The Daily Life of Farming and Raising Children in Ancient Mountain Residences

Chapter 11

For most of the afternoon, Sang Luo peeled the hemp while Shen An and Shen Ning gathered the leaves of the fairy tree to experiment with a new dish.

Making fairy tofu was simple, and Sang Luo didn’t avoid the two siblings when she made it. Shen Ning had a special talent for this, so she processed the leaves they collected in the afternoon according to Sang Luo’s instructions.

With Sang Luo occasionally giving some key tips, Shen Ning handled everything herself without Sang Luo’s intervention. When the final step was completed, Shen Ning was overjoyed. “Sister-in-law, is this okay?”

Sang Luo joked, “Yes, it’s done. Just wait for it to solidify. Now,An Ning, you’re also a skilled little lady.”

Shen Ning shyly smiled, “Thanks to my sister-in-law for teaching me.”

The two children washed the used bowls and pots, then Sang Luo looked at the sky and placed the peeled hemp in a pool of running water downstream from the mountain spring. She washed her hands and said, “Let’s go. We’ll check the fish traps. Whether we can add more dishes tonight depends on whether the heavens bless us. These two baskets will make a difference.”

This sentence excited the two siblings directly.

When they arrived at the stream to check the fish traps, Sang Luo raised her index finger to her lips.

Although it was a strange gesture, Shen An and Shen Ning miraculously understood what Sang Luo meant and suppressed their excitement, remaining silent.

Sang Luo quietly took off her shoes and slowly entered the water, heading towards the trap she had set.

The siblings dared not enter the water together to retrieve the fish, as it was crucial to their harvest. Startling the fish would ruin the catch for the day. They stood shoulder to shoulder on the bank, holding their breath and watching Sang Luo’s movements intently. When Sang Luo reached the edge of the trap and cautiously put her hands into the water, the siblings clenched their fists in excitement on the shore.

Sang Luo also held her breath and focused, feeling her way to the fish trap with her hands. She quickly lifted the basket from the water, and it was heavy—really heavy! It was heavy because there were stones in the basket. How could it not be heavy?

She quickly carried the heavy basket to the shore, while the siblings on the bank were already jumping with excitement. They restrained themselves from making a sound, but their excitement was palpable.

When Sang Luo put the basket down on the bank, the water drained out, and the sound of something hitting the stones inside the basket became more distinct.

Shen An exclaimed in excitement, “Sister-in-law, there are fish!”

His voice was hushed, but his excitement was evident.

Seeing the little one reaching for stones, Sang Luo hurriedly stopped him and said, “Don’t move; I’ll do it.”

Sang Luo didn’t stop the children from being happy; she was just worried that they might flip over a stone and encounter a water snake. These little ones, if startled, could cause trouble.

Shen An clearly didn’t understand his sister-in-law’s concerns, but he couldn’t help but admire her now, especially when he heard the continuous clattering sounds coming from the basket. Shen An was now full of admiration for his sister-in-law!

She was so capable!

Carefully, Sang Luo lifted one stone after another, lightening the load in the basket. After removing seven or eight stones, she spotted the fish!

“Fish!” Shen Ning was excited. “Sister-in-law, there are three!”

“Four, five now!”

The siblings were eager to lend a hand.

Once the stones were removed, leaving only a shallow layer at the bottom of the basket, Sang Luo smiled and whispered, “You guys, pick them up!”

With that, the two rushed forward enthusiastically, almost diving into the basket. Their hands grabbed and pulled, their excitement growing with each catch.

“So many fish, and even shrimp!”

“And tadpoles!”

“And crabs!”

Sang Luo peeked into the basket and couldn’t help but marvel at the abundance of nature. There were at least fifteen or sixteen fish; the smallest was no bigger than her little finger, and the largest one was as big as her palm.

This was a big catch. In her previous life, even in the mountains, she would only catch about five or six fish in a basket. Sometimes, she would only catch one or two when luck was not on her side.

Sang Luo let the two children pick up the stones one by one, and she stepped into the water again, this time to retrieve the other basket placed by Shen An and Shen Ning. Mimicking her actions, she lifted it up and removed the large stones, ensuring there were no unwelcome surprises. Then, she handed over the task to the two siblings.

Watching them, Sang Luo couldn’t help but smile. There must have been thirty or forty fish in there!

Sang Luo picked and sorted through them, throwing back five or six small ones into the stream.

Shen An looked puzzled. “Sister-in-law, why did you release them?”

“They’re too small; there’s no meat on them. It’s better to put them back.”

Shen An swallowed his saliva and looked forlornly at the stream.

“Sister-in-law, even a little meat is still meat.”

Seeing his expression, Sang Luo burst into laughter and, disregarding her wet hands, grabbed his head and lifted it up, saying with a smile, “Alright, how many streams like this are there in the mountains? Are you willing to spend time and effort fishing? Let them grow a bit more, release the small fish, and you’ll still be able to catch fish in the future.”

