Chapter 410 - 401: Searching for Mountain Goods (2)

Shen Xiuyuan: "Gather more. I’ll have Dad bring some pebbles from the river to make sugar-roasted chestnuts."

Yun Jiao loved to eat, so she became even more enthusiastic about gathering chestnuts.

In no time at all, they had gathered enough chestnuts to fill a small back basket.

"CLUCK CLUCK..."

Yun Jiao’s sharp ears caught the call of a pheasant.

Her eyes instantly lit up. ’Chestnut stewed with chicken is delicious, too.’

"There’s a pheasant over there. I’m going to check it out."

"A pheasant! We want to go too!"

Alright, then. And so, the group followed Yun Jiao, approaching the pheasant’s location within just a few minutes.

There was more than just one.

A whole flock of pheasants was in a clearing, eating grass seeds and insects.

"There are so many, there must be more than a dozen."

Yun Xiaowu: "Good thing I brought my slingshot."

How could you go play in the mountains without a slingshot?

Just as they were about to shoot the pheasants with their slingshots, Yun Jiao spoke up.

"Wait."

"Is that a fox over there?"

She wasn’t entirely sure, having only glimpsed a flash of red. Its body seemed a little smaller than a village dog’s.

’It must be here to hunt, too.’

"Where? Where?"

Everyone wanted to see. They’d never seen a fox before.

Yun Jiao pointed toward a patch of deep grass.

Just then, the fox, which had been stalking the pheasants, began to move, cautiously poking its head out.

"Shh, everyone be quiet. Don’t scare it away."

Yun Chenbei, meanwhile, took out his camera.

His habit of carrying his camera everywhere was finally paying off.

He aimed at the fox and started taking pictures, CLICK, CLICK.

It was a red fox.

Its belly was white, its legs were black, and the rest of its fur was red.

As the archetypal spirit-enchantress of supernatural folklore, the fox is indeed one of the most stunning creatures in the animal kingdom.

Everyone held their breath, watching the fox creep closer to the flock of pheasants.

Seizing its moment, it burst from the grass and pounced on a pheasant.

But its final lunge was too conspicuous, and the pheasants reacted quickly, flying away.

The hunt was a failure.

The pheasants took flight, scattering in all directions.

WHOOSH...

A whizzing sound cut through the air, and a pheasant that had already flown more than three meters high was struck by a small stone and fell to the ground.

The fox, startled, instantly pricked up its ears and darted back into the grass.

Yun Jiao and her brothers were all good shots with their slingshots; in total, they took down five pheasants.

"Too bad the fox ran off. It would have been nice to see it up close."

"It was so beautiful even from a distance. It looked like a young one, too."

Yun Jiao glanced in the direction the little fox had fled. "It didn’t go far."

’That little fox is pretty cunning, hiding not far away and watching us secretly.’

"Where is it?"

Hearing this, the others grew excited, eager for a look.

Shen Kuan stopped them. "Don’t go looking. The fox will run away if we get any closer."

Yun Xiaoqi said, "Why don’t we leave a pheasant here and see if it comes out?"

Yun Xiaowu: "What, you want to catch the fox?"

Shen Kuan: "Fox meat doesn’t taste good. The most useful part of a fox is its pelt."

Yun Xiaoqi scratched his head. "No, I just want to see it. This is the first time I’ve ever seen a fox, so it’s a novelty."

’As for the pelt, he wasn’t about to kill a fox just for a small piece of fur. It’s not like he didn’t have clothes to wear. Besides, what could you even do with a single fox pelt?’

Yun Jiao said, "Let’s leave one, then."

They had plenty of pheasants anyway.

So, after leaving one pheasant behind, the group left.

But they didn’t go far, instead finding a spot to hide where they had a clear view.

They waited, perfectly still, for quite a while before there was a rustle in the grass.

Sure enough, the fox had returned.

No one made a sound. Yun Chenbei snapped several more photos.

The fox glanced around warily, then snatched the pheasant’s carcass in its jaws and sped away, disappearing into the grass.

This time, it was really gone.

