If Ao Qianlai didn't mention it, Ao Muyang really forgot to go to Ambergris Lake to fish for lotus root this year.

It was late October, and the lotus root was ripe by this time.

Lotus root is a perennial root plant, once a year to complete its annual growth and development, do not need to be sown deliberately, every year it will go through germination, leaf development, flowering, fruiting, rooting, dormancy these growth and development stages.

In fact, some early-maturing varieties of lotus root began to enter the root-setting period in early July, and these are late-maturing varieties in Ambergris Lake, and it is suitable for fishing in October.

Autumn and winter is the best season to eat lotus root, at this time, use the lotus root picked in season to stew pork ribs and make soup to drink, which is both nutritious and delicious and can drive away the cold, and the people in the surrounding villages go to the lake to dig lotus root every autumn.

Ao Muyang informed Ao Qianlai to pick fruits for himself in a few days, and he was about to leave, but Grandma Qianlai said, "You wait first, Brother Xiaoyang, the old lady has something to ask you." ”

"Grandma, don't call me that, just call me Xiaoyang, if you call me that again, I'll leave immediately. Ao Muyang stood up.

Grandma Qianlai has suffered all her life, widowed in middle age, widowed in old age, and her daughter has long ignored her if she is not filial, and she has relied on her own to pull Ao Qianlai's grandson to grow up, but this grandson has a problem with his head.

Therefore, she is the most cautious in her usual life, and she doesn't dare to offend people, whether it is a junior or a junior, she will honor others.

Others called Brother Xiaoyang, Ao Muyang laughed, Ao Qianlai's grandmother called him that, he really felt ashamed.

Grandma Qianlai smiled and said, "Okay, okay, you can do whatever you say." ”

Ao Muyang helped her sit down and asked, "Grandma, don't say anything to me, I always came to you to eat steamed dumplings when I was a child, just tell me if you have something, I'll do the work for you." ”

Grandma Qianlai said: "Okay, that's the case, Brother Xiaoyang, I know that your baby is promising, and the old lady herself is okay and doesn't dare to trouble you, it's your Uncle Qianlai." Alas, you have the ability, you know a lot of people, can you give Uncle Qianlai to deal with a family affair?"

As she spoke, the wrinkles on her face deepened: "My Qianlai baby, my brain is a little confused, but you know, Brother Xiaoyang, Qianlai's baby has no bad eyes, no bad problems, and I also know that the Gu family is a very good baby, right?"

"My grandmother is old and doesn't have much to live, so I want to watch my grandson get married before I leave. Otherwise, you say I'm leaving, who will take care of this stupid baby?"

Looking at her worried appearance, Ao Muyang felt compassion in her heart.

Introducing blind dates to children in rural areas is a woman's business, such as Ao Muyang's previous blind date with the little nurse Hu Xiuxiu, which was given to Zhang Luo by his aunt.

Ao Qianlai has no mother, and his aunt has broken off relations with his family, so there is no one to help him go to Zhang Luo for these things, and he can't rely on his grandmother, after all, the old man is old, and his legs and feet are not good, and there are few people who can speak.

Facing Grandma Qianlai's expectant gaze, Ao Muyang's scalp was a little numb: "Grandma, I have to ...... this matter well."

Ao Qianlai came up and said, "Grandma, you can't find Yangzi to do this, he is still a single." I'll tell you, I can find a daughter-in-law myself, I'll spend money on a ......."

"Don't talk nonsense. Grandma Chirai slapped him.

Ao Muyang is embarrassed, his words are not rough, he is really a bachelor.

With Ao Qianlai's words, he politely said two words and left first, not that he refused to help, but that he had just come back for less than half a year, and he was not familiar with the women in the surrounding towns and villages, how could he find a daughter-in-law for Ao Qianlai?

In the evening, Ao Muyang had nothing to do and brought tools to dig lotus roots.

The Qing Dynasty poet Ruan Yuan wrote a poem called "Wu Xing Miscellaneous Poems", he wrote: The exchange of four rivers hugs the city, and scatters thousands of streams all over the world. Rice is planted in the depths, and lotus flowers are planted in the depths.

This poem is written very leisurely, in fact, whether it is planting lotus flowers or harvesting lotus roots, it is a particularly hard work, especially digging lotus roots, testing skills and physical strength.

As we all know, there were three hardships in the old society, and the boat was beaten to grind tofu, but in the fisherman's area, these three hardships were changed to be called the boat to dig the lotus root.

The lotus root is born in the mud at the bottom of the lake, and the whole body must be soaked in the water to dig it out, because the lotus root season is often autumn and winter, when the water temperature is low and the weather is cold, the whole person is soaked in the water to dig the mud, and a dig is a day, think about it to know how bitter.

Now that everyone is living well, at least they don't have to worry about food and clothing, at this time, there are fewer people who come to Ambergris Lake to dig lotus roots, only Ao Qianlai, a person who can be stupid and hard-working, does this work to make money, and most people are like Ao Muyang, digging up some points to cook and eat.

Ao Muyang didn't think about how much to dig, so he didn't prepare rubber water to rely on, and came to the lake empty-handed with a raft to look for the remaining white lotus leaves.

There are two kinds of lotus flowers in ambergris lake, which are divided into white lotus and red lotus, among which red lotus comes out of lotus and white lotus comes out of lotus, so if you want to fish for lotus root, you need to find the location of white lotus.

Ao Qianlai saw Ao Muyang, so he beckoned to him: "Yangzi come to me, I have lotus root in this place, you come here, I'll look for it again." ”

Ao Muyang smiled: "No need, Uncle Qianlai, you are busy, I'll take a look around by myself." ”

Ao Qianlai swayed ashore and dragged him into the water: "You just come here, it's all white lotus, I marked it in the summer, hehe, isn't it smart?"

Ao Muyang smiled: "Yes, Uncle Qianlai is shrewd." ”

Ao Qianlai smiled contentedly and dragged the raft elsewhere.

Ao Muyang gently stepped on the bottom of the lake with his feet, and his eyes looked down the lotus stalks, looking for the location of the lotus root.

As far as he knows, people now dig lotus roots with water guns, and wait until the lake dries up in winter, and use water guns to wash away the lake mud and find lotus roots.

Whether it is Ao Qianlai or Ao Muyang, they are not professionals, they have no water guns to use, they can only rely on manual labor, which is the most laborious way to dig lotus roots.

The lotus root was hidden in the mud at the bottom of the lake, Ao Muyang gently probed with his feet, and at the same time bent down to grope, and then finally touched a lotus root.

At this time, you have to be careful, there are pores in the lotus root, especially the nine-hole lotus root produced in the ambergris lake, with many holes, more water, and delicious meat, which is its advantage, but once damaged, there is muddy water entering, because of the holes, the lotus root is also very polluted.

Once the lotus root in the water is damaged, it is basically discarded, as long as it enters the muddy water, it will have a watery smell, and it cannot be washed clean.

Ao Muyang carefully groped for the lotus root, he started to pull it up from both ends, like an obstetrician and gynecologist picking up a newborn, and after some care, he finally touched the lotus root.

There were people from the village passing by the lake, and when they saw this, they smiled and said, "Yo, Brother Xiaoyang, are you touching gold?" ”

Ao Muyang washed the lotus root and put it on the small raft floating on the lake, and said, "You don't need to be so careful when touching gold." ”

Seeing him touch a lotus root, the villagers smiled again: "You can do it, the skill of touching lotus root has not fallen for so many years." ”

"Ancestral craftsmanship, this can't be lost. Ao Muyang also smiled.