It's only nine o'clock in the morning. Today's banquet is for the villagers who helped build the house, as well as relatives of the Ye family.
So there are quite a few people busy in the kitchen right now.
These banquets were not as lavish as modern ones; sometimes there were four or five dishes on the table, but only one of them was meat.
Even a bowl of meat dishes is basically just cabbage stewed with pork cracklings or sliced meat, and the meat is cut into pieces that are about the size of a fingernail.
Ye Jianguo was quite generous today, sending Ye Lin to the market early this morning to buy three catties of meat. Ye Lin and Ye Jun went out now mainly to try their luck.
There was only one meat dish on the table, and the two brothers felt a little uneasy.
Upon hearing that Ye Lin and Ye Jun had gone to the riverbank, Fu Wan and Fu Ming exchanged a glance, then turned to Ye Xiaocui and Li Chunhua respectively and said:
"Mother, I'm going to go to the river to take a look."
"Aunt, I'm going to help at the river."
Ye Xiaocui didn't stop the brother and sister from saying this, but only gave them a few words of advice.
"The river is deep and muddy, so it's fine for just the two of you to go. Don't bring the two children."
As soon as he finished speaking, Fu Ling and Qin Mingzhu's hands, which were cheering and clapping, instantly stopped.
Even the little braids that were just flying on her head drooped down.
"Grandma, Mom, we want to go too."
We promise we won't wander off!
I don't know where this guy learned the oath-taking gesture, but it made Li Chunhua laugh.
"Mother, how could we, a group of adults, not be able to take care of two children?"
"Let them come with us, it's fine!"
Fu Ming couldn't bear to see his niece looking so pitiful, so he immediately tried to persuade Ye Xiaocui.
Fu Wan thought about the riverside environment. There was a section of riverbank where villagers often grazed cattle, so it wouldn't be bad to let the two children go there to play.
"Mother, let them go together. I'll let them play on the riverbank later."
Since Fu Wan's biological mother had spoken up, Ye Xiaocui naturally didn't stop her anymore.
He repeatedly reminded the two children to be careful, saying, "You have to keep an eye on the cow when you're playing, otherwise if it goesre you with its horns, your guts will come out!"
These words successfully frightened the two eager children, who had just seen several water buffaloes in the distance, their long, curved horns completely different from the small horns of the yellow cattle in Fujia Village.
Moreover, most of the villagers in Fujia Village rely on the sea for their livelihood, and only two households in the village raise cattle.
"Okay, Mom, Aunt, let's go to the river."
Holding Fu Ling's hand in one hand and Qin Mingzhu's hand in the other, Fu Wan bid farewell to Ye Xiaocui and Li Chunhua, and then walked towards the riverbank she remembered.
The river actually originated from the same stream as the one where they caught the turtle, but the place Ye Lin and the others are going to now is a place downstream with more water.
Because of the abundant water, a lot of aquatic plants grow along the riverbanks. In the summer, with frequent torrential rains, the aquatic plants teem with crayfish.
Because of its proximity to water, the grass grew lush and green, and over time, this place became a sacred spot for villagers to graze their cattle.
At this time, the cows all had iron rings tied to their noses, and a sturdy hemp rope was firmly attached to the iron rings.
The villagers would drive the cattle onto the grassland, making sure there weren't any trees nearby that could entangle the hemp ropes, and then nail the iron stakes with the hemp ropes attached to them into the grass. This way, they could let the cattle out in the morning and bring them back in the evening.
These cattle spend the whole day on the riverbank, drinking water when thirsty and grazing when hungry. When brought back in the evening, their bellies are round and full, requiring almost no care from anyone. (Image of water buffalo from the internet; it's rare to see people exclaiming "Godmother, so many cattle!" these days!)
Seeing the water buffaloes of all sizes on the riverbank, Qin Mingzhu's eyes widened in astonishment; it was the first time she had ever seen buffaloes with such large horns.
“There are indeed many. You should stay away from these cows later. See those horns? They are very dangerous.”
Although she agreed to bring the two children, Fu Wan still had to give them a lot of instructions.
Because water buffaloes are much more irritable than the old yellow oxen in the village.
Fu Ling suddenly made eye contact with a cow not far away. The cow's large eyes stared at her coldly, and Fu Ling couldn't help but shudder.
"Mom...Mom, I'd rather stay with you."
The little girl didn't dare to openly express her fear, but Fu Wan could feel that the force with which she was pulling her had increased.
"Ah Wan, what brings you all here!"
Ye Lin heard the familiar voices from afar, and when he turned around, he saw that they were indeed his younger cousins.
His shout instantly excited Ye Xiaofeng and Ye Zhenxing, who were squatting nearby, and they ran towards Fu Wan and the others, shouting as they went.
"Cousin-aunt! Cousin-uncle!"
Fu Wan and Fu Ming responded from afar. Fu Wan patted her pockets and found she didn't have any candy, but she did take out two yuan and gave it to the two children.
"Go buy some candy yourself later."
Although Ye Xiaofeng was young, she didn't dare to accept it. Ye Zhenxing was even less likely to accept it; their allowance was always just a few cents, and a dime or two was a rare occurrence.
"Take it and go play with your sisters, don't run off to the water buffalo!"
Without a word, Fu Wan stuffed the money into their pockets. Seeing this, Fu Ming also patted his own pocket. Well, all he had in his pocket was the shredded radish he had bought for Fu Ling and the others at the convenience store that morning.
"Well, I don't have any money on me, so you can take these shredded radish for now."
This snack was all the rage at the time, and Ye Xiaofeng obediently accepted it, giving Fu Ming and Fu Wan a sweet smile.
"Thank you, Aunt and Uncle."
Ye Zhenxing scratched his head, thanked them, and then led his younger sisters to run into the grass not far away.
The four children were very harmonious, sharing the two packets of shredded radish. Seeing that Ye Zhenxing was watching over them, Fu Wan pulled Fu Ming and walked quickly towards Ye Lin.
"Brother Lin, Brother Jun, how was the harvest?"
Ye Lin smiled upon hearing this and gestured towards the bucket on the ground.
"Look, they're all crucian carp the size of a palm."
Crucian carp actually tastes quite good; when braised, it becomes a very popular dish.
Ye Jun was very happy to see Fu Wan and the others arrive.
The river was wider than the one down the mountain, so they couldn't use nets on both sides. The two brothers had to use their hands to throw the nets, and after a lot of effort, they only managed to catch a dozen or so small crucian carp.
"Wan, do you want to give it a try?"
Ye Lin looked at Fu Wan and couldn't help but ask.
Upon hearing this, Fu Ming, who was standing nearby, immediately became displeased. "Da Linzi, I'm a grown man standing right here, why don't you ask me what's wrong?"
Ye Lin rolled his eyes at him, and Ye Jun, who was standing next to him, immediately shoved the fishing net in his hand into Fu Ming's hand.
"Amin wants to try it? Here you go!"
Before Fu Ming could even react, he turned to Ye Lin and said, "Big brother, you guys keep busy here, I'm going back to check on my chickens and ducks!"
Ye Lin could only nod helplessly, then turned to Fu Wan and whispered his complaints.
“He’s obsessed with his chicken farm right now. My mom was worried he’d go crazy from raising chickens, so she had me drag him here to catch fish.”
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