Chapter 50: Wild Vegetables

Zhang Lan explained with a smile, “There’s no special occasion. I just noticed how busy you’ve been running around these days, and you’ve lost quite a bit of weight. I don’t want you to get exhausted from building the house. Who will we rely on in the future? Eat more, so you’ll have the strength for building the house.”

Wang Zhenhe chuckled and rubbed his head, “Hehe, my wife is still the one who cares for me. Kids, let’s eat the flour cakes.”

The family had a satisfying meal at noon. After eating, the children from the village came to find Mingcheng and the others to go dig wild vegetables. The sisters also carried baskets and followed them out.

It was spring, and the small grass was sprouting everywhere, radiating vitality. The children went to the hill below the orchard to dig wild garlic. On their way, the sisters noticed many wild vegetables by the riverbank. They didn’t miss any edible ones, including shepherd’s purse, dandelion, chickweed, wood sorrel, and bittercress. They even spotted desert roses on the sandy ground. Wang Qian tasted one, finding it sour with no other distinct flavor.

The boys climbed the hill to dig wild garlic, but the sisters were more focused on gathering wild vegetables.

“Sister, try this. It’s called sheep’s milk. Look at its white roots. Doesn’t it look like the color of sheep’s milk?” Wang Xuan handed her a peeled item. Seeing her sister eating it, she also put it in her mouth and chewed. It was tough but delicious, with a milky sweetness.

“Sister, where did you find this?” After eating one, she was ready to dig her own.

Wang Xuan pointed to a plant growing in a grassy area that resembled a dandelion. “Here it is. Look at its white and yellow roots.”

After confirming that she had identified it correctly, Wang Qian started looking for more sheep’s milk. After finding a few, she put them in the basket. These would make a great soup at home.

“Sister, this is sour sorrel. Try it. It’s a bit sour but very appetizing,” Wang Xuan said, offering her sister a taste.

Wang Qian placed a green leaf in her mouth, and it was indeed sour. It made her teeth feel sour.

Seeing the locust trees on the mountain starting to bud, they estimated that they would bloom in a couple of days. “Little Sister, look, the locust flowers are about to bloom. Let’s come tomorrow to pick some and bring them home to mix in the cakes. It will be very sweet,” Wang Qian suggested.

Wang Xuan agreed with her sister’s suggestion. “Great, let’s come tomorrow with the boys to pick locust flowers and eat them.”

After digging half a basket of wild garlic, the children began to search for other things to fill their stomachs. The boys brought back some branches from the orchard. Wang Qian was curious about the purpose of these branches and asked about it.

“Brother, what are you going to do with these branches?” she inquired.

Mingcheng chuckled and said, “Little sis, don’t you remember the hairy capers that grow on them? Look at these small pod-like things. We’ll burn them and eat them at home. They’re very fragrant. I guarantee that after eating one, you’ll want a second.”

Wang Qian was familiar with hairy capers, but she found it hard to imagine that these gray and white pods could be edible. Just the thought of hairy capers made her feel uncomfortable, let alone eating them.

After gathering a good amount of wild vegetables, the sisters were ready to head back. The boys who had come with them went to the river to catch small fish and shrimp. It was just a game for the children to catch fish in the river. Although their goal was to catch fish, the fun was in the process.

The sisters also joined in to catch fish. They expected to catch small fish, but to their surprise, they caught some large crucian carp, larger than an adult man’s palm. These fish would make a delicious soup at home. The thought of the fresh crucian carp soup made everyone’s mouth water.

The group of boys, along with the sisters, began to chase and catch the fish in the river. The fish darted and leaped in the narrow river, but they couldn’t escape being caught.

Wang Qian also joined in the fun. With so many people gathered in one place, the clear stream had been muddied by everyone.

“Sister, I caught a fish,” Wang Qian called out, pressing down on a fish to prevent it from escaping. Judging by the feel, it seemed quite large.

Hearing her sister’s call, Wang Xuan rushed over to help. Together, they pulled the fish out of the water. It was indeed quite large, probably weighing around five to six taels. Wang Xuan pierced the fish through the gills with a fish grass she found in the river, stringing it up. She then placed the fish by the basket.

“Haha, look, I caught a big fish,” a boy named Dazhuang boasted, holding up a large fish to show off to the children.

Wang Qian also thought the fish was quite large, probably enough to make a stew at home.

“Wow, Dazhuang, you’re really lucky. You managed to catch such a big fish,” Xiaoxiang said enviously. However, he didn’t stop and continued to feel around in the muddy water. After the children had caught all the fish, they dispersed and went home.

Mingyuan and Mingcheng caught six fish, and Wang Qian caught one. In total, they had seven fish, which would be enough for a stew.

