Chapter 228: The soft-shelled turtle that guards the river

The father and son, each holding a soft-shelled turtle in their hands, walked up the mountain one after the other happily.

The road up the mountain was more uneven than the road down the mountain, with long steep slopes all the way up. Ye Chenghu fell down after walking a few steps, and the soft-shelled turtle in his hand was thrown out and rolled twice.

"Ah, my turtle..."

"Turtle what turtle, it didn't fall, it's right here. Get up yourself, don't be delicate."

Seeing that this soft-shelled turtle had fallen, its head shrank in, and it was lying on its back, Ye Chenghu instantly smiled again. He hurriedly climbed up with his hands and feet. Fortunately, it was winter, and although it wasn't very cold here, children's clothes were still thicker, so it didn't hurt much.

He hurriedly stepped forward to grab his soft-shelled turtle, and even carefully blew on it with his mouth, patting the dust off its body.

Ye Yaodong almost couldn't bear to look at this stupid son. "Walk faster, dawdling. You can play with it as much as you want when we get up the mountain."

"Dad, it's all dirty. Let's wash it in the water?"

"Don't be nosy, wash what?"

He didn't say he wanted to wash his own hands, which were pitch black, but he treated a soft-shelled turtle like a treasure.

It would be in the pot sooner or later!

Regardless of his father's opposition, Ye Chenghu grabbed the soft-shelled turtle and climbed down, preparing to go to the river to wash it.

"Holy crap, be careful, don't fall into the river, and don't let it run away, or I'll hang you up and beat you!" Ye Yaodong frowned at his actions. Taking a child out was really too annoying. Fortunately, he only brought one.

"I won't!"

Ye Yaodong saw he was just a little kid and wasn't at ease, so he followed him down to the river bank. As a result, just after walking down, he felt like he stepped on something, and it exploded?

He lifted his foot to look, an egg?

Wild chicken egg? Wild duck egg!

"Son, come quickly, there are duck eggs here."

Ye Chenghu instantly couldn't care about washing the soft-shelled turtle, and turned back happily. "Ah~ Dad, you stepped on one and broke it."

"Who knew there were eggs in the bushes? I didn't look carefully. There are two more, you pick them up and put them in your pocket. I'll let your mom stew them for you to eat tonight. I'll wash this soft-shelled turtle for you."

To save him from accidentally falling into the water, if he went back, it wouldn't just be him who would be beaten; the father would also be scolded.

Ye Yaodong carried the soft-shelled turtle and just got close to the water surface when he saw an even bigger one swimming underneath. He instantly widened his eyes.

Although the water was clear, there was mud at the bottom. The big soft-shelled turtle was lying in the mud, embedded in it, making it look not very clear. It was only because the water was clear enough that he could barely see the outline.

"Holy crap, the soft-shelled turtle that guards the river! Son, come here, come here, there is a soft-shelled turtle as big as a washbasin here."

Ye Chenghu was ordered around by his father and felt like he was too busy to handle it. Just after picking up two wild duck eggs and putting them in his pocket, he heard his father calling again, so he hurriedly covered his pocket and ran over to look.

"Where, where?"

Ye Yaodong picked up a branch from the ground and stretched it into the water to point. Ye Chenghu instantly jumped up excitedly. "So big, Dad, it's even bigger than a washbasin. Catch it, you go down and catch it..."

Ye Chenghu pushed his father to go into the water while speaking.

Ye Yaodong was pushed by him and swayed a few times, almost falling into the water.

This turtle son, seeing the soft-shelled turtle, didn't even want his old man.

He slapped the stinky kid on the back of the head. "Catch your head, catch it. The river water is so cold, and you actually want your old man to go into the water."

"But that turtle is so big."

"It's enough to see it and gain some knowledge. We caught the small one, so we caught it. That one underneath is so big, it might be the soft-shelled turtle that guards the river. Just look at it."

That one underneath, the shell on its back looked almost bigger than a washbasin. Such a big soft-shelled turtle, there is no farmed goods now, so it might be a genuine "hundred-year-old soft-shelled turtle."

So big, and people now are very superstitious. Some people in the countryside believe it can "communicate with spirits." Whoever dares to catch it will be drowned by spit, and it is said that those who release it will also be blessed.

Ye Chenghu squatted there with regret. "Can't we catch it home to raise?"

"No, it grew so big here, it can only stay here to bless the water and soil."

After Ye Yaodong finished speaking, he swiped the mud-covered small soft-shelled turtle in the water, took a quick bath, and then lifted it up in front of his eldest son.

"Take it, just take these two small ones back to play."

"But didn't you want to eat them?"

He was instantly speechless. "Eat one, and leave one for you to play with?"

"Okay then!"

Ye Chenghu nodded reluctantly, and then touched the small soft-shelled turtle's shell comfortingly.

"Let's go, let's go up. Dawdling for half a day, walking up the mountain for an hour and still haven't reached the destination. It's a laughingstock to say it out..."

"Isn't it you?"

"Didn't you dawdle?"

"You were the one who caught the turtle."

"Wasn't it you who saw it? You were still squatting there looking at the turtle for a long time just now, and even called me to look together..."

The father and son argued, one disgusted, one talking back, neither giving way, each holding a soft-shelled turtle, arguing and walking slowly up the mountain.

