CHAPTER 49: CHAPTER 49: SENDING FISH TO THE LAND OFFICER

"Hmm, then we can eat fish for lunch."

"Yeah, let’s have our mom make fish soup for lunch." Yang Chuxia nodded. Catching fish is pretty quick, so they’d definitely be back before lunchtime. "By the way, little brother, do you know which beach is closest to us?"

"The closest one?" Yang Qingrui thought for a while and suddenly exclaimed, "Sis, I got it! Actually, all the beaches are quite far from us, but the closest one is a small beach to the west. It takes about half of one hour to get there from the village."

"Is that so? Then let me ask you another question. Can we find small crabs and small shrimps there when the tide is high?"

"Yes, definitely!"

"Great!" Yang Chuxia snapped her fingers happily and said, "Little brother, let’s go to the small beach early tomorrow morning to collect little crabs."

"Huh? Sis, why do we need those things? They’re too small to eat!"

"Don’t worry, they’re edible. I’ll make them delicious for you later." She thought to herself that she might even be able to exchange some silver for them.

The siblings chatted as they arrived at the small river they’d been to last time.

Indeed, it seemed like not many people frequented this place. As they parted the grass, they could see the fish swimming happily below. Yang Chuxia picked up a tree branch she’d found on the way and tested its weight in her hand. Then she aimed and thrust it forcefully. Unfortunately, she missed on her first try, but she didn’t lose heart and continued. On the third try, she finally caught a fish the size of her palm.

Perhaps she’d gotten the hang of it, because she was accurate with every subsequent thrust.

When the small bucket contained almost half a bucketful of fish, she stopped. She looked around the river for a while but knew catching shrimps would be difficult without a net. She thought it would be nice to have one.

"Little brother, do we have a fishing net at home?"

"No, we don’t live by the sea, so why would we have such a thing?"

She thought about it for a moment and realized that fishing nets were indeed more common among fishermen. No matter, she would see if she could make one for herself later.

"Little brother, let’s go back. This amount of fish is enough for us to eat!"

"Alright!"

Unable to catch any shrimp, the siblings took the bucket of fish and headed back to the village. At the entrance, Yang Chuxia handed over the small basket she’d brought and placed five or six fish in it.

"Little brother, take these fish to Grandpa Land Officer’s house!"

Yang Qingrui took the basket and obediently said, "Alright, I got it. Our granduncle has been kind to our father, and we should repay him."

"You’re right, little brother."

After that, the siblings split up, one heading for the old Yang’s house and the other for Land Officer Yang’s house.

When Yang Chuxia returned to the old Yang’s house, Yang Dachuan had just finished building the stove, and the yellow mud had been applied. "Girl, you’re back!"

"Mhm, Dad, look what I got!"

As she spoke, Yang Chuxia showed the small bucket to Yang Dachuan.

"Wow, so many fish?" Yang Dachuan’s expression suddenly changed. "Did you go to that evil river again? Who let you go there again? Be careful not to fall in."

"Dad, don’t worry about it. I didn’t go into the water. I just found a shallow spot and used a tree branch to spear the fish." Yang Chuxia set the bucket down and then said, "Dad, can you go to town and buy me some things tomorrow?"

"What do you need?"

Yang Chuxia thought for a moment and then listed the items needed for making drunken crab.

"What are you going to do with these?"

"Dad, don’t ask too much for now. I’ll need them later, and I promise I won’t waste any."