Chapter 88: Chinese Softshell Turtles
The two looked at each other, both still immersed in the deliciousness of the mushroom chicken soup.
Ying Kongtu glanced outside and said softly, “Should we taste this cured-rib mushroom soup too?”
Wen Zhongshan perked his ears and listened to the movement outside. “Taste it!”
This time, Ying Kongtu found two beautiful small bowls and ladled two small bowls of cured-rib mushroom soup, complete with mushrooms and ribs. He also sprinkled a small handful of chopped scallions inside.
The fresh fragrance of the scallions was brought out by the hot soup. In an instant, the mellow aroma of cured ribs and the savory freshness of mushrooms surged up together.
Ying Kongtu took a sip and only felt that the soup had a slight gelatinous texture. Its mouthfeel was very rich and mellow, with a faint sense of smoothness.
After one sip, he felt comfortable all the way from his mouth to his stomach.
“So good.” Ying Kongtu narrowed his eyes. “We can transfer it into the hotpot and get ready to eat.”
“I’ll go light the charcoal.”
The two quickly transferred the soup bases from the two large clay pots into the divided hotpot, then neatly arranged all the ingredients they had prepared to eat and placed them on the table.
Once they had prepared the hotpot, the soup they had ladled out earlier had cooled down just about enough.
Ying Kongtu divided it among the little fellows and let them come out. Today, they would eat beside the hotpot.
Their hotpot was a pure mushroom soup hotpot. The ingredients could be cooked directly in the broth and then divided among the little fellows.
Even Dart, a little cat with a comparatively weaker stomach, could eat it directly without needing the seasonings rinsed off.
When the little fellows ate hotpot together, they ate rather quickly. They did not have to worry about the ingredients being overcooked in the pot.
Ying Kongtu generously added a huge pile of ingredients: shrimp, fatty beef, ribs, sliced meat, fried eggs, meatballs, and more.
Once they were cooked, he uniformly fished them out with a spoon, let them cool slightly, then divided each little fellow’s favorite ingredients among them.
Ying Kongtu said, “Dip your own food in the sauce. Shuangzhong, be careful. Don’t wrap bird’s eye chilies in meat and eat them.”
Shuangzhong proudly spread its wings slightly. “Jiu jiu.”
“All right, start eating.” After Ying Kongtu finished dividing the food among the little fellows, he immediately announced it and added the second batch of ingredients into the pot at the same time.
As soon as his words fell, the little fellows had already lowered their heads and begun eating fiercely.
The hotpot they usually ate was cooked with hotpot base.
To take care of the little fellows’ stomachs, they usually made their hotpot relatively mild.
When the ingredients cooked later became saltier and spicier, Ying Kongtu would even rinse them in water before giving them to the little fellows.
That kind of hotpot was delicious too, but it completely could not compare with today’s divided mushroom soup hotpot.
The chicken mushroom soup was fresh and fragrant; the cured-rib mushroom soup was rich and mellow.
Once the ingredients were placed inside and cooked, they absorbed all kinds of fragrances. Some were soft and tender, some crisp and refreshing, some dense and delicate, some springy and chewy… all kinds of textures, all kinds of flavors. Every bite brought a new surprise.
Then, once they were coated in the special dipping sauces Ying Kongtu had customized for each of them, every mouthful sent fragrance straight to the top of the head.
Not to mention the furry ones—even Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan felt extremely satisfied eating it.
When they ate until their foreheads broke out in hot sweat, Ying Kongtu brought out drinks mixed with mountain raspberry vinegar.
He had separately mixed cola or honey water into them, and every cup had a large amount of ice added. Each one was icy, sour-sweet, and richly layered in taste.
The furry ones could drink whichever kind they wanted. One mouthful was also extremely refreshing.
By the end of the meal, Jingwei drank up all the soup base.
Everyone was so full that they did not want to move, so they rested in the courtyard.
Ying Kongtu lay drowsily on the recliner. “Let’s also make fried mushroom oil to sell this year. We’ll sell it for 388 yuan a bottle. There’ll definitely be gourmands willing to pay for it. It’s too fragrant.”
“No problem. The online shop has many certificates, and fried mushroom oil is also within the permitted scope.”
“I saw that. Let’s first buy a batch of glass bottles online, then hire someone to design the label. We should make the packaging a little nicer.”
Lying on the recliner, Ying Kongtu remembered something else. “We also need to design gift boxes for the fried mushroom oil. Last year, when we sold wood ear mushrooms, many people asked about gift packaging.”
