The following morning, Jinghan and her eldest brother and the others went to the riverbank together and pulled out the fishing weir they had set the previous night, which indeed was full of fish. Everyone hurriedly poured the fish into wooden barrels, and since Wenhan and Zixuan had deployed the fishing weir together, the fish were divided equally, with each family getting its share. By the time all the weirs were out, both families' barrels were brimmed. Holding his barrel, Zixuan wobbled toward home, "Wenhan, after breakfast, let's head to the mountains to gather lady ferns. With the sun good now, they'll dry well in just a couple of days."
Wenhan and Wencheng together carried their barrel. "Okay, after breakfast, we'll come over to you," they said, and then led Jinghan and Wenxuan back home. It was Mrs. Wei's turn to cook that day, and just as she was dawdling over finishing the meal, the children returned. Mrs. Wei, seeing so much fish, was overjoyed. "Oh my, you got so many fish, how wonderful! Let's stew some for lunch."
Wenhan glanced at Mrs. Wei but said nothing; instead, he found a large basin and poured the fish into it. These fish weren't very big, only about two inches long, and were mostly willow root fish, whitebait, and small loaches, with few large ones among them. Wenhan led his siblings in squeezing out the intestines of the fish into a basin. They would then salt them a bit later before laying them out to dry, turning them into dried fish. This was the perfect provision for carrying with meals; Zhixin, when headed to the ginseng field to work, always had to take lunch with him. Some dried fish fried in oil with a pancake made a scrumptious and satisfying meal.
Seeing no one was paying attention to her, Mrs. Wei got upset. "I said to stew them for lunch. Why are you salting all of them instead?"
"They're meant to be saved for dad and grandpa to take to the mountains as lunch. They work hard and need to eat well. The entire family relies on their earnings, so of course, they should have good food," Wenhan didn't even acknowledge her and kept busy, soon squeezing out quite a few fish.
"For heaven's sake, is the world turned upside down? Does no one listen to me anymore? Wencheng, don't you meddle into this, and there's no share for you, just needless exertion," said Mrs. Wei as she pulled Wencheng away from the work.
"Mother, what are you talking about? We're a family, aren't we? The money that Uncle and Grandfather earn from their hard work supports everyone at home. What's wrong with preparing something good for them as a sign of appreciation for their toil?" Wencheng didn't comply with his mother and continued with the work.
At that moment, Mrs. Chen came out from the house as well and saw the children squeezing fish. She offered her hands to help. "There's quite a lot of fish here. It's great, once the fish are dried, grandma will fry them for you to eat. They'll be delicious."
"Grandma, no need to, let's save them for Uncle and Grandfather to take with their lunch. We're not craving these things," Wencheng replied.
"Alright then, there's plenty anyway, there should be enough for you all to eat," Mrs. Chen was pleased upon hearing this. With everyone working together, it didn't take long to finish the task. "Go wash your hands now so we can eat. The smell can be too fishy, rub some plant ash on hands before washing, and it should help."
The kids all went to wash their hands just as Zhixin and the old man were coming back from the field, and the family hurried to have breakfast. Once the meal was over, Wenhan was ready to head to the mountains, and naturally, Jinghan was to accompany him. Knowing they were going to pick lady ferns, Mrs. Chen suggested that Wencheng and the others should go too. Mrs. Wei tried to stop them, but Wencheng and Wenxuan didn't listen to her and followed Wenhan, leaving Mrs. Wei stomping her feet in anger.
"What on earth do you think about all day long? You know the house rules, don't you? Whatever is brought back from the mountains, the money from selling it belongs to them. Why are you being so obstructive? You've been secretly pocketing the money from the second son without a word, so go feed the pig promptly; don't be idle," Mrs. Chen saw that Mrs. Wei was still sitting there, so she shooed her off to work.
With a twist, Mrs. Wei left, and after a short while, having finished feeding the pig, she changed her clothes and dressed up lavishly before heading out. Mrs. Chen shook her head as she watched. "Eldest daughter-in-law, look at how second daughter-in-law is behaving. I have a bad feeling about this. Her husband hasn't been gone that long, yet look at how she's dressing, like some enchantress. She's never at home, never works unless she's pushed, and though she's always been lazy, it's never been to this extent, has it? I think she no longer wants to live decently."
Mrs. Xue had little to say since she too had noticed something was off during her frequent trips to the mountains, but she couldn't bring this up with the mother-in-law to avoid being accused of not getting along with her sisters-in-law. "Mother, after all, we just need to keep an eye out. Maybe Aunt Wei is simply bored at home and wants to visit with neighbors. Now that the hundred days have passed, wearing something too plain to visit others is also improper," Mrs. Xue suggested.