◎ Third update ◎ 

On the day of the college entrance examination, the streets were noticeably busier. Everyone was in a hurry. Every household, whether someone from their family was taking the college entrance examination or not was discussing this matter. 

All the major schools were overcrowded. Some of the parents went outside the examination rooms to wait for their relatives. There are also some children waiting outside for their parents to come out after the exams. 

This year’s college entrance examination had the widest age gap among the candidates. There were high school graduates in their teens and middle-aged people in their forties. However, when sitting in the examination room, the age gap disappeared as they took the same test paper and performed based on their own abilities. 

People who had not taken an exam for a long time were particularly excited when they walked out of the examination room, while some of them cried as soon as they walked out, as if they had made mistakes in some questions and suddenly felt hopeless about their future. 

Luo Hongmei’s daughter, Yao Haoyun, also came back to the city after taking the college entrance examination. She had not been home for three years. Liang Baozhen happened to meet her and Yao Guangrong on their way home. 

Liang Baozhen had never seen Yao Haoyun before. When she saw her this time, she found that she was a beautiful young woman and was about the same age as her. 

“Xiao Liang, did you just get off work?” Yao Guangrong was holding a piece of meat in his hand. He had specially asked Sun Zhiqiang to save the meat for him as he thought of his daughter who was coming home. Sun Zhiqiang worked at the food station and could occasionally get some meat as a benefit. 

However, Luo Hongmei would definitely scold him if she saw it. 

“Yes, Uncle Yao, this is Haoyun, right?” 

“Yes, my daughter Haoyun just took the college entrance examination, so she came back to visit me.” Yao Guangrong’s eyes warmed up when he saw his daughter, who had not been home for three years. Life in the countryside was hard, and his daughter had lost a lot of weight. 

“Haoyun, this is your grandmother Zhou’s granddaughter-in-law. Do you remember the eldest brother of the Xu family? This is his wife.” 

“I remember. Hello, sister-in-law.” Yao Haoyun had some impression of Liang Baozhen. When she saw her, a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes. She didn’t expect that she was such a beautiful young woman, and then she noticed her slightly rounded belly. “Is sister-in-law pregnant?” 

“Yes, it’s been over four months.” After a few polite words with the father and daughter, Liang Baozhen returned home. 

Today Xu Shengjie bought two pig’s trotters, and Liang Baozhen cooked a dish of pig’s trotters stewed with soybeans. The skin and meat of the pig’s trotters were firm and elastic, and they were cooked in the soup and were full of flavor. Every bite was full of rich taste. 

In the large courtyard, it wasn’t just the Xu family eating well today, but Luo Hongmei’s family was too. However, when Yao Guangrong took the meat home, he indeed got scolded by his wife. After all, the month’s meat tickets were supposed to be saved for the New Year, and Luo Hongmei was upset that he had used them recklessly. 

“We may be eating well now, but what about the New Year?” Luo Hongmei grabbed the chopsticks. As she spoke, she picked the fattest piece of meat in the basin for her son Yao Haoyu and then started eating. “It’s too extravagant. Haoyun should understand—we’re not the kind of family that can afford to eat meat so casually.” 

“What are you talking about?” Yao Guangrong was eating quietly. Hearing this, he glanced at his wife and thought her favoritism had really gone too far. 

“Mother, I still have a meat ticket on me. I’ll give it to you later…” Yao Haoyun won a prize when she participated in the “Learn from Dazhai in Agriculture” activity in the countryside. The prize was two meat tickets worth a total of four kilograms. She brought them with her when she came back this time. 

“That’s great!” Luo Hongmei’s eyes lit up when she heard that. She immediately reached into the braised pork bowl with her chopsticks and picked out a piece of lean meat for her daughter. “Haoyun, you eat too. Remember to give your meat ticket to mother after dinner.” 

“Haoyun, how did you do in the college entrance examination?” Yao Haoyu ate several pieces of fat meat and felt that his stomach was finally full, so he spoke. He knew that his sister wanted to pass the college entrance examination and return to the city. Not only her, but thousands of educated youths had this plan. 

