Following Yun Jin's instructions, Li Aimei cleaned the fish scales and gills, then lit a charcoal fire and placed the cleaned fish on it to grill, occasionally rubbing it with oil, creating a sizzling aroma.
Sprinkle some salt and chili powder. It's okay if you don't have cumin powder; the original flavor is even better.
Yun Jin also traded a large carp with Sister-in-law Gao for two eggplants, a bunch of chives and green beans, and set up a simple barbecue. Yun Jin was in charge of eating, and Li Aimei was in charge of grilling.
Seeing the two of them busy grilling fish, eggplant, and chives in the corridor, Gao's wife didn't know what to say.
My little girl wanted to eat pickled fish, so Aunt Gao made some fish fillets with carp. After asking Yun Jin for advice, we made a pickled carp dish at home, and it turned out to be quite good. It was sour, spicy, and appetizing, and tasted different from braised fish.
The little girl's lips were red from the spiciness, and when asked, she nodded: "It's delicious, the pickled fish is delicious, Mom is the best!"
She coaxed Sister-in-law Gao so much that she wished she could go fishing with Yun Jin tomorrow.
Yun Jin's grilled fish was ready, and she couldn't wait to catch it in her bowl. Just as she picked up her chopsticks and was about to eat, she saw Sister Li dragging her eldest son over angrily, clearly there to cause trouble.
Yun Jin seemed not to notice, picked up a piece of grilled fish with her chopsticks and took a bite. It was cooked perfectly, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, just like the ones she had at the food stall. Yun Jin couldn't help but give Li Aimei a thumbs up.
Li Aimei smiled a little shyly after being praised.
Seeing Yun Jin happily eating grilled fish, Sister-in-law Li shouted angrily, "He family's daughter-in-law, how dare you eat fish?"
Yun Jin raised an eyebrow: "I caught the big fish myself, why would I be embarrassed to eat it?"
"You caught it yourself. How come I heard my son say that you wanted him to give you the fish he caught as a sign of respect?" Sister Li's face was ugly as she questioned, "Who are you to him, his mother or anyone else? I, who have worked so hard to raise him, haven't even had a big fish to eat. When will it be your turn?"
It happened to be mealtime, and everyone was at home. Hearing the commotion, they all came to see what was going on.
They were particularly happy to watch the lively scene at Yun Jin.
They stopped cooking the vegetables.
They stopped trying to soothe the child and just brought him out to watch together.
The gossip factor ingrained in their genes made even the most wailing children stop crying and watch the spectacle with tears in their eyes.
Yun Jin looked at the boy whose ear was being pulled: "Have you explained things clearly to your mother?"
"I told you, my mom won't let me give the big fish to Master. She said I caught it myself, so why should I give it to Master? Waaah..." The boy felt ashamed being dragged along and questioned.
He also wanted to be a person who kept his promises, but his mother wouldn't allow it.
Yun Jin had guessed this, which is why she prepared the written agreement.
Seeing the boy crying in distress, Yun Jin said to Sister Li, "Your son is very good. You, back then, were short-sighted, selfish, and greedy. Why don't you think about who taught your son to catch fish?"
"Oh, you think you can just talk your way out of this and eat the biggest fish? Why don't you just fly to the moon?"
"That's right, that's right! We didn't even get to eat the fish my son caught. Who do you think you are? Do you even deserve to eat them?" The other women who came over also came to question him, afraid that things wouldn't get out of hand.
"How can you be so greedy, woman? You can catch fish yourself, but you still want to take advantage of the child."
"You heartless woman, aren't you afraid of eating the fish our child caught and corrupting the one in your belly?"
Yun Jin's stomach was attacked, and she said with a dark face, "If you have a problem, come at me, don't involve the baby in my belly."
"You know how to protect your child, but do you ever think about how heartbroken we are to know that our child is being bullied by a wicked woman like you?"
Seeing everyone's attitude of condemning Yun Jin made Li Aimei angry: "They did it voluntarily, how can you bully your children? My sister-in-law kindly taught them how to fish, what's wrong with charging a little tuition?"
"If you didn't want to learn in the first place, then don't learn. Now that you've learned, you're turning your backs on me. You're not good people, you're bad, you have no conscience!" Li Aimei was no pushover either; she was quite skilled at cursing.
She stared at the children who had their heads down, scolding them until they were too ashamed to look up.
The sisters-in-law were not willing to let their children be bullied, and they immediately said, "What do you know, you little girl? You're so young and you're not learning anything good from her. Let's see if you'll ever be able to get married."
"Your sister-in-law advises you to stay away from her, lest you be led astray."
"She's been led astray. Look at her like that, who would dare to marry her in the future?"
"A perfectly good girl has been ruined. The Li family is so pitiful!"
Li Aimei, her eyes red with anger from the barrage of questions, retorted, "Whether I get married or not is none of your business, but it's wrong of you to bully me."
Yun Jin looked at Li Aimei, who was protecting her, and patted her shoulder with a smile: "Don't listen to their nonsense. You'll definitely do well in the future, don't worry!"
Because of your protective attitude, your sister-in-law won't let you suffer any losses.
Yun Jin stepped forward to prevent Li Aimei from being bullied by them: "Take a good look at this yourselves. It's in black and white, and they even signed it. There's a reason for the grievance, and the debtor should be held accountable. You don't think that just because you don't admit it, there's no such thing as tuition fees, do you?"
Looking at the document Yun Jin produced, the children who had signed it lowered their heads in embarrassment: "We really did learn how to fish from Auntie to catch so many fish."
"Mom, didn't you say I wanted to be a real man? I fish to support my master, that makes me a real man."
“I don’t want people to say I’m a fraud, so I must be filial to my master. I will fish more in the future and make sure my mother can eat big fish.”
"I also think the big fish should go to Master. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have caught a single one, sob sob sob..."
The women's faces turned ashen after being betrayed by the children. One of them started hitting the child in front of everyone, making him cry loudly. The child, however, had backbone: "Even if you beat me to death, I swear I'll give you the biggest catch every time."
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
