Chapter 67 Group fight
After Mo An and Lu Lu went to school, the weather started to warm up, and the grass began to sprout. Sometimes Molly would go up the mountain to collect firewood and bring back a bundle of grass to feed the rabbits.
Yu San San still comes to Molly's house every day. In the morning, she comes to wait for Mo Anlu to go to school together. After school, she goes home to eat lunch first, and then comes over to help clean the house and pull weeds in the cornfield. When she has nothing to do, she reads and studies with Mo Anlu.
Yu San San's family also found out that she was going to the neighbor's house every day. Yu Jin An didn't say anything, but his wife made some veiled accusations against her a few times. Molly pretended not to hear them, and Yu San San continued to do as she pleased.
Lu Lu was very well-behaved at school, with a stable mood. He diligently completed his homework every day, and the first thing he did when he got home from school was to have Molly check it. He deliberately placed the bright red 100 on his homework right under Molly's nose, as if afraid Molly wouldn't see it.
"Wow, your handwriting is pretty good, better than your uncle's." Molly didn't hold back her praise, and also urged Mo An on.
Mo An sighed, "Sister, Xiao Lu's handwriting is good, that's his talent. My own handwriting is also pretty good, okay?"
Molly nodded in agreement. "That's good. But I've noticed you seem to prefer numbers. What are you planning to study in the future?"
Mo An had thought about this question. "Go join the army."
It's said that many high school graduates in towns, counties, and cities can't find jobs these days. It's clear that even after graduating high school, without connections, getting a government-subsidized food ration isn't easy. It's better to join the army after graduation; then you won't have to worry about food and clothing. Being assigned to my brother-in-law's military region would be ideal, but if not, it's not a big deal—we have someone in the family in the military, and we can learn from their experience.
Molly hadn't expected Mo An to have thought so far ahead; she was simply curious, "You like being a soldier?"
"Isn't being a soldier good? It's an honor." Mo An could only think that being a soldier was the best way out for him. In the past, he was physically weak and dared not think about this, but in the past two years, his health has been getting better and better. In the first few physical education classes, he always came in first in the class.
Molly: "......."
When Ji Hefeng returns, let him train the child for a few days and see what he says.
That day, Molly was watering the vegetable garden. After watering the garden, she washed the buckets by the river. Suddenly, she remembered that there hadn't been any fresh meat at home for several days. She had a sudden idea: could she catch a few live fish from the river to take home?
Molly went home and fried some cornmeal. She then went to the riverbank and found a spot where the current was gentle. She sprinkled the cornmeal into the water. At first, she only sprinkled a little. After sprinkling the cornmeal, she squatted down and waited patiently. Less than twenty seconds later, she heard movement in the water.
There's fish!
Molly's eyes lit up, and she immediately sprinkled some more cornmeal into the river. After sprinkling the cornmeal, she silently reached her left hand into the water. The fish were eating happily when suddenly a pink tentacle burrowed into their mouths and then emerged from their gills.
Molly pulled up twelve fish at once.
Twelve fish were placed in a bucket that had been filled with water beforehand, and some twigs with leaves were thrown in to prevent the fish from escaping.
Molly moved to another spot and repeated the same method, using up all the fried flour. This time she only caught three fish, but one of them weighed over twenty pounds. The fish's body was longer than the bucket, and half of its tail was sticking out of the bucket.
Molly carried two buckets of fish back home. The buckets were filled with both fish and water, but she looked relaxed and moved with a light step. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought she was carrying empty buckets. Only the soldier guarding the gate saw that her buckets were full of fish. His pupils dilated slightly. If he weren't on duty, he would have wanted to rush up to her right now, calling her "sister-in-law" this and "sister-in-law" that, and asking her for fishing tips.
When Molly got home, she separated the fish and put them into a bucket, adding fresh water to keep the ones she couldn't eat. As for the big fish that couldn't fit in the bucket, she planned to cook it that night, making it into boiled fish.
Molly killed the fish, removed the scales, sliced the fish, and then marinated it with ginger, salt, and soy sauce.
Just as she was about to start cooking, there was a loud banging on the door. "Auntie's in trouble!"
Molly took off her apron and walked towards the door. Outside, Yu Sansan was out of breath and almost cried when she saw Molly. "Auntie, a fifth-grader said that Xiao An went to the hospital."
Molly helped Yu San San up. "What do you mean by going to the hospital?"
