It was past ten o'clock when Grandfather's older brother and Father returned home, carrying a small basket of fish.
"Hello, Grandpa, hello, Uncle."
"Hello!"
"My, how tall Fanfan has gotten."
Xu Qingfan's gaze turned to Yao Jianjun, a man in his forties with graying hair. The father and son standing side by side didn't look like father and son but rather more like siblings.
In his previous life, Qingfan had been quite puzzled by this. His uncle was such a handsome man in his youth; why didn't he remarry? Was that terrible woman surnamed Chen really that great?
They were well past the age of believing in invincible pure love at sixteen or seventeen. Qingfan knew he benefitted from courting Xia Xiaoxiao, but what had his uncle gained? A partially gray head of hair? Or the child he had never even met?
"How grown up you are, yet still going to catch fish." Xu's mother complained as she took the basket from her husband's hand and carried it into the kitchen.
"My bones are still strong!" Yao's father declared with vigor.
Qingfan had no interest in listening to the three old men discuss international events, so he followed his mother and grandmother into the kitchen.
A chicken had already been slaughtered on the stove, and a ceramic pot was quietly simmering with a nourishing soup.
As a qualified foodie, just by the aroma wafting through the kitchen, he could guess it might be "five-finger peach" stewed chicken.
It seemed his hope for fish soup would have to wait until tomorrow.
Qingfan crouched down to look at the fish they had just put in water to keep alive: three crucian carp, one large and two small, a bunch of smaller assorted fish, and what looked like over half a pound of river shrimp.
But these weren't the main attraction.
In a plastic basin, a red figure caught his attention.
Crayfish!
Qingfan picked it up; it was quite plump, easily weighing about 50 grams.
"Really, bringing that thing back, what for!" his grandmother complained upon seeing the crayfish in Qingfan's hand.
Qingfan: ???
"Grandma, is this thing not edible?"
"Who knows where it came from, no one dares to eat it. They're all over by the river, overflowing into the fields," his grandmother said as she snatched the crayfish from his hand and tossed it out the window.
[Overflowing!!!]
"Ah, don't!" Qingfan tried to stop her, but it was too late.
"Always thinking about eating, that thing is poisonous, aren't you afraid of ending up in the hospital!" Xu's mother didn't know if the crayfish were actually poisonous, but that didn't stop her from scaring her son.
If there's an abundance and yet no one dares to eat them, they must either taste bad or be full of parasites!
The grandmother swatted her daughter on the butt with a dry twig, scolding, "Watch how you talk! Fanfan is a good boy, Grandma will fry some river shrimp for you to eat."
Knowing the little influence he had, Qingfan still didn't give up hope and tried one more time: "Grandma, those are called crayfish, I've seen them on TV, they are edible!"
"Oh."
"Alright, I know, I know, Xiao Fan, go outside and sit in front of the fan, it's hot in here. Grandma needs to cook using firewood," his mother said dismissively.
Left with no choice by his mother's dismissive "Oh," Qingfan sheepishly left to think of another plan.
This is crayfish we're talking about, the perfect pairing for beer at a late-night snack during the World Cup – it would be hard not to become a hit!
"Grandpa, I'd like to take a walk outside."
"Why go out? The sun is blazing hot outside!" Xu's father immediately objected.
Qingfan looked at his grandfather with a pitiful expression.
"What do you know? It's good for a child to bask in the sun. Just remember to come back for dinner," Yao's father rebuked Xu Aiguo with a stern look but then kindly took out a red one-yuan bill from his pocket and told Qingfan to buy an ice pop to cool down if it got too hot.
Qingfan took the money and managed to sneak out the front door successfully.
The spot Grandpa went fishing at is named Chuxi River, over eight hundred meters from here. Qingfan walked and looked around, soon arriving at his destination.
The last time he was here was during his first year of graduate school. Seeing the overgrown weeds on both banks of the river, he knew that there were no longer any swordsmen left in this village.
It was a nostalgic return to the old place. Looking at the bare dirt roads on both banks, Qingfan couldn't help feeling sentimental: the things growing rampantly weren't weeds but the shackles that bound his youth.
[It's not that the swordsmen are gone because of the weeds, but rather as autumn arrives and dusk falls, the world of martial artists goes into action under the cover of night.]
The river water was somewhat murky, but he could still vaguely make out the moving red army below.
He also ran to the rice paddies to take a look and indeed saw many crayfish.
[There must be thousands of pounds here!]
In 2002, pork was three yuan per half kilo; these are crayfish, after all, selling them for five yuan per half kilo wouldn't be too much, right?
