Chapter 8: Catching Fish by the River

In the end, the stick-breaking performance never happened.

Since she couldn’t break public property and had no interest in putting on a show, Mu Mian headed home with her lunchbox.

Her grandmother hadn’t returned yet, so Mu Mian ate by herself, washed the dishes, refilled the chicken’s water, then locked the door and walked to her little uncle’s house.

A few years ago, after splitting from the main family, Mu Xingwang and Mu Xinglong had applied for their own land and built new houses.

Mu Xinglong’s home wasn’t far from Mu Mian’s. It only took about ten minutes to walk there.

The front door was wide open. As soon as she stepped inside, she saw her grandmother helping Xiao Chengzi wash diapers.

The little boy was washing them seriously, but his face showed clear disgust. His brows furrowed, and he turned his head to the side, likely because of the smell.

From his angle, he spotted Mu Mian at the door. Instantly, his face lit up, and he ran over. “Sister, why are you here? Are you here to help me wash diapers?”

Mu Mian found this amusing. It was obvious that the child found the diapers disgusting.

And he wasn’t wrong. Even she could smell them from here. There was no way she was going to help.

Mu Mian grinned. “I came to see Auntie and check on the twins.”

Xiao Chengzi looked disappointed. “Why couldn’t my mom give me an older brother or sister instead?”

Zhao Meihua, ignoring her grandson’s whining, asked Mu Mian, “Did you eat before coming over?”

Mu Mian smiled and nodded. “Yes. I also fed the chickens.”

Hearing that, Xiao Chengzi immediately abandoned the diapers and ran happily toward the chicken coop. “My chickens haven’t been fed yet!”

His entire posture screamed, I’ll do anything as long as I don’t have to wash diapers!

Perhaps sensing their brother’s distaste or maybe disturbed by the noise in the yard, the twins inside the house suddenly burst into loud cries.

Zhao Meihua tilted her head toward the house. “Go check on your aunt.”

Even without her grandmother’s instruction, Mu Mian was already planning to go in.

Mu Xinglong’s house wasn’t big. It had only one bedroom. Before, the three of them had squeezed into it. Now, with five people, things were even more cramped. They would probably have to build another room once Xiao Chengzi got older.

The bedroom door was slightly ajar. As soon as Mu Mian stepped in, she saw her aunt struggling to change the twins’ diapers.

Taking care of twins was tough. Besides having an extra baby to care for, they seemed to have some kind of mysterious connection—doing everything at the same time.

They got hungry together, cried together, and even pooped together.

But their mother only had two hands and could only handle one at a time, leaving the other one wailing on the side.

That was exactly what was happening now. Zheng Xialan was still changing one baby, while the other was screaming loud enough for the entire neighborhood to hear.

Mu Mian quickly stepped forward and handed her a clean diaper.

Three minutes later, two more cloth diapers were added to Xiao Chengzi’s laundry pile.

When the little boy came in to take them, he pinched his nose with one hand and stretched out his other arm to hold the diapers as far away from himself as possible. “Why do Big Sister and Second Sister poop so much?! When they grow up, they’re definitely going to be two stinky little sisters.”

From the yard, Zhao Meihua shouted back, “You were even stinkier when you were a baby!”

Xiao Chengzi protested loudly as he walked out, “No way! I wasn’t stinky at all, Grandma! You’re lying to a kid!”

Inside the house, Mu Mian looked at the now peacefully sleeping twins and asked her aunt, “Which one is the older sister, and which one is the younger?”

Identical twins really do look alike. The two little sisters lay side by side, and apart from the different blankets wrapped around them, Mu Mian couldn’t see any other differences.

It was too early to tell whether their features were good-looking. Both babies were still a bit wrinkled and hadn’t fully developed yet.

But since their parents looked decent, the children would probably turn out fine as they grew.

Her aunt had delicate features too, though her skin was a bit dark from working in the fields all year round. Exposure to the sun and wind made it rare for someone to have fair skin.

Zheng Xialan pointed to the baby on the right with a smile. “This one is the older sister.”

After all the crying, the baby had quieted down, staring at the ceiling as if she could actually see something fascinating.

Mu Mian gently patted the older sister and asked, “Do you and Little Uncle ever mix them up?”

