bestfiction Chapter 107 Picking Sichuan Pepper
Chapter 107 Picking Sichuan Pepper
Laughter and song filled Wen Dashan's home until midnight. The villagers of Xinghua Village all knew that Wen Yuxia was going to Beijing. Village Chief Wang, on behalf of the villagers, brought Wen Yuxia a large quantity of local produce.
"Princess, this is a small token of our appreciation from the villagers. Please accept it," Village Chief Wang said sincerely.
Knowing that Wen Yuxia was going to Beijing, the villagers brought out the dried bamboo shoots, mushrooms, chestnuts, and walnuts they had been drying. Village Chief Wang selected the best-looking ones and took them to Wen Dashan's house.
Wen Yuxia accepted the gifts graciously, then turned and whispered to Bei San, "Go to the horse farm and find Master Gu. Tell them to pack their bags and come to Xinghua Village."
Wen Yuxia was to take Gu Jiusi, Deng Yongbo, and the members of their escort team with her. Security at the horse farm and racetrack would be taken over by people sent by Xia Yichen.
She planned to hunt some wild game in the mountains to give to the villagers of Xinghua Village, so that Nan Si and the others could take it home to their parents. She was leaving Xinchuan County the day after tomorrow, and needed to let Nan Si and the others go home and rest for two days before leaving.
"Greetings, Princess," Gu Jiusi and the others arrived quickly, bowing with clasped hands as soon as they entered the courtyard.
Gu Jiusi, Deng Yongbo, and Wen Yuxia had an employer-employee relationship. Naturally, they brought their wives and children with them when they went to the capital. Their wives and children followed behind the guards, bowing and paying their respects to Wen Yuxia.
Fearing that the couple's families might feel uncomfortable staying there, Wen Yuxia calmly said, "Master Deng, please take your wife and the others to the residence in the west of the city first."
Gu Jiusi and his guards went hunting in the mountains. Wen Yunhai and the others insisted on going with them, so Wen Yuxia had no choice but to lead them and follow behind Gu Jiusi and the others up the mountain.
Watching Gu Jiusi and the others leap away quickly, Wen Yunhai and his brothers mustered all their strength and gave chase. However, their running speed was no match for Gu Jiusi and the others, who were skilled in martial arts.
Soon, Gu Jiusi and the others disappeared from the Wen brothers' sight. Wen Yunhai led his brothers along the mountain path.
Suddenly, Wen Yunhai stopped and turned to look at the woods beside him: "There are birds chirping in the woods, let's go take a look."
After saying this, he took out a smooth-polished slingshot, then pulled a small pebble from his pouch. The others followed suit, taking out their own slingshots.
They had practiced archery and pitch-pot, and they had also used slingshots to hunt birds and pheasants. The brothers carefully entered the woods.
Unless there was danger, Wen Yuxia didn't intend to intervene or offer any advice. She followed slowly behind the group.
Wen Yunhai, who was leading the way, had a serious expression as he observed his surroundings by the light filtering through the leaves.
As he walked, he stared at a large tree ahead and whispered, "Squirrel." With that, he raised his slingshot and "whoosh!" fired a pebble.
The squirrel was hit and fell to the ground with a thud. Wen Yunbo quickly ran over, picked it up, and happily waved it a few times at his brothers.
Suddenly, a large bird with a long beak swooped down, heading straight for Wen Yunbo. Wen Yunhai and Wen Yunqing simultaneously raised their slingshots and fired pebbles. Just as the bird caught the squirrel, it was struck by two pebbles, its body swaying a few times in the air.
Startled by the bird attack, Wen Yunbo regained his senses, tightly gripping the squirrel in the bird's beak with his left hand, while his right hand reached directly for the bird's neck.
He pulled the large, unidentified bird down from the sky, and Wen Yunbo laughed happily, "What a big bird!" Just then, a rustling sound came from the grass.
The brothers all looked toward the source of the sound. Wen Yuxia, looking slightly nervous, took the bow and arrows off her back and aimed them at the bushes in front of her.
Two figures darted out of the bushes one after the other. Upon recognizing that they were two rabbits, Wen Yuxia's expression returned to normal, and she calmly slung her bow and arrows back over her shoulder.
"A rabbit!" Wen Yunjiang exclaimed in surprise.
The Wen brothers quickly gave chase, shooting at the rabbits as they ran. The two rabbits scattered and fled in different directions. The Wen brothers, in perfect unison, split into two groups.
Wen Yuxia leaped up and stood on the treetop, a position from which she could clearly see the Wen brothers chasing the rabbit into the bushes.
The rabbit and the Wen brothers suddenly darted into the bushes, startling the pheasant that was nesting there. The pheasant flew out of the bushes in a panic.
"Catch pheasants, catch pheasants!" Wen Yunjiang lunged forward, pinning two pheasants that had just flown out of the grass beneath him.
The others also abandoned their pursuit of the rabbit and instead focused their attention on the fleeing pheasants, searching for their own targets.
"I caught him!"
"I caught him too."
……
A dozen or so pheasants flew out of the bushes, and they caught six of them. Wen Yunjiang pointed to the bushes and said, "Let's go find wild eggs."
Just then, as the breeze rustled through the treetops, Wen Yuxia said crisply, "Don't take all the eggs from the henhouse; leave two or three in."
"Why stay?" Wen Yunchen asked, puzzled.
Wen Yunqing quickly answered, "If the eggs are taken away, how will the chicks hatch? Without chicks, will we still be able to see so many pheasants here in the future?"
"Okay," Wen Yunchen obediently put two wild eggs into the chicken coop.
A gust of wind blew by, and Wen Yunhai suddenly smelled a fragrance—a blend of citrus and woody notes. He excitedly shouted, "The smell of Sichuan peppercorns! Quick, smell where this fragrance is coming from!"
Wen Yunchen took a deep breath, then said without hesitation, "Come with me."
Among the brothers, Wen Yunchen had the keenest sense of smell, and no one doubted his words. They all followed him towards the bushes to the left.
Pushing through the bushes, dozens of Sichuan pepper trees came into view, their rich fragrance filling the air. Wen Yunchen couldn't wait to run to the trees.
Reaching out from the shortest tree, he carefully broke off small branches of peppercorns and placed them in his basket, saying, "There are thorns, be careful."
After the group passed through the bushes, Wen Yuxia lightly touched the treetops and leaped forward, landing beside them in a few bounds. Looking at the tree laden with Sichuan peppercorns…
She happily flew up to a branch and joyfully joined the picking team. After her basket was full, she began secretly putting the fruit into her spatial storage.
Wen Yuxia stopped picking peppercorns only after Wen Yunhai and the others had filled their baskets. Wen Yunhai looked up at the pepper tree; so many peppercorns, it would be a waste to leave them on the tree.
He asked his brothers for their opinions: "There are too many peppercorns; we can't pick them all. Why don't we go back and tell the village chief to let everyone in the village come and pick them?"
“Okay,” the brothers said in unison.
On the way back, Wen Yunbo spotted a pear tree. Excitedly, he pointed to the wild pears at the top and said, "Sister Daya, can you help me out?"
The wild pears hanging from the treetops were big and yellow, looking so delicious that Wen Yunbo's mouth watered. He gazed longingly at Wen Yuxia.
Wen Yuxia put down her basket, leaped onto the pear tree, and put all the fruit on the top of the tree into her satchel. She returned to the ground, handed the satchel to Wen Yunbo, and said with a smile, "Xiao Liu, divide the pears."