Back in the kitchen, Eldest Xu's wife, Zhou, and Second Xu's wife, Li, were busy preparing the fish.
Just like Mr. Xu had said, after chopping it into several pieces, the enormous grass carp almost filled up the entire pot.
To make a good pot of stewed fish would require a lot of different ingredients. Other than that, they would also have to fry the fish in oil before stewing it. With so many pieces of fish to be fried, they didn't have enough space in the kitchen.
Li looked at Zhou and asked, "Sister-in-law, should we use two pots instead of one? We'll use one to fry the fish and the other to stew!"
"That's a good idea," Zhou agreed, "Then we can even make two different flavors!"
There was obviously more than one way to stew fish.
"We'll make one that's bland, since mother and the kids can't handle the spice. As for the other pot, we'll add some chili to it. It will be a perfect match with white rice and it would taste amazing!"
"Let's do it!"
Since Zhou was the one who was in charge, she could make these decisions on her own and this matter would be settled.
If it was before, they would have had to ask Mrs. Xu before making the decision. However, Mr. and Mrs. Xu had already given this authority to Zhou, so she felt that she should be more responsible from now on.
...
In the courtyard, Eldest and Second Xu were chopping firewood. Since they were free anyway, they had decided to do something useful instead of wasting their time. As it was going to be winter soon and they would need a lot of firewood to keep the entire family warm, they had settled on this task.
"The eldest!"
Mr. Xu walked out of his room and saw his eldest son sitting on a bench, chopping firewood. He quickly said, "Quick! Let's have a drink this afternoon. Go and fetch the green plum wine that your mother brewed last year!"
When Second Xu heard his father's words, he spoke up, "Father, we're drinking the green plum wine? That's not something that men like us should drink!"
"Then you can just sit there and not drink anything!" Mr. Xu declared, glaring at his second son, the jerk who was acting stupid.
Second Xu raised his eyebrows, refusing, "No way! Since both of you are going to be drinking, I'll be losing out if I don't!
Mr. Xu was at a loss for words. The only thing he could do was quietly mumble to himself. 'Don't be angry. There's no point in getting angry. He is your son. You have no other choice but to accept it.'
Eldest Xu did not say much. After getting his father's order, he stood up and headed for the cellar.
"Big brother, I'm coming with you!"
"Continue chopping the woods!" Eldest Xu insisted, looking at his younger brother with a despicable look.
"Big brother, are you planning to secretly drink father's old wine?"
Hearing that his elder brother did not want him to follow him, Second Xu panicked and asked, "Big brother, are you secretly planning to drink father's old wine? Big brother, we're brothers. We should have it together…"
When Mr. Xu heard what his second son said, he was stunned and started trembling with anger.
Several times before, his wife had noted that the old wine had reduced significantly. She insisted that he had been drinking the wine secretly, but he swore that he had only taken a few sips.
Back then, he could only defended himself by saying that the wine had dissipated on its own.
The reason why the old wine could be so concentrated was because the fluid inside would dissipate over time.
So, Mr. Xu had convinced himself that although there would be less wine than there originally was, it would taste much better, so it wasn't a loss.
However, he had now learned the truth from this conversation that occurred between two of his sons.
"Bastards! The two of you were the ones who had been secretly drinking my wine?! When your mother accused me of it, you two even added fuel to the fire!
"I'm so angry right now! The two of you are dead today!"
Mr. Xu looked around furiously, trying to find something that he could use to teach his unfilial sons a lesson.
"Father! I didn't do it!" When Eldest Xu saw that his father was about to hit him, he quickly defended himself. "Once! I only drank the wine once! Second brother drank most of it! You should know that his alcohol consumption was at least twice that of mine!"
"Big brother…...?!"
Second Xu was in disbelief that his elder brother had betrayed him. Weren't they on the same boat?
However, Eldest Xu didn't even bother looking at his own brother.
If it hadn't been because of his big mouth, which had spilled the beans on their deed, they wouldn't be in this situation now!
The person who caused this scene in the first place should be the one to bear the consequences!
He definitely wasn't going to be the one taking the blame. Therefore, Eldest Xu immediately put the blame on his younger brother.
What else could Second Xu do now?
Push it back onto his brother? It'll have to depend on whether his father would trust him.
Well, obviously, Mr. Xu didn't have much trust in the words of his second son.
Second Xu might be a fool but this foolishness only applied to serious matters. He was the kind that would do everything by the books and would not know how to work around a problem. However, when it comes to other things, especially leisurely matters such as drinking and eating, Second Xu's abilities were definitely some of the best.
"You brutes! Get over here! If I don't teach you a lesson today, I'm afraid you no longer remember that I am still your father!!"
"Father! That's not something that I can forget!!"
Did you think that Second Xu would simply stay put and wait for Mr. Xu?
Second Xu had already jumped up and ran towards the door.
Just as he almost reached the main door, someone knocked on it from the outside.
"Open up! I'm home!" Third Xu's voice rang out from outside the courtyard.