As darkness fell, Lu Fangfang, carrying a hoe and a small basin of miscellaneous fish, walked with Wang Shufen towards the family compound.
As soon as she entered the residential compound, she ran into a woman with a long face.
"Comrade Lu, why are you catching so many small fish?"
Hao Mei looked at the cleaned fish in her basin with some confusion.
With so many people in the residential compound, not many would actually go out and catch fish from the river to eat.
The main problem is that the fish are too small, with little meat and mostly bones. There aren't many seasonings available at home, and they smell very fishy when cooked, so gradually fewer people started catching small fish.
Even if they catch some, it's only to feed the chickens and ducks at home.
"I want to fry some small fish as a snack."
"Frying? Oh dear, that uses too much oil."
Hao Mei reacted in the same way as Wang Shufen before her.
Frying some small fish wouldn't even cover the cost of the oil.
But when she thought of the gossip her sisters-in-law were spreading, she immediately realized what was going on.
Hao Mei said with a hint of jealousy, "These small fish are only edible when fried. In our family compound, only Comrade Lu's family has this kind of means. They are wealthy and don't care about wasting oil."
"No, no, sister-in-law, my family is not wealthy. Everyone in the compound is richer than us."
Lu Fangfang was sweating profusely; she had no intention of flaunting her wealth.
In this day and age, flaunting wealth is a very risky thing.
After exchanging a few perfunctory words, she and Sister Shufen hurriedly left.
She only relaxed after she got home.
"Sigh, I have to be on tenterhooks even when I eat something. Small fish aren't any good either, and now they've become big spenders."
While complaining, Lu Fangfang sprinkled some salt and marinated the small fish.
My sister-in-law brought some spices that she hadn't used up this morning, so she chopped some ginger and chili, sprinkled them on the small fish, and stirred them.
She let the small fish marinate first, then sat down at the cutting board and started making steamed buns.
The sweet potato noodles she made at noon have now fermented.
She kneaded it vigorously, tore off a piece, and made it into small steamed buns.
After a while, Lu Fangfang felt that the small fish were almost marinated, so she picked up the iron pot and put it on the coal stove.
She opened the oil jar, scooped out a small spoonful of butter, and put it into the pot.
"Hmm."
As soon as the butter melted in the pot, Lu Fangfang smelled a rich aroma.
"It's so good that even stir-frying vegetables with butter makes them delicious, let alone frying fish."
She sniffed, picked up the small fish, and carefully placed it in the pot.
"Sizzle..."
Swallowing hard, she placed the small fish from the basin one by one into the oil pan.
By the end, the oil pan was full, but there was still a little more than half left in her bowl. It seemed she would have to fry another batch.
The fire in the coal stove wasn't strong, which was perfect for frying small, miscellaneous fish.
Let it simmer over low heat, then Lu Fangfang returned to the cutting board and continued kneading the cornbread.
...
Next door, Yang Yufeng, her daughter, and son were eating cabbage cooked in beef bone soup when they suddenly smelled a delicious aroma.
Yang Yufeng sniffed hard and suddenly felt that the beef bone soup in the bowl didn't smell good anymore.
"Hey girl, can you smell it?"
"fish."
The little girl looked up and replied, then lowered her head again and began to eat heartily.
"fish?"
Yang Yufeng was very puzzled, so she immediately went into the courtyard.
Sniffing hard, she immediately realized that the fragrance was coming from Lu Fangfang's house.
"What delicious treat is this little girl secretly eating now?"
Yang Yufeng felt a strong urge to do so, so she turned around and called out loudly, "Da Niu, bring out the chair."
The young woman inside immediately brought out a chair.
As if she knew what her mother was going to do, Da Niu didn't go back to continue eating. She stood aside and looked at Yang Yufeng with longing eyes.
Ignoring her daughter, Yang Yufeng stood on the chair, reached out and gripped the wall, forcefully peeking out with her head.
It was pitch black in the yard, and she couldn't see anything.
Turning her head to look inside, she heard a sizzling sound, and the aroma became even stronger.
The door to Lu Fangfang's house wasn't closed. She squinted and looked closely, discovering that the pot was full of small, golden fish.
"Oh, no wonder it smells so good, they're frying fish."
Yang Yufeng sniffed, her body going limp from the aroma of fried fish, and she almost lost her grip and fell.
"Fangfang? Fangfang?"
Inside the house, Lu Fangfang was still kneading her steamed buns when she was startled by the sudden sound.
"Fangfang? It's me, your sister-in-law Yufeng."
Lu Fangfang: "..."
"Smack."
She threw down the cornbread she was holding and stormed out.
Looking up at the smiling face on the wall, she immediately said irritably, "Yang Yufeng, why are you always climbing over the wall so late at night instead of sleeping?"
Lu Fangfang was furious.
She originally thought her location was pretty good, with no one to the east and only one neighbor to the west, but she never expected to meet such a weirdo as Yang Yufeng.
Yang Yufeng did not reply.
She peered into the house and asked knowingly, "Fangfang, what delicious food are you making now? It smells so good."
"None of your business."
Lu Fangfang rolled her eyes, looking disgusted.
She didn't want to close the door because she thought frying fish would produce too much smoke, but the aroma attracted Yang Yufeng.
"Ahem, girl, we live so close by, don't say that. Anyway, the fish you fried was pretty good."
Yang Yufeng swallowed hard, her mind racing with ideas.
"My eldest daughter is such a glutton. She smelled your fried fish and insisted that I come up here to ask her. Auntie, the child is really clamoring for some. Why don't you get her some?"
"Hey, I think you're more like that glutton."
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