Chapter 37: Snowy Night Campfire Cooking in the Wilderness

  He walked to the edge of the ditch, Yu Songyuan chose a dense bush beside a sheltered place, then swung his iron shovel, scooped open the thick snow, dug up the hard frozen soil layer, and dug down another section. From the wet soil at the bottom, he picked out twenty or thirty earthworms, wrapped them in newspaper, and then filled the dug-up soil back in.

  Lin Xue said: "It turns out that earthworms (a northern dialect of Mandarin) all hide underground to spend the winter."

  Yu Songyuan explained, "The scientific name for earthworms is Pheretima. In winter, they choose a place with moist soil or near water sources to burrow deep into the warm underground and hibernate. No matter how cruel nature can be, living things always have ways to adapt. We are also living things, so we too have more solutions than difficulties."

  Digging the earthworms, preparing to go down to the ice surface below the river ditch along the small bridge, Lin Xue was a bit hesitant and fearful. The ice surface is nearly two meters higher than the bridge surface, the slope of the river embankment is relatively steep, and it's piled up with snow, making it difficult to walk. "Yu Ge, how are we going to get down? I'll go around with Da Jiang."

  Yu Songyuan handed her a fishing rod, but it was still not working, so he directly picked her up like holding a child and let her sit on his left arm. Lin Xue was frightened and shouted "Ah", "Brother Yu, what are you doing?"

  "Hug my neck. Heaven, how can you be as heavy as a small child, just dozens of pounds."

  "I'm not even fifteen years old yet, you want me to be responsible." Lin Xue was so scared that she tightly hugged Yu Songyuan's neck.

  Yu Songyuan held her in one arm, just like he used to hold his three little nieces, Yu Xiaohong and the others. With the other hand holding a fishing rod, he slid along the snowy riverbank onto the ice surface, scaring Lin Xue into letting out another loud "ah". Once on the ice, Yu Songyuan put her down, and the two of them walked towards the depths of the dense forest.

  After walking about 200 to 300 meters, the ice surface here is open and wide, with tall trees in the forest reaching into the clouds. The weeping willows on the side of the valley and the reeds by the water's edge swayed gently in the wind, and the catkins and reed flowers danced in the air like snowflakes. "Wow, the scenery here is so beautiful!" Lin Xue exclaimed.

  "Scenic views are everywhere, but we're forced by livelihood to rush about, and that's the end of it."

  Yu Songyuan used an iron shovel to dig two big holes in the thick ice, then took out the earthworms and threaded them onto a hook made from a sewing needle that had been heated red-hot and bent into shape. The line was cut from nylon rope used to tie up sacks of rice in the cafeteria, and the rod was cut from a clump of willows growing at the foot of the big dike behind the dormitory.

  After everything was ready, he handed a fishing rod to Lin Xue and took one himself. Da Jiang would occasionally run east to listen, then run west to listen, looking thoughtful all the while. Lin Xue asked: "What's it for?"

  Yu Songyuan said, "It used to be the king of this vast wetland, it must have found some treasure." So he said to the general, "Go ahead, start hunting!" The general listened and swiftly locked into the depths of the dense forest like an arrow.

  "It's moving! It's moving!" Lin Xue suddenly exclaimed with excitement.

  Yu Songyuan quickly helped her reel in the fishing line, but as a result, there was no bait left and the fish had escaped. He was puzzled - this was winter, the water here was deep enough, so why were there no fish? What's going on?

  Lin Xue was very anxious, and Yu Songyuan put bait on her hook again, encouraging her to say: "Don't worry, little girl, fishing is not about catching fish, it's about patience." Then he made a gesture for her to put the rod on the ice and just squat beside her.

  Lin Xue listened and put her small hands in her pockets to keep warm. The two of them stopped talking, at this time, from time to time, there were fish that poked their heads out of the water to breathe, and they didn't seem to be afraid of people. Lin Xue's face turned red with tension, Yu Songyan whispered to her, "This is an ice-sealed river surface, lack of oxygen in the water, the fish are raising their heads to breathe, hurry up and fish."

  "You said severe hypoxia, will fish die?"

