Chapter 25 025 Summer Vacation is Here!
Song Dianchen felt really bad for making his sister's precious daughter cry. He left home under the pretext of washing some things, calmed himself down outside, and then went back with the cleaned things.
"Uncle!" Song Xiaoli held her grandmother's hand and waited outside the gate.
Song Dianchen was taken aback for a moment, "What are you doing outside? Go home, it's almost time to eat."
"Uncle, I want to tell you something private."
As Song Xiaoli spoke, she glanced at her grandmother, and with her grandmother's encouraging gaze, walked towards her eldest uncle. As for Song Dianchen, completely unaware of the situation, he could only give his things back to his mother, then sit down on the stone stool by the door with Song Xiaoli in his arms, and ask, "Alright. Xiaoli, is there anything you want to say to your uncle?"
Song Xiaoli organized her thoughts and tried to express her doubts about "corporal punishment" in a childlike and innocent way.
"My brother is very smart. When he takes me to play, he always makes sure to protect me. My grandparents and mom have told him what not to do, and he remembers it all. Sometimes when I forget, he reminds me. Today, I saw that strange fish and asked him to catch it for me. After feeding it to the chickens and ducks and seeing how much they enjoyed it, I thought that if we could eat this fish too, we could have fish to eat even if we couldn't buy meat. So we went and caught a few more. Uncle, you don't let us play in deep water or go to the mountains. We only catch fish in the places we usually play, right next to our land."
Song Xiaoli tried her best to reason with her cousin, "Uncle, please don't always hit my little brother. You're so strong! My little brother and I are so small, it really hurts when you hit us!"
"Hmm..." Song Dianchen stroked Song Xiaoli's soft hair and responded softly. He had a bad temper, and compared to his eldest son, his younger son was much easier to anger. He often didn't think before he hit the child.
If he hadn't also hit his niece this time, he probably wouldn't have realized his problem for a long time to come. His youngest son is stubborn; even though he was beaten until tears streamed down his face, he stubbornly refused to utter a sound. I don't know how the same food and water could raise such a hard-hearted child.
So the person who was hit remained silent, while the one who hit him was so careless. How could he have realized that he often used too much force and hurt the child?
"Uncle, please don't hit people anymore. We are family, so we should talk to each other nicely and not hit each other."
"Okay." This time, Song Dianchen's answer was more firm. Perhaps there would still be times when he couldn't control himself, but he had already realized the mistake of hitting the child.
After the uncle and nephew finished talking, they went inside together. Lunch was already prepared: a simple stir-fried vermicelli with a touch of spice, eggplant casserole, and chive and egg soup. The eel was a species they had never seen before. Even though they had fed it to the chickens and ducks that day without any adverse reactions, the adults wouldn't immediately try eating it.
We need to observe for a few more days.
So, for the next week, the family caught eels every day, chopped them up, and fed them to the chickens and ducks. They almost spoiled the poultry's appetites. Only then did Grandma use the eels to make braised fish for the whole family for the first time.
However, the eel has a unique structure. The long bones act as a boundary, with the meat on the back being firm, while the meat on the belly is particularly prone to falling apart. When this braised fish is served, it doesn't look like the neat and tidy braised fish of usual. The fallen fish meat absorbs the broth and turns into a sticky paste.
"How did it turn out like this?" Grandpa thought the dish looked terrible and hesitated to eat it.
Song Xiaoli's eyes darted around, and she scooped up a little fish paste with a spoon, mixed it with rice, and put it in her mouth. After chewing and swallowing it, she recommended it to everyone with bright eyes, "This is so delicious!"
My younger cousin believed his sister's words and followed her example, scooping up the fish paste and mixing it with rice. Sure enough, he ate it with great relish.
Now, the rest of the family fell silent and all tried to taste the fish.
The whole back meat of the fish has a texture somewhat similar to that of eel, slightly chewy, and is quite delicious when dipped in sauce. As for the belly meat, which is no longer recognizable, it's perfect for children to eat as a porridge. I just don't know if there are any other ways to prepare it, otherwise this dish wouldn't look appealing enough to serve guests.
