12dz Chapter 29 Earth Ear
Chapter 29 Earth Ear
The wood ear mushrooms in the mountains are even more amazing. One wood ear mushroom is even bigger than a person’s palm.
After picking up a few flowers, they could no longer carry them. They were too wet to wrap with clothes, so they had to go down the mountain.
The rotten sticks are full of red fungus and sheepskin fungus growing in an uneven pattern. A few of them are enough to make a dish. They are really big.
When encountering such a stick, Zhou Mingzhi simply chose to bring the stick with him so that it would be easier to hold.
"After the rain, the mushrooms in the mountains have grown. You see, they are just too small. It will be perfect for us to come tomorrow."
Some of the mushrooms dotted around in the open space had just popped out, looking so cute that they felt sorry for them and decided to let them go and pick them up next time.
They were not the only ones living in the mountains. Many villagers from Lianglin Village who had time went into the mountains with baskets on their backs, to see if they could pick some mushrooms or something, hoping to add them to their dishes.
When you meet someone, you can't help but say hello.
With Zhou Mingzhi around, the three of them just had to pick mushrooms.
The second master of the Wang family held a stick and pointed in a direction, "There are a lot of cucumbers over there, go pick them, there are so many, you can't pick them all, go quickly."
What cucumber smells like? Zhou Mingshu didn't know, the cucumber flower? But the other three were already excited.
After thanking Master Wang Er, the few of them walked towards the backpack, and put down the fungus in their hands.
The four of them carried backpacks on their backs, with Zhou Mingzhi leading the way and walking quickly.
That area was filled with the scent of cucumbers. They were only thinking about finding wood ear mushrooms and bamboo shoots, and forgot about this delicacy.
Looking from afar, I saw many roots growing on the grass, standing one by one. It turned out that this was the thing that made the cucumber scent.
The system also started beeping, it turned out that this wild vegetable belonged to the fern family.
In front of us is a mountain stream with a small creek running through it. The sound of gurgling water is endless, and the birds in the woods are chirping non-stop. The environment is very quiet.
No wonder cucumbers grow so fragrantly here. There is no shortage of water and no exposure to the sun. It is indeed a good place.
Several people started to pick vegetables, and Zhou Mingshu followed suit, picking out the small ones, which were very tender and fresh. With a little force, they could be broken in two.
They were in a very good mood and each of them folded a lot of paper until the backpacks could no longer hold any more, and then they prepared to go down the mountain.
"Oh, this backpack is so heavy. I have never carried such a heavy backpack before."
"Haha, second sister, isn't this the feeling of happiness? A heavy happiness."
"You have a point, girl."
Zhou Mingzhi also couldn't bear to see the girls carrying so many things, fearing that it would hurt their small bodies.
So they took out some bamboo shoots from their backpacks.
"Be careful, the road is slippery. If you can't carry it, let me know in advance. Let's take a break."
The few people walked down the mountain very carefully. It was bad enough that the backpacks were heavy, but the road was also so slippery.
Zhou Mingjie was brave and was the first to fall on his butt.
Fortunately, we were going downhill, and the hillside supported the bottom of the basket, so the vegetables were not scattered.
I felt better when I reached the foot of the mountain and returned to the flat ground.
From a distance, Zhou Laosan saw the children in front.
He was talking to the villagers, but he quickly stopped talking and took the backpack from the children.
"Good boy, you guys went up the mountain and collected so many wild vegetables, you are really capable."
Zhou Shoude took the backpacks from his two nieces, holding one in each hand, and he looked very relaxed.
When a few men on the road saw this, they hurried over to help and took off Zhou Mingzhi and Mingjie's backpacks.
They were all Zhou Shoude’s good friends and brothers, who carried the backpacks and helped them return home.
Along the way, they praised the children highly. When they got home, they praised them to Old Mrs. Zhou. Old Mrs. Zhou was so happy that she tied a few bunches of bamboo shoots and insisted that the children take them back to taste them.
Unable to refuse, everyone took a handful and went home.
Old Mrs. Zhou brought over a few empty basins, sorted the vegetables in the baskets and placed them in order, then poured all the bamboo shoots into the basins. During this moment, the smile on her face never stopped.
Liu and Zhu are still helping wash dishes at Shagang's house.
Feng and Zhou Mingqin moved a few stools over and planned to peel the bamboo shoots.
This is the first batch of bamboo shoots this year, and they are still tender.
"You guys sneaked up the mountain? You didn't even tell your family. Next time you go to the mountain, you must tell your family, okay?"
Old Mrs. Zhou deliberately put on a fierce face to scare them. Fortunately, the younger ones were fine. If they had fallen or gotten hurt, she would have beaten them up.
"What is this? Why did you pick it up? It's so sticky that it's all over your hands."
Old Mrs. Zhou grabbed a handful and was about to throw it away, but was stopped by Zhou Mingshu.
"Grandma, don't throw it away yet. This is ground ear, which is the same as wood ear, but it's a little uglier. It's edible."
"Can this thing be eaten? It looks like a big green sticky snot. You can eat it if you want, but we won't."
Everyone laughed after hearing this. They now had black fungus, bamboo shoots, and cucumber mushrooms at home, any of which looked better than the ground fungus.
"You really don't want to eat it? Then don't fight with me when I make it. This fungus is delicious when fried with eggs or meat or made into soup. It's even more tender than black fungus..."
Hearing her describe it so vividly, they couldn't help but swallow.
If it's really that delicious, it wouldn't be wrong to try it then.
Zhou Mingshu took a basin, picked up the ground ears, and went to the creek behind the house to wash them.
Ground ears are difficult to clean, as they are not only covered with hay and dirt, but also with moss and small insects. They need to be washed repeatedly to be clean.
The others were peeling bamboo shoots. The four baskets of bamboo shoots were enough for them to peel for a while.
Zhou Mingshu washed his hands more than ten times, and his hands were rubbed white. He was really doubting his life. After washing them clean, he went home and washed them twice more with well water before he stopped.
Good things are good things, but it is not advisable to eat too much, otherwise your hands will become chapped.
Be careful about what you put into your mouth.
After the peeled bamboo shoots were blanched and boiled, some were cut into slices and some were torn into shreds, leaving enough for immediate consumption. The rest were hung on the persimmon tree by Old Mrs. Zhou to dry in the sun.
Boss Zhou came back at the right time. He knocked the soles of his shoes at the door, shook off the mud on them, and told his family about the situation in the fields.
As long as there are no unexpected events, it will not be difficult to have a good harvest this year.
When he had some free time, he went to the well and picked up his piece of pig stomach. It was almost done, and it would be nice to drink some wine with it when it was cooked.
With these wild vegetables, dinner at home is very easy to prepare.
When her two sisters-in-law, Liu and Zhu, were not at home, Old Mrs. Zhou was able to cook several dishes by herself, and she even added lard to each dish.
Now that we have oil at home and there are endless wild vegetables in the mountains, we let the children eat more oil. They are in the period of growing up, and we cannot let them suffer any loss.
Now the new grain is about to come in. When the time comes, I can collect the grain and exchange it for money, and my family won’t go hungry anymore.