After returning from my cultivation journey, I built a farm through fortune telling.

Chapter 119

But Uncle Bai ate with great relish, his eyes even squinting in enjoyment.

Seeing the satisfied expression on Uncle Bai's face, Bai Lu's eyes narrowed, and she couldn't help but think to herself, "What a brave man!"

Maggots, not everyone can accept that!
She turned to look at Bai Wei, who also looked incredulous. The two exchanged a smile and tacitly decided that this thing should be left for the warriors to enjoy.

Bai Chen, on the other hand, was a little conflicted. He remembered eating bee pupae before, but it was when he was a child, and he had forgotten what they tasted like. Now, he was tempted to try them, but seeing the expressions on his two older sisters' faces...
He dared not try it easily, fearing that the two of them would ostracize him.
But Grandpa Bai loved his grandchildren dearly. He popped one into his own mouth, then gave two to each of his grandchildren, and said with a smile, "Lulu, come on, have a taste. These bee pupae are very nutritious! You loved eating them when you were little. You'd want more after finishing one. Grandpa would like to give you more, but your grandma is afraid of overfeeding you, so she won't let you!"

Looking at Grandpa Bai's expectant expression and the bee pupa wriggling in his palm.
"Thank you, Grandpa, but I don't like it anymore!"

Emotionally, Bailu couldn't bear to refuse the old man, but her legs reacted faster than her brain, and she had already silently taken a big step back.

Oh my god——

When I was a kid, I was quite the warrior; I dared to eat anything!

Her mother also said that when she was a child, she even dared to catch snakes. Once, she went to play in the fields and her younger siblings disappeared. Instead, she brought back a snake with a snake around her neck. Qin Xiu was terrified at the time, but she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that it was a rat snake.

Bai Wei didn't dare to eat it either, but Bai Chen pinched one up. The bee pupa struggled between his two fingers. He swallowed hard, carefully opened his mouth a crack, and stuffed the bee pupa inside. He bit down on the bee pupa with his upper and lower front teeth, and the bee pupa struggled even more fiercely—

Bai Lu and Bai Wei both closed their eyes in disgust, but then they heard Bai Chen's surprised voice: "Hey—it tastes pretty good! It's like it's bursting with flavor when you eat it. The skin of the bee pupa isn't very chewy, you can hardly feel it. It's really good, you guys should try it!"

"Thank you, no."

The egret and the white fringe waved their hands in unison.

Grandpa Bai's two granddaughters really didn't want to eat it, and were even a little scared, so he took his son and grandson aside to enjoy this gift from nature, which was a rare delicacy!
"There's honey too!"

Uncle Bai said, "When we get home, I'll shake out the honey and make you honey water. This is pure honey, not those commercially available honeys with all sorts of added technology and... what was it again?"

Bai Chen said, "Technology and ruthless skills!"

"Yes, technology and ruthless work! I don't know what's wrong with this society now, everything is fake, everything can be faked, I heard even eggs can be faked, hormones are everywhere, I heard those chickens can be slaughtered in 30 or 40 days, can you even eat that? It'll make you sick even if you're not sick!"

Grandpa Bai said, "It's always better to eat food that you grow or raise yourself. Lulu, are you going to raise ducks this year?"

Bai Lu nodded: "I wanted to raise them, but my mom wouldn't let me. She said she didn't have time to take care of so many."

"Hey, raising ducks isn't that much trouble. Now that the rice seedlings have stood up, just buy some ducklings and put them in the field. They'll eat grass and insects, and they'll come home by themselves when it gets dark. If they don't come home, I'll herd them into the duck shed for you."

During this time, Grandpa Bai was happy every day because Bai Lu's family made money and his good-for-nothing son found a job. He thought that while he was still able to work, he should help out as much as possible, because only when his eldest son's family was doing well could they do well.

"Row!"

Bai Lu laughed and said, "Then I'll have to trouble Grandpa!"

"Silly child, what are you saying? There's no such thing as hardship or not."

"By the way, Grandpa, how much does honey cost around here?"

"Pure honey sells for a lot of money, at least a hundred yuan a pound, some can sell for a hundred and thirty or a hundred and forty. A few years ago, your dad and I would go into the mountains to look for wild bees during the off-season. Honey can be sold for money, and these bee pupae can be sold for money too, even the beehive can be weighed together—"

Grandpa Bai held up his hand and said, "Fifty yuan a pound, this honeycomb can sell for several hundred!"

Bai Wei chimed in, "Grandpa is amazing!"

"What's so impressive about it! You can't find many like that all year round!"

