Eels are good for replenishing blood. If you catch a few eels this big, you can make a stir-fry dish.
"Brother, there are many holes by the pond. They are probably full of eels. Let's dig out the holes together! Don't touch the snails. No one wants to pick them up."
"Big brother told me to pick up more snails."
"Let's catch the eels first, and then we'll pick up the clams later. Let Big Brother pick up the snails. No one will compete with us anyway."
Seeing that Lu Chen had made all the arrangements, what else could Lu Jin say? Of course he would dig in the hole to catch the eels. Maybe there were also turtles in the hole.
Seeing Lu Ting come back so quickly, Hua Guotao asked him what he had found. Lu Ting smiled and said, "Lu Chen and Lu Jin worked together to catch a big turtle, and I secretly brought it back."
"No one asked you to hand it in?"
"No one knew about it. They didn't say anything after catching the turtle. Everyone else went to the watery part of the pond to pick up the fish. No one noticed them."
"Wash the turtle and put it in a small water tank. I'll stew it for your wife tonight."
"Grandpa, we only caught one turtle, so let's leave it for you and grandma!"
"No need to save it for tonight. It's such a big turtle. Are you worried that your grandma and I won't have any soup?"
"Okay, let's eat tonight. My dad and the others should be here this afternoon."
"Your uncle and aunt will also be back tonight, and your second aunt and uncle will probably be back tomorrow morning."
"Well, they might be busy with work."
"What are they busy with? They must be complaining about the small size of their home and the lack of electricity. Okay, let's not talk about them anymore. I'm going to go over to the ancestral hall and see how many pounds of fish we caught today."
Lu Ting put the turtle into the small water tank and covered the tank with a large wooden board.
When he went over again, Lu Chen's bucket was already half full of eels and loaches, as well as several small carps weighing half a pound. He poured all the snails and clams he had picked up earlier at Su Yan's feet.
“What are you doing?
"We are digging for eels and loaches."
Lu Ting ignored all that and continued to go down to the pond to pick up snails. Yanyan said she liked to eat fried snails, so he had to pick more. He didn't come up until the bucket could no longer hold any more.
After two hours of work, the five of them picked up two buckets of miscellaneous fish, half a bucket of small shrimps, a large bucket of snails, more than 20 pounds of eels and loaches, and a wooden basin of clam shells.
When they got home, they were all covered in mud. They squatted in the well to draw water to wash off the mud on their bodies.
Hua Zhang came back with the big fish he had shared and bought. Looking at the densely packed small fish in the water tank, his scalp tingled. "Why did you dump the small fish into the water tank? I want to raise big fish in the tank. You can take out the bigger fish and keep them in buckets. Take out the small fish and throw them to the ducks to eat!"
"Dad, my cousin's wife said that we can eat small fish by pinching off their internal organs, frying them in oil, and then drying them in the sun. This way, we can eat them when there's nothing to eat in the winter."
Hua Zhang knew that small fish could be eaten, but preparing them was too much trouble. Especially the hairtail fish, which were as wide as a finger. It was really troublesome to pick them up one by one. If they were not cleaned well, they would taste bitter. Frying them all would waste a lot of oil.
Hua Zhang smiled and said, "So Xiaoyan wants to eat some. You guys pour the little fish into the wooden basin and clean them slowly. I'll help you fry them."
Seeing that his father was going to use the water tank, Hua Xiangnan had no choice but to pour the little fish back into the bucket and wooden basin.
Lu Jin and Hua Xiangnan dealt with the small fish, while Lu Ting, Su Yan and Lu Yu went to cut the butts of the snails that had vomited mud and sand all night.
Tian Xiuhe was preparing lunch. By the time she finished, Lu Ting and the other two had already cut a basin of snails.
Su Yan suddenly stood up and said, "Stop it, a basin of snails should be enough for us to eat."
Lu Ting stood up to wash his hands and told Lu Chen, "Don't do it anymore. Xiao Yuzi will do it this afternoon."
Su Yan rinsed the snails she had cut and said, "You all go eat. I'll put the snails in the pot and cook them first."
Lu Yu shook his head and said, "Wait until my sister-in-law finishes frying the snails before we eat."
"Xiao Yu, it will take half an hour to cook, and at least forty minutes to stir-fry. Let's eat first."
Lu Yu had no choice but to wash his hands and eat. Today, Tian Xiuhe went to the street to buy a lot of meat and vegetables. Hua Zhang spent money to buy a hundred kilograms of grass carp. The village also gave their family a sixteen-kilogram bighead carp and a three-kilogram carp.
At noon, Tian Xiuhe braised the carp, fried a dozen small crucian carps for soup, stir-fried pork liver, lean meat with cucumber, and loofah with river clams.
After dinner, the snails in the big pot were cooked. Su Yan took them out with a large ladle, washed them several times, prepared various ingredients and started to stir-fry them.
Lu Yu stood behind her and watched quietly. When the soup was almost dried up, Su Yan picked up a snail and sucked it a few times, and the snail meat came out. The snail was very tasty and was finally ready to be served.
"Lu Yu, bring the washbasin over here quickly."
"Okay, sister-in-law."
When the fried snails were served, everyone gathered around. Tian Xiuhe asked with a smile, "We just finished our meal. Do you think this basin of fried snails is enough for you?"
Su Yan thought her aunt was joking. Nine people couldn't finish a whole bowl of fried snails? How much meat was in a bowl of snails? They didn't eat the shells, so how could they not finish it?
It was just as they said. In less than half an hour, they had eaten up the whole basin of fried snails.
Hua Zhang was still not satisfied. "Sometimes I pick snails to feed the ducks. I didn't expect that fried snails are quite delicious. They should be a good snack to go with wine in winter."
"Sister-in-law, I will continue to pick up the snail butts later. We can make another basin in the evening!" Lu Yu also felt that he had not eaten enough fried snails and wanted to eat more in the evening.
"My parents and my aunt and uncle will all be back tonight. I guess two more basins won't be enough."
My aunt's family has seven people, my uncle's family has six people, plus my parents-in-law, adults and children, I guess both tables won't be able to accommodate everyone tonight.
"Didn't Big Brother pick up a big bucket of snails this morning? I'll add some oil to the bucket, and they'll spit out the mud and sand quickly."
In order to eat fried snails, Lu Yu's brain worked very quickly.
"Weren't you still biting small fish this afternoon?"
"My brother and the others will be able to do it."
"Okay, then we'll fry some more tonight."
Because she was pregnant, Su Yan felt very sleepy without doing anything, so she went back to her room to rest.
When I woke up, it was already four or five o'clock. My aunt and uncle had come back with their whole family. Even my parents-in-law came early. They asked someone to bring half a pig over to use for the banquet tomorrow.
Lu Fengnian was a down-to-earth man. He didn't know what to give his father-in-law, so he promised his father-in-law that he would give him half a pig on his birthday.
Su Yan calculated that half a pig would cost more than a hundred yuan. Looking at the pile of supplements and fabrics on the table, Su Yan felt that her father-in-law was a really good son-in-law.
Seeing her grandfather with a smile on his face and a rosy glow, Su Yan suddenly thought of the late Mr. Lu. Grandpa was really unlucky. He passed away during the Chinese New Year.
In fact, when my father-in-law didn't know who his biological mother was, he was very nice to my grandfather.
Because of my mother-in-law's affairs, although my father-in-law was a little dissatisfied with them, he still took time to visit them every month and bought good wine and food for my grandfather. Unfortunately, my grandfather was not blessed and passed away during the New Year.
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