Chapter 11: Making Bird Nests
It rained often in Changchuan County in June.
After the rain, Ying Kongtu often invited Wen Zhongshan to go up the mountain to gather nostoc, and Wen Zhongshan never missed a single appointment.
Wen Zhongshan truly liked this fresh and delicious nostoc very much.
Apart from this kind of nostoc, there was also another crisp kind that he liked.
For this crisp nostoc, Ying Kongtu often stir-fried it with pickled chilies.
He would fry the pickled chilies until fragrant, add pork cracklings and fresh bird’s-eye chilies, then add the finely chopped nostoc. Once stir-fried, it became sour, spicy, fresh, fragrant, crisp, refreshing, and rich—extremely good with rice.
Wen Zhongshan had never tasted such deliciousness anywhere else.
After the rain, they would go up the mountain to gather mountain delicacies and wild vegetables.
Most of the time, Ying Kongtu was still taking care of the mountain forest.
Wuchuan Mountain, Baogu Mountain, Qingfang Mountain, and Xiwu Mountain had gone unmanaged for a long time, and there were many old trees on the mountains.
Some of the old trees were poor in both species and age. They had to be eliminated, and new trees planted, only then would the mountain forest have a new appearance.
Wen Zhongshan and Xing Chang both said they wanted to come help cut trees.
Ying Kongtu was not used to troubling friends and politely declined.
He could not handle all the work himself, and cutting trees alone was too tiring. In the end, he hired workers, rented chainsaws, called trucks, and formed a tree-cutting team to go up the mountain and cut trees.
Seeing that he wanted to cut down so many trees, the workers were a little worried.
“These trees are very old, aren’t they? Can they all be cut?”
“Someone from my hometown cut down trees before, and the police station came looking for him on the spot.”
“Boss Ying, there won’t be any problem with us cutting these trees, right?”
Ying Kongtu found his chat records with Pei Lejiu and showed them. “They can be cut. I asked the Forestry and Grassland Bureau leader. This is private mountain forest, and it’s renewal cutting, so there’s no problem.”
“What is renewal cutting?”
“It means eliminating old trees that aren’t of such good quality and planting a batch of better new trees.” Ying Kongtu explained, “Some trees are too old and not very healthy. They need to be replaced.”
Only after the workers asked clearly and confirmed there was no issue did they help Ying Kongtu cut the trees.
Everyone used chainsaws, so the tree-cutting speed was very fast. One person could cut more than a hundred trees in a day.
Ying Kongtu hired more than twenty people, and after cutting for over a week, all the trees on the four mountains that needed renewal had been cut down.
Hiring workers and trucks cost him quite a bit of money.
Fortunately, these trees could be sold. After selling the felled timber, the total income was a large sum.
Ying Kongtu’s savings account suddenly became much fuller.
However, this was only temporary.
After cutting down the old trees, he had to buy tree seeds and saplings, and hire workers to plant new trees. All of that cost money.
The mother forest he was cultivating had not yet grown into a forest, so most of the high-quality tree seeds and saplings still had to be bought from outside nurseries.
That afternoon, Ying Kongtu was splitting wood at home.
Near evening, Wen Zhongshan took Dart out for a walk and came by to visit along the way.
Ying Kongtu told him to sit wherever he liked, while he continued splitting wood in a corner of the courtyard.
A large pile of split firewood had already been stacked beside him, and the air was full of the distinctive fresh fragrance of wood.
Ying Kongtu’s home used firewood, so his demand for firewood was fairly large.
Seeing him splitting wood, Wen Zhongshan did not pay it much attention at first.
After watching for a while, Wen Zhongshan realized something was off. The wood Ying Kongtu had split had been separated into two piles, and the smaller pile was clearly of better quality.
Wen Zhongshan walked over and picked up a thin strip of wood that had been split finely. “This wood isn’t for firewood, right? Are you planning to make something?”
“No. These wooden strips are all choumu. The wood is relatively hard and of good quality. I plan to use them to make bird nests.”
“Bird nests? Are you planning to raise birds?”
“In a sense, yes?” Ying Kongtu smiled. “I’ll make some bird nests and place them in the trees. If the birds see them, they may move in.”
“Will they live in unfamiliar nests?”
