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Yan Kexing: "I've never eaten this before."

"The taste is quite good, but it needs to be soaked in water for a few days before you can start cooking." Shi Wen opened the acorns. "They contain tannins, which make them quite bitter, so you have to soak them to remove the tannins."

Yan Kexing: "Starting to go to bars today?"

Shi Wen, "Okay, but you'll have to peel off the shells before soaking."

Yan Kexing pinched the back of his neck. "I'll peel the shells. You go take a shower first, then eat something."

There haven't been many places to shower these past few days while I've been out, so I've just wiped myself down Shi Wen.

Now that he was finally home, Yan Kexing's reminder made him eager to take a shower. He grabbed a towel and rushed to the bathroom.

Just as they were about to close the door, Shi Wen something and poked his head out again, saying, "Remember to pick out a batch of the better acorns so I can plant them on the mountain."

Yan Kexing: "Understood."

Shi Wen, "Then I'll go take a shower first, and we'll peel acorns together after I'm done."

As Yan Kexing shelled the acorns, he picked out the better ones. When Shi Wen came out of the bath, the bowl he used to hold the picked acorns was already half full.

Looking at the round, smooth acorns, Shi Wen, "They're so cute."

Yan Kexing didn't even look up. "It's a pity it's a little bitter."

Shi Wen smiled and sat down next to him, her moist, light fragrance wafting towards him.

Yan Kexing stopped abruptly and turned to look at Shi Wen.

Shi Wen leaned in to kiss him, and gently spat out between her white teeth, "I've already taken a shower, and you're really here intently shelling acorns?"

Yan Kexing pinched the back of his neck and pressed down, silencing him from saying the rest of his words.

Shi Wen that they didn't peel and soak the acorns immediately, but instead put them in the flowing stream the next morning.

Yan Kexing, carrying the bag, said, "I can come alone."

Shi Wen, "It's not heavy, come out for a walk, the morning scenery on our ranch is really beautiful."

After being away for so many days, Shi Wen returned.

He just wants to do some work now, something simple on the ranch he loves.

After breakfast, I played with the little ones for a while. Shi Wen took a cloth bag with a small half-full of acorns, intending to go up the mountain to plant acorns.

People find acorns bitter and don't eat them, but sheep, pigs, and black pigs probably don't.

Shi Wen acorns, he was afraid that his pigs would dig them up and eat them beforehand, so he dug a half-meter-deep pit, threw the acorns in, and then carefully filled it back up with soil.

The sheep and pigs, being naturally inclined to join in the fun, came over and nudged him, watching his every move.

Shi Wen see my own sheep, pigs, and sows.

The sows are now more than a month pregnant, their bellies are swollen, and they look noticeably heavier.

A sow's pregnancy lasts only about four months, and she carries a large number of piglets, so her belly is noticeably large.

Shi Wen couldn't help but gently touch the sheep and pig next to him.

The sheep-pig remained motionless as he touched it, and he easily felt the fetal movements inside.

The pig's belly was bulging, and it looked like there were at least ten piglets inside.

Shi Wen removed his hand and decided to give the sheep and pig sows extra feed later, and also include the two black pig sows, so they could get some extra nutrition.

I've been away from home for quite some time Shi Wen, and there's a lot of work to be done on the ranch.

He was busy every day, and more than ten days passed in the blink of an eye. The pasture went from June to July, the grass on the pasture grew taller, and the weather became hotter.

They wake up every day to bright, sunny skies, the sky a clear, deep blue, like glass.

The acorns in the stream were finally soaked. When I brought them back and soaked them again, the water was no longer yellow; it had all turned into clear water.

Based on Shi Wen experience, acorns are considered properly soaked when they reach this stage.

Shi Wen that they are often crushed into a paste using a high-speed blender, then filtered and allowed to settle. The starch that settles out is then boiled with water to make a paste, and after cooling, it becomes the real acorn tofu.

Yan Kexing looked at the finished yellow tofu and said, "That was really hard work."

Shi Wen said, "Yes, when I was little, it took my grandma and her family a really long time to make this tofu. Our anticipation for it grew day by day, and when we finally got to eat it, we felt incredibly satisfied."

Shi Wen placed a piece of acorn tofu on Yan Kexing, saying, "It's nothing special, but I really wanted you to try something I ate when I was a kid."

Yan Kexing took a careful bite. "It's pretty good. It has a unique plant aroma and tastes good too."

Shi Wen lowered his head, took a bite, and smiled, "Yes, this time it was handled exceptionally well; it's not bitter at all."

Yan Kexing: "Did the acorn tofu you ate when you were a child also taste bitter?"

Shi Wen, "If it's not cooked properly, it will taste bitter. Back then, my grandma liked to stir-fry it with lard, minced garlic, and chili peppers. It was quite appetizing after that."

When talking about his childhood, Shi Wen's expression turned nostalgic.

He talked about his past life and about his various relatives.

Yan Kexing rarely heard him talk about these things, so he asked, "Do you still have contact with these relatives?"

"That's basically it. I'll say a few words to my aunt during holidays, maybe send her a red envelope, but that's it." Shi Wen paused. "They're called relatives, but they're really my parents' relatives. After they got married, my relationship with them was just so-so, and my relationship with their respective relatives was even more so."

Yan Kexing gently touched his face with his hand as he spoke, "Will you miss them?"

"Of course I'll think about it, but whether I think about it or not, it's not a big deal." Shi Wen ate his meal without any particular expression. "So many years have passed, there's nothing much to say. Now you are my family, my only family."

Yan Kexing softly hummed in agreement. "You are also my only family."