Chapter 14: Fried Fish Hair. Past Events.
The mother-in-law went to the third wife's house in a rage and called out the third brother as soon as she entered the door.
The clan mother pointed at his nose and scolded, "Third clan leader, is this how you control your own grandson? You let him bully Huaixue like this?"
Zong Lao San didn't know what was going on. He laughed dryly and said, "Sister-in-law, what's going on?"
Zong Mu glanced over and saw Da Zhuang trying to slip into the house. She shouted, "Zong Da Zhuang, come here. Repeat in front of your grandfather what you just said to Huai Xue."
How could Zong Dazhuang dare to do that? He ran away as soon as he heard the sound.
Zong Lao San also sensed something was wrong, so he stepped forward and dragged the man over, saying sternly, "What did you say? What did you say outside?"
Zong Dazhuang was only six years old after all, and he told everything when he was frightened.
The third elder of the clan was so angry that his face turned red. He raised his hand and slapped Da Zhuang on the buttocks. "You bastard, who taught you that? I ask you, who taught you that?"
Zong Dazhuang howled and begged for mercy, "Grandpa, I was wrong, I was wrong. I heard grandma say that to others. That's all I heard."
The third elder of the clan looked at the mother with embarrassment. He didn't expect that this matter was really gossiped about by his own family.
"Third brother, take care of your family. Outsiders don't know what happened back then, so don't forget it." The grandmother still couldn't swallow her anger, so she stepped forward and slapped Dazhuang on the butt.
Seeing him crying loudly, I went home happily.
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In the yard, Zong Xiao was busy processing fish.
He caught a lot of fish today, and he also promised Qiu Xuan to grill the fish and stir-fry the fish hair in the evening. Something that has been promised cannot be changed.
As for the little girl Zong Huaixue, she stopped crying after eating a piece of malt candy as soon as she entered the house.
She is now sitting obediently on a stool, letting Qiu Yun braid her hair.
Zong Xiao would look up at them after working for a while, and he felt relieved when he saw that they were having fun.
"Aunt, why didn't you call me when you went to the river to catch fish? I want to go too." The little girl looked at the string of fish waiting to be processed and swallowed.
Qiu Xuan followed her gaze and smiled, "Our Huaixue loves eating fish so much, so I'll take you there when you're older, okay?"
Huaixue knew that she couldn't move her head while braiding her hair, so she raised her hand and waved, "Aunt, why are you like my second uncle? He also said he would take me out when I was old enough, but I won't grow up for a while. Maybe I won't want to catch fish when I grow up."
Qiu Xuan: "How about another day?"
Huaixue: "When is that day, aunt?"
Qiu Xuan choked. She now really realized that children are not easy to fool. Her words were so coherent that she didn't know how to respond to her.
Qiu Yu thought for a moment and decided to change the subject. "Your second uncle said he's going to make fried fish hair tonight. Have you ever tried it? Is fried fish hair delicious?"
"Delicious! So delicious!" When the topic of food came up, the little girl finally let go of the topic of catching fish and asked, "Hasn't Auntie ever eaten it?"
Qiu Xuan had never heard of this thing, let alone eating it.
Zong Huaixue gestured in circles with his hands, "Just keep stirring it in the pot with a spatula. It takes a long time."
Qiu Xuan tried to piece together the picture in her mind for a long time but couldn't. She thought she should watch how Zong Xiao did it in the evening. If it was really simple, she would learn from him.
These are the skills required to settle down and build a career.
Zong Xiao was the only one handling the fish. He was very skilled and soon finished handling all the fish.
As for the stuff in the fish's belly, he chopped it all up and threw it into a wooden basin. Although these things were dirty, they were good stuff, and the chickens and ducks in the backyard were scrambling to eat them.
Everything was almost ready when the grandmother came back.
She let out her anger and her complexion looked much better than before.
As soon as he entered the yard, he kissed Huaixue on the face and then hugged her to comfort her.
Qiu Xuan and Zong Xiao looked at each other, and they both guessed that the matter was resolved.
The patriarchal mother didn't mention anything else, she just said that Dazhuang should come and apologize tomorrow. As for whether to forgive or not, that was Huaixue's business.
Although the child is young, there are some things that cannot be forced.
