There were less than 800 people in Xiapu Village. It was a natural village that was far away from the provincial second-class highway. There was only one stone road leading to the highway. Most of the farmers and villagers made a living by farming. Some even lived on the water all year round. They lived on one or two fishing boats and made a living by fishing. The Boyang government, the Civil Affairs Bureau, and Wucun Town had repeatedly allocated special funds to allow the villagers to transfer labor to industries such as forests and commerce. They had achieved great results. Xiapu was rich in forest resources. The village area was covered with mountains and lush forests, with evergreen broad-leaved forests, such as Camphor tree, Locust tree, oak tree, etc. On both sides of the river were cliffs. In the morning and evening, they climbed the mountain with their lovers and friends or looked up at the river. The rising sun and these natural mountains and rivers formed a magnificent scenery. Many places here left the footprints of Xia Jing and Zhang Tian: Xia Jing swung a small boat, Zhang Tian took a picture clip to paint the landscape, or Xia Jing set up a net, Zhang Tian pulled the net together, or Xia Jing sang a folk song, Zhang Tian beat the beat according to his temperament... At present, the tourism development of the summer shop had been reported to the provincial bureau. The sunsets in the south and the north were different in beauty. There were many mountains and rivers in the south of Boyang, and the sunset was mysterious. When they climbed up to the top of Mount Dahu, they could see everything in the branches of the Dalang Mountains. The setting sun was deep and dark. It no longer wreaked havoc during the day. It became dutiful and attached. The lush forest was covered with a layer of golden fog, slowly becoming hazy. Of course, there was no chance to go down the mountain to watch the sunrise. Perhaps only by staying with the mountain keeper and the two dogs in the simple shed for a night could they see a more beautiful scene: The sunrise over the mountain. Before the Great Tiger Mountain had implemented forest control, many farmers in the town would rush to Stone Dragon Mountain to cut down the hard wood in autumn and transport it back home by car. Therefore, the entire winter was spent in warmth, and the heat of the hard wood filled the corners of the room. Zhang Tian's parents were hardworking people. In order to let the whole family live a warm winter, they often went out early and returned late to take advantage of the autumn slack period to bring back the heartwarming firewood. Although the mountain scenery was beautiful, the difficulty of climbing the mountain was an irresistible labor for the young Zhang Tian. His parents couldn't leave him behind. Most of the time, they would leave Zhang Tian with a lover at the foot of the mountain. Sometimes, they would stay for a while and play with a few childhood friends. The sunset in the north of Boyang was also a beautiful childhood memory. It was the vast Boqing Plain. There were no mountains or rivers. There were only small hills, low hills, and green flowing rivers. From afar, the sunset seemed very clear. It was accompanied by smoke from the chimneys, the cries of cattle, sheep, dogs, and donkeys, and the shadowy white birch trees. Although he could hear the sound, he could only see silence. Everything seemed peaceful and solemn.
The bamboo forest was the playground that Zhang Tian loved for many years in his childhood. When he was happy, he would come, and when he was unhappy, he would come. In March and April of spring, he would go to the bamboo forest to dig for bamboo shoots with his male and female partners. When he returned home, he would always ask his mother to immediately stir-fry the tender, strong, and lovely delicacies to taste them first. At first, he didn't have the experience and method to dig bamboo shoots, so he dug the cute baby until it was covered in scars. Although he couldn't avoid his mother's blame, he was very happy. The fruits of his labor could be shown off in front of his companions. Playing hide-and-seek with his friends here could scare the timid girls to their hearts 'content. They clapped their hands and cheered. Victory! Victory! The pigs that dug out eggs in the village often came to eat the bamboo shoots. They would take a bite here and dig there. There were also pigs that came to steal food at night, which was impossible to guard against. The bamboo, thorns, and ditches could not stop the greedy pigs at all. Therefore, he joined the herd of pigs early in the morning. Because the downhill of the bamboo forest was a fish pond raised by a stranger in the village, the pig was flustered and did not know where to go. Even if it jumped over the ditch and bravely jumped into the river, it also became a drowning pig...
Zhang Tian and the others had an early dinner at home. Zhang Tian drove Xia Jing and Cao Xia to the Summer Shop. Xiapu was only about ten kilometers away from Zhang Wan. There was not much traffic on the road, but the motorcycle was already moving in an arc. The two young and beautiful girls screamed from time to time, causing the passersby to not know what was going on. When they looked up and followed the sound, they disappeared.
Xia Jing's house was a newly built brick house. The old house only had some sundries. It was located between the Xiapu Ancestral Hall and the Shuichong Yangwei. There was also a folk legend in the Xiapu Ancestral Hall on the east side of Xia Jing's new house: Cao Ni and her son passed by the summer shop in distress. It was a hot summer day, and he spent the evening in the ancestral hall of the summer shop. Mosquitoes wreaked havoc at night, and the mother and son could not sleep well. The child said,"I want to drive the mosquitoes out thousands of miles away." Mother said: We only stay for one night, why so hard, just drive out of the door. From then on, there were no mosquitoes in the hall, which has been passed down to this day. To the west of Xia Jing's new house, there was a Shuizhong Yang tree. It had been growing for 270 years, with a diameter of 2.5 meters and a height of 18 meters. It was luxuriant and covered an area of more than 220 square meters. It was the only remaining ancient tree in Xiapu. In order to prevent cattle and livestock from destroying it, it was specially fenced, hence the name Shuizhong Yang Wei. Xia Jing's grandparents had passed away for many years. Her father was away for many years. It was only when the Mid-Autumn Festival or the New Year was approaching that he would come back to stay at home for a few days. The family of three could enjoy the happiness of family. The three of them had just stopped at Xia Jing's new house when Xia Jing's mother, Zhong Xinru, came out to welcome them.