Grandpa Bai waved his hand sheepishly: "Alright, the queen bee has gone into the bee collection cage, and many bees have followed. Let's drive the remaining stubborn ones in."

Many of the scattered bees have not yet "returned," which Grandpa Bai is naturally unwilling to accept. This group of bees had already split up and was already at a disadvantage in terms of numbers. If more of them ran away, no matter how many flowers bloomed on the lychee tree, without bees to work, they wouldn't be able to produce much honey.

Don't let the old man's age fool you; he's lived a long and fulfilling life. The moment his eldest granddaughter asked him a question, he knew they needed to buy honey. His own green vegetables cost thirty yuan a pound, so how could honey be sold at a discount?
Therefore, not a single bee can escape!
It was tough on Bai Chen, who followed behind his grandfather and uncle as the three of them began their great bee migration.

"Lulu, Weiwei, you two girls shouldn't follow along. If these bees get angry, their stings can be quite serious," Grandpa Bai said, turning around to warn them.

"Don't worry, Grandpa, we won't come any closer."

Bai Lu and Bai Wei answered in unison, so obedient it was unbelievable. Bai Chen looked down on them in his heart, thinking, "They're both ancient foxes, what are they doing acting out a ghost story?"

Are you still afraid of getting stung?
He's not afraid!
So he got stung!
I got stung four or five times on the back of my hand because I wasn't wearing gloves!
Even the cultivator's powerful physique couldn't withstand the sting of a wasp's tail; it hurt terribly!
I don't know if it will swell up!

Bai Chen, sobbing, also put away the beehive, the constant buzzing sound filling his ears.

The beehives are made of black denim, so you can't see inside. But just by listening to the sounds, you can tell there are at least eight or ten thousand bees inside. If you could see inside, you might even get trypophobia.

"Alright, it's time for us to head down the mountain." Grandpa Bai looked at the sky and said, "Today's mission is complete."

Great, I've saved another 600 yuan, and who knows, I might even earn a few more 600 yuan!

He carefully placed the not-so-small beehive into a large, white, transparent plastic bag that he had prepared beforehand, and then put another layer on top of it.

Based on his experience, this beehive could produce at least fifteen catties of honey. Now was not a good time to come. If he had come in July or August, he could have taken away seventy or eighty catties of honey, because food would have been plentiful then, and the amount of honey produced would have been greater.

But winter has only just ended, and all kinds of flowers and plants have just begun to bloom. The bees have already eaten some of the stored honey, so having about ten kilograms of honey is already quite good.

Wild honey never has trouble selling; it costs over a thousand yuan here!

Grandpa Bai was very satisfied.

A beehive is composed of multiple combs, each filled with hexagonal cells, and the number of cells is astonishing—thousands upon thousands. The cells in the beehive serve different purposes. Bees usually store honey in the top row of combs, which occupies about one-third of the total area of ​​the comb. The central area is usually used to raise larvae, while the outer area is used to store food.

"Xiao Chen, come on, carry me!"

The egret hung the prepared beehive on Bai Chen's back.

As the youngest and strongest member of the Bai family across three generations, Bai Chen gloriously accepted the responsibility of carrying the beehive down the mountain. In fact, even if Bai Lu hadn't assigned him the task, he would have taken it on his own initiative.

For a cultivator, carrying dozens of kilograms of beehives is no big deal. However, he hadn't even taken a few steps to show off when he tripped over a broken tree root and almost fell flat on his face!
The group began to walk down the mountain. Going up the mountain was difficult, but going down was even more difficult. Walking on the path full of small stones was the most difficult. Fearing that Grandpa Bai would fall, Bai Lu and Bai Wei took turns supporting him.

As they walked, they discussed their future plans, such as which fruit trees to plant and how to manage this barren mountain.

Although neither Bai Jiang nor Qin Xiu explicitly stated it, Uncle Bai was no fool and could naturally see that Bai Lu and her two siblings wanted to stay at home to develop their careers. Moreover, although their elder brother and sister-in-law were very unhappy, they couldn't do anything about it.

In his opinion, staying at home is fine; you can't earn as much money outside as you can at home!

Indeed, people should read more books. Look, college students have more options and ideas for farming than uneducated peasants!
"Lulu, let's plant some grapes and cherry tomatoes too. Nowadays, city people love to pick their own fruit. We don't have to pick them, and they sell for more than in the market. Brother Wang has a few acres of Shine Muscat grapes, which sell for 19.8 yuan in the supermarket, but we can pick them for 25 yuan each. That's how much money they make!"

Speaking of Uncle Wang, Bailu suddenly remembered: "Hey, Uncle, it seems like something happened to Uncle Wang's family a while ago. Has it been resolved?"

