Chapter 124 Catch the Cicada
As night fell, Zhou Yimin had a delicious meal with his family.
After dark, it is really boring in the countryside without electricity. Those who have wives can still have children, but other people really have nothing to do. No wonder the whole village will go out as long as there is a movie to watch.
Zhou Yimin went out with a flashlight.
"Yimin, where are you going?" grandma asked.
"Grandma, I'm going out for a walk. It's so boring."
"Watch the road! Be careful." grandma shouted.
Outside, the cicadas were chirping like crazy.
It's fine if they call during the day, but they call like this at night. Zhou Yimin is convinced. Tonight's target is those cicadas. He has called people to catch cicadas tonight, especially cicada monkeys.
"Uncle Sixteen (Grandpa Sixteen), we are here."
Soon, a group of young people gathered together, some of them came with torches, and most of them came in the dark. The moon was very big, and although the earth was a little blurry, it was still clear if you looked carefully.
"Speaking of which, since you are so short of food, why haven't you thought of catching cicada monkeys to eat?" Zhou Yimin couldn't help but say.
Cicada monkeys are edible. The Chinese have known this since ancient times, right?
Someone smiled bitterly: "Uncle Sixteen, first of all, everyone is too tired to move, so take a rest quickly. We still have to work tomorrow and can't waste our energy on that little thing.
Second, the best we can do is light a torch and catch them, which is difficult and time-consuming. "
To put it bluntly, sometimes the cost outweighs the gain.
"Also, cicadas are only delicious when fried. Where can we get the oil?"
If Zhou Yimin hadn't come looking for them tonight, they wouldn't have bothered to come out.
OK! Zhou Yimin understood that he had taken it for granted.
Of course, ordinary people know that some things are edible, but we need to consider the actual situation and whether it is worth it. Don't think that you are the only smart person.
"Catch the cicadas and come to my house to fry them tonight," Zhou Yimin said.
Cicadas are considered pests because of their sap sucking, egg-laying damage, large-scale appearance and noise pollution.
We all know that both adults and larvae of cicadas pierce the bark of trees with their sharp mouthparts to suck sap, which reduces the nutrient transport of trees and affects their growth and health.
Additionally, female cicadas create slits in tree branches when laying eggs, which not only physically damages the branches but can also allow pathogens to enter, further weakening the tree.
Finally, their chirping is very loud, especially on hot summer days, when the collective chirping of large numbers of cicadas can produce significant noise and interfere with human life.
Of course, no matter what it is, there are two sides.
Even mosquitoes have their positive role in nature and are a very important part of the ecology.
For example, cicadas are a food source for many birds, small mammals and other insects, and their presence provides these animals with rich protein.
Moreover, during the life cycle of cicadas, their larvae live in the soil for many years. In this process, they decompose organic matter in the soil and help the circulation of nutrients.
As part of the ecosystem, it increases biodiversity and plays a certain role in maintaining ecological balance.
When everyone heard Zhou Yimin say that they could go to his house for frying and they wouldn't have to provide the oil, they became very enthusiastic.
No matter how small a mosquito's legs are, they are still meat!
The same goes for cicadas.
"I know where there are more, follow me." Someone started to act as a guide.
They came to a small wood near the mountain.
"It's here, we can dig it." Someone knew at a glance that the small hole on the ground must be hiding a cicada monkey.
Many people are confused about the difference between cicada and cicada monkey. Cicada monkey generally refers to the golden cicada. The cicada goes through three stages in its life: egg, nymph and adult. Cicada monkey belongs to the nymph or larva stage of cicada, and is also called old turtle, hunchback, etc.
The term "zhiliao" generally refers to the cicada, which is the adult of the cicada.
Many rural people know that before it gets completely dark, the cicada monkey hides in a cave. It rises from the ground through a long tunnel, digs a vertical shaft close to the ground, and uses its front paws to pry open a small hole to peek at the weather.
At this time, you need to use your fingers or a small wooden stick to poke the hole open and you can find the cicada monkey.
Zhou Yimin also knows something about how to catch cicada monkeys effectively.
In later generations, some people would tie tape on trees.
That is the main method used by the Golden Cicada Farm to harvest cicada products, and it is also a secret weapon to prevent the cicadas from escaping upwards.
Tie tape on the tree. When cicadas climb the tree at night, they will not be able to climb up when they reach the tape, so you can "wait for the rabbit to come to you by the tree."
Zhou Yimin has the tape, but it is not easy for him to take it out now.
"No need to dig, just look at this tree."
Everyone looked up slightly and followed the light of Zhou Yimin's flashlight, and saw more than a dozen cicada monkeys lying on the tree trunk. There were really a lot of them, and it was effortless to catch them.
As soon as it gets dark, cicada monkeys break out of the ground and head straight for the nearest tree. This is a good time to catch them. Eight or nine o'clock in the evening is the best time to touch cicada monkeys in the trees.
Everyone started to work and even divided into several groups.
One person holds a torch, another person climbs up a tree to catch them, and another person picks them up below.
With this division of labor, the efficiency of catching cicada monkeys is obviously much higher.
"Oh my God! There are so many." The young men in the village were all surprised.
They knew there were cicada monkeys, but they didn't expect there were so many!
It’s not their fault. Who would stay up at night and go out to catch this thing to eat?
Only Zhou Yimin has the spare time to do this.
After a while, he caught a bucket.
That’s right! It’s a full bucket.
This was also beyond Zhou Yimin's expectation. He shouted, "Who will take it back? Take it directly to my house and ask my grandma to find some sacks."
Even if you can't finish eating it, you can sell it. Cicada monkeys are traditional Chinese medicine, so they will definitely be sold. It's just a matter of price.
Zhou Yimin thought, no wonder some people in later generations could make a fortune by catching cicada monkeys. This thing is too easy to catch at night, and the price is high, how can it not make a fortune?
"I go!"
Someone volunteered to pick up the bucket of cicada monkeys and go back.
"Uncle Sixteen, look, that silly bird is sleeping." Someone suddenly laughed.
Everyone looked and saw a bird standing on the branch, motionless.
Zhou Yimin knew that many birds, like humans, sleep at night, except for some "night owls", such as owls.
When birds rest at night, they usually take a resting state, showing that they are motionless, even with their eyes closed, and sometimes they put their heads into their feathers. This behavior is the normal sleeping posture of birds, similar to the resting state of humans when they sleep at night.
"Even if you catch it, it's meat. Be careful not to wake it up." Zhou Yimin doesn't care about destroying the ecology!
It would be abnormal if he stopped people from catching them, and others would look at him strangely.
"Watch me, don't worry, this kind of bird sleeps very soundly, you can catch it easily." As he spoke, the boy had already jumped up the tree, as agile as a monkey.
(End of this chapter)
