From the end to the other world

Both chestnuts and limes grow in the deep mountains, and no one in the village goes there except for the hunters who go there for hunting.

Although the commonly used carrying basket is convenient, it is easy to be hung on the branches after arriving in this kind of mountain with no roads, which affects people's actions and becomes a burden instead. Moreover, although the carrying basket is not heavy, it is also made of bamboo. After walking for a long time, it is easy to get tired.

So Qin Luochuan only brought a pannier, and prepared two sacks, and put them in the back together with the hatchet and dry food, and carried them on his back, while holding the bow and arrow in his hand.

In this way, Shang Qingyue does not need to carry weight to walk, and it will be much easier.

The two set off after breakfast, and walked for more than an hour before arriving at their destination.

The mountain road was difficult to walk, but Qin Luochuan, who was carrying something on his back, was fine, but Shang Qingyue was already sweating profusely from exhaustion, and her face was flushed.

After finding a spacious shade and sitting down, Qin Luochuan took out the kettle from the back basket, opened the lid and handed it to Shang Qingyue, saying, "Drink some water."

Fearing that Shang Qingyue would be thirsty and drink in a hurry, she hurriedly told her, "Drink slowly."

The place where they were was on a slope, the sun shone through the dense leaves, and scattered spots of light. Shang Qingyue took a sip of water and asked with a disappointed expression, "Did I drag you down?"

Although his physical strength is not bad, it is not as good as those in the village who are used to working. After walking in the mountains for a long time, it will be obvious, especially when he is surrounded by Qin Luochuan, who is much stronger than ordinary people individually. Even though Qin Luochuan was carrying everything on his back, he still couldn't keep up. Along the way, he could feel that Qin Luochuan was slowing down and waiting for him.

Qin Luochuan was taken aback when he heard the words, and then said with a smile: "How could that be?"

Seeing Shang Qingyue's expression of comforting me, Qin Luochuan said again: "When we come to pick fruits in the mountains, we don't set a fixed number of fruits to pick, we pick more if we arrive early, and less when we arrive late, it doesn't matter. If you don't come with me, I will walk faster, but you see, in this deep mountain and old forest, there is no one to talk to me, so deserted."

Shang Qingyue lowered her head and pondered for a while after hearing the words, she seemed to think that the words made sense, so she handed the water bottle back to Qin Luochuan, "Drink some water, too."

After taking the kettle, Qin Luochuan took a sip and naturally missed the flash of cunning in Shang Qingyue's eyes.

The wild chestnut trees are so tall that it is impossible to pick them with bare hands.

After the two of them rested for a while, Qin Luochuan went to chop off a thin and long tree trunk, and after removing the excess branches, he handed it to Shang Qingyue and said, "I'll climb the tree later, you can pass this to me. "

After climbing up the tree and choosing a place to stand, and waiting for Shang Qingyue to walk a little further, Qin Luochuan took a stick and knocked wildly. With his knocking, the chestnuts that were originally hanging on the tree rustled and fell. It fell to the ground soon.

The chestnuts have prickly skins, and it was impossible for them to take these skins back with them, so Shang Qingyue collected the scattered fruits with a basket, and Qin Luochuan peeled the fruits. He pressed the chestnuts with a wooden stick in one hand, and Holding the hatchet and chopping it down, the hatchet chopped open the fruit, and with a slight flip, a cone-shaped chestnut rolled out.

Qin Luochuan picked up a grain and peeled it off, handed it to Shang Qingyue next to him and said, "Try it."

After chewing carefully for a while, Shang Qingyue nodded and said, "It's delicious."

Qin Luochuan peeled another one for himself, the fresh chestnuts are crispy, tender and sweet, really delicious.

Before they knew it, it was noon, and the burlap bag they brought over was already full, but the two still wanted to get some after dinner.

For lunch, I ate steamed steamed corn bread in the morning. When I took it out of the basket, I saw the bow and arrow next to it. Qin Luochuan hesitated, and said, "I'll go around to see if there are any prey. Can you stay here alone? Be back soon."

The hillside is facing the sun, and it is relatively open. Knowing that Qin Luochuan will not go far, Shang Qingyue is not afraid, nodded and said: "Yes."

About two quarters of an hour later, there were rustling footsteps in the woods. Shang Qingyue turned her head and saw Qin Luochuan holding a bow and arrow in one hand and a pheasant that had been cleaned up in the other. He stood up from the ground and said, "Husband, Did you just hunt it?"

"Well," Qin Luochuan said vaguely, "Look at the stream below, I'll clean it up first, let's light a fire and roast it."

Shang Qingyue's eyes sparkled, "Okay."

After the fire was lit, the pheasant was brushed with the seasoning brought by Qin Luochuan, and then roasted on it, the rich aroma unique to meat would soon be released.

Qin Luochuan is good at cooking. The roasted chicken is charred on the outside and tender on the inside. One bite, you can taste the crispy skin of the chicken and the tenderness and juiciness of the chicken.The two quickly finished eating the pheasant, but they didn't eat much of the steamed buns they brought.