"It's not that easy to solve! We've contacted quite a few people, but the problem remains unresolved. Logically speaking, dealing with this kind of thing should be a piece of cake for Master Qingxu, but we don't know anyone here! We can only wait it out for now. I heard that the relevant departments ordered us to close down for rectification a couple of days ago."

Bai Chen and Bai Wei glanced at Bai Lu, who nodded thoughtfully.

Uncle Bai didn't know why Bai Lu was asking this, assuming she was just curious, so he didn't pay much attention and asked again, "What do you think?"

"Ok?"

"Grow Shine Rose and cherry tomatoes!"

“Sure!” Bailu said, “Once our mountain is repaired and planted with fruit trees, we’ll lease those few acres of land at the foot of the mountain and plant grapes, cherry tomatoes, and watermelons!”

Grandpa Bai shook his head: "Watermelons can only be grown in sandy soil. The land at the foot of the mountain has been abandoned for too long and lacks fertility, so the watermelon seeds won't grow well."

"I see," Bailu thought for a moment and said, "If we're going to plant them, Grandpa, please pass on your farming experience to us!"

"Okay, okay!" Grandpa Bai happily agreed.

In the short time it took to go up and down the mountain, Grandpa Bai got two jobs.

Dongshi Village is close to Sanqing Mountain, and if it is promoted properly, it can still attract tourists from Sanqing Mountain.

However, Bailu's current planting industry is just starting out and has not yet reached that level, so it has been put on hold for now.

Everyone chatted and laughed as they descended the mountain.

When they returned to the barren mountain area, Bai Jiang and the others were still huffing and puffing as they wielded their hoes. However, compared to the morning, there had been a noticeable change. Although clearing the land was really time-consuming and tiring, they were still looking forward to it and felt a great sense of accomplishment as they thought about how the barren mountain was gradually becoming vibrant with life.

"Wow, we found a bee!"

My uncles and aunts greeted Grandpa Bai and the others: "Do you have any honey? Save me two pounds. My daughter-in-law asked me the other day if I could get real wild honey. It's like a godsend!"

"Once the results are in, come pick them up from my eldest son's house!"

Grandpa Bai laughed.

This "taking" isn't free; you have to pay for it.

In rural areas, it's fine to give small things like vegetables, eggs, or beans, but if it's something more expensive, like chicken or honey, then you definitely have to pay for it!

The progress in the mountains was going well, so Bailu didn't linger and headed back. But as they passed the small river, Baiwei suddenly said, "It's still early, why don't we go to the river and collect some snails to cook porridge at home!"

Uncle Bai was about to say that he had ingredients to cook porridge today, but then he remembered that the snails he caught needed to be kept in clean water for two days to purge the sand before they could be eaten, so he shut his mouth and went down to the river with Bai Lu and the others. Grandpa Bai didn't join in the fun, but sat on a big rock by the river, fanning himself with his hat and watching the bees and honey.

Uncle Bai casually hung the beehive on a tree, and Bai Lu and the others were all turning over stones!
There's an old saying here: "A snail during Qingming Festival is better than a goose."

The snails are at their fattest and most delicious after the Qingming Festival.

Wow, this snail is huge!

The egret moved a rock the size of its head, reached into the mud and sand, and unexpectedly found a handful of snails of various sizes.

River snails like to hide under rocks, in crevices, and in river sand.

River snails and field snails are different. Field snails are short and thick, while river snails are thin and long. Field snails are green, while river snails are black and spiral-shaped. If a river snail is well-grown, it can be as thick as an egret's thumb, like it is now!

There were six thumb-sized snails in a bunch of snails of various sizes—a great harvest!
The egret decisively discarded the smaller snails, leaving only the larger ones!

Perhaps startled, or perhaps sensing danger, the snail completely retracted its body into its shell, sealing the opening tightly with a black, horny plate to prevent itself from being harmed. Only after sensing no danger would it extend its head out again.

The thin, horny flap that seals the shell opening is called the operculum (pronounced yán, third tone). When snails are sucking their teeth, they often get stuck to them without realizing it.

Once, a white egret made a fool of itself while eating snails—it stuck two pieces to its front teeth, and a classmate took an ugly picture of it, making it look like an old lady missing two front teeth.

Uncle Bai tossed another handful of snails into the plastic bag, making a sound exactly like stones colliding, indicating that there were already quite a few snails inside. He then straightened up and said, "Fewer people are picking snails now. Apart from you, Uncle Rong, not many people in our village care about making money from mountain delicacies anymore."

(End of this chapter)