Qiao Songzhi and the others were sitting under the awning to enjoy the cool air. They looked pleased as they saw Shao Shengan and Qiao Qingqing squatting on the ground, washing dishes together with their shoulders close together.
"They have been married for so many years, and their relationship is still so good. I am so happy to see it." Shao's mother said with a smile.
The smile in Qiao Songzhi's eyes was about to overflow. She was relieved, but also a little sad. Looking at the dark clouds that were still lingering in the sky, she sighed, "If only the natural disaster could end soon!" They, young people, should be holding hands and playing in the sunshine, instead of being under these dark clouds, on top of the ruins, surrounded by desolation.
Shao's mother was not as sentimental as Qiao Songzhi. She agreed, "That's right! The natural disaster is so torturous. Everything has been delayed. I'll have to say a few words to Qingqing when she comes back. Let's hatch the ducks quickly while it's still safe so we can raise them quickly."
Qiao Songzhi no longer felt sad and nodded seriously: "You are right, we should cherish time!"
That evening the incubator was turned on.
As expected, Dabao refused to incubate the eggs. He pecked at every egg he saw. Shao Shengfei watched him and wouldn't let him get close to the incubator. He got so angry that he walked away, cooing.
It takes time to hatch the eggs, and it will take at least twenty days to hatch them. No matter how anxious Qiao Songzhi and Shao's mother are, it is useless. The main tasks of the family are still fishing and turning the soil.
The next morning, at dawn, Qiao Qingqing set out with Shao Shengan and his brothers.
Song Sanhe must have had the same idea as them, and also came to the beach early. This time there were four more people, which showed that he also wanted to make an effort to get a big harvest. The two sides simply greeted each other, and then each found a place to fish without affecting each other.
The water was very cold in the morning. Even with waterproof rain boots on, Qiao Qingqing still felt the chill and did not dare to go into the deep water. She was guarding two empty buckets, seemingly waiting for Shao Shengan and his team to bring up the fish, but in fact she was taking water when her hands touched the sea water.
The empty water tank was gradually filled up, and Qiao Qingqing also saw some small fish, shrimps and algae being collected into it.
Shao Shengan and Shao Shengfei set up fishing nets and used feed to lure fish, and soon they had their first harvest.
"So many!" Qiao Qingqing was also surprised. The harvest from this net was much greater than yesterday's harvest. At Shao Shengan's suggestion, she put most of the fish into the space while no one else was noticing. The fish died after entering the space, and the fish were kept alive before they died.
After working like this for a whole day, when Qiao Songzhi came to call them home for dinner, Qiao Qingqing had successfully filled all the empty water tanks with water and collected hundreds of kilograms of large fish. The small fish were picked out by Shao Shengan and sent back into the water.
Looking at the harvest in the space, Qiao Qingqing couldn't help but sigh: "This is a gift from nature." Ten years of natural disasters have always forced humans into a life-and-death situation, but they often leave a glimmer of hope.
Of course, the afternoon was the same as the morning. On the surface, they only had two buckets of fish. Today, they had four buckets in total, which was nothing compared to what Song Sanhe and his team had. Song Sanhe and his team probably didn't sleep much the previous night. When Qiao Qingqing got up last night, she saw that they still had a fire on. They worked overnight to make fishing tools, and the six of them returned to the camp with two large bags of lively fish in the sunset, their faces full of joy.
Unfortunately, such good days only lasted for two days. On the third day, the convoy's camp began to cordon off the water area and cast out large fishing nets. Unknown baits floated on the water, and large schools of fish fell into the trap.
During this period, Shao Shengan and his colleagues' fishing industry was greatly affected and their harvests dropped sharply.
It took only five days to complete the new fish farm. Looking from afar with a telescope, Qiao Qingqing could see the fish crowded together inside, with countless fish mouths opening and closing upwards, so densely packed that it was frightening.
To this end, they continued to expand their scale. No one knew where they got so many fishing nets, but after a few days they successfully built a super natural fish farm.
The fishing ground was so large that even the place where Shao Shengan fished was included. During the day, people from the camp over there would often patrol back and forth in kayaks, watching them fishing nearby. Although they didn't say anything, their eyes were not friendly.
The good news is that Shao's father also found clay one kilometer away, and Qiao Qingqing went over to help carry it. Later, Shao Shengan also found sand and dug out a lot of it. This stuff was wet and heavy, and Qiao Qingqing collected a lot of it using the space.
"It will probably be hard to catch fish nearby, so let's not fish for the time being. I'll first fix the kang for hatching eggs at home. In a couple of days, I plan to go fishing somewhere farther away. I'll talk to Liu Zhen and the others later to see if they want to continue joining us." Shao Sheng'an looked at the few sparse fish in the bucket with a heavy expression. This was the day's catch.
After some discussion, Song Sanhe and Liu Zhen agreed to Shao Shengan's proposal. Liu Zhen was young and hot-tempered, and he couldn't stand that kind of behavior: "This is the bad landlord who enclosed the land in ancient times!"
"Then you take care of the housework first, and we'll go find fish somewhere farther away." Song Sanhe admired Shao Shengan's family for being so quick to start construction to improve their quality of life, but they couldn't do that yet, so they could just stay in the camp for now, and more importantly, catch more fish.
Shao Shengan picked up the bucket and called Qiao Qingqing and Shao Shengfei back home.
The campsite at home has become increasingly tidy. Recently, a new piece of flat land has been cleared, with canvas spread on the ground to dry salted fish. When Qiao Qingqing got closer, she first smelled a salty and fishy aroma, then saw her mother and mother-in-law turning over the fish, so she went forward to help.
