Chapter 8 Rural Daily Life
Gu Yin ultimately didn't attend the meeting that night. After dinner and a haircut, with her grandmother's help, she took a full bath and had her hair done. She felt so comfortable that she fell asleep as soon as she got into bed, unaware that Gu Hua had returned.
Today, we're going to harvest rice again. After what happened last time, we usually leave an adult at home to prevent anything from happening again.
Gu Qingming was home today. When Gu Yin, who was turning over the grain, saw him take out a battery, her eyes lit up.
"Uncle, are we going fishing?"
After tidying up his equipment, Gu Qingming took out a small bamboo basket and nodded: "Yes, I'll go find some blackfish to make soup for you. This stuff helps wounds heal very quickly and is also very nutritious."
Gu Yin has been bored at home lately because of her head injury. Her family is preventing her from going out and keeps her feeding chickens and ducks all day. They won't let her study 001 either, saying they'll let her wait until she recovers.
"Can I go? I won't cause trouble, I'll just watch from the side!"
Seeing his niece's expectant eyes, Gu Qingming's heart softened: "Let's go, take an umbrella to block the sun, and some water so we can drink when we're thirsty! Ah Le, come out, let's go to the river together!"
Gu Le was taking a nap in her room when she heard the noise, so she got up and ran downstairs.
He casually grabbed the bamboo basket and slung it over his back, took Gu Yin's hand, and looked at his uncle with a smile: "Let's go! Let's catch some fish!"
The bamboo basket wasn't heavy, and seeing that he had taken it, Gu Yin didn't take it from him anymore, and instead led him ahead.
Walking along the village roads, you can see elderly people moving around from time to time, making it a bit more lively than before. When they went out, one of the elderly people even told them with a smile where there was a higher chance of finding blackfish.
After saying goodbye to the village elders, Gu Yin and her group walked towards the river.
Before even reaching the riverbank, they could see the village children on the bridge striking various poses as they jumped into the river. Gu Yin used to be one of them, but now, if you asked her to jump, she wouldn't dare. Perhaps it's because she's grown up, or perhaps it's because she has a greater reverence for life, but she's afraid to engage in such adventurous activities.
When Gu Yin reached the bridge, she looked down and saw people splashing and playing like dumplings being dropped into a pot. The children ranged in age from five to fifteen. When they saw Gu Yin, Xiao Mei from the village waved to her.
Gu Yin waved and reminded her, "Be careful!"
Downstream is usually where village children come to swim. The water is deep but you can see the bottom. The river is quite wide, and the village children have all learned to swim since they were little. Gu Yin can swim from upstream to downstream by herself. If she gets tired in the middle, she will turn over and stay still on the surface of the water so that the river can carry her down.
The river upstream is quite narrow, with many large rocks resembling artificial hills, and the water is very still and bottomless, so children rarely come up and it's not suitable for playing.
“We’re going upstream. Don’t go near the water’s edge. Just wait for me there. Once I’ve caught the fish, you’re responsible for putting them in the fish basket. Can you do that?” Gu Qingming led the way, giving instructions as he went.
Gu Le answered crisply, "Yes, Uncle!"
"Good boy!"
They walked upstream for about a kilometer and came to a place full of rocks. The river was very calm there, and occasionally they could see schools of tiny fish, no bigger than a thumb, swimming around.
Gu Qingming put the things down, broke off some branches and placed them on the ground so the fish wouldn't escape when he poured them out. He also put some branches into a bamboo basket and soaked them so the fish wouldn't die so quickly when he put them in the basket.
"Alright, you all sit up here and watch. Your uncle is going to the river to fish. When there are any fish, I'll just bring them up and you can pour them out."
Gu Yin nodded: "Uncle, be careful!"
After saying that, he opened the umbrella and pulled Gu Le to sit on the rock.
When they have nothing to do at night, the men in the village often come here in groups to fish, following the river upstream all the way to the reservoir. However, there is another village, Wangjia Village, which is close to the reservoir. In the past, when there was a water shortage, Wangjia Village would always block the water tightly, causing other villages downstream to have no water to irrigate their fields. Whenever there was a water shortage, there would always be arguments. Even if they reported it, they would still act like rascals. During the day, you could not expect to have water. Only when Wangjia Village stopped asking for water at midnight could a group of people from Lijia Village dig up the dike.
In my previous life, after each planting season, my father and uncle would always go to check on the water and wouldn't return until dawn.
Gu Le, who was standing nearby, stood up and looked towards her uncle: "Uncle! Do you have any fish?"
Uncle Gu handed them the bamboo pole: "Take a look inside the net and see if it's there. It feels quite heavy; I don't know if it's all grass!"
Gu Yin snapped out of her daze, handed the umbrella to Gu Le, reached out and pulled the fishing net over, and looked inside: "There are fish!" she exclaimed, then turned the net over onto the leaves.
Fish leaped and thrashed on the leaves, trying to escape, but were pinned down by branches and could only weakly wag their tails in struggle.
Gu Qingming was a little anxious and stood on tiptoe to try to look up, but it was too far away to see, so he called out, "What kind of fish are there? How big are they?"
"Most of them are small whitebait, a few loaches, and lots of river shrimp! No big fish, but there are two stones!" Gu Yin said as she cleaned the net.
Gu Qingming smiled helplessly: "Alright, I thought there was a big fish, but it's just a rock. Fine, you guys pick them up, I'll shoot some more."
Gu Yin went to the riverbank and retrieved a bamboo basket, then began to put the fish in one by one.
"Tonight, I'll ask Grandma to cook fish for you. When we get back, we'll cut some chives in the yard and stir-fry river shrimp—it'll smell delicious! We'll also buy some tofu and make loach tofu!" Gu Yin's mouth watered as she spoke.
"Sister, you can't eat these!" Gu Le said with a smile, putting the river shrimp into the bamboo basket.
Gu Yin felt a sharp pain in her chest: "...I'll come back after I'm healed!" Wild river fish have a muddy smell, but if you know how to cook them, they taste much better than farmed ones!
After the two finished picking up the fish, Gu Yin put them back into the river. Uncle Gu then handed over a net and excitedly exclaimed, "Look, look! There must be a big one in there! I just saw one!"
Gu Yin reached out and took the fish, then immediately nodded: "Two black carp! One weighs about a pound, and the other is a grass carp weighing about two pounds! There are so many river shrimp! We can have a big meal tonight!"
"Hey, I've finally finished the mission today! Two blackfish will last me two days. I'll do one last hunt and then go home. Otherwise, I'm afraid the chicken will fly out and poop in the rice paddies, and I'll get a scolding from your grandma!" Gu Qingming said, turning his head with a cheerful smile.
The blackfish was too fierce; it regained its strength almost immediately after being released. Gu Yin quickly grabbed a bamboo basket, aimed it at the fish, and threw it in as soon as she caught it. It was a bit slippery and difficult to catch.
After two more tries, Gu Qingming came up and checked the bamboo basket: "Three black carp, four grass carp, about three pounds of river shrimp, and about two pounds of small whitebait. That's enough! Time to go home!"
Seeing Gu Qingming carrying the bamboo basket on his back, Gu Yin hurriedly said, "Uncle, let me carry it. It's inconvenient for you. If it's not enough, A-Le and I can carry it together."
"No need, no need, it's just this little bit, it's not heavy at all. You're still injured, hurry up, I see a dark cloud over the mountain, there's still some grain drying there. If the grain gets rained on, the three of us will definitely get scolded. You two go first, be careful not to fall into the water!" After saying that, he pushed the two of them forward, letting them go first.
Helpless, Gu Yin could only lead Gu Le forward.
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