Chapter 19

When Jiang Chunzao recalled how she had been unable to get out of bed due to a sore back, she immediately put down her comb, blew out the kerosene lamp on the bedside table with a whoosh, and hugged her small blanket, closing her eyes to pretend to sleep.

At this moment, there was only one kerosene lamp flickering on the wall cabinet by the door, casting a faint light that made Lu Lin seem even taller and more upright. Jiang Chunzao, holding her little blanket, secretly opened her eyes and peeked toward the door, where she saw Lu Lin standing there, wiping his body with another towel.

As Jiang Chunzao’s gaze swept across, she accidentally met Lu Lin’s sharp black eyes. Her face flushed red, and she quickly closed her eyes again, pretending to sleep.

Lu Lin looked at the petite figure on the bed. A slight smile flashed in his dark eyes. He stood up, draped the towel over the rack by the door, and with a long stride, walked to the bedside.

Jiang Chunzao’s heart raced as she clutched the thin blanket, unsure of what she was thinking. Lu Lin blew out the kerosene lamp on the wall cabinet, plunging the room into darkness. One hand lifted the blanket, and he climbed into the bed.

Lu Lin extended his arm and instantly pulled her slender waist into his warm, strong embrace. He kissed her gently on the forehead, then closed his eyes and fell asleep, holding her.

In the darkness, Jiang Chunzao listened to Lu Lin’s steady breathing and, feeling drowsy, drifted into sleep as well.

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The next morning, Jiang Chunzao unsurprisingly stayed in bed longer.

When she woke up, Lu Lin had already chopped firewood, cleaned the yard, and taken the two children, who had been clamoring to catch fish the night before, to the village entrance to fish.

Jiang Chunzao lazily came out of the house.

Mother Jiang was busy making shrimp paste in the kitchen. In a small mountain village like Lujia Village, where people lived by water, it was common for the village children to go to the creek at the village entrance in the summer to catch shrimp and fish.

The kids who grew up in the village were excellent at fishing. In the morning, they would carry an empty wooden bucket to the village head and by evening, they’d return with nearly a full bucket of fish and shrimp.

Since Jiang Chunzao had become good friends with Lu Changshan’s wife, every few days, Lu Changshan’s wife would have her eldest son send over fish and shrimp caught by their family. The day before, they had delivered a large bucket full.

Seeing that her daughter couldn’t finish the fish and shrimp, Mother Jiang thought it was a waste and decided to make shrimp paste out of the leftovers. In summer, it was great for eating with cold noodles or with pancakes. Shrimp paste was a rare delicacy on the table of rural households.

Though catching fish and shrimp was easy for the villagers, few families had the conditions to make shrimp paste.

This was because making shrimp paste required a variety of ingredients such as oil, salt, sauce, scallions, ginger, garlic, and sesame seeds.

The villagers typically lacked oil and salt in their daily meals and didn’t want to spend money on ingredients they didn’t need.

Additionally, making shrimp paste was a lengthy process with many steps, and the villagers were always busy with work and meals, so they didn’t have the leisure time to focus on it.

Only someone like Mother Jiang, a mother who doted on her daughter, knew that her daughter and son both loved shrimp paste. Since their family had the conditions to make it, she took the time to make shrimp paste in between her busy tasks.

Mother Jiang was busy in the kitchen. Noticing that the sun was already high in the sky and her delicate daughter had just come out of the house, she had seen this so many times in recent days that she couldn’t even be bothered to scold her.

After all, her daughter knew her own habits. Since she was little, she had always been a delicate, pampered child, and her father had spoiled her even more. Despite Mother Jiang’s repeated nagging, her daughter remained as fragile and spoiled as ever.

Occasionally, when Mother Jiang saw her daughter being lazy and talked too much, Lu Lin and the two children would defend her, and over time, Mother Jiang became speechless.

What else could she say? She stopped nagging altogether.

Though Mother Jiang had stopped nagging, when she saw her daughter up but not speaking, Jiang Chunzao knew her mother was upset about her laziness. With a thick face, she approached her mother and smiled:

“Mom, are you making shrimp paste? Let me help you!”

