Zhou Xiaozheng was just returning to the kitchen from the main house with his wife and Cheng Hongli when he saw Zhang Guoqing deliberately pacing above the entrance to the cellar, occasionally looking down with a smile in his eyes.
Zhang Guoqing saw him come in and asked, "Dad, you went to HX County, right? What's it like there? There's really an ocean and fishing grounds there?"
Before Zhou Xiaozheng could answer, Cheng Hongli shouted, "Xiaowu, how did you know your dad went to HX County? Why didn't you tell us earlier? We would have been there a long time ago."
Zhang Guoqing said with a smile, "It's not too late to know now. We can just wait for Uncle Dashan to rest and drive there. Our county annals mentioned it. I also thought about where the sea was nearby for a long time before I found it. I really didn't think the sea was not far away before. Who would care if they just heard about it from different provinces?"
Cheng Hongli nodded and gave Zhou Xiaozheng a thumbs-up. "Brother Zheng is amazing! He found the site in just three days. Brother Zheng, there are so many live crabs, conchs, and shrimps. Hurry up and cook them for us to taste."
Zhou Xiaozheng nodded and instructed his wife, Lin Lishan, "I'll go to the warehouse and get some small bamboo baskets. You sort the fish in the sacks first, and I'll sort them out. I'll bring them back to Zhao Chuangguang when he comes tomorrow. Don't touch the live crabs for now, or you might get your hands caught."
When Zhang Guoqing saw this, he quickly stopped him and said, "Dad, you sit here and give the orders, I'll do it." He knew in his heart that he must be very tired after driving for five or six hours straight.
After saying that, Zhang Guoqing went out to the warehouse. Seeing the dried fish hanging there, he was speechless. This father-in-law had hidden all the big dried fish on top, and the ones in the kitchen had long been planned to be given away.
He chuckled softly. Jiaojiao truly took after her father. They were destined to be father and daughter! He remembered that every year, Jiaojiao would receive the biggest and best school benefits. She would keep them all and give away the rest without blinking an eye.
The warehouse also contained a collection of bamboo baskets, sieves, dustpans, and other miscellaneous items left behind by Mr. Liu. Zhang Guoqing looked at the baskets, thought for a moment, and then took a few small and medium-sized ones, then the largest one to fill them.
Zhou Xiaozheng was talking about his experiences in the fishing village. "I was lucky. When I asked for directions, I happened to meet Liu Sanyuan, a driver from the aquatic products company. He was very friendly and took me to the fishing grounds. We had lunch in the fishery canteen. It was full of seafood. There was a shortage of food over there, so each person only had three steamed buns. There were no meat or vegetables, just braised prawns and braised fish. There were plenty of vegetables, but no steamed buns. Those government drivers who came to the fishery to buy food were all free. The people at the table next to me had their dishes refilled three times. These things are not rare in the local area. We bought fish from Liu Sanyuan at the official price. The live crabs were bought from the outside village, all crab roe. The conchs and other miscellaneous items were collected for one yuan, and the village children helped to collect them. It's a nice place. You can go there when you have time."
Zhang Guoqing came in and put down the large bamboo basket, and advised: "Mom, please sit down first, I'll do it. I'm strong, I'll pour everything in the sack into the bamboo basket first and then separate them."
Zhou Xiaozheng saw the big bamboo basket and asked her to stop for now. How long would she take to finish this? "Shanshan, you and Hongli start the pot first. We'll steam some live crabs for ourselves. Hongli can see what Dashan likes and steam some too. Dashan will definitely come here when he gets off work."
Seeing the two of them busy themselves, the kitchen was huge, so Zhou Xiaozheng didn't leave, but went straight to Zhang Guoqing. He spread out baskets of various sizes, placed three fish in each, then four pairs of prawns and shrimps, and placed several dried fish of various sizes on top. Every bamboo basket was filled to the brim.
"Xiaowu, take a rest first. I'll need you to deliver something later. I can't go to your grandma's today. Please tell her on Dad's behalf that I'll go see her after Dad finishes his business. Take the larger bamboo basket in front of your grandma's and fill it with 20 kilograms of rice from the cellar and bring it to her."
Zhang Guoqing looked at the baskets of various sizes in front of him and said with a smile, "Dad, look at Grandma's, are there any live crabs and fish here? They're ours after all, not the same as others. It's just the eldest son's family, so let them eat it. As long as Grandma is happy. I'll ask Grandma to come visit Jiaojiao when she's free. You're usually home at night."
After saying this, he ignored his father's awkwardness and directly emptied out the basket and refilled it with four large yellow croakers, eight live crabs, eight pairs of prawns, and about five pounds of shrimp. Seeing that the bamboo basket could no longer hold anything, he picked out eight large dried fish, tied them up, and placed them on top. He looked up and saw his mother-in-law and the others were at the other end, then went straight to the cellar to load 20 pounds of rice and a pile of vermicelli noodles, and brought them back upstairs.
Seeing his father-in-law glaring at him, he smiled at Zhou Xiaozheng and said, "Dad, I'm going to grandma's first. I won't drive over there. I can just ride my bike back."
Zhou Xiaozheng listened to him and saw his wicked grin. He knew what he didn't know. He patted his head and nodded with his finger. "Haha, your evil thoughts are so obvious. Let's drive back directly and pick up some food from home. I don't know if our Jiaojiao can eat crabs. I heard they have a cold nature. What a pity! I just dozed off and dreamed that my daughter was eating crab roe and smiling at me."
Lin Lishan had seen it since Xiaowu came up with the food, and after hearing what he said, she also laughed, "Brother Zheng, it's okay. It's okay to eat less with rice wine. Save it for when I make some crab meat dumplings, and she can eat these."
Zhou Xiaozheng shook his head. "No, Ping'an is still breastfeeding. Shanshan, let Hongli take care of things. Make some buns first. They don't need to be too many, just enough to take home for Jiaojiao tonight. Make them small, just enough for one bite. Make them delicate, with thin skin and lots of filling. Our daughter will definitely be happy. Xiaowu, go find some pork and mix it with red crab meat to make buns. Put these aside for now and send them back when you have time."
Seeing Zhang Guoqing rushing out, Lin Lishan hurriedly called out, "Xiaowu, remember that it tastes better with more fat."
"I know, Mom. Don't worry, I know. You knead the dough first, I'll be back soon." After Zhang Guoqing finished speaking, he went to the county restaurant to find the chef. It was not yet time for dinner, so he was the only one who had it.
Zhou Xiaozheng grabbed a large bamboo basket, compared to the one Zhou Guoqing had prepared for his mother, and crammed his own crabs into it, adding ten more live crabs. He couldn't afford to leave a large family without enough. He grabbed another empty bamboo basket and dumped snails, shrimp, and other assorted seafood he'd caught. Two baskets should be enough. He planned to take Jiaojiao back to the county town in the next couple of days. Since it was snowing, he decided to leave two baskets of live crabs to freeze for Jiaojiao to eat slowly after she came out of confinement.
Thinking of leaving two baskets, Zhou Xiaozheng glanced back at the bamboo baskets, his mouth twitching. It looked like even two baskets wouldn't be enough. Fifty kilograms of live crabs only had about forty of them. His mother and Xiaowu's family had already taken half of them. Plus, if his daughter ate a few more buns while they were steaming, what would be left? He figured he'd have to go back sometime.
Zhang Guoqing quickly ran back with the chopped meat. "Mom, this is the chopped meat. Do you think it's enough?"
"Haha, Brother Zheng, our Xiaowu is really capable. He chopped the meat in just a short while. That's enough. This is almost a pound. Let's take a break."
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