“I don’t know yet. We’ll see when the results come out.”  

“Haoyun has good grades, so there shouldn’t be any problems.” Luo Hongmei thought, as long as she didn’t end up like Zhou Qingdang, who had spent all his family’s savings to buy a job in the city. She certainly didn’t have that kind of money.  

After her visit, Yao Haoyun stayed home for four days before leaving again. Yao Guangrong helped her carry her luggage to the train, while Luo Hongmei and Yao Haoyu didn’t even bother to see her off. 

When Yao Guangrong returned to the courtyard, he saw a group of people running out.  

“What’s going on?” he grabbed Sun Zhiqiang and asked. 

Sun Zhiqiang has been beaming with joy since his marriage, and his life has become more enjoyable, especially after he had a wife to take care of him. He dresses like a decent person every day, and when he sees a neighbor coming back, he immediately says, “We’re going fishing!” 

It turned out that some people were fishing in the river on the outskirts of the city today, and they said that they had a good catch. When some people heard about it; they rushed over. If they could catch a few fish, it would help improve their food. 

Sun Zhiqiang was in a hurry to go out, worried that if he went too late, he would not get anything good. 

“Oh, oh, I’ll go too!” 

Xu Shengjie had heard about this as soon as he entered the courtyard. Normally, he would have followed along, but things were different now. Ever since Baozhen became pregnant, the first thing she couldn’t stand was the smell of fish. Their household had been avoiding fish entirely for a while now. 

“You’re back?” Liang Baozhen was standing at the entrance of the courtyard with her big belly. She was beaming with joy when she saw her husband coming back. 

“Why don’t you join them?” 

“You should hurry and go fishing. Follow them, if you’re late, there might be none left.” 

Xu Shengjie looked at his wife suspiciously. “Fishing? You can’t stand the smell.” 

“Now I can!” Liang Baozhen thought of the fish she hadn’t eaten in a long time, and her mouth watered. She craved it badly. “Go quickly, I want to eat it!” 

Xu Shengjie: ? Is this what Lu Yuan meant by a moody pregnant woman? 

In the end, Xu Shengjie joined the fishing group. Before he left, he reminded her, “Don’t go, just stay at home. The ice is slippery, it’s easy to fall.”  

“I understand.” Liang Baozhen wanted to go and take a look, but for the sake of her baby, she had to stay in the courtyard. 

In the north during winter, the river had already frozen over. As the north wind howled, a group of people took their ice chisels and began breaking through the ice. The handle of the chisel was made of wood, with a sharp iron tip, and it was quite heavy. After chiseling for dozens of times, Sun Zhiqiang had to take a break. Dressed in heavy winter clothes, his movements were restricted, and his arms felt restrained every time he lifted them. 

“Brother Sun, let me do it.” Xu Shengjie took off his cotton-padded jacket and let Sun Zhiqiang hold it while he took the ice pick and started to dig. 

Underneath, he wore only a thin woolen sweater, and his solid muscles were hidden beneath it, but you could still feel the heat radiating from him. Xu Shengjie had undergone winter training in the military and had even participated in winter swimming. As he chiseled away at the ice, his strength was evident. After a while, the sparkling ice surface cracked and showed cracks. 

“Young people are still the best. They are strong and can resist the cold.” Sun Zhiqiang said to Yao Guangrong, “Look at Xiao Xu’s speed.” 

“He was a soldier before, so he’s definitely stronger than us.” 

A hole was made in the ice, and Lu Yuan and Fang Hongming helped shovel away the floating ice. The fishing net sank into the water, and soon, a school of fish swam over eagerly. 

Liang Baozhen poked her head out to look outside. She didn’t know what was wrong. In the past few months, she felt uncomfortable just thinking about fish, let alone smelling it. It was as if the fishy smell was lingering around her, making her feel like she wants to throw up. 

But recently, she started craving it again. Today, when she heard about the fishing, her mind was filled with thoughts of steamed fish, braised fish, sweet and sour fish…  

How delicious! 

“Why haven’t they come back yet?” Liang Baozhen muttered softly as she stood at the door. 

