Su Qingluan had originally assumed, based on her usual instincts, that her brother and sister were quiet and up to something. As the saying goes, "When children are quiet, they are definitely up to something."
But when she took a peek, she found that the two little guys were not doing anything naughty - they were even very well-behaved!
Su Guangfu was pressed down by Su Xuanhe on a low stool beside the dining table in the main hall. The little girl Su Xueyan brought over a bowl of tea and said, "Dad, have some tea!"
Su Xuanhe, who was holding Su Guangfu's shoulders from behind, was not to be outdone. He used his two small hands to press on Su Guangfu's shoulders and the back of his neck: "Dad, let me massage your neck and back!"
Seeing this, the little girl immediately stuffed the tea bowl into Su Guangfu's hands, squatted down, clenched her two small hands into fists, and said, "I'll give Dad a leg massage!"
"Then I'll fan Daddy!"
The two little ones had Su Guangfu completely bewildered. In the end, he reluctantly took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, grabbed his son who was about to get a fan, and held his little daughter on his knees: "You two, stop nagging me. Can't I just not go to work today?"
The two little ones were delighted to receive Su Guangfu's promise. However, although today was Su Guangfu's birthday, it was not a day off for the school, so although Su Guangfu held his daughter and coaxed her to play, he sternly told his son to go back to school.
So Su Xuanhe went to get the book dejectedly, and Su Qingluan, who had seen enough of the excitement, turned around and returned to the kitchen with satisfaction.
The mandarin fish was still flapping its wings happily in the water, and the basin was surrounded by water, which showed that the fish had not rested for a moment.
Yang was lighting a fire in front of another stove. Seeing Su Qingluan come in, she quickly waved her hand and greeted her, "Hey, you're finally back. That fish is thrashing around so hard. I've heard that mandarin fish are aggressive, but I didn't expect it to be so aggressive. You should put it to death right here."
Su Qingluan looked at the part of her mother's skirt that was obviously wet due to the impact, and couldn't help but burst out laughing.
She took a ladle and scooped out the water from the fish basin.
This water has many uses. Although it is no longer needed for watering the fields, it can be used to feed chickens and ducks, change the water for flower arrangements, etc.
The mandarin fish may have realized that the water in the basin was getting less and less, so it flapped its wings more and more violently and directly used it to wash Su Qingluan's head and face.
Fortunately, Su Qingluan reacted quickly enough and jumped away, avoiding the "attack" of the mandarin fish's tail. Only her face and the front of her clothes were slightly wet. If she had been a step slower, she would probably have to wash her hair again or even take a shower.
When there was only a little water left in the basin, Su Qingluan took out two absorbent cotton rags, wet them with the water at the bottom of the basin, and used one to cover the upper body and the other to cover the tail of the mandarin fish that was still jumping happily. She wrapped them one by one and grabbed them one by one. The rags became very sticky after being wetted by water.
Using this rag with increased friction can not only prevent the mucus secreted by the skin of fresh fish from slipping and allowing the fish to break free, but also prevent the hard and sharp fins or thorny exoskeletons of the fish from scratching your palms.
However, the fish obviously did not want to succumb to the fate of being slaughtered. It was very rebellious. Even though it was held tightly in Su Qingluan's hand, it struggled back and forth with all its might.
Even the originally thick rag was torn apart by the mandarin fish, and it landed on the dusty ground with a leap.
Su Qingluan rarely encountered such a flapping fish. In addition, her body was still that of a thirteen-year-old and she had not yet reached the physique of an adult, so she did not have the strength to match that of an adult.
So she tried again, but the mandarin fish still flapped back and forth, refusing to let her catch it. Su Qingluan, who was busy, broke out in sweat on this cool autumn evening.
Yang, who was standing by, watched the excitement for a long time, and finally waved her hand: "Daya, give me those two rags, and watch me, your mother, make this fish behave properly!"
Yang is only in her thirties this year, in the prime of her life. In addition, she has been working hard for many years, so the strength in her hands should not be underestimated.
She followed Su Qingluan's method, covering the mandarin fish with a wet towel and then grabbing it in the same way.
Although the movements were similar, Yang's strength was completely incomparable to Su Qingluan's current strength. So in just a moment, she firmly grasped the originally jumping and cheerful mandarin fish in her hand and asked, "What should we do next?"
Su Qingluan looked at him with admiration. When she heard Yang's question, she quickly picked up a kitchen knife and said, "Mother, hold the mandarin fish. I'll knock it unconscious with the back of the knife!"
Then Su Qingluan turned the blade and hit the fish's head a few times, muttering, "I told you to flutter, I told you to flutter! Let's see how you flutter now!"
Yang laughed so hard that her whole body was shaking.
At first, when Madam Yang saw her eldest daughter being tossed around by a mandarin fish, she looked on with amusement – after all, Su Qingluan had always been a relatively steady person. Even if she occasionally showed some playfulness and liveliness, it was within control.
Therefore, this kind of "chaos" that is beyond the control of the mother seems particularly cute to Yang, and it also brings her daughter closer to herself.
Of course, she also understood that her daughter had been trying hard to integrate into the family since her return. But sometimes, seeing her daughter being too sensible and taking the entire family burden on her shoulders, Yang felt both proud and distressed, and felt that she, as a mother, had failed in her duty.
So this time, Yang was very happy to be able to help her daughter "deal with the mess."
Because she was afraid of hitting Yang's hand without aiming, Su Qingluan subconsciously held back when hitting the fish's head. So after several hits, the mandarin fish shook its tail and gradually stopped moving.
Seeing that she was sweating profusely from exhaustion, Yang washed her hands with a sympathetic look and wiped her forehead with a clean handkerchief. "Actually, if you dropped it to the ground just now, you could have knocked the fish unconscious. It would have been a little dirty, but you can just rinse it clean later."
Su Qingluan shook her head: "If you drop it hard, it will easily break the internal organs. The other internal organs are fine, but if the gallbladder is broken, the whole fish will taste bitter. If such a fresh mandarin fish loses its taste because of this, it will be too much of a loss."
Therefore, gutting a fish is a technical job. The tip of the knife should be inserted into the cloaca, but not too deep, otherwise it will easily puncture the gallbladder.
Use a long, narrow kitchen knife, carefully insert the tip, and then make a small opening in the fish's belly along the longitudinal line to allow your hand to enter, and take out the internal organs intact.
Su Qingluan's method of removing the internal organs was not to pull them hard, but to probe and remove them. After taking out the internal organs, she shook her palm slightly to let the internal organs turn over in her palm to see if the gallbladder was damaged.
Wait until all the internal organs are removed, then remove the fish gills and rinse the blood inside.
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