After returning to the village, Xia Chunmei went directly to the river to meet up with Xia Qiumei, who was fishing.
Xia Dongmei stayed at home to take care of her younger sister and dig up earthworms to feed the chickens.
When Xia Chunmei arrived, Xia Qiumei had already caught two palm-sized crucian carp thanks to her luck.
Xia Chunmei caught quite a few fish in the past two days, and Xia Ping also caught a big grass carp under Xia Chunmei's "guidance," so much so that now there are even more people fishing in the village.
With such good luck every day, Xia Chunmei was a little worried that it would arouse suspicion, so after setting the hook today, she did not use her magic touch.
Fortunately, they were lucky. Half an hour later, all three hooks caught something. The fish were small, all three were crucian carp, only about the size of three fingers.
After fishing for nearly an hour, I still hadn't caught a big fish; the largest one was only a little over a pound.
"Sis, is this fishing spot bad? We've been working so hard for so long and haven't caught a single big fish."
Compared to the previous two days, today's harvest was really small, and Xia Qiumei couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.
"You can't be that lucky every day. Besides, I'm lucky today. These fish aren't big, but there are a lot of them. I'll bring back some tofu later, and then I'll have all the dishes for today."
I fished for three hours today, and caught a total of 18 fish, all of them crucian carp. One of them weighed a little over a pound, two weighed a little over half a pound, and the rest were only the size of two or three fingers.
"Let's go back and cook. We have more important things to do after we eat."
The two sisters carried the fish bucket and the fishing rod back home.
"Chunmei, how did you catch anything big today?" On the way back, they ran into some villagers who were still fishing. When they saw Xia Chunmei coming over, they couldn't help but gossip.
"Not today, all we get are small crucian carp. I'll try my luck again this afternoon when I have time."
Hearing Xia Chunmei say this, everyone felt better.
Back home, Xia Qiumei immediately took the eggs to exchange for tofu; she was always enthusiastic about eating.
Xia Dongmei was washing rice when her younger sister saw Xia Chunmei and opened her arms for a hug. Xia Chunmei hugged her and played a game of lifting her up high, which made her laugh out loud.
"Big sister, Grandpa Chang asked if we could exchange a pound of crucian carp for him, and he gave us a piece of tofu in return," Xia Qiumei ran back and asked. "That way we can save an egg."
"You can exchange them. Take those two crucian carp, each weighing about half a pound, and exchange them."
"Alright!" Xia Qiumei put down the eggs, picked up the crucian carp, and ran off.
After exchanging the tofu for tofu, Xia Chunmei put her little sister aside and let her play by herself.
She taught Xia Qiumei how to prepare fish and told her some tips on how to remove the fishy smell.
I didn't steam eggs for my little sister this morning. All four of us sisters ate crucian carp and tofu soup. The fish soup was milky white with no muddy taste at all, and the tofu was very tender.
"Qiu Mei, mind your manners. Don't smack your lips or make such a loud noise. The neighbors can hear you," Xia Chunmei reminded her again.
This time, Xia Qiumei didn't dare to talk back. She was hoping to go to the Wang family's banquet tomorrow and get a good meal.
“Third Sister does this very well. Here, have a piece of fish.” Xia Chunmei used the other end of her chopsticks to pick up a piece of fish for Xia Dongmei.
Xia Dongmei noticed this detail and kept it in mind. She also imitated Xia Chunmei and used the other end of her chopsticks to serve food to Xia Chunmei and Xia Qiumei.
Xia Chunmei was very pleased. This younger sister was honest, quiet, and perceptive. So far, she was more worry-free than Xia Qiumei.
There was a little crucian carp and tofu soup left in the earthenware pot. I put it on the stove, and I'll have to feed it to my little sister again in an hour or two. Children need to eat several meals a day.
After dinner, Xia Qiumei couldn't stay still. Wearing a cloak and carrying a bucket, she went fishing with the other children in the village, while Xia Dongmei, like a little adult, coaxed her younger sister to sleep.
Xia Chunmei then began filtering the wood ash water to prepare for tomorrow's birthday banquet.
None of the sisters were idle.
"Sister, I'm going fishing!" Xia Dongmei was extremely excited after her younger sister fell asleep.
"Okay, go ahead. I'll keep an eye on things at home. Be careful, okay?"
"knew."
Xia Dongmei grabbed her fishing rod and bucket and ran off.
Xia Chunmei then remembered that she hadn't yet fulfilled her three wishes for today.
Then I hope that my two younger sisters, Xia Ping, Xia Xiao'e, and Xia Erzhu can all catch fish weighing around five pounds.
Xia Chunmei silently recited these words at home.
We can't always catch big fish ourselves. As long as we don't catch more than ten fish at a time, we can give a little something to the other kids in the village to avoid our family standing out too much and attracting jealousy.
