Chapter Thirty-Two: Catching the Water Ghost

  To the west of Songjia Village, there is a small stream that originates from deep in the ancient forest.

  The south is rainy, and every time it's the plum rain season, mountain floods will burst out, and the floodwaters will rush down with the creek water, often flooding large areas of farmland and villages.

  When the Song family built their stronghold, they had already taken this into consideration. As a result, for several hundred years, the Song family stronghold remained safe and sound, but the surrounding farmland was repeatedly flooded, resulting in extremely heavy losses. In times of famine, when the farmland was flooded, sometimes not even a full meal could be eaten.

  Later, the village decided to block the water between the two mountains at the head of the stream. Firstly, it can prevent the farmland below the mountain from being affected by floods, and secondly, it can be used for irrigation and power generation. It was also after this that the village had electricity and was exempt from suffering from mountain floods again. The dam built to irrigate the fields benefited more than a dozen surrounding villages, and even now, the water channel built in those years is still in use.

  In the afternoon, Song Wen and Song Hu arrived at the dam, where a large crowd had already gathered.

  The old master of Songjiapu and the villagers around heard that they were going to catch a water ghost, so they all came running to watch. Some brave women even brought their children over. There were also some small vendors who saw an opportunity, so they pushed their stalls over, selling things like cotton candy, mud dolls, salted pears, and tofu flowers, making the place look like a bustling market.

  After hearing Xiaobing's report, the village immediately contacted people to drag the net and catch the water ghost. Because in the past, the village had also experienced cases where children were dragged into the water by a water ghost and fell out of sight, now it has appeared again, the village can't afford to be careless.

  In the past, people believed that those who died unjustly would have their souls lingering in the place of death, and only when a new soul came to replace them could they transcend the sea of suffering and be reincarnated. The so-called water ghosts were actually people who had drowned themselves or died accidentally in the water, turning into vengeful spirits that roamed the place where they had died, patiently waiting, luring or forcing others to fall into the water and die, to become their substitute ghosts.

  Later on, everyone's horizons broadened and their knowledge became more extensive, and they finally understood that things weren't actually like that. However, at the same time, they also discovered that there really were such creatures as water ghosts in the water.

  Many people think that water ghost is actually water monkey.

  Kappa, also called "Water Lion Ghost", or "River Child", with different names in various regions.

  The water monkey generally lives in the water and sometimes comes ashore. It is said that the water monkey has a huge and mysterious power, can dig through the water bottom and shuttle between different ponds and rivers, catch people who fall into the water and drag them to the bottom of the water, use mud to fill the seven orifices of the victim, causing suffocation death. In places with water, almost everyone in their childhood has been warned by their parents about the story of the water ghost.

  Song Wen was no exception, when he was a child, whenever he approached the water's edge, his mother would mysteriously pull him away and say, "Be careful not to be dragged away by the water ghost." Now that he sees others saying this too, he thought it was just adults scaring kids, but apparently it's not that simple.

  Some people think that the water ghost is actually an otter. Otters are mysterious and like to inhabit steep riverbanks, shallow shores, and lakes with little vegetation and dense surrounding forests, living a hidden life in burrows. They spend most of their lives hunting and living in the water, only leaving it when they're extremely hungry to search for food on land, such as mice and small birds, or even venturing into villages to steal chickens and ducklings. Their sleek appearance makes them look like a small child from afar, which is why many people mistakenly think they are water ghosts.

  Song Wen and Song Hu stood on the dam, looking down at the dam, where they saw a dozen or so men wearing half-body waders holding onto a drag net, slowly closing in towards the shore, with fish jumping in and out of the net from time to time.

  Song Hu's dad and several team leaders in the village looked at the big fish jumping out of the net, all smiling with their mouths open, it seemed that the village was going to have another income.

  Song Yuanshan, although serving as the village head, was only doing it part-time. His main occupation was pig farming, and the villagers called him "Pig-Raising Village Head". As the village head, he usually had a lot of free time, except for going to respond to emergencies, most things were handled by the other team leaders themselves.

  But even so, Song Yuanshan didn't want to be the village head. Although being a village head doesn't have much to do, if there are any conflicts in the village, he has to come forward, and most of them are brotherly disputes, house disputes, and land disputes, which are all things that offend people and don't please anyone. He has said more than once that being a village head is not as comfortable as raising pigs, and wanted to resign from this position. Unfortunately, the villagers unanimously agreed with him becoming the village head, making it impossible for him to escape even if he wanted to.

  But Song Yuanshan also has a personality, if he doesn't do something, that's fine, but if he does it, he'll do it well. In recent years, the Song family village has been thriving and life has been getting better and better, which is inseparable from his role as the village head.

  The fishing net is constantly closing in, and the fish inside are getting more and more crowded, densely packed, with some still jumping out of the net.

  Up until now, everyone still hasn't seen the so-called "water ghost", causing some tourists who came to see it to be greatly disappointed.

  Just as the fishing net was about to close in, a hairy head suddenly appeared from within it.

  Everyone shouted and the people around them took out their DVs, cameras, and mobile phones to take pictures, not afraid of the thing rushing towards them.

  When the hairy head emerged, everyone saw a round and silly guy with a few thin mustaches on his mouth, holding a big fish in his hand. Seeing the people around him and the flashing lights, he was stunned for a moment.

  Otter.

  At this time, someone who knew what it was cried out in surprise.

  The people next to him slowly saw clearly too, it was really an otter.

  The villagers all looked at each other and teased the little soldier who was scared by the water ghost, saying that he was too weak and saw flowers in his eyes.

  Xiao Bing got married last year, after getting married, he became even thinner and weaker, while his wife looked plumper, the implication was obvious, making him blush bright red.

