Chapter 29: Fish Head Soup and Steamed Fish Slices

He Daniu felt a little uneasy, not out of guilt, but because he always worried involuntarily whenever he delivered public grain.

Village chief He Haiming even took out half a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handed the loose cigarettes to the quality inspection staff. He never smoked; these were bought at the supply and marketing cooperative in the county before the summer harvest, and the ten he had used were from the last time he delivered grain to the grain station.

Fortunately, there were no problems during the inspection. Finally, Wang Zhiming, holding the ledger, asked He Haiming, “Why isn’t the grain delivered in whole sacks?”

He Haiming apologized, nodding. “Some spilled on the road. If there’s time, we’ll bring replacements from the village when we come back this afternoon.”

Wang Zhiming tapped his chin. “Grain is precious; the mouths of the sacks must be tightly tied. If you have to come back again this afternoon, you must hurry. We’re working overtime today, and there’s a queue behind us. The grain station must close by seven o’clock at the latest.”

He Haiming signed the ledger himself before hurrying away with the villagers.

The road from the town entrance to the government grain station was still blocked; the carts couldn’t pass through; they could only tilt them to one side and pass. Even the ox carts were dismantled by the villagers.

Everyone hurried back. When they reached where Wang Shuning was waiting, He Xianfeng and several young men carried the sacks on their shoulders and walked back.

It was quite a while after they left the town entrance before the queue disappeared.

He Haiming sat on the ox cart and looked at the end of the line. “Judging by this situation, let’s load less when we get back to the village—half the amount. Otherwise, we won’t make it before the grain station closes at seven.”

He Daniu nodded.

When they returned to the large square at the village committee, He Liangliang and the others were already waiting. As soon as the ox carts and carts arrived, the villagers immediately started moving the grain.

With half the amount, they didn’t need so many people; all the women, both educated youths and villagers, were left behind.

Seeing that it was only a little past three in the afternoon, Wang Shuning had just returned home when she saw He Zhuzhu and her two children about to go out.

“Sister Shuning.” He Guoyue and He Guochai greeted Wang Shuning.

Wang Shuning stopped and asked, “Are you going up the mountain?”

He Zhuzhu replied with a smile, “It’s still early; we finally have a day off. I’m taking them up the mountain to gather firewood. If we can find wild eggs or bird eggs, we can add a dish.”

The weather was getting colder; they had to store firewood for the winter, especially since they had one more person in their family this year.

Wang Shuning didn’t offer to go with He Zhuzhu’s family to gather firewood; it was part of their rental agreement. It was her responsibility; it would be inappropriate for her to help.

She had left early this morning, and the clothes in the basin hadn’t been washed yet; she could do it by the river.

Many long, flat stones were placed on the riverbank by the small river in Dafeng Village; these were used by the villagers to scrub clothes.

Anyone who needed them would move them from the bank to the river, using pebbles to create makeshift washboards. Of course, some families would use special long benches for washing clothes.

The water in the small river was crystal clear; small fish could be seen swimming by the bank in groups. Even if there was movement in the water, they wouldn’t swim far; they would stop after a short distance and weren’t afraid of people.

However, they were only small fish; they were barely enough to feed a cat. The kind of fish that people could eat wouldn’t be near the bank; they were all in the deeper water.

When Wang Shuning came to the river to wash clothes with He Zhuzhu for the first time, He Zhuzhu had specifically warned her not to go to the deeper water; there was aquatic vegetation, and it was toxic; it could easily cause acne and rashes.

What the villagers meant by “toxic” was that the water in the deeper areas didn’t flow much or flowed very slowly, and it wasn’t as clean as the water in the shallow areas.

However, Wang Shuning couldn’t swim and valued her life; besides, the original owner had drowned, so she wouldn’t go to the deeper water, even if others asked her to.

The sound of a mallet beating clothes echoed by the river. There were no mountains here, but there were embankments, so the sound echoed.

Villagers were afraid that children would drown, so some parents told their children from a young age that there were water ghosts in the river, especially at night; anyone who went into the water would be dragged away by water ghosts. However, this lie would be exposed when the children grew older, around six or seven years old.

In the village, both boys and girls knew how to swim; the small river was their natural swimming pool.

After washing her clothes, Wang Shuning took a large grass carp she had previously killed from her space, scaled it, gutted it, cleaned it, and put it in a basin, covering it with a cloth. Even if someone saw it, she could just say she caught it in the river.

Fish head soup and steamed fish slices—all planned for tonight.

In the kitchen, Wang Shuning was cutting fish slices when she heard a loud noise in the yard. She quickly opened the door to look and saw a tree in the yard.

He Guoyue and He Guochai were carrying a bamboo basket, and it looked like there was a lot of green stuff inside; it didn’t look like wild chicken eggs.

He Guoyue poured the contents of the basket onto the ground—burrs; these were chestnuts that hadn’t been shelled.

He Guochai had already taken scissors from the house. The two children spent an hour shelling a basket of chestnuts, piling the shells aside; they could be used as firewood after drying.

Wang Shuning heard a knock on the kitchen door while cooking. “Sister Shuning.” It was Mingming’s voice.

Wang Shuning usually kept the kitchen door closed while cooking, fearing that others would know what she was cooking.

She covered the pot and opened the door to see He Guoyue holding a vegetable basket containing some raw chestnuts.

“Sister Shuning, we picked these on the mountain today; they’re very fresh and sweet. My mother said to give you some to try.”

Wang Shuning looked at the yellow chestnut meat in He Guoyue’s right hand; it had already been bitten. She took the basket. “Eat raw? Don’t you need to roast them?”

He Guoyue looked at her with childish confusion. “You can roast chestnuts; first, use a knife to cut the shell, and it’ll be easier to peel when they’re cooked.”

Wang Shuning suddenly thought of chestnuts and chicken; she hadn’t had them in a long time.

At that moment, the fish head soup in the pot boiled, and the aroma wafted from the gaps in the wooden lid. He Guoyue sniffed. It was the smell of fish. “Sister Shuning, did you catch fish in the river today? My mother said the fish in the river are all in the deep water; you can’t go into the river; someone drowned before.”

Wang Shuning poured the chestnuts from the basket onto the cupboard. “I was washing clothes by the river, and a big grass carp swam over. I hit it with the mallet, and it died.”

He Guoyue was shocked, her eyes full of disbelief and envy. Free meat; how big was the grass carp?

Wang Shuning lifted the lid, took a large bowl, and ladled half a bowl of fish head soup into the basket, slowly placing it in front of He Guoyue. “Take it home to try. It’s a pity I didn’t buy tofu; otherwise, we could have fish head and tofu soup.”

He Guoyue looked at the clearly visible half of the fish head in the soup bowl, still steaming. She resisted licking her lips, holding the sides of the basket with her small hands. “Thank you, Sister Shuning.”

“You’re welcome.” The fish head was so big; she couldn’t finish it in one meal anyway. Giving it away was perfect; besides, Mingming had seen it, and she still had a large bowl of steamed fish slices.