The three of them arrived at the riverbank, and Yan Qingqing took out the bait she had prepared.
Little Niu Niu and Li Xiang Kang both gasped in surprise as they looked at the several writhing insects.
Li Xiangkang asked curiously, "Mom, why are you picking up the ground sprigs?"
Yan Qingqing caught an earthworm, also called a groundworm, or locally known as a groundworm.
Yan Qingqing replied with a smile, "This is called an earthworm. It's used as bait. Fish love to eat this."
Li Xiangkang was somewhat skeptical, after all, he had never heard of anyone in the village being able to catch fish with this thing.
Yan Qingqing didn't explain. She simply threaded the earthworm onto the fishing hook, cast the line, and sat gracefully on a nearby mound of earth.
Li Xiangkang and Xiao Niu Niu were also very well-behaved. The two of them squatted next to Yan Qingqing, resting their chins on their hands in boredom.
Yan Qingqing glanced at the two children but didn't say anything.
After all, the two children are too young, and they won't be able to hold on for long.
Running around looking around, Yan Qingqing was worried that the two of them might accidentally fall into the river, so she had a sudden idea and waved to them, saying, "Come on, you two sit down. I'm going to tell you a story."
Upon hearing this, the two immediately became interested and obediently squatted down on either side of Yan Qingqing.
Yan Qingqing cleared her throat and said, "I'm going to tell you a story called 'The Kitten Fishing'."
Once upon a time, there was a little kitten who went fishing with its mother. But the kitten was not focused; it kept trying to catch butterflies and dragonflies. In the end, the mother cat caught a lot of fish, but the kitten didn't catch a single one.
Later, the mother cat told the kitten that it's important not to be distracted when doing things, but to always concentrate.
After Yan Qingqing finished telling the story and saw that the two children were listening intently, she asked, "What are your thoughts after hearing this story?"
Li Xiangkang quickly asked, "Mom, how can a kitten fish? I've never seen one before."
Yan Qingqing: ……
Actually, she had never seen it either.
The little girl asked again, "Grandma, the kitten isn't talking, and the kitten at Brother Er Gou's house isn't talking to me."
The little girl is only two years old, and her speech is not yet very fluent.
Yan Qingqing: ……
This style isn't right; it's not what she expected.
Yan Qingqing was just thinking about how to discipline her two children when she saw the fishing line twitch. She quickly and deftly lifted the fishing rod, and sure enough, there was a big carp. Yan Qingqing estimated it to be about two pounds.
Yan Qingqing was overjoyed, and the two children, no longer concerned about whether the kitten could talk, clapped their hands with delight.
As Li Xiangkang helped Yan Qingqing put the fish into the wooden bucket, he looked at her with admiration and said, "Mom, you're amazing!"
The little girl next to her clapped her hands and said, "Grandma is the best!"
Yan Qingqing proudly raised her chin upon hearing this. She had also formally studied fishing; back then, in order to secure cooperation with other companies, she had accompanied those old men fishing countless times. At that time, her head and body were covered in mosquito bites.
She still gets commissions from those big clients.
Sigh, it's all tears when I think about it. Those commissions aren't even as valuable as this fish these days.
Yan Qingqing is a realistic person. Since she can't go back, she won't think about those irrelevant things anymore.
Yan Qingqing quickly cast her line again. Seeing that there weren't many earthworms left, Li Xiangkang quickly said, "Mom, let me go and dig some bait for you."
Yan Qingqing nodded. She had prepared her fishing hook and was in a hurry to fish, so she hadn't dug up many earthworms. It would be even better if Li Xiangkang could help.
Little Niu Niu helped Li Xiangkang catch earthworms, while Yan Qingqing focused on fishing. She forgot to give the two little ones a lecture.
After an unknown amount of time, the wooden bucket that Yan Qingqing and the others had brought contained seven or eight fish of varying sizes, as well as a few large shrimp.
Yan Qingqing didn't realize it was time to eat until her stomach started growling.
However, most people in Canghe Village eat two meals a day, and only eat three meals during busy farming seasons.
As a modern person, Yan Qingqing found it hard to accept, always feeling that something was missing if she didn't eat lunch.
Thinking of this, Yan Qingqing put away her fishing rod and said to the two little ones, "Come on, let's go home and I'll cook you something delicious."