It just so happens that the parents of these people had all helped Xia Chunmei ask the Fan family for eggs, which can be considered a form of repayment.
Xia Chunmei originally wanted everyone to catch a ten-pound grass carp, but she was afraid the children wouldn't be able to pull it, so she set the weight at five pounds.
Even just five pounds is enough to drive them crazy...
At this moment, by the river.
"Wow! A big fish! I caught a big fish!"
"I caught one too! Hahaha... I'll have fish to eat, hahaha..."
"A big grass carp! My grandpa must have been blessing me, I caught one! Haha..."
On the riverbank, several children were laughing and having a great time.
Seeing that they had caught big grass carp, especially the two sisters Xia Qiumei and Xia Dongmei who each caught a five-pound grass carp with their three fishing rods, Xia Baofu felt extremely envious and jealous.
Why can others catch fish while he can't?
If you can't catch it, no one else can either!
Xia Baofu started causing trouble.
He stopped fishing and started causing trouble, hitting the water with his fishing rod from one end to the other, without getting tired.
The commotion was so loud that it scared away all the fish, preventing other people from catching fish either.
"Xia Baofu, what are you doing? You scared away all my big fish!"
"Exactly! You're unlucky and can't catch any big fish, so you expect us to be unlucky too? You're so mean!"
"If you cause any more trouble, we'll beat you up!"
...
Xia Baofu immediately aroused public outrage and became a public enemy.
"The river isn't yours. You can fish, so why can't I? It's none of your business!" With that, Xia Baofu used all his strength to slap the water's surface hard.
Xia Fengshou and two other boys, still angry, pinned Xia Baofu down and beat him up.
"Waaaaah..." Xia Baofu wailed, "I'm going back to tell my grandma that you all ganged up on me! Waaaaah..."
Xia Baofu went home crying and complained to them.
When Xia Chenshi heard that her precious grandson had been beaten, she was furious!
Without even asking why, they immediately took the child to the house to settle the score.
"Xia Huohua, Li Xiangcao, Zhang Xiaolü, come out here! How could you three raise your child like this? You beat my Baofu by the river! What if you pushed him into the river?"
"He wouldn't let us fish, that's why we hit him!"
"Yes! He saw that we caught a big fish, but he didn't, so he was jealous and deliberately sabotaged us to prevent us from fishing!"
"He scared away all my big fish!" Xia Fengshou felt that if Xia Baofu hadn't played tricks, he would definitely have been able to catch a big fish.
"That's right, you scared away all our big fish, and we haven't even made you pay for it yet!"
"A bumper harvest? What happened? What big fish?" Xia Mingshi asked.
Xia Fengshou then told his grandmother everything that had happened.
Xia Mingshi said coldly, "Sanhua, did you hear that? I think he didn't get a good beating. He's so young and already doing something that harms others and doesn't benefit himself. Who knows what he'll be like when he grows up?"
"Exactly! How did you teach your kids to not only fail to catch fish yourself, but also prevent others from fishing? The river belongs to everyone; why can't we fish?"
"Life is already hard enough for everyone, and they're just hoping that what they catch in the river can give the children something to eat..."
Xia Chenshi never expected things to turn out this way. Knowing that her grandson was in the wrong, her face immediately darkened!
She couldn't bear to scold her own grandson, so she grabbed the child and went back into the house without saying a word.
As for apologizing, she considered herself superior to others as the clan chief's wife, so she didn't need to apologize.
Before leaving, he glared fiercely at Xia Chunmei, who was watching the commotion.
Xia Chenshi couldn't bear to scold her grandson, feeling that Xia Chunmei was the one who started the fishing incident, and if she hadn't started it, none of this would have happened!
So it's all Xia Chunmei's fault!!!
Xia Chunmei felt somewhat confused: What does this have to do with me?
"Grandma, they hit me, are we just going to let it go like this?" Xia Baofu said.
“They hit you, so don’t play with them, and don’t go to the river. If you fall into the river, Grandma will be heartbroken.”
"They caught big fish, but I didn't. Xia Fengshou caught two big fish already. I want to catch a big fish too, sob sob sob..."
"Grandma's darling, don't cry, don't cry, Grandma will buy you a big fish to eat."
"I don't want to buy it, I want to fish! I want to catch a big fish!" Xia Baofu insisted, making a scene at home, determined to catch a big fish.
The noise gave Xia Chenshi a headache. Whether or not they caught a big fish was not something she could control, and no matter how much she tried to persuade Xia Baofu, he just wouldn't listen.
After coaxing him for a long time, I promised to buy him two more fishhooks so that he could fish with three hooks like Xia Chunmei and her sister, and he would eventually catch something.
Xia Baofu finally calmed down.
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