Shen An blinked, seemingly understanding.

Shen Ning added, “Big brother never caught small ones before.”

Shen An nodded. “Got it, sister-in-law. So, for the shrimp we caught, do we just take them up directly?”

When they started walking towards the bank, they all ran.

“We need to use the basket,” Sang Luo said, pouring the fish and crabs from one cleaned basket into the other. Once everything was transferred, she carried the basket to where they had placed the branches.

Carefully, she shook the basket, and a bunch of shrimp fell out. Sang Luo raised her eyebrows. “Quite a lot!”

After checking a few places where they had placed branches, they went ashore.

After taking out a few branches, they found that there were enough shrimp to fill half a bowl, along with three crabs swimming among them.

“It’s a big harvest; we’ll have a good meal tonight!”

The siblings no longer held back their excitement, and they cheered.

Shen An quickly responded, “Sister-in-law, let’s set another trap. We’ll come back to collect it tomorrow morning!”

Sang Luo agreed, but she suggested they move forward a bit.

She wasn’t worried about catching fish in three or four traps, but they had already set several traps here. Following one catch, the subsequent harvest would likely be smaller.

Shen An and Shen Ning each carried a basket and some bundles of branches, happily running ahead. Sang Luo followed behind, carrying the basket of fish.

This time, Sang Luo didn’t need to instruct the two children; they could manage on their own.

After setting up a few more traps, Shen An looked at the basket of fish in Sangluo’s hands with some regret. “We should have brought our pottery pot; then we could have caught more fish.”

Sang Luo hadn’t considered that when she came out. She could only say, “Remember to bring it tomorrow morning. Let’s go; let’s go back and prepare something delicious!”

Shen An looked at the basket in Sang Luo’s hands and felt satisfied. He reached out to take it from her. “Sister-in-law, I’ll carry this.”

Shen Ning also chimed in, “Let me help!”

Sang Luo understood that the two children were overjoyed, so she let them. “You two carry it, but be careful with the crabs. Hold a tree branch in your hands, and if they climb up, push them back down. Don’t get pinched.”

It wouldn’t be pleasant to get pinched.

“Okay!”

Shen An quickly found a tree branch by the stream, stripped off the leaves, split it in half, and handed one to Shen Ning. Then, the two siblings happily lifted the basket and started on their way back.

Sang Luo walked ahead of them, her pace steady, her eyes scanning the ground around them.

Shen Ning noticed and asked, “Sister-in-law, what are you looking for?”

“Wild ginger. Fish can be fishy; we need ginger to remove the smell. It’ll taste better when cooked.”

Shen Ning looked puzzled.

Indeed, ginger existed in this era, but it wasn’t widespread. During this time, ginger was still mainly used as a seasoning in high-ranking households. It was more commonly used as a medicinal herb, and dried ginger could be found in herbal shops.

Fresh ginger was available as a seasoning, but it was extremely expensive. People in rural households rarely spent money on seasonings; even oil and salt were considered luxuries, so why would they spend a lot of money on ginger for seasoning?

Sang Luo knew about the existence of ginger and its approximate price in this era because she was born into a noble family where ginger was used in cooking and occasionally boiled into ginger soup for warmth, despite being a luxury item.

In this era, just like in her original time, ginger was considered a luxury item. There were even records in historical texts like “Records of the Grand Historian” mentioning ginger as a luxury, saying, “A thousand acres of ginger and chives, this person is equivalent to a thousand households.” 

Therefore, people like Shen An and Shen Ning had never even heard of ginger. Sang Luo’s knowledge of the existence of ginger and its price in this era was due to her family background and the occasional use of it in her household.

She explained, “Ginger isn’t just used for cooking; it’s also a medicinal herb. If you catch a cold, drinking ginger water can help. However, ginger is expensive to buy. You two can try looking for wild ginger. Its leaves resemble bamboo leaves, and the underground rhizomes are yellowish chunks. They usually grow in shaded areas under trees or on the shady side of hills. There might be some in bamboo forests. You can keep an eye out for them in your spare time. If you manage to find some, it’s a good thing to have. You can keep it as a backup medicine in winter or try planting some yourselves.”

In fact, Sang Luo wasn’t sure if wild ginger existed in this era. It hadn’t come up in her original memories, and she was only looking for it because she needed it for cooking and wanted to try her luck.

When the two children heard that it was a medicinal herb, they nodded in agreement. “Okay, we’ll pay more attention in the future. If we see something that looks like it, we’ll dig it up and show it to my sister-in-law!”

At this moment, Shen Ning still admired Sang Luo. As they walked, she thought to herself, “Sister-in-law, you know so much. You can catch fish, make immortal tofu, recognize wild ginger, and even know how to treat colds.”

Shen An, who had been paying attention to plants that resembled bamboo leaves and could potentially be wild ginger, paused inexplicably at his sister’s words.