A small plot of land in a mountain village

Chapter 71 Water Snake and Flying Kites

Zhang Niu, who was staying at Happy Cottage, had been quite bored lately. He went to the back mountain and picked out a few soft bamboo poles, intending to cut them down and make some homemade fishing rods for fishing. The ones at home had been sitting for too long, and the bamboo poles had developed small wormholes, which the insects had used as nests.

In early April, the peach and cherry trees at Zhang Niu's Happy Little Abode began to sprout buds, with those near the door growing faster than others. There were hardly any blossoms yet on Maotou Mountain.

Zhang Niu estimated that the peach blossoms here should be in full bloom soon. There were also several black-hearted plum trees planted in front of the door, all old varieties that Zhang Niu had dug up from the back mountain of his house. They only produced a few plums each year—large, but late-ripening. He wondered if watering them with his spatial water could change the variety.

That day, Zhang Niu brought home the grass carp he had caught the day before. He had caught it in his spatial dimension, but the creatures there were incredibly clever these days. It took Zhang Niu quite a bit of effort to catch it. He even broke a newly made fishing rod along the way. It was partly Zhang Niu's fault for being lazy and not using mountain herbs to coat it when he made it. And partly because the grass carp was too big.

As soon as I entered the house, I saw my dad squatting on the ground. In front of him was a large pile of straw ash. Next to the ash was a winnowing basket. It turned out he was preparing to plant potatoes. Planting at the beginning of April isn't too late.

"You brought back fish again. Didn't I tell you to bring less?" said Dad, who was cutting potatoes with his head down.

These past few days, Zhang Niu has been bringing home fish every few days. The two of them drink and eat fish together. While drinking, the father would spout a lot of道理 (reasoning/logic), believing that it would be better to keep the fish and sell them for money. Zhang Niu always puts these words out of his mind. If it were any other kind of fish, it wouldn't matter. But these are fish raised in his spatial dimension. Every time his father says something, he still gets attracted by the smell of the fish.

"Dad, you take it and keep it. I'll cut the potatoes into chunks," he said, handing over the grass carp he was holding.

"Okay, then be careful when you cut it into pieces so you don't cut it wrong. We don't have many seeds at home this year." He didn't forget to nag a few more words before leaving.

The potatoes next to the straw ash have already sprouted tiny buds. The oval potatoes have grown quite a few buds all over, but they're not very easy to spot because the sprouts tend to bulge out.

In the old days, potatoes were a staple food, but now that life is better, they're made into snacks and such. Zhang Niu looked at the small potato in his hand and decided to cut it up first. He shook his head; these things were beyond his control.

Planting potatoes isn't as simple as just planting the whole thing; that's a big mistake. Zhang Niu, holding a rusty kitchen knife, with a small wooden board on the ground, cut the potatoes into chunks. Each chunk had to have a sprout on it. One potato could be cut into six or seven pieces, but that depended on how many sprouts appeared. Every year, the potatoes reserved for seed were carefully selected and stored in the cellar.

When you cut a potato, it will ooze liquid. That's when the pile of straw ash next to it comes in handy. Place the cut side into the straw ash, let the ash stick to it, and then take it out and put it in a winnowing basket.

After choosing his route, Zhang Niu cut the potatoes with ease. By the time his father returned, Zhang Niu had already cut the entire basket of potatoes.

"Not bad. The cut is fairly neat. No sprouts were wasted." He picked up a potato from the winnowing basket and said.

"This was planted in our vegetable garden?" Zhang Niu asked, looking up.

"That Zhang family's big field at the edge of the village. Didn't you used to go there often?"

I only found out from my dad that it was a large field outside the village. It was a huge area that was supposedly approved by the county for planting. However, the project was just a buzzword and then disappeared. When the villagers first found out, they were all happy, but they gradually lost interest.

Over time, people started calling that place Zhangjiafan. Zhang Niu owned a lot of land there.

He filled two baskets with straw ash and potato chunks, then carried them away on a bamboo pole. It was just that his father hadn't done any work in a long time, so making him carry that far was exhausting. These days, people born after Zhang Niu generally don't know how to do heavy work.

I met many fellow villagers on the ridges of the fields and greeted them. Zhangjiafan is mainly farmed for rice. Besides rice, there are also lush green rapeseed flowers. In recent years, the county has said that anyone who grows rapeseed will receive a subsidy of thirty yuan per mu (approximately 0.16 acres), so most of the large-scale farmers in the village grow it. Rapeseed oil prices are also good, so many people grow it. Zhang Niu's family has also planted a lot on the empty land behind the mountain, since that place is usually left uncultivated every year anyway.

