This autumn sheep peach hangs on the tree like a small gray-brown lantern.
It looks heavy, and some branches may have a few extra fruits.
Hang the tiny branches into a hook shape.
In this mountain, where there are wild sheep and peaches, there must be monkeys.
Because the monkeys in the mountains especially like to eat this food.
Therefore, in ancient times, Li Shizhen was the first to name kiwi fruit: "Its shape is like a pear, its color is like a peach, and macaques like to eat, so it has various names."
Well, now Zhang An looked towards the top of the mountain, and there were several senior brothers hanging on the trees not far away.
There are many monkeys in this mountain.
Not only are they numerous in number, they are also diverse.
Later Zhang An saw the first-level national protected animal, the golden monkey, in this mountain.
But wild big brothers of that species are indeed very rare.
Leaving aside the zoo, it is really rare to see one in such wild mountains.
Zhang An has seen so many monkeys, but he has only seen Senior Brother Jinsi twice in the mountains.
Anyway, everyone is here, so there is no need to worry.
I put down the basket on my back, picked several peaches, sat on the ground and ate them slowly.
There are many seeds in the middle of this sheep peach fruit, which tastes like dragon fruit.
It’s just that kiwi fruit doesn’t have as many seeds as dragon fruit.
Zhang An and the three of them had almost eaten, and they also started to get up and pick fruits.
When picking fruits at this time, it is not advisable to pick those that are already ripe.
Because the ripe ones are very soft, they are easily crushed when placed in a basket.
I would rather pick more of the raw ones and cover them in rice bran, waiting for them to mature slowly.
So when I picked them, I found them very soft. Everyone either ate them or was too lazy to pick them. Anyway, there were so many of them on the mountain.
It didn't take long to pick most of the basket.
Zhang An found an opportunity, and when Zhou Yang and Huang Ming couldn't see it, he got two sheep and peach trees and put them in the space, so he didn't want to pick them anymore.
I will plant some in the space in the future and eat them whenever I want.
But this thing is actually just for freshness. If you eat too much, you will feel very tired.
I happened to see some tall wild walnut trees next to the sheep peach tree not far away.
Zhang An gave up the sheep peaches and ran over to pick wild walnuts instead.
At this time, Zhou Yang and Huang Ming were still picking sheep peaches.
Although this thing is overripe, it is indeed very durable and will not rot easily.
If you pick more, you can eat it for a long time, so they naturally want to pick more.
Wild walnuts are different from goat peaches. You can pick them while standing under the tree.
When picking wild walnuts, you need to climb up the walnut tree to pick them, mainly because the walnut tree grows too tall.
But for rural children, climbing trees is a basic skill.
Zhang An climbed up the tree along the thick trunk.
I found a thicker tree branch to stand on and started picking wild walnuts from below.
At this time, Zhang An felt a little regretful. If he had known if he had a squirrel or something, he could help pick it now.
When you find the opportunity, you must get one or two and raise them.
How about raising a big brother?
As soon as this idea appeared, Zhang An shook his head.
Forget it, Senior Brother, this guy has no place to live and is too troublesome.
After Zhang An went back and forth to pick two walnut trees, he stopped picking.
Because everything he can reach has been picked, and he doesn't dare to step on other places.
Otherwise, with his weight, he would have to break those very thin branches.
There are several kinds of wild walnuts that Zhang An and his colleagues have here.
One is a walnut tree with a large core, which is the kind of walnut tree that people dig up and plant.
There is also a kind of fruit that is very small. If you peel off the outer walnut skin, there will only be a small walnut inside. People outside also call it pecan.
When he returned to the ground, he found that there were already a lot of wild walnuts on the ground, so Zhang An was ready to start picking them up.
The sheep peaches in the basket were not as hard as walnuts, so Zhang An poured the sheep peaches that had been picked into the basket into the space.
I cleared out the empty basket and started picking wild walnuts.
After picking up half of the basket, it was almost enough. Zhang An saw that there were still quite a few on the ground, so he called Zhou Yang and Huang Ming next to him to come over and pack some.
"Zhou Yang, Damingzi, I picked some wild walnuts. There are many more on the ground. Come and pick some."
If you haven't picked them off, it doesn't matter. They have already been picked off, so it would be a waste not to pick them back up.
And I just dug out some trees and put them in the space, so I won’t be short of these in the future.
When Huang Ming and Zhou Yang heard Zhang An shouting, they also came to pick up the baskets.
But their baskets were already full of peaches.
The last person poured some sheep peaches into Zhang An's basket, so that there was room to put the wild walnuts.
This trip into the mountains was a great success. The baskets of the three of them were all large baskets, and each one was full.
"There are so many sheep peaches. It feels like a waste if we don't pick them all."
