Old Li standing by was particularly envious. His fishing rod was bought by his son and cost several hundred yuan, but he didn't catch a single fish. It was not even as good as other people's fishing rods that cost only a few dozen yuan.

But as a qualified fisherman, you must never come up empty-handed!

The fish basket can be empty, but your hands must never be empty.

If there is no fish, you have to get something else to take home.

He went to the forest beside the reservoir to pick some wild vegetables and put them on the shelf. Then he came back and said, "Lao Xu, I have to go fishing this afternoon. It's my wife's birthday today. I'm going back to have lunch. I have to accompany her to the county to buy clothes this afternoon."

Xu Dongru responded: "Okay, go ahead."

Old Li left first. Xu Dongru looked at the calm water surface. After a while, the fish took the hook again. He lost interest inexplicably. He silently slid the fish up, took the hook and threw it into the net.

The sun at noon is really hot, so I don’t want to fish anymore.

Dahuang was breathing heavily from the heat, but he didn't look tired at all. He was wagging his tail as if celebrating his master for catching another fish.

After throwing the fish from the fishing net into the bucket, the old man held up the fishing rod and called out, "Da Huang, let's go. Let's go home too."

Back to the courtyard.

He put the fishing rod carefully aside and poured the fish into the pond.

He was not in a hurry. It was already noon and he had no food. He had eaten dumplings last night and the leftovers would be enough for his lunch today.

An old palm-leaf fan was placed on the bamboo chair, which had turned brown. He fanned himself with the fan to cool down, then went to the square table to lift the cover for the dishes.

Then I saw a stainless steel lunch box on the table.

He subconsciously opened the vegetable cover according to his habit, and yesterday's leftovers were lying there exactly as they were.

Then he opened the lunch box. The top layer was corn and pork ribs soup, still hot. He took it down. The second layer was steamed pork with rice flour, more fat than lean meat. The third layer was half stir-fried Chinese cabbage and half a few pieces of fried fish.

At the bottom is rice.

The old man then remembered that, yes, his good granddaughter seemed to have called and asked someone to send him food.

Didn’t he say no? Why aren’t you listening?

He is such a big man and his hands and feet can still move, so there is no need for them to worry about his meals.

If I end up lying in bed unable to move in the future, they will inevitably be worried about me.

Xu Dongru took out her cell phone and called Fuqiang, "Don't send food next time. It's very troublesome."

"I have hands and feet, I can cook for myself, you don't need to worry about it."

"Don't take it lightly, my dear granddaughter, the old man is reluctant to say anything, and I can't say a word to you!"

Then he scolded me again and hung up the phone.

The old man became angrier and angrier as he thought about it. I told them not to send it but they still sent it, so why didn't they listen?

There was absolutely no way he could eat this meal! He sat on a stool, the open meal still warm, the air was filled with the aroma of food and rice, the smell was really appetizing.

Man is iron and rice is steel. It's a pity to throw away such good food.

My granddaughter is so thoughtful. She even picked out the steamed pork with more fat for him. He loves this kind of fat the most.

This meat smells so good.

The bok choy is also delicious, and Yanmei is willing to use much more oil when cooking it than he usually does.

Too much oil will not ruin the food, and the food will taste very fragrant when fried.

The fish meat is also delicious. The spiciness is just right. He doesn’t like it without any spiciness. But you have to pay attention to the bones.

Slurp, slurp~ the pork ribs soup is so delicious.

This rice tastes more fragrant and you can tell it is the flavor of new rice as soon as you taste it.

Fuqiang had also sent him two bags of new rice before, but he hadn't been willing to open them. One eats rice slowly when alone, unlike when he and his wife used to finish a bag of rice in a month, and it took him another month to finish the old bag of rice.

Old woman, look at how delicious this food is. When it's your birthday, I'll ask Yanmei to make more and bring some to the field for you to taste.

The thin old man hunched his body slightly, and while eating, he took out a handkerchief from the pocket of his blue cloth shirt and wiped the corners of his eyes.

"Grandpa!"

A loud and familiar voice sounded.

Xu Dongru put the handkerchief back into his coat pocket, turned around, and grinned: "Qingzhi, why are you here again?"

"My dad said he wanted to come and see how many fish you caught this morning." Xu Qingzhi rushed into the house and fanned himself with a palm-leaf fan. "It's really hot outside."

Xu Fuqiang followed behind, his honest face showing a bit of aggrieved because his father yelled at him on the phone. He knew nothing about anything. He had been busy in the fields for the whole morning and when he got home he heard Qingzhi say that he had hired someone to deliver meals to his father.

He entered the room and called out uncomfortably, "Dad."

The old man uttered a perfunctory "hmm" through his nose.

Xu Qingzhi looked at the lunch box on the table: "Hey, Grandpa, you've finished eating. How is it, is the food my mom cooked delicious?"

The old man smiled and said, "It's delicious. My good granddaughter is more caring and considerate of me."

Xu Qingzhi: "Grandpa, as long as you think it tastes good, we'll deliver it to you in the evening. Someone will deliver it to you every day. If we have to go out for something unexpected and don't have to cook, my dad will call you and tell you. Then you'll have to prepare something for yourself, understand?"

"Okay, Grandpa knows." Xu Dongru nodded.

Xu Qingzhi looked into the fish basket, "Where's the fish? Grandpa, where is the big fish you caught this morning? I want to take a look."

"In the backyard pond, Grandpa will take you there." Xu Dongru stood up. Although everyone in this house was familiar with him, he led the way, just like when he took his granddaughter to the mountains, the fields, and the homes of distant relatives when he was a child. He pointed at the fish in the pond and said, "Look, this is it. It's big, right? I estimate it weighs three pounds."

"Wow~" Xu Qingzhi's eyes lit up, "Grandpa, let's eat it tonight, the kind with chopped pepper and sour water."

The old man nodded happily, as if he would agree to whatever Qingzhi said, "Okay, my dear granddaughter wants to eat. Ask your dad to bring it back later."

Xu Qingzhi shouted to the front: "Dad, quickly grab your tools and come catch the fish!"

(End of this chapter)