  The otter saw so many people around, panicked and jumped out of the fishing net, diving into the water. Some villagers picked up the scoop net and chased after it, but who could outrun the otter in the water? The otter dove into the water and was gone without a trace.

  "Ah, what a pity." The captain sighed.

  The otter is a treasure all over, its meat, liver, kidney, gallbladder, marrow, bones, feet, fur, and even feces can be used as medicine. Moreover, its fur is also a valuable fur product, no wonder he said so.

  Song Yuanshan beside him heard this and said with a bad tone: "It's better if you can't catch it, but catching it will cause trouble instead."

  Now the country is very strict on protecting wild animals, last time the forestry bureau even came to the village for publicity, this otter is also a national second-class protected animal, if it's privately caught, it's okay, but catching it in public like this, once someone reports it, you'll definitely end up in jail eating free meals for a while, and by then I'm sure no one will think it's a pity.

  Seeing no water ghost, the onlookers felt greatly disappointed and dispersed one after another. Some people saw that the fish caught by the dam were fresh and lively, so they wanted to buy them. However, these fish had already been promised to be sold to the fish merchant, whose car was waiting over there. For a moment, several team leaders were in a dilemma, looking at Song Yuanshan.

  Song Yuanshan looked and waved his hand, saying magnanimously: "Sell." Then he called for someone to bring an electronic scale and a bag from the village.

  Just as the people who were about to disperse looked, they also rushed over to buy, and chose the largest ones. In just a few moments, the fish was sold for 7 or 8 thousand yuan, making Song Yuanshan and several village cadres grin from ear to ear. However, the fish that was sold out was only a small part of the catch in the fishing net.

  After buying fish, people on the dam gradually dispersed.

  Song Wen originally wanted to buy a fish to take back and eat, but was pushed away by Song Yuanshan with a wink. Song Wen immediately understood and came over, no need to say that tonight there will be fish to eat without buying any.

  Back home, I hadn't even warmed up my butt when Song Hu sent over two big grass carp, and then he hurried off again, saying he still had to go deliver some to another family.

  Song Wen saw the fish he brought, each weighing at least ten or twenty kilograms. Seeing that the fish were still jumping around, he took a large water basin to raise them and waited until evening to kill them. Since it was still early, he went back to the kitchen to cook the remaining wild boar.

  Yesterday they only ate the smaller female wild boar, and didn't touch this male one. He wanted to make the meat of this wild boar into cured meat and sausage, to be kept for slow eating.

  There are many types of cured meat, and the flavors vary from place to place. However, he prefers the cured meat from his hometown, which is made with wine and sugar, just like sausage, and has a sweet flavor with a hint of wine that is very appetizing.

  The method of making cured meat is simple, first cut the wild boar meat into long strips, preferably thirty centimeters long and four or five inches thick without breast meat. Then use bamboo skewers to poke some small air holes in the meat, allowing the marinade to penetrate better into the wild boar meat. After cutting the wild boar meat, it is put into a marinade made with salt, sugar, and white wine (preferably around 50 degrees) for ten or more hours. After marinating, take it out to dry in the sun. If possible, you can also take it to be dried by machine, which is faster and looks better.

  The sausage in my hometown is also called red sausage, because it looks red after being made.

  The ingredients for making red sausage are the same as those for bacon, but the selection of materials for red sausage is strict, and only front leg meat is used.

  Song Wen didn't care about that, and put the front legs back in. To make red sausage, the meat needs to be cut into approximately two-centimeter-long cubes, then mixed with white sugar, wine, and salt for marinating. It's best to dry it in the sun so that it can fully absorb the marinade. After marinating, it is stuffed into sheep intestines, taken out to dry, and the red sausage is done. This is the Nan Zhou flavor of cured sausage and cured meat, but the Nan Zhou flavor of cured sausage and cured meat are all sweet, which easily attracts flies, so you need to be careful when handling them. Moreover, cats and birds love to eat this stuff, and cats can even climb up the bamboo pole used for drying red sausage to have a great feast, so you need to be vigilant.

  After finishing the local cured meat, there was still a pile of wild boar meat left. Song Wen thought of making some different flavored sausages and searched online, feeling that Sichuan-style sausages were very good, so he decided to make this. Mainly because he had also eaten Sichuan cured meat before, feeling that the flavor was okay, especially when stir-frying green chili peppers, it was really delicious.

  To make Sichuan cured meat, first choose fresh meat with thin skin and moderate fat content, cut into standard meat strips of 30-50 cm long and 4-5 cm thick.

  Song Wen picked up the wild boar meat and looked at it left and right, only to find that there was hardly any lean meat on it, so he had no choice but to make do with it.

  After the meat is cut, it is rubbed with Sichuan pepper powder, fennel powder, and cinnamon powder, then placed in a marinade made from salt, saltpeter, sugar, white wine, soy sauce, and distilled water. After marinating, it is taken out to dry. Then, in a large iron pot, put some cedar wood shavings, place an iron grid on top, and arrange the dried cured meat on the grid. Cover the lid, heat over low fire for 15 minutes, allowing the smoke from the cedar wood to penetrate the meat thoroughly, then it's done. This way of making cured meat has a good color, fragrance, and flavor, and is very delicious.

  Song Yuanshui went out and came back, saw his son watering the red intestine, and hurriedly took a stool to sit down and help.

  After the father and son finished stuffing the red sausage, it was already deep in the night. The cured meats that had been soaking in the pickling liquid were not yet ready, so they would have to wait until tomorrow to deal with them.

  After stuffing himself with sausages on the low stool for several hours, Song Wen felt his butt was a bit sore and his waist was tired to death, so he went back to his room to wash up and sleep.