Chapter 140
After a rain, the mountain streams swelled up, flowing down through the woods, their banks lush with water plants.
As autumn arrived, thin-shelled green snails gradually appeared. Lu Gu, Shen Yan, and Shen Xuanqing went up the mountain to gather them.
These snails were selling for a high price now, so whenever people had free time, they would come up the mountain to search. Along the way, they met many villagers, since the deeper parts of the mountains were remote, people either traveled in groups of two or three or brought dogs for protection.
Many streams in the foothills already had people flipping stones and searching the water for thin-shelled green snails, so they ventured further in. With Shen Xuanqing present, along with Da Hui and Guaizi, they had nothing to fear.
There were no proper paths in the mountains, and when they encountered rough or uneven terrain, they had to tread carefully, step by step. Fortunately, the forest provided shade, making the trek less sweltering.
It had to be said that Shen Xuanqing was incredibly strong. Before, to haul game down the mountain, he had stubbornly dragged a cart up and down the slopes. Thankfully, he was accustomed to the paths leading deep into the mountains and knew which routes were flatter, otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to pass steep hills or sudden drops.
Even the most agile people struggled with such terrain, and getting a donkey or mule to pull a cart was even harder. Though they hadn’t earned as much this year as last, they weren’t left gasping for breath from exhaustion, and the wounds on his shoulders and backs from chafing had lessened.
His hunting skills had grown more refined, and he now mostly captured prey alive, targeting goats or deer specifically. Each trip still brought in money, but since they wanted to breed more lambs, they hadn’t sold the female goat and her kid.
Lu Gu heard the sound of the stream, and of course, Shen Xuanqing and Shen Yan heard it too.
Da Hui was the smartest, identifying the stream’s direction faster than any human. He immediately ran ahead to lead the way.
Lu Gu stepped out from the waist-high grass, glanced around the stream, and said, “No one seems to have searched here yet.”
They had gone deeper than the others. Shen Xuanqing nodded. “Mm, let’s look here.”
The mountain stream had carved its path over years of flowing. Shen Yan rolled up her pants and stepped onto the rocks in the water. Bending down, she flipped over a stone and found several green snails. Spotting small crabs scuttling beneath, she remarked, “There are two purple-bellied ones here.”
These mountain crabs were identifiable by their violet undersides. Flipping them with a stick revealed whether they were edible. Shen Yan tossed the ones she caught into Shen Xuanqing’s bamboo basket. If any crabs crawled out, they wouldn’t pinch her or Lu Gu, just let her Second Brother deal with them.
In a few days, it would be time to harvest the autumn beans. Before the busy season began, they gathered seasonal delicacies to eat, ensuring they’d have enough energy for the work ahead.
The snails looked plentiful with their shells on, but once soaked in wine, the shells dissolved, leaving only a small amount of red snail meat.
On the way, they had agreed: if they didn’t catch many, they’d keep them for themselves. If they had a surplus, they’d sell some. The town’s eateries and taverns liked them.
On land, the long walk had warmed them up, but stepping into the water immediately brought a chill. The clear stream hadn’t lost a bit of its icy coldness.
“Let’s hurry up and gather enough so we can go home and soak our feet,” Shen Yan said. Being younger, she couldn’t endure the cold or the tedium as well as Lu Gu and Shen Xuanqing, but she was used to labor and didn’t slack off or complain about going home.
Lu Gu tossed a handful of green snails into the basket and straightened up. “Then go rest on the bank and warm up in the sun.”
Shen Yan initially wanted to refuse, but her legs were truly freezing, so she obeyed, finding a sunny spot to sit for a while.
With three people working, they made quick progress. Early autumn meant the thin-shelled snails were just starting to appear, so they weren’t abundant. Together, they only filled half a basket with snails and another half with purple-bellied crabs. Not much, but enough for a nice treat.
Shen Xuanqing, seeing Lu Gu and Shen Yan shivering from the cold, declared they were done. No matter how valuable the snails were, it wasn’t worth suffering in the icy water. Lu Gu had a weak constitution, and Shen Yan was still young. Besides, they weren’t so desperate for money now.
Since the baskets weren’t full, they also gathered water bamboo shoots and tender red amaranth leaves by the stream to take home.
These water bamboo shoots were small but crisp, tender, and sweet. Ji Qiuyue, who had recently given birth, had been restless staying indoors. Now that she could finally move around, her mood had lifted.
During her pregnancy, she had been forbidden many foods. When she saw the bamboo shoots, she didn’t wait for anyone else, she started cleaning them herself, saying she’d stir-fry them for lunch.
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