Chapter 679: Chapter 679: Rural Water Fragrance
 

As soon as people got into the water, the water in the small pond immediately spread over their thighs, and their pants were instantly soaked.

“Oh! I told you to dig for lotus roots, but why did you wet your pants!”

Di Yelei laughed loudly, causing the onlookers around to laugh as well.

“The water is too deep. Let’s drain some of it before we dig.”

No one knew whose idea it was, but everyone ran to the other end of the lotus pond to drain the water. At the outlet, there was a filter net covered with a thick layer of mud. As soon as they removed the mud, the water level in the small pond began to lower quickly.

When Zhang Yun got into the water and saw his pants were wet, he didn’t care and walked towards the dense lotus leaves.

“Look for lotus pods that are already turning black and old. Break them off, then feel downwards. Those lotus roots are old enough!”

Liu Sisi also cheerfully instructed.

Now is not the best time to eat tender lotus roots since the lotus leaves are not yet withered. However, tender lotus roots have their own taste, and Liu Sisi thought it would be nice to use a few segments for a dish.

“Alright!”

Zhang Yun obediently headed towards the old lotus pods and bent down to search along the lotus pods. In not a while, he indeed felt something round.

“I found it!”

Zhang Yun shouted excitedly and pulled out a muddy lotus root that was more than a meter long from the water.

“Yes, that’s it! Dig up two more, and that’s enough!”

Liu Sisi was also overjoyed, knowing that sweet and sour lotus root slices would be served today!

Zhang Yun buried his head and dug for a while, eventually digging out two or three more roots until Liu Sisi repeatedly cried, “That’s enough!” Only then did he reluctantly climb ashore.

“Auntie, when this lotus root is cooked, can you save some for me? I want YingEr to taste them.”

“Definitely. However, it would be even better if you could pick that patch of water celery behind you for me.”

She had been eyeing that patch of fresh water celery for a long time.

“A patch of water celery, no big deal!”

The youngster picked some and piled them on the ground: “Auntie, are we eating this wild vegetable today?”

Were they out of vegetables at home, so Auntie thought of the water celery? He had eaten it at Auntie’s house before, and he could never forget the taste.

“Of course, we’ll eat it. Just wait and see.”

She took the lotus roots and water celery and handed them over to Ms. Gao nearby. “This is our food for noon, so prepare it quickly.”

Zhang Yun’s eyes rolled, and he suddenly laughed, “Auntie, there are many lotus roots in your little pond, so let me dig up a couple more to plant in my paddy field.”

Having said that, he turned back to dig for more lotus roots.

Liu Sisi became worried: “Stop digging, it’s not the right time to collect lotus roots for planting. You have to wait until the lotus leaves wither…”

“Oh my God! – Hurry up, run!”

Before Liu Sisi could finish speaking, Zhang Yun suddenly screamed and turned to run towards the shore.

The people on the shore were shocked!

“What happened? Why did you stop digging?”

Di Yelei, who had been observing the water levels, was also startled by the scream and hurriedly jogged over.

“What happened? Why are you shouting so loudly?”

“A snake! A snake! A huge one!”

Zhang Yun was so scared that his whole body was shaking, and he hurriedly tried to climb up the shore, which instantly provoked laughter from the surrounding crowd.

“Hey! It’s just a snake, look how terrified you are. Which house doesn’t have a couple of them in the front and back?”

“I say, Zhang Yun, can you even go hunting in the mountains like this?”

“Exactly, are you even brave enough? Are you like a woman who sees a snake, turns around, and runs away?”

The teasing voices kept coming, making Zhang Yun stuck at the edge of the shore, not knowing whether to go up or not, caught between a rock and a hard place.

The people here have grown up at the foot of the mountain for generations, and generally, boys learn basic survival skills from a young age, like catching snakes. Although they may not be adept, they definitely wouldn’t run away scared at the sight of a snake. Moreover, the Zhang family was originally a family of hunters that relied on hunting for a living.

“I, I am… The snake is so big…”

Zhang Yun couldn’t continue.

He had seen the snake and instinctively turned to run, completely forgetting that he himself was a hunter.

“You! Look at you, having studied for a few days, you have even forgotten the basics.”

Guihua beside him couldn’t help but sigh and shake her head repeatedly.

“You come up first, we’ll take a closer look and then decide.” Di Yelei didn’t laugh; he seemed to have seen that thing as well.

Zhang Yun gladly got up and climbed back onto the shore.

Di Yelei carefully examined it and ordered someone to fetch a bamboo pole. He cautiously moved the lotus leaves away. As he moved the leaves, a snake slightly thicker than a human arm raised its head from the lotus leaves, clearly disturbed by the people and hissing at them.

It was a stink snake, a non-venomous species, which made the crowd laugh even harder.

For ordinary farmers living at the foot of the mountain, which family doesn’t have a couple of such guardian deities in the front and back of their homes? Normally, people don’t care about these things at all.

As the crowd laughed, Zhang Yun’s face turned red, and he could barely lift his head.

“Go, go! Go…”

Di Yelei moved the lotus leaves and drove the snake away with them.

The snake seemed to realize that the people had no intention of killing it and finally crawled slowly over the courtyard wall and slipped through the gaps in the fence.

The Elderly Mr. Di beside was quite pleased: “Seeing this big guy in the courtyard as soon as we returned today, it seems that this year will be a bumper harvest!”

“We’ll take Elderly Di’s auspicious words, this year will definitely be a bumper harvest!”

“Hey! There are fish in this small pond, with quite big heads! Quickly get the fishing net and catch the fish.”

No one knew who yelled, but it instantly caught everyone’s attention.

“The water in this small pond is still so abundant. I’m afraid it won’t be empty until the afternoon. Our family’s paddy field has a small puddle filled with many small fish, and I caught more than half a bucket yesterday and kept them at home. I’ll go and get it.”

As he was speaking, he hurriedly ran away.

“My home’s pumpkins and white gourds are also abundant crops this year. I’ll go get some.”

Another one quickly ran away.

“The sweet potatoes we planted in our field this year are also of good yield. I’ll go home too…”

And another went…

When the people here were talking about sweet potatoes, they actually meant jicama, a delicious plant whether eaten raw or cooked.

Looking at the warm-hearted villagers, Liu Sisi was infected by the joyous atmosphere, and her mood turned particularly good.

She looked at the ingredients in the kitchen, weighed the pork belly she had brought back from the county, and thought that since she had come back to her hometown, she would cook a mouth-watering meal for everyone today!