The dog readily agreed and happily went to Qian Xiao's shed to look for fishing rods. He had been there before, but for some reason, he was lucky to catch one fish out of ten times, and those were tiny fish no bigger than his palm, not even enough for one meal.
Erdan doesn't know how he got so lucky; he caught a big fish almost every time he went.
When Qian Xiao arrived at the river where she usually went fishing, she realized she had been tricked. How could she not have thought that the river level had dropped? Now, even if she sat on the bank, her two not-so-long legs couldn't reach the water, so what was the point of soaking her feet?
The dog scratched the back of its head and grinned foolishly: "Hehe, how could I forget about that? How about I fetch you a bucket of water to soak your feet?"
"Come on, don't think I don't know. The river water isn't cool at all at this time of day. Hurry up and get some earthworms, otherwise how are we going to fish?"
The dog pulled a tangled mass of earthworms from its pocket.
Qian Xiao... You're really something, you just kept this thing in your pocket.
Wait a minute: "You little rascal, you dare to trick me? You never even intended to go up the mountain, and you've given me a choice between two options." He's suddenly become cunning!
"Hehe, I was just asking, in case you're willing to go up the mountain today. Meat is definitely tastier than fish."
"You're really something, using earthworms. I wonder if there are still any fish in the river at this hour."
I must say, Qian Xiao is really good at fishing. He rarely comes home empty-handed. No matter how much he catches, he always manages to catch something. Today's catch was so-so. The three-foot-long fish weren't big, but they weren't small either. We made fish soup so that the whole family could have a taste. It just so happens that my great-grandfather's family, my second great-grandfather's family, and my own family each caught one.
Grandma Qian saw her eldest granddaughter enter the door and said, "What are you doing out in this sweltering heat? It's cooler inside. Aren't you planning to visit your dad since you're on holiday?"
"I haven't decided yet. I'll wait until the results come out before making a decision. I'll have to bring my own food with me. If I eat so much, won't I end up eating all of my parents' food?"
"That's true. Anyway, if you're going, bring plenty of food with you. The rations aren't enough to feed everyone. I don't even know if your mother and San Dan and Si Dan will have enough to eat."
“My mother said that they also got land over there, so they should be able to grow enough to eat. If not, they can send some grain to them.”
"That won't do. If people see you have so much surplus grain, they might start eyeing it." These days, you have to be careful in everything you do; it would be troublesome if someone started watching you.
"Then I'll go there when school starts and bring some food to my parents while I'm at it. Is that alright?"
"We'll talk about it later. Didn't they say the results would be out tomorrow? If you pass, should you bring some food to school?"
The old lady said her eldest granddaughter was more important. Her eldest son was already such a big boy, how could he let his wife and child go hungry?
"No need, isn't there a subsidy for college students? I'll ask the teacher later."
"Tell me, why did you choose such a faraway school? If something happens, your family won't be able to help you." The capital city—a place she never dared to dream of visiting in her entire life.
"What if you don't pass the exam? Isn't it a bit premature for you to worry now?"
"Pah, pah, pah, what nonsense are you spouting? Spit it out! God help me, this is just a child talking nonsense. Please don't take it personally."
"Spit it out right now," the old lady said, slapping Qian Xiao hard across the back.
Thank goodness I'm strong, otherwise that slap would have made me vomit blood: "Okay, okay, I'll vomit, ptooey ptooey ptooey, I'm talking nonsense."
"Yes, don't talk nonsense to me. My eldest granddaughter will definitely get into university, she definitely will."
Qian Xiao... She thought her family didn't care about her studies because they were confident in her. Turns out they were worried, but they just didn't let her see it?
Qian Xiao patted her chest and boasted to herself with a smug look on her face: "Grandma, don't get upset. Who is your granddaughter? She's sure to get into university. When she does, Grandma will be so proud. Then, no old lady in our village will not envy you."
The old lady laughed: "You brat, don't go around saying that. It makes you seem unsophisticated. Alright, how are we going to eat this fish?"
"It's too small to be used for soup, otherwise, with so many people in our family, it would be gone in a single bite."
"Alright, let's make soup then. What's wrong with the heavens? Why don't they send down a couple of rain showers? The people depend on this for their livelihood."
"Maybe God is too busy and hasn't noticed us yet. We'll be fine once He sees us. What about the land on the mountain?"
Although there are water sources on the mountain, can those trickling streams still exist in this weather?
"Your grandpa said the water on the mountain is fine, maybe it's because there are too many trees blocking the sunlight. If it's like this all year, then we won't plant that land next year."
"Fortunately, all these years of hard work haven't been in vain. We've stored up quite a bit of grain at home, otherwise we would have been worried sick about this weather." It was the stored grain that gave the old lady confidence, preventing her from being as anxious as the others in the village.
Qian Xiao got up very early in the morning. She would never go out unless it was absolutely necessary. It wasn't even eight o'clock yet, but the sun in the sky already felt like it could kill you.
Before leaving, Grandma Qian stuffed two boiled eggs into Qian Xiao's pocket: "Eat them if you get hungry on the way. You won't be staying in the county town tonight, will you?"
"No, I came back after checking the results."
"Alright, I'll have your third uncle pick you up at the commune station then."
"No need, I can walk back. I don't want my third uncle to run away in this hot weather."
"What's so hot? Riding a bicycle is fast. Hurry up, or you'll miss the bus."
"Grandma, I'm leaving now."
"Erdan, won't you let your third uncle take you?" Qian Sanbao was still waiting to take his eldest niece to the commune later.
"No need, the village's oxcarts aren't going out today, so I'll just ride in one."
"That's fine, your third uncle will pick you up this afternoon."
"Okay, I'm off."
When we got to the village entrance, we actually saw an oxcart parked there, but there was no one on it yet: "Seventh Uncle."
"Erdan, are we going to the county town? Come on up, we'll leave when the village chief arrives." After the village was renovated, everyone still called Grandpa Tang the village chief; they were used to it and couldn't change it.
"The village chief is going to go pick up the educated youth too?" Is it really necessary? Just send someone to pick them up.
"That's right. We need to bring them back properly. Tell me, what can these city kids do when they come here? They know how to farm." Seventh Uncle got angry thinking about this. The harvest is so bad now, and they still want to send people over to share food rations. He doesn't know what they were thinking.
Qian Xiao didn't know how to respond to that, just then the village chief arrived with his granddaughter, Erhua.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com