Chapter 17
“My father thought of finding reeds to make winter clothes four or five days ago, but the villagers didn’t pay much attention to us. It took a long time before someone told us that there were reeds in this place.”
“My father is shrewd. He knew there was a shallow pool next to the reeds, so he immediately led us into the deep mountains to find wood and cut bamboo, and we made these items.” Shu Tingyi proudly pointed to the bamboo trap, fishing spear, and bamboo basket with a lid.
As for the two wooden buckets, one was purchased by the family, and the other was borrowed from a villager after negotiating the terms.
Shu Wanxiu finally realized something right—her uncle had found a way to make money: fishing and selling fish.
This shallow beach is in the middle of nowhere, practically unclaimed land, where the fish grow wild and are kept by whoever catches them.
Because the waters here are wide, although people often come to fish, they have never caught all the fish.
The two chatted and reminisced for quite some time, and if they lingered any longer, they would waste a lot of time.
Shu Wanxiu quickly stood up and said, "Let's go, Tingyi, I'll help you pick reeds. Uncle, you can start fishing too."
Shu Yanrong agreed, "When we catch some fish, you can take some home."
My uncle's family has twelve members, and one sack of reeds is not enough; they have to pick at least five or six sacks.
However, they only had two bags, so they would have to come back twice more next time. Today, Shu Yanrong brought a ground trap, intending to find a place to put it down first, and then check if they had any harvest when they came back to pick reeds tomorrow.
With Shu Wanxiu's help, the two sacks were filled with fish in about half an hour. The two cousins looked at each other and ran to the water to watch the fishing.
One of the two wooden buckets was filled with water, and inside were two or three small fish, each about the size of a palm.
In the middle of the shallow water, where the water level reached Shu Yanrong's thighs, he stood barefoot in the water, holding a harpoon in one hand and a bamboo basket in the other. The basket was shaken every now and then, so there must still be fish inside.
After standing on tiptoe and gazing into the distance, Shu Tingyi exuded an air of eager anticipation.
"You go ahead, I'll stay on the shore and guard the things."
After Shu Tingyi rolled up her trousers and eagerly went into the water, Shu Wanxiu, who was bored and stayed by the water's edge, was gradually attracted by a group of small fish swimming around in front of her.
Most of them are only slightly longer than a finger joint, with a flat, round body and colorful scales. They are common bitterlings in the water.
If you don't remove the internal organs of the bitterling, it will taste a bit bitter. But if you remove the internal organs and stir-fry it with some perilla, Sichuan pepper, chili peppers, and garlic, it will taste quite good.
The small fish swam very nimbly, and Shu Wanxiu knew that it would be difficult to catch them with her hands. However, it would be easy to catch them all with a bamboo basket or similar tool. Therefore, she only regretted that she did not have a suitable tool at hand.
But then again... there might be small fish and shrimp in the stream down the mountain near her home. It's just that she fetches water either very early in the morning or in the evening, always when it's not very bright. She hadn't thought about it before and hadn't paid any attention to it.
The father and daughter worked together to catch fish for half an hour, and Leng Tian was covered in sweat. In the end, they caught more than a dozen fish of various sizes.
"Here, pickled fish is the most nutritious. Take these two big ones back with you."
As soon as the fish were brought ashore, Shu Yanrong scooped out the two largest pickled fish and tied them up with straw ropes threaded through their gills.
Shu Wanxiu shook her head vigorously, "I don't want it, you can keep it and exchange it for money in the county."
"Didn't you see it?" Shu Yanrong pointed to the hole in the fish's body, the mark left by the harpoon piercing the fish's body.
"It takes half a day to get to the county town from here. These injured fish will turn belly up on the way, and no one will buy them."
"I didn't come here to fish today to sell. I just caught some to keep as food for the winter, and I'll take some to exchange with the villagers for vegetables or other items."
That's how it is.
Shu Wanxiu said, "Then I can't accept two such big ones. If you give me all the good ones, how much less will I get in return?"