Upon hearing that there was delicious food, the two were overjoyed and happily followed Yan Qingqing home.
Yuan Huiniang, who was making shoe uppers at home, was also very excited to see that Yan Qingqing and the others had actually caught half a bucket of fish.
Looking at Yan Qingqing, she said, "Mother, so many fish! Isn't that too many? How did you manage to do that?"
The little girl next to her put her hand to her mouth and shushed Yuan Huiniang, then whispered a few words in Yuan Huiniang's ear.
Yuan Huiniang nodded, glanced at Li Sanniu who was working over at Old Li's house, and then carried the wooden bucket into the kitchen.
Yan Qingqing couldn't help but pat Niu Niu's head as she looked at how clever the child was, thinking that the child was just like her.
Li Sanniu was indeed a quick worker; they had already built more than half of the wall between themselves and the Li family.
Just then, Li Sanniu heard that Yan Qingqing and the others had caught fish and was craning his neck to look in their direction. When Yan Qingqing looked at him, he said somewhat embarrassedly, "Second Sister-in-law, I didn't mean anything by it, I just wanted to take a look."
Li Sanniu's situation in the Li family was similar to that of Li Erniu, except that Li Sanniu was more shrewd than Li Erniu.
Yan Qingqing glanced at him but didn't say anything before going inside.
Li San Niu touched his nose guiltily. He felt that his second sister-in-law was different from before. In the past, his second sister-in-law would not even dare to speak loudly, but the look in her eyes just now made him feel a chill down his spine. It was like seeing a ghost.
When Yan Qingqing entered the house, she saw Yuan Huiniang looking at the fish with a worried expression.
Yan Qingqing asked, "Hui Niang, what's wrong? Are you thinking about what to do with these fish?"
Yuan Huiniang nodded and quickly replied, "Mother, I can cook some simple home-cooked meals, but I really don't know how to cook fish. I've heard that fish tastes best when cooked by a chef in a restaurant."
Also, this fish is particularly difficult to clean, and I was afraid of wasting the fish that my mother had worked so hard to catch.
Yan Qingqing laughed and said, "What's there to worry about? If you don't know how, your mother will teach you."
Yuan Huiniang nodded quickly upon hearing this. Although she didn't think her mother-in-law could cook particularly delicious fish, it was the fish that her mother-in-law had caught, so no one would say anything even if it wasn't cooked well.
Yan Qingqing walked around the kitchen and realized that given the family's situation, it wasn't realistic to make boiled fish or sweet and sour fish.
I can only make a fish stew in an iron pot, which is suitable for both adults and children.
Yan Qingqing deftly scooped two fish out of the wooden bucket, stunned them with a rolling pin, and then found the broken kitchen knife that had been given to them when the family divided their property.
Calling it a broken kitchen knife is no exaggeration; it has several nicks and chips on it.
Yan Qingqing painstakingly cut off the fish head and tail, then found the fishy line, gently patted the fish body, and pulled out the fishy line.
While observing, Yuan Huiniang asked, "Mother, what is this?"
Yan Qingqing explained, "This is the fishy lining. After you pull it out, the fish won't smell so fishy."
After the fish was cleaned and cooked, Yan Qingqing asked Li Xiangkang to bring Xinniang and Yueniang back. The two children, afraid of going hungry, went to dig for wild vegetables again.
As soon as Li Xinniang and Li Yueniang entered the door, they smelled the aroma of fish.
When Li Xiangkang called them to lunch, they couldn't believe it. When had their family ever eaten lunch? Even during the busy farming season, they never got a meal at noon.
Yan Qingqing, who was standing in the courtyard, saw the two return and quickly took their baskets, saying with a smile, "Go wash your hands quickly, let's eat."
The two of them were already drooling from the aroma, so they quickly nodded and went to wash their hands.
Because they were going to eat fish, they ate dry rice as their staple food. The group ate with their mouths full of oil. Yan Qingqing kept reminding them to be careful and not to get fish bones stuck in their throats, especially Niu Niu.
The children nodded as they ate, but they didn't slow down their eating pace at all.
After the meal, both fish were eaten clean, and Li Xiangkang even drank all the broth.
Yan Qingqing was very satisfied; this was the best meal she had eaten since coming into this world.
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