Free Web NovelChapter 35: Chapter 216: Eating Fish
The next morning, Xiao Man went to the vegetable garden to pull weeds, and Liang Xiaoju tagged along. The two girls were finally getting to know each other better. They found plenty to talk about while they worked, chatting back and forth animatedly.
At noon, Grandpa came home carrying a river crucian carp that was over half a foot long and weighed more than a pound. He was beaming as he explained that he had run into Uncle Man Cang by the river. Since Uncle Man Cang hadn’t been able to come congratulate them on their housewarming, and he happened to have two fish in his basket, he had insisted Grandpa take the largest one as a belated gift.
Xiao Man happily took the carp. The fish was still thrashing its tail; it couldn’t be fresher. In the late 1970s, local industry and mining had yet to take off, so the mountains and rivers weren’t polluted everywhere like they would be in the future. The river water was pure, meaning the fish and shrimp it produced were bound to be incredibly delicious. ’And if I add a bit of spiritual spring water while cooking it...’ Wow! Xiao Man’s mouth watered just at the thought.
Crucian carp soup was also very nourishing. A pot of fish soup would be a good, healthy boost for the whole family!
Xiao Man filled a basin with fresh water and put the fish inside to swim. She and Liang Xiaoju had fun trying to catch it. She then specially guided Grandma’s hand over to let her feel the fish, too. Grandma was delighted. Though her eyes couldn’t see, she exclaimed what a beautiful fish it was.
Then she said to Grandpa, "It was thanks to Man Cang that Xiao Man was saved from the river the other day, and we still haven’t given him a thank-you gift. Now we’ve taken his fish on top of that. How can we accept this?"
Grandpa stood nearby watching them play with the fish, chuckling with a grin so wide he couldn’t close his mouth. He said, "I just mentioned to Man Cang that we were preparing a thank-you gift to bring to his home. He told me not to bother. He’s always by the river and has lost count of how many adults and children he’s saved. He never does it for a reward!"
Grandma nodded and sighed. "That boy, he’s a truly virtuous person! He might say that, but we should still show our gratitude properly."
"We’re definitely giving him a gift. We’ll handle it after I get back from the city."
After lunch, Grandpa said to Liang Xiaoju, "You don’t have much to do here, just idling away. Your family, on the other hand, is very busy. I’ll take you home now. You can at least help your parents with a few things, or look after your younger brother and sister."
Liang Xiaoju refused. "I’m not going back! My grandma already arranged it with my parents. I’m supposed to come here and be my grand-uncle and grand-aunt’s granddaughter. My parents agreed!"
Grandpa said patiently, "I told your grandmother yesterday, that won’t be necessary. Our eldest’s daughter, Xiao Man, is living with us now!"
Liang Xiaoju’s lip quivered, and her eyes turned red. "My grandma said Xiao Man isn’t really a child of the Mo family. She said that once Xiao Man finds her birth parents, she’ll leave! My grandma and my grand-uncle are brother and sister. I’m the one who’s his real granddaughter by blood. I won’t leave!"
Grandpa got angry. "That muddle-headed grandmother of yours is spouting nonsense, and you believe her? Xiao Man’s household registration is with us. She *is* my own granddaughter. This is her home, and she isn’t going anywhere!"
Liang Xiaoju covered her face and started to sob. "I want to live at my grand-uncle’s house! I’m not going back!"
Grandpa: "..."
Grandma, sitting under the eaves, sighed, not knowing what to say.
Mo Xiaoman was squatting by the basin, playing with the fish. According to rural custom, the best dishes were always saved for dinner, so they couldn’t prepare the fish for lunch.
While Liang Xiaoju was crying on one side, Mo Xiaoman giggled and said, "Grandpa, just let Xiaoju stay. See, we have fish. Maybe she doesn’t want to go home because she hasn’t had any yet!"
Her words made both Grandpa and Grandma laugh. Liang Xiaoju lowered her hands from her face and glared at Xiao Man, her lips moving as she muttered something under her breath.