Last year, they had tried selling fried mushroom oil, but it had mainly been aimed at friends and acquaintances. The price they set had actually been on the low side.
If they sold fried mushroom oil again this year, there was not much room for the price to rise, but they could make it in smaller bottles.
Ying Kongtu estimated that about 200 grams per bottle would be just right.
Mushrooms nourished by divine power ought to be priced a little higher than the market price. Otherwise, it would be difficult to do business in the future.
Ying Kongtu slowly thought about it and grew a little sleepy.
He scooped Dart up and placed it in the crook of his arm, casually stroking Dart’s soft long fur as the plan in his mind gradually became clearer.
If they wanted to sell fried mushroom oil, they first had to go up the mountain to gather mushrooms.
Now, they were gradually entering the peak season for mushroom growth. Mushrooms of all sizes and kinds were growing on the mountain.
If fried mushroom oil was to be sold, they needed to control its quality. They could not be as casual as last year.
Ying Kongtu specially wrote a formula sheet, planning to mix the mushrooms according to a certain ratio.
Aside from the mushrooms on the formula sheet that needed to be kept, the extra portion would be sent to the vegetable market or listed in the online shop.
This year, the whole of Changchuan County had favorable weather, and the mushrooms in the mountains had grown exceptionally well. They were plump, tender, large, and richly fragrant.
As soon as the mushrooms appeared on the market, they immediately drew the attention of locals and even people from surrounding areas, who praised the mushrooms from their county endlessly.
The mushrooms from Changchuan County became somewhat popular. Even people from the provincial capital were willing to come here to buy fresh wild mushrooms.
The local government reacted quickly and immediately took advantage of the momentum, opening a wild mushroom street outside the vegetable market.
The wild mushrooms left over after Ying Kongtu and the others made fried mushroom oil were taken to this wild mushroom street to set up a stall.
Their mushrooms were of good quality, and they did not cheat on weight. Even though the price was slightly higher, many customers still bought them, especially repeat customers.
Now, they only needed to spend a little over half an hour setting up a stall every day, and they could sell most of the mushrooms. The price was not very different from selling online either.
Ying Kongtu rather liked this mushroom-selling lifestyle.
If things continued developing like this, they should be able to earn quite a bit from selling wild mushrooms this year, enough to directly pay off the money used to buy Qianzhongcui Mountain.
Wild mushrooms were easy to sell, and the output was decent too. The only issue was their short preservation time.
If they were not gathered promptly, they would quickly rot and spoil.
Therefore, during this period, Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan’s main work was patrolling the mountain and gathering wild mushrooms.
That morning, Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan returned from gathering mushrooms on Qingfang Mountain.
They also had a full harvest today. The back baskets they carried and the baskets in their hands were all filled with wild mushrooms.
This was mainly thanks to the effort Ying Kongtu had put in before.
Ying Kongtu had carefully managed the mountain forest for more than a year, and the forest had completely changed.
Now, there was plenty of humus in the forest. Evaporation was high, and the environment was moist and cool. Mushrooms sprouted in one wave after another.
Every day they went up the mountain, they could return fully loaded.
In order to protect these precious mushrooms, Ying Kongtu had also specially restricted the Ba-snake pigs’ range of activity and changed their grazing area once a week, preventing them from causing too much damage to the wild mushrooms.
The two talked as they descended the mountain.
Before they had even reached the foot of the mountain, Ying Kongtu saw Tiaozhu and the others also lining up to come down the mountain from afar.
Unlike usual, today Xian Niao was at the very front of the line instead of at the back.
Ying Kongtu took another look.
With that look, he noticed something was off. “Are Xian Niao and the others carrying something in their mouths?”
Wen Zhongshan looked over. “Probably some kind of animal. Gray-brown.”
“It’s quite large.” Ying Kongtu narrowed his eyes. “I can’t see clearly.”
Because of the angle, they could not completely make out what Xian Niao was holding in its mouth.
They were coming down from Wuchuan Mountain.
There were domestic pigs on Wuchuan Mountain, as well as terraced fields, a vegetable garden, and all kinds of animals. The most obvious ones were various birds.
However, it seemed that no matter what animal it was, it should not be this color.
Ying Kongtu was truly curious what Xian Niao and the others had brought back.
He pulled Wen Zhongshan over and called from afar, “Xian Niao—Tiaozhu—”
“Awoo—” Xian Niao answered him from a distance.