Next, my grandmother and my aunt spent every day thinking about new ways to cook eel.
After her older cousin took the entrance exam for junior high school and the summer vacation officially started, they finally came up with what they thought was the most suitable approach.
"Big brother, Mom! You came back at just the right time. Grandma just made a big jar of fish floss. We'll have plain porridge for dinner tonight, and we'll mix the fish floss with it."
After Song Xiaoli finished speaking, she saw a familiar face appear behind her older cousin and mother.
"Uncle Hu, you're here too?"
Hu Lixin came along because Song Shijia had only finished his exam that afternoon. Song Wanxia was one of the proctors, and she needed to help him pack up his things in the dormitory before they could go home together. However, Song Wanxia's bicycle was a women's model and rather small. With someone on the back, it was difficult to carry toiletries, bedding, and other items. She had to ask Hu Lixin, who lived in the same town, to help deliver these things to Songshan Commune.
Since they're helping out, we can't just let them leave after they drop off their things. We should offer them a cup of tea and something to eat.
It just so happened that the Song family had been stir-frying fish floss all afternoon, and the porridge was already cooked. They only needed to stir-fry a couple more dishes before they could have dinner. Naturally, the family warmly invited Hu Lixin to stay and have dinner with them.
Fish floss is stir-fried until dry and fluffy. When mixed into white porridge, it not only enriches the texture of the porridge but also makes it more delicious. Even without side dishes, you can eat your fill just by eating this.
Before returning to his hometown, Hu Lixin lived with his father in the coastal area, where he ate a wide variety of seafood. However, the fish floss he ate at the Song family's house this time still surprised him.
"This fish floss must be quite troublesome to prepare. It looks like it can be stored for a long time and can be eaten anytime. Plus, it doesn't have any bones," Hu Lixin said, putting down his chopsticks after eating about 80% of his fill. "By the way, didn't the doctor say that Sega needs to take good care of his health? I think this fish floss would be perfect as a tonic."
“That’s what we were thinking too, to make more fish floss to supplement the children’s nutrition.” As Song Shijia’s mother, Li Hongdan had naturally thought of this long ago. Moreover, since the raw materials for fish floss are easy to obtain, and for some reason, many of these long fish have recently appeared in the river near their home, she was very happy. She even bypassed her in-laws and said directly, “Xiao Hu has helped our family a lot lately. I’ll pack you a jar of fish floss later so you can take it back for your mother to try. This stuff is also suitable for the elderly.”
Song Xiaoli had met Hu Lixin many times in recent days and liked him quite a bit. Although she was a little wary of whether he had any feelings for her mother, she also felt that if he really liked her mother, it seemed like a good match. Despite her inner conflict, she treated Hu Lixin very well.
"Yes, Uncle Hu, we caught these fish ourselves. Why don't you take a bottle home with you? If it weren't for your help last time, we wouldn't know how to tell our family when my brother got sick."
After Song Xiaoli finished speaking, her grandparents burst into laughter, and even her mother tapped her forehead and said with a smile, "Little rascal."
Hu Lixin wanted to refuse, but the Song family said that the fish was caught in the river and was easy to handle, so it wasn't worth much. He couldn't refuse, so he accepted the fish floss filling the clean jar, turned on the headlight tied to the front of his bicycle, and went home.
The Song family stood at the door and watched him leave until he disappeared from sight before going back to close the door.
When they got back, Grandpa picked up Song Xiaoli and said with emotion, "I remember, it was the day Xiaoli woke up that she caught one of those ducks that lays a lot of eggs in the back mountain. After that, we started collecting eggs in the river every day. Now she and Shiyi have discovered fish in the river... I've realized that this girl is really lucky."
"That's right. Our Shiyi is just naughty. If he hadn't taken Xiaoli with him to find his brother that day, with his brain, he would never have thought to ask someone for help. It's a good thing Xiaoli was there." Auntie was truly grateful to Song Xiaoli. If her sister-in-law hadn't already completed the adoption procedures, she would have been willing to have another daughter, and she would definitely have spoiled Xiaoli like her own.