Seeing that Wanxiu was so unwilling to accept it, Shutingyi became anxious. She had a straightforward personality and interjected, "Sister Wanxiu, my father has made up his mind to give it to you, so please accept it!"
Shu Yanrong never withdrew his hand from handing over the fish, showing his firm attitude.
"That……"
There was nothing I could do but respectfully comply.
Wupai Village and Wuli Village are in the same direction. On the way back, the three of them traveled together for a long time until they had to part ways.
Before parting, Shu Wanxiu secretly gave Tingyi all five wild duck eggs she had dug up in the reeds.
This is certainly not enough to exchange for two large pickled fish.
Shu Wanxiu didn't see this as an exchange; she just thought that the eggs given to her by the villagers were still uneaten, and these few duck eggs could be left for her uncle and the others to supplement their diet.
Overall, this trip was very fruitful.
She happily carried the fish and sacks to the village entrance, but as soon as she appeared, a tiny person rushed over and hugged her.
"aunt!"
It turned out that Aunt Chen and Shu Shouyi were waiting for her to return home.
"What's wrong?" Why does your voice still sound like you're about to cry?
"Thank God, thank you, Buddha! You're finally back safe and sound!" Chen Sanhe said.
"Two hours ago, Ah Lian and I thought you would be back soon, but we waited and waited and you never came home."
“Neither of us was sure. One minute we wondered if you had taken the wrong path, and the next we wondered if you hadn’t found the place. Before we knew it, Shouyi overheard us. He refused to stay in the village and play with the other children anymore. He ran to the village entrance alone and said he was going out to look for you.”
"I knew Xin'er rushed over and tried to persuade him again and again, and it was only with great difficulty that he managed to stay here and wait for you."
Shu Wanxiu glanced at the sky, feeling extremely guilty.
I left home in the middle of the morning, and now it's almost dusk.
"I'm sorry to have made you worry."
The guilt was real, and the thought that Shu Wanxiu suddenly had a way to help her uncle and the others when she saw Chen Sanhe was also real.
She comforted Shu Shouyi, and then explained as they walked why it had taken so long.
"...After finding the wild duck eggs, I was about to go home when I ran into my uncle and cousin, didn't I? They..."
My uncle's family is struggling to establish themselves in Wuli Village due to the burden of the Liu family. If someone in the village understands their character and is willing to speak up for them, they will surely be able to integrate into the village soon.
Aunt Chen and Sister-in-law Pang both married out of Wuli Village. If they were willing to say a few good words for their uncle and sister-in-law when they went back to their parents' home next time, the problem would be easily solved.
Shu Wanxiu separated a fish and said, "Auntie, Wanxiu has a favor to ask."
She spoke frankly and explained in detail the difficulties her uncle's family was facing.
"Wanxiu understands that asking her aunt for such a favor is very presumptuous, but I really can't think of any other way. Winter is coming soon, and Shouyi and I are grateful to the village head for his help and the villagers for their assistance. Now our house is finished and we just need to wait for winter. Although my uncle's family has been allocated land, without the help of the villagers, their house cannot be built, and they will have nowhere to live in the winter!"
“I swear to God, none of my uncle’s family of twelve are troublesome or prone to causing trouble. I don’t ask you to immediately agree to speak up for them, I only ask that you take this fish and give my uncle and his family a chance when you visit Wuli Village next time. Treat them like normal people and talk to them. If you find nothing wrong, then please clear their names.”
Chen Sanhe said, "Why should I charge you a good fish? I already knew that your uncle took good care of you. He is willing to help the weak and his character is probably not too bad."
“I haven’t been back to my parents’ home for a long time, and I didn’t know these things had happened in the village. It’s just a matter of saying a few words for your uncle. So, which day of tomorrow or the day after are you free? Let’s go to Wuli Village together.”
The sooner the better, of course.
The agreed date was set, but Chen Sanhe refused to accept the fish no matter what.
A note from the author:
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Qin pepper: chili pepper
Bai La Yun: Ginger
Garlic: Garlic
Zha fish: grass carp
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