The few pomelo trees planted at the foot of the mountain still had fruits hanging on them. Ye Chenghu ran up mischievously and shook the pomelo branch, making it swing back and forth.

As a result, after shaking it, the pomelo fell down and rolled down the slope. Ye Yaodong used his foot to stop it, picked it up to look at the bottom, it was round and very upright, weighed it in his hand, felt it was quite heavy, should be thin-skinned and meaty, before putting it under the tree.

"Don't be mischievous. Put this here first, and I'll let you carry it back when we go down the mountain later."

"Okay, okay, let's pick a few more to take home to eat later."

"Mm, eat as much as you want at your grandfather's house, it's free. Pick a few more later, let's go up first." He reached out and pointed to the orange trees above. "Did you see those yellow oranges? The task for the afternoon is to pick oranges. Go up and find your two uncles first."

"Okay, are the cousins all on the mountain? I want to show them my turtle."

"It's a soft-shelled turtle, not a turtle, or you can call it a Wang Ba. This is the collective name for turtles and soft-shelled turtles."

"Hahaha, Wangbadan (bastard)!"

Ye Yaodong glanced at him with disgust and went up the mountain on his own.

"Wait for me, Dad~"

"Ah? Who's coming?" A male voice came from the mountain at this time.

"Ah, it's me, Uncle, I'm Ye Chenghu, I came over with my dad to pick oranges."

"Ah? A-Dong is here?"

"Cousin, cousin..."

Sparse sounds came from the forest above, and after a while, a figure ran down from above.

It was his brother-in-law.

Immediately after, a long string of children followed behind him, running and shouting "cousin"...

Ye Chenghu also ran up excitedly, holding his small soft-shelled turtle, holding it high for his cousins to see. A group of children chattered and excitedly gathered around that soft-shelled turtle to discuss...

Ye Yaodong also handed the one in his hand to them to play with, and instructed them not to be bitten by the soft-shelled turtle. If they want to catch it, they must hold the two depressions under the soft-shelled turtle's belly.

"Wow, Little Uncle is so amazing..."

"So big..."

"Where did you catch it?"

"Are the children not going to school today?"

Lin Xiang Hui ran up and said, "Isn't it because the family is too busy? My dad injured his foot, and my mom has to take care of him and cook, and there aren't enough people. So I let them take a day off to help pick oranges on the mountain. When did you come over? Why didn't you sit at home for a while and run up the mountain?"

"I sat for a while, chatted with Dad, and after eating snacks, I had nothing to do, so I thought about coming up to help pick oranges. I heard that the price of oranges is very good recently?"

Lin Xiang Hui's dark face was full of smiles. "It's okay. I heard it's 5 li more than last year, so I thought about seizing the time to pick them these two days, fearing that the price will drop if it's late."

"That's great. It's 5 li more, which is very rare. Then I came at the right time. I can help you pick for two days."

The two talked while walking up the mountain.

"Hehe~ I heard that the cannery came down to collect oranges this year, wanting to collect them to make orange canned food, so the price is 5 li more than in previous years. Those in the village who didn't plant oranges are all slapping their thighs and regretting, pondering about buying orange trees in the spring, so they can harvest in two or three years."

"Then you are lucky, just caught up with a good price. Next year, there will be more people planting, and maybe the price will drop."

"Yes, but it's hard to say."

"How is the pomelo harvest? I saw there are still fruits hanging underneath."

"Pomelo is also okay. Those few trees underneath are late-maturing. Dad originally planned to wait until the oranges were picked, and then pick all the ones underneath in a few days and send them to you. It just so happens that you came over, so you can just take them back to eat when you leave."

"That's great, coming early is not as good as coming at the right time."

I heard that pregnant women should eat more fruit, so I'll move more pomelos back for my wife to eat slowly. Forget about oranges? I heard that eating too many oranges will turn yellow! And it causes internal heat! And toothache!

Ye Yaodong walked up the mountain, greeted the two sisters-in-law and the brother-in-law, took out a sack and shook it, and found a tree that hadn't been picked yet to pick underneath.

"A-Dong, that tree is bitter citrus, don't pick it first. Pick oranges first, oranges are valuable. Bitter citrus can wait for two days."

Ye Yaodong looked carefully. The top was a bit pointed, and the skin was still a bit green. It was bitter citrus. This is for cooling, so he can pick some to take back in two days!

He turned around to the side again, identified it as an orange, and then started picking.

These orange trees were only planted for two or three years, the trees were not big, short, and very easy to pick. No need to climb around, much easier than persimmon trees.

While picking, he peeled one and ate it. Instantly, his eyes narrowed into a slit, and his face wrinkled. It was a bit sour and not delicious. It didn't have the kind of orange from decades later that tasted sweet.

It just so happened that the stupid son underneath was eating with relish and kept shouting that it was delicious!

He even shouted that he wanted to feed the soft-shelled turtle...

"You guys are not allowed to be mischievous, don't play them to death, hurry up and work, don't be lazy, play when you go back."

The children immediately stopped talking, played reluctantly for a while, and only had to continue working after their mother called them.

"Cousin, you have to watch them, don't let them crawl away."

Ye Chenghu sat on the ground with a pile of oranges beside him and nodded happily. "Don't worry, I'll use oranges to circle them to ensure they won't run away."

That group of children then went to work with peace of mind. ===== CHAPTER 229 =====

Only then did that group of children feel at ease and go to work.