Yunling remembered Tang Ling's kindness. She put on her shoes, opened the cabin door, and a cold wind came from the passageway, whistling against her face. She pulled up her coat, buried her face in her neck, and quickly fled out of the passageway.
Moving to a more open area, Yunling heard a crackling sound. Following the sound, she went to the bow deck and saw Tang Ling and Gangzi each carrying a bamboo pole with a small, round, extremely black pot hanging from the middle of the pole.
There was a charcoal brazier underneath, but instead of charcoal, it was burning small pieces of wood. Below the brazier was a solid wooden plank. Yunling was somewhat surprised and was lost in thought when Tang Ling and Gangzi called out:
"brothers."
"Second Brother."
"Young man, please wait a little longer. A cup of hot tea with some steamed buns will surely make you feel better."
Yunling moved closer to them. Although the flame in the basin was small, she could still feel its warmth even when she was right next to it.
"Your method is good, but will Uncle Cheng agree to it?"
Just as Gangzi was about to speak, a figure suddenly appeared on the river surface. It was Uncle Cheng, carrying two fish that were wagging their tails. He shook off the water, grabbed the rope by the side of the boat, and landed on the deck as lightly as a swallow.
“There’s only this much stuff left on the ship. If you burn it today, it’ll be gone tomorrow. It’s just a little bit this time and it didn’t even burn my ship, so it doesn’t matter to me.”
Chengbo squatted down, took the large knife handed to him by another person, and used the handle to slam the fish down hard. After three or four slams, the fish, which had been jumping around just moments before, instantly fainted, letting the sharp blade scrape off its scales.
Yun Ling was still reeling from the moment the man emerged from the water. Good heavens! In this weather, at his age, he had such courage, and he wasn't even trembling; he acted like an ordinary person who had just taken a hot bath.
"Uncle Cheng, are you winter swimming?"
"What winter swimming? You mean going into the water?"
Seeing Yunling's surprised and sly look, Chengbo chuckled:
"This is just a common thing. Everyone in our village knows how to swim. When I was little, my father would throw me into the water and I would choke on it a few times. So I naturally learned. Back then, we were poor and the crops in the fields didn't grow much. In the winter, we had nothing to eat. When we saw fish in the water, we would rush in like we were seeing gold."
“I remember, I was half dead from that illness. My short-lived mother dragged me around looking for doctors in a sling to put me in. But we were so poor that we couldn’t afford a single copper coin, not even rice or meat. How could we possibly pay for the medical bills?”
"Later, my mother had no choice but to drag me home and cover me with all the blankets and clothes she could find. But unexpectedly, I sweated a lot and took a hot bath, and that's how I survived this ordeal."
"Who knows? I survived, but my mother passed away. She was exhausted from all the hard work and had nothing to eat. She couldn't hold on and left."
"The day after she left, my old man married a new lover, a buy-one-get-one-free deal. She brought along a little girl who was about half a year old. He said he had nowhere else to go, and he was so happy with her that he was willing to risk his life to give that mother and daughter a good life."
"I missed my mother, that silly woman, so I plunged into the water, wanting to go with her. But I just couldn't die. The more water I drank, the stronger I became. I had to go in for a soak every day."
Chengbo smiled happily, and with a swift motion, he sliced the two fish into pieces, one after another, his thoughts hidden within the slices.
Then another person sprinkles salt on it, rubs it on a couple of times, and then hangs it up with a rope, and that's it.
Upon hearing this, Yunling was filled with a myriad of emotions. She wanted to offer comfort, but found it difficult to put into words. She thought that saying things like "a blessing in disguise" or "everyone has their own fate" seemed rather harsh.
But those phrases like "You're so unlucky" or "You're so lucky, things will get better" are too perfunctory. The best approach is to evoke sympathy and resonance in others.
However, Yunling had lived such a good life in this world, with her parents still alive and her family happy, that it was impossible for her to empathize with her, so she could only keep quiet.
The water has boiled.
Tang Ling poured Yun Ling a bowl of boiling hot water. Yun Ling poured out a small portion and mixed it with ice water, rinsed her mouth lightly, wiped her face, leaving her ears to wash, and then couldn't wait to drink a mouthful of hot water and take a bite of a steamed bun. Her whole body felt warm.
As the sun gradually peeked out, Yunling moved the stool outside to bask in the sun.
Chengbo and his four or five partners took advantage of the sunshine to pull out the lychees and longans from the warehouse to dry. The dark-shelled lychees and light-yellow-shelled longans rolled out of the sacks, and their unique aroma instantly spread.
Yunling took two greedy sniffs and asked with a smile:
"Uncle Cheng, where did you get this thing from?"
"It came from legitimate channels, of course. Where else could it have come from?"
"Yes, yes, seriously, seriously in what way?"
"Qingcheng, these are all lychees and longans from Qingcheng. Some are not fresh, some are out of season, and some are sour because there are too many fruits and too much rain. So I thought I would make them into dried fruit and make some money."
Yunling, having learned her lesson, took a sip of the hot drink and then said:
"I originally thought that the fruit that Uncle Cheng was selling was the fresh kind, but I didn't expect that dried fruit counts too."
"Of course it counts. Why wouldn't it? Fresh fruit is fruit, dried fruit is fruit, and candied fruit, lotus root slices, and papaya are also fruit."
Just hearing about it made Yunling's mouth water, especially since she had just eaten a steamed bun and her mouth felt tasteless, so she immediately thought about getting this fruit.
"Uncle Cheng, you mean those candied fruits and dried meats too? I've never had the authentic ones before, why don't you let me see them?"
"You're just craving something, aren't you? You went through all this trouble. It's a pity, all these candied fruits are in Pingcheng, so you can't have any if you want. If you're craving something, you can always pick up these dried fruits to try."
Yunling had been waiting for him to say that. She didn't dare to eat too much, for fear of getting a sore throat, so she just picked one of each.
The dried lychees had shells that weren't crisp at all; they were wrinkled and very elastic. Yunling used her fingernail to pry open a small hole before she could see the flesh inside. The lychee flesh had shrunk to a tiny size, and it still had the seed attached. It was sticky and greasy in the mouth and not very tasty.
As for dried longan, the shell is brittle. You can get the flesh inside by gently pinching it with your fingers. If you use too much force, you will be pricked by the shell. So it is quite delicate.
The dried longan pulp didn't shrink as much in comparison. Although the pulp was sticky, it was very sweet, and every bite was full of longan aroma. It was delicious, and Yunling really liked it!
"Uncle Cheng, these dried longans must be selling very well!"
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