In the afternoon, I thought it would take a lot of time on the way back. The two of them didn't dare to pick up chestnuts too late. When they went back, they stopped by to pick some limes. What time.

Afterwards, Shang Qingyue carried the basket on her back, and Qin Luochuan carried two cloth bags of chestnuts with wooden sticks.

Although it was time to go back, the sun had already set when they reached the mountain where Shang Qingyue often chops firewood.

Qin Luochuan could feel the heavy footsteps of Shang Qingyue, but if he stopped to rest for a while, it would definitely be dark before he got home, so he said, "Put down the basket, and I'll carry it."

It is really inconvenient to pick things up with a back basket on your back, but this is a place where people in the village often walk. If there is a road, you don't have to worry about the things you are carrying being hung on the branches, which is much more convenient.

Shang Qingyue really couldn't move her back very much. The freshly picked limes were full of moisture, and the basket was heavy. It felt hot where her shoulders touched the ropes, but when she saw the two big bags of chestnuts that Qin Luochuan was carrying, he Still shook his head and said, "It's okay."

Knowing that he was trying to hold on, Qin Luochuan stopped first. After putting down the chestnuts he was carrying, he stretched out his hands to hold the basket behind Shang Qingyue, and helped him unload the things.

At the moment when things were separated, Qin Luochuan clearly heard Shang Qingyue's voice of relief.

When walking back, Shang Qingyue only held a bow and arrow in her hand, and her steps were obviously much lighter.

The two of them walked this distance once before, when they first met, Shang Qingyue got lost in the mountains at dusk, and Qin Luochuan sent him out.

It was also when it was getting dark, the same road, walking together again, the relationship between the two was already different.

When they arrived at the pine forest, Qin Luochuan turned his head and took a look at Shang Qingyue, who just happened to look over, and both of them saw the same emotion in each other's eyes.

Then Qin Luochuan stretched out his empty hand, and said to Shang Qingyue, "Let's go."

Shang Qingyue just put his hand on it, and was held by Qin Luochuan. The other's palm was warm and dry, and he led him forward. Even though the forest was dark, he didn't feel afraid at all.

It was already dark when they got home, but the lights in their home were bright, Qin Yan sat at the door to enjoy the shade, saw them entering the yard, and said, "Why did you come back at this hour, hurry up and wash up, take a rest and eat."

When there were still ten days before the Mid-Autumn Festival, Qin Luochuan started preparing to make mooncakes.

Although handmade moon cakes are not too difficult, every process takes a lot of effort.

It took Qin Luochuan a whole day to boil all the rock sugar and lime water into invert syrup.

Unlike the five-nut mooncakes that put rock sugar directly in, the sugar in the lotus seed paste must be boiled into invert syrup to prevent the rock sugar from crystallizing during storage and affecting the delicate taste of the lotus seed paste.

The production of lotus paste is even more difficult. You need to soak the dried lotus seeds in water first, remove the inner core one by one, then boil them over low heat to soften them, and finally fry them into lotus paste.

The result of the complicated process is that the production speed is slow. When the family of three is busy, when the last batch of mooncakes is ready, it is already two days before the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Every morning before, He Feixing would send a clerk to pick it up. According to the clerk who came to pick up the goods, He Feixing tried to sell some in the shop on the first day, but it was sold out on the same day, and there were still people who wanted to order for the next day.

As a result, on the second day after the sale started, all the mooncakes that He Feixing expected to sell had already been pre-ordered, and the popularity was completely beyond everyone's imagination.

The problem is that even if you want to increase the amount, it is too late, and there are only so many materials prepared.

On the last day, only about sixty of the five hundred mooncakes that Qin Luochuan promised to He Feixing hadn't been delivered. I thought it would be the same as before, but the next day the waiter came to pick them up. Unexpectedly, that afternoon, He Feixing and Yang Xi He drove the carriage by himself.

At that time, Qin Luochuan was baking mooncakes. Without an oven, the mooncakes could only be buckled together with two large pans, and the upper and lower sides were baked with firewood.

Different from the constant temperature of the oven, grilling with charcoal fire must always pay attention to the fire and time it well. Except for the first pot of Qin Luochuan, which was a bit old, the subsequent ones were roasted very well.

The sky was already hot, Qin Luochuan was standing by the fire, sweating profusely, when he saw He Feixing and Yang Xi pushing the door in, he hurriedly stood up and asked, "Why are you here?"

"Isn't the holiday coming soon?" He Feixing smiled and said, "I got some fresh food there, I'll bring you some, and take the mooncakes back with me."

Someone has been coming over to get the moon cakes these days, and the food can be brought over by that person. He Feixing is already busy on weekdays, so there is no need to make this trip.

Qin Luochuan always felt that he had other things to say, but since he came, he must have something to say sooner or later, so he didn't ask too much.