“I don’t know either. After school, Lu Lu and I waited for Xiao An at the school gate, but he didn’t show up for a long time. Instead, we met Xiao An’s classmates. They said that during PE class today, the boys in their class arranged a fight in the woods behind the school. Xiao An didn’t go at first, but he was dragged there by someone and didn’t go back to the classroom until school was over. Someone said they saw Xiao An go to the hospital. Lu Lu has already gone to the hospital. I’ll come back and let you know.” Yu San San spoke very quickly. It was amazing that an eight-year-old could explain things so clearly.
Molly told her to wait at the door for a while. She went back inside to get the money and then hurriedly went to the hospital with Yu San San.
At the hospital, since it was a student who was injured, the student gave their parents' names, and the hospital immediately contacted them. Children from military units generally have parents with high-ranking positions, so contacting them wasn't difficult. When Molly and Yu San San rushed over, several parents were already waiting in the hospital lobby.
Among them were people Molly knew: Ji Hefeng's superior, Cheng Yubin, and Fang Youan, the commander of the 2nd Regiment. There were also two others Molly had never met.
Besides the parents, several students were also waiting in the lobby. These students were disheveled and had some bruises on their bodies, but it was clear that their injuries were not serious. Mo An was among these children. His face was not bruised, but his clothes were covered in blood.
"Are you injured?"
No one saw how Molly moved; the person who was still at the door was in front of Mo An the next second.
"Sister!" Mo An's eyes lit up. Seeing Molly's anxiety, he quickly explained, "I'm fine. The blood on my body isn't mine."
Molly breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. But then, Lu Lu, who had been sitting in a daze, suddenly rushed towards Molly, hugged her, and burst into tears.
“The child must be frightened,” Cheng Yubin said.
Molly gently patted Lu Lu's back to comfort him, "Don't be afraid, Mom is fine, and Uncle is fine too."
Lu Lu cried for a while before gradually stopping under Molly's comforting words. But when Molly tried to let go of him, he clung tightly to her clothes. Molly had no choice but to put her arm around him and look at Mo An, "What happened?"
Mo An shook his head. "I'm not quite sure either."
“Auntie, I know, let me tell you.” One of the boys stood up. He had injuries on his lips and face, and he gasped as he spoke.
Molly found it inexplicably funny, but she tried hard not to laugh.
"Wang Qinli likes Zhao Yiyue, but Zhao Yiyue likes Fang Chen. Wang Qinli thinks Fang Chen seduced Zhao Yiyue, and he often brings people to cause trouble for Fang Chen. We naturally won't stand for outsiders to bully people from our military region. After several conflicts, we plan to resolve the conflict completely today!" The boy spoke righteously, completely unaware that the parents next to him had darkened their faces.
"Thoroughly resolve what?" Cheng Yubin asked with a dark face. "Instead of solving the problem, you're thinking about harming your classmates. Is this how we've always taught you?"
"Our fists are aimed at the enemy, not your classmates or compatriots." Fang Youan's face was also extremely ugly.
The boy shrank back. "Our agreement was that whoever lost would stay far away from each other in the future. It's not about getting rid of classmates."
“If you’re going to fight, why can’t you win?” another parent protested.
"Those people didn't follow the rules. Three of them carried knives. Fang Chen and Cheng Cai didn't expect the other side to have knives, which is why they were stabbed." The boy was furious when he mentioned this.
"Fang Chen's blood vessels were cut and he bled a lot. Wang Qinli and his men were so frightened that they ran away. Mo An arrived at that moment. Without saying a word, he carried Fang Chen on his back and ran back."
"And Cheng Cai, he had a deep cut on his arm."
"Mo An runs so fast, we can't catch up with him."
"The doctor said it was fortunate that we arrived quickly, otherwise Fang Chen would have lost too much blood and her condition would have been dangerous."
So Mo An just went to rescue people.
Molly finally breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Mo An, "Go back and change your clothes first."
The bloodstains on Mo An's body looked horrifying, but he didn't refuse, "Then I'll go home first."
"Does Xiaolu want to go back with her brother?" Molly asked Lu Lu.
Lu Lu shook his head and buried his face in Molly's arms.
“I think Lu Lu is terrified today. Comrade Molly, why don’t you take the child home first? We’ll keep watch over things here,” Cheng Yubin said to Molly.
"Mo An saved my son Fang Chen's life today. We will definitely come to thank him another day." Fang Youan bowed to Mo Li.
Molly turned away from the bow, saying, "You flatter me, sir. It was nothing at all."
Molly took Mo An and Lu Lu home, with Yu San San following behind.
Back home, Molly asked Yu San San to stay with Lu Lu while she went to boil water.
"I caught some fish in the river today and I'm keeping them in a bucket. You can go and see them."