Huang Ming saw that there were many left on the tree, but the basket was already full.
No matter how reluctant you are, you still have to go down the mountain.
"Anyway, you're fine now. Why don't you consider picking them and selling them in town?"
To be honest, Zhang An also felt that putting so much on the mountain was a waste.
That is to say, no one has started selling this thing yet, otherwise many people will definitely come to the mountains to look for it.
So I suggested that Huang Ming pick them and sell them in the town. At least he could make some money.
Zhou Yang would definitely not do this himself. He is already almost overwhelmed just cooking.
"There are goat peaches all over the mountain, would anyone be willing to spend money to buy them?" Huang Ming was a little skeptical, as this kind of mountain product is generally not valuable.
"It's not like they are all over the mountain. There are a lot of them in this area, and there are only a few sparse trees in other places. How many trees can there be?"
"And if you pick dozens of kilograms of this thing at a time, then you can take it to the town and sell it for a few cents per kilogram. That's still money, and you have nothing to do anyway."
When Zhang An said this, Huang Ming was a little moved and began to think about it involuntarily.
On the way down the mountain, Huang Ming had forgotten about the goat milk dream.
But Zhou Yang was still thinking about him. He had a very good relationship with his two younger brothers and sisters, and he thought of them all the time.
So after arriving at the place, Zhou Yang gave a reminder, and the three of them started picking up the goat milk dream again with plastic bags.
Not even the sweet bubbles on the side escaped their hands.
This time I picked another bag full of Goat Milk Dreams and Sweet Bubbles.
Only after a few people were satisfied did they go down the mountain and go home.
This time it was a great harvest, and it was also because Mr. Huang often ran in the mountains and found such a place.
Apart from anything else, everyone in the village knew exactly what was on the nearby mountains.
So even if you go to pick it, you won't be able to pick much.
The little bit of goods was all finished by everyone.
I need to travel to many places to pick up something and go home.
But when they were leaving, Zhang An discovered something familiar beside him.
So I brought the sickle to Zhou Yang, went over and cut one and took it home.
"Why are you cutting this thing back?"
The grass Zhang An cut was called jelly grass, which was the jelly grass in the jelly grass milk tea that everyone drank in later generations.
Although Zhou Yang and Huang Ming had eaten jelly before, they didn't know what jelly grass was.
But Zhang An was very familiar with it, and later generations would often cook this stuff.
Autumn has passed for a long time now, and the jelly grass has begun to set seeds.
When Zhang An sees it, he will definitely not let it go. He will take some back and wait until next year to make more.
When you want to eat it, cook it yourself.
"This is a good thing. I'll cut some grass seeds and scatter them at home."
"I think you've gone crazy with your idleness, and now you've started to plant grass."
Zhang An didn't explain either, he just smiled and said nothing.
Returning to the village, I met children in the village who had finished school along the way.
They looked at the goat milk fruits and sweet bubbles carried by Zhang An and others, and all of them walked around Zhang An and the others.
It seemed like they didn't plan to leave unless they left something behind.
Finally, Zhang An and the others gave these children something, and they went to play by themselves.
Zhang An walked home and found that four or five adults and several children had come to play.
It seems that he plans to have a meal here before going back.
Maybe these people came to Hongyan Town specifically to play, and they came to Changqing specifically after hearing someone introduce them.
Otherwise, when Zhang An went out at noon, he would not have seen these people coming to the door.
As soon as Zhang An arrived home, Zhang Tie came over with Xiao Yanzi.
When I saw the kiwi fruit in Zhang An's basket, I picked it up, peeled it, and ate it.
The children who were playing nearby saw Zhang Tie eating and watched eagerly.
Then I looked at the adults, and it was obvious that I wanted to show off a few words on my face.
"Kids, come here quickly, these are for you to eat."
Zhang An took some and put them on the table next to him, and said to the children next to him.
Since he was here to take care of his own business, Zhang An couldn't be too picky, so he was still willing to bear this little wild fruit.
"Brother, what are you doing?"
These adults are obviously from the city and don't know Yang Taozi.
Today's Yang Taozi is not the kiwi fruit on the market in later generations. There are many people who don't know it.
We haven't started to plant them in bulk now, that is, some people in the mountains will pick them and eat them.
"Well, this is a wild fruit in the mountains. It's called kiwi fruit. Because monkeys in the mountains also like to eat it, it's also called kiwi fruit."
The brother who was talking to Zhang An did not show any pretense. He picked up the sheep peach given by Zhang An and imitated Zhang Tie and others in peeling off the skin and eating the contents.
"Hmm~, it's quite delicious. This thing is actually a wild fruit?"
Several other people saw how delicious this old man was eating and started to eat it too.
