Chapter 710: Chapter 710: Touching River Snails Chapter 710: Chapter 710: Touching River Snails The old lady, while walking, talked and when she got closer, she realized that the little basket was filled with snails.
“Did you pick these?”
While speaking, she quickly took over the wooden basin.
Shu Yu nodded and rubbed her wrists; the wooden basin full of clothes was really heavy, she thought using a basket next time would be better as it was more lightweight and convenient.
Following the old lady, she headed home, “While I was washing clothes, I saw the river was full of snails. The river water is clean, and the snails are quite big, so I thought of picking some up as a snack for us.”
She had initially planned to bring the clothes back first, but after walking a few steps, she met Aunt Fang, who was on her way to cook lunch at the manor. Holding this basket, she said she would go to the manor to cook and in the afternoon, when she was free, she would go to the hill to pick some pine nuts.
Seeing Shu Yu needed it, she let her use the basket.
Shu Yu initially wanted to refuse, as this basket was used for gathering pine nuts, and using it for snails could make it dirty.
But Aunt Fang left the basket and ran off.
Shu Yu could only line the bottom of the basket with some large leaves before she began picking snails.
She didn’t go into the water, as if she dared to enter the water in this weather, the old lady would dare to hit her.
Luckily, there were plenty of snails along the riverbank, and Shu Yu casually collected a whole basketful.
After hearing this, the old lady frowned, “What’s so good about these snails? They barely have any meat and they smell like mud.”
For rural households like theirs, even when eating meat, they preferred something substantial. These snails, though seemingly plentiful, had very little meat and were time-consuming to eat.
Shu Yu pushed open the courtyard gate and couldn’t help laughing, “That’s why I said they could be a snack. As for the muddy smell, we can use perilla. Do we have perilla around here?”
“Perilla?” The old lady thought for a moment, “Haven’t seen any, I’ll ask around.”
Shu Yu had seen it on the outskirts of the hills. Since there wasn’t any nearby, she would ask Fang Xiyue to help pick some when she had time.
“No need to ask, I’ll have someone pick it.”
Shu Yu poured all the snails from the basket into the basin, speaking to the old lady who was sun-drying clothes, “I’ll take our family’s water bucket and go pick some more in a moment.”
Shu Yu nodded, “Yes, there’s plenty in the river. After they spit out sand for a couple of days, we can stir-fry and eat them. I’ll take some to the manor for the others to try. I just visited, and they took good care of me.”
The old lady didn’t say anything; although it wasn’t the season for eating snails, the locals either didn’t know how to cook them, didn’t have the time, or, like her, didn’t prefer them for their scant meat and muddy smell. Therefore, hardly anyone went out to gather them, so they were naturally everywhere.
“Alright, we’ll eat first, and go after. I’ll come with you. I need to keep an eye on you to make sure you don’t go in the water.”
Shu Yu was fine with that, “Okay.”
She soaked the snails in water, stood up and wiped her hands, “Why haven’t Dahu and Sanya returned yet?”
“True, at this hour the Zhang family should have started their meal, they should be back,” said the old lady. Both children were sensible, so they wouldn’t linger at someone else’s house during mealtime.
The old lady planned to go look for them after finishing sun-drying the clothes, just then, the voices of Dahu entered through the door.
She went to open the door, and saw Zhang Ping’an standing at the doorway with the two children.
The old lady immediately smiled and let them in, “Did the kids behave? Didn’t cause any trouble, did they?”
Zhang Ping’an smiled bashfully, “Not at all, they were really good, and Dahu taught me quite a few characters.”