“What are you carrying?”
“Awoo—”
Ying Kongtu tilted his ear and listened for a long time, but still could not make it out.
They could only quicken their pace and join up with Xian Niao and the others.
Once they drew closer, Ying Kongtu quickly discovered that what Xian Niao was carrying was actually a softshell turtle!
Not only Xian Niao—every furry one had a softshell turtle in its mouth!
Even Dart was carrying one.
Only Dart’s mouth was not big enough, so it could not hold the turtle’s body sideways like the other furry ones. Instead, it had bitten onto the turtle’s tail.
The poor turtle was half-dragged along by its tail. Its shell scraped against the ground until it was almost going to spark, making clacking sounds all the way over.
Seeing Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan, Dart became excited. With its short legs compared with the other little fellows, it pattered over.
The turtle shell knocked against the ground even more loudly.
Who knew whether the turtle inside felt its head buzzing.
“Meow-ao!” Dart ran up to them, spat out the tail it had been holding, raised its round head, and looked at them with round eyes, its face full of the expression of presenting treasure.
“Good kitty.” Ying Kongtu could not help rubbing its head, then picked up the turtle on the ground and examined it.
Wen Zhongshan looked with him. “Chinese softshell turtle.”
Ying Kongtu flipped the turtle over and took a look. “Yes. A male. Its tail is quite long, and the plastron has a concavity. At a glance, it’s a mature male in its prime.”
Dart had less strength, so the turtle it had carried over was not especially large, probably only around two or three jin.
The turtle Xian Niao carried over was much larger, at least five or six jin.
The turtles carried over by Tiaozhu, Jingwei, and Shuangzhong were also three or four jin.
All of these turtles were male, and they looked to be of quite good quality too.
Ying Kongtu could not help asking, “Where did you carry these from? Don’t tell me you raided a turtle den?”
Xian Niao turned its head and looked at the mountain behind it. “Awoo—”
Ying Kongtu said, “You carried them from Wuchuan Mountain? Why are there so many softshell turtles on Wuchuan Mountain?”
Xian Niao said, “Awoo.”
So that was it.
Wen Zhongshan said, “Let’s go home first and take a look there.”
The mushrooms they were carrying needed to be taken back and handled quickly. They could not keep them covered.
Ying Kongtu said, “All right. Let’s go back first.”
The wild softshell turtles in their area were not protected animals. Like fish, as long as destructive fishing methods such as electric fishing were not used, they could be caught.
Perhaps because their local environment was good and there were many wild aquatic products, people were also accustomed to catching and eating wild aquatic products.
Ying Kongtu signaled that they should go home first, and the furry ones picked up the turtles in their mouths again.
Ying Kongtu specially observed Dart from the corner of his eye, wanting to see what it would do.
Dart excitedly bit one of the turtle’s claws, which was pressed tightly against the side of its body.
The turtle immediately stuck out its head and tried to bite it, but Dart nimbly dodged. Then it bit the turtle’s tail, lifted it, and walked off. Its four little short legs alternated as it ran, pattering lightly and nimbly.
Dart was no longer the Dart from before. It was very clever now.
Looking at its figure, Ying Kongtu could not help smiling.
Xian Niao and the others had brought back five softshell turtles in total.
Dart had never eaten this kind of prey before. It guarded the outside of the large wooden basin, staring intently at the turtles inside, drooling with greed.
When Ying Kongtu passed by, he stroked its head. “I don’t have time to handle them now. We’ll make them after we come back tonight.”
Dart gently opened its mouth. “Meow.”
Its voice sounded extremely obedient.
Ying Kongtu stroked it again. It followed the force and lay down, the back of its head pressed to the ground. Then it twisted its body and directly exposed its belly.
Ying Kongtu rubbed it several times and promised to make them a lightly seasoned version of softshell turtle stewed with chicken that night, then went off to work.
Most of the freshly gathered mushrooms had to be sold. The portion saved for fried mushroom oil needed to be washed clean, squeezed dry, and placed in the freezer.
Ying Kongtu was truly curious about where Xian Niao and the others had caught so many softshell turtles, and all male ones at that.
There must be female turtles where they had caught them.
After finishing the morning’s work, Ying Kongtu ignored the strong sun and pulled Wen Zhongshan up the mountain to take a look.
Xian Niao led the way for them.
Once Xian Niao moved, the other furry ones followed too.
And so, the whole family went to the terraced fields under the midday sun.
