Lin Manman was just wondering what to send to Gu Yanting to express her gratitude. After dinner, she was chatting and heard Lin Shangjing happily discussing with Lin Shouwang:
"Brother, your leg is almost healed, come work for me tomorrow!"
Lin Shouwang agreed:
"Okay, my leg is healed now, I'll take over your job for a few more days. You haven't had a break all winter, and you've been getting up early and going to bed late to send my little sister off recently. You must be tired!"
Lin Shangjing said nonchalantly:
"It's no big deal to send my little sister off. Besides, I'm just going there and coming back in a bullock cart. Why should I be tired?"
"I have made an appointment with Uncle Zhang's Sanniu. Our team will go to the river for winter fishing tomorrow. Sanniu finally agreed with the captain of the winter fishing team to add me as one. I can't let him down!"
"I'm participating in the winter fishing, so our family can get a lot of fish. I see my little sister loves to eat fish, so let's share more so that she can eat her fill. We can also have a big fish on the New Year's dinner table, which has good meaning!"
Hearing about winter fishing, Lin Manman became interested and asked Lin Shangjing:
"Brother, are we going to go winter fishing tomorrow? Do you know what kind of fish our team catches every year? Are there any small fish, the kind that are only one finger long?"
Lin Shangjing was puzzled and said:
"Sanniu said, we catch big fish in the river, why are you asking about small fish? The only thing you can do with a finger-long fish is to make fish sauce. Do you want to eat fish sauce?"
Lin Manman shook his head and said:
"No, I don't want to eat fish sauce. I just thought that Brother Gu sent us so much food, so we have to give him something in return. If we only make meat strips, we don't have much meat at home, so we can't send much."
"If there are finger-long fish, dry them on the kang and make them into spicy dried fish, it would be suitable to send them as a return gift!"
"If there are a lot of small fish, we can make more, keep some for ourselves as snacks, and send some to big brother. Big brother said that the food in the army is good, but not much oil. Make some dried fish and give big brother some oil!"
When Lin Shangjing heard about spicy dried fish, his mouth started watering. Although he had just finished dinner, the spicy dried fish sounded delicious!
Lin Shangjing quickly said:
"Spicy dried fish sounds delicious. Manman, wait a moment. I'm going to Uncle Zhang's house to ask Sanniu if he can catch some fish. Even if no one wants them, we can share them with our family!"
After saying that, Lin Shangjing put on his thick cotton-padded jacket and hurried to Uncle Zhang's house!
Seeing that it was Lin Shangjing who came, Uncle Zhang greeted him happily:
"Xiao Lin is here, come over and warm yourself by the fire. It's so late, what's going on?"
Lin Shangjing replied with a smile:
"I came to see Sanniu to discuss tomorrow's winter fishing!"
Uncle Zhang will also have to go tomorrow with his ox cart. After all, he not only has to pull people, but also tools and transport fish back and forth. When he heard that they were discussing winter fishing, he asked:
"Winter fishing? Sanniu doesn't know as much as I do. If you want to know something, just ask me!"
When Lin Shangjing heard this, he was no longer in a hurry to find Sanniu. He moved closer to Uncle Zhang and squatted by the stove to warm himself by the fire.
"Uncle Zhang, do we have those small fish that keep growing during the winter fishing? My family wants some!"
At this time, everyone likes to eat big fish because they have more meat and taste better. No one likes small fish. Fish sauce is okay, but fish sauce is too wasteful and no one likes to make it!
After all, small fish are free, but food is rationed. We have to stay at home in the winter and can’t cook things that waste food!
When he heard that Lin Shangjing wanted small fish, Uncle Zhang waved his hand and said:
"Why aren't there so many small fish? There are quite a lot of them. There must be a basin or half a basin of them when they come online. But we just throw them there. No one wants them. Who wants small fish when there are big fish?"
"Besides, you see, fish paste tastes good, but stewing fish paste wastes oil and rice. Who would make this in the middle of winter?"
"Why, do you want to eat fish sauce? That's fine, just bring a basin with you and I'll fill it up for you!"
Upon hearing this, Lin Shangjing was delighted. He cheerfully begged:
"Uncle Zhang, can I bring a few more basins? You can fill a truck with them. My sister said she would like to make some dried fish and send it to my brother. My brother doesn't have much money in the army, so my sister said she would make some dried fish so that he can eat it to replenish his body!"
Speaking of dried fish, Uncle Zhang also knows it. After it is cooked in the kang, add some dried chilies and lard and stir-fry it in a big iron pan. It is the best dish to go with wine!
But it wastes so much oil. He has to beg his wife for half a day if he wants to eat it once, and his wife has to nag him for half a month!
However, after hearing what Lin Shangjing said, Uncle Zhang really wanted to eat this. Thinking that Xiao Lin was still around, his wife had to give him some face. Uncle Zhang rolled his eyes and told Aunt Zhang:
"Daniu's mother, let's bring a basin tomorrow and bring some fish home. We'll also bake some dried fish later. If anyone comes to our house for a drink, we can fry a plate of it. It's also a meat dish, right?"
Aunt Zhang curled her lips when she heard this. Who comes to her house to drink and deserves a basin of dried fish? It was this damn old man who, seeing Xiaolin being here, pretended to be ignorant and made demands on her!
However, no matter how much Aunt Zhang cursed Uncle Zhang in her heart, she still gave Uncle Zhang face in front of Lin Shangjing and agreed:
"Okay, then you go with Sanniu tomorrow and bring back a basin. I'll heat up the kang. After you've finished frying the fish, you and Sanniu can sleep at the head of the kang to keep warm all night, so you won't be so cold and you two won't catch a cold again!"
Hearing his wife's agreement, Grandpa Zhang was satisfied. Thinking of the dried fish with wine, Grandpa Zhang smiled and agreed to Lin Shangjing:
"Okay, bring a few more basins. I'll give you two or three basins in one truck. Anyway, I'll have to run several trucks. It's enough for your family to make dried fish!"
Lin Shangjing was delighted when he heard this. He thanked Uncle Zhang and went to tell Lin Manman the good news!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
