Wei Yuyan noticed that Wu Qian was sweating profusely and told her to take a rest.
"Hehe, I'm going to watch my brother catch fish."
Wu Qian ran to the stream below, while Wu Lei broke off half a steamed bun to try and catch fish; it's unclear whether he caught anything.
"Sister-in-law Xiuhua, let's have lunch. After we finish eating, we'll rest for half an hour."
Otherwise it would be too tiring. If I exhaust myself, how will I explain it to Brother Zhang?
Wei Yuyan tossed the hoe aside and prepared to go find the children to come and eat.
"Stop talking nonsense, this little bit of work is nothing."
Xiuhua's sister-in-law plopped down on the ground. Anyway, she was wearing old clothes specifically for working on the mountain, so she didn't care if they got dirty.
"I'll go call the children."
Wei Yuyan walked down to the stream.
"Xiao Lei, Qian Qian, come and eat."
Wu Lei has been trying to catch them for almost half an hour now, and it's still unclear whether he's succeeded.
"Sister-in-law, sister-in-law, brother caught a lot of fish!"
Wu Qian quickly ran over to report the news.
"Really, Xiao Lei? Let me see."
Wei Yuyan leaned closer to take a look.
"There are a few, but they're not very big."
Wu Lei pointed to a small puddle next to him.
"That's true! This fish is especially delicious when fried. Let's go eat first. If you want to come back for more fish after we've eaten, then come back."
Wei Yuyan tried to persuade her.
"Okay, sister-in-law, let's go eat now. Will this fish get lost?"
Wu Lei was a little worried that the fish would be gone when he came back.
"Okay then, I'll have my sister bring it to you, you can sit here and rest."
Wei Yuyan wasn't sure if the fish would get lost, but since it was steamed buns anyway, she could have Xiaoqian bring them over later.
"OK".
Wu Lei nodded, his eyes still fixed on the water.
When they arrived at their resting place, Wei Yuyan took two steamed buns, stuffed them with mushroom and chili sauce, and handed them to Sister-in-law Xiuhua. Then she took three more steamed buns and handed them to Xiaoqian.
"Qianqian, you and your brother go eat. Sister-in-law Xiuhua, there's one left. Is that enough for you two?"
The extra one Wei Yuyan brought was for her sister-in-law Xiuhua, in case she didn't have enough to eat.
As for Wei Yuyan herself, she might not be able to finish two steamed buns, mainly because she had eaten steamed buns in the morning, which were filling.
"That's enough, two is enough for me. I had dumpling soup with your Brother Zhang this morning."
Xiuhua's sister-in-law took a big bite and chewed it.
"Mmm~, this sauce is really delicious. Is it made of mushrooms?"
Sister-in-law Xiuhua opened the steamed bun to look at the sauce inside.
"Yes, I fried them this morning. It's a pity we didn't have any meat at home. If I had put some fatty meat in, they would have been so delicious."
Wei Yuyan couldn't help but swallow hard when she thought of that taste.
"It's already delicious as it is, it's spicy, it would definitely taste good if you put it in noodles too."
Xiuhua's sister-in-law thought she would fry some to eat when she got home.
"Hmm, I'll try it tomorrow morning."
Wei Yuyan also thought that it would be delicious to roll out noodles tomorrow morning and then mix them with this sauce.
After eating, Wei Yuyan and Sister-in-law Xiuhua lay on the grass and chatted.
They continued digging for bamboo shoots in the afternoon until both baskets were full, then they headed home.
"Wow, Xiao Lei caught so many fish?"
Sister-in-law Xiuhua looked into Wu Lei's basket and saw that there were at least eight or nine fish, each about the size of three adult thumbs.
"Yes, we'll give you an extra meal tonight."
Wei Yuyan plans to fry the fish tonight, then stir-fry it with chili peppers—it'll be delicious!
"Then we're in for a treat!"
Sister-in-law Xiuhua looked at the sky; it was still early, only around 3 PM.
Back home, Sister-in-law Xiuhua and her two children started peeling bamboo shoots, while Wei Yuyan began cooking.
