78 Chapter 78: Bamboo Rat
In addition, the two found a small bamboo forest at the foot of the back mountain.
Naturally, the spring bamboo shoots in the bamboo forest didn’t escape Qin Xiaoyao’s eyes, and so did not escape the demonic claws of the two girls.
“Sister Sanya, can this thing really be eaten?” She dug out a bamboo shoot and examined the object in her hand, her expression a little skeptical.
She had seen bamboo shoots before.
She had even seen this thing grow into bamboo.
Then, the bamboo craftsmen could process the bamboo into bamboo strips and weave them into wicker baskets, bamboo basket backpacks, and so on.
However, could this thing be eaten? She had some doubts…
“Of course you can!” Qin Xiaoyao dug out a bamboo shoot as well. She peeled off the outer shell of the bamboo shoot as she answered Big Girl Li.
“Stir-fried meat with bamboo shoots. It’s very delicious!”
“And this thing can also be cut and sun-dried into dried bamboo shoots and used as dried vegetables.”
“In the winter, it will be a pretty good dish!”
After peeling off the outer shell of the bamboo shoot, Qin Xiaoyao placed the remaining flesh of the bamboo shoot back into the backpack.
“Hurry up! Dig out some more to bring back! After that, we’ll go back to eat. In the afternoon, we’ll bring the basket and continue digging!”
Thanks to the light rain in the second half of last night, many spring bamboo shoots had sprouted up.
Before she left this morning, Qin Xiaoyao was still worried that she might not get any good harvests.
Much to her surprise, she found so many good things again.
“Okay!” Big Girl Li girl quickly responded.
No matter! She would do as her Sister Sanya said!
Suddenly…
“Ah… there’s a rat!”
With a clang, Big Girl Li flung away the hoe in her hand.
Qin Xiaoyao followed her line of sight and saw a chubby bamboo rat scuttling past Big Girl.
Qin Xiaoyao’s face lit up with joy, and she immediately lowered her head to search.
What was she searching for? A stone, of course.
Bamboo rats! She actually saw bamboo rats!
This was a rare delicacy in the mountains!
During the apocalypse, she had brought her team members into the mountains to look for this creature.
Unfortunately, even a small animal like the bamboo rat could not escape the claws of the zombies.
Even after rummaging through the whole bamboo forest, it was difficult for them to catch a few.
However, this was ancient times, and there were no zombies.
She had listened carefully just now and found that there were many of these cute little creatures in this bamboo forest.
Very quickly, Qin Xiaoyao found a few pieces of loose rocks.
Then, she quickly shot out a piece of rock toward a bamboo rat that had scurried out not far away.
Squeak! Squeak! A shrill shriek rang out as the loose stone pierced through the bamboo rat’s body.
Then, after struggling for a while, it stopped moving.
Qin Xiaoyao’s face lit up with joy. She quickly stepped forward and picked up the bamboo rat in her hand.
Big Girl Li looked at this scene and didn’t dare to step forward.
Then, she said with a face full of fear, “Sister Sanya… this… this is a rat!”
It was dirty and scary, yet her Sister Sanya actually caught it in her hands. Moreover, she was smiling at it.
Qin Xiaoyao turned around.
“What rat? It’s a bamboo rat!” she corrected Big Girl Li.
Then, she handed the bamboo rat in her hand to Big Girl Li.
“It grew up eating bamboo. Its body is fat, and its meat is delicious!”
Big Girl Li was a little scared at first, but after hearing Qin Xiaoyao’s words, she looked carefully at the bamboo rat in Qin Xiaoyao’s hand.
In the end, she found that the bamboo rat was indeed much fatter than the rats she had seen before.
Its eyes were smaller, and its fur looked softer.
“This… is really not a rat?” Big Girl Li asked Qin Xiaoyao again, even though she was more relieved now.
“It really isn’t!” Qin Xiaoyao replied with a smile.
“The meat of this creature is even more delicious than the meat of chickens, ducks, or pigs!” As she spoke, Qin Xiaoyao’s mouth began to water.
