The Fiery Era: Starting from Longxugou

Hehe!

On the mudflats of the South Moat, Zhao Shijie and Zhao Shixiong were playing with their two younger sisters.

As Qingming Festival approaches, many wild grasses have grown on the mudflats. The reeds have sprouted new shoots after being harvested, and white cogongrass grows everywhere. The little ones picked a large handful in no time.

Looking at the wide moat in front of him, Zhao Shi'an originally wanted to take the opportunity to catch some fish and put them in his space. However, seeing the large area of ​​soft mudflats, he decided to give up for safety reasons. Of course, more importantly, he felt uncomfortable catching fish from the moat because it had taken many lives.

During the renovation of Longxu Ditch, the South Moat was also dredged, deepened, and its channels were cleared. The banks were repaired, and garbage and silt were removed.

After being dredged, the South Moat no longer smelled bad or overflowed. The barren slopes and mudflats on both sides still exist, and there are many reeds and wild grasses on both sides. The white cogongrass and cogongrass roots that children love to eat grow everywhere on both sides.

Zhao Shi'an looked around for a while. The north bank of the South Moat was close to the suburbs, where many vegetable farmers, porters, tricycle drivers and small vendors lived. Most of them lived in adobe houses, and a few shacks. Women washed clothes and vegetables by the river, and those who raised livestock built simple sheds on the mudflats.

There are many villages clustered on the south bank, mostly inhabited by vegetable farmers.

"Big brother, here's some Imperata cylindrica for you!"

Zhao Xiaole presented a handful of white cogongrass to his elder brother as if it were a treasure.

"Big brother, eat mine! I still have some Imperata cylindrica root!"

Seeing that her younger cousin had beaten her to it, Zhao Xiaoyue nervously ran to her older brother.

"Don't rush! Let me try them all! The Imperata cylindrica root is a bit dirty, let's wash it when we get home before eating it!"

As Zhao Shi'an spoke, he took five or six blades of thatch from each of the two young maids, being perfectly fair and impartial.

"Brother, there's water in the river, I'll go wash in it!"

Zhao Shijie shouted and started to walk into the river.

"Come back! What did you just say? Why aren't you listening?"

Seeing his underling's actions, Zhao Shi'an scolded him, quickly stepped forward, grabbed him, pulled him out, and kicked him twice in the buttocks.

After the entire South Moat was dredged, it is much safer than before liberation, and drowning incidents have been greatly reduced, but it cannot be completely eliminated. In the summer, there are always children who sneak into the river.

Zhao Shijie was kicked to the ground by his older brother. He was still a little dazed. After he came to his senses, he felt very wronged and tears welled up in his eyes.

"What? You're not happy with that? What did you say when you came with me? If you don't listen, you're going home right now!"

Seeing their eldest brother get angry, the four little ones immediately fell silent.

Zhao Xiaole shrank back and squeezed closer to her cousin. Zhao Xiaoyue patted her little cousin and looked at her second brother with concern.

Zhao Shixiong lowered his head, still feeling lingering fear, secretly relieved that he hadn't gone into the river.

"Big brother! I'll be good!"

Seeing his elder brother get angry, Zhao Shijie quickly responded.

"If you're going to listen, stand up!"

After Zhao Shi'an finished speaking, he took the lead and went to the barren slope, and the three little guys quickly followed.

"Big brother, wait for me!"

Zhao Shijie patted his bottom and stood up, shouting as he watched his older brother walk away.

Seeing his younger brother following, Zhao Shi'an led his younger siblings to a nearby bridge.

He came to fill the space; there weren't many trees on either side of the south moat, so he only collected some reeds and cogongrass.

The destination of this trip is the old course of the Yongding River. It's about two or three miles south of the South Moat, not far from the Liangshui River.

There are many shrubs and wild fruit trees here. When he was a child, he often brought his younger siblings here. He could take the opportunity to collect some and put them in his space so that he could have fruit freedom. Although the quality was far inferior to modern fruits, he could collect them first and then, when he went to university, he could uncover the secrets of the agricultural university and quickly improve them through grafting.

"Big brother, should we cross the bridge?"

Zhao Xiaoyue looked at her older brother and asked.

"Yes, after crossing the bridge, let's see how the toon trees, apricot blossoms, and wild cherry blossoms are doing."

"Oh, let's go see the apricot blossoms!"

The four little ones were very happy to hear this. After the apricot blossoms and cherries bloom, they will bear fruit, and then they will have delicious apricots and cherries to eat.

Zhao Shi'an reminded his younger siblings to be careful. The old stone bridge in front of them was dilapidated, with mottled and blackened stones, many stone slabs missing, and the bridge surface uneven and full of potholes. There were only a few crooked and thick wooden poles as railings on both sides. No matter how old the bridge was, no replica of the ancient building could be made to look like this.

After crossing the bridge, the loess underfoot gradually turned into soft fine sand. The Yongding River changed its course in the mid-Ming Dynasty, more than 400 years ago. As the river flowed away, it slowly silted up into depressions, mudflats, and swamps, leaving only trickles of water to form the Liangshui River. This area in the south of the city is entirely the old course of the Yongding River.

As we continued along the old road, vast stretches of bare sand, undulating hills, and low-lying puddles stretched out before us, with winding country paths leading the way. Several villages were scattered in the distance.

Sparrows and magpies could be seen flying up and down over the bushes from time to time along the way. It was still quite cold in Beijing, and the migratory birds had not yet arrived.

There were quite a few wild rabbits; every now and then, a grayish-brown shadow could be seen flashing past in the bushes. Zhao Shijie, Zhao Shixiong, and their three friends were initially very excited, shouting and yelling about catching rabbits, but they couldn't even catch a glimpse of one. After chasing for a while, they gave up.

Upon arriving at their destination, Zhao Shi'an led his younger siblings on a tour.

Along the old road, shrubs and bushes grew everywhere, with clusters of wild cherry trees hiding among the weeds in full bloom, and locust trees, elm trees, and sand willows were everywhere.

The four little ones, Zhao Xiaoyue and Zhao Xiaole, were like on an adventure, calling their eldest brother over every time they found a fruit tree.

While the four little ones were searching for fruit trees, Zhao Shi'an collected a lot of fruit trees, including wild apricots, mountain peaches, wild pears, crabapples, jujubes, and walnuts.

The fruit tree saplings were small, only about the thickness of a finger, and could not be noticed unless you looked closely. After his younger siblings ran away, he put them into his space, and he used his mind to restore the pits on the ground to their original state.

"Brother, there's a Chinese toon tree here!"

Zhao Xiaoyue was very happy to find a Chinese toon tree.

"Where? Let me see! It really is, but it's too high for us to reach! Let's look at the others, and pick them if we find any!"

Zhao Shi'an walked over quickly and saw a Chinese toon tree about the thickness of a wrist, with a few small seedlings about the thickness of chopsticks around it. Almost all the leaves on the tree had been picked off, not even the seedlings were spared, leaving only a few leaves at the very top, because they were too high to reach!

Hearing their eldest brother's words, the four little ones were full of energy.

After his younger siblings had gone far away, Zhao Shi'an put several toon tree seedlings, each about the thickness of a chopstick, into his spatial storage. Compared to the old trees, the toon produced from these tender seedlings was of the highest quality.

After harvesting the toon leaves, I also picked a few clumps of wild cherry trees. With some space available, the toon leaves and cherries will be ready to eat in a few days.

Unfortunately, there aren't many trees around here, and harvesting too much would harm the ecosystem. I'll have to visit other places when I have the chance!