After saying this, she eagerly rolled up her sleeves and started helping Mother Jiang clean the fish and shrimp. Mother Jiang found it amusing but still kept a neutral expression.

Jiang Chunzao snuggled up to her mother like a little spoiled kitten, making Mother Jiang’s heart soften.

By the time Lu Lin returned from the village with two large grass carp, accompanied by the two children, Mother Jiang was already smiling happily, charmed by her daughter.

As the three of them entered the yard, Jiang Chunzao was teasing the three fluffy chickens, making them cluck around. The two children, each holding a small wooden bucket, were waddling over excitedly.

“Mom, today Brother and Moli caught so many fish!”

Little Moli proudly showed the wooden bucket to Jiang Chunzao. When Jiang Chunzao peeked inside, she saw plenty of small fish and shrimp. Then, she glanced at the other wooden bucket held by Xiao Shitou, which had noticeably more fish and shrimp than Moli’s.

Jiang Chunzao patted the children’s little heads, smiling as she praised them:

“Our little babies are amazing!”

Hearing their mother’s praise, the two children puffed up their chests, looking like proud little roosters. It was a sight that made everyone smile.

Mother Jiang heard the noise coming from the yard and poked her head out of the kitchen. She saw her two grandsons, dirty as little kittens, and exclaimed with a sigh, “Oh my, how did my good grandchildren turn into little kittens after just a short while outside?” With that, she led the two children back into the house to wash up.

Jiang Chunzao smiled happily as she watched Mother Jiang take the children back inside. When she turned around, she saw Lu Lin holding two large grass carp in his big hands and asked in surprise:

“Where did these grass carp come from?”

Lu Lin tossed the two fish, still wagging their tails, into a wooden bucket filled with water and replied with a smile:

“Caught them from the river.”

Really, Captain Lu is quite capable!

Jiang Chunzao happily watched the large grass carp swim around in the water, excitedly discussing with Lu Lin how to cook them—whether to braise them, steam them, or perhaps make a fish soup with sauerkraut. She happened to have some sauerkraut at home that Lu Changshan’s wife had given them earlier.

Lu Lin washed his hands and, seeing his little wife’s cheerful expression, couldn’t help but smile too.

The fish soup, thick and creamy, was topped with large chunks of fish meat, and the green sauerkraut added a beautiful contrast. Taking a sip of the sour, fragrant fish soup, it was so delicious it could make your tongue tingle. Jiang Chunzao’s family sat at the dinner table, savoring the sweet and hearty meal of cornbread and fish soup.

Even Jiang Chunzao, who usually couldn’t stand rough food, ate with enjoyment. As for the other members of the family, the children, Shitou and Moli, drank the fish soup with little bowls in their hands, their small faces turning rosy from the warmth.

Mother Jiang also ate with satisfaction, and the fragrant fish soup from the small Lu family’s courtyard wafted over to the old Lu family’s courtyard next door.

The Lu family elders sat there, smelling the delicious fish soup, but when they looked at the dark, coarse cornmeal buns and wild vegetable soup on their own table, they couldn’t bring themselves to eat.

In front of Father Lu and Mother Lu were large bowls of the white fish soup. Mother Lu gulped down the fish soup, mumbling as she ate, “The third family is so stingy, only sending this little bit of fish soup, not even enough for me to drink.”

Sitting beside her, Liu Hongyan watched Mother Lu drinking the fish soup with great relish, and her own cravings started to stir. She swallowed her saliva and rubbed her slightly swollen belly. She remembered that this morning when she told Mother Lu about the baby in her belly, the old woman had been unexpectedly generous for once and had even boiled her two eggs. With that memory, Liu Hongyan gathered her courage and spoke up:

“Mom, my son is moving inside me. He says he wants to join Grandma and have a sip of the fish soup too.”

Mother Lu, who had been drinking the fish soup with gusto, paused for a moment: “……”