Volume 1 Chapter 0049 Summer
"There is a beautiful flower in the world. It is the fragrance of youth. It blooms with strong bones. It is dyed red with blood. Ah~ah, velvet flower, ah~la..."
Nan Ruoyin hummed the interlude "Ronghua" which was her favorite song after Nan Yi took her to see the movie "Xiaohua". She walked barefoot on the ridge of the field, bending down from time to time to see if there were any holes in the wall of the ridge.
When they see a hole, they will place a handful of dry mud on the vertical line between the ridge and the hole, and then continue to explore forward.
After quickly looking at several ridges of the field, he walked back to the edge of Nan Yi.
"Dad, did you catch anything?"
"Look after the fish basket yourself."
Nan Yi was bending over, holding an eel hook made of wire and bamboo in his hand, with a large green earthworm strung on the hook. The eel hook was slowly moving in and out of the eel hole, luring the eel.
Nan Ruoyin opened the lid of the fish basket hanging on Nan Yi's waist and looked inside. "Wow, Dad, you are so good. You have already caught two fish."
"Shh, don't make noise."
"Well!"
The little girl covered her mouth and tiptoed to Nan Yi's side, staring intently at the eel hook with her little eyes.
Just now, when the little girl called out, the eel that was about to be hooked shrank back.
Nan Yi was still teasing it patiently. After two minutes, a two-centimeter-thick eel carefully crawled out of the cave.
Nan Yi moved the eel hook towards the cave entrance little by little, and the eel also moved forward little by little.
Suddenly, the eel slid forward and wanted to bite the earthworm.
Nan Yi was quick-eyed and quick-handed. His left hand was as fast as lightning. He pinched the eel's vital point with his index finger and thumb and dragged the whole eel out of the hole.
"Wow, it's so thick, Dad. This piece can be made into a dish, braised eel slices."
"It's too thick. It won't taste good if you braise it. Keep it first. When daddy catches a snake, I'll make you a double dragon playing with a pearl."
"Dad, the dragon is made of eels and snakes, what are the beads made of?"
"You can make a lot of things with it. If you want something bigger, Dad will use eggs. If you want something smaller, Dad will find river clams and use the meat of the clams to make it for you."
“Are clams delicious?”
“It’s delicious and tastes fresh.”
Nan Ruoyin's eyes lit up, "Then let's go touch the river clams now."
"Don't worry, Dad will catch two more eels and mark the hole, then we'll go pick up snails first, and then we'll go after we've picked them up."
"Uh-huh."
The eels nowadays live too comfortably and have not yet learned to be smart. It only took Nan Yi a few minutes to catch two eels, but it took more time to mark them.
After marking, Nan Yi took Nan Ruoyin to the lotus pond.
The lotus pond is in an irregular 8 shape. The water is relatively shallow at the junction of the upper and lower circles of the 8 shape, and there is a gentle slope. Many snails and land snails grow at this location.
It’s not so much picking as digging. The snails here are densely distributed. You can grab a handful by digging at the bottom of the water with your hands.
After picking out the small stones inside, Nan Yi and the other man put them into the washbasin.
"Dad, this snail is so big."
"The big ones have more meat, but they don't taste as good as snails. When we get home, we pick out the meat and grill them to eat in the evening. We cut off the butts of the snails and make fried snails with sauce."
"Hmm, hmm, add more bean paste and chili peppers. It tastes spicy and delicious...Ah! Dad, snake, snake."
"Why are you panicking? The ones that stay in water are basically water snakes. This one is a red-spotted rat snake and it's too thin. Let it go and drive it away." Nan Yi said as he glanced at the water snake swimming beside Nan Ruoyin.
"Not poisonous?"
"It's not poisonous. The bite will hurt at most."
"Oh! Little snake, little snake, swim away quickly, you are too thin , we won't eat you."
Nan Ruoyin slapped the water surface with her small hands to scare away the water snake, and then helped Nan Yi to carve snails.
I played with it and picked up a full basin in half an hour.
The father and daughter sat on a dry stone for a while. Nan Yi smoked a cigarette, and Nan Ruoyin looked around and soon set her eyes on Lingjiao again.
"Dad, are the water chestnuts ripe?"
"Not yet. The water chestnuts we have here have only two corners. The ones in the lotus pond are the July water chestnuts, which are the two-cornered water chestnuts. They will not be fully ripe until the seventh month of the lunar calendar. But this year is a leap year, so they will be ripe in the leap sixth month."
"Oh, what a pity. I can't eat it now."
"Yes, we can't eat it. We could eat it raw a month ago. It was sweet and delicious. Now, it tastes bitter and can only be eaten after being cooked. Water chestnuts can't be eaten, but we can pick up some water chestnut vines and stir-fry them with chili peppers. They taste good too."
"tasty?"
“Mm, it’s delicious.”
"Dad, I'll go get it."
Nan Ruoyin stood up quickly and wanted to jump into the water.
"Sit down and I'll go get them later. It's too dangerous for you to get your feet tangled up in the water chestnut vines. You'll drown."
"Oh, Dad, have you rested enough?"
"Wait a moment, I'll drink some water."
I cast the net, fished for eels, picked up snails, fished for water chestnut vines, and touched river clams. On the way back, I even found a snake's nest.
The dinner dishes are very rich, including Double Dragons Playing with a Pearl, Bigan Wuxin [Grilled Snails over Charcoal Fire], Chang'e Descending to Earth [Freshly Stir-fried River Clams], Dad's Private Dish [Stir-fried Water Chestnuts with Red Peppers], Fish Clan Meeting [Mixed Fish Pot], Orange and Red Era [Braised Shrimp], and Like a Fishbone Stuck in the Throat [Stir-fried Taro Stems].
There are also the unattainable [pig's front feet], Qilinjie [cold-mixed watermelon rind], Huoyanshan [tomatoes mixed with sugar], and Qingcong Baiyu [cucumbers mixed with sugar] that are simmered on low heat before going out.
“Mm, delicious!”
“Mmm, it’s delicious!”
"Hmm, this is delicious too. "
"Dad, each one is delicious, but I'm full."
After eating a lot, Nan Ruoyin touched her belly and cried, but her eyes were still fixed on the food on the table.
"If you can't finish it, eat it tomorrow. I'll put the vegetables in the vegetable drawer and soak them in the sink. They won't go bad."
"Well, Dad, there's no TV to watch here."
The little girl thinks about watching TV when she is well fed and clothed. Once her material needs are met, she immediately begins to pursue spiritual needs.
"The TV, I can't do anything about it. Dad doesn't have any tickets for the TV anymore, and I can't buy the TV without tickets."
"Dad, you're lying. I clearly saw a lot of tickets last time."
"Haha, those aren't TV tickets. Daddy really doesn't have them. The puppy lied to you."
"Alas, there is no TV to watch, so I can only read books. The long night is so hard to endure." Nan Ruoyin supported her chin and looked up at the stars in the sky, as if she was missing her lover Nobita Nobi.
Nan Yi cleaned up the dishes, wiped the table, and washed the dishes and chopsticks in the river in the yard.
He made himself a cup of tea and a cup of milk for Nan Ruoyin, then opened the gate and sat on the doorstep. The little girl followed closely behind him and sat down next to him, resting her head on Nan Yi's thigh and looking up at the sky.
"Dad, I'm going to share a secret with you."
"Okay, go ahead and talk. I'm listening."
