Chapter 27 Rural Rivers and Ditches Flooded with Snails

Grandma Ji made her drink the big bowl of corn porridge in the kitchen, saying, "It's still warming up in the pot."

Wang Yuqing remembered that Ji Xuening told Grandma Ji to drink it herself. Grandma Ji agreed verbally, but she was actually reluctant to drink it and definitely hadn't eaten lunch.

Wang Yuqing held Ji Meimei's hand and said, "Grandma, I'm not hungry. I'm going out for a walk and to see what's around me."

Grandma Ji called from behind, "Why aren't you hungry? Be good and drink your corn porridge."

Wang Yuqing had already led Ji Meimei out the door.

Grandma Ji understood Wang Yuqing's intentions. She was pleased, knowing that her granddaughter-in-law was a good and kind person, and hoped that the couple could live happily ever after.

Wang Yuqing wasn't going fishing because she had enough fish at home to eat. Catching too many wouldn't make any oil, and she wasn't in a hurry to catch them to sell. The market was on Sunday, so she had to go fishing on Saturday. The fish had to be sold fresh for people to buy them.

She was just wandering around, looking to see where there were more fish.

The entire Jinniu Brigade consists of six production teams. The river in front of the Ji family's house runs through the entire village, from one end to the other. There are no other rivers besides this one. There are many ponds and a reservoir, but these are contracted out to the production teams, so fishing is not allowed.

The rest of the riverbeds, ditches, and canals were mostly devoid of fish. However, Wang Yuqing was surprised to find not only eels but also snails, especially the snails, which were fresh and clean.

This is a great food; it's high in protein, low in fat, and has medicinal value. It can also be fed to livestock.

Wang Yuqing was overjoyed. Why didn't she think of this earlier? Snails were abundant in this era. Whether stir-fried, spicy, or simply stir-fried, they were all delicious, tender, flavorful, and nutritious.

However, with so many parasites and limited cooking tools and seasonings available in this era, it was quite troublesome to make. But if you could make a fragrant pot of it and sell it, it would probably attract quite a few people.

Seeing Wang Yuqing swallowing and staring at the ditch in front of her, Ji Meimei opened her big, puzzled eyes and asked, "What are you looking at? Are you hungry?"

Wang Yuqing chuckled: "Meimei, go back and get the basin and bucket."

Ji Meimei's voice was clear and crisp, and she was especially cute as she excitedly waved her hands: "Mom, we're going fishing again!"

Wang Yuqing replied with a smile, "We're not fishing, let's catch these snails and eat them."

Ji Meimei shook her head and nodded, refusing: "This thing is ugly, I can't eat it."

Wang Yuqing took two buckets with her when she went home.

Ji Meimei told her grandma that she was going to catch snails. Grandma Ji had heard that snails were edible, but they were not tasty and troublesome, and eating them would cause diarrhea. She said, "You can't eat those things."

Wang Yuqing said, "Grandma, don't worry, what I make is definitely edible."

As she passed by Tang Wan's house, Tang Wan's mother-in-law was sitting at the door sewing shoe soles, squinting at Wang Yuqing and muttering, "Is Ji Laosi's new wife out fishing again? She never does anything productive."

Wang Yuqing gathered up all the snails from the nearby ditches, streams, and irrigation canals, filling almost half a bucket. She asked, "Meimei, do you know where there are any other ditches or streams nearby?"

Ji Meimei took her hand and led her to some places to look for ditches and puddles. They filled a bucket with water. Along the way, they met some commune members who were going to work. They were talking about her, but when they saw her, they all shut up.

Some enthusiastic people greeted her and asked what she was doing.

She politely explained that she was collecting snails, and someone asked, "Can you eat those?"

Wang Yuqing said, "It's edible."

Zhao Si's wife, Qian Juan, sneered: "Eat my ass! City people don't know anything. They see something and think it's edible. Aren't they afraid of eating themselves to death?"

After she finished speaking, she suddenly wanted to tell everyone something, but then she remembered Zhao Si's instructions and forced herself to keep it to herself.

Wang Yuqing scooped up some more from the ditch, filling two buckets to the brim. He also found some river snails, though most river snails live in rivers with rocks or in fishponds.

There were a few snails she didn't recognize, so she didn't pick them up, since she didn't know if they were edible.

The most common snails in rural areas are field snails, river snails, and golden apple snails. Golden apple snails are not found here. They are an invasive species and were not introduced to China at this time.

Wang Yuqing felt that was enough, so she took Ji Meimei home.

Ji Meimei was very excited the whole way, thinking that she was going to cook another big meal. But she didn't cook anything. She just washed all the snails clean, put them in a basin and kept them in clean water, and finally put a kitchen knife and nails in the basin.

Ji Meimei asked curiously, "Mom, are we giving the snails a home?"

This amused Wang Yuqing, who explained, "Snails contain parasites and mud. Keeping them in clean water for a few days will allow them to expel the parasites. Change the water every five or six hours. Once they've expelled all the parasites, I'll cook them for you."

Ji Meimei then asked, "Then why put this there?"

Even Grandma Ji, who was standing next to her, was quite curious.

Wang Yuqing patiently explained, "Because the snails will spit out the mud and sand when they smell iron."

Ji Meimei's eyes widened in surprise: "Wow, Mom, you're so amazing! You know more than Dad, and more than the teachers at my older brother's school."

Grandma Ji was listening nearby, and praised with a smile: "Yuqing is really amazing, she knows so much, she's very capable."

Wang Yuqing didn't stay idle either. She ran to the Ji family's private plot, which was about seven or eight fen (a unit of land area), a square plot that was fully planted with cabbage, radish, cucumber, and pepper. Chives, scallions, and garlic were planted along the edges, but not much, and she pulled them all out in a few moments.

The vegetables grown in these private plots are barely enough to sustain the family's needs; selling them is out of the question.

While cooking dinner, Wang Yuqing lit a fire at the door and grilled the fish, wiping it with just a little oil and sprinkling it with chili sprouts and other seasonings. She also grilled some chives and cabbage.

Because it didn't have much oil, the taste was just average, but it was still better than cornmeal rice.

Ji Meimei sat next to her with a happy expression on her face. She felt so good to have her mother. Her mother was gentle, beautiful, capable, and a great cook.

Everyone told her that her mother was a female educated youth sent to the countryside during the Cultural Revolution, and that her mother abandoned them and returned to the city after her father died. They even asked her, "Don't you miss your mother?"

Ji Meimei used to want to, but now she doesn't want to at all.

Ji Daming and Ji Xiaoming were leaving school around 5 p.m. Ji Daming was carrying a bundle of firewood, and Ji Xiaoming was carrying a bundle of pig feed. Their thin figures were heartbreaking to see.

On the way, Ji Daming urged Ji Xiaoming, "Hurry home, I need to cook for Mom. What if she goes hungry?"

Ji Xiaoming wanted to play on the ridge for a while longer, but when he thought of his new mother at home, he couldn't wait to go home: "Okay, let's go back quickly."

Ji Daming suddenly asked with a serious expression, "Xiaoming, if our biological mother came back, who would you choose?"

Ji Xiaoming was taken aback, then quickly ran towards home: "She won't come back, and even if she did, she wouldn't be my mother."