  "It will, but it won't be as severe here because it's connected to the Guan River and the water is flowing."

  "When the tide goes out, the water surface will definitely be lower than the ice surface. Will the ice surface hold our weight or will we fall through?"

  "At the beginning of winter it was possible, the ice was thin. Now it's not possible, the ice is too thick, you see it's almost 7 or 8 centimeters thick. Not to mention people, even a hand-held tractor wouldn't fall through."

  Lin Xue hesitated for a moment, then plucked up the courage to ask him, "Yu Ge, this scarf is woven too finely, who wove it for you?"

  Yu Songyuan was about to speak when he found his float suddenly shook violently, then sank down, and then floated up again before sinking rapidly. He quickly tightened the fishing line, loosening it from time to time, gradually reeling in the force until with a "whoosh" sound, he pulled out a big fish from the water surface and heavily slammed it onto the distant ice surface. The fish jumped around on the icy snow, soon only its tail struggled, and after a while, it was completely frozen stiff.

  Lin Xue ran to the side of the fish and exclaimed, "Wow, heavens! It really can catch fish, and it's one or two kilograms heavy!" Yu Song took down the fishing hook again, put on bait, and then put it back in the water.

  Lin Xue ran back to her own fishing rod and suddenly exclaimed, "It's moving, it's moving!" The float had already been pulled underwater. Yu Songyuan hurried over to help her reel in the line. "Why are you still releasing?" she asked, puzzled, seeing Yu Songyuan release and then pull in the line.

  Yu Songyuan said, "This fish is not small in size, strong and fierce, can't be pulled hard, slowly play with it, wait until it's exhausted, then pull it up." After finishing speaking, he slowly reeled in the line, released the line, repeated this process for about half an hour, finally with a "whoosh" sound, he pulled out of the water a huge black fish, which landed on the ice surface seven or eight meters away from the hole with a loud thud, and jumped and struggled back and forth.

  "Oh my god, it's a huge black fish (northern dialect), at least 7 or 8 catties! Lin Xue dropped the fishing rod and ran to follow the big fish as it jumped, her silvery laughter echoing across the river. Yu Songyuan was also shocked, no wonder the fish hadn't bitten for so long, with this thing lurking below, what other fish would dare to be here?"

  "Girl, come back quickly, now the fish are easy to hook!" Indeed, afterwards, they caught them one after another, in a short while, five or six were hooked, most of which were half a catty of big knife fish.

  Winter days get dark early, and the dense forest gets even darker. At this time, it's already late afternoon, and the light is getting dimmer. Lin Xue looks at the dark dense forest, listening to the occasional howling sounds, wild dogs and wild cats' strange cries, and pulls Yu Song's sleeve, saying "Let's not go any further, let's just go back and eat, this place is scary."

  Yu Songyuan cleaned up the few fish by the water at the entrance of the cave, and threw all the internal organs and leftover bait into the water for the fish to eat. He said, "I and General are here, what are you still afraid of?"

  As he spoke, Lin Xue took the fishing gear, and with one hand holding a bundle of fish strung on dry reeds, he used his other hand to pick her up and laboriously climbed up the high ditch. Then he put her down, and together they walked about ten meters into the dense forest, where a large clearing appeared in front of them.

  "How come you're so familiar? Do you often come here to fish?"

  "The tutoring class schedule is too tight, and I don't come often, I've only gone fishing two or three times."

  Yu Songyuan shoveled the snow to one side of the empty ground, then said to Lin Xue, "You stay here and watch the fish. If you feel suffocated, go to the toilet, just don't let the stray cat steal the fish. I'm going into the woods to pick up firewood." With that, he plunged headfirst into the dense forest.

  Lin Xue had been holding it in for a while and was afraid to pee. Suddenly, he heard the sound of breaking branches coming from inside the forest, so he plucked up his courage and took off his pants to relieve himself. After finishing, he saw Yu Songyuan still breaking branches in the woods, so he rolled up his sleeves and squatted down tensely beside the fish.

  After a while, Yu Songyuan carried out a large bundle of dry branches. "So many?" Lin Xue asked with surprise and delight.

