Living on a Mountain with my Husband

Chapter 25: ON THE HUNT FOR FLAVOUR

After waking up, LongWei headed to the kitchen once more to make the nourishing medicine. Knowing what LongWei was leaving to do, Zimo wanted to escape. The taste and smell were terrible, but LongWei didn't let Zimo escape. He cornered Zimo in the garden grabbed his waist pulling him close and feeding him the foul black bowl of medicine.

Zimo hated the taste and smell so much he almost burst into tears, but was expertly coaxed by LongWei with a sweet candy and gently stomach massage.

"Dear, could we change the medicine. Maybe, if we went to a different doctor they have something that tastes better, or I could eat a better diet instead of taking the medicine?" Zimo tried to negotiated.

However, LongWei was convinced the doctor they had seen was good. His medicine for Zimo's bruises clearly worked well and he himself felt stronger everyday drinking the same nourishing medicine.

...

In the afternoon, Zimo wanted to look in the area for herbs,fruit, or vegetables that might be growing nearby. Zimo had never gone foraging for herbs or spices in a natural setting before. However, when he was doing research for his book, he became very interested in the plants that could be found on a mountain. Things like Sichuan peppers, ginseng, garlic, bamboo roots, hawthorn fruit, licorice root, ginger, yam, cinnamon, turmeric, star anise, and so much more. Each had a very distinct flavour.

Some of these herbs and spices are already being utilized by doctor's for medicine, but some haven't been tried before. He wanted to teach LongWei how to cook using these spices. Actually, his ultimate goal was hot pot. He could live off only eating hot pot all winter in his past life and he planned on doing the same here.

LongWei didn't want Zimo to go out alone, so he took the opportunity to teach him about the surrounding area and what to watch out for as they moved around the surrounding area.

"Zimo, it's easy to get lost in the forest. If you ever move to far away from the house, look on the trees. Do you see these marks? I made this marks as a guide. Each line contains different information.

I - means walk staring past the tree to find the house.
II - means turn left
III means turn right

If you see an ^ , this means your moving away from the house.
The most important is X. If you see this stop and turn around immediately, areas marked with an X are dangerous. They are places where I have seen traces of tigers, bears, wolves, or boars.

Zimo can you promise me that if you ever see this cut into a tree you will not stay in the area and quietly turn back?" LongWei said, with a serious and cold face.

"Yes, dear. I promise." Although Zimo was curious about seeing these animals, he also valued his life and knew not to tempt fate.

There were other signs as well.

V - means there are a lot of rabbit holes.
< - means there is a water source. Water sources meant animals would often visit these places so it wasn't strange to find deer or foxes.

LongWei explained all of this patiently as they moved around. LongWei's lesson wasn't the only thing Zimo got on their walk. Zimo managed to find Chinese yams, ginger, and three Sichuan trees. When Zimo saw the Sichuan plant he immediately ran towards it excitedly. Followed by LongWei who pick him up off his feet by the waist.

"Don't touch that plant. The fruit rom this tree will burn your eyes and hands." LongWei warned.

"I know, it's tasty when fried and put in soup." Zimo said.

"Tasty?" LongWei looked at Zimo strangely.
"Trust me dear, if we dry the fruit then crush them, they can make food spicy. I really like this flavour. Can you help me pick them?" Zimo asked.

LongWei was still unsure, but his little birdy seemed determined to take the burning fruit back with them.

"Stand over here and I will go pick it." LongWei said. He didn't want Zimo to touch the plant as much as possible. He didn't pick much and wrapped t handful worth of fruit in a handkerchief before placing it at the bottom of his basket.

Another great find was a pine tree. Sadly, however in was still early summer, so they wouldn't be able to find any nuts at this time. As for fruit Zimo found a longan tree and passion fruit. The sweet longan fruit, sour Passion fruit, and spicy Sichuan would make a great variety to their current limited diet of  salt.

LongWei had tried the longan fruit before, but he didn't care much for it. It was sweet, but the seeds were so large he didn't want to eat them. The passion fruit was something he had tried once before as well, but it was sour to the point of hurting his jaw. "If this is what my little birdy wants, then this is what he will get." LongWei thought as they filled their baskets full of these fruit.

At first, Zimo didn't pan on picking to many, but then he remembered his plan to dry fruits to sell or make jams. The jams would need to wait because they would most likely spoil before they left the mountain, but dried fruit was also delicious and an important source of vitamin in the winter.

It was getting late, LongWei and Zimo returned home to have dinner. While LongEi cooked, Zimo prepped what they had found for drying. The Sichuan was the easiest, he just needed to place it on a flat bamboo plate, but before he could zimo took the handkerchief and did it for him. He was very determined not to let Zimo touch the fruit.

The longan fruit and passion fruit took more effort. After washing each fruit, Zimo cut the passion fruit in halves and paced them Ina bamboo basket in the sun. For the Longan fruit he needed to wash, peel and remove the seeds. By the time he had finished LongWei was ready to serve dinner.

When cooking today, Zimo had asked LongWei to fry a little ginger with chopped yams and cabbage. LongWei was uncertain at first. He had never eaten Chinese yams before, and ginger was something use in medicine. He couldn't imagine it tasting very good. "If it's what my little birdy wants, than it doesn't hurt to try it." LongWei thought as he cooked the stir fry with porridge.

Zimo sat at the table with LongWei excitedly smelling the food. It wasn't much, but being able to eat something that wasn't just flavoured with lard and salt made Zimo's stomach grumble.

"Dear, eat looks and smells delicious. Thank you."

LongWei saw Zimo happily dig in and eat the stir fry with a smile on his face. So he also moved to eat some. "Eh! This is delicious. The ginger gives it a little bite, and these roots Zimo calls yams are soft and taste good with the cabbage."

Zimo saw LongWei look at the stir with a skeptic look, but after tasting eat he couldn't hide his surprise.

"Dear, is it delicious?" Zimo asked while trying to hide his smile.

LongEi turned and looked at Zimo, "Hm."