There were five or six steamed buns left over from the morning, but it wasn't enough, so Wei Yuyan had to cook some rice to eat with them.
For dinner, we had three dishes: stir-fried bamboo shoots with chili peppers, stir-fried mushrooms, and pan-fried small fish.
First, cut the small fish with a knife, then squeeze out the internal organs, marinate them with salt, and fry them over low heat until the outside is golden brown.
Crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, set aside for later use; they'll be stir-fried with chili peppers later.
Cut the bamboo shoots into thin slices, blanch them in boiling water with salt for a few minutes, then remove and set aside.
"Sister-in-law Xiuhua, should we start cooking now, or wait a while? How long will it take for Brother Zhang to come back?"
Wei Yuyan was worried that if she cooked it too early, the food would get cold and wouldn't taste good, especially the fish, which would have a fishy smell when it got cold.
"Let's stir it up now, he's almost done."
Sister-in-law Xiuhua glanced at the sky and felt it was about time.
"good".
Wei Yuyan first stir-fried the mushrooms and bamboo shoots, and then stir-fried the fish. Before the fish was even out of the pan, Brother Zhang arrived.
"Wow, so many bamboo shoots!"
Brother Zhang was very surprised.
"Yes, my sister-in-law said it wasn't enough, and she wants to dig more in a few days."
When Sister-in-law Xiuhua saw Brother Zhang return, she told the children to wash their hands and get ready for dinner.
"Brother Zhang, Sister-in-law Xiuhua, please try this bamboo shoot. Xiaolei, Xiaoqian, come and try this fish, it must be delicious."
Wei Yuyan served them each some food, and also picked up a piece of bamboo shoot for herself.
"Hmm, these bamboo shoots really aren't bitter at all, sister-in-law. How is that possible? They taste so refreshing."
Brother Zhang was surprised.
"Yes, it's delicious."
Sister-in-law Xiuhua picked up another piece with her chopsticks.
"Sister-in-law Xiuhua, now you regret saying you don't want bamboo shoots, don't you?"
Wei Yuyan joked.
"No, it doesn't matter. If I want to eat it, I can go dig it up again in a couple of days."
Sister-in-law Xiuhua didn't feel she had lost out; she was just annoyed that she hadn't studied how to cook bamboo shoots better earlier.
"This fish is delicious too."
Seeing that they weren't picking up fish, Wei Yuyan picked up fish for them again.
"This is all thanks to Xiao Lei."
Sister-in-law Xiuhua couldn't help but praise her.
"Yes, Xiao Lei, eat more."
Wei Yuyan picked up another fish for Xiao Lei, afraid that he would feel awkward.
Another hearty meal.
"Sister-in-law, I just passed by and saw the rice seedlings in the paddy fields. Your seedlings are growing very well."
"We can start transplanting rice seedlings in a few days. Mine will be a few days later than yours."
Brother Zhang wanted to ask if they needed help transplanting rice seedlings, but it seemed the Wu family only had two mu of land.
The rice seedlings in my family were planted in the paddy field a few days later than those in Wei Yuyan's, so it's not as fast yet.
"Sister-in-law, I'll help you out then."
Sister-in-law Xiuhua thought that with two acres of land, she and Wei Yuyan could finish planting in a day and a half at the latest. Besides, with Xiao Lei's help, they estimated that it would be finished in a day.
"Okay, I've got it plugged in at my house, and now I'm helping you out."
Wei Yuyan nodded and accepted Xiuhua's help.
"Our family only planted one acre of paddy field this time, it was very easy."
Xiuhua's sister-in-law replied
"Yes, I forgot about it."
Wei Yuyan then realized that Brother Zhang only planned to use one mu of land for the experiment, and the rest would have to wait until next month to plant.
Two or three days later, the group went up the mountain to dig for bamboo shoots again, with Wu Qian in charge of finding them.
Xiao Lei and Wei Yuyan were in charge of digging, and Sister-in-law Xiuhua also came this time. She had been craving bamboo shoots ever since she ate them last time.
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