Xu Lai was eating when her grandfather came back from outside and said, "We're going to drain the pond today; someone's coming to buy fish."
Xu Lai couldn't help but wonder, since she wasn't home before, hadn't the fishpond at home dried up yet?
She asked her grandfather, who said, "You went to Qingyun's house before, and I was thinking of doing it when we had a family dinner when you came back."
Grandpa didn't say anything more, because she smashed up the house before the day they were supposed to have a family dinner.
Xu Lai then asked, "Did you have guests over?"
Grandma shook her head: "Why think about all that? I'm also feeling annoyed. Your mother is sighing all day long and doesn't have the energy for that."
Xu Lai thought for a moment and said, "Then let's treat each other tomorrow. I'm back now, and since others have treated us too, it's only fair to reciprocate."
She finished her steamed egg custard, washed the bowl, and went upstairs to call Xu Yan. He wouldn't start school for another two days, so he could help with the housework.
Xu Lai knocked on the door, "Xu Yan, get up quickly, Grandpa is calling for the pond to be drained."
She also asked Xia Ning to help film the video, otherwise, with multiple camera angles, she wouldn't have enough time to move the camera around repeatedly.
Xu Lai changed into her fishing outfit, while Xu Yan, whose hair was a mess, ignored it and shoved the bowl of noodles into his mouth as if afraid he would run out of food in the next second.
She took a bucket and set off first, meeting Xia Ning at the intersection.
Seeing that she looked normal, Xia Ning smiled and said, "It's good that you can let it go."
Xu Lai nodded. "What's there to be conflicted about? It's not that hard to admit that they don't love me that much."
She had long since given up on it and no longer held any hope.
When they reached the fishpond, Xu Lai slowly waded down the bank. The water had been drained by her grandfather, and some fish were on the mud, jumping around every now and then.
She took a net and scooped up all the grass carp, putting them into the water tank that her grandfather had set up with a board. Later, someone would come to buy the fish.
Although it was already February, the temperature was still in the single digits. Xu Lai wore only a sweater for ease of movement and sneezed from time to time.
A short while later, Xu Yan rushed over, and Xu Lai handed him the net before climbing ashore herself.
She counted the grass carp; there were more than a dozen in total, and Grandpa was still catching them over there.
She rested for a while, then went down again. Xu Yan, perhaps not seeing her, scooped her up with his net. Xu Lai couldn't dodge in time and was pulled by the inertia, sitting directly in the pond.
She was at her wit's end. Xu Yan knew what he had done and, laughing, went to pull her away.
Later, they discovered that the nets were ineffective against the heavier fish, since they were already dirty anyway, Xu Lai simply reached out and picked them up.
She brought the fathead fish home. She didn't know what the fish ate to grow up like that; it was very fat and obviously had a lot of meat.
She took a shower first, made herself a cup of brown sugar water, and then prepared to cook.
Around noon, Grandpa and Xu Yan returned. All the fish had been sold, bringing in over a thousand yuan. It was worth it for Grandpa to get up early every morning to cut grass for them.
She cut off the fish head to make double-pepper fish head, and divided the fish meat in half, one half to make sauerkraut fish and the other half to make rice fish.
Xu Lai hadn't cooked in a long time, so she was a little rusty and cooked a bit slower than usual.
When the dishes were served, she asked Xia Ning to stay for dinner. Xia Ning looked at the bright red fish and couldn't help but swallow. "Then I'll gladly accept your invitation."
Xu Lai said with a smile, "Don't be so polite with us."
Xia Ning took a bite of the fish and exclaimed, "Delicious! It feels like my taste buds have come back to life!"
Xu Lai couldn't help but ask, "How long has it been since you've had a good meal while I was away?"
Xia Ning waved her hand: "Don't even mention it. Before the Lantern Festival, we were basically visiting relatives and eating leftovers every day."
She asked, puzzled, "Is it really necessary to treat people to a meal like this? When you invite others to dinner, you don't even buy any fresh ingredients. Some of them are leftovers from New Year's Eve."
Everyone was amused by her. Grandma laughed and said, "Oh, that's really true. The soup in those dishes is very thick. It's obvious that they've been cooked several times."
Xu Lai invited, "My family is hosting a dinner party tomorrow, are you coming?"
Xia Ning nodded, "Of course! How could I not come if there's good food?"
After dinner, Xu Lai and Xia Ning went to her house together; she was going to invite Grandma Xia over.
We also invited some of the villagers we were close to along the way, such as Uncle Guiping's family and Aunt Hongmei's family.
When she passed by Xu Shen's house, she didn't see him at home, so she told him on WeChat.
Upon receiving the message, Xu Shen replied, "Okay."
Xu Lai asked him where he had been, and Xu Shen replied, "Don't even mention it. My mom orchestrated this, forcing me to come here for a blind date."
She notified everyone one by one, and then started preparing the food. Although most of the vegetables were still at the market and hadn't been bought yet, she had enough chicken and duck at home, and fish was also readily available, so she processed these first.
When Zhao Qingyun came home from get off work, Xu Lai was still slicing fish. Her back was already very sore, but she hadn't finished slicing the fish yet.
He took the knife from her hand. "I'll do it. It might not slice as well as you, but it'll be edible."
Xu Lai sat down on the chair and felt better. She and her grandparents had spent the whole afternoon preparing the dishes.
I need to buy some prawns and pig's trotters tomorrow.
Zhao Qingyun felt sorry for her and wanted to hire a kitchen, but Xu Lai smiled and said, "It's okay, there are only two tables of guests, and they are all people we get along with. There's no need to hire a chef."
She rolled her eyes and said, "If you really want to invite us, then let's wait until our wedding."
Zhao Qingyun thought she had misheard and repeated, "What, marriage?"
Xu Lai turned around and said, "If you don't want to, then forget it."
Of course he was willing! How could he not be? Zhao Qingyun dreamed of being on the same household registration as her.
...
Almost a week after returning home, Xu Lai saw the fixed calendar screensaver on her phone and realized that it was Valentine's Day.
She thought about it. Usually, Zhao Qingyun would prepare gifts for her, and she rarely surprised him, so she decided to prepare one for him.
She drove to the city and went straight to a jewelry store. Xu Lai took out the ring that Zhao Qingyun had given her, and after some searching, bought a plain ring that best matched her original ring, with only a small diamond set in it.
She paid for the flowers and then bought a bouquet. When she got home, Zhao Qingyun had also returned.
Xu Lai hid the things behind her back and ran home quickly before he could see her.
That evening, when he wasn't looking, she discussed it with her grandmother and turned off the lights. Zhao Qingyun was worried that she would be frightened, so he quickly picked up his phone and turned on the light.
Then he saw Xu Lai holding a ring box and asking, "Zhao Qingyun, will you marry me?"
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