Hong Bing was the first to find a good harvest in the net. He held the fish high in his hands and shouted, "Big fish! It's a big fish!"
The fish was about a foot long, and its back was grayish-green in color. There was a slight golden color on its abdomen.
"It's a carp! I've never seen such a huge carp!" someone shouted.
"You're right! Since when did the South river have such a big carp?"
The water in the South river was not that deep, and there were only a few big fish. Most of them were schools of small fish, such as crucian carps.
Immediately after, the brothers Hong Ming and Hong Liang also had a harvest. They were all carps. The one Hong Ming got was the size of a palm, while the one Hong Liang found was a little bigger, about half a catty.
Xiao Xing was a step too slow and the three brothers got the upper hand, but she didn't give up and went to pull the fishing net.
Ling Chengyan shook the net a bit and turned it over. Xiao Xing's eyes immediately lit up and she shouted excitedly, "Big fish, I also caught a big fish!"
Hong Zhi came forward to help. The two sisters worked together to grab the big fish from the net. One held the tail and the other the head. Just as they lifted it up, the fish struggled and actually broke free, falling to the ground with a thud.
When it landed on the ground, everyone could clearly see that it was a large white chub. It had quite a large head along with fine scales.
"Mother, this white chub must be around two or three catties, right?"
"I don't think it's only two or three catties. I think it's over four catties."
"When did the South river have four to five catties of big fish..."
The crowd were chattering amongst each other. A few jealous eyes arose from within the crowd.
Ling Chengyan bent down and removed the few palm-sized crucian carps from the net, letting the children put them into the buckets. She carried the net and walked along the river for a while before casting two more.
She had caught fish from both nets, and with the fish that Wang Lianfa had caught before her, Ling Chengyan had more than half a bucket of fish.
"Let's go, it's time to go back. " Ling Chengyan said as she tidied up the fishing net and called the group of children home.
Wang Lianfa was also very excited, following behind while holding the bucket.
After returning to her uncle's house, Ling Chengyan picked out six large crucian carps that weighed more than half a catty and added some small fish to each of them. She used three ladles to hold them and called a few children out to deliver the fish to Xiao Tian's nannies.
There were two big fish and a few small fish left in the house. Qu Cui kept the slightly bigger carps and some crucian carps in the water tank. She asked her sister-in-law to clean the big carps and the white big chub fish. After that, they made a big pot of fish stew with sticky noodle cakes.
The noodle cakes were stuck to the side of the pot, and one side was roasted till brown and crispy, while the other side was soft and delicious. Along with the rich and fragrant fish stew, even Ling Chengyan found it delicious.
Coming here, this meal was one of the most appetizing and most satisfying.
However, there are always people who would obstruct others from enjoying good food.
Wang Lianfa, her third third cousin-in-law, and his wife, Zheng Xiaotian, was the first to see the uninvited guest. Wang Lianxiang was leaning against the door frame with one foot placed on the threshold. She neither made a sound nor entered, but she had a shy and hesitant face.
Zheng Xiaotian cursed her bad luck, but she still had to call out to her. "Lianxiang is here?"
She raised her voice to send a message to the house.
Ling Chengyan didn't move an inch, which Qu Cui appreciated. "You guys eat, I'll go take a look." Qu Cui said as she put down her bowl and chopsticks, stood up, and went out.
"Lianxiang, why did you come?" Qu Cui asked in a calm tone.
"My mother… I mean, I came here to call Second Sister-in-law to come home to eat dinner." Wang Lianxiang subconsciously wanted to say that her mother had instructed her to do so. Nevertheless, she remembered her mother's stubbornness and quickly changed her words.
"Oh boy, I forgot to send someone over to inform your mother. Chengyan and a few others are eating dinner at my place. They'll be back after eating, so you can go back first." Qu Cui said.
Wang Lianxiang had come because she'd heard that Ling Chengyan caught a few big fish, filling a whole bucket... In this era where resources were scarce, one could only eat meat a few times a year. It was rare to eat meat, not to mention fish, which they might not even get the chance to eat once a year.
A bucket of fish was at least 20 catties. A big piece of stewed fish could be eaten at least three to five times. When Wang Lianxiang smelled the fragrance of the fish soup, she almost drooled. How could she go back so easily?
"Then, I'll go in and wait for Second Sister-in-law!" As Wang Lianxiang spoke, she finally stepped off the threshold and was about to walk in.
Their voices weren't loud enough for the others in the room to hear them clearly. However, Ling Chengyan could hear their conversation clearly. She put down her bowl and chopsticks and walked out.
However, before she could reach the door, she heard Qu Cui say again, "I've told you Chengyan and the other two children are here with me, and you're still worried? Alright, you can go back first. Don't delay your meal. After the three of them are finished eating, I'll have someone send them back."
Wang Lianxiang's foot didn't even land on the door before she was yet again pushed back by Qu Cui's merciless words.
No matter how uncouth she was, she was still young and thin-skinned. Her face flushed a bright red from Qu Cui's words, and she quickly ran away.
"Seriously, the older they are, the more dog-like their actions become. How disgraceful." Qu Cui muttered in a low voice and returned to her room.
Ling Cheng, who was standing at the door, smirked and sat down again. She picked up a piece of fish for Xiao Xing and Hong Jun who were sitting on the left and right of her. Afterwards, she continued to drink the stew and eat the noodle cakes.