The forest was dense and foggy. The roar of wild animals could be heard in the distance, which added a bit of mystery to the Woniu Mountain. Although it was scary, the forest was also generous. Various fungi thrived among the rotten leaves at the bottom of the trees, and wild fruits and unknown flowers and plants were also in pieces.
After walking in the forest for about an incense stick of time, Zhu Shouyi gradually slowed down his pace, carefully checked the surrounding ground, and then signaled Zhu Pingan and the others to stand there and not move. Then, Zhu Shouyi put down the basket behind him, gently placed it in the grass, and then took out some ropes from it.
"This kind of footprint is the footprint of a hare. Hares don't like to take detours and always go all the way to the end, jumping and hopping. So when setting the trap, you have to put it higher. Don't destroy the flowers and plants around. Keep it as it is. Rabbits are very timid. If the flowers and plants change, they won't dare to go..." Zhu Shouyi explained to his two sons how to set the trap for hares while setting the trap. "Rabbits jump and walk fast, so they won't pay attention to the trap we set. As long as they run into the trap, they won't be able to get out."
Zhu Pingan noticed that the traps his father set were very simple. They were all made of readily available materials, such as sticks, branches, and ropes. The ropes were used to make two traps. The first trap was used to catch hares. When the rabbit got into the trap, it would be tightly strangled. The second trap was a protective trap that could block the first trap and leave a minimum size to protect the rabbit's life. This chain trap is indispensable. The first trap catches the rabbit, and the second trap ensures that the rabbit is alive.
After setting three traps, Zhu's father led his two sons to take a detour and change the road, saying that if they were lucky, they would be able to see fat rabbits when they came back when they came down the mountain.
Slowly, the three people gradually gained something: two pheasants, which Zhu's father caught by setting traps outside a pheasant nest he found; five big carps weighing two or three pounds, which were caught in a mountain stream. The stream was very shallow and a piece of water was blocked by stones. There were many fish in it, and they caught the heavy ones, otherwise they could have caught more than ten; they also picked about ten pounds of mountain mushrooms and fungus, and Zhu Ping'an also contributed about one pound.
When passing by a bamboo forest, Zhu Ping'an thought of the bamboo shoots mentioned in A Bite of China, so he shouted that he wanted to eat bamboo shoots. Zhu's father's eyes lit up after hearing this, and he put down the bamboo basket and took out a pointed pick from it.
Zhu's father was an expert at digging bamboo shoots. He could tell where the bamboo shoots were and how big they were just by the color of the bamboo leaves. In a short while, he dug about eight or nine bamboo shoots. They were all short and thick, about 20 centimeters each, and they were all tender and just right for eating. There was also bacon at home, and the taste of green bamboo shoots with bacon was the best.
At noon, we ate on the mountain. We picked some wild fruits and caught three slightly larger fish in the mountain stream and roasted them over a fire. There were also dry food brought from home. In particular, my father even found a gourd, cut it open, cleaned it, and made a fish soup with stream water. The milky white fish soup rolled in the gourd. The most pure and natural fish soup aroma was simply irresistible. My father's basket was like Doraemon's pocket, with salt.
With his mouth full of oil and his belly bulging, Zhu Ping'an felt that this meal was the most satisfying and best meal he had eaten since he came to the Ming Dynasty, and it was a hundred times better than what he had at home.
After dinner, I took a short rest and started looking for good things in the mountains again.
The small animals in the mountains were very alert. They might have been scared by the hunters. They seemed to have become spirits and disappeared without a trace at the slightest movement. At this time, Zhu Pingan missed the silly roe deer in the distant era of Dad. If there was one here, it would be easy to catch.
Unfortunately, there are no silly roe deer in Anhui and Hubei. Although there are no silly roe deer, Zhu Pingan still found a good thing. There are large patches of white and golden flowers under the trees over there.
It turned out to be honeysuckle. Zhu Pingan's eyes lit up and he ran over immediately.
"Zhu'er, don't run around." Zhu's father hurriedly followed.
Zhu Pingan ran to the honeysuckle and carefully checked it. The flowers all looked like sticks, thick on the top and thin on the bottom, a little curved, and the surface of the flower was yellow-white or green-white with a layer of fluff on it. Zhu Pingan looked at it for a while and found that it was indeed the honeysuckle described in the Compendium of Materia Medica. According to the records he had read before, honeysuckle can be said to be the easiest Chinese medicine to prepare. After simple sun drying and shade drying, you can get a Chinese medicine that medical students can use. The Compendium of Materia Medica records: bitter, cold in nature, good at clearing the upper part of the body and the toxic evil of the skin surface. The price of those that can be recorded in the Materia Medica will not be too cheap.
Picking these honeysuckle flowers, taking them home to dry and sell them to pharmacies may be a good way to make money.
Zhu Pingan made a mark nearby. If he can make money this time, he can come here to pick them directly in the future. There are many honeysuckle flowers here, and Zhu Pingan picked the best ones and only picked the flower buds. Because this method of picking gets the best honeysuckle, which is the most valuable.
When Zhu's father came after him worriedly, Zhu Ping'an was picking flowers with his butt sticking out. He looked so happy.
Picking flowers?
Zhu's father's eyes twitched a little. Could his little son be a playboy who hangs out with women? !
"Why are you picking flowers? Come on, Daddy will take you to pick fruits!" Zhu's father felt that he had an obligation to correct his son's bad buds.
Zhu Ping'an looked up at Zhu's father, shook his head, and continued to pick.
"The fruits are very sweet and delicious." Zhu's father continued to work hard.
"This can be sold for money." Zhu Ping'an muttered while picking flowers.
Zhu's father curled his lips. What money can these wild flowers be sold for? There are wild flowers and weeds everywhere in the mountains and fields, and I haven't seen anyone selling them for money! He patiently told his son, "People in the city buy good flowers like peonies and roses, not this kind of flowers. Pigs won't eat this kind of flowers even if you feed them to them!"
Pigs won't eat them even if you feed them to them?
See, this is why the villagers are so poor!
Whether they can be sold or not is not the same as using pigs as judges!
"Brother, I'll help you." Zhu Pingchuan felt sorry for his brother, put down the basket, and helped pick flowers.
His idea was simple, if his brother wanted something, his brother would get it.
"Then you can only pick this kind of flower." Zhu Pingan took out a standard and high-quality honeysuckle to show Zhu Pingchuan.
"Yeah." The simple and honest elder brother nodded and helped pick honeysuckle.