Chapter 144 Letter
The whole village was as lively as New Year's Day. The children were especially excited, and the adults were also very happy. Although after dinner, the village chief called the men to speak and expressed his concerns about the river dam upstream.
But it was late autumn now, and the flood season had passed. Even if the dam broke, there would be no risk of flooding downstream. Since they were all ordinary villagers, they naturally couldn't come to any conclusion. At most, they would report it to the village head and that would be the end of it.
Every household was so happy to get so many big and small fish for free that the village was filled with the aroma of fish early the next morning.
There is no way around it. The fish won’t survive long out of the river, so they have to be taken out. Dead fish are not tasty and they can’t be kept.
Zhou Dalang and his friends also got up early in the morning, changed the water in the wooden barrel, and caught the most energetic fish from the tank, intending to transport them to the county town to sell.
Although there is a river here, it is a mountainous area after all, and big fish are rarely seen. Zhou Erlang estimated that it should not be too difficult to sell them, provided that he can do it before others.
Zhou Silang and Zhou Wulang still had to go to the county town to sell ginger, taking Manbao's letter and fried dried fish with them. Zhou Wulang also brought a bag of sugar, intending to sell it to Miss Fu Er to increase his income.
The children in the school were carefree and wanted to go to the river to catch some more fish after school. Mr. Zhuang scolded them and looked worriedly at the river water which had calmed down.
It can be seen that the current water level is much higher than before. Originally, due to the decrease in rainfall in late autumn, the water level had dropped, exposing many aquatic plant roots, but now the tops of these aquatic plants are submerged.
Mr. Zhuang sighed. He didn't know how the county government planned to repair the upstream dam. If he remembered correctly, the upstream dam had been built for less than five years, right?
It wasn’t the first time that Miss Fu Er received a gift from Manbao, but it was the first time that she received food.
The cold dried fish tasted a bit bad, so Miss Fu pinched one with a handkerchief and took a careful bite. After chewing it, she felt it was not bad, so she handed the box to the maid and asked her to heat it up and fry it according to the instructions written on the Manbao paper.
Only then did Miss Fu Er unfold Manbao's letter and read it.
In the letter, Manbao focused on describing the lively scene of fishing yesterday and his wish for the upstream embankment. Miss Fu Er read it with great interest and envy.
When County Magistrate Fu returned to the backyard from the front yamen for lunch at noon, Miss Fu Er, to show her filial piety, specially gave half of the dried fish to someone to bring to the dining table.
She thought the dried fish was crispy and delicious after being heated.
County Magistrate Fu also thought it was delicious. He ate several mouthfuls in a row and said to his wife, "This fish is good. Is this a new dish you came up with?"
Mrs. Fu took a look and smiled, "This wasn't made in our kitchen. Wenyun sent it to the kitchen. I don't know how to cook it yet."
"Oh?" County Magistrate Fu looked at his second daughter and asked with a smile, "Which store did you buy this from?"
Seeing that her father liked it, Fu Wenyun was also a little happy and explained, "I didn't buy it, it was given to me by a friend."
Fu Wenxuan beside her was happy, "Is that the little girl who sold you candy? She probably wanted to sell you this little fish, so she gave you some to try first, right?"
Fu Wenyun was not happy with her elder sister's tone when she mentioned Manbao. She said, "Manbao isn't that kind of person. She always means what she says. This fish was caught by her family in the river yesterday. There weren't many. The letter said they were just sending it to me to try. I might not get more in the future."
Magistrate Fu wasn't interested in his daughters' friendships. He nodded perfunctorily and asked casually, "Does their family make a living by fishing? Autumn fish are plump and delicious. If there's any good fish, you can have her deliver it to our house. I'll pay whatever price she wants."
"No, it's the farmers. They were lucky. The dam upstream of their village broke yesterday, and a lot of fish were washed down. That's why they were able to catch so many fish."
County Magistrate Fu, who had just taken a mouthful of rice, was immediately choked and couldn't help coughing violently.
Everyone at the table was startled. Mrs. Fu quickly patted his back and asked, "Master, what's wrong with you?"
County Magistrate Fu had something stuck in his throat and his eyes turned red from coughing. Fu Wenxuan quickly poured a glass of water for his father.
County Magistrate Fu took the water and coughed violently for a while. After catching his breath, he grabbed Fu Wenyun's hand and asked with red eyes, "You, what did you just say?"
Fu Wenyun was only ten years old. She was terrified and froze in her tracks, stammering, "I, I didn't say anything?"
"No, that's not right. Where did you say they caught the fish?"
"The river, the river..." Fu Wenyun's eyes were filled with tears. Mrs. Fu couldn't help but scream, "Master, what's wrong with you?"
"How come there are fish in the river?"
"Oh, there are no fish in the river. Where are the fish?" Mrs. Fu couldn't help but ask.
Fu Wenyun suddenly came to her senses and said, "They say the dam in their upstream village broke, and a lot of river water rushed down, carrying the fish with it."
Magistrate Fu asked, "Where is their village?"
"I remember she said it was called Qili Village."
"Qili Village, Qili Village... Isn't that in Baimaquan Town?" County Magistrate Fu muttered, and hurriedly asked, "Where is her letter? Did it say there were casualties? Have the fertile fields been flooded..."
Finally, Fu Wenyun gave Manbao's letter to her father.
There were several thick pages, and Manbao's handwriting had begun to show results, at least it was readable. Although in the eyes of County Magistrate Fu, the handwriting was still very immature, he was in no mood to appreciate it at the moment.
He read the letter at a glance and had no interest in the childish descriptions. He quickly scanned it and found that the letter only mentioned the upstream dam breaking twice in the entire four pages. The first time was when describing fishing, explaining why so many fish suddenly appeared in the river in their village. The last time was at the end of the letter, when the child made a wish, hoping that the upstream dam would break again tomorrow, and it would be best if it broke every day so that they could fish every day.
County Magistrate Fu: ...
This is really, where did this naughty kid come from?
Finally, County Magistrate Fu rolled up the letter and went directly to the front yamen. That night, County Magistrate Fu did not go home. It was said that he went to the countryside.
Manbao knew nothing about this and slept soundly to the sound of insects. When she got up the next day, she stretched a little. This morning she could eat fried dried fish again.
Manbao happily washed his face and hands, and sat obediently at the dining table waiting for breakfast.
As a result, just as her breakfast was served, there was a clang of gongs outside. Manbao jumped up and ran out, wanting to join in the fun, but was quickly caught by Xiao Qianshi, who said, "What are you doing? Eat quickly and go to school."
Manbao pointed outside and said, "There's a gong going on outside."
"That's the village chief calling a meeting of all the men in the village. It has nothing to do with you. Hurry up and eat and go to school."
Manbao lowered his head with some regret, then raised it again and asked, "Sister-in-law, is it that the dam upstream has broken again? Did the village chief ask everyone to go fishing?"
Xiao Qian felt a toothache. The village chief was not much older than her father-in-law, just a little younger in generation. Could Manbao please stop calling him brother?
Well, although she should indeed call him brother.
(End of this chapter)
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