Hearing this, Big Girl Li was not afraid anymore.
She quickly moved to the front of Qin Xiaoyao.
Then, she sized up the bamboo rat in Qin Xiaoyao’s hand up close.
After confirming that it was really different from the rats she had seen before, she even tried touching it.
Qin Xiaoyao threw the bamboo rat at Big Girl Li straightaway.
...
“Catch it!” she said at the same time.
Big Girl Li subconsciously caught it, and after finding that it felt good in her hands, she was no longer afraid.
“There are quite a number of bamboo rats in this forest. I’ll go hunt a few more and bring them back for a meal!” Qin Xiaoyao said.
With that, she walked forward.
Big Girl Li didn’t follow but simply watched her sister Sanya’s performance.
After that, she saw Qin Xiaoyao quickly make her move. After a few crackling sounds in the bamboo forest, she hit a few more bamboo rats.
After a while, when she saw Qin Xiaoyao returning with three fat bamboo rats in her hands. Big Girl Li almost prostrated herself in admiration.
“Alright. Let’s stop digging for bamboo shoots. Let’s call it a day.”
“After we eat their meat at noon, we can come out earlier in the afternoon!” Looking at the bamboo rats in her hand, Qin Xiaoyao only wanted to rush back and skin them for meat to eat. She no longer had the mood to continue digging up bamboo shoots.
“Alright!” Naturally, Big Girl Li agreed.
Thus, the two of them put on their backpacks and headed back.
...
When they returned to the Song family’s house, the mother and children trio were quite scared of the bamboo rats.
It was only after hearing Qin Xiaoyao’s explanation that their expressions relaxed significantly.
“You’ll know how good this thing tastes when I’m done extracting the meat!” Qin Xiaoyao said.
Then, together with Big Girl Li, they brought some tools to the stream and began processing the bamboo rats.
“I’ll skin them. You can handle the internal organs.” Qin Xiaoyao quickly gave some instructions.
The quality of the bamboo rat’s fur was good, and it could be used to make fur coats. The grocery stores would definitely like it.
This thing would be another source of income if it was sent to the grocery store.
In addition, she was preparing to make century eggs. She could use the skin and ask her mother-in-law to sew a pair of gloves for her.
“Hehe! Okay!” Big Girl Li smiled and agreed.
After that, the two of them worked together and processed the four bamboo rats in no time.
Looking at the half-filled wooden basin of meat, Big Girl Li kept swallowing her saliva.
This bamboo rat had really good meat under its skin.
Qin Xiaoyao glanced at Big Girl Li, then reached out and took out a big bamboo rat from the wooden basin.
“I’ll give this to you,” she said generously.
Big Girl Li’s face was filled with joy, and she immediately reached for her money bag.
However, Qin Xiaoyao stopped her.
“I said I’m giving it to you. Who wants your money?”
Seeing that Big Girl Li was about to speak, Qin Xiaoyao continued, “These bamboo rats are different from the pheasants and hares we got before.”
“We discovered the bamboo forest together, so the harvest of the bamboo rats is not entirely mine.”
“How about this? Just like the fish in the river, I’ll give you 20% for all the remaining bamboo rats I catch in the mountain!”
“Of course, when I’m hunting the bamboo rats, you can’t stay idle. You still have to continue digging out the bamboo shoots!”
“Tomorrow, we’ll be relying on these two things to make a lot of money!” Qin Xiaoyao said.
Big Girl Li’s eyes lit up.
Then, she looked like she was about to cry.
“Boo hoo hoo… Sister Sanya, you are truly my sister! I’ll always listen to you from now on!” So much for gratitude and tears.
Qin Xiaoyao took a step forward and patted Big Girl Li’s shoulder.
“We’re sisters. Why are you saying this?” she said magnanimously.
She had always been willing to spend on her own people.
Moreover, it was indeed Big Girl’s idea to go into that particular mountain, from where they got rich.
This girl was really her Lucky Star.