Upon hearing that there were fish, the three children were immediately distracted and ran towards the several buckets lined up side by side in the corridor.
"Wow, so many fish!" Yu San San exclaimed.
"What kind of fish is that golden one? It's so beautiful!"
"This fish is huge, bigger than my palm."
"This is a carp, this is a crucian carp, this is a grass carp, this is a mandarin fish... I don't recognize the rest, I only know these fish."
"San San, why don't you stay at our house for fish today?" Mo An invited.
Yu San San swallowed hard, hesitating slightly. She hadn't eaten fish for several years.
"Let's have dinner at our house. We're having boiled fish tonight; that fish weighs over twenty pounds," Molly invited.
Hearing that the fish was so big, it should be enough to eat, Yu San San finally nodded, "Then I'll eat at my aunt's house."
"Okay, don't be shy. Mo An, take a fish to Sister Bao's house later," Molly said. She thought for a moment, "Your classmate is injured and needs to recover, so you can take one to them too."
"Sister, are you talking about Cheng Cai's family and Fang Chen's family?" Mo An asked.
Molly nodded. "Go and change your clothes and take it there. Come back, have dinner, and then take a shower. Oh, and don't forget to call your Brother Zhao and ask him to come over for some fish."
"Okay, sister, I'll go right now."
Molly started preparing the side dishes for the boiled fish. The variety of vegetables at home was limited, and after searching through them, she could only find cabbage, garlic sprouts, and a few stalks of celery.
"San San, can you eat chili peppers?" Boiled fish is inseparable from chili peppers. If Yu San San can't eat chili peppers, Molly can only cook them separately.
"Auntie, I can't live without spicy food." Yu San San swallowed hard, looking at the fish and meat marinated in the large wooden basin, and only had one thought in her mind: There's so much meat!
Molly: "Then I'll add some dried chili peppers and green chili peppers."
Molly first pan-fried some fatty cured pork, then added ginger slices, dried chili peppers, and garlic sprouts, stir-frying until fragrant before adding boiling water. She blanched the cabbage first, then removed it and placed it in a clean wooden basin. Next, she added fish bones and a large fish head, and waited until they were cooked before adding the marinated fish fillets, followed by green chili peppers and garlic sprout leaves. After about two minutes, she lifted the pot and poured everything into the wooden basin.
The aroma is irresistible.
Lu Lu and Yu San San swallowed hard, their eyes shining brightly.
"I just cooked it haphazardly, so it doesn't taste authentic. Please bear with it." Molly figured out the recipe herself, and it was alright for her, but it was definitely different from the authentic way people made it. If she had the chance someday, she would like to learn how to make the real thing.
"What smells so good?" Zhao Jian'an's voice arrived before he did.
Molly ignored her and started serving the children rice.
Zhao Jian'an wasn't angry. He washed his hands first, and when he saw the fish in the bucket, he praised them again, "Little sister, your fishing skills are getting better and better. When do you have time, take your brother to see it."
"We'll see." Seeing it is out of the question; even Ji Hefeng, one of her kind, hasn't seen her tentacles.
"Sister, just now Cheng Cai and Fang Chen's family asked me where the fish came from, and I said you caught it in the river." Mo An was afraid that she had said the wrong thing.
"Yeah, we caught it in the river. Come wash your hands and come eat."
Once everyone was seated, Molly picked up the first piece of fish, and then the others all reached for the large wooden basin with their chopsticks. There was only one dish tonight, but the quantity was quite large, including the soup, probably weighing thirty or forty pounds.
Five people, young and old, ate until their lips were red and they were panting as they kept eating. In the end, not only was the fish all gone, but the cabbage at the bottom was also completely eaten.
"Mom, the fish is so delicious, and the vegetables are delicious too. Let's eat like this tomorrow." Lu Lu patted his belly, looking very happy.
Molly looked at Mo An, "Let's see what your uncle has to say?"
"I also want to eat boiled fish." Mo An smiled, pursing her lips.
Zhao Jian put on a dissatisfied expression, "So my opinion doesn't matter?"
Molly glanced at him sideways. "If you know, don't ask."
Zhao Jian'an's lips twitched. "Fine, I won't say anything. I'm going back now. Little San San, come on, I'll give you a ride home."
As a grown man, it's inappropriate for him to stay too late while Ji Hefeng isn't home.
"I'm not in a hurry. I want to wash the dishes for my aunt before I go back." Yu Sansan went to pick up the dishes.
"There aren't many bowls, Mo An and Lu Lu will wash them. You should go back, it's getting late. Go back, take a shower, and go to bed early. You have school tomorrow," Molly persuaded her to go back.
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