Chapter 31: Fish Bubbles

◎Industrial Chapter◎

When Second Sister Jiang saw her husband return while holding his waist, she quickly rushed to help him.

“What happened? Why did you come back with injuries after going out?”

It would have been fine if she hadn’t mentioned it, but as soon as she did, Second Sister Jiang’s husband felt like she had reported him to the family, which led to his current situation. He turned his body to avoid her outstretched hand and was about to curse.

Remembering Older Brother Jiang’s warning, the curse that had been on the tip of his tongue was held back, and he changed it: “Alright, I just accidentally fell. Is there any food left at home? I’m hungry.”

“Huh? You didn’t eat when you went out?” Second Sister Jiang thought he had eaten with Older Brother Jiang and the others, so she hadn’t saved him any food.

“Is there any food or not?” His day had been full of misfortune, and his tone was filled with impatience.

“Oh, yes, there’s some. Wait a moment,” Second Sister Jiang quickly realized and went to the kitchen to prepare some noodles for him.

“Hmph.” Second Sister Jiang’s husband looked at her departing figure, his eyes filled with resentment.

Meanwhile, after separating from Older Brother Jiang, Jiang Che couldn’t wait to go home and share the entire story of the beating with his wife, especially describing the pitiful state of Second Sister Jiang’s husband after the beating. The details were as dramatic as the movies Wei Xuan had watched in her past life.

Relieved, Jiang Che felt great and even had an extra bowl of rice that evening, successfully stuffing himself full.

What could Wei Xuan do? She had no choice but to make him a bowl of hawthorn tea to aid digestion.

“Here, it’s for digestion. Drink it slowly.”

In a good mood, Jiang Che leaned back in his chair, one hand rubbing his belly, the other taking the hawthorn tea from his wife and sipping it in small gulps, thoroughly enjoying it.

After finishing the bowl, he even felt a bit unsatisfied. Who would have thought that this sour hawthorn water actually tasted quite good?

Wei Xuan noticed his intentions and said, “Alright, if you drink more, you’ll be too full.”

Jiang Che smacked his lips and, remembering something, said, “Wife, didn’t you say you were going to make hawthorn cake last time? When are you going to make it?”

“Hmph.” Last time, someone had said that hawthorn had no flavor other than sourness and even questioned whether she could really make a delicious cake out of it!

But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that. Wei Xuan realized she was missing one ingredient for making the hawthorn cake.

“Fish bladder?”

Wei Xuan nodded. “Yeah, fish bubbles.”

“Do you need that for making hawthorn cake?” Jiang Che was confused. It felt like his wife’s requests were getting stranger and stranger.

“Actually, it’s fine without it, but if you add it, the hawthorn cake will look much better.”

Jiang Che immediately understood. If the appearance was good, the price would naturally go up.

He patted his chest and assured her, “Wife, leave this to me.”

Early the next morning, before dawn, he rode his bike to the nearby town market.

The people who came to this market were from the surrounding villages, and the stalls were filled with items that the production teams had left after completing their tasks for the commune. These items could be traded at the market with other production teams to get what they needed.

Before Jiang Che started working, there was a period when he loved to wander around with his friends. He remembered that there was a village nearby where they had dug fish ponds to raise fish.

Sure enough, after walking around the market, he saw an elderly man selling fish at a stall.

He walked up and took a look. “Grandpa, these fish are pretty fresh.”

“Of course, our village’s fish are all caught fresh in the morning, still fresh! Young man, would you like to buy one?”

Jiang Che checked the time. It was getting late, and he didn’t want to waste time with small talk. He directly stated his request: “Grandpa, I don’t need the fish for now, but I need fish bladders. Do you have any? I’m willing to pay for them.”

The old man was confused by this request. After a long pause, he finally asked, “What do you need that for?” The people in their village didn’t eat that, and judging by the young man’s neat clothes, he didn’t look like someone who couldn’t afford fish.

Jiang Che didn’t have time to explain. He just said, “Grandpa, I definitely have my reasons. You just need to tell me if you have any or not.”

“We don’t have any right now, but if you want, I can save some for you when I kill the fish next time.”

Jiang Che thought for a moment. “Alright, then save them for me. I’ll come by to pick them up tomorrow morning at this time.” He then took out a dime and handed it to the old man. “Take this for now, and if there are more tomorrow, I’ll pay you the rest.”

The old man didn’t expect to actually get money, and he happily agreed. “Alright, I’ll save them all for you. Just come and get them tomorrow.”

With the matter settled, Jiang Che didn’t linger. He quickly got on his bike and rushed to the factory, but of course, he was still caught for being late.

However, he didn’t care much about it. He’d just be scolded, but it wasn’t a big deal.

The real issue came the next day when he had a bag of fish bladders. The smell was awful, and he couldn’t just leave them in the office.

After thinking for a while, he decided to hang the fish bladders on his bike and silently prayed that no one would be crazy enough to steal them.

Fortunately, it seemed that his prayers worked. When he checked at lunchtime, the fish bladders were still hanging on his handlebars.

To avoid any further trouble, he didn’t even eat, but rushed home to drop off the fish bladders.

When Wei Xuan came home in the afternoon, she saw the big bag of fish bladders at the kitchen door. She immediately guessed that Jiang Che had brought them back. She was a bit surprised, as she had expected him to only bring back a few fish, not to buy fish bladders in such large quantities.

This way, she could make more fish gelatin powder at once, which would be convenient for making hawthorn cakes or other things in the future.

The fish bladders had a strong odor, so they had to be processed first. Once cleaned, they could be used in pastries.

