Chapter 399: Calf Probe
“Yes, the Chinese rice and eggs are not bad, but today, let’s make a braised old yellow quail to go with the wine. Since we have such a good thing, we can’t waste it.”
As soon as Chen Ling said this, Wang Jusheng knew that he must have agreed to go, so he smiled and said: "Let me tell you, I have to get something different to treat you before you are willing to go."
"Okay, I'll go back first, and then go to Laohewan to set up a few beard cages to see if I can catch two more old turtles. The old turtles are laying eggs at this time, which is better than other times. Let’s catch some fish and shrimps by the way, and let’s have a drink together in the evening.”
Wang Jusheng pushed the jingling car and walked out of the courtyard. Just as he was about to ride away, he turned around and reminded: “Hey, that’s right. Don’t forget to call the sea when you come at night.”
Chen Ling hurriedly said he knew, waved to him and watched him leave.
At this time, Ruirui driving a walker and two big dogs were standing outside the door alongside him, looking at Wang Jusheng's leaving figure.
Chen Ling glanced down at him and said with a smile: "Let's go back and get two cages to catch the old turtles. Let your mother stay here first."
Then He took him out of the walker, put the walker in the yard, and shouted: "Susu, let's go back first, pick some apricots, and take them with us when we go to Brother Jusheng's house for dinner in the evening."
"I know, you are optimistic about Ruirui."
Chen Ling responded and walked out with his son in his arms. He said to the little thing in his arms: "Let's go. Ruirui, tell mom that we are leaving."
Such a playful move, Ruirui still liked to do it very much. As soon as Chen Ling said it, he giggled, tilted his head and shouted loudly: "Mom, um, let's go."
With a vague little milky voice , that’s really cute.
Chen Ling praised him when he saw this, and he shouted excitedly halfway.
The father and son took their two big dogs and played all the way back to the farm.
Chen Ling put his son next to the straw mat in the sand and let him play with Gao Xiulan first. Then he took two beard cages from the backyard and prepared to go down to the small river ditch.
The cage used to catch old turtles is specially made and much larger than that used to catch fish.
The beard basket is made of wicker or bamboo strips. The shape is a bit like a wine bottle with a big belly, and it also looks like a sawed-off gourd with a waist. The opening of the neck is very thin, and there is a funnel-shaped shape. The whisker head and the inside of the funnel are inserted with sharpened bamboo strips, which are the inverted whiskers of the whisker cage.
Once the old turtle enters, he will be trapped by these "inverted whiskers" and cannot escape at all.
The two squirrels Chen Ling took were not made up by himself. They were made by Wang Zhenzhen and Liu Nier when they were playing outside.
When it comes to playing, little kids are no worse than adults.
But it still doesn’t work with a beard cage.
The bait to lure the old turtles to the bait also needs to be carefully prepared.
Old turtles are slippery. Although they are easy to catch during the egg-laying period, if you want to catch them accurately, you have to put some thought into this bait.
They usually catch frogs or toads, kill them on the spot, and stuff them into cages.
Only then can the old turtle come over.
That is to say, if you want to catch turtles in a cage, you must catch frogs first.
Of course.
Whether you are catching frogs or fishing for frogs this season, it is easy.
Especially outside the farm, frogs and toads are jumping around in the grass every day, big and small, everywhere, and they are easy to catch.
It’s okay to go fishing specifically.
This thing is blind and can only see moving things. Just tie a grasshopper with cotton thread and dangling it by the edge of the puddle to attract the frog to jump out. At this time, use the net bag to pounce, and every pounce will be accurate, which is very easy to catch.
There are countless frogs outside the farm, and there is no need to even fish.
Chen Ling often found a stone to sit on in the orchard, or found a place to squat by the ditch.
As long as he remained still, within a minute or two, frogs would jump to his feet.
I leaned over and grabbed them, hoping to catch a few.
"Dad~"
As soon as he saw Chen Ling going out with two big beard cages, Ruirui immediately became energetic, twisted his little head, turned around and wanted to Climb over here.
Seeing this, Gao Xiulan pulled the handle back and said helplessly: "This little thing, you have to take care of everything you see? If you want to play, just play here."
< br>"Isn't it? It's too difficult to make him calm down." Chen Ling smiled when he saw this, walked over and carried him on his shoulders, and slapped his butt twice.
The little thing didn't feel any pain at all, and was waving its limbs on his shoulder happily and struggling.
"Lingzi, I heard from your father that there is a spring in the mountain to the west of us, and water flows out of the mountain wall. Do you think this was caused by the two earth dragons you carried into the mountain? ?”
Gao Xiulan was washing her clothes when she suddenly asked about it, and she even blamed Tulong on Xibian Quanyan.
