I farmed and built a villa in ancient times

Chapter 27 Meeting in a narrow road

He was stunned, "Sister, you...what do you want to do?"

"What do I want to do? I want to strangle you to death, you brat, you dare to tease me!" Zhou Chenyu stretched out his claws at him and pinched his neck.

"No, no, no, sister, I was wrong."

"You stop for me!!"

Zhou Chenyu picked up a wooden stick and ran after Baoyu. Baoyu received two sticks and no longer dared to mess around.

The two climbed up to the top of the pool, which was an empty valley between two mountains. The clear spring originated from the end of the valley and flowed down the fine sand and rocks of the valley. Wherever the water passed by, the vegetation on the shore was destroyed. It is denser and more prosperous than other places, and the crabs you are looking for are hidden in this mountain spring.

Looking at the mottled and swaying shadows on the stone wall, Zhou Chenyu thought not of the bright moon shining among the pines, but of the sun shining among the pines and the clear spring flowing up the stone.

She and Baoyu stepped into the cold mountain stream with bare feet. The water was very shallow, only covering the insteps, so they would not get their clothes wet even if they squatted down.

"Show me where the crab is?"

Zhou Chenyu stared closely at the floating water and walked slowly in the mountain stream. His eyes passed over the fallen leaves, river sand, fish, and weeds, and finally stopped at a stone with yellow mud.

A small crab, three fingers thick, landed on it, almost integrated into the yellow mud stone. You can't find it unless you look carefully.

With quick eyes and quick hands, she avoided the crab's pincers, quickly grabbed the hard shell part and picked it up.

"Hey, I caught one."

Zhou Baoyu responded absently, still staring at the water, and suddenly saw a crab walking sideways in the cracks of the rocks. He grabbed it and said, "Sister, I caught it too. It's quite fat. It must have a lot of meat."

"Really?"

Zhou Chenyu glanced over his head, compared it with his own, and then met his father with his son, "Boy, don't get too happy too early, I'm sure I can catch the big ones too."

"Sister, whether you can catch them or not, the big ones will be left for you and mother to eat."

Zhou Baoyu grinned, his lips were red and his teeth were white, and he looked so naive.

Zhou Chenyu didn't know whether it was because he was used to his sister's filter or something else. Looking at him now, he looked more handsome than a young boy when they first met him.

He seems a bit adult-like and trustworthy.

She looked at his back and sighed, "He is good-looking, but he has an extra brain."

"Sister, what are you whispering secretly behind me?" Baoyu turned back, looking wary.

Zhou Chenyu tilted his head, pursed his lips, smiled, and coaxed him, "I praise you for your good looks."

"That's right." Zhou Baoyu shook his shoulders obscenely, making him look even more stupid.

Zhou Chenyu was amused by him and calmed down for a long time before continuing to catch small crabs.

Fortunately, after picking up a small crab, Zhou Chenyu gained experience. He slowed down his pace and kept his eyes sharp, not missing every corner.

She and Baoyu picked up the crabs from Jishuitan all the way up to the spring at the end of the valley. The small crabs they put in the bamboo baskets together weighed several kilograms, enough for their family to eat meat for several days.

Zhou Chenyu lowered his head for a long time, straightened his waist, and looked at the bright place, almost feeling dizzy.

"Oh my God, I'm about to die. Sit down and rest for a while before leaving." Without waiting for Baoyu to answer, she found a nearby rock to rest on, completely motionless.

Admiring the beautiful scenery of mountains and clear waters, and listening to the crisp and melodious chirping of birds and the sound of gurgling water around me, I really want to use the sky as my quilt and the earth as my bed, lie down and have a good sleep.

Zhou Baoyu, as if taking stimulants, ran to the shore carrying her on his back.

She howled, "Zhou Baoyu, what are you doing?"

"Sister, there are a lot of fruits here." Zhou Baoyu ducked into the jungle and stared at the red fruits growing by the stream. He picked up the hem of his clothes and put the big ones into his clothes.

He combed through the circle and turned back like a jumping wild monkey, "Sister, eat some fruits to quench your thirst."

What fruit?
"Let me take a look." Zhou Chenyu stood up and took a handful. The fruit was only as big as a thumb and was red in color, somewhat similar to strawberries.

She remembered that when she was a child, she went to the countryside to worship her ancestors and ate this thing. Adults called it snake fruit.Because there are sharp thorns on the fruit, greedy children can easily prick their hands, so adults will lie to them that snakes like to crawl nearby, and children cannot pick them up by themselves.

Zhou Chenyu stuffed a few berries into his mouth. Although the texture of raspberries was not as full and juicy as strawberries, eating them brought back some childhood memories.

They quenched their thirst with snakeberries and drank a few mouthfuls of sweet spring water. After resting, they picked up their backpacks and walked back to Jishuitan.

The dustpan filled with earthworms had been soaked in the water for several hours. The two of them each lifted one side and worked together to lift the dustpan out of the water.

The water flowed out from the small hole, and when it was carried to the shore, only dripping water drops remained.

Zhou Chenyu was holding the handle of the dustpan and could already feel the live shrimps jumping and bouncing inside. She couldn't wait to open the lid and saw densely packed river shrimps crowded at the bottom of the basket, about two kilograms.

These river shrimps are not as big as those bought from farms. They are all small shrimps. They are caught and dried in the sun. They can be used to enhance their freshness when cooking or making porridge.

The siblings carried bamboo baskets filled with crabs and shrimps down the mountain. When they passed the vegetable garden at the back of the house, the black soil was covered with green vegetables and fruits, and vines of bean sprouts and fruits were also wrapped around the bamboo railings. Make people happy.

Wild vegetables are finally not the only vegetable on their menu.

Zhou Baoyu pushed open the courtyard door and put baskets of shrimps and crabs into a basin to soak. There were some bamboo strips and chips scattered in the courtyard, but Li Xiuju was nowhere to be seen.

He shouted, "Mom, we are back!"

Li Xiuju walked out of the chicken hut, holding an egg in her hand, and said with a happy smile: "Look, the hens you raised laid eggs. If you want to eat eggs in the future, you will have them at home. There is no need to buy them from others."

"Let me take a look." Zhou Chenyu watched those chickens grow up. She took the egg given by Li Xiuju. The eggshell was still warm with a little blood on it.

These are eggs from free-range chickens that she raised with rice bran and wild vegetables. People say that local eggs are fragrant and nutritious. I wonder how they taste different?
Li Xiuju rolled up her sleeves and fished for shrimps and crabs in the basin. She was very busy, "There are eggs and crabs here. Our family hasn't had a good meal for a long time. Why don't we cook a loofah egg tonight?" Soup and crab pot.”

When he heard tonight's sumptuous menu, Zhou Chenyu's eyes lit up, as if he came to life, "Okay, okay!"

After that, Li Xiuju cleaned the yard, went to the village well to fetch two buckets of water, and started to process the crabs.

How can meat crabs be cooked in a pot with only crabs but no chicken feet?

Zhou Chenyu said something extravagantly, and Li Xiuju understood it and immediately asked Baoyu to go to the village slaughterhouse to buy half a catty of fresh chicken feet, and cut a loofah on the way.

The sky is getting dark, smoke is rising from the chimneys of every house, and the sound of cooking with spatulas can be heard one after another.

Li Xiuju washed the crabs, put them in a pot over high heat, poured in two tablespoons of lard, and heated it until it was [-]% hot. She scooped the crab shells and crab meat from the pot into the pot in batches, fried them until golden brown, and then took them out.

(End of this chapter)