As dusk fell, the setting sun hung on the horizon, its golden rays spreading across the fields, the rolling waves of wheat reaching the distant mountains.
Yan Jie continued driving forward in his electric car.
As Jiang Hexi passed by the pond, she spotted Li Youtian hiding in the wheat field.
"Yan Wang, drive the car to that side road."
She called out from afar, "Uncle You Tian, what are you doing?"
Li Youtian emerged from the weeds, carrying a net containing two weak grass carp.
"There was a downpour at noon, and two fish floated to the surface. They're not quite dead yet; they're still clinging to life. If you want them, I'll tie them up with dry grass and take them back for you."
"Uncle You Tian, how can I take your things for free?"
Jiang Hexi said this, but seeing Li Youtian pick up some dry grass and start tying up the fish, she changed her mind: "Uncle, do you have a knife?"
Li Youtian shook the large bunch of keys on his waist and said, "Yes, if you want them, I'll take them off for you right now."
Jiang Hexi got off the electric bike and lifted two grass carp from the net:
"The fish are already breathing with their mouths open, so we have to kill them now. Otherwise, they'll become dead fish when we take them home, and we won't be able to get rid of the fishy smell no matter what we do."
"Then you should go quickly." Li Youtian handed her the knife.
She took two grass carp to the stream and smashed their heads against the pebbles, knocking them unconscious with two loud "bangs."
The scales were scraped off against the direction of the blade, the fish was soaked in water and washed clean, a horizontal cut was made in the head to remove the gills, and then a diagonal cut was made in the belly to remove the internal organs. The fish was shaken clean and then tied with dry grass and hung up. That's how a fish was killed.
The entire movement was fluid and graceful.
Yan Jie, Li Youtian, and the cameraman were all astonished by her fish-killing movements.
[Excellent! Considering how Xi-mei used to be too scared to even watch someone kill a fish, and then look at her skillful knife work now, her growth is truly remarkable.]
[Having slaughtered pigs and cows, Xi Mei is truly different; now she kills fish without even blinking!]
[From politely declining to readily agreeing and finally proceeding to kill the fish, Xi Mei's smooth-talking approach seems so familiar.]
Jiang Hexi carried two cleaned grass carp onto the electric scooter. "Uncle, when the honey is ready, I'll have Chu Yang bring you two bottles."
Li Youtian waved her away and went back to the pond to catch his fish.
Yan Jie was driving back when he encountered children on their way home from school. He stopped his car at the zebra crossing and let them cross the road.
Jiang Hexi glanced outside and then called out, "Heiwa, catch!"
Among the passing children, a boy with tanned, shiny skin turned around, caught the bag of lollipops tossed into his arms, and grinned, revealing a set of white teeth.
"Thank you, Sister Jiang."
“Go to the camphor tree and tell your grandma that I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
"Alright!" Heiwa called to a few of his friends, took a shortcut, and ran out in a swarm.
Yan Jie knew she was a socialite, but he didn't know she could even handle children.
"You carried a bag of candy with you?"
"And this too."
Jiang Hexi stretched out her hand, revealing a stack of red envelopes of various sizes. "If I can't even handle this basic social etiquette, how am I supposed to get along with people in the village?"
"sharp."
When Yan Jie rode her bicycle from the free-range chicken farm to the camphor tree, the elderly women had already picked bags of vegetables and were waiting for her there.
He watched her move effortlessly among the old women, her eyes like a scale, able to estimate the price of a bag of vegetables with a single glance, then pull out red envelopes of varying sizes and amounts, and forcefully stuff them into the old women's hands.
The pushing and pulling motions looked very professional.
First, they politely offered and refused each other the red envelope, then they forcefully pushed it in, firmly holding it down so no one could push it away, and finally, they patted each other's hands reassuringly, and that was how the red envelope was given.
The grandmothers were all beaming with satisfaction after receiving the red envelopes.
Jiang Hexi returned carrying bags of vegetables, filling the footrest of her electric scooter to the brim. Only then did she remember the "main group" behind her.
"Grandma, have Chu Yang and the others been here?"
Cui Atai slowly fanned herself with a palm-leaf fan and said, "A gust of wind blew by with a whoosh."
Grandma Xiang quickly added, "Two electric bikes and a bicycle all went over there, saying they were going to check out Stone Street. I said, did you two deliberately fall behind?"
Jiang Hexi blushed deeply on the spot.
Cui Atai tapped Granny Xiang's forehead with her palm-leaf fan and said to her, "You don't look as old as me, so why are you talking nonsense?"
Grandma Xiang immediately changed her tune, saying, "I just noticed that Xi-mei was carrying two grass carp, so I wanted to find out where she got such a bargain."
Jiang Hexi got on the electric car and hurriedly fled from the camphor tree.
Those feelings that were deliberately concealed, like new seedlings breaking through the soil, withstood immense pressure and still managed to sprout outwards.
She looked at the bulging T-shirt behind him and felt the air blowing through it make her feel hot.
The two arrived at Stone Street and saw three cars parked together.
The first thing Jiang Hexi did after getting out of the car was to hang bags of vegetables on the hooks of their car.
She even hung a grass carp on the handlebars of Shen Yingyu's bicycle to indicate balance.
Zhou Gongqi walked down from the stone house halfway up the mountain, discussing with Shen Yingyu as he went:
"Canglang Village has beautiful mountains and rivers, and it can be developed into a model tourist village. In particular, the stone houses in this area, and some dirty and messy places can be turned into a painting and creative street, which will definitely be attractive."
Hearing this, Shen Yingyu had a vague idea of what was going on, but he was still hesitant to speak:
"Where can we find someone to paint such a large area?"
Am I not human?
Zhou Gongqi told him, "I just toured the village and have a basic understanding of the ecology and culture of Canglang Village. After a few more days of in-depth visits, I will be able to design a draft, which I will then show to you."
"Lord Zhou, thank you so much. I'll go talk to the village chief about this tomorrow."
As Shen Yingyu walked down the steps, he looked up and saw the two grass carp hanging on the handlebars. He was stunned, his face turning ashen.
"Who hung a grass carp on my bicycle?!"
Jiang Hexi, sitting on the back of the electric scooter, held up the free-range eggs in her hand and said:
"I still have two bags of eggs with me. Each vehicle has some things distributed. It's raining heavily. Why don't you switch with someone else?"
Shen Yingyu watched Yan Jie drive the electric car away, then looked back at the others. They had all gotten into their cars, and no one was willing to give the two grass carp a ride.
His mood was as gloomy as the sky above.
These people were clearly bullying him. Even if he pedaled his bicycle until sparks flew, he still couldn't catch up with their electric bikes.
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