Mingyuan carried the fish, Mingcheng carried the basket and held the branches, and the sisters followed behind with the basket. On the way, they unexpectedly met Wang Yu and Wang Li, the two older sisters from Uncle Wang’s family. Wang Yu was thirteen, and Wang Li was twelve, older than the children from their family. So, they all addressed them as big sisters. The two girls had just come back from gathering grass and were envious when they saw the fish Mingyuan was carrying.

“Mingyuan, if you go fishing in the future, let us know, and we’ll go with you,” said Wang Li. Wang Yu smiled and said, “You should go home now. Your mom should be getting off work, and she can stew the fish for you. We’ll be on our way.”

After bidding farewell to the two older sisters, the children slowly made their way back. Wang Qian didn’t have a strong impression of the children from Uncle Wang’s family. It seemed that they rarely came to play with them.

“Sis, why don’t the children from Uncle Wang’s family come to play with us?” She was genuinely curious about this.

Wang Xuan explained as they walked, “They’re all busy. The older brothers are older than us and don’t play with us. The eldest sister has to help herbMom cook and clean the house, and the second sister is a bit, well, picky. She rarely plays with us.”

Hearing her sister’s explanation, Wang Qian understood. The eldest sister didn’t have time to play, and the second sister was a bit difficult to get along with. It seemed that the children didn’t like to play with her.

When Zhang Lan returned, she saw her two daughters crouched on the ground playing with the fish. It seemed that the fish had been caught by the siblings in the river.

There were also some wild vegetables that had been picked and washed, lying on the ground.

“Let me do it,” Zhang Lan offered to take over, but the children stopped her. “Mom, we’re almost done. You don’t need to bother. We’ve removed the gills and guts from the fish. We just need to scale them. Are we having fish soup or stew for dinner tonight?”

After inspecting the fish, Zhang Lan felt that they weren’t enough for a meal. “We’ll have fish soup tonight. You can have soup  to drink. I’ll make the fish soup, and we can have the leftover fish with dipping sauce tonight.”

Wang Xuan started a fire, and Mingyuan hadn’t forgotten about the branches. “Sis, don’t forget to burn the hairy capers for us to eat,” he reminded.

Wang Xuan chuckled at her little brother’s eagerness. “I know, I’ll burn them for you.”

She inserted the branches they had gathered from the mountain into the already blazing fire. Wang Qian was also curious and followed her brother to see how this delicacy was prepared.

In no time, a rich aroma filled the air, reminiscent of the fragrance of fried food during the New Year, very enticing.

“Okay, Mingyuan, everyone come and eat,” Mingcheng also caught a whiff of the aroma and came out from the inner room. The brothers opened the blackened hairy caper pods they had burned, revealing golden brown insect eggs inside, emitting a delightful aroma.

Mingyuan picked up one of the insect eggs and put it in his mouth, savoring it with a blissful expression. “Mmm, it’s delicious and fragrant.”

After speaking, he picked up another one to eat, and his big brother and sister had similar expressions. It seemed like they were savoring a delicacy.

“Little sis, why don’t you try one? Have a taste,” Mingcheng offered her a peeled insect egg.

To be honest, she felt a bit resistant, but seeing how much the children were enjoying it, she wanted to try it. She closed her eyes and put the insect egg in her mouth. In an instant, the aroma filled her mouth. It was so fragrant and delicious. It was much better than eating fried silkworm moth eggs in her previous life.

“Sis, I want another one,” this time she didn’t wait for Mingcheng to hand it to her, she asked directly.

“I told you it’s delicious. You didn’t believe me,” Mingyuan said as he ate.

“Yeah, it’s so delicious, so fragrant. It’s even better than meat,” Wang Xuan handed her sister a few more. This time, she didn’t hesitate and directly crushed the shell, took out the insect eggs, and even put a few into Zhang Lan’s mouth. “Mom, try it. It’s so delicious.”

Eating what her daughter had given her, Zhang Lan smiled with happiness. “Yes, it’s delicious. Alright, I should start cooking for you all.”

The fish soup that night received high praise from everyone. It had been a long time since they had drunk such delicious fish soup. Even Wang Zhenhe, who was not picky about food and drink, couldn’t help but have several extra bowls.

After everyone had fallen asleep, Wang Qian and her mother entered the space together with shovels. Zhang Lan leveled the ground, and Wang Qian helped. After working late into the night, Zhang Lan finally leveled all the soil in the space.

“Daughter, we need to bring in some water tomorrow, or the soil will be too dry,” Zhang Lan said, looking at the flat land, discussing with her daughter.

Wang Qian also knew that if the soil was too dry, the crops wouldn’t sprout. “Mom, I’ll try to bring some water from the river tomorrow and see if it works.”

She wasn’t sure if she could bring water into the space, but since the soil could be moved, water should be no problem.