Recalling some jokes she’d seen online in her past life, she quickly added with curiosity, “Like one baby getting fed twice while the other didn’t get any and ended up crying, but you thought she was just being fussy?”

Hearing this question for the first time, Zheng Xialan laughed out loud. “How could that happen?! How could I not recognize my own kids?”

She pointed again, explaining, “The younger one has a small mole on her ear. The older sister doesn’t.”

Mu Mian leaned in for a closer look. Sure enough, there was a faint mole.

It was so light that if one didn’t pay close attention, it would be hard to notice.

The two tiny babies had such delicate little features.

Mu Mian sighed, “They’re so small.”

She had seen videos online before of fathers holding newborns in one hand.

Now that she was seeing real babies, she realized they were even smaller than she had imagined. She didn’t even dare to hold them.

Maybe it was because they were twins.

Zheng Xialan, however, didn’t find it surprising. “All babies are like this. You were only a little bigger when you were born.”

Mu Mian was surprised. “Really? I had no idea.”

Zheng Xialan chuckled. “How could you possibly remember?”

As she laughed, she took another look at her niece. She had noticed that not only was the little girl getting sharper, but her way of speaking had also become more witty—just like her husband.

Noticing her gaze, Mu Mian asked curiously, “Little Aunt, why are you staring at me?”

Zheng Xialan reached out and pinched her niece’s arm. “You seem to have lost a bit of weight.”

Mu Mian looked down at herself. “Really?”

By modern standards, she wasn’t skinny or fat—just an average-sized child.

But in this era, when most people were on the thinner side, her normal build made her seem a bit chubby. Once, when she was delivering food to her mother, she overheard an auntie referring to her as “that chubby girl from the Mu family.”

The Mu family wasn’t the only Mu family in the brigade. Besides Mu Fugui and his two brothers, there were others with the same surname. But when “chubby girl” was added to the name, everyone seemed to know it referred to Mu Fugui’s daughter.

Mu Mian had been utterly baffled at the time.

She was fat?!

Where exactly was she fat?!!

If she hadn’t been in a hurry to deliver food to her mother, she would have given that auntie a piece of her mind.

She was still thinking about it when she heard her Little Aunt say, “You’re not as chubby as before. Even your hands have less baby fat.”

It seemed she had really suffered a lot in the past few days. Zheng Xialan felt a pang of guilt as she gently patted her niece’s head.

If she hadn’t suddenly gone into labor, her mother-in-law wouldn’t have been so busy and would have returned home earlier. If she had come back sooner, she would have noticed that the little girl was missing right away.

Thankfully, the child was resilient and managed to escape on her own. Otherwise, she didn’t even want to think about what could have happened…

Mu Mian, however, hadn’t noticed the guilt and distress in her Little Aunt’s gaze. She only heard the word “chubby” again.

Oh well, chubby or not, being well-fed was a blessing!

As they chatted, the twin sisters drifted off to sleep.

Just then, Xiao Chengzi, who had finished washing diapers, pushed the door open and whispered to Mu Mian, “Sister! Dazhuang asked me to go pick river snails. Are you coming?”

The thought of fragrant stir-fried snails made Mu Mian swallow her saliva. “Yes!”

She immediately got up and followed him out.

Along the way, she borrowed her Little Uncle’s basket and sickle. There were plenty of wild vegetables by the river, so she might as well gather some.

Zhao Meihua glanced at the two kids running out. “Stay away from the deep water!”

She wasn’t the only adult who had warned them about this. A few years ago, a boy in his early teens had drowned there. He had thought he was a great swimmer and dived in to catch fish, but he never came back up.

The siblings responded in unison, “Got it!”

Xiao Chengzi ran ahead, his short legs moving fast, urging Mu Mian, “Hurry up, Sister! Dazhuang and the others already left!”

Mu Mian picked up her pace. When they reached the crossroads, she glanced toward the brigade leader’s house. “You go ahead and catch up with them. I’m going to call Lele.”

She always liked bringing the little girl along.

Xiao Chengzi scrunched his nose and spoke like a grown-up, “You girls just love sticking together.”

Mu Mian let out a playful “heh” and reached out to grab the little rascal. She ruffled his hair, making his short spiky head look like a little hedgehog. “Feeling bold now, huh? Daring to talk back to your sister?”

