Chapter 206 - 92: Catching Some Frogs 2
With just a light press, the dead leaves and twigs could be ignited, a feeling that allowed Chen Zhou to reclaim a semblance of still living a modern life.
In the cave dwelling, he could still restrain the urge to use a lighter and honestly start a fire with a flint.
But outdoors, he always prioritized using a lighter, even when there was no urgent need for a fire.
Perhaps it was because of his nostalgia for modern life, but mostly laziness was at play.
Lighting the bonfire, taking out a small can, and cooking some dried meat, he glanced at Lai Fu's sorry figure and suddenly remembered the promise he once made to Lai Fu—
"Someday I'll make time to teach them a lesson for you, net a few dozen and make roast frogs to vent your anger."
That seemed to have happened when he transported the first batch of supplies from the boat, and upon reflection, it already felt a bit fuzzy.
If it weren't for being by the riverside, surrounded by the same frog calls, witnessing Lai Fu's defeat against the frogs in a brawl, he probably wouldn't have remembered.
Reaching into his pocket, he took out Robinson's small wooden box for tobacco—it's now used for salt.
Gently shaking it, hearing the sound of salt grains inside, Chen Zhou decided to temporarily put aside fishing and catch some frogs to eat, not entirely a wasted endeavor.
These things on the surface, hopping and jumping, are much easier to catch compared to those hidden underwater, unseen fish.
Boiling hot meat soup, letting it cool before filling his stomach a bit, he picked up the fishing net and began targeting the mating frogs on both sides of the river.
...
Chen Zhou heard that there is a type of frog in the south, commonly known as "farm frogs," with tender meat and delicious taste, known as a top-notch delicacy in some places, with famous dishes like dry pot farm frogs and braised farm frogs.
In his hometown, frogs were not called by this name, usually referred to as toads, yet distinguished from bullfrogs.
When he was about five or six, a distant uncle who worked at a reservoir brought them a nylon bag of live frogs.
Even then, catching wild frogs was already illegal, and his uncle, afraid of getting caught, would capture frogs late at night and go straight to his house, where that very night they gutted the frogs and fried them to eat.
Chen Zhou, being young, was somewhat frightened by the sight of the dissected fried frogs, not daring to eat them.
Later, under the recommendation of his parents and uncle, he tried a few pieces, and indeed, the crispy fried frog meat had a unique flavor.
Perhaps due to the childhood filter, to this day, recalling it still leaves him with a lingering taste, unforgettable.
Following that, the penalties for poaching wild animals grew stricter, and the reservoir gradually became closed off, prohibiting private fishing and even preventing nearby villagers from approaching, with his uncle leaving the reservoir to work elsewhere.
The taste of fried frogs, he never tasted again.
Now, catching frogs in broad daylight, even if different from the ones he caught as a child, Chen Zhou found extraordinary enjoyment.
Seeing his owner feuding with those noisy animals, Lai Fu, unable to care about sleep, hurriedly got up to join Chen Zhou in the campaign against the frogs, delivering hits in retaliation.
Of course, its actions were hard to say whether they were helping or causing trouble.
Ever since it joined in, Chen Zhou's efficiency in catching hadn't improved, rather it had declined considerably.
...
The dry season lasted nearly a month, and the river water level slightly dropped, yet the wetlands on both sides of the river that served as frog habitats hadn't dried up.
After only a few steps, the pair of leather boots on Chen Zhou's feet were filled with mud.
A few times when the boots were stuck in the mud, he gave a strong tug, pulled his foot out from the boot, stepping into the mud, getting his calves, thighs, and even the hem of his clothing covered in mud, quickly becoming even worse off than Lai Fu.
Fortunately, the wet mud by the river didn't have a foul smell, only carrying a fishy odor and the unique scent of water plants, cooling when applied on the skin.
This inevitably reminded Chen Zhou of a face mask his mom often used, something called a deep-sea mud mask, black as this wet mud, seemingly no different.
Tightly gripping the fishing net, he tried to ignore Lai Fu's impact, targeting the frogs, striking decisively, hardly ever missing.
Approaching five in the afternoon, the light was no longer so bright.
On the muddy riverside, there was usually only one chance to catch a frog; once missed, the startled frogs leaped into the grass or river, never to be caught again.
Once he captured two or three frogs, Chen Zhou returned to the lakeside and placed them in a bucket to be held.
Besides the frogs, the bucket contained a few small fish he had caught and a shallow layer of water scooped from the lake. Other than releasing the small fish, this was all Chen Zhou had harvested after fishing for most of the day.
After placing the frogs in the bucket, Chen Zhou added a lid to it to prevent the frogs from jumping out.
…
The island housed a large variety of frogs, unlike his hometown, which only had frogs and toads.
In the forest, occasionally, you might spot brightly colored, possibly poisonous forest frogs.
There are also emerald-colored frogs with translucent bellies, fond of leaping from trees and gliding through the air with splayed webbed feet.
Yet, these frogs' habitats are away from those at the riverside, mainly concentrating in densely vegetated areas that offer concealment from predators, never venturing to the flat, open riverbanks.
Riverside frogs mainly have simple appearances, with dark green or brown backs, some featuring camouflage-like spots, varying widely in size, giving off a feeling less dangerous than those brightly colored forest frogs.
During the frog netting process, Chen Zhou carefully selected, discarding smaller frogs, and kept only the plump adult frogs.
Although he was the only one on the island catching a large number of frogs, he couldn't exploit without consideration.
If the frogs were delicious, catching them once in a while could potentially impact the entire population, considering the island was small with a rather fragile ecosystem.