"Can we eat it?" Shen Xiaoming didn't care how Zheng Wei knew, he cared whether this milk fruit could be eaten.
Zheng Wei walked forward, picked a reddened milk fruit, peeled it, and handed it to Shen Xiaoming. "Red ones are edible, green ones are not. Eat the pulp inside."
Shen Xiaoming happily took it, handed half to Shen Xiaoyan, and put the other half directly into his mouth.
"How does it taste?" Shen Xiaoyan didn't rush to eat, but instead asked Shen Xiaoming.
Her action made Zheng Wei think she was afraid to eat, and a hint of a smile flickered in his eyes.
Shen Xiaoming smacked his lips. "It's a bit sour, but still quite delicious."
After speaking, Shen Xiaoming finished the half he had, and Shen Xiaoyan quickly handed him the half in her hand.
Shen Xiaoming was eating the milk fruit, while Shen Xiaoyan walked to the long vine. "Let's dig this up and plant it at home, okay?"
Hearing Shen Xiaoyan's words, both Zheng Wei and Shen Xiaoming were stunned. However, Shen Xiaoming immediately broke into a smile, "Okay, okay! I love to eat it. If we plant it at home, we can eat it often."
Shen Xiaoyan then asked for Zheng Wei's opinion. Zheng Wei was noncommittal.
As they decided, Shen Xiaoyan took out the shovel from her back basket and began to dig up the roots of the milk fruit.
Fortunately, the long vine planted by Luoluo had not fully grown, or perhaps it had been pruned. The entire dug-up vine was only a little over 2 meters long. It was wrapped in soil. Shen Xiaoyan carefully gathered it and placed it in her back basket.
With their objective achieved, Shen Xiaoyan felt relieved, and the three of them began to walk back the way they came.
As they walked, they arrived at the canyon where Shen Xiaoyan had stayed last time.
Standing at the entrance of the canyon, the situation inside was clear at a glance. Shen Xiaoyan breathed a sigh of relief; thankfully, the three spotted tigers were not there today.
Shen Xiaoming hopped into the canyon and finally stood before the waterfall.
Shen Xiaoming stretched his head to look into the river for a while, then happily turned to Shen Xiaoyan and Zheng Wei and said, "Sister, Brother-in-law, there are fish here."
Shen Xiaoyan and Zheng Wei slowly walked forward and looked into the water. Indeed, fish were swimming.
"Xiaoming, do you want to eat fish?" Shen Xiaoyan asked, looking at Shen Xiaoming.
Shen Xiaoming nodded, but these fish were not easy to catch. Thinking of this, Shen Xiaoming shook his head again. "No, I don't want to eat them anymore."
Looking at Shen Xiaoming's expression, Shen Xiaoyan found him incredibly cute. "If you want to eat them, what's the problem? I'll catch them for you."
Shen Xiaoyan looked around, turned, and walked out of the canyon. After a short while, she returned with a tree branch as thick as Shen Xiaoming's arm.
"Where's the knife? I need to borrow it." Shen Xiaoyan walked up to Zheng Wei and said.
Zheng Wei looked at Shen Xiaoyan in confusion, not knowing what she wanted to do, but still handed her the short knife he was carrying.
Shen Xiaoyan took the short knife and, in a few strokes, sharpened one end of the tree branch into an arrowhead.
Handing the knife back to Zheng Wei, Shen Xiaoyan took off her shoes, rolled up her pant legs, and walked into the small river.
Directly beneath the waterfall was a pool, and a river flowed out of the pool and out of the canyon.
The river surface was relatively wide, and at a distance of about 2 meters from the edge, the water was very shallow.
When Shen Xiaoyan stood in it, the water only reached half her calf.
Shen Xiaoming watched Shen Xiaoyan standing in the river, so anxious he didn't know what to say. "Sister, come up."
It was still spring, and the river water was very cold. If his sister stood in it like this, she would surely freeze. Shen Xiaoming thought this and was about to call out again.
Shen Xiaoyan looked up, her face beaming with a smile, and said to Shen Xiaoming, "Don't speak, you'll scare the fish away."
Shen Xiaoming obediently closed his mouth and watched Shen Xiaoyan intently.
Zheng Wei stood on the bank, watching Shen Xiaoyan, her smiling face, her bright eyes. The corners of his lips curved upwards unconsciously.
Shen Xiaoyan held the wooden stick in both hands, her head bowed, watching the water. Finally, she saw a fish swim towards her. She held her breath and fiercely plunged the wooden stick in her hand into the water.
Shen Xiaoming and Zheng Wei also quickly looked into the water, only to see Shen Xiaoyan quickly raise the wooden stick.
The tip of the wooden stick pierced the belly of a silver carp, its tail still wriggling.
"I caught it, I caught it! Sister, you're amazing!" Shen Xiaoming, looking at the fish, danced with joy.
Shen Xiaoyan said happily to Shen Xiaoming, "This is nothing. Wait, I'll catch more for you."
After speaking, Shen Xiaoyan took the fish off the wooden stick, threw it at Shen Xiaoming's feet, then gripped the stick with both hands again, lowered her head, and kept her eyes fixed on the water surface.
Shen Xiaoming bent down, grabbed the fish with both hands, and then walked directly to Zheng Wei, chuckling, "Brother-in-law, look, isn't Sister amazing?"
Zheng Wei nodded. She was indeed amazing.
Shen Xiaoyan speared five fish in a row before coming ashore.
She didn't put on her shoes, but walked directly to a rock and sat down, saying to Shen Xiaoming and Zheng Wei, "Let's have grilled fish for lunch. Who will go get some firewood?"
Shen Xiaoming was about to say he would go, but Zheng Wei had already turned and walked towards the outside of the canyon.
Shen Xiaoyan looked up at the sky and estimated the time. It was probably past 10 o'clock.
"Xiaoming, I'll grill fish for you later, okay?" Shen Xiaoyan's eyes curved as she looked at Shen Xiaoming.
"Mhm, mhm, mhm." Shen Xiaoming nodded quickly.
Soon, Zheng Wei returned carrying a bundle of dry firewood. Shen Xiaoyan had already put on her shoes and was cleaning the fish by the river with a knife. Seeing Zheng Wei return, she said to him, "No need to start the fire yet, it's still early. Let me marinate the fish with salt."
Upon hearing this, Zheng Wei put the dry firewood on the ground and walked to Shen Xiaoyan's side, also helping her to clean the fish.
Shen Xiaoming squatted to the side, watching the two of them work together, his eyes shining. Shen Xiaoyan inadvertently looked up and met Shen Xiaoming's gaze. "What are you looking at?"
Shen Xiaoming immediately replied, "Nothing."
Seeing Shen Xiaoming like this, Shen Xiaoyan found it amusing and lowered her head to continue cleaning the silver carp in her hands.
Together, they worked very quickly. In a short while, all five fish were cleaned. Shen Xiaoyan washed the fish and then made several cuts on both sides of their bellies with a knife.
She took out the salt wrapped in oil paper from her belongings, rubbed it on the fish, and placed the fish on a washed large leaf.
Luoluo and Baibai suddenly appeared from somewhere. Baibai smelled the fishy scent, wrinkled its little nose, and slowly walked forward.
Shen Xiaoming went up and hugged Baibai, stroking its head and saying, "Little glutton."
Whether Baibai understood or not, it let out a weak meow at Shen Xiaoming.
Luoluo watched the fawning Baibai from the side, disdainfully rolling her eyes. What a silly cat.
Shen Xiaoyan estimated the time. About fifteen minutes later, she and Zheng Wei started the fire together. They threaded the fish onto sharpened branches and began to grill them over the fire.