Chapter 230: Leave the Most Beautiful Memory ⑦
They sat on the bus, occasionally seeing farmers herding cattle and sheep along the road. For the children from the city, these sights were incredibly interesting and rare, making them wish they could press their faces against the windows to get a closer look.
This wasn’t their first time leaving the city, but it was their first time being this excited, as if everything in the world had become beautiful. Even the dung left by cows and sheep on the road seemed beautiful.
Li Kai took a bottle of mineral water from his bag, opened it, and handed it to Nie Qiu, “Have some water! We’ll be there in about ten minutes.”
Nie Qiu smiled and took it, took a sip of water, then capped the bottle and held it in her hand. She also looked out the window. She had actually lived in the countryside before, but years of city life had made her forget the beauty of the countryside. The natural green, the messy beauty of flowers and trees, was something that the neatly trimmed green belts in the city couldn’t compare to.
Although the scenery in the space was also very beautiful, the scenery in the space always had a hint of unreality, a dreamlike quality. The colors in every place seemed meticulously crafted, like a miracle of the Creator. But the real countryside, with its cows and sheep, gave people a different feeling. It even improved their mood considerably.
Li Kai looked at Nie Qiu, following her gaze out the window. It wasn’t even eight o’clock yet, and there was still some mist in the mountains, a sight not seen in the city. Thinking this, Li Kai couldn’t help but smile.
Zhang Haiyang stood up entirely and leaned against the window. If the bus window could be opened, he probably would have stuck his head out. “Everyone, look quickly! That house, it’s so small, so small, is it a toilet? And over there, look, it’s geese! And over there… Wow, it’s…” That’s right, Zhang Haiyang, leaning against the window, kept reporting the novelties he saw to the people inside the bus.
Just like Zhang Haiyang, Huang Yan also looked out the window with excitement.
But… their excitement didn’t last long. They were jolted by a bump and swayed, taking several steps before regaining their balance. It turned out that the roads in the countryside weren’t well-maintained yet. The road ahead wasn’t a cement road or an asphalt road, but a road mixed with cobblestones and gravel. The driver, accustomed to this route, smiled without changing his expression and said, “Everyone, hold on tight, we’ll be there in a few minutes.”
The few people standing and watching the scenery looked at the road ahead and then stumbled back to their seats.
Shaken so much that their internal organs felt like they were about to come out, they finally reached their destination: Shuanglonggou Reservoir. Shuanglonggou Reservoir is a large reservoir. Standing on the bank built of stones, looking down, there were more than a dozen outlets. The water from these outlets was surging and flowing very fast, splashing high up. If viewed from the bank downstream, one would definitely think these dozen outlets were waterfalls. Because there were dams built at these dozen outlets, the water flow was so rapid. The reservoir’s functions include flood control, water storage for irrigation, water supply, power generation, and fish farming. Therefore, a house was built at a high point far from them, presumably for monitoring or guarding.
Stunned by the rapid water flow, the entire class stood on the large stone-built riverbank, watching the water flowing from the dam. The water in the distance was green, while the water flowing out rapidly was white. Water spray leaped and splashed joyfully, beautiful and dazzling.
Beside the reservoir were mountains and some residential houses of farmers. Next to the dam was a large area of grassland, and further into the mountains were woods. Perhaps due to rural urbanization, some of the farmland around the reservoir was no longer cultivated and was overgrown with unknown flowers and grass.
Although the lawn was irregular, it was beautiful. It didn’t have the tranquility of the mountains and forests, nor the coolness of central air conditioning, but it had the gentleness of the mountain breeze. Many classmates threw their things onto the stones and rushed into the land covered with flowers and grass, opening their arms childishly and shouting loudly. The camera turned 180 degrees, showing them running like in a very old CCTV advertisement with two cameras, one of a woman being chased by a tiger running in a grassy wilderness, and another of a mountain shouting advertisement.
When everyone woke up from the beauty of nature, they began to assign tasks. One group pulled weeds, another cleaned up, and another started setting up tents, all with laughter and merriment. Although there was some playful roughhousing, all the work proceeded in an orderly fashion. As it neared noon, everyone began to set up their own stoves.
Some built stoves with mud and used firewood from the area to cook. Others brought iron racks and placed pots directly on them, also needing to collect firewood from the woods. Nie Qiu’s group had Zhang Haiyang bring coal, but collecting firewood was also a kind of fun. Some people stayed behind to guard the various items, while Zhang Haiyang led a group towards the mountain behind them. What’s different in the countryside compared to the city is that firewood is readily available everywhere, especially in autumn and winter. After the harvest, straw, corn stalks, and the like were left on the mountain, along with branches and twigs. In no time, people were carrying large piles of firewood back to the camp.
In less than half an hour, everyone had gathered their firewood and started to light fires to cook. In Nie Qiu’s group, Nie Qiu naturally took charge of the cooking. Lighting coal was not easy, so Zhang Haiyang’s collected firewood was used to start the fire.
Their group had brought an iron plate, a common outdoor utensil found in supermarkets. It was shaped like a square box but only had four sides; the remaining two sides were open. One side was for placing the pot, and the other was for adding firewood.
However, they cleverly used four sturdy branches to prop up the iron plate, so they didn’t have to squat on the ground to start the fire like others. Huang Yan lit the fire and threw a piece of coal into it, immediately extinguishing the flame. After trying hard for a long time, they couldn’t get the fire going. Nie Qiu, who was preparing vegetables with Bai Ya and Peng Yu Yang, smiled, walked over, took the firewood from Huang Yan, lit it, and held it upright. Then she brought the coal to the flame of the firewood to heat it. Soon, the charcoal fire began to glow. Nie Qiu threw away the firewood in her hand, stomped it out, and then placed the lit charcoal into the iron plate. She added several more pieces of charcoal, and soon thick smoke billowed out, and the fire gradually emerged.
Lighting charcoal is like lighting mosquito coils; once it’s lit, everything else can be lit. It slowly heats up and slowly burns.
Li Kai managed the fire, while Huang Yan went to help Bai Ya with the vegetables and then to the upstream part of the reservoir to wash them. Zhang Haiyang and Peng Yu Yang were still setting up tents and arranging the tablecloths and other items.
After Huang Yan and Bai Ya finished preparing the vegetables, Nie Qiu stir-fried celery with shredded meat and stir-fried green peppers with shredded meat. She also stir-fried cabbage and peas with meat, and of course, the deep-fried potatoes that Li Kai had been wanting for a long time. They were all stir-fried dishes. Nie Qiu thought for a moment and mixed the remaining ingredients to make soup, adding oil and salt.
After completing all this, the other tasks for their group were almost finished. Nie Qiu still had a bunch of cilantro, some chili peppers, and a few scallions left. These small items couldn’t be randomly thrown into the soup. She said with some distress, “It would be great if we had some fish or eel.” Being able to cook something from the river and eat it by the river would truly be a picnic!
Zhang Haiyang, who was holding disposable food containers and disposable chopsticks, heard Nie Qiu’s words and quickly said, “I saw fish in the river.” He then turned to the other boys in the same group, “A Kai, Ah Xu, let’s go fishing!”