Qingfan made up his mind that he must find a way to persuade his parents and uncle to seize this potentially lucrative opportunity.
After inspecting the site, the sun, hot as poison, drenched him in sweat.
He thought about stripping naked and jumping into the river to swim, but there were too many crayfish, and he was afraid of getting pinched.
Ten minutes later, a sweat-drenched Qingfan returned home and, after a lecture from his mother, joyfully took a cold shower.
Feeling quite awkward inside, Xu Qingfan, a man with the mental age of 26 or 27, was bathed by his mother's hands.
Lunch was exceptionally sumptuous, featuring hairy monkey peach stewed chicken, Phoenix Eye Fruit braised chicken, fragrant pan-fried small assorted fish, and chicken oil stir-fried late bok choy hearts.
Sitting together as a whole family seemed to make the dishes taste extra delicious, and unconsciously, he ate two bowls instead of the usual one.
After lunch, grandpa spread an old bamboo mat on the floor, and they lay down together.
For some reason, the floor in the countryside was always cool to the touch, and it was especially comfortable to sleep on during summer.
With the ceiling fan whirring above, Xu Qingfan stared at it until drowsiness overcame him, and he fell asleep without realizing it.
Under this familiar sensation, Xu Qingfan slept for quite a long time.
It wasn't until he heard the cry of "buying scrap metal" from outside that he woke up from his sleep.
Xu Qingfan sat up, stretched lazily, and noticed that the door was shut and the room was empty.
Looking at the clock, it was already 5:10 in the afternoon.
Guessing that his parents had gone out to work in the fields, thinking of the crayfish in the Chuxi River, he hurriedly put on his shoes and ran out with an empty bucket.
Unlike the scene he saw in the morning, the Chuxi River was now crowded with people by evening.
Older folks would strip off their clothes and dive into the river, while younger ones like Xu Qingfan just took off their shoes and dipped their feet into the cool water.
The village was only so big, and even though Xu Qingfan didn't live in the countryside, he had seen many people while playing water fights with other villages during the New Year.
"You're the one with the surname Xu, right?" Someone quickly recognized Xu Qingfan.
"Xu Xian!"
"Hahahahaha..." A group of kids burst out laughing.
He too took off his shoes and sat down, extending his legs into the river. It was initially icy and bone-chilling, then gradually his legs began to feel warm.
"I'm Xu Qingfan," he said.
"Right, right, we're going to roast sweet potatoes tomorrow, you want to come?" The one who first called him by his surname invited.
Xu Qingfan was indifferent, "Sure, when?"
"Tomorrow afternoon, we'll come to find you at your place," they said.
"Hey! That guy over there, do you live in the city?" A primary school student around eleven or twelve years old swam up to Xu Qingfan and shouted.
"Sort of, what about it?" Although living just in the suburbs, he technically was still a resident of Hong Kong.
"Have you ever been to an internet café?"
At the mention of internet café, even those who were swimming came over to join in.
Xu Qingfan was curious as well. Was Chuxi Village so trendy?
In the year 2002, eleven or twelve-year-old kids already knew about internet cafés!
"I haven't been, but I've played on a computer a few times in kindergarten computer class," he wouldn't dare say he had been to an internet café; if his parents were to hear of this, he'd surely be in for a whipping with a belt.
"Have you played Legend?"
"I haven't played it, but I've seen others play it."
The kid perked up at the response and hurriedly asked, "Is it fun? I heard you can make money from that game, is that true?"
"Yeah, my cousin from my aunt's side mentioned it too!"
"Exactly, exactly, my cousin's classmate apparently made over a million just by playing that game!"
"..."
The kids were abuzz with each making their own comments, and the scene grew chaotic once more.
After a while, Xu Qingfan finally got a chance to speak, "I've heard that you can indeed make money from it, there's this equipment called the Dragon Slayer Sword, and I've heard gamers say it can sell for over a million!"
"Wow!!!" The kids were sincerely impressed, their mouths gaping wide open.
"A million! How much money is that? How many bags of spicy snacks could you buy??"
"Enough to fill your house until it can't fit anymore!"
"What's so great about spicy snacks? Wu Yang brand ice cream is tasty!"
"Nonsense! The ice cream from McDonald's is the tastiest!"
"You're the one talking nonsense! KFC's ice cream is way tastier than McDonald's!"
"My grandma's roasted chicken is the tastiest thing ever!"
"..."
Once again, the situation descended into chaos as the kids debated passionately on the topic of "What's the tastiest thing."
Xu Qingfan: ???
[Wait, I'm here to catch crayfish!]