Zhou Yun was stitching the sole of a shoe, and she glanced at her granddaughter-in-law. “They should be back soon. This weather is good for fishing, they’re sure to catch a lot.” 

“Grandma, what should we eat today…” Liang Baozhen and Zhou Yun were about to discuss how to cook the meal when they suddenly heard a noise outside the courtyard gate. 

The group that went out to fish is back! 

They entered the courtyard. Sun Zhiqiang was holding the ice chisel, Lu Yuan was carrying the fishing net, and Xu Shengjie, Zhou Qingdang, and Fang Hongming each carried a large bucket filled with fish. 

The bucket was filled with melted ice water, and lively fish were swimming around in it, but because there were too many, they could not move freely.  

“You’re back?” The women in the courtyard rushed forward, each holding a bucket or a large basin, ready to divide the fish. 

They had caught over a hundred pounds of fish, and each family got three or four. In no time, the fish were all divided, and Xu Shengjie carried his bucket of three fish home with Liang Baozhen. 

There was one grass carp and two crucian carps left in the bucket, both of which were quite heavy. Since Xu Shengjie had put in a lot of effort, the bigger fish were given to him. 

“Kill the grass carp and we’ll have braised fish for lunch,” Liang Baozhen said excitedly. She hadn’t had fish in so long that she wanted to eat it right away. “I’ll go wash some potatoes. Xiaowei, bring out a cabbage.”  

“Okay.” This year, as usual, everyone had stocked up on over a hundred pounds of cabbage for the winter.  

“You should take a break.” Zhou Yun put down the shoe she was stitching and prepared to handle the fish. Her granddaughter-in-law’s belly was getting bigger, and she didn’t want her to overwork herself.  

“Grandma, please take a rest. I haven’t moved much today, so I’ll help him out.” Liang Baozhen put the potatoes in a basin and turned off the water. The water quickly filled the basin halfway. 

“Let’s add some hot water.” Xu Shengjie picked up the thermos in the room and poured a small cup of hot water into the basin. The vegetable-washing water mixed with hot water instantly became less icy.  

He himself didn’t care as he was resistant to the cold, but his wife had delicate skin, so she might get frostbite from washing vegetables. 

Seeing her grandson being so considerate, Zhou Yun was reassured. She sat back down and resumed stitching the shoe. “Baozhen, you should still try to move as little as possible. If there’s anything you need, have Xiao Jie do it.” 

“I know, Grandma.” 

Liang Baozhen was ready to guide her husband from the side. A grass carp, nearly four pounds, hit the chopping board with a loud thud. The fish’s head struck the board, and it fainted instantly. Xu Shengjie quickly and skillfully killed the fish, cleaned out its guts, and sliced it into fillets once it was ready.  

“Your skills are pretty good,” Liang Baozhen said, watching him slice the fish, thinking he could even compete with her mother, Song Chunhua.  

“I learned it from practice before,” Xu Shengjie replied without even raising his head. 

“Let’s braise it. Put in enough ingredients and some chili peppers. The weather is too cold. Eating something spicy can drive away the cold.” Liang Baozhen stood by the stove and watched Xu Shengjie put the fish into the pot. The aroma gradually seeped out of the red base. Xu Shengjie’s cooking skills were average, but his technique in slicing fish was pretty good. 

“Go ahead and toss in the potato slices and cabbage leaves.” She had sliced the potatoes thin, so they would cook quickly, and the cabbage leaves only needed a quick dip in hot water before they were ready to eat. 

The stove crackled with a lively fire, and a large pot of braised fish simmered on top, the fragrant soup with a touch of chili slowly filled the air. 

When it was taken out of the pot, there was a large pot of braised fish. The fish slices were thin and tender and looked even whiter and more tender in the red sauce. Under the fish was a layer of potato slices and cabbage leaves, with yellow and white colors dotted in the red soup, which made people’s appetites grow. 

“Let’s eat.” 

Five pairs of chopsticks simultaneously dove into the basin! 

The author has something to say: 

Liang Baozhen: Just because I didn’t want to eat it a few months ago doesn’t mean I don’t want to eat it now. 😭😭😭