The potatoes were planted in a corner of the large field. There was a small pond nearby, making watering convenient. Small holes had already been dug; it seems Dad had prepared them several days ago.

Zhang Niu couldn't be of much help with the work in the fields. His father was already happy that he wouldn't make things worse. With nothing else to do, Zhang Niu squatted by the small pond, weeding away the nearby weeds.

A wavy line quietly glided across the water's surface. At first, Zhang Niu thought it was caused by the wind blowing across the water, but upon closer inspection, he realized that the wind wouldn't produce such a large wave. The wave glided across the water's surface and silently disappeared into the water plants at the edge of the pool.

The wave turned out to be a water snake, gently gliding across the surface in an S-shape, hiding among the water plants. The old man, digging in the pond, looked at the pool and said, "There are quite a few water snakes in your little pond. Be careful not to get bitten."

Only when his father pointed it out did Zhang Niu notice; no wonder several ripples had passed by when he was squatting nearby. A water snake, its head peeking out from among the water plants, was resting there. The pool wasn't deep; one could see a tiny loach, barely the size of a matchstick, searching for food in the shallow water beside it. Hiding in the water plants, the water snake darted towards the poor loach with a whoosh.

Zhang Niu, watching from the side, found it quite interesting. There was a large clump of white frog eggs in the nearby water plants. There were at least several thousand of them, densely packed together.

No wonder there are so many water snakes and frog eggs here. Tadpoles will hatch soon. And the food is plentiful. This nest of water snakes is damn smart.

Since they were non-venomous water snakes, Zhang Niu planned to ask his father to catch some to take back and try. After all, he had big white ducks on the mountain, so he could bring one back to make snake soup, which would surely taste amazing.

"Dad, look at these water snakes, they're quite big. Why don't we catch a few to take home and eat?"

When Dad came back from watering the plants, he heard this and said, "You want to eat snake meat. What you said makes sense; these water snakes have gotten quite fat after spending the whole winter. It wouldn't hurt to catch a few."

Only Dad knew how to catch water snakes; Zhang Niu had been bitten a few times before. Back then, Dad had caught them in the fields and kept them in a large water bucket. The naive Zhang Niu mistook them for eels, and predictably, the aggressive water snake bit him. The bite didn't hurt, just made the surrounding area itchy. It would heal in a day. When Dad found out, he said, "Who hasn't been bitten while catching water snakes? It's normal." Then he laughed heartily.

The saying "once bitten by a snake, twice shy" applies to Zhang Niu quite well. Although it's not quite that serious, he's still hesitant to go up and catch snakes now. He's got a bit of a phobia about it.

Dad simply picked up a bamboo carrying pole. The pole was wide at both ends. He turned it around and quietly dipped one end into the water. Close to the snake's belly, he gently lifted it onto the ground. Then he used the pole to slap the snake's head. Zhang Niu, watching from the side, felt that Dad's method of catching snakes was more like slapping them. The snakes weren't killed, but they were probably close to death. He then picked out four more, repeating the same process with each one.

"Look at Dad, this snake-catching is pretty good, isn't it? Catching them alive is too much trouble, and look, they're not quite dead yet. We can take them home and start slaughtering them right away." He waved the water snakes tied together in his hand.

The potatoes were all planted, and carrying the water snake in his hand, Zhang Niu saw many more water snakes in various ponds on his way back. Although they were a bit far away, he could still make out a few blurry details.

When they parted ways at the village entrance, Zhang Niu went home to catch ducks. His father went home to wash the earthen pot.

There were quite a few ducks sleeping in the duck shed, so Zhang Niu decided to catch the few naughty ones that didn't come in at night. Each one caught would reduce the number of ducks and save him some effort.

Holding the large, quacking white duck in his hand, Zhang Niu felt a surge of satisfaction. "You little rascal," he thought, "always so mischievous. Now you're in trouble; I'm going to eat you for lunch."

I had just inserted the car key when I saw Fatty Qian drive in. He was honking the horn.

"Xiao Zhang, where are you going? And you're carrying ducks." Fatty Qian called out as he stepped out of the car.