Yun Xiao Ba: "I got a good look at it. I’m going to draw it when I get back."

Yun Xiaoqi pouted. "Why bother? Yun Chenbei took photos."

Yun Xiao Ba retorted, "You don’t understand art!"

"Oh, yeah? And I suppose you do..."

The two brothers looked like they were about to start fighting, so Yun Chenbei and Shen Kuan each grabbed one and quickly pulled them apart.

"I think I remember some walnut trees over there. Let’s go have a look."

Shen Kuan had changed the subject, and the two brothers finally stopped arguing, though they still glared at each other.

In the direction Shen Kuan had pointed, there were indeed walnut trees.

There were three of them in the area.

When walnuts are unripe, they are encased in a green husk that looks a bit like a pear.

This thing oozes a white sap that stains your hands black, and it’s not easy to wash off.

The husks of the walnuts that had fallen on the ground were somewhat blackened and had to be pried open with tools.

"Wear gloves, or your hands will turn black."

They held choppers and screwdrivers in their hands.

They also wore work gloves, but the cotton ones they had couldn’t offer complete protection.

You had to use a tool to pry open the outer husk to get to the walnut inside.

"How come the walnuts on this tree look different?"

Yun Jiao held one that was smaller than the other walnuts. After she cut open the husk, a more vividly colored walnut was revealed.

"The pattern on this walnut is so clear, and the shell looks really thick."

"It’s surprisingly good-looking. It’s so round, not like the walnuts from the other trees."

They compared a walnut from this tree with one from the others.

Yun Jiao: "This walnut has such refined features."

Yes, that was exactly the feeling.

This walnut was smaller, but it was much better looking.

Its color was more vibrant than the other walnuts, its pattern was clearer and more beautiful, and its shape was slightly rounder.

Shen Kuan said, "This kind of walnut barely has any meat inside. You can’t eat it. We should stick to gathering from the other trees."

Yun Xiao Ba rubbed his chin. "Why does it look so familiar?"

"HAHAHA... Yun Xiao Ba, your chin is all black."

Yun Xiao Ba looked down. Oh no!

Yun Jiao quite liked these walnuts, so she gathered a bunch of them and put them in a separate bag.

The group wandered through the mountains, finding quite a few mountain treasures and even gathering some pine nuts.

They also caught two wild rabbits.

They didn’t head home until it was almost dinnertime, filling any empty back baskets to the brim with firewood.

"We’re home!"

"Grandpa, Grandma, guess what we caught in the mountains!"

The return of the flock of children instantly livened up the Shen family home.

Grandma Shen had a smile on her face. "Jiaojiao is so capable. You must have brought back some wonderful things from the mountain."

"Quick, let Grandma see what you caught."

"Oh my, so many walnuts and chestnuts."

Yun Jiao: "Uncle, I want sugar-roasted chestnuts."

Shen Nian said, "Alright. After dinner, I’ll have your eldest cousin go get some pebbles."

"Grandma, what tasty things can we make with walnuts?"

"Oh, so many things. Grandma will make you candied walnuts. We still have some red dates, so we can make red date and walnut pastries, too."

"We’ll roast the pine nuts, too. They’ll keep, and they’ll be delicious to eat during the New Year."

Shen Xiuyuan: "Grandma, we could make pine nut brittle."

Everyone chimed in, excitedly discussing what to eat.

"There are also four pheasants and two wild rabbits! Grandma, I want to eat stir-fried rabbit."

"Chestnut and pheasant stew!"

Aunt Shen: "My, my, you little gourmands certainly know what’s good. Alright, we’ll make everything for you today."

"Shen Kuan, go scald the pheasants with boiling water and pluck them. Clean out the innards, too."

"Shen Nian, go skin the rabbits."

After assigning people to deal with the pheasants and rabbits, Aunt Shen and Grandma Shen began to prepare the other ingredients.

Yun Jiao and her brothers didn’t stay idle either. Chestnut and pheasant stew needs chestnuts, after all.

Raw chestnuts aren’t easy to peel, especially the fuzzy inner skin that clings to the nut.

Once all the ingredients were ready, it was time to start cooking!