Song Xiaoli shyly buried her head in her grandfather's arms, which made the whole family burst into laughter.
Meanwhile, the family next door, hearing the laughter coming from this side, cursed under their breath through the wall, "They feed and dress this good-for-nothing they picked up every day, but they never give their own nephew anything. If his parents were still alive, hmph..."
But their sarcastic remarks could no longer affect the happiness of Song Xiaoli's family.
A few days after the start of summer vacation, Song Shijia's entrance exam results came out. Although he had experienced a slightly dangerous illness before the exam, he still entered the town's middle school with the highest score.
The town's middle school allows students to complete both junior and senior high school, but they must pass an exam within the school. If they fail any semester's exam, they will not receive their final high school diploma.
As for the college entrance examination, outstanding students who have already completed four years of junior and senior high school are given a preliminary exam. Only those who pass the preliminary exam have the opportunity to take the college entrance examination in the county.
These things can't be rushed. The Song family believes that with Song Shijia's intelligence and self-motivated learning attitude, he will definitely be able to graduate from high school smoothly and won't have to worry about finding a job in the town or even the county in the future.
As for now, let him make good use of this summer vacation, follow the doctor's advice, and take good care of his health.
The other two younger siblings were also forced to follow their older brother's schedule, conforming to the adults' rules: early to bed and early to rise, mandatory midday naps, and no going out to play between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. when it was too hot. They were to stay home and read when it was hot. Since the eldest, Song Shijia, was on vacation recuperating and had such good grades, it was better to teach his younger siblings in advance.
This displeased Song Shiyi, who had been hyperactive since childhood. However, even his younger sister could sit down and listen to her older brother teach her to read, so he could only suppress his desire to go out and play, and study with her in a drowsy state every day.
It wasn't until mid-August, after several days of rain that the weather cooled down a bit, that the two younger children were no longer confined at home and were allowed to go out and play.
Of course, Song Shijia, the "old" elder brother who was being treated like a porcelain doll and recuperating at home, would not be released.
"Little Carp, hurry up! Let's go to Dahe Commune. My parents have agreed. They said we can have lunch at Uncle Hu's house." During the summer vacation, the Hu family had visited the Song family a few times. There was only the mother and son there, and they didn't have any land. When Hu Lixin was on summer vacation, the mother and son were quite bored at home. Every time they came, they would say that they wanted the Song family's child to stay at their house for a while.
However, the Hu family was registered in the city, so they needed food coupons for meals. The children had big appetites, and the Song family felt embarrassed to actually send their children over to eat and stay for free. But since the weather was a bit cooler, it wasn't too bad to let the two younger children go over to play and have a meal or two.
The mother also slipped a bottle of fish floss into Song Xiaoli's arms as a gift for her visit, to be given to Grandma Hu.
Song Xiaoli calmly put fish floss, four boiled eggs, a clean handkerchief, and a sun hat that her mother used when she was a child into her small handbag before going downstairs. Her cousin, who was jumping up and down in a hurry, grabbed her hand.
"Oh dear, why are you so slow!"
"Shiyi! Your little sister is small and walks slowly, and she's prone to falling. You mustn't rush her on the way!" The eldest uncle hadn't left yet when he heard his youngest son complaining about his niece, and immediately scolded him.
Fortunately, he remembered Song Xiaoli's advice and didn't slap her directly.
"Okay, okay, I'll take good care of Xiao Li!" Song Shiyi replied somewhat impatiently, but it was much better than before when he would directly confront his father after being scolded.
Song Xiaoli smiled broadly, watching the relationship between the father and son slowly improve, and felt very happy.
As she strolled leisurely towards Dahe Commune, she would occasionally skip around, making her seem like a child her age.
This second chance at life allowed her to relive the joys of a normal childhood.
Just as she was secretly delighted, Song Shiyi suddenly tugged at her in surprise, "Xiao Li, look, isn't there someone in that ditch?"
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