"Going home. This morning I caught some water snakes in the paddy fields outside the village, planning to mix them with a duck to make soup," Zhang Niu said readily.

"Water snakes, what a great thing in early spring! Well then, brother, I won't be polite at lunchtime."

Looking at Fatty Qian's big belly, it seems I really can't leave him out for lunch.

"Here's your driver's license. It's just been issued, take a look yourself." He took an envelope out of his briefcase and handed it to Zhang Niu.

After opening the envelope and glancing at it briefly, saying "Thank you," I put the envelope in my pocket.

Since the fat man had his car, Zhang Niu decided not to ride it back and instead climbed into the car.

The car stopped at the village entrance. Zhang Niu carried the ducks home. His father had seen Qian Pangzi a few times and knew he was the fruit tree seller. He took out a cigarette and handed it to Qian Pangzi.

Dad was just washing the earthenware pot by the well. It hadn't been used in a while, so it had to be washed to remove the odor. Snake soup has to be cooked in an earthenware pot. Earthenware pots generally produce better-tasting soups than pressure cookers.

The water snake was still beside the well. Dad found a thick rope in the house and tied it to the snake's neck. He hung it on the bamboo ladder next to it, took out a small knife, grabbed the snake's tail, and started cutting upwards. The snake's skin was very thin. A light cut revealed the fresh red flesh. He didn't stop cutting until he reached the snake's neck.

Reaching into the fresh flesh, I pulled out a hissing sound, and saw the snake meat separate from the skin. The hanging water snake was still alive, its red tongue flicking out. I picked up a pair of scissors and gently cut along the snake's neck. The basic skinning was complete.

Fatty Qian watched with great interest. "Uncle Zhang, your skinning is really good. Quick and efficient."

Dad laughed when he heard this, knowing that Fatty Qian had done a good job of flattering him. He easily dealt with the five water snakes below, put them in a basin, and went inside without letting Zhang Niu pour water, saying he still had things to do.

A few minutes later, Dad came out with a small bowl. "Come on, someone help pull down the snake's tail."

Zhang Niu was a little scared. Fatty Qian rolled up his shirt, squatted down, pulled up the snake's tail, cut open its body, and removed the gall bladder. Carefully rummaging through the pile of internal organs, he pulled out a bright green gall bladder, about the size of a little finger joint, and gently removed it, placing it in a bowl. So that's why he hadn't added water—the gall bladder hadn't been removed!

There were five bright green snake gallbladders in the small bowl. They were all about the same size. Fatty Qian, sitting nearby, stared intently at the gallbladders. After washing the snake bodies, they were cut into pieces. The five snakes looked quite a lot huddled together, so the pieces were simply placed in a small bowl.

He went inside and placed the small bowl containing the snake gallbladder on the table. "Fatty Qian, have a snake gallbladder!" Zhang Niu called out.

"No need to be polite." He picked up the chopsticks next to him, took one for himself, dipped it in some white sugar, and swallowed it.

Snake gallbladders have a slightly fishy smell. So, coating them with a little white sugar makes them easier to swallow. You shouldn't eat too many snake gallbladders. It's said in the village that snake gallbladders can improve eyesight and calm the mind, clear heat and detoxify. Whether it actually works or not, Zhang Niu wasn't sure, but he ate one every year.

Fatty Qian didn't eat much either; there's no good in eating too much of this stuff, but eating it occasionally is like taking a supplement. The remaining three will be eaten when Mom and his younger sister come back.

Dad was boiling water inside, preparing to kill the big white duck.

At noon, a pot of snake and duck meat was mixed together with some yam, and the aroma was irresistible. Zhang Niu, who was sitting outside, ran into the kitchen several times.

My younger sister is very interested in eating snake meat, something others find disgusting but she considers delicious. Although she's usually terrified of live snakes, now that it's mixed in with duck meat, she doesn't care what snake it is; she just eats it first. Her bowl is already quite full of snake meat, and she's been exclaiming, "Delicious! Delicious!" with grease dripping from her lips.

Dad took out a bottle of mountain wine, which was the last one in the house. During the Lunar New Year, relatives and friends had almost finished it all. If we hadn't run out of wine, they would have taken a few more bottles home. He also asked Zhang Niu to make more mountain wine this year.

The braised snake meat was very tender. It was so tender that it went down easily with a light bite and had almost no odor. Zhang Niu felt it was mostly bones and little meat. A pile of bones and pieces of meat accumulated around the bowl. Fatty Qian was picking at the better pieces of meat, eating with even more gusto than Zhang Niu, and drinking his wine in large gulps. Does this guy always act like this when he encounters something delicious?