Wei Xuan brought out a large basin, poured all the fish bladders into it, cleaned the surface, and then used scissors to cut them open. She added some white vinegar to the basin and soaked them for about half an hour to remove the fishy smell.

When Jiang Che returned home and saw the fish bladders soaking in the basin in the yard, he asked, “Wife, can these fish bladders really be used to make hawthorn cakes?” He just couldn’t imagine what the sweet and fragrant cake would taste like with fish bladders mixed in.

“Wait until they’re processed, and you’ll know. Besides, we won’t use too many; it’s mainly to help with the shaping,” Wei Xuan replied.

After dinner, Jiang Che went to take a shower, and Wei Xuan went to take the fish bladders out of the vinegar solution. She rinsed them a few more times.

When she felt they were nearly ready, she sniffed them and found that the smell had almost disappeared. She then neatly laid the fish bladders on a sieve. The weather was nice, so they would probably dry out in a day or two.

Once the fish gelatin dried completely, she would grind it into powder. Then, she could add it to the hawthorn cakes to help them set more quickly.

Actually, it was possible to skip this step, but adding the fish gelatin powder would make the surface of the hawthorn cakes smoother and more elastic.

Because she was waiting for the fish gelatin, a few more days passed, and by the time the hawthorn cakes were finally made, it was already the end of June.

Wei Xuan handed the basket filled with hawthorn cakes and nine-layer cakes to Jiang Che, reminding him with concern, “Remember to tell Wu Yun that pregnant women shouldn’t eat too much of the hawthorn cakes.”

“I know,” Jiang Che replied.

Watching Jiang Che walk away, Wei Xuan felt relieved.

It’s common knowledge that pregnant women shouldn’t eat hawthorn, but she wasn’t sure if everyone today knew this fact, especially since the spread of knowledge is so slow nowadays.

But even if they knew, it didn’t matter. At least she was giving a kind reminder. The weather was getting warmer, and the hawthorn cakes had a spleen-strengthening and appetite-boosting effect. She was just worried that if someone didn’t know and ate too much, it could lead to some bad consequences, and that would be her fault.

Jiang Che, on the other hand, had no such worries. He didn’t even think about it. After all, how many people had the conditions to buy so many hawthorn cakes at once? Forget about eating too much—just having a sweet bite was already a treat. But since his wife had a kind heart, he didn’t argue with her!

Time passed like flowing water, and the small stash of money in Jiang Che and Wei Xuan’s little money box grew day by day.

One day, when Wei Xuan tried to add more money to the box, she couldn’t get it in after several attempts. That’s when she realized that they might really need to get a bigger box to store the money.

“You’re silly. I can just take the money to the post office and exchange it for bills,” Jiang Che said.

Oh right, Wei Xuan hadn’t thought of that. But as she stared at the pile of money filling half of their bed, she felt a bit troubled: “So much money… how are you going to the post office with it? Won’t they just arrest you?”

“Heh heh,” Jiang Che raised his eyebrows. “I’ve got a plan. You don’t need to worry about it. Hurry up and count the money. It’s been nearly two months since we last counted it, since the Dragon Boat Festival.”

Wei Xuan’s hands itched a little too. She grabbed a handful of loose change and started counting.

“We really have this much money?” After finishing counting, Jiang Che was in disbelief. “Wife, how about we buy an electric fan?”

“Sure, sure!” Wei Xuan agreed immediately, but then her mood dropped a little as she thought of something. “But an electric fan costs quite a bit, doesn’t it? Do you have the money for that?”

Jiang Che paused for a moment, then said, “I’ll figure it out.” What’s the point of earning so much money if they don’t use it?

Wei Xuan was curious. “Where will you get it from?”

Jiang Che replied, “Don’t you remember? Dad surely has some. Even if not, he can help us get some. Besides, we haven’t been home in a while. Let’s go back tomorrow and have a meal with them. And wife, remember to make extra hawthorn cakes to bring home for Mom and Dad to try.”

This was exactly like the saying, “No visit to the Three Treasures Hall without a reason.” Wei Xuan felt a bit embarrassed. “We don’t go home often, and when we do, it’s always because we need something. Isn’t that a bit too much?”

Jiang Che then asked her, “Don’t you want an electric fan?”

Well, she thought maybe she could be a bit thicker-skinned.

The next day, the two of them happily went back to the Jiang family’s home. To cover her own guilt, Wei Xuan not only brought the hawthorn cakes she made but also specially bought an extra bag of candy from the supply and marketing cooperative to take with her.

“Too much courtesy is never a bad thing, right?”

When Jiang Father and Jiang Mother saw the two of them return home, they were very happy, especially Jiang Mother, who smiled while complaining, “You two kids, you came back without letting us know in advance. We didn’t prepare any special dishes.”

“No need,” Wei Xuan replied, “The dishes at home are already great.”

Jiang Che also chimed in, “Exactly, we’re not guests, so there’s no need for special preparations. By the way, Mom, Dad, where’s Big Brother and his wife?”

At the mention of this, Jiang Mother’s expression softened slightly. “Your sister-in-law has been unwell. She said she was sick, so they took the kids to visit her family.”

Wei Xuan felt relieved in her heart. It was probably for the best that her sister-in-law wasn’t there; otherwise, she might have to deal with her cold attitude when they asked for something from the in-laws.

After the family finished dinner, Wei Xuan went to the kitchen to clear the dishes first.

Jiang Che didn’t stop her, knowing that his wife was too shy to ask his parents for anything, so he didn’t insist on her staying.