Crossing 70: Fish in the Pond Have Good News

When they met up with the others, everyone was shocked by Jiang Yu's two urea bags. Although they were a little curious about what she had picked up, there were other villagers on the ox cart, so Xue Li'an suppressed his curiosity and only glanced at the two bags from time to time.

"By the way, I met someone selling apples today and I bought quite a few. Aunties, would you like to exchange some?" She saw that the aunties were also very curious, but Jiang Yu looked like she was too lazy to pay attention to others, so she found an excuse to attract other people's attention.

The aunts all turned their heads at once, "Apple?"

"Yes, I brought them from the neighboring city. Their apples are good-looking, sweet, and long-lasting, so I bought some more." Xue Li said as he lifted the cloth on his backpack and showed the apples inside to the aunties.

"Oh, it's really big, and it looks so pretty when it's bright red." An old lady exclaimed in surprise, "Xue Zhiqing, how do you want to exchange this apple?"

"Exchange for dried goods, nuts and mushrooms are both fine." Xue Li had a lot of these big apples in his space, so taking some out was just right for dealing with the villagers.

"Okay!" The aunt clapped her hands, "I'll go to the educated youth center to exchange apples with you later."

"I want to change two too." Others also joined in.

For a moment, everyone was discussing the exchange of apples, and the two urea bags on the ox cart were completely ignored.

Jiang Yu helped Xue Li hold the backpack, but his mind was full of things to do after returning.

The ox cart swayed slowly, and when we returned to the educated youth site, it was already past 3 o'clock in the afternoon.

Jiang Yu carried his urea bag into the house, poured the contents all over the floor, and began to sort them out.

Xue Li wiped his face and came out, peeking at her door, "Jiang Yu, my God... did you pick up something good?"

That pile of wheels and tires, and a heap of tin sheets, will be enough to keep her busy for a while.

"Well, when I make the bicycle, we can ride together when we go to town." Jiang Yu patted the broken tire in a good mood, and then continued to organize it, putting the small screws, long nails, etc. into a special frame, and twisted the iron wire together.

After cleaning up, she began to prepare for rust removal.

Seeing that she was busy, Xue Li did not disturb her. He went back to the house to prepare the apples to be exchanged for dried goods, and waited for the village aunties to come.

Soon, the courtyard became lively.

The aunties in the village who received the news swarmed in and crowded the door of Xue Li's house next door, just as enthusiastically grabbing discounted vegetables in supermarkets in later generations.

They didn't seem to consider whether Xue Li had enough apples or not, and just brought their own dried goods to exchange.

Chen Jinghan hurried forward to help, and while passing things around, he occasionally said something like, "The apples are juicy and heavy," as if he had also bought a lot of apples.

Xue Li harvested a field of nuts and dried mushrooms, grinning with joy. As soon as the aunties left, he started clamoring for fried walnuts and hazelnuts.

Chen Jinghan smiled and nodded, "Then we have to go get some clean sand and stir-fry it in the yard when we have a break."

"Yeah!" Xue Li agreed obediently and looked at his harvest with satisfaction.

Jiang Yu, who was standing next to him, moved all the things he needed recently to the open space outside, then applied the rust-removing solution to the rusty areas, waiting for the rust to dissolve.

"Jiang Yu, how many cars can you make this time?" Xiong Lijin brought out a small stool, sat next to her and asked.

Jiang Yu didn't even raise his head. "Three. The parts are not complete. Otherwise, we can make one more."

"Uncle Zhuang's family took one, and there are two left. Can you sell me one?" He often has to travel back and forth between the village and town, and having a bicycle would be a lot more convenient.

Jiang Yu nodded, "Okay."

Xiong Lijin chuckled, then took out his small account book and started writing and drawing. Maybe he got something out of his trip today.

Fu Biao took the can of yellow peaches and ate them with gusto. He squatted on the doorstep and watched the ginger fish brush off the rust.

"I heard that young walnuts can be picked in the mountains now. Are you interested? You can pick them and bring them back to cook and stew." Wu Aiqing was peeling small potatoes in his hands. He lived with Fu Biao and cooked together. In the evening, he prepared eggplant stewed with potatoes and noodles.

"Go! I want to go!" Xue Li raised his hand immediately when he heard that he could go up the mountain to stock up on goods.

"Go ahead, and see if you can catch a rabbit or a pheasant to make up for the loss." Jiang Yu also agreed.

Both girls said they wanted to go, so let’s go together.

For dinner, Ginger Fish had rice with pig's trotters. When the braised pig's trotters were being heated, the aroma was so strong and overbearing that it spread to the front yard. There was immediate gnashing of teeth over there, and they only regretted that they were not brave enough to have a taste.

Because they wanted to pick young walnuts, the new educated youth took a collective leave before the busy farming season began. They excitedly crossed the Yaoer Mountain, carrying their backpacks, and headed towards the mountains to look for walnuts.

There were also many women in the village who followed them, and they did not disperse until they entered the mountains.

Xue Li let out a breath, "I almost thought we were going to pick walnuts together, then our barbecue project would have been ruined! Fortunately, it's not cold yet."

The others probably understood what she meant. Xiong Lijin smiled, picked up a firewood stick from the ground, and walked forward while banging on it. "We definitely can't do it together, otherwise how are we going to share the good stuff we find? Anyway, we're all on the periphery, so it's safe."

Occasionally, people will set traps outside the mountains, but they are usually marked and you can see them if you are careful.

A few people avoided the hunting area of ​​others and walked forward a short distance before they saw a big walnut tree.

Fu Biao rubbed his hands a few times and climbed up the tree like a monkey, "Hanzi, pass me the stick."

"Here it comes." Chen Jinghan quickly handed over the stick.

Everyone stepped back a few steps and waited for Fu Biao to crack the walnuts.

The ginger fish, on the other hand, keeps its eyes and ears open, waiting for its prey.

The walnut was knocked down by the wooden stick and fell to the ground with a clatter. The green shell was soon covered with scars.

After Fu Biao stopped, several people went up with baskets to pick up walnuts. The walnuts were not big, but they were heavy, so no one picked up too many.

After the backpacks of several people were half full, Jiang Yu also caught a pheasant. She handed the pheasant to Wu Aiqing and said, "I'll go inside to take a look. You guys clean up first."

"Be careful and don't go too far!" Xue Li reminded hurriedly.

"Let's go to the place where we roasted rabbit last time. Do you remember the way?" Chen Jinghan asked loudly.

"I know. You go first. I'll be there soon." Jiang Yu nodded and walked upstairs, waving the wooden stick in his hand.

Soon, a bonfire was built by the mountain stream, the pheasants were gutted, and the feathers and internal organs were buried in a nearby pit.

Xue Li took out the bottles and jars he had brought with him, which contained rapeseed oil, sugar, salt, five-spice powder, crushed peppercorns and sesame seeds.

Fu Biao gave a thumbs up and said, "Not bad, you are very well prepared."

"Of course!" In order to have a bite to eat, Xue Li almost took out the cumin and pepper salt.