Chapter 325: Children's Words
Xiao Qianshi put away the last two pots of fried fish and decided to give them to Zhou Erlang to try tomorrow. The first pot was also put away to be eaten at dinner time.
Manbao, who ate five or six small fish in a row, was also driven out by Xiao Qian.
Santou was a little sad. He looked at Manbao and said, "Aunt, we have no fish to eat."
He wanted to eat fish, so why did they have nothing to eat even though his aunt asked his mother to keep all the fish?
Manbao felt a little guilty and promised, "I'll give you an extra one after dinner."
This did not make Santou happy. He sighed and sat down on the doorstep.
San Ya and Situ had always been playing with Santou. Seeing their brother like this, they sighed, held their chins and sat on the doorstep, looking sadly ahead.
Manbao also sat down and savored the fish he had just eaten.
She smacked her lips and said, "The little fish made by Shanbao is even better."
"Of course," Santou said without hesitation, "They fry small fish at home. They use a lot of oil and salt before they come out of the pan. Mom only uses a little oil and fries them without adding salt."
But it was also delicious.
The three-headed man sighed sadly again.
The remaining three also sighed in unison.
A villager carrying a hoe home from the field was so happy to see this that he stopped and asked, "Manbao, what are you doing with your nephews and nieces?"
There were four children, two of them were under seven years old, and the remaining two were only four or five years old. They sat in a row on the threshold, blocking the door directly, and they couldn't help but be happy.
Before Manbao could say anything, Santou spoke first, "We were talking about eating small fish. Uncle Di, do you make small fish at home?"
"Oh, isn't that food for the chickens at home?" Zhou Di laughed. "Even if you want to eat it, you should eat big fish. By the way, are your father and the others fishing in the river?"
Santou nodded regretfully, it was obvious that small fish were tastier than big fish.
"Then tell your father that if he catches any big fish, he should leave two for me. Tomorrow is Mid-Autumn Festival, and we need to have something good to eat at home. I'll trade beans with your family later."
Just as Santou was about to nod, Manbao said, "I don't want beans, I want rice."
"Oh, I only have a few pounds of rice at home. Beans are much better. Isn't your sister-in-law making tofu? She uses a lot of tofu, right?"
The three men stopped talking.
Manbao said, "My family has a lot of beans. My father said that apart from using beans to make tofu, we can't use them to exchange for anything else. Otherwise, we have to take them to the county town to sell them."
"Then can we use wheat?"
Flour tastes better than bean rice, Manbao nodded.
"Okay, remember to ask your eldest brother to leave two fish for me."
Manbao nodded, "As long as my eldest brother can catch the big fish."
Zhou Di left, and the four children continued to sit on the doorstep in a daze.
Finally, the youngest Sitou couldn't sit still anymore. He looked around and directly pulled Manbao's hand, "Little aunt, go play, go play."
Manbao took his little hand and stood up, "Okay, let's go to the river to find your father."
Santou and Sanya immediately jumped up to catch up. They were the youngest in the family and were strictly forbidden to play by the river. Otherwise, if they were seen by their family, they would be beaten. Santou had been beaten many times.
But if I go with my aunt, I obviously won’t be among those who get beaten.
The rules of the Zhou family have always been very clear: if the older ones make mistakes, they will be beaten.
If Manbao had followed Ertou and the others to the river, it would have been Ertou and the others who would have been beaten.
But if Manbao took Santou and the others to the river, it would not be Sanya and Sitou who would be beaten, but Santou and Manbao who were of the same age.
Santou was certain that if his aunt was beaten, he would not be beaten unjustly, but if his aunt was not beaten, Santou generally would not be beaten either.
He happily followed Manbao to the river.
There are quite a few people in the river at the entrance of the village.
This year's autumn harvest ended particularly quickly. At this time, every household is busy drying rice. Moreover, tomorrow is Mid-Autumn Festival, so no one wants to go to the fields to work today.
So many people come to the river to fish.
Zhou Dalang and Zhou Sanlang took their younger brothers and sons to the river early in the morning to occupy a good spot. In addition to setting up fish baskets, they also set up fishing nets.
Zhou Wulang had just returned from the mountain after picking some Ligustrum lucidum fruits and he immediately ran to the river to help.
At this moment, he was standing in the river with his trouser legs rolled up, playing in the water. Zhou Sanlang was so angry that he wanted to beat him up, "The fish were scared away by you bastards."
When Zhou Sanlang looked up and saw Manbao and Santou coming with the two youngest children, he waved his hand and said, "Why are you here? Go home quickly."
Zhou Wulang was just driven ashore by Zhou Dalang. He simply sat on the grass and said, "What's the big deal? I'll watch them. Big brother and third brother, hurry up and catch the fish."
Zhou Dalang stood still and said, "Wait a little longer, let's see if we can catch a big fish with this net."
Zhou Liulang also climbed ashore, squatted beside Fifth Brother, looked down, and shook his head, saying, "I guess it's difficult. We've already cast three nets today, and haven't seen many big fish."
Manbao and the three others squatted beside Zhou Wulang, looked down, and then looked around and asked, "Fifth Brother, we didn't catch any big fish?"
"I got it. It's in the barrel."
Manbao immediately went over to take a look, and saw that there were four or five fish squeezed in the wooden barrel. They were not very big, only as wide as his eldest brother's palm, and only slightly longer than the palm.
Just as he was thinking about it, Zhou Dalang and Zhou Sanlang collected the net. When they pulled up the net, they saw many small fishes scrambling to slip out from the small holes. Zhou Dalang didn't mind, because those were the holes he adjusted at noon.
A bucket of small fish has been sent back, and the rest will naturally have to be released, otherwise where will we find fish to eat next year?
The net was getting tighter and tighter, and the two brothers worked at a steady pace. At the very end, they pulled up the net with all their might, and saw seven or eight big fish jumping around in it. Among them were two grass carps that were as thick as Zhou Dalang's arm and half as long as his arm.
He was so happy that he immediately pulled the net ashore with Zhou Sanlang.
Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang immediately took the wooden barrel and prepared to catch fish.
All the fish that were bigger than a palm were put into wooden barrels, and the rest were released into the river.
Zhou Dalang was very satisfied with today's harvest, while Manbao turned his head and looked upstream with regret, "If only the dam broke again."
Zhou Dalang almost tripped over his left foot, and Zhou Sanlang almost choked on his saliva, but Santou and the two little ones nodded together.
Especially his son, who ordered very seriously. Although he was over four years old and could not speak clearly, he had a very good memory and even remembered the fishing incident last year.
Even Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang, who were already sensible, couldn't help but look around, and then lowered their voices and said, "I also think it's good that the dam has broken..."
Zhou Dalang's face darkened. He said, "So it's not you who are going to serve?"
The two brothers immediately shrank their necks and hid behind Manbao.
(End of this chapter)
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