Li Shuanzhu, the accountant in the brigade, arranged for several other people to help count the number, and then they concluded that there were a total of 500 big fish and 300 small fish, and their Dongfeng Brigade had a total of more than 300 adults and more than 100 children.
Li Tiezhu looked at the villagers queuing up with joy on their faces and shouted, "We just caught a total of 500 large fish and 300 small fish. Every adult in the village will get a large fish, and every child will get a small fish. We will have a big pot dinner with the rest of the fish later. It's almost the New Year, so let's have some fun together. But one thing is, we're holding back on eating fish today. Young and old, keep your wives in check. If word gets out, don't come to me if relatives want to borrow some."
"Okay, we definitely won't tell," everyone cheered.
Everyone was queuing up while discussing, "Tell me, how long has it been since we last had meat? My kids were clamoring for meat a few days ago, and now we have fish to eat. What a coincidence!"
"Yes, it's a good thing that the captain asked us to go fishing today, otherwise we wouldn't even know there were fish in the river!" another person replied.
"Yes, there is famine outside now. Fortunately, our village has mountains and water. I heard from my sister-in-law that her family eats tree bark. Now we can even eat fish. It's great!" A tall and thin woman interrupted.
Soon everyone got the fish. The women were seen carrying baskets and rushing to the brigade headquarters, while the men were carrying several large pots and running to a large house behind the brigade headquarters. This large house was built when the brigade canteen was previously run, but it was later disbanded. Now it was put to use because everyone ate together in the big pot.
The women took out the dishes they had prepared. Although they were only cabbage, radish and dried vegetables, which were not very good, everyone was very happy because there was fish.
The team leader arranged for a group of women to cook, and a group of men to help. Soon the food was ready, and then one person from each family carried an enamel basin to line up for food. Because the Li family was a relative of the team leader, Zhang Xiuzhi was arranged to get food.
She had filled a pot of food for her family, which caught Niu Juxiang's eye. She immediately walked over and asked, "Aijun, how did you get your food? Why is it more than mine?"
Niu Juxiang's words were really unfair to Zhang Xiuzhi. Although she also wanted to give more to her family, it was difficult to do so with so many people watching. This was purely Niu Juxiang looking for trouble.
She continued, "Auntie, you're really wronging me. Think carefully about how many people are in your family and how many are in my family. I didn't deliberately give you less."
"Yes, auntie, your family doesn't even have half as many people as the Aijun family. They can't give you more even if they want to! Don't you agree?" Dashu's wife continued.
"Yes, auntie, please go home quickly after you finish your meal, so as not to delay the people behind us from getting their meals," said Heping's wife with a smile.
When Niu Juxiang heard this, her eyelids drooped. She felt ashamed and walked away embarrassedly with her basin in her hand.
Seeing Niu Juxiang leave, everyone burst into laughter and then lined up. Soon, every household in the production brigade had finished their meal, with some soup left. The people who had gotten the meal each had a bowl and drank it with some bread. Then they packed up and went home.
Every household in the Dongfeng Production Brigade was very happy to eat the big pot dinner tonight. It had been a long time since they had eaten meat. This was the most satisfying meal they had had in recent days. In addition to the fish they had received, if they ate frugally, they could last until spring. By then, they would not be afraid even if they ran out of food at home, because their Dongfeng Brigade was next to the mountain.
Since they started catching fish from the river, the villagers of Dongfeng Brigade have changed their previous decadent look, and everyone's face is filled with happiness.
Although the news that the Dongfeng Brigade had caught fish from the river had spread and even people from the commune came, they couldn't spit out what had already been eaten. Even when the commune leaders asked for the fish to be handed over to the public, no one paid any attention.
However, this fishing incident gave the commune leaders hope, so they organized several underground brigades to go into the mountains to hunt.
There was no other way. Several subordinate brigades kept reporting to the commune that the Dongfeng Brigade had meat, but they didn't. Finally, the commune secretary made the final decision to send a group of militiamen to accompany the villagers into the mountains. Although their ideals were grand, the reality was cruel.
A group of militiamen and villagers went into the mountains for three days and only caught more than 20 rabbits and a dozen pheasants. In the end, the commune stepped in to divide the spoils, but even a brigade didn't get much.
But this situation has little to do with Old Li's family. After all, in addition to the fish distributed by the team, their family also has more than a dozen fish caught by themselves. Apart from feeding their young daughter-in-law who is in confinement, the rest is enough for a prosperous New Year.
There is a saying in the north: On the 23rd, sticky sugar melons, on the 24th, sweep the house, on the 25th, fry tofu, on the 26th, stew mutton, on the 27th, kill the rooster, on the 28th, let the dough rise, on the 29th, steam buns, stay up all night on the 30th, and on the first day of the New Year, twist your body.
Early in the morning of the 30th, Niu Cuihua got up and shouted, "Old lady, third lady, hurry up and get up and cook. Why are you so lazy every day? You won't get up unless I call you, right?"
"Mom, get up," Zhang Xiuzhi answered hurriedly. Niu Cuihua saw the eldest daughter-in-law walk out of the east room with a charming look on her face. She knew what the eldest couple did last night.
On the other side, the third daughter-in-law, Liu Zhaodi, walked out of the house with her head held high, but when she saw Niu Cuihua in the yard, she hurriedly lowered her head.
Niu Cuihua disliked Liu Zhaodi from the bottom of her heart, and was afraid to see her during the Chinese New Year, so she didn't say anything in the end.
"The eldest family member will cook, and the second family member will light the fire. Today is New Year's Day, so make more so that everyone can have enough to eat," said Niu Cuihua as she handed the steamed buns and vegetables she had just taken out of the cupboard to Zhang Xiuzhi.
"Hey, Mom," Zhang Xiuzhi agreed with a smile. Then she hurried into the kitchen, and Liu Zhaodi followed behind her listlessly.
After explaining all this, Niu Cuihua walked into her youngest son's room. Li Aiguo had gotten up early to go for a run, and now only her daughter-in-law and little Mingxi were left in the room.
"Mom, is there something wrong?" Zhang Huilan hurriedly got up when she saw her mother-in-law enter the room.
"It's okay, I just came to see Xiaoxi. You don't need to get up. You haven't finished your confinement yet, why should you get up?" Niu Cuihua said as she hurriedly stopped Zhang Huilan.
"Mom, isn't today New Year's Day? My eldest and third sisters-in-law have already gotten up to work, and it's inappropriate for me to still be lying there. Besides, I've been lying here for more than 20 days." Zhang Huilan continued.
"No, let me tell you, it's a big deal for a woman to be in confinement after childbirth, especially now that it's cold. If you get cold, you'll have to deal with it when you're older. Don't get up, just take good care of yourself and wait a few days until the weather warms up before you talk."
Niu Cuihua looked at little Mingxi who was sleeping obediently, and her face was full of love.
Zhang Huilan was lying there and was shocked when she saw the expression on her mother-in-law's face.
Although the mother-in-law is partial to her own husband, her expression when she looked at her daughter was normal before. But today, her expression was as if she was looking at a gold ingot, with a dazzling light in her eyes.
But she didn't say anything. She was happy to see her mother-in-law treat her daughter well. After all, she was her own precious daughter and she was definitely different from others.
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