Ying Kongtu understood at a glance. “So they caught the turtles in the terraced fields?”
Their terraced fields had a good environment. To let the creatures inside obtain enough oxygen, all the water in the terraced fields was flowing water.
Mountain spring water flowed in from the highest terraced field and flowed out from the lowest. While bringing clear water and oxygen, some creatures had probably also squeezed through the gaps in the protective net.
The softshell turtles may have followed the food and climbed in over the protective net.
It had to be said that there was much more food in the terraced fields than outside.
Inside, there were not only large quantities of fish and shrimp, but also red-backed duckweed, rice, and other weeds. For omnivorous creatures like Chinese softshell turtles, the environment was very friendly.
Recently, the weather had been hot, and the two had even dug cross-shaped deep channels in the terraced fields so the fish and shrimp could hide from the sun.
If the softshell turtles hid inside the deep channels, they really might not be discovered immediately.
After all, there were so many living creatures inside that Ying Kongtu could not possibly pay attention at every moment.
Ying Kongtu took two more steps and suddenly sensed something on the field ridge.
He gently used a stick to open it up and saw a nest of round softshell turtle eggs underneath.
With a rough look, there were nearly twenty eggs in this nest.
There was more than one nest of softshell turtle eggs on the field ridge. There was another nest beside it.
There were too many turtle eggs on the ridges. They had no way to walk on the ridges and could only walk through the rice fields instead.
As a result, after only a brief inspection, before they had even finished checking one field, they had already seen fifty or sixty nests of turtle eggs.
“Good grief.” Ying Kongtu could not help saying, “No wonder you were able to catch so many turtles. So these fellows have been treating the rice fields as a breeding ground?”
Ying Kongtu could imagine the softshell turtles in the nearby waters sensing that there were many of their own kind here and all surging over.
As a result, there were more and more softshell turtles here, and they laid more and more eggs, until the field ridges were completely occupied by them.
Wen Zhongshan said, “They have too many eggs. Are there really this many Chinese softshell turtles on Wuchuan Mountain?”
“Not necessarily. The main thing is that female softshell turtles can lay several batches of eggs during the breeding season. They only need to mate once, and then they store the sperm. Once a batch of eggs matures, they lay that batch, continuing until the breeding season passes.”
“No wonder they aren’t protected animals.”
“Yes. They reproduce very well, and their survival rate is also decent.”
Ying Kongtu looked at the messy, dug-up field ridges and felt deeply emotional. “I didn’t expect that when we had no plan to raise Chinese softshell turtles at all, they would come over on their own to lay eggs.”
Softshell turtle eggs did not need the female turtle to incubate them. As long as they were buried in sandy soil and the temperature was sufficient, the hatchlings would hatch on their own.
It was mid-July now, so the temperature was definitely enough.
One side of the field ridges faced the water, and the soil was all fine field mud, so the humidity was also sufficient.
In addition, Ying Kongtu used divine power to keep raptors and beasts away. There were basically no carnivores here, so after the hatchlings broke their shells, they would not encounter many natural predators.
This was simply an ideal breeding ground.
He did not know how they had found it, but once this batch of eggs hatched, Ying Kongtu and the others would definitely obtain several hundred or even over a thousand hatchling softshell turtles.
Ying Kongtu took out his phone and looked something up.
Wen Zhongshan leaned over. “What are you looking at?”
“I’m checking whether anyone raises softshell turtles in rice fields now. If they do, what’s the stocking density?” Ying Kongtu murmured, “It seems like they’ve shown up on their own and want to rely on the rice fields for life.”
Information quickly popped up online. The general meaning was that if one wanted to raise softshell turtles in rice fields, it was best to raise two or three hundred Chinese softshell turtles per mu. This would ensure a good harvest of both rice and softshell turtles.
“It looks like our place completely meets the conditions. This is Heaven’s will.” Ying Kongtu murmured.
Author’s Note:
Tiaozhu rescued a little kitten.
After the kitten ate cat food and drank water, it kept chasing after Tiaozhu and crying.
Tiaozhu suspiciously pressed the kitten to the ground and sniffed it carefully from head to tail.
It did not discover any problems.
The kitten’s “meow-ao meow-ao” cries also did not seem to contain any meaning.
Tiaozhu carried the kitten in its mouth, pattered across half the county town, and brought it home for Ying Kongtu to see.
After examining it, Ying Kongtu said: There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just a little chatterbox.
Tiaozhu: ……