Chen Ling smiled helplessly when he heard this and said: "Mother, those earth dragons are not mountain dragons, nor are they dragons flying in the sky. To put it bluntly, they are just two strange fish with long scales. How can they be so capable? Can you still dig mountains and create springs? "
"Oh, isn't it? I heard that earth dragons are very good at digging holes in the soil..." the old lady said with a confused expression.
"It's not the same thing. Don't listen to the nonsense of those people in the village."
Chen Ling didn't know how to explain to her mother-in-law. The old lady was illiterate. Even if she told her about alligators and crocodiles, she would definitely not understand. Understand what's going on.
I put my son down and prepared to go out to put the beard in the cage.
As a result, this little guy stopped working. As soon as he was put down, he put his arms around Chen Ling's neck, shrank his calves, and refused to come down.
When Chen Ling saw this, he slapped his butt twice more: "You brat, you don't want to be with grandma anymore? It's okay if you don't want to be with grandma. Then go out with dad to catch frogs. Then you can Be obedient.”
After saying that, he called Hei Wa and Xiao Jin, two experts with babies, and a large leather cradle, and then he picked up the spar and walked out.
When I got to the orchard outside, I quickly caught four or five frogs, found an angular stone, disembowelled each of them, and threw them into the beard cage, and then went to the creek to put the beard cages.
After placing the beard cages, we went to the apricot forest area in the orchard to pick ripe apricots.
Whenever he needed to do something hands-on, Chen Ling put Ruirui on Heiwa and let the big guy, who was as strong as a calf, carry him.
The little thing was riding on the dog and watched with great interest as Chen Ling caught frogs, set up beard cages, and picked apricots.
He was really well-behaved, more obedient than ever.
Wang Cunye drove a large group of cattle and sheep over. Seeing his eldest grandson’s attitude, he smiled and teased him: “Ruirui, riding a dog will ruin your crotch. Your father asked you to ride a dog when you were young. When you grow up, Don’t even think about wearing good pants, your crotch will be rotten every day.”
Although Ruirui can learn to speak a few words now, she can’t understand the meaning of the old man’s words, just sitting in Heiwa’s spacious room. On his back, one hand was holding Hei Wa's ears, and the other hand was reaching for the sheep whip in the old man's hand.
"What are you doing? You want a whip. This whip is too big and you can't hold it. Someday grandpa will tie you a small whip to play with."
Wang Cunye looked doting on him. He smiled and handed the whip over to his grandson to play with.
Then he said to Chen Ling: "What are you doing, picking them and sending them to the market now?"
"Ang, send two baskets to the market before they are cooked in large quantities. Let’s try it ourselves first.”
Chen Ling responded, raising his head and continuing to look for ripe apricots. The little sheep will drive to the city tonight and pick two baskets for him to take with him.
Eat some at home and give some to relatives and friends.
After all, my garden is open this year.
"That's right, give some to your friends in the city. Every time they come over, they are always willing to give them a try."
"I know, but there is no need to give them to them. , when the park officially opens, just call them and ask them to come and eat."
Chen Ling smiled at his father-in-law.
Then I spent more than an hour picking three large baskets full of apricots.
After picking, they hitched the ox cart and took their son with them. The father and son drove the ox cart and delivered two baskets of lambs to the village.
The remaining basket was given to each family of Wang Lixian and Wang Jusheng, and the whole basket was divided.
Of course, I will not forget to keep some, but not many, only twenty or thirty.
I am guarding the orchard, just pick it if you want.
Now is the time of late spring and early summer, and the days are getting longer. Chen Ling has been busy with such work for most of the afternoon, and it is not yet dark.
He held his son in his arms and drove the bullock cart to Wang Jusheng's house to deliver the apricots. This was the last trip.
At this time, Wang Jusheng was setting up a nail board in the yard to kill eels. After falling unconscious, the eels were hung on the nails of the nail board. After removing the bones and internal organs, a group of kids like his Dandan and Datou watched with relish.
When they saw that it was the father and son driving the bullock cart, the little kids all ran over with a whoop, shouting for Uncle Fugui, and rushed to hug Ruirui.
"Come on, come on, let's all eat apricots."
"Hey, Fugui, why don't you two, father and son, call Susu over?"
"I brought apricots to you first. The apricots in the orchard are starting to ripen. I'll call her when I go back later."
"Farewell, why are you going back when you're already here? Let your sister-in-law call Su Sude, and come over quickly to help with the cooking."
Wang Jusheng laughed, he was counting on Chen Ling to cook. Now everything has been taken care of, Lao Bihe and All the old yellow quails were also killed.
Now it’s just fish and shrimp.
"Okay, then I'll trouble my sister-in-law. Dahai is still putting up wires on the mountain. I told him to come over in the evening."
"Hey, what's the trouble? Sit down quickly. Your brother Jusheng has been talking about you for a long time and is just waiting for you to come and cook."
