Chapter 6: Going Back to the Mountain – Wuyou Grass

After nearly exhausting their backs, the father and daughter finally finished transplanting all the rice seedlings.

They rested for a few days to recover, and during that time, the family would visit the field every day to check the seedlings’ progress.

In the beginning, after transplanting, the seedlings showed signs of distress due to root damage, and the leaves turned yellow. (This stage is called the “seedling recovery phase.”)

When they checked again, the seedlings had started growing new roots, and the yellow leaves were gradually turning green. New leaves were beginning to sprout.

If they noticed any dead or floating seedlings, the family would replace them with new ones.

It wasn’t just the Li family who was concerned about the rice seedlings. The entire village had their eyes on Li’s field.

The Li family had successfully grown the rice seedlings, and the whole village was buzzing with excitement. When villagers from neighboring areas heard about it, they came to see the field for themselves.

More and more people, driven by curiosity, came to witness this new approach to farming.

The Li family had become well-known in the nearby villages.

Despite the gossip, the Li family continued with their daily lives as usual, unaffected by the chatter.

One day, Li Guo’s rabbit gave birth, and Li Wen excitedly ran to his older sister.

He grabbed her hand and led her to the rabbit’s cage, where they saw the newly born baby rabbits. They were all pink and had their eyes tightly shut, looking like tiny mice.

The baby rabbits grew quickly, and within half a month, they were already hopping out of their nest.

Li Youyin and his wife hadn’t expected the rabbits to be raised so successfully by the children, nor did they expect them to have babies so soon.

Li Guo decided to start a rabbit farm, as rabbits breed quickly—each month, a litter of babies could be expected. This would provide meat and could also be sold for money.

Determined, Li Guo gathered her siblings, and they set off for the mountains with their tools.

Yes, Li Guo was going to catch some rabbits.

On the way, Li Guo discovered a lot of useful plants, though it was not the right season to harvest them.

Excited, Li Wen couldn’t stop talking, chattering away non-stop.

Some of the plants looked familiar, but Li Guo couldn’t remember what they were. She suspected they could be edible or useful, but they were too small to identify yet.

They didn’t walk cautiously, and the noise they made startled several wild chickens into flying away. The area they were in was overgrown with tall grass and bushes, making it an ideal nesting place for wild chickens.

It seemed like they might get a good haul of wild chicken eggs that day, so the group walked more carefully, trying not to step on any eggs hidden in the grass.

The siblings used small sticks to gently stir through the bushes. Suddenly, Li Guo noticed something move in the grass ahead.

Pushing aside the grass, she discovered a wild chicken sitting on its nest. With little effort, she caught the chicken, tied it up with some vine, and placed it in the basket.

Li Wen, seeing his older sister catch the chicken, looked at her with admiration and said, “You’re amazing, big sister!”

As the siblings continued their search, Li Wen and Li Xing didn’t catch any more wild chickens, but they did find three nests of eggs over twenty in total.

While collecting the eggs, Li Guo told her younger siblings, “We need to leave one egg in each nest, so the wild chickens will come back and lay more eggs.”

This was something Li Guo had heard from the older villagers. She wasn’t sure if it was true, but decided to try it out.

The weather had been dry recently, and many of the mushrooms in the forest had either dried up or rotted.

Though they couldn’t find any mushrooms, they could dig up some wild vegetables.

The forest was rich with wild vegetables, and today, they decided to gather more to take home.

It had been a while since they last visited, and the wild vegetables had grown taller and more abundant. Not only did they find shepherd’s purse, dandelion greens, and small garlic sprouts, but they also discovered fiddlehead ferns, young wormwood sprouts, and creeping purslane…

Fiddlehead ferns were just beginning to sprout at the start of summer. If they didn’t pick them soon, they would become woody and inedible. Fresh fiddlehead ferns couldn’t be missed.

Fiddlehead ferns have cooling and detoxifying properties and help with digestion. Their texture is smooth and tender, with a slight fragrance. After washing them clean and blanching them, they could be used in cold dishes or stir-fried with meat for a rare summer treat.

Young wormwood sprouts were a special wild vegetable from the north, rarely found in the south. These sprouts had a unique and strong fragrance, with a tender texture.

They were delicious and packed with nutrients, offering detoxifying, anti-inflammatory, and liver-nourishing benefits.

They could be used to stew fish, clearing away any fishy smell and richness, or be stir-fried, served in salads, dipped in sauce, or wrapped in dumplings each preparation was incredibly tasty.

The fragrance of young wormwood sprouts was distinctive, and their peak season was in May and June.

Creeping purslane, when stir-fried, had a sour taste and gave a refreshing, cooling sensation. Its entire plant was medicinal, with benefits for clearing heat, dispelling dampness, and promoting urination…

The older villagers had mentioned that these wild vegetables were not only edible but also had high medicinal value.

Li Guo quickly called her younger siblings to help dig up more wild vegetables. By the time the sun started setting, their baskets were completely full. They had no space left to carry the wild chicken, so they had to hold it in their hands.

On their way down the mountain, Li Guo suddenly spotted a rabbit darting off into the distance.

The rabbit ran towards the cliff and into a hole beneath it.

Li Guo thought to herself, “Today is my lucky day! Not only did I catch a wild chicken, but now a rabbit is just offering itself.”

As the saying goes, “A cunning rabbit has three burrows.” She figured the rabbit hole couldn’t just have one exit, so she walked around to the back of the cliff and found another exit.

Li Guo instructed her siblings to empty the wild vegetables from their baskets onto the ground and used the empty baskets to block the hole. She then gathered some branches and lit a fire at the other entrance.

The smoke blew into the hole, and soon, they heard movement inside.

In the end, Li Guo had caught two large rabbits and three smaller ones.

Li Wen, still in shock, hadn’t quite recovered. From now on, his idol wouldn’t be the village’s big hunter, Li Dashan.

Li Dashan, a skilled hunter who had learned from his grandfather, had once impressed Li Wen by catching a rabbit and a wild chicken. Since that day, Li Wen had idolized anyone who was good at hunting. Now, seeing his sister catch two large rabbits and three small ones, he believed that the person who caught the most rabbits was the most impressive.

If Li Guo had known that her brother now saw her as the most skilled hunter in the village and idolized her, she would have laughed and told him that he didn’t know enough. The real master of hunting in the village was Jia Qingshan, who could hunt a wild boar by himself.

The siblings packed the rabbits into their baskets and began heading down the mountain.

Just as they reached the foot of the mountain, they ran into their aunt, Zhao.

It was truly unlucky to run into the troublesome Zhao.

Although the siblings didn’t get along with her, they still greeted her politely, but their faces showed clear reluctance.

Zhao, on the other hand, had her eyes fixed on the wild chicken and rabbits and didn’t notice the children’s expressions.

After they greeted her, the siblings hoped to leave quickly, but Zhao wouldn’t let them go so easily.

“Your grandfather’s been feeling unwell lately, and he’s craving wild chicken and rabbits. Since you’ve caught so many today, this is perfect,” Zhao boomed with her loud voice.