The next day, she woke up naturally. The rain outside had stopped. Xu Lai was eating breakfast at the entrance of the main room when her third uncle brought in fish. Xu Lai glanced at the bucket and saw a grass carp and a few small crucian carp.
Her third uncle asked her to find a basin or bucket. Xu Lai put down the bowl, picked up a large basin, and asked, "Where did you get these fish from, since it's neither a holiday nor a festival?"
Third Uncle said, "This morning I went to the field to check on the rice. I felt something in the field, so I parted it and found fish. I took a battery to catch them and brought them back."
Xu Lai's eyes lit up. "There are fish in the field?"
Uncle San laughed and said, "Those fish must have escaped from someone else's pond. Even though there's a net, some fish can still get away. It's just a lucky break for me."
After Xu Lai finished eating, she took a net and called Xia Ning over. The two of them went to the edge of the field.
Xia Ning said with disbelief, "I feel there shouldn't be any fish left. If there were, they should have all been caught."
The two walked around the edge of the field. Xu Lai heard a sound coming from that direction, squatted down to look, and saw a small crucian carp. She scooped it up with a net, and the fish went into the net.
After catching the fish, they made no money. Just then, Xu Shen arrived carrying a battery. Xu Lai remembered that he didn't have a battery, so she asked, "Where did you borrow this from?"
“Your family? Can’t you just borrow it from my second grandfather?” he said, bouncing the battery he was carrying on his back.
Xu Lai stopped him, "Of course! We'll help you carry the bucket, and we'll share half of the fish you catch with you."
Xu Shen's eyes widened: "You two are bandits!"
Xia Ning pretended to make him take it off, "Then you leave the battery behind, we'll charge it ourselves."
Xu Shen objected, "I won't. Besides, do you even know how to use it? Be careful not to electrocute yourselves."
Xu Lai gently persuaded, "Look, you're sure to have a great harvest today. You can't eat that much by yourself, right? Share some with us."
Xu Shen had no choice but to say, "Alright, alright, let's make it clear first, I won't split one of them. I can't just cut them in half."
Xu Shen walked in front, followed by Xu Lai, with Xia Ning filming at the very back. When he cast his line, he actually caught quite a few fish. Xu Lai quickly used a net to scoop them up and put them in a bucket.
After walking along the edge of the field, I caught a total of three grass carp, four crucian carp, and two large carp.
Xu Lai ordered one grass carp, two crucian carp, and one common carp, agreeing to split them in half, and she even left half for Xu Shen.
She gave the grass carp to Xia Ning to take back, and also offered to give her the crucian carp, but she didn't want it because she thought it had too many bones.
Xu Lai took them back, planning to make braised crucian carp with scallions and braised carp for lunch.
She cut open the crucian carp from the belly with a knife, took out the internal organs and threw them to the ducks to eat. Then she scraped off the black membrane inside so that the fish wouldn't taste fishy. She slaughtered all the fish that her third uncle had sent and ate them for lunch. She used the two fish that Xu Shen had given her to make crucian carp soup for dinner.
The same method is used to gut carp, but there is a white tendon near the head that needs to be pulled out. The older generation says that you can't eat that part, or it will cause trouble.
Xu Lai didn't know what would happen, but she did as she was told. As the saying goes, "Those who don't listen to the advice of their elders will suffer the consequences," so she decided not to try it lightly.
After cleaning the fish, she made diagonal cuts on it, marinated it with cooking wine and salt, and then prepared the side dishes. First, she dug some pickled chili peppers from the jar, and then prepared scallions, ginger, and garlic. The most important ingredient for braised crucian carp with scallions is the scallions, so she pulled a large bunch of scallions from the ground.
Today she was going to fry fish, and she specially asked her grandma to light a wood-fired stove so that the fish wouldn't stick to the pan.
When frying fish, wait until the pan is hot before adding oil. Once the oil is smoking, sprinkle in a little salt before adding the fish. This way, the fish will stay intact and won't fall apart.
After frying the fish, remove it from the pan. Leave some oil in the pan and sauté the ginger, garlic, and chili until fragrant. Then add water and bring it to a boil. Add the crucian carp and a handful of scallions just before serving.
This dish is suitable for people who love scallions. Her family all like it, so there aren't many restrictions when cooking it.
Once the pan-fried carp is added to the prepared sauce and brought to a boil, it's ready to serve.
She also stir-fried some amaranth, and then it was time to eat. Grandpa brought the dishes to the table one by one and poured a small glass of wine.
Xu Lai picked up a fish for each of her grandparents and said, "Try it. It's been a long time since I've cooked this. If my third uncle hadn't sent the fish over, I wouldn't have thought of making this dish."
Grandpa picked up a large mouthful of scallions, paired them with the fish, and praised, "Mmm, delicious. This fish must not be from someone else's pond."
Xu Lai couldn't tell where the fish came from; she just wanted them to taste good. She fried five fish in total, each about the size of her palm.
There was also a grass carp in the basin. She asked the elderly couple what they thought, "How would you like to eat that grass carp?"
Grandma thought of something and said, "How about we fry fish pieces? It's been a long time since we've had any."
Grandpa then said, "I want to eat boiled fish."
The two started arguing again about what to eat. Xu Lai was used to this scene. Her grandparents had lived together for decades, and when they disagreed, neither of them would give in, but most of the time it was her grandfather who compromised.
Xu Lai smiled and agreed, "Okay, okay, I can satisfy you both. Are you satisfied now?"
After finishing her meal, she took her scissors and basket to the vegetable garden. After such a long rain, many melons were ripe, and they would rot on the ground if she didn't pick them soon.
It had just rained a few times, and the ground was very damp. She stomped on it a few more times, and her shoes were covered in mud, turning them into platform shoes, albeit muddy ones.
Grandpa had planted quite a lot of melons. She picked a basketful and sent it to Xu Shen, then picked another basketful for Xia Ning, and took a lot back with her.
There were still some melons left in the field that could grow for a few more days, so she didn't pick them. There were still some melons left at home, and if she couldn't finish them, she would have to chop them up and feed them to the ducks.
The grapes on the trellis were still a bit green, many were rotten, and some had turned into raisins from being exposed to the sun. Xu Lai couldn't help but feel a little sorry for them. It seemed that she would have to put them in bags next year, otherwise she wouldn't be able to harvest them.
She went upstairs to the balcony, cleaned up all the rainwater, then brought out a deck chair and lay down to read a novel.
The sky was still overcast, and it looked like it could rain heavily at any moment. She covered herself with a small blanket. On a rainy day, with nothing to do, staying at home was quite pleasant.
At dinner time, she prepared the fish, first frying it once, then breaking the fish meat into small pieces with a spatula, and adding boiling water to stew it. This way, the stewed crucian carp soup will be snow-white and very nutritious.
She tied on her apron, grabbed the large grass carp, and just as she grasped its gills, the fish struggled twice and slipped from her hand. Xu Lai tried to grab it, but the scales were slimy and she couldn't hold on to it at all.
Seeing that the fish was about to slip into the ditch, she panicked, grabbed the knife, and slammed it against the fish's head, stunning it so it would be easier to handle. "Serves you right for jumping around and splashing me with water."
The grass carp was cut in half; the meat near the belly was used to make fish fillets, and the meat from the back was used to make fried fish pieces. She also learned a new way to cook it.
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