  "Xiao Budian, you're not scared silly, are you? This is a vast expanse of pristine forest, and what's most abundant and never in short supply is dry firewood." Just as he finished speaking, Da Jiang returned with his head held high and chest out, carrying a large grey wild goose.

  He picked it up and threw it to the edge of the fire pit, looking at the two people with his head held high and his tail wagging triumphantly, as if he were a victorious general returning from battle. Yu Songru patted its big head in affirmation. Lin Xue was excitedly hugging the general's neck, playing with him on the thick snow.

  He quickly cleaned the goose, and the feathers were piled up on an old newspaper and carefully wrapped aside. The bonfire was burning fiercely, and Yu Songyuan continued to add large pieces of wood inside. "Brother Yu, why don't you roast it? It's such a waste!"

  "It's not the right time yet. Outdoor barbecuing has its own rules, and you can't use an open flame to grill. Otherwise, it'll be all smoky and charred, and the fish won't just turn black, but also have a strong smoke flavor on the surface, which doesn't taste good."

  "How do you know everything?" Lin Xue asked curiously. Yu Songyuan didn't answer her, and after the fire had passed, he used a wooden stick to set up a frame on top of a large pile of red-hot charcoal, and then threaded the largest of the three-jin-heavy big red fish and the big fat goose onto the stick, placing them on the frame to roast.

  As the light grew darker, Lin Xue again showed a frightened look, and Yu Songyuan lit another bonfire by the charcoal fire, illuminating the empty space between the trees as if it were daytime.

  Before long, the fish and goose began to sizzle and emit oil, while Yu Songyuan sprinkled salt and various seasonings on top from time to time. Then, he evenly applied lard to the fish. For a moment, the fragrance wafted through the dense forest, and General Wu tilted his head, drooling as he licked his lips, circling around the bonfire, constantly swallowing saliva.

  The empty land all around, neon flashing, from time to time there are cats and dogs and other animals watching, but they just don't dare to get close. Lin Xue exclaimed: "Yu brother, if we were to eat this at a restaurant, how much would it cost?"

  "I read in a book that rich foreigners often eat like this, it's the most nutritious."

  The bonfire was too hot, Lin Xue untied her scarf and asked casually, "This hand-made scarf of yours is really good, it's warm."

  "The scarf was woven by my aunt, she's very skilled. It's warm and you can wear it, I don't need to use it at all, not even once. The down feathers, tomorrow soak them in hot water first, then dry them in the sun, make a small pillow or mix them into the quilt, it's really warm."

  Lin Xue couldn't bear to part with it, "Alright, I'll hold onto it for now and return it to you later." Yu Songyuan again told her about the "glorious" deeds he and his gang had done back in their hometown, as well as stories about the strictness of his parents, uncle, and aunt, and the kindness of Professor Chen, Yu Yueyue, and Wang Feng.

  Lin Xue sighed and said, "There's such a good big family with so many people who love each other, it's really happy. When the winter break comes, you can see them."

  Yu Songyuan said, "This year is very strange, they all participated in school-organized activities, doing something about diligence and social practice, and didn't come back during the winter break or next summer vacation."

  The meat is cooked, and the most annoying thing is the general, who has a look of eager anticipation.

  Yu Songyuan used a knife to cut the fish and goose meat, and the three of them ate with great relish. The big goose weighed five or six catties, and only one-third of the fish was left over. Yu had eaten only part of it, but both men were full. Da Jiang also retreated repeatedly, indicating that he really couldn't eat any more, and it wasn't just politeness.

  Lin Xue said: "Indeed, there's no smell of smoke at all. Yu Ge, this fish roasted like this is even more delicious than when I cook it at home, what did you brush on top?"

  Yu Songyuan said: "It's lard. My aunt gave me more than two catties this time, and in the future when stir-frying oat rice or vegetables, you can add a little bit, it smells great and is filling."

  After finishing the barbecue, the night had already deepened. Yu Songyuan gathered up the leftover meat and other spoils of war, first using snow to thoroughly extinguish the embers, then led Lin Xue and Da Jiang back to their dormitory with great enthusiasm.