled with water.
However, the surface of a plowed field may not be flat, which will affect the transplanting of rice seedlings. Therefore, special tools are needed to level the field before transplanting.
Gao Mingcheng only had one acre of land, so it was easy. After he finished building his own land, he went to help Grandma Xi's house.
Grandma Xi’s family has a shortage of labor force and has three acres of farmland. Every year, Gao Mingcheng helps out a little bit when farming.
Seeing that it was almost noon, Grandma Xi straightened up and said to Gao Mingcheng: "I'm going back to cook. You and Duomei will come to my house for lunch."
It is a custom to treat others to a meal at home when they are helping out.
Gao Mingcheng did not refuse, but graciously agreed.
After Grandma Xi left, he and Gao Zhuang continued to level the rice fields. In the process, he found traces of small fish, loaches and eels in the fields. If he looked carefully, he could also find some snails.
This was brought along by the current after the water rose.
"Gao Zhuang, do you want to catch eels?" Gao Mingcheng was a little excited when he saw a fat eel getting into the mud.
"Catch!" Gao Zhuang is also a fun-loving person. The two hit it off immediately. They immediately took off their old shirts and knotted the cuffs to make a simple bag to hold the captured trophies.
In fact, you can also take off your pants, which will make you look better than clothes. However, you are a twenty-year-old boy, so taking off your pants is not very elegant!
After making the bags to put things in, the two of them started to work.
It is said to be catching eels, but if you encounter a loach, you will naturally catch it. The two of them grew up in the fields and have already developed their skills. Gao Zhuang is not as good as Gao Mingcheng in catching fish, but he is still good at catching loaches and eels.
The main thing is that catching fish has to be done in the reservoir. You have to use your hands to slowly touch the bottom of the water. When you touch the fish, you have to catch the fish quickly.
But some fish are not easy to mess with, such as the yellow grunt, which has thorns that are poisonous, which makes some people feel timid. When timid, their hands become unstable and difficult to catch fish.
But catching eels is different. There are skills to catching eels. You first need to observe the mud in the field and find places with holes and bubbles. Nine times out of ten, there will be eels or loaches. At this time, you just need to follow the If you go to catch this hole, your hands must be fast and accurate, and then you can catch it safely.
Whether it is eels or loaches, they are very slippery and can easily escape from your hands, so you must grab them with great strength and then throw them into your sleeve bag as soon as possible to prevent them from escaping.
While the two of them were busy catching eels, there were also people catching eels in the field next to them. They were basically half-grown children. They had also developed their skills early on, and their catching speed was not slow.
At this time, Gao Mingwan walked along the field ridge. He was covered in mud, and all the clothes in his hands were covered with mud. It was obvious that he had been catching eels just now.
Gao Mingwan stood on the ridge of the field, looking at his second brother.
"Second brother, how many have you caught?"
"There are some." When Gao Mingcheng caught them, he didn't count them in detail. Now he straightened up and took a short rest to take a look at how many he had caught.
You don’t know this by looking at it, but you will smile when you see it!
Unknowingly, he had caught quite a few!
After weighing it, it should be enough for two plates.
He looked at Gao Mingwan and asked, "How many did you catch?"
Gao Mingwan also smiled and said, "That's enough for a plate. I plan to catch them in the afternoon. After the rice seedlings are planted, it won't be easy to catch them."
"Actually, it's easier to catch them during harvesting!" Gao Mingcheng said.
By the time the early rice is harvested, there will be quite a lot of eels and loaches in the fields. At that time, it was definitely a feast for the children in the village. Their greatest fun was catching loaches in the fields.
The two brothers said a few more words, and Gao Mingwan went back first.
Gao Mingcheng looked at the sky. Because he had to work in the fields, he didn't wear a watch. He guessed that it was almost one o'clock in the afternoon, so he called Gao Zhuang to go home.
Gao Zhuang also had a smile on his face, obviously he also caught a lot.
"I'll put the things back first, wash my face, and then go over to eat." Gao Mingcheng said to Gao Zhuang.
Gao Zhuang agreed, so the two of them went home separately.
The caught eels and loaches cannot be eaten immediately. Instead, they must be kept in clean water for a few days until all the sediment in their stomachs has been vomited before they can be eaten.
Otherwise, you will get an earthy smell.
Gao Mingcheng poured the eels and loaches carried in his sleeves into the large basin. This basin was originally used for bathing, but when it came time to catch fish, there were fish in it, and now there are fish in it. eels and loaches.
Gao Mingcheng thought that he would have to ask the carpenter to build another bathtub. Anyway, he still had some cut and dried fir trees piled in the mountain, which could be used at any time.
Because there was too much sticky soil, Gao Mingcheng washed all the eels and loaches first, and then poured them into clean water to raise.
Since we have a well at home, it is particularly convenient to use water.
Next, he picked up another bucket of water, stood not far away, and washed his face, hands and feet. The well water splashed directly on his body, which was a bit cold, but Gao Mingcheng could bear it.
He changed into a set of clean clothes before walking to Grandma Xin's home.
On the way, I happened to encounter Duo Mei who had returned from picking. The bamboo basket Duo Mei had brought with him in the morning was piled high, mostly with honeysuckle and tea leaves, and some bracken.
As for the bamboo shoots, many Mei did not collect them because Gao Mingcheng went to the mountains last time and brought back a lot of bamboo shoots. After processing, those bamboo shoots were enough for them to eat for a long time.
(End of chapter)