"My son, you've been so busy coming all the way here.”Zhong Xinru doted on her son-in-law, patting her head and holding her hand. Zhang Tian knew his mother-in-law's personality, so he smiled and let her be.
"Come in and have some herbal tea! The Cao family's pretty girl is here too!”Zhong Xinru stretched out a hand and pinched Cao Xia's cheek.
"Aunt Zhong, it hurts." Cao Xia pretended to be in pain and ran behind Xia Jing to make a face at everyone.
"Xia Jing, your mother's hospitality is indeed different!”Cao Xia's honest words made everyone laugh.
"Alright! Stop fooling around! We still have serious things to do. Mom, have you prepared the small fishing nets, scarecrows, bamboo sifters, and lamps?”Xia Jing didn't want to waste any time. She ran into the house and drank two mouthfuls of herbal tea. She took two cans of liquid drinks and handed them to Zhang Tian and Cao Xia.
"Look at how anxious you are. It's all done! My good boy." This was what Xia Jing and Zhong Xinru had discussed. Xia Jing had to go to Zhang Tian's place as soon as possible. It had been many years since they had caught spring fish in such a big way. Zhang Tian had never attended any of them. Zhong Xinru had been so busy these years that she was worried about her daughter's wedding. She wanted the two of them to spend more time together so that the rice could be cooked. Who would have thought that her servant girl would bring Cao Xia here? She was so angry that she was anxious.
"The water flow upstream is very fast now. We have to be more careful at night. Zhang Tian has never caught this kind of fish before. The two of us have to be careful and not let anything happen to him. The water here was extremely cold. If one's body was not good, one's feet would cramp if they stretched their feet into the water!”
The three of them had already left the house with their fishing gear. Zhong Xinru watched their backs disappear into the twilight before returning to her house.
"Zhang Tian, do you know anything about spring fish?”Xia Jing smiled. No matter what, as long as she could be with her sweetheart, she held Zhang Jun's arm with one hand and acted coquettishly. Cao Xia was a bold and bold girl. She insisted on letting Zhang Tian hold her hand, so Zhang Tian was held by Xia Jing with one hand and Cao Xia with the other. Of course, this was all tacitly approved by Xia Jing.
"I don't know! My great beauty, a talented farmer, and a know-it-all in the field? You know what?" Zhang Tian smiled and asked Cao Xia.
"Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you. Humph! Xia Jing, don't tell him. Old country bumpkin." Cao Xia pouted as if someone had angered her. After Cao Xia finished speaking, she scuttled to Xia Jing's right side and snuggled up to her.
"Zhang Tian, this Boyang Spring Fish is a local specialty and is sold overseas. It is well-known among the fishermen in Xiapu. It is only found in a few sections of the Qingxi River. According to Boyang County Annals Volume 7, Resources: Fish live in caves in spring and come out with water in summer. Small body, one inch long, yellow, black spots, Huangling produced the best.，Yellow Ridge was a low hill beach lake where the Qingxi River flowed through the Xiapu. It was a beach lake during the Spring Festival, but it was usually a low hill with many caves. The low mountains on both sides of the lake stretched out. Limestone caves and mountain streams of all sizes could be seen everywhere. Every spring, when the water level rose to the entrance of the cave, spring fish would enter the cave with the water to lay eggs. After the eggs hatched into young fish, they would swim out with the water. The misty spring fish would swim upstream. It was the beginning of summer on the lunar calendar, so it was a good time to catch fish. After the small full, spring fish also disappeared. In other words, the time it 'showed its face' was very short, less than half a month. The ancients had a poem saying: Huangling cave mouth water mark flat, Feiyun cave spring fish born, pour basket do not wait for the sun to stop noon, green pot cooking taste from clear. It was also known as tribute fish, and it had been used as a treasure by the imperial court in the past.
It was the smallest freshwater fish in the world, with a body length of only 10-15 mm. It was classified as a ctenaculus cruzi along with the Gushan hard fish and the Nanshang Huazhou pink fish. The former produced very little, while the latter produced more. The former's back was smooth and scaleless, while the latter's back was scaly. Therefore, the former could reach 100% consumption and was far more valuable than the latter.
Every year, when the water rose in Mengxia, fishermen would set up nets in several fixed waters of Qingxi River to catch fish. The tools used were small and dense nets, as well as easy-to-operate fishing nets or bamboo screens. The annual production of spring fish did not exceed several thousand kilograms. The fresh spring fish was crystal clear and transparent. At first glance, it looked like a soaked vermicelli. After being dried by the fire, it was completely golden, like shiny broken gold, fragrant and soft. Whether it was fresh fish, frozen fish, or dried fish, they were all suitable for scrambled eggs, steamed eggs, soup, fried chili, mushroom stew, and sauce and vinegar salad. They were all delicious and had a unique flavor. It was a treasure with high protein content and high nutritional value. It had always been a traditional local specialty that was sold overseas.
With the improvement of the ecological environment in the Qingxi River basin, this extremely precious aquatic resource, which was almost extinct decades ago, was able to reproduce and develop again. It continued to provide delicacies for humans to satisfy their appetite. The provincial railway that was open to traffic ran from east to west of Boyang, and the natural golden waterway flowed through the eastern edge of Boyang. The land and water transportation was very convenient, providing Chinese and foreign tourists with the possibility of tasting Boyang spring fish.”
Zhang Tian was mesmerized by her words. Where did Xia Jing get all this knowledge from? Listening to her talk so eloquently, Zhang Tian was completely impressed. It was as if he was immersed in that kind of beauty and couldn't extricate himself. Was it because he couldn't help it, or was it because he was revealing his true feelings, or was he hinting at something?
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