After joking for a while, Chen Ling turned his attention to the basin next to him. The two plucked old yellow quails were similar to two half-sized roosters.
"His grandma, I haven't seen this old yellow quail for many years. I ate it when I was a child and thought it was quite big. But now I see it, come on, it's not much bigger than the wild quail I usually see. No. A few taels of meat, not to mention us three grown men, let a three-year-old boy like Datou eat it."
Wang Jusheng shook his head when he heard this and said, "You can't do that. That's wrong. I weighed these two things specially after I caught them. The small one weighs more than seven taels and less than eight taels, and the big one weighs more than a pound. You can calculate how many wild quails this can weigh."
Wild quails are smaller than domestic ones, weighing only one tael. The larger male quails weigh no more than two taels at most.
To put it bluntly, the old yellow quail is a kind of yellow-feathered quail, which also has yellow and white feathers. It is very beautiful. The ratio of its toes to its body is larger than that of ordinary quail, and its body size is also several times larger, almost the same as a turtle dove.
The average quail is not much bigger than a sparrow. A quail that can hold up to three sparrows is considered big.
"Then, these two old yellow quails are no worse than killing a young rooster." Chen Lingti slipped up and took a look. It was indeed good. The meat looked fresh and tender at first glance.
"It's definitely not bad, but you and Dahai both have big appetites. I know it won't be enough if there are less dishes. Why don't we make some more eels and crayfish? Hehe, how about cooking a pot of shrimps later? It’s enough for us to eat.”
Chen Ling gave a thumbs up after hearing this.
Wang Jusheng prepared this specially for Chen Ling, knowing that he was good at handling these river fresh food and game. It tasted much better than ordinary meals and went well with wine.
So in the evening there was a dish of spicy crayfish, a dish of braised eel, a dish of braised turtle, and a dish of fried old yellow quail with mushrooms...
The remaining turtle eggs were made into steamed eggs. The three children at home eat it.
This thing is difficult to handle. If you steam it directly, the egg white will be thin when cooked, unlike chicken and duck eggs, which will solidify after being cooked.
So it’s better to make steamed eggs.
At around seven o'clock in the evening, almost eight o'clock, Zhao Dahai arrived covered in dust. After a brief cleaning, everyone started eating and drinking directly.
"Dandan, Datou, stop playing with those shrimps with Ruirui, come and eat."
Three little guys were sitting on the bullock cart with a few crayfish. We were fighting, laughing constantly, and having a great time.
"I'm going to take them to wash their hands."
Wang Susu walked over and picked up her son, and took the other two little guys to wash their hands.
The men here had already begun to drink. After a glass of wine, Wang Jusheng said: "Fugui, you see the eldest son of our family is three years old and doesn't have a serious name yet. You uncle, give the baby a name." ? I think the name you gave Ruirui is pretty good, look at it, Jingrui, Dahai, it sounds like culture.” Even though your academic qualifications are not low, you are actually a big boss and can’t get a good name.”
“Come on, I’m confused about naming. When will my uncle come, let me know. He helps the boss pick one, he is good at this..."
With a baby at home, there will naturally be more people talking about the baby at the wine table, especially when they have a family gathering like today, what to name? When will we go to school? After the mother-in-law and the baby sit down, the topic of conversation cannot avoid these.
Halfway through the wine, an uninvited guest came to the door.
This uninvited guest was discovered by Ruirui. The little thing was sitting on Wang Susu, eating steamed eggs with a small spoon. He was suddenly attracted by the movement outside the courtyard door. He tilted his head and looked over. At this sight, his eyes suddenly lit up. got up.
“Dad~”
He quickly turned around and shouted to Chen Ling.
"Huh? What's wrong?" Chen Ling looked at his son in confusion. The little thing has a lot to do. When there are many little kids, he will be more calm when playing together, but he is not so honest when eating at home. .
Zhang Qiaoling said in surprise with a smile on her face: "Oh, look, Ruirui is so good at calling daddy. When will he call daddy? The last time he called Susu's mom, it was only a few days ago. ”
"Well, this kid is lovable, I like him, and Wenxia also likes him. Wenxia can't stop laughing when she sees him." Zhao Dahai looked at the little guy happily, "Ruirui, come, what do you want to eat? Uncle, I'll give it to you."
The little guy's attention was not here at all. He raised his head and called Chen Ling "Dad", and then pointed his chubby little hand in the direction outside the courtyard door.
Tell him to look over there.
The weather is not cold now and the moon is shining brightly. Everyone is eating and drinking in the yard.
Ruirui pointed there, and everyone looked over.
It turned out to be a half-sized ox, sticking its head out and looking into the yard with a sly look.
“Good guy, whose cow escaped this late at night?”
(End of this chapter)