Mother Shao waved her hand: "Hey Qingqing, you just came back, take a rest, it will be almost done, we don't need you anymore."
Qiao Songzhi clapped his hands and stood up: "The bath water is ready, I'll get it for you."
"No, no, I can carry it myself." Qiao Qingqing refused.
After Shao Shengan gave the fish to his father, he went to get some hot water from the stove and called out to Qiao Qingqing, "Wash it first."
A simple toilet was built not far from the tent. This small slope, which was about two meters higher than the surrounding area, was completely occupied by their family. After Qiao Qingqing took her clothes and went to take a shower, Shao Shengan went to the duck shed to check the eggs in the incubator and carefully turned them over. Shao's father was killing fish outside. He walked out of the duck shed and looked around. He saw a figure not far away and turned around to ask, "Dad, are there any new survivors over there?"
Father Shao found time to respond: "Yes, he came this afternoon, he was so happy and excited, he was yelling to go to the sea, didn't you meet him?"
"I haven't met him. Maybe he's at some other beach. Dad, kill the fish and bring it over here. I'll make fish balls out of it." I came back early today, just a little after four, and the family hasn't cooked yet.
After eating fish for several days in a row, twice a day, Shao Shengan got tired of it even if he changed the dishes. Seeing that it was still early today, he decided to cook the fish as much as possible so that Qingqing could put it in the space and take it out when she wanted to eat it tomorrow.
Shao Shengan decided to make fish balls. Qingqing's space could keep the fish fresh anyway, and it would be convenient to eat the fish balls later without bones.
While killing the fish, Shao's father said, "Fish balls? Do you know how to make them? Or why not call your mother over."
"Yes, I've seen Qingqing's recipe. It's not difficult."
Killing fish takes time, so Shao Shengan will prepare today's dinner first.
Tonight he had rice, so he washed the rice and steamed it, then started washing the shrimps he had caught today, and after washing them clean he started frying them. The shrimps were fried until golden and crispy, and sprinkled with a layer of pepper and salt, and the taste was simply amazing.
After the first dish was ready, Shao Shengan asked his family to come and try it as a snack before the meal. Qiao Songzhi and the others said they didn't want it. Shao Shengfei was full of energy and went to take Dabao for a walk, otherwise he would have been the first to come and try it.
Fortunately, Qiao Qingqing came out of her hot bath. Shao Shengan picked one up for her and asked expectantly, "Is it delicious?"
Qiao Qingqing bit into the crispy shrimp, her mouth full of fragrance, crisp and delicious, she smiled and nodded: "It's delicious."
Then he looked at the fish meat soaking in the bucket and asked, "I just heard you say you wanted to make fish balls?"
"Yes, the ingredients are not complicated. There is not much seasoning on the stove. You can take some more from the space."
Qiao Qingqing agreed to all of them and took out a lot of ginger, onion, starch, eggs and salt. The amount she took out was really too much, and Shao Shengan had a premonition. Sure enough, the next moment his wife took out a bucket of previously processed fish from the space and said with a smile: "If you want to make it, make more. Anyway, we'll finish work early today."
Seeing this, Shao Shengan felt a lot of pressure: "This is my first time doing this too. What if I make something wrong after doing so many things?"
"I'm here, let's do it together." Qiao Qingqing searched her mind for the recipe for fish balls, "How can it be done badly? There are only those steps, just do it step by step."
Shao Shengan breathed a sigh of relief: "Okay, you teach me and I'll do it."
The fish meat had to be soaked to remove the blood first. Qiao Qingqing took care of this while Shao Shengan continued to cook dinner.
Tired of eating fish, Qiao Qingqing decided to eat pork tonight, so she made ordinary braised pork and took out a piece of pork belly for Shao Shengan to cook.
The fragrance spreads everywhere when the lid of the pot is lifted, making people who smell it can't help but feel their stomach growling. They can't wait to take a bite of it, and then scoop up a big mouthful of rice. It tastes so delicious.
Shao Shengan served the braised pork and asked Qiao Qingqing to put it in the space and take it out later when eating.
The rice was still steaming on the stove, and Shao Shengan started making fish balls. He cut the fish meat, separated the large bones, and then began to mince the stuffing. Over and over again, Shao Shengan chopped the fish meat and the small fish bones into fine paste, while Qiao Qingqing helped by chopping ginger and scallions.
Qiao Songzhi and Shao's mother were guarding the dried fish, keeping flies and mosquitoes away. They couldn't help laughing when they saw Shao Shengan swinging the knife.
"These are hand-made fish balls. They must taste better than machine-made ones."
"Sheng An didn't know how to cook before. He lived in the school dormitory all the time. Later, when he came home during the summer vacation, he could actually cook porridge." Shao's mother laughed, "At that time, I guessed that he must have a girlfriend in school and cooked porridge for his girlfriend. When I asked him, he didn't answer. He was like a silent man."
Qiao Songzhi also smiled. At that time, her daughter brought an unused small rice cooker to school, saying that she wanted to cook porridge for herself in the morning. A few months later, when her daughter came home for vacation, she asked her daughter to cook while she had to pick up a package. As a result, she didn't add enough water and the rice was all mushy. How could she look like a cook? Qingqing really learned to cook ten years ago. The city was closed by heavy rain and everyone stayed at home to avoid the flood. At that time, Qingqing loved to read recipes, and almost all the meals at home were prepared by Qingqing...
Ten years have passed. Qiao Songzhi was surprised to find that time had passed so quickly, and said with emotion: "I haven't eaten fish balls for a long time. I'll try Sheng An's cooking later."
Shao's mother used a palm-leaf fan to drive away flies, and responded with a smile, feeling quite expectant.
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