Xiao Chengzi let out a wail, struggling frantically. As he flailed, he shouted toward the other boys, “Dazhuang! Goudan! Save me!!”

If he hadn’t yelled, it wouldn’t have been so bad. But the moment he did, the boys bolted as if a dog were chasing them.

Dazhuang even shouted as he ran, “We can’t beat your sister! My mom said we should never mess with her—she likes kicking boys where it hurts!!”

Mu Mian: “……………”

What kind of rumors were these aunties spreading?!

While she was left speechless, Xiao Chengzi broke free and darted off like a rabbit.

Only then did Dazhuang and the others stop running.

Mu Mian clicked her tongue, picked up the sickle she had dropped, and headed toward Xu Lele’s house.

—

By the time the girls arrived at the river, there were already quite a few children playing in the shallows.

Just as they got there, a little boy caught a small fish and held it up, laughing excitedly.

The others, seeing this, all rushed over, hoping to find more fish.

At this time of year, there should be plenty of fish in the deeper parts of the river. After all, they had been growing there all winter. But they were not easy to catch or even fish for—the bigger ones were especially slippery.

Xu Lele grew anxious and quickened her pace. “Sister Mianmian, hurry! Let’s go take a look too!”

Mu Mian followed closely behind. The river water was still quite cold this month. Some children, unafraid of the chill, waded into the water to search, while others, who were more sensitive to the cold, searched along the shore.

Mu Mian tested the water with her hand. It was indeed quite cold, so she decided against going in.

People came here every day, so there weren’t many leftovers to pick. After searching for a long time, Mu Mian only managed to gather about ten, all of which were tiny—not even enough to fill the gaps between her teeth.

After a while, Mu Mian gave up on actively searching and turned to picking wild vegetables instead. This season’s wild greens were especially tender and vibrant.

There were plenty of them since they kept growing back in cycles.

Xu Lele didn’t like eating wild greens, so she focused on collecting river snails. By the time Mu Mian looked up, she had already wandered off to the other side.

Mu Mian withdrew her gaze and suddenly spotted a patch of wild greens about five meters away. These would make delicious dumplings. Unfortunately, rice and flour were too precious right now.

Thinking about dumplings, Mu Mian smacked her lips. She walked over, parted the surrounding weeds, and unexpectedly found several eggs lying quietly underneath. A single glance told her they were wild duck eggs.

Mu Mian smiled—what a lucky find. There were six or seven of them, enough for everyone to have two each.

Eggs were a rare delicacy in these times. With no meat to eat, eggs were the only source of protein.

Even so, many families were reluctant to eat them and instead saved them to exchange for money at the commune. One egg was worth three cents—three eggs were nearly a dime.

Mu Mian carefully picked up this gift from nature and covered the spot with wild greens again. She silently marveled at her good luck. Today was definitely a good day to go out.

She had barely finished this thought when, less than five minutes later, she suddenly heard a sound coming from the grass by the riverbank. It sounded like something splashing in the water.

Mu Mian turned toward the source of the sound.

She had already given up on collecting river snails. After all that effort, she had only managed to gather a small handful—not even worth the oil needed to cook them.

At this moment, she was focused solely on picking wild greens. Without realizing it, she had wandered closer to the deeper part of the river.

The spot where she stood wasn’t extremely deep. An adult standing there would have their shoulders above the water. But for a child who couldn’t swim, falling in would be fatal.

Because of this, there weren’t any kids around this area—only a few girls picking wild greens about ten meters away.

Mu Mian ignored them and cautiously leaned forward to look into the water. She couldn’t see anything, and the noise had stopped.

Just as she was about to dismiss it as her imagination, the weeds in front of her rustled, and the splashing sound came again.

Now certain that she hadn’t imagined it, Mu Mian put down her sickle and basket, carefully inching forward. The riverbank was slippery. Even though she knew how to swim, she didn’t want to fall in—getting soaked in this weather would be miserably cold.

After making sure she had a stable footing, Mu Mian parted the thick weeds in front of her and saw two large fish trapped in the water.

Mu Mian: “!!!”

Today really was a lucky day!

The fish had gotten tangled in some vines, clearly having swum in by accident.

And now…

They had come in perfectly fine, only to find themselves unable to leave.