“They will. Animals don’t want to be that tired either. If they can save energy, they will. Of course, the nests have to be placed somewhere safe. If they’re put in the wrong place, they won’t go in.”
Wen Zhongshan held the strip of wood and gestured with it. “These are for large birds, right?”
“More or less. They’re for raptors like saker falcons, upland buzzards, and golden eagles. Didn’t the mountain have a forest rodent outbreak some time ago? This period is the breeding season for quite a few raptors. I’ll make some nests and see whether I can attract raptors over to eliminate more forest rats.”
As Ying Kongtu spoke, he continued splitting wood.
The firewood split in two under his hands, and one half had quite a few insect holes.
Ying Kongtu searched through it and picked out a worm.
Dart saw it and came over with its fluffy body, its pink nose twitching curiously as it sniffed.
Ying Kongtu handed it a little closer.
It first dodged backward with quick little steps, but soon came up again curiously and sniffed Ying Kongtu’s fingers.
Ying Kongtu placed the worm beside its paw and let it play with it on its own.
Only then did Wen Zhongshan notice that Ying Kongtu had placed an empty bowl nearby. The bowl held nearly half a bowl of worms, which looked a little like bee larvae.
“What are these?” Wen Zhongshan looked closely. “Are they for feeding young birds?”
“Wood grubs. Not for feeding. They’ll be fried and eaten as a dish, just like bee larvae.”
“What about the taste? Is it similar too?”
“Similar, just with an added fresh woody fragrance.” Ying Kongtu invited him, “Stay here for dinner.”
“I’ll eat, I’ll eat. I’ll help out.”
It was almost dinnertime now.
Ying Kongtu carried a bowl of wood grubs into the kitchen and took out another bowl from the refrigerator. It looked like he had collected those earlier.
After not seeing it for a few days, Ying Kongtu’s kitchen had changed a little again.
At a glance, Wen Zhongshan saw a simple, old-fashioned, round-bellied ceramic vase placed on the old wooden table by the wall near the window. Inside the vase were elegant, loosely arranged mountain flowers and branches.
He had given that ceramic vase to Ying Kongtu, but he had not expected Ying Kongtu to put it here.
Wen Zhongshan entered the kitchen and went over to tend the fire as usual.
Ying Kongtu specifically reminded him, “Use low heat. One piece of firewood is enough. If the fire is too strong, they’ll burn easily.”
Wen Zhongshan rarely saw him treasure a certain ingredient so much. Hearing this, he looked up.
Sure enough, Ying Kongtu waited until the water in the wok had dried, then carefully poured in half a pot of oil and added the wood grubs, frying them slowly over low heat.
At first, Wen Zhongshan did not think much of it. But when the wood grubs in the wok gradually became crisp and released their fragrance, he could not help glancing into the wok again and again.
Bee larvae were very fragrant, and cicada pupae were not bad either, but neither had the strange fragrance of the wood grubs in the wok.
That aroma carried a bit of woody scent, along with an indescribable exotic fragrance that directly stirred one’s appetite.
Ying Kongtu’s seasoning for this fried wood grub dish was also especially simple. When he scooped them out, he only sprinkled a little salt over them while they were still hot, shook the basin to mix them evenly, and that was it.
When placing the basin on the stove counter, Ying Kongtu could not resist picking up a wood grub with his fingers and tossing it into his mouth. It was so hot that he sucked in a breath of cool air, yet he still could not help narrowing his eyes.
So fragrant!
Crisp and fragrant!
After Ying Kongtu finished one, he picked up another.
When he raised his head, he met Wen Zhongshan’s gaze directly.
Ying Kongtu held the basin toward Wen Zhongshan. “Want to try?”
“Pick it up directly with my hand?”
“Just pick one up. Don’t touch the others.” Ying Kongtu urged him, “Are you eating or not?”
“I am!”
Wen Zhongshan imitated him and picked up a wood grub, placing it in his mouth. He discovered that it was indeed extremely crisp. Every chew released an intense fragrance.
Ying Kongtu looked at him with a smile. “How is it? Is it different from what you imagined?”
“I never knew before that there were actually so many delicacies in the mountains.”
“There have always been many delicacies in this world—mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas. But cultivating delicacies, cooking delicacies, and tasting delicacies all require a little state of mind.”
