Five large basins of sauerkraut fish were served, with not a drop of soup left, and even the fish bones filled one basin.
All the pancakes were eaten; the place was completely clean.
With many people eating, there were also many people working, and in no time, the place was cleaned up inside and out.
"Hongmei, we won't have a chance to go fishing before the New Year. Shall we go again around the middle of the first lunar month?"
"I'm not going. I need to pack my things. Besides, what kind of fish could there be? I'll save the small fish for when they grow up."
"That's all we can do. We won't be able to eat fish balls anymore."
"I still have some fish here. If you want to eat them, I'll give each of you one."
"No, we already owe you too much, we can never repay you in a lifetime, how can we take advantage of you again?"
"There's no need to be so calculating. We all grew up in the same village. Although we can't be compared to biological brothers and sisters, we're still family when we're outside."
"Then don't need it. I'll clean the fish for you, and you can take it to the capital."
“Okay, come over after the fifth day of the first lunar month and help me clean all the fish. I’ll fry them into pieces and take them with me.”
On New Year's Eve, the canteen doesn't cook, so everyone eats dumplings at home. Some families have even run out of noodles, but most families are just trying to make ends meet and have no choice but to go hungry for the night.
When Wang Hongxi found out, she was disappointed and frustrated. In the end, she gave each family ten jin of sweet potatoes, but nothing else.
After finishing breakfast, Liu Jingze called Zhang Hongmei to his house. He had no choice; the old lady had spoken.
Zhang Hongmei sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) reading the newspaper to the old lady, and the two of them would sometimes burst into laughter.
Hu Aifen has almost finished knitting the cardigan, only the sleeves are left. She didn't knit today, she used it to prepare dumplings for tonight.
Sauerkraut and smoked pork, cabbage and smoked pork. Zhang Hongmei was assigned to cook fish. She wasn't needed for anything else.
Tonight, each of the women in the family had a small glass of baijiu (Chinese liquor).
"Too milky, I won't drink it. I hate the taste."
"It's okay if you don't want to drink it, I still have orange juice."
"I don't like drinking it either, I'll just have dumpling soup."
After dinner, Liu Jingze took Zhang Hongmei back home. Zhang Hongmei locked the door, went into her spatial dimension, took a shower, and went to sleep.
Zhang Hongmei felt that New Year's Eve without firecrackers was no different from any other day, quiet and peaceful.
Before we knew it, it was the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. Da Shan came over and dug all the fish out of the snowdrift. There were less than thirty left, which was quite a lot.
"Brother Dashan, keep twelve strips. When you leave on the tenth, send a few to your leader and Huang Ying at the post office so she can take care of you in the future. Send a few to Brother Jianguo so he can also use his connections."
"Okay, we ten of us are really grateful to you."
"I already told you, don't worry about these things. Get to work, seventeen fish is quite a lot. I only want the fish meat; you'll have to take the heads and bones to the canteen later."
"Okay, Erlinzi and the others will be here soon. Don't worry, they've done everything for you."
In one morning, Dashan had already butchered all fifteen fish, and each fish yielded three jin of meat, totaling forty-five jin.
"Brother Dashan, cut the fish meat into pieces about the width of your palm. I'll go prepare the seasonings to marinate it."
Zhang Hongmei placed the fried peppercorns and star anise from the last time she made sauerkraut fish on a board, ground them into powder, and put them in a bowl for later use.
Shuangcun and Xiaosuo carried the cleaned fish pieces into the kitchen.
The water had to be drained, so I poured it twice. Then I took out a bottle of white wine and poured it into two separate basins. Next came the ground peppercorns and star anise, along with the pickling and a large handful of white sugar in each basin.
"The rest of the work is up to you. Keep scooping and make sure the fish is evenly coated with the seasoning. At least ten minutes, I'll keep track."
"Hongmei, is this all you need?"
"Of course not. We'll coat it with flour when we fry it tomorrow. And the flour can't just be white flour; we have to mix in some fine cornmeal and some wheat flour. That's how you make the fried fish taste good."
"Isn't this what you're going to take with you? Or maybe you shouldn't eat it. Just fry it up and keep it. If you have a lot of stuff, we'll take some of it with us when we go back on the tenth of the month."
"Okay. I've packed the bedding, clothes, and other necessities. There are many of you, so you can help me deliver them. Also, I'll leave the key with you when I leave. You can handle the electrical work as you see fit."
"Okay, I'll see how to do it."
Liu Jingze came over in the morning too. "Hongmei, I'm back. I brought you some oranges."
"There are oranges to eat too! That's great!"
"Just tell me what to do. The cooking fumes are too strong."
"Then I'll coat the fish with flour first, and you can fry it in a bit."
Da Shan came over to help Zhang Hongmei start the fire. It was truly a struggle; seeing this girl using both lard and soybean oil, how could the fish not taste good?
It took the entire morning to finally finish frying all the fish. Zhang Hongmei was full; it was so delicious.
Da Shan only tried one piece, but it was so delicious that he was afraid he wouldn't be able to stop eating it, so he refused to eat a second piece.
Liu Jingze didn't eat any; he was sick of the smell alone.
“Brother Jingze, take a small bowl back and let Grandma have a taste. Grandpa and Uncle will definitely enjoy it with their drinks.”
"Hehe, my grandma is going to nag my grandpa again. He always gets drunk whenever you bring him some good food."
Zhang Hongmei ladled out a bowl of fried fish from two large basins and sent it to the neighbor, while she put a small bowl of it in a basket and sent it to Liu Maocai.
"Sister Hongmei, it smells so good."
"Right? All this good stuff, how can it not smell good?"
“Hongmei, you’re going to the capital soon. Your third uncle and I originally wanted to slaughter a pig. But if we slaughter the pig, our village will have no offspring. Everyone advised your third uncle not to do it. Your third uncle always felt sorry for you.”
"What are you saying? Do we need to do this?"
"Yes, I know. This is a small token of our appreciation from your third uncle. When you get to the capital, just go and buy whatever you like."
"Hehe. I'll just take one. Auntie, let's not argue, you know what I'm doing."
On the morning of the tenth day of the lunar month, Da Shan and his group of ten arrived, carrying Zhang Hongmei's pre-packed luggage and two bags of fish, and set off. They were much luckier than Liu Jianguo, who only stayed at home for two days before returning home.
The remaining two or so people didn't have to exert any effort.
The Lantern Festival is almost here, but the village's storeroom is out of glutinous rice, so we won't be able to eat glutinous rice balls for the Lantern Festival.
On the morning of the fifteenth, Liu Jingze came over and said, "Grandma Hongmei wants you to come over and make glutinous rice balls."
"Hehe, I thought I wouldn't be able to eat tangyuan (sweet rice balls) anymore. I didn't expect you to still have some!"
"It's only about five catties of glutinous rice. My mom ground it all yesterday, and now my grandma is roasting peanuts with brown sugar, peanut crumbs, and sesame filling."
"That must be delicious. I'm off to help with the chores."
The old lady was sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed) kneading dough. She was using sweet potato dough, because it was easier to wrap and the filling wouldn't leak out.
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