Liu Jingze touched his nose and went out. Liu Changhe sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) angrily, "This child, the older he gets, the more trouble he causes."
"Children and grandchildren have their own blessings; you're not as open-minded as I am. Okay, stop looking so long."
"Mom, it's all because you spoiled her."
"If you don't want to put up with him, then go beat him up. Get out, I'm going to sleep."
Liu Changhe had no choice but to go outside, where his wife was burying fish in the snow.
"Milk, keep two of them. Have Hongmei come over tomorrow to make fish balls."
"What kind of fish should we keep? Carp or grass carp?"
"It should be grass carp, right? It has fewer bones." Liu Changhe also squatted down and looked happily at the big fish on the ground.
"Hehe, weren't you angry?"
"Can't you just pretend you don't know?" She glared at him angrily, then stood up and left sullenly.
Liu Jingze brought over a basin, filled it with two large grass carp, and sent it into the kitchen.
The fish was frozen stiff, but it thawed as soon as the mother and daughter entered the house, and then it started thrashing and wriggling on the ground.
Liu Maocai's daughter, Er Ya, didn't dare to say a word, just like a quail. Her father was really angry and didn't even acknowledge her when he came back.
Li Cuihua, however, was particularly happy. Of the ten large fish, she would give one to her mother, and the rest could be saved to nourish the children. She had also learned how to make the pickled fish that Hongmei made last year. This year, she would make it for the children to try.
"Mom, Dad is really angry," Er Ya asked cautiously, squatting nervously next to her mother.
"It's alright, it'll be fine in a bit. Go inside and talk to him."
"Mom, I don't dare."
"Then wait a moment and I'll go in with you."
Stone kept circling around, saying, "Second Sister, you guys are amazing! So many fish, and they're all big ones! That's incredible! I want to go too."
"Didn't you see Dad's expression? If you're not afraid, go ahead and try, but I'm not taking you with me."
"Tch. I'll go by myself when I'm older. Seriously, I'll go with Sister Hongmei next year. I'm strong, I'll definitely earn more then than I do now."
"Go dream on and get out of my way, you're blocking my way." Er Ya pushed the stones aside; she was scared herself, and this kid was still nagging on and on.
Er Ya followed Li Cuihua into the house, where Liu Maocai was sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed) with his legs crossed, smoking.
"If you win, smoke less; it's all smoky. Why are you so angry? Didn't you agree to let the kids go?"
"Dad, don't be angry. We just didn't want to make a wasted trip, so we set up an internet cafe. We only set up one spot because there weren't enough people. Hongmei wasn't strong enough to break the ice hole."
"You think you're right? I told you to go see if you could get up the mountain, not to set up a net. There are so many people in the village, and you few are the only ones capable?"
"No, I just felt that it would be a wasted effort anyway, so I decided to try downloading another network."
Liu Maocai waved his hand and ignored them, knowing that there was no point in arguing with them.
Everyone in Zhu Zi's family wore smiles on their faces. "My Zhu Zi is so promising. He does well in school and he's capable too."
"Hehe, Grandma, if you go out and say that, people will probably laugh their heads off."
"Laugh, who dares? My grandson is capable."
"And what about Jingze and Hongmei?"
"Don't compare yourself to them. How many people like them are there in the whole country? My grandson will also be very successful in the future and will go to university."
The whole family was all smiles.
Zhang Hongmei took out a grass carp and a carp and knocked on the door next door, saying, "Principal, these are the fish we caught today. Please have a taste."
"Where did you catch such a big fish?"
"There's a big pool on the mountain, that's where we went."
"You guys are really brave, daring to go up the mountain in this thick snow?"
"Hehe, it's alright, not too difficult to walk. You guys rest, I'm going back too."
Hurry up and leave, or you'll get scolded again.
Zhang Hongmei buried the fish in the snowdrift in the yard. It will freeze tomorrow, and then she can put it in a tank to keep.
I'll ask Zhu Zi to come over tomorrow and kill a few fish, so we don't have to kill them when we're ready to eat them.
My back feels like it's freezing, so I quickly locked the door and went into my spatial dimension.
The next day, Zhang Hongmei was moving the large vat into the yard when Liu Jingze came over.
"Can't you wait for me to come and do this work? Are you being so distant?"
"No, isn't this something I can do? If I couldn't do it, you would definitely be the one doing it."
Following Zhang Hongmei's instructions, Liu Jingze moved the jar to the eaves of the backyard, dug all the fish out of the snowdrift and put them into the jar, covered it with a thick wooden board, and weighed it down with stones.
"Hongmei, why do you have so few fish?"
"That's quite a lot, about fifty fish. I delivered some to the neighbors yesterday and they're still in the kitchen. I'll call Zhu Zi over in a bit to clean and gut the fish before freezing them, so it'll be easier to eat them later."
"I'll kill him in a bit."
"Come to my house for lunch, Grandma's waiting for your fish balls."
"Okay, let's hurry up and kill the fish and take it over."
"No need to bring it. My grandpa cleaned the fish this morning and is just waiting for you."
"Oh, I see. It's still early, there's still time to kill the fish. If you're going to do it, hurry up."
"If only Brother Dashan were here, his knife skills are amazing."
"My knife skills aren't great, but I'm sure I can still do a decent job."
Liu Jingze carried the large basin into the yard, and Zhang Hongmei took out scissors and a knife, and also brought a stool for Liu Jingze.
"Go inside quickly, it's cold outside. I'll take care of it myself."
"Let me help you, that will make things faster." After saying that, Zhang Hongmei brought out a clean basin and put the cleaned fish in it.
Seeing that Zhang Hongmei wouldn't go in, Liu Jingze quickened his pace.
The more he did it, the more skilled he became, and he managed to kill all six big fish.
"Let's bury the fish in the snow and wait for Brother Dashan and the others to come back and eat them."
Liu Jingze felt helpless; he was doing hard labor for someone else.
Zhang Hongmei brought out a basin of hot water and soap for Liu Jingze to wash his hands. Zhang Hongmei then took a paper package, locked the door, and went to Liu Jingze's house.
When the two arrived at the old lady's house, Liu Changhe's wife was skinning a grass carp.
"Big sister, let me do it. The fishy line hasn't been removed yet."
"Alright, my hands aren't as skillful as yours. What's in this paper package?"
"This is cilantro. I grew it in the city and dried it. It adds a special flavor to soups. You can try it later, Grandma."
"Sure, if it tastes good, I'll grow some too."
"Hongmei, tell me what to do, how do you do it?" Liu Jingze rolled up his sleeves, took a kitchen knife, and stood in front of the board.
"No need, I'll do it while you watch, there are some things that are hard to explain."
Zhang Hongmei took the cleaver, tested the blade and found it quite sharp. She cut open the fish from under the gill cover at the head, and then made another cut at the tail. She found the fishy line, pinched it, and gently patted the fish body with her other hand, slowly pulling out the fishy line.
Then on the other side, the fish's lateral line was pulled out, and the knife was handed to Liu Jingze beside him.
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