Zong Xiao and his mother shared the responsibility of preparing the evening meal.
Qiu Xuan couldn't help, so she looked after the child alone. As for Zong Anji, he had gone out during the day and had not returned. Zong's mother said there was no need to worry about him.
Fish was being roasted over a fire in the courtyard, and my grandmother was steaming fish in the kitchen.
The method is no different from ordinary fishing. You first use onions, ginger and peppercorns to suppress the fishy smell, and then pick out the bones after the fish is cooked.
Picking bones is a delicate job. If you are not careful, a hard thorn may get stuck in your throat and cause damage.
The clan mother was worried about others, so she took on the job of finding fault with them all.
It was not until the sun went down that the clan mother finished picking out the fish bones.
The remaining step is frying, which is both simple and difficult.
The processed fish meat must be placed in a large iron pan and stir-fried continuously over low heat. If the heat is too high, the fish meat will burn.
Qiu Xuan had always been curious about what this thing looked like, so when her mother-in-law was stir-frying it, she moved a stool and sat beside her, fanning her with a palm-leaf fan.
The kitchen was stuffy and hot, and even with the window open, people were sweating profusely.
Seeing her filial piety, the clan mother smiled and said, "Child, just fan me for a while, don't get tired."
Qiu Xuan didn't feel tired at all. This was not even considered work.
She fanned herself and stared at the big iron pot.
I saw that the originally white and tender fish meat became fluffy after stir-frying!
The more Qiu Xuan looked at it, the more familiar it looked. Isn’t this meat floss?
The only difference is that one is made of pork and the other is made of fish.
When the grandmother saw that it was almost done, she sprinkled some salt and pepper powder into it to enhance the flavor.
"Try it and see how it tastes." The grandmother gave her a small spoonful.
Qiu Xuan took it, blew on it and then put it into her mouth.
The mouth is full of freshness and fragrance, without any fishy smell at all.
She praised from the bottom of her heart: "Mom, this fried fish hair you made is really delicious."
The grandmother blushed at the praise and said with a smile, "As long as you like it, let Erlang go catch some more fish someday and we can fry some more to eat during the winter."
We had dinner a little late because we had fried fish hair.
By the time they finished eating, it was already dark. An evening breeze was blowing in the yard, making people feel chilly.
Zong Mu took Huaixue back to the house first, and asked Zong Xiao to leave the door open for Zong Anji. No one knew where he went to play tonight, and he didn't even come back for dinner.
However, the Zong family is not surprised by this and there is no need to worry about him.
At night, Qiu Xuan washed up and went to bed.
She had been waiting for Zong Xiao to come in. She was really curious about what had happened today. If she didn't ask, she would definitely not be able to sleep that night.
Zong Xiao cleaned up the yard, fetched a basin of water and washed himself next door. Only after he felt that he was no longer dirty did he return to the house.
I thought that person was already asleep, but when I pushed the door open, I was met with a pair of watery eyes.
Zong Xiao turned his back to her and closed the door, then asked, "Why aren't you asleep yet? Aren't you sleepy?"
Qiu Xuan patted the empty kang next to her and said, "I'm waiting for you."
Zong Xiao was stunned.
Qiu Xuan didn't realize what she said was inappropriate, so she continued, "Didn't you say today that we shouldn't hide anything from each other as husband and wife?"
Zong Xiao nodded, took off his shoes and socks and got on the kang. He followed the rules and went to the end of the bed.
"I just got married and don't know a lot about my family. I'm afraid that something like Huai Xue will happen again. I won't be able to find a way to deal with it then. My elder brother and the others..."
The room was pitch black, and Qiu Yu waited for a long time but Zong Xiao didn't say a word.
Just when everyone thought he was unwilling to speak, Zong Xiao opened his mouth.
"Sister-in-law was weak when she was pregnant with Huaixue, and it was winter, so there wasn't much meat to eat." Zong Xiao's eyes misted over. He paused and continued, "Brother wanted to go hunting in the mountains to try his luck, but...something went wrong."
Qiu Yan was dumb.
"The news came back from the mountains that my sister-in-law was so grief-stricken that she lost her baby and passed away."
The room was silent, the air around was somewhat oppressive, and only the breathing sounds of the two people on the kang remained.
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