Since Liang Xiaoju refused to go home, Grandpa was saved a trip to another village. He left to take care of other business and wasn’t seen for the rest of the afternoon.
As the sun began to set, Xiao Man cooked the rice. Liang Xiaoju volunteered to clean and chop up the carp. Xiao Man showed her how to marinate the pieces with a little salt. The two of them dug up a piece of tender ginger from the back garden and picked a handful of cilantro and scallions. While Xiaoju was at the well washing the cilantro, Xiao Man heated the wok. She lightly pan-fried the fish in lard, then added the spiritual spring water and brought it to a vigorous boil. After turning down the heat to let it simmer, the soup had just turned a creamy white when Grandpa walked into the courtyard.
The aroma of the fish stew filled the entire house and yard, and Grandpa and Grandma couldn’t stop praising it. When Grandpa asked who cooked the fish, Liang Xiaoju replied that they had done it together. Mo Xiaoman, however, smiled and explained to Grandpa and Grandma that whenever her mother, Liu Fengying, used to cook fish or meat, she would tend the fire and watch, so she had picked up the basics of cooking and how to pair ingredients.
Grandpa and Grandma believed her completely. ’This is exactly the effect I was going for,’ Mo Xiaoman thought. ’After all, I’m only eleven. It would be too strange if I could cook such a delicious meal without some kind of explanation.’
Fish, soup, and all, the four of them devoured the entire pot of the delicious meal, leaving nothing behind. Only the scattered fish bones on the floor attested to what they had just eaten for dinner.
After dinner, Grandpa had to go to the reservoir. By now, the sky was completely dark, and the family didn’t own a flashlight. Just as Xiao Man was worrying about how Grandpa would find his way in the dark, she saw him pull something from his back basket. Xiao Man recognized it—it was a glass kerosene lantern!
By 1977, flashlights were no longer a rarity. Any family that was even slightly better off could afford one. Mo Guoqiang and Uncle Mo each had one, and carrying them to light the way at night was both convenient and respectable.
The kerosene lantern Grandpa pulled out was old-fashioned and cumbersome. It burned kerosene, and only men of Grandpa’s generation still used them. The younger and middle-aged men would save up to buy a flashlight, which was much more convenient to carry on a string.
Xiao Man helped Grandpa light the lantern. The familiar smell of kerosene didn’t seem foul to her; instead, it felt comforting and pleasant.
Gongdao Village was in an excellent location. Situated at the border of two provinces, it had convenient transportation, beautiful mountains, rivers large and small, and vast stretches of fertile fields. Historically, it had never been a place where people easily starved. Because the river conditions were ideal, a medium-sized hydroelectric power station had been built deep in the local mountains back in the 1950s. As a result, Gongdao Village had long enjoyed electric lights while other villages still relied on kerosene lamps. However, the power supply wasn’t always reliable. Outages could last for ten to fifteen days, or sometimes even half a year, so every household still kept a kerosene lamp or two on hand.
Mo Xiaoman, however, had a soft spot for kerosene lamps. This was because in her previous life, from childhood all the way to adulthood, there had never been an electric light installed where she slept. Liu Fengying only ever gave her a kerosene lamp to use. This continued until kerosene lamps became antiques and you couldn’t buy kerosene for them anymore!
Mo Xiaoman picked up the lantern to walk Grandpa out, but he didn’t seem worried about the dark path. Instead, he stood at the door of the main house, talking to Grandma.
"I went to see Principal Lan this afternoon. He said it’s no problem. Xiao Man can start school when the semester begins, right from the first grade!"
Grandma nodded again and again. "That’s wonderful. Now that you’ve spoken with him, it’ll be easier for Xiao Man when she starts!"
’So that’s what Grandpa was doing out all afternoon,’ Xiao Man realized. ’He was arranging for me to go to school.’
Her head started to ache. ’Really? I have to start from the first grade? Learning 1+1=?’ fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
’Oh, good grief!’
’Boredom is one thing, but wasting precious time is like wasting my life. No way. I have to figure something out. I can go to school, but I have to skip some grades!’
