newbobooks Chapter 315 Walnuts in the Mountains
Chapter 315 Walnuts in the Mountains
The next day, Zhou Guo did not go looking for wild mushrooms. He left Heidadan to Zhou Su and went out with the old man.
She wanted to go and check on the two walnut trees. Even though there might not be much left, it would still be helpful if she could find something. She had nothing to do anyway.
……
The old man tilted his head and looked at the two walnut trees whose leaves had almost fallen off. He squinted his eyes and looked at the scattered black dots on them. He almost jumped up with heartache, "What were you doing before? How many fruits can you pick from two such big trees!"
Zhou Guo looked up with regret, "I forgot about it when I left. Even though there are no more now, there is still next year. It will be the same if we come back next year. Let's pick some under the tree to see if there are any that are not rotten."
As he said this, he bent down and picked up a wooden stick, and started digging at the ground. In fact, there was no need to dig. The walnuts were big and heavy, and if they fell they could not fall into the pile of leaves. They lay straight on the ground and could be seen at a glance. The round, black skin was also easy to recognize.
There are still quite a lot of these on the ground, but most of them are the peel and white flesh that have been gnawed into pieces by small animals, and the brown shells inside are everywhere.
Pick up a fruit that has turned black, remove the outer layer, and then crack open the shell inside to see the flesh.
After all, it had been dropped on the ground for a long time. I knocked it open many times and found that it was moldy, black and rotten inside.
After picking up more than ten, she gained some experience. The ones with weight are good, and the ones that feel light when picked up are bad. But it is not always the case, sometimes the heavy ones are also bad.
When the old man saw his young apprentice happily picking walnuts, he looked up at the tree, jumped up, hugged the trunk and shook it, and the remaining fruits and leaves fell down.
Zhou Guo was startled and almost got hit on the head. He ran to the side and complained, "Master, please at least say it's not your fault. Did you do it on purpose?"
The old man didn't say anything. After shaking one tree, he ran to another and started shaking it too.
After shaking the tree, he jumped down and clapped his hands, saying, "Okay, just pick them up slowly here. I'll shake the ones off the tree for you, too."
As he said this, he raised his foot and was about to leave.
Zhou Guo hurriedly said, "Hey, where are you going? I'll go with you."
The old man didn't even stop walking, "Who said they wanted to eat barbecue? After you pick up the food, go to the pond at the foot of the mountain and wait for me."
Zhou Guo chuckled, "I understand, thank you Master!"
She picked walnuts under the two trees for about half an hour and picked up a basket of peeled walnuts. This was mainly because so many walnuts were shaken down from the trees, and except for the very small ones, the rest were almost all good.
She pinched one open and ate it. It was oily, fragrant, and delicious.
No wonder the little animals love to eat them, there are so many shells under the tree!
After making sure that she could no longer find the walnuts under the tree, she staggered down the mountain carrying a basket of walnuts.
There was no rush anyway, so I went to a few small hills on the way down the mountain to look for pine mushrooms.
She put the walnuts into the sack, which just filled the bottom. The sack was not brought in vain, as it now had a use.
The sacks are filled with walnuts and the baskets are filled with pine mushrooms.
However, pine mushrooms are almost out of season at this time of year, so even if the villagers hadn't looked for them, she would only find a basket after visiting a few hills.
Among them, I encountered many umbrellas that were rotten after being opened. After picking and choosing, only these few were left.
It’s enough. This year, his family has eaten a lot of pine mushrooms and pine mushrooms. There are still a lot of dried ones at home. If we save them, we can eat them until the mushrooms are ready next year.
When she slowly came down the mountain, she found that the old man was already barbecuing in the old place, with smoke rising and the fragrance filling the air.
She carried a basket in one hand and a sack in the other, and ran over with a smile, "Master, how come you are so fast? I thought you were still in the mountain, so I deliberately came down slowly, but I didn't expect you to come down first. What are you grilling?"
When he got closer, he was shocked. "Roasted suckling pig?! Master, where did you get the little wild boar?"
The old man looked at her speechlessly and said, "Where else can you get it? You caught it in the woods. Did you forget your brain when you were out?"
Zhou Guo happily sat down cross-legged, "I am so excited. I didn't expect to be able to eat roast suckling pig in the mountains. But, how did you get the hair?"
The old man pointed to the side.
Zhou Guo tilted his head and saw a clay pot next to him. He was stunned and said, "I didn't see you bring a pot when you came. Did you put it here before?"
After saying that, he remembered that in the past half month, he had breakfast every day before going out and returned only when the sun set. During this period, he couldn't eat barbecue every day outside, so he still had to stew some soup or something.
When I think about it this way, I feel that the old man is quite pitiful. He has no home to return to and hides in the mountains every day.
I couldn't help but say, "Master, let's go down the mountain after a while. In fact, if you ask me, you don't have to be afraid. The villagers are not monsters. Just pretend you didn't see them. Why are you still hiding?"
The old man said, "Why would I hide from them? I just felt bored staying in the cave all day, so I came out for a walk."
Zhou Guo nodded seriously, "Yes, I'll go out for a walk, and walk for a whole day."
Old man: "..."
The suckling pig was roasted all over red, with sizzling sounds and fat oozing out.
The process of waiting for the delicious food seemed to take an extremely long time. After it was finally baked, Zhou Guo cut off a piece despite the heat and gave the first piece to the old man, "Master, this is for you."
The old man did not refuse and accepted it gladly.
Zhou Guo ate a piece and closed his eyes in enjoyment. He didn't open them for a long time. "This is the taste, sir. Why don't we catch a sow and a boar from the mountain and raise them, let them give birth to wild boars, and then go back to the county town to open a shop and sell roast suckling pigs. It will definitely make a lot of money!"
The old man was eating with relish. He almost choked when he heard this and said, "How many wild boars do you have to raise to make back your investment? Since you are selling them, you can't just sell one a day, right? Even if you sell half a day, you have to prepare at least five. Even if the sow can give birth to so many wild boars, what will you feed them? How much food will you buy?"
Zhou Guo thought for a while and said, "The piglet can only eat milk for the first month, and eat a mixture of foods in the second month. It will only start to have a big appetite in the third month. For roast suckling pigs, two to six months is the best. We can start selling them from the second month. They won't eat much anyway."
The old man shook his head. "I have never done business before, so I don't know anything about these things. But if you want to open this shop, you will need a lot of money. Can your mother give it to you?"
Speaking of money, Zhou Guo remembered it, put down his chopsticks, took out a purse from his bag, and threw it to him, "Here, Master, this is the money you gave me when I left. I didn't use it, so I'm returning it to you."
The old man shook his head and said, "You haven't used up all this money. I calculated that you don't have much money. How did you survive for so long outside?"