The next day, Jing Chen and Xue Yu woke up very early. Since they wanted to harvest honey, they needed to prepare a lot of things. They would bring a bamboo torch, flint, small pieces of wood, ropes and a cleaver to the mountains. They also prepared two pieces of coarse clothes. These clothes would be used to cover the honeycomb inside the basket once they harvested it because Jing Chen didn’t want to cause jealousy  among the villagers if they peeked into the baskets. 

Since Auntie Zhang was away, they had to prepare breakfast by themselves. There were only taro and a few pears in the kitchen, so Jing Chen planned to cook taro congee and roasted pears with garlic. Honestly, he wasn’t sure if this combination would work; it missed many ingredients, especially meat. 

To make taro congee, Jing Chen peeled off the taro’s skin first, washed it, and then cut it into small cubes. He heated up some oil in the pot, added spices and garlic, and sauteed until it smelled wonderful. Next, he added the taro cubes and stirred it for a while before adding the rice. Jing Chen added two bowls of water, and kept stirring the pot to make sure nothing stuck at the bottom. Now, Jing Chen only needed to wait until the rice was soft and thick. It would be served with scallions and fried ginger slices. 

While Jing Chen prepared the taro, Xue Yu peeled the pears’ skin off and cut them into small pieces around the size of his thumb. He also crushed garlic cloves, mixed it with diced pears and then added some salt. As Jing Chen instructed previously, he waited until the pan was warm enough before drizzling the oil. After that, he poured the mix into the pan and roasted it until the pears were soft and golden brown. 

Xue Yu made sure to boil water for drinking. This water would be mixed with the water inside the jug, which he boiled the previous evening. This way, they didn’t have to waste time waiting for the hot water to cool off. 

Under the faint light of the oil lamp, they eagerly ate breakfast. Xue Yu loved the taste of taro congee; it was rich and delicious. The roasted pears, however, were a bit confusing to his tongue. It was savoury combined with sweetness but not in a good way since the pears were too sweet and the garlic was too strong. In Xue Yu’s opinion, this dish felt incomplete. It lacked something. Maybe it could fit better with plain porridge. He wanted to tell Jing Chen, but he wasn’t sure if it’s a good thing to do. What if Jing Chen felt he was ungrateful? It was better to stay quiet. 

After finishing breakfast, Xue Yu put the rest of the roasted pears in the cabinet. He also closed the pot’s lid to keep the congee warm. This way, Wenwen and the twins didn’t have to start a fire when they wanted to have breakfast.

At dawn, Jing Chen and Xue Yu set off to the mountain. They carefully walked because the dew made the ground damp and slippery. In addition, the sun hadn’t risen yet, so they walked in the dark. Actually, they could use the bamboo torch to light up the road, but the oil inside the torch was very little. It was only enough to use when harvesting honey. 

When they reached their destination, Jing Chen prepared to make a fire right under the tree’s branch, where the honeycomb was. First, he made a fire pit. Then, he took out the small pieces of wood from their basket as the tinder and piled them on the centre of the fire pit. He gathered small twigs, kindling, and branches nearby. Then, criss crossed them over the tinder until it looked like a tent. Lastly, Jing Chen poured a little oil from the bamboo torch on it to help the fire burn the wood faster. 

It needed some time before the flints made fire sparks. In order not to disturb the bees, they didn’t make the fire directly there. They walked a bit further from the tree and used the flint to light up the bamboo torch. This bamboo torch would be used to ignite the wood-tent. 

While Jing Chen made fire, Xue Yu searched for firewood. Jing Chen told him that it was  not the fire that made the bees go away but the smoke. So he deliberately searched for damp wood that was not completely wet to give to Jing Chen. Damp wood would make a lot of smoke compared to dry wood, and it was not as difficult as wet wood to burn. 

“Xiao Yu, quick, give me the wood; we need to add the fuel before running away!” 

Jing Chen took the firewood from Xue Yu’s arms and piled them over the wood-tent to make the fire keep going. The smoke filled the air and started to reach the honeycomb.

When he heard the buzzing sound of the bees flying out of their nest, Jing Chen grabbed Xue Yu’s hands and quickly ran into the forest. 

“We need to hide for a while until most of the bees run away. But we can’t keep it for too long; the smoke can damage the taste of the honey.” 

“So, we can’t wait until all the bees are gone?” Xue Yu asked Jing Chen. 

They sat on the forest floor, watching the chaos they made. The bees stormed out of the nest in all directions ; it was scary. It looked like the bees were ready to attack anyone who got in their way. 

“We can’t. I am also afraid if we let the fire go on for too long, it can get bigger and bigger. We need to put it out as soon as we get the honey.” 

“I’ll do it; Chen-ge can focus on getting the honeycomb. Will you use the rope or will you climb the tree?” 

“Using the rope isn’t a good choice. The honeycomb can split into small pieces; then, the honey will scatter.” Jing Chen sighed, “I will climb the tree and cut the honeycomb entirely.” 

“Is it safe, Chen-ge? The bees will still be around, right?” 

Xue Yu bit his lips with worry. Jing Chen gave him a comforting smile, “Well, no matter how good you are at repelling the bees; not all of the bees will leave the nest. Some of the bees will stay inside the nest and drown themselves in honey. That’s why when people extract the honey, they need to be careful.”

Thanks for reading everyone! Special thanks to Shamlet for the ko-fi <3

Shout out to my beta, @Fancy Dreamer [Tapas], she's really great! Here are some pics!

[1] Taro congee, Roasted pears with garlic (-onions)

[2] Bamboo torch, Honeycomb after the bees go away