Chapter 19: I Caught a Fish, but I Can’t Even Brag About It
“Brother, what are you doing?”
Zhang Qing's clear shout came from a distance. Zhang Ze looked back and found that the three of them were walking towards him.
Seeing Zhang Wu holding the bucket in both hands, maybe he had a good catch? "I'm fishing!" Zhang Ze replied. Seeing that they really wanted to come over, he said, "Be careful when you come. There are many sharp stones and shells here. Be sure to look carefully before stepping on them."
It is indeed not very comfortable to walk around barefoot on the reefs. This is because their soles are thick from frequent work and the nerves on the soles are not that sensitive.
"Got it!" Zhang Qing and the other two quickly came up to him, then carefully crawled through the rocks to his side.
"Look, brother, I caught a lot of Lawu!" Zhang Wu handed the bucket to him to show off.
Zhang Ze stretched his head to take a look and found that there were quite a lot of mudskippers in there, estimating that they weighed more than two kilograms.
"It's amazing! They caught so many in just a short time!"
Zhang Wu chuckled, but Zhang Qing pouted: "What? It's not like all the fish here were caught by Wu. Sister Qian and I also caught quite a few."
Zhang Ze was speechless, and then he quickly praised: "You are all very good, this thing jumps around and likes to hide in the soil, it is really hard to catch."
Seeing him say that, Zhang Qing finally became happy, and then looked at the bamboo basket in the shade curiously: "Brother, what did you catch?"
"Why don't you go and see for yourselves?" Zhang Ze couldn't leave for the moment as he had the fishing line in his hand, so he let them go and see for themselves.
"I'll get it!" Zhang Wu was the most active and immediately walked over in a crooked manner.
There were undulating stones under his feet, so he had to watch where he walked, so his posture was a little strange.
When he came to the bamboo basket and looked inside, he was immediately surprised: "Brother, you only caught a few big crabs? Can you eat them? It's better to go to the fields and find field crabs than to catch these big crabs. Field crabs are delicious."
"Who told you that field crabs are delicious? This big mantis is much more delicious than field crabs. What do you know, kid?" Zhang Ze said angrily.
"Is it true?" Not only Zhang Wu, Zhang Qing also doubted the truthfulness of his words. Even Zhang Qian, who was quietly standing aside, looked at him with some confusion.
Because it is close to the sea, people from the village occasionally come to the beach to get some food, but they have never seen anyone eat this big crab.
As for skinned fish, small squids and shrimps, if the fishermen catch too much and cannot digest them, they will be transported to the surrounding rural areas as fertilizer.
There are fertilizers all over the seaside, who would take them home to eat?
The only seafood that is slightly popular nowadays are crab paste, white shrimp roe paste and other seafood that rural people can pickle themselves.
"This mantis is big, has lots of meat and tastes sweet. I think it tastes better than field crabs. If you don't believe me, let's try it at noon." Zhang Ze knew that no matter how much he said, it would not be as good as taking a bite.
Zhang Qian and the others naturally had no objection to this.
As long as it's edible, they are willing to try it.
As he was speaking, Zhang Ze's fishing line finally moved.
The small fish and shrimps thrown out successfully attracted a group of fish. Just by standing on the reef, one could vaguely see the occasional black shadows appearing on the water surface.
The water is shallow, so there are not many fish, but there is an advantage after catching a fish. Zhang Ze can just lift the fish up with a single pull, and there is no need for a tug-of-war in the water at all.
A pitch-black fish broke out of the water, about twenty centimeters long.
Although it may not look big, the fish is actually quite generous.
Black porgy?
No, this is Black Bao Gong!
Fisherman Zhang Ze recognized the species of fish immediately.
"Brother, what kind of fish is this?" Zhang Wu asked the two girls next to him out of curiosity.
"This fish is called Baogong fish. I recently met a friend from Lumen Island who is a fisherman. He has seen this fish before and he said it tastes very good."
Zhang Ze suddenly realized halfway through that he probably had never eaten Bao Gong fish. He had been with his brothers and sisters all those years before, so he couldn't possibly know these fish, so he quickly made up an excuse.
My uncle couldn’t use it, but luckily I just met Tong Yuanhang.
Several people nodded in understanding, and Zhang Qian also asked: "Brother, can this fish be sold for money?"
Zhang Ze shook his head regretfully: "Other people who specialize in fishing can't sell them, how can I sell them?"
After saying that, he suddenly lost interest in fishing.
The good stuff has not yet shown its value, and even if it doesn't sell for money, there is no condition to show off! After fishing for a while, he didn't catch any valuable grouper. In addition, he was uncomfortable with the sun, and he couldn't keep the fish in the fishing space with his younger brother and sister around, so he simply asked them to go back together.
The shoes had been brought over by Zhang Qian. They found a puddle to wash their hands and feet, then put on their shoes and walked back around the other side of the beach.
You don't have to walk through muddy beaches or get your shoes dirty.
After returning home, Zhang Wu showed off to his mother with a bucket of water.
Zhang Huihong praised him a few words and touched his head, but her hands were covered in sweat. She sent him away with disgust to follow Zhang Ze to take a shower.
As for the sisters Zhang Qian and Zhang Qing, they cannot wash directly in the yard like the men.
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Zhang Ze helped his two sisters fetch water and brought it into the house, then took Zhang Wu to take a bath in the yard.
The young man had no shame and stripped himself naked, shaking his little bird.
Zhang Ze couldn't hold back any longer and used Huang Lao Xie's magical power of snapping fingers. Zhang Wu burst into tears and went to look for his mother.
Then someone was scolded by his mother and had to smile and beg for forgiveness from his younger brother.
After a busy morning, it was already noon.
Compared with previous years, people in rural areas have lived much better in the past two years.
At least during the slack season, we can have something to eat at noon, unlike before when we only had two meals a day, morning and evening, and the food was particularly watery.
Zhang Ze's family was relatively poor, or perhaps Zhang Huihong also wanted to save more money for her son's marriage, so they didn't eat at noon during the slack season.
But now that he can make money, Zhang's mother no longer thinks of saving on lunch.
She had already processed the mudskippers, and there was plenty of lard at home, so she fried a plate of greasy pickled vegetables and mudskippers.
"Why catch something else? It's a waste of firewood to catch these crabs that no one wants." As for the five large blue crabs that Zhang Ze took out, as expected, she disliked them.
"Mom, we rural people don't know how to eat it. This is called mantis shrimp. I heard about it when I went to the county. In fact, people in the city eat it. I also heard that there is a village in the next city that specializes in breeding this, and they can sell it for money there."
Seeing that his mother had no intention of cooking blue crabs, Zhang Ze had to give her some scientific advice.
"Can this be sold for money?" Zhang Huihong was skeptical and surprised.
"Really? You'll know after you try it. I heard it's much better than field crabs, but no one here has noticed this good thing."
"And this crab only needs to be cooked in water. Use a little water and you can take it out of the pot when the water is almost dry."
"Okay, let's cook it!"
Since her son said so, Zhang Huihong gave him face.
Seeing that she agreed, Zhang Ze smiled and took a few blue crabs outside, froze them to death with cold well water, and then washed them with his toothbrush.
His toothbrush was split and in a mess, so it was a good opportunity to replace it.
(End of this chapter)
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