Unexpectedly, this kiwi fruit was loved by everyone. No wonder kiwi fruit was sold so expensively in later generations.
That is to say, later on, as more people planted crops and the area became larger, the price came down.
Before this old man left, he and Zhang An bought half the basket under him.
Customers are God. If people are willing to sell, how can Zhang An not sell?
It's not a question of Zhang An's willingness or not, Zhang An didn't even say anything.
Wang Fang has already agreed to sell it to others.
In the end, this guy bought more than twenty kilograms for one yuan a kilogram.
Wang Fang also disliked Zhang An for picking half the basket of wild walnuts.
If all we pick are sheep peaches, a basket can be sold for at least dozens of yuan.
What else can Zhang An say? He is not a god who can figure out whether someone will buy this thing today.
Besides, a basket costs at least fifty or sixty kilograms, so people don’t necessarily want them all.
After the guests at home left and Zhang An's family finished their dinner, they began to pack away the wild walnuts that Zhang An had picked.
"Why is it so small?"
Wang Fang peeled a few and found they were all pecans.
Not many people in the village are willing to eat these because they think they are too small and there is not much walnut meat in them to eat.
"This is the only one I encountered today, not the big ones."
Zhang An took the knife and quickly opened the pair of walnuts.
After they dry in the shade, they can be stored for a long time.
And Zhang Anke had no intention of drying all these pecans.
He planned to get some spiced star anise, boil the pecans, and then slowly dry them in the sun.
When the time comes, the dried pecans will also taste fragrant.
"Mom, do we still have spices at home?"
Zhang An did as he was told and asked his mother directly for spices.
"What are you looking for spices for? You're not stewing anything."
The spices from Zhang An's family are always used for stews during the Chinese New Year or when cooking big dishes.
"I'm going to cook a dish with these pecans using spiced star anise, and it will be much more delicious when dried."
Wang Fang knew very well that her son was not active in other aspects, but he was very diligent in eating.
But Wang Fang didn't say anything, and still found the spices at home and handed them to Zhang An.
"Can these walnuts be cooked with spices?"
This is the first time Wang Fang explains how to cook these things with spices.
"I didn't know that this can be cooked. Peanuts and sunflowers can also be cooked when they are freshly harvested. This is how spiced melon seeds are made."
"Then our family will cook some next year. The five-spice melon seeds will taste better,"
No matter what it is, if you get used to it after eating it for a long time, the original flavor and the spiced taste will make you feel delicious.
Taking advantage of the fact that the fire on the coal stove was burning brightly, Zhang An directly set up a large iron pot and started cooking.
"Mom, next time you go to the market, buy more spices like five-spice and star anise. It won't take long to buy a little at a time."
Zhang An thought that this stuff was not expensive anyway, so he could buy more and keep it there, so he could eat and cook whatever he wanted.
"Usually I don't have much time to use it. If I buy a lot of these spices and put them away, they will become stale over time and the fragrance will no longer be strong."
There is indeed no shelf life for things like spiced anise. As long as it is stored well, it will be good for two to three years.
But if you keep this thing for a long time, the fragrance inside it will slowly dissipate and become stale.
Food cooked with old spices has little flavor.
After cooking for half an hour, the walnuts on the fire were already cooked.
Now that the water in the big iron pot has dried up a lot, Zhang An lifted the big iron pot to the pot ring and placed it.
Then, after taking out the spice packets inside, let the cooked brine soak the walnuts in the pot.
Wait for it to soak for a while, and the aroma will soak into the walnut kernels inside, then take it out.
Finally, take the walnuts out of the pot, drain the water, and then dry them in the sun.
But it's already night now, so I can only put it in a sieve first and dry it in the sun tomorrow.
Looking at the soup in the pot, Zhang An felt that it would be too wasteful to pour it out now.
After thinking about it, there were so many eggs at home, so I kept them first.
Then I found a pot of eggs, cooked them in water, and then cracked the outer eggshells.
Finally, put it into the brine and start braising it. Crack the eggshells to make the eggs more flavorful.
Zhang An is preparing to make a pot of fragrant five-spice eggs as a snack.
I'm usually too lazy to do anything, but this time it was easy.
"Dad, Mom, please try and see if these boiled eggs are delicious."
Zhang An took out two boiled eggs and handed them to his parents.
Although this is not the legendary tea egg, it is almost the same.
No one has started selling braised eggs on the street yet.
Zhang An still remembers that some people said that China was very poor and could not afford eggs, especially tea eggs.
He stood up now, and Zhang An showed him one thing to eat and one to play.
I didn't say throw it away. This is the most basic respect for food. It's not that Zhang An can't throw it away.
Although Zhang An didn't put any tea this time, there is no shortage of tea in Zhang An's family.