She recalled fishing for crayfish at her grandmother's house in the countryside when she was a child. First, she would tie a frog leg to one end of the line, throw it directly into the water, and wait for the crayfish to bite.
Soon, the line moved. She pulled hard and found two small crayfish hanging from the end of the line, which made her very happy.
Only little kids like them would be bored enough to go fishing for crayfish. The older boys would buy chemicals, sprinkle them into the water, and after a while, many crayfish would float to the surface, as if they had fainted.
In her view, this was boring and violent.
Yuan Doudou's thoughts were interrupted by the branch in her hand. She felt something struggling in the water and quickly pulled back the line. Sure enough, it was a crayfish.
The first crayfish is a good bait. Peel off its tail, remove its shell, and tie the crayfish meat to the line. This will make catching crayfish faster.
As expected, a second lobster was caught in no time.
This one was bigger, and its tail had more meat, so Yuan Doudou used it as bait.
When Wang Qiqiang returned from the field, he saw her tying lobster meat onto a line and asked, puzzled, "DouDou, what are you doing? Fishing?"
They called it fishing, but there wasn't even a fishhook.
"No, I was fishing for crayfish. Look, this is what I just caught," Yuan Doudou said with no small amount of pride.
Wang Qiqiang laughed immediately after hearing this, "DouDou, what are you going to do with this red turtle?"
The villagers all felt that this was bad luck.
"Aren't you going to eat?" Yuan Doudou asked in surprise.
Wang Qiqiang told him the truth: "Dou Dou, don't blame me for criticizing you, but this kind of fish has a very hard shell. Even after it's cooked, it's still hard. It's hard to peel it open, but the meat inside is still hard and doesn't taste very good."
His words made Yuan Doudou frown. Was he talking about crayfish?
In their area, this stuff is a hot commodity, a staple at night market stalls and barbecue stands, and it's not cheap either.
"No, lobster is delicious."
Wang Qiqiang looked puzzled: "What lobster?"
"This is scientifically known as a lobster, but commonly called a sea shrimp." People inland cannot eat large shrimp from the sea, so they specially gave it a name with the sea in it as a consolation.
"I've never heard of it. We all call it the Red Turtle here." Wang Qiqiang was puzzled. Everyone knew it, so how could Yuan Doudou not know it and give it such a strange name?
"DouDou, I can't understand what you're saying?" Wang Qiqiang couldn't help but ask.
Yuan Doudou realized something was wrong; she had said too much and inadvertently revealed a flaw.
“I heard this from my mother-in-law. That’s what they call red soft-shelled turtles in her hometown.” Yuan Doudou paused for a moment. “She also told me that they are delicious. I was curious and wanted to catch some to try them.”
When Wang Qiqiang heard the important point—that Yuan Doudou wanted to eat red soft-shelled turtle—he perked up.
"Let me do it, you're too slow."
As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Qiqiang took off his shoes and socks, rolled up his trousers, and went into the river.
Although he disliked dragon turtles, he was a skilled fish catcher. When he saw a red turtle, he would quickly grab it by the back to prevent it from clamping onto him, and then gracefully toss the red turtle into a basket on the shore.
Wang Qiqiang filled half a basket in no time, with one in each hand.
"There are so many crayfish in this water!" Yuan Doudou exclaimed.
She originally just wanted to catch a few to try, but she never expected there to be so many lobsters.
“Nobody likes to eat red soft-shelled turtles, but there are always a lot of them every year. Last year there was a drought, so we didn’t see many, but this year it rained, and suddenly there are so many red soft-shelled turtles in the river,” Wang Qiqiang explained to Yuan Doudou while catching crayfish.
So that's how it is. During droughts, the lobsters also hide in the mud and don't all die.
"Brother Wang, I see there are so many lobsters, enough for several meals. Why don't you come up?" Yuan Doudou felt a little embarrassed for troubling him for so long.
Wang Qiqiang caught several more before coming out of the water. His clothes were almost soaked, and his hands were covered with mottled marks from being accidentally touched by the lobster's claws.
Anji looked at the basket full of lobsters, feeling both scared and happy.
When he grows up, he will definitely surpass Uncle Wang and catch more lobsters so that his mother can eat her fill.
The three walked home together, encountering many people along the way. They were used to it, and some even speculated that Yuan Doudou and Wang Qiqiang were already dating, but hadn't officially held a wedding banquet yet.
Wang Qiqiang first took Yuan Doudou home and was about to leave when Yuan Doudou asked him to stay for dinner. After thinking about it, Wang Qiqiang felt it was inappropriate and eventually went back home.
Yuan Doudou didn't want to force him, so she took the bamboo basket and offered to give him some lobsters to take back.
"Don't be polite with me. Even if you give it to me, it will just be thrown away. My mother doesn't like to eat it or cook it." Zhang Aiju did say that no one in the family was allowed to bring red turtles home because they were troublesome to clean and sometimes would hurt their hands.
Seeing that he was refusing her no matter what, she remembered the braised pig intestines at home.
"Don't go yet, I have something good to take back with you."
Yuan Doudou entered the house, took out a plate containing sliced pig intestines, and handed it to Wang Qiqiang.
Seeing the dark, unremarkable object, Wang Qiqiang couldn't help but wonder how Yuan Doudou could always come up with such strange and unusual things.
"What is this?" He really couldn't guess.
Seeing that he had never seen it before, Yuan Doudou bluntly said, "Pig offal."
Wang Qiqiang resisted the urge to throw the plate away, holding his breath for fear of being suffocated by the stench.
"Don't do that. I've processed it. It's been braised with spices. It tastes great and doesn't smell bad at all."
Yuan Doudou spoke with a straight face, which made Wang Qiqiang even more convinced that she was talking nonsense.
It clearly still smells bad, how come she can't smell it? Is her nose broken?
"If you don't believe me, you can try it and see. If you like it, you can take it." Yuan Doudou was at her wit's end. No matter how much she talked, it was better to let him experience it for himself.
Wang Qiqiang instinctively stepped back and covered his mouth; he was determined not to eat it.
"Fine, I'll eat it for you, okay?" Yuan Doudou almost rolled her eyes.
She picked up a piece of large intestine and ate it with relish, a happy smile on her face.
Wang Qiqiang was dumbfounded. How could she enjoy eating such stinky stuff like that?
That's amazing, this is a master.
"I've already shown you how to eat it, and you still don't believe me?" Yuan Doudou was getting a little anxious. It really wasn't easy to sell a delicious dish.
Just as she was about to give up on recommending it, Wang Qiqiang suddenly picked up a piece, shoved it into his mouth, held his breath, and swallowed it without even chewing it properly.
"Did you taste anything?" Yuan Doudou was amused by his actions.
Wang Qiqiang shook his head very seriously, as if there was no taste in it.
"Alright, if you don't like it, I won't force you. I'll keep it for myself." It smells delicious and tastes delicious, yet he can eat it with such disgust. It's so hurtful.
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