As he walked out at noon, Fatty Qian patted his beer belly. "This snake meat tastes absolutely amazing. Especially with that big, chubby duck added, the flavor..." Fatty Qian licked his lips.

Zhang Niu, who had eaten quite a bit of snake meat at noon, nodded repeatedly. "Yes, this meat is so delicious. If I hadn't gone to the fields with my dad today, I wouldn't have been able to eat such a delicacy."

The two got in the car and headed back to Happy Abode. Zhang Niu was carrying a bag of bones. It would be a waste to feed them to the pigs, so Zhang Niu packed them all up and took them back for Xiao Hei and the others to eat slowly.

Fatty Qian was quite surprised by the two newly built bamboo pavilions on the water. "When did you build these bamboo pavilions?" he asked.

"Just a few days ago, we happened to have a lot of bamboo left over here. So we asked them to help us set it up."

"Damn. That must be a great place in the summer. I'm so envious of this place." He said, pointing as he spoke.

"It's not as good as you say. Go take a look at that barren mountain across from me."

"Is the barren mountain across the way any better than yours?" Fatty Qian asked, somewhat puzzled.

Leading Fatty Qian to the top of the slope, he pointed to the bamboo houses across the way. "Not bad, right? The bamboo houses in front of us are much better than these, not to mention they're still busy with construction over there."

"Just as you said. Money really makes a difference. Big investments."

The two, a little tired, sat down on the grass. Zhang Niu, not caring about getting dirty, lay down directly on the grass, gazing up at the blue sky, where a few birds occasionally fluttered their wings and flew by.

Fatty Qian went back in the afternoon, saying he had business coming in, but Zhang Niu heard that coquettish voice and guessed it was his secretary calling. What kind of business it was, however, was still a question.

Lying in bed, Zhang Niu thought about the frog eggs from earlier that day. He realized that while he had lotus flowers, he was missing the croaking of frogs. Keeping them here would be nice; he could even boil them in lukewarm water sometime.

Early in the morning, Zhang Niu would carry a bucket and ride his motorcycle to the large fields. He would scoop up any white eggs he saw in puddles or abandoned ponds and put them in his bucket.

In just one morning, I scooped up a bucketful. I rode home and changed the water in my spatial storage. I left it soaking there until evening to release it into the pond in front of my door.

Zhang Niu, who was sweeping the floor in front of the door, saw his younger sister and Wenwen walk in. "What brings you here to play with your brother today?"

"Brother, can I have the kite you made?" she said coquettishly, tugging at the corner of Zhang Niu's coat.

"A kite? Do you want to fly one?"

"Yes, many people in the village are flying kites. I'll go fly kites with everyone this afternoon."

The winds aren't too strong in April, which is perfect for flying kites. The village children all make their own kites, and the little girls usually ask their families for help. The general store sells them, but they're not very good; everyone prefers their own to make kites that fly higher.

"Alright. Do you want to make one kite or two?"

After discussing it for a while, Wenwen and her little sister held up two little fingers. "We want two kites. One for Wenwen, and one for me too."

There were a few sections of bamboo left beside the bamboo house, just enough for their needs. They found a large tree stump and split the bamboo into pieces about the thickness of chopsticks before stopping. Wenwen and her younger sister squatted down beside them watching.

Villagers usually make kites in the shape of the Chinese character "田" (field) or the Chinese character "王" (king), as it's simple, saves effort, and doesn't require much work. Zhang Niu decided to make a kite in the shape of the Chinese character "王," splitting eight bamboo strips of roughly the same size, with two being the longest and the others shorter.

After telling them to wait at home, Zhang Niu rode his bicycle to the village grocery store to buy some white paper. He also bought two bundles of small coils.

Arrange the bamboo strips into a "王" (king) shape, replacing the horizontal strip in the middle with a long strip to balance the top and bottom. Tie them together with string. Lay out a sheet of white paper. Place the "王" frame on the paper and paste it on with glue. Little Sister and Wenwen cut small tails next to it, otherwise, it won't have enough weight and will sway from side to side after taking off.

The two "王" (king) shaped frames were quickly covered with a layer of white paper, and two eye circles and a small mouth were drawn on them with a black paintbrush, creating a simple character depiction.

