The children were skipping and jumping in front, and the fiery red sunset dyed most of the sky.

After returning home, Li Yan decided to make dinner before the others returned. Tonight, she was going to eat the rice and pickled fish she had been craving.

Slice the cleaned fish, then marinate the slices with salt. Ask two little kids to go to the vegetable garden to pick some fresh onions, wash them, and chop the onions, garlic, and ginger for later use.

He dug out the rice he had purchased last time, picked some beans from the vegetable garden, washed and cut them, and took out Wu's homemade soybean paste. Everything was ready.

Li Yan shook her sore arms and stretched.

Then he arranged for two children to sit in front of the stove and light the fire for him, sautéed the scallion oil, added the fish bones, simmered them on low heat, added the fried sauerkraut, and finally added the fish fillets.

Not long after dinner was ready, the adults came back from the threshing ground. Before they even entered the house, the aroma of rice and pickled fish wafted through the air, which lifted their spirits and awakened everyone's tired bodies.

Mrs. Wu hurried home, wanting to see what tricks her granddaughter would come up with next.

Seeing everyone coming back, Li Yan asked, "Is the food dried?"

Wu said, "We're done for today. We can take it to town to sell tomorrow."

"Then you guys wash up first and eat right away!"

At this time, Li Xiu also came to the door of Li's house and called his younger brother to come back for dinner.

Xiao Niu reluctantly moved his feet. Li Yan hugged Xiao Niu and said to Li Xiu, "Xiao Niu helped me light the fire today, so let him eat at our house?"

Li Xiu was still a little hesitant. Life in the village had been difficult in recent years, and people generally wouldn't eat at other people's mealtimes.

Li Yan patted Xiao Niu's head again: "Besides, he is only this small, he can't eat much."

Li Xiu then gave up, told Xiao Niu to be obedient, and turned to leave.

Xiao Niu was left behind to eat, so he happily kept circling around Li Yan.

After washing her hands, Wu walked into the kitchen and saw everyone gathered around the stove. She approached and asked curiously, "Did you see this food in a book?"

Li Yan answered while serving the fish: "Yes, there are many ways to make delicious food in the book, but unfortunately we don't have enough seasoning at home."

The pot was full of fish, filling two large bowls, with half a pot left.

Mrs. Wu picked up a bowl of fish from the table and handed it to Erya: "Send it to your second grandmother's house, and let Xiu'er and the others have a taste."

Li Yan took the bowl and walked over to Xiu'er's house. She saw the grandparents sitting under the eaves, eating. Each of them had a bowl of thin porridge with some pickles.

Li Yan smiled and said to the two people under the eaves: "It so happens that we cooked fish at home today, and my grandma asked me to bring some over for Second Grandma to try." After saying that, she put down the bowl and ran away.

Second Grandma stared at Li Yan's departing figure for a moment, then said to her granddaughter, "Eat."

When Li Yan returned home, the dishes had already been set and the food was on the table. Maomao couldn't wait to pick up a piece of fish with his chopsticks and put it into his mouth. The thick soup wrapped around the fish fillet, and he gasped in his mouth because it was so hot.

The aunt scooped the food with her hands and tried to spit it out, but the child screamed that it was delicious and swallowed it in one gulp, which made everyone laugh.

The calf ate the rice shyly, enjoying it with relish, even without any vegetables. He hadn't tasted such soft, sticky and fragrant food since his father passed away.

Li Yan looked at Xiao Niu who was busy eating, picked up some fish fillets, picked out the fish bones, put them in Xiao Niu's bowl, and told him to be careful with the fish bones.