Gu Xiaoran spoke as she walked towards the river.
Baba, the little dog, followed behind. In just a few days, it had already recognized its young owner.
Gu Qian looked ahead and found that there really was a small river there.
"Fish, there's a fish!" Gu Xiaoran walked to the riverbank and spotted a grass carp with her sharp eyes.
In her excitement, Gu Xiaoran was about to reach for it when Gu Qian lifted her up with one hand.
"Xiao Ran, danger!" This child can never shake his impulsive and rash nature.
Gu Qian stared intently at the river; the fish in it were quite large.
Qiu Yan and the villagers behind her came over after seeing the river.
The villagers' faces lit up with joy when they heard that there were fish in the river.
They found the river wasn't deep, just knee-deep, and the water was crystal clear. Several of the men took off their shoes and socks, rolled up their trousers, and started wading into the river to catch fish.
In their remote and impoverished mountain village, how could they not catch fish, such a precious creature?
But these fish are a bit cunning; they always play hide-and-seek with them.
The women were envious and wanted to catch fish, but they decided against it and could only watch from the riverbank.
After watching for a while, they went to pick wild fruits together.
There are plenty of wild fruits in the deep mountains and forests. They are astringent with a sweet and sour taste, and they taste quite good. It's perfect to take some home for my husband and children to try.
Qiu Yan was thinking about braised fish, and had just broken off a branch to skewer the fish when someone grabbed her arm.
"I'll do it."
Gu Qian took the branch from Qiu Yan's hand, took out a dagger, sharpened one end, and like the men in the village, took off his shoes and socks, rolled up his trousers, and entered the stream.
Then, he aimed at a plump, lively fish in the river, and with a forceful pull, he caught it.
"It's in!"
Gu Xiaoran shouted with joy.
The men around him gleamed when they saw that Gu Qian had caught a fish.
They all went ashore, found tree branches, borrowed a dagger from Gu Qian, sharpened one end, and began to stab fish, imitating his actions.
The fish were startled and swam far away, and the men chased after them. Gu Xiaoran, watching the scene in the river from the riverbank, couldn't stop laughing.
Watching others catch fish, Qiu Yan couldn't sit still. She poured the herbs from her basket onto the grass and started using a bamboo basket to catch fish.
Gu Xiaoran, the little follower, and the little dog followed Qiu Yan the whole time.
Watching Qiu Yan catch fish, Gu Xiaoran really wanted to try it, but she was always scared by Qiu Yan's glare and sat obediently.
Back and forth, everyone worked for a long time, running from the east bank of the river to the west bank.
In the end, Gu Qian scooped up more than a dozen fish and dumped them all into Qiu Yan's basket.
Including the fish that Qiu Yan caught herself, her basket now holds twenty-three more fish.
The other men gradually gathered, and seeing how many fish Gu Qian had caught, they were filled with envy.
Some of them caught four or five, some caught only one, and some caught none at all.
Without comparison, there is no harm.
"Brother Gu Qian, you're really amazing, catching so many fish at once."
"Sigh, we can't compare."
"..."
Gu Qian smiled and shook his head modestly, saying, "It's nothing."
Catching fish is nothing to Gu Qian; it's a piece of cake. They haven't seen the truly skilled ones yet.
After catching the fish, everyone dried their trousers and continued searching for herbs.
Another busy afternoon passed, and Gu Qian's basket on his back was already full, with fish at the bottom and herbs on top.
Everyone else filled their baskets with herbs, wild fruits, and wild vegetables, and the group set off to return home together.
Back home, Gu Qian brought some fish to his master and mistress.
Qiu Yan sent several items to Wang Shi, but Wang Shi declined them.
"Qiu Yan, you're too kind. You should take these fish and sell them; they'll fetch a good price."
“Aunt Wang, it’s too formal to say such things. Uncle has been very kind to us these days, and you and Yuanyuan have worked hard to help out. It’s just a few fish, please don’t refuse.”
At Qiu Yan's insistence, Wang finally accepted the fish.
That evening, Wang stewed a pot of fish soup.
After finishing, Qiu Yan first sent some to Old Man Zhao.
As soon as she entered Old Man Zhao's courtyard, the old man grabbed her and wouldn't let her leave, wanting Qiu Yan to talk to him.
“Girl, your great-grandfather feels that the good days have just begun, and he is already too old to walk. Your great-grandfather wants to live to be a hundred years old and wants to see your field turn into a medicinal herb field.”
As he spoke, Old Zhao drank the fish soup in the bowl in one gulp and smacked his lips contentedly twice.
Qiu Yan replied, "Great-Grandpa, your wish will soon come true. You will live to be a hundred years old. These wonderful times are waiting for you to enjoy."
“I love to hear that,” Old Zhao said, his eyes immediately crinkling with a smile.
After finishing the fish soup, he gave Qiu Yan several of his medical books. "These are all for you, all for you. They're no use to me anyway."
Old Zhao started as an apprentice at Baiyang Medical Clinic when he was young, and later began to learn medicine from the legendary doctor.
Because of his diligent study, his medical skills became more and more refined over time, and he was a prominent figure in his youth.
He had intended to teach his nephews to medicine, but due to their own mother's instigation, none of them were willing to study.
As for why he instigated it, he was afraid that his perfectly healthy son would be adopted by his uncle.
Old Zhao never expected that now he would have a niece-in-law and a grandniece-in-law who wanted to learn how to identify medicinal herbs from Qiu Yan.
He felt something was off.
Qiu Yan took the medical books and looked at them carefully. One was a family secret recipe, the other was a commonly used prescription, and the last was a medical book about acupuncture.
"Thank you, Great-Grandpa." These books are so useful to her.
Old Zhao waved his hand at Qiu Yan, "What are you thanking me for? If I didn't give it to you, it would either be burned or thrown away in the end."
He went inside after he finished speaking.
After searching the house thoroughly, Old Zhao came out with several bags.
Seeing that Old Man Zhao was struggling to carry it, Qiu Yan quickly stepped forward to help, "Great-Grandpa, what's in this bag?"
"The medicinal seeds include Anemarrhena asphodeloides, Platycodon grandiflorus... I had forgotten I even had medicinal seeds since you didn't plant them. I've been searching for them for days, and I've finally found them today. I'll give them all to you; let's see if you can grow them successfully."
The old man had long wanted to grow his own medicinal herbs, which is why he collected so many medicinal herbs in the mountains.
However, how could a mentally unstable old man possibly grow medicinal herbs?
Qiu Yan looked at the medicinal herbs excitedly, "Great-Grandpa, you've helped me a lot." It seems she won't need to grow any other crops in her medicinal herb field.
"I knew you'd like it, girl." Old Zhao was smug about helping Qiu Yan.
"These medicinal herbs are on me," Qiu Yan said, handing Old Man Zhao a string of copper coins, which he pushed back.
"Stop giving me money. Even if I have money, I have nowhere to spend it. The money you gave me before is still sitting there."
His mind works and doesn't work; even if he has money, he'll forget where he put it in a moment.
As he was talking, Old Zhao slapped his forehead. "Oh no, how could I forget about this? My nephew has an eye disease, and my grandson injured his leg. They're both waiting for me to come and treat them."
As he spoke, Old Zhao went to look for his medicine box.
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