An orphan girl from a farming family: Everyday farming in the mountains during natural disasters

Chapter 128 Go to the Reed Marsh

Xia Qingyue nodded, "Aunt, I'll come down later, please take care of yourselves."

"Good boy, don't worry about us. Be careful in the mountains." Chen Yuzhen smiled gently.

After parting with the Li family, Xia Qingyue set out on the road up the mountain in the dark. To reach the tiankeng, she had to climb over three mountains.

Heihei knew the path very well, so she followed it without fear of getting lost.

After climbing over two mountains, they could see wild vegetables on the road. There were very few shepherd's purse, black lettuce, dandelions and wild onions. Even the watercress that she didn't like was not seen because it had all been dug up by the villagers.

As she walked and looked around, she suddenly saw something on the grass by the roadside that was darker in color than the green grass. At first glance, it looked like moss, and at second glance, it looked like wood ear.

“Isn’t this ground ear vegetable?”

She smiled in surprise, walked over to take a look, and saw some on the grass inside the bushes. She pushed aside the grass and saw a patch of ground lettuce.

There is a tall tree next to it with lush branches and leaves. The sky has been cloudy recently and it is probably going to rain. There is morning dew on the grass and trees in the morning, making this place relatively humid.

Ground fungus, also known as ground wood ear, is a delicious wild vegetable. Its disadvantage is that it is difficult to clean as it is covered with fine sand and impurities.

She stopped and squatted down to pick the ground vegetables in the grass and filled a basket.

When she was almost at the bamboo forest near the tiankeng, she turned over to see if there were any bamboo shoots or bamboo fungi.

During the winter months, all the bamboo fungus has been eaten up. There are still several kilograms of dried bamboo shoots, but no sour bamboo shoots left.

It is spring now, and the bamboo shoots that sprout in the new year are the freshest and tenderest.

bamboo forest.

She didn't see any bamboo fungus, but there were traces of pits left by people who had stepped on the soil and dug out bamboo shoots. There seemed to be quite a few of them at first glance. She looked carefully and barely found a few bamboo shoots that had just emerged.

The bamboo shoots must have been dug up by refugees from the mountain. They had lived in the mountains before and were familiar with the terrain, so they knew where the good mountain products were.

"It seems I have to come earlier to dig next time."

She dug up a few bamboo shoots she found, took them back, and walked towards the stream.

She came to the bank of the stream. The water was gurgling and clear, and sometimes she could see a few small fish coming out from the rocks and swimming away.

"We can use fish cages to catch fish again. Chickens and ducks are blessed."

She didn't plan to kill the remaining chickens and ducks for food. Instead, she would let them lay fertilized eggs and raise more chicks and ducklings.

"I don't know what's happening with the reed marsh." She looked up at the sky. "It's still early. I can go take a look later."

I broke off a bunch of willow branches and took them home to make a new toothbrush.

The willow trees sprouted clusters of new buds, the refreshing green color brought healing power to people, and her mood improved as she watched.

Young willow buds have the effects of stopping bleeding and relieving pain, clearing away heat and detoxifying, and eliminating water and relieving swelling.

The tender willow buds on several trees had been plucked out and there were only a few left. It can be used as medicine and can also be eaten as a wild vegetable.

Then she went to the place where she found wild oyster mushrooms by the stream last year. Unfortunately, no oyster mushrooms or black fungus were seen. There were only some cyan mushrooms and red mushrooms, which she picked all.

Unable to find any good mountain products nearby, she walked back to the tiankeng for half an hour.

The chickens and ducks in the poultry house heard her come back and started to cluck and quack.

"Here it comes, stop shouting!"

Xia Qingyue put the things away and went to the poultry room to chop wild vegetables and prepare food for the pigs. After they ate, they calmed down.

She found the fish cage from the utility room, slung a bow and arrow over her shoulder, picked up the basket and barrel, and called Heihei to go out.

First put the fish cage in the stream, then set out to the reed marsh.

After a long time, we arrived at the reed marsh, but we didn't meet anyone on the way.

The reeds were fluttering, and she went inside. She observed the ground as she walked and found some recent fresh footprints, some of which were from humans, chickens and ducks.

There were not many reed shoots, so she picked them whenever she saw them. The chickens and ducks quite liked to eat them.

After walking for a while, Heihei suddenly ran in a certain direction and finally stopped in an inconspicuous place with thick piles of dry reed leaves. It raised its front paws to pull the reed leaves, and gradually, several white eggs came into view.

Pheasant eggs and wild duck eggs!

Xia Qingyue's face was full of smiles. Her first reaction was to see if there was anyone around and then run over to pick up a few eggs.

"Heihei, look for it again."

Under Heihei's guidance, she found several eggs in two other places.

Passing by the area where she often caught chickens and ducks, she felt itchy and wanted to practice archery.

After hiding in the dark for a while, I finally waited for two wild ducks to fly over. They lowered their heads and pecked at the ground looking for insects to eat.

Xia Qingyue gently picked up the bow and arrow, squinted one eye, aimed at the target, and silently recited some skills taught by Li Benfu in her mind. Her posture changed accordingly, and she was ready to go.

call out--

The arrows flew a short distance and startled the wild ducks. They quacked and flapped their wings, ready to fly.

The arrow was flying very fast, and the arrow hit a duck shortly after the duck took off.

Her heart was in her throat.

The arrow grazed the down on one side of the duck's wing. The duck's body shook a few times and then flew away.

The arrow fell alone on the ground.

Xia Qingyue felt a little regretful, but she was not discouraged. "It's okay. This is just the beginning. No matter what you do, the beginning is always the hardest."

There is not enough time today, otherwise she would stay and hunt with a bow and arrow.

I'm sure there are chickens and ducks here. I'll catch them later when I have time.

Returning the same way, weaving among the reeds, suddenly, Heihei ran forward, looking over there vigilantly.

She listened carefully and saw that someone was catching pheasants and ducks.

Although there are fewer people on the mountain and it is more peaceful now than before, she still doesn't want to have too much contact with people outside, so she and her dog left quietly.

Back to the stream, the sun was setting, she went down into the stream and picked up the fish cages. The first two were a little light, and the third was a little heavier.

Heihei smelled the fishy smell and happily walked around the fish cage.

"Heihei, are you so happy? I'll make you a big meal later. It's a pity that we are a bit pressed for time today, otherwise I could go catch some crabs."

Thinking back to the spicy river fish she made last year, she swallowed her saliva greedily.

When I got home, I put away a dozen chicken and duck eggs. Since there were fewer chickens and ducks, there were fewer eggs as well, and there were almost not enough for Heihei to eat.

She found the wooden basin that used to hold fish and cleared out the fish cages. The two light cages were full of small fish, some clams and snails, about two or three pounds. Once they were poured out, the small fish jumped around.

Fortunately, she dodged quickly and avoided the fishy water from getting on her body.

The third cage had a little more fish, the longest of which were slightly shorter than chopsticks, and there were six of them in total.

Pick out the big and small fish separately.

She used the big fish to make fish soup at night, cooked the small fish in the pot and fed them to Heihei, and ate the chickens and ducks raw.

While the fish was cooking in the pot, she picked up the wooden basin and vegetable basket and went to the well to wash the ground vegetables. It was a waste of water, so it was more convenient to wash them by the well.

The pond was close to the well. While washing ground vegetables in her hands, she frequently looked up at the empty pond.

"It's time to get rid of the pond."