The rope is also important; it can only be tied to the first and middle horizontal lines so that it can be tilted up when laid down. A gust of wind can lift it up.

He handed the finished kite to his younger sister and Wenwen. "Be careful not to let it fall when you fly it."

The two of them said in unison, "Thank you, brother."

The kite-flying activity was held on the path at the edge of the village. When I arrived with my younger sister and Wenwen, many children had already flown their kites, some already in the air. A few, however, had gloriously crashed onto the telephone poles, causing the children below to burst into tears.

The girls who got off the bus unfurled their kites and ran against the wind. They let out small amounts of string, ran against the wind, and let out more string; the kites quickly soared into the air.

Zhang Niu's kite today turned out pretty well; there were no issues with the weight distribution. Watching the kite slowly rise into the sky, and seeing the happy expression on his little sister's face as she ran around...

The more people came to fly kites when we arrived at one o'clock in the afternoon, the more children there were. The open space at the edge of the village was full of little kids running around.

The girls flying kites were fine as long as they didn't touch the string. Zhang Niu couldn't even see the shadow of the kite flying so high; it was just too high. He guessed they'd run out of string.

"You stinky cow, you're here too."

Turning around, I saw Xiaohua, a very shy girl from the village. "Yes, she just brought my little sister over."

Xiaohua and Zhang Niu used to be in the same class and were both excellent students. Xiaohua sat behind Zhang Niu. Copying Xiaohua's homework had become a regular occurrence for Zhang Niu.

I haven't seen Zhang Niu for a long time; I heard he's in university now. The girl in front of me has long hair. She's wearing a white coat with tight jeans, and her face often shows a shy expression.

"When did you come back? Weren't you in university?"

Xiaohua smiled gently, "I haven't been feeling well lately, so I took leave to come back and recuperate for a while. Didn't you see the luggage I'm carrying?"

Zhang Niu smiled sheepishly. "I didn't see it. Why didn't you take a taxi in? Walking is too tiring."

"The town said they were doing road construction and not many cars were coming, so I walked back. It's been a long time since I've walked on a dirt road like this. Coming back, I realize the village is still the best."

"Since you're free anyway, I'll take you back. It's quite a distance from the village."

He strapped Xiaohua's luggage to the back seat. "Come on. I'll take you back."

Zhang Niu, riding his bicycle, asked, "Xiao Hua, didn't you tell Mom you were coming back?"

The car was moving slowly, but Xiaohua's long, black hair still fluttered in the breeze. "I didn't tell my family because I was afraid they'd worry. Where have you been working lately? Look at your motorcycle, it's still brand new."

"You guys just stay home eating and drinking, it's so much better for you to go to university," he said with a sigh.

"Now you know you need to study hard? Why did you always copy my homework back then?"

Zhang Niu sounded frustrated. "Ugh. What did I mean by 'studying' back then? I was so immature."

After turning through the village alley, you arrive at Xiaohua's two-story house. Xiaohua's mother was tidying up in the front yard. Seeing her daughter in the back of the car, she exclaimed with delight, "Huahua! You're back!"

Xiaohua's mother looked at Zhang Niu, who was unpacking his luggage, and said, "Zhang Wa, thank you for bringing my daughter back."

"No need to thank me. We were old classmates."

Seeing the mother and daughter reunited, Zhang Niu felt embarrassed to stay there, so he made an excuse and quickly rode his bicycle back.

Zhang Niu was quite surprised to run into Xiao Hua, who had returned to the village today. He wondered what illness she had that required her to return to the village to recuperate.

On his way home, Zhang Niu happened to see his little sister and her friends returning hand in hand, each carrying a kite.

"Why aren't you letting it go?" he asked with a smile.

"Brother, they can't beat us at flying kites, so they won't play with us anymore. They've packed them up and run off to somewhere else," the little sister said angrily.

Ugh... Why can't this boy give way to the little girls? He just abandoned them and ran off to somewhere else. That's just too much.

"It's okay, let's keep playing tomorrow. They can't accept defeat, they're shameful."

After Zhang Niu said that, the younger sister felt much better and her smile returned.

The boys in the village were always resentful of the girls for being better than them. The only solution was to find a place where the girls couldn't join. They were just kids, throwing tantrums. Thinking about Zhang Niu, it was a little funny.

Six thousand words today. Thank you everyone for the tips last night. Thank you all for your continued support. Feel free to ask any questions.