Ying Kongtu smiled. “Delicacies are difficult to come by if you say they are difficult, but easy to obtain if you say they are easy.”
“Thank you, Kongtu, for taking me along to enjoy them.”
“Easy enough.” Ying Kongtu happily prepared to stir-fry the next dish. “Did you come to find me today for something?”
The two were already very familiar with each other.
Wen Zhongshan did not stand on ceremony with him either. He nodded and said, “I need to go back for a bit. Dart’s personality is too stubborn, and it likes going outside. I don’t feel very at ease sending it to be boarded somewhere, so I wanted to ask if I could leave it with you for a week?”
“I thought it was something serious.” Ying Kongtu agreed readily. “No problem. I like it very much too.”
“I’ll bring its things over later.”
“All right. Since I’m making bird nests anyway, I might as well make it a cat nest too. When are you going back?”
“Tonight. It’s a bit urgent.”
Ying Kongtu looked up. “Then you’re still staying here to help tend the fire?”
“It’s not urgent to that extent. The train ticket is for 11:20 tonight. There’s only this one train in the small county, so I can’t be bothered to go through extra trouble.”
Hearing that his tone was a little desolate and unlike usual, Ying Kongtu looked at him a little longer. In the end, he still did not ask.
Everyone had many secrets. If they did not speak of them, then the time had not yet come.
After dinner, Wen Zhongshan went home and brought over Dart’s things.
Cat food bowl, cat water bowl, cat toys, cat pillow, cat nest… they filled the entire trunk.
Ying Kongtu glanced at Wen Zhongshan. He had not expected Wen Zhongshan to dote on the big fat cat so much.
This new friend of his had a very soft heart.
Wen Zhongshan stayed and made bird nests and a cat nest with Ying Kongtu.
They used an electric nail gun to nail the wood together, and in just over ten minutes, they could assemble the frame of a bird nest.
After the frame was finished, Ying Kongtu placed a custom-made woven grass basket inside and lined it with the prepared dry grass and rabbit fur.
When Wen Zhongshan had seen him carry so many materials out of the storage room earlier, he had already been somewhat surprised. Now, seeing him make the bird nest so properly and carefully, he was even more astonished.
“You’ve wanted to make bird nests for a long time, haven’t you?”
“The idea came when the forest rodent outbreak happened last time. But even without the rodent outbreak, I would still have had to put out some bird nests to attract birds. There are too few birds in the mountains.”
Wen Zhongshan reached out and rubbed the rabbit fur between his fingers. “The cost of this is a little high.”
“It’s all right. They can be used for many years.”
The main purpose of this batch of bird nests was to attract raptors, so Ying Kongtu made them somewhat large.
As soon as the first bird nest was finished, Dart walked over with its tail held high and sniffed it, its nose twitching.
As it sniffed, it stepped one paw inside. Then, with a plop, it lay down in the nest and rolled over, exposing its belly.
Ying Kongtu had originally wanted to make it a different style of cat nest, but seeing this, there was no need to put in more effort. He could simply let it use the ready-made bird nest.
Wen Zhongshan soon returned to handle his matters.
Dart stayed behind to live with Ying Kongtu.
It was especially willing to go up the mountain with Ying Kongtu. Every time they went up the mountain, it would run wildly until it was panting hard, sticking its tongue out like a little dog, before finally quieting down.
Ying Kongtu took it to install the bird nests.
To attract raptors, there were particular requirements for where the bird nests were installed. They had to be placed in high, open locations, with no human activity nearby.
Ying Kongtu looked for old trees dozens of meters tall, placed the bird nests at the tops of the trees, then fixed them firmly with nails.
Raptors all had excellent vision. If any raptors were truly preparing to build nests and saw bird nests like these, they should move in.
But it was impossible to attract many birds in the short term. That would have to be left to time.
Ying Kongtu climbed down the tree and looked up at the bird nest placed high at the treetop. In his heart, he sighed.
He hoped more and more birds would come settle here, improving the ecology of the mountain forest, and that rodent outbreaks, insect outbreaks, and other forest diseases would not happen again.
Author’s Note:
Wen Zhongshan really is not human. If the CP of a long-lived mountain god were an ordinary person, it would feel so tragic.
