Chapter 14 Eating River Fish

Chapter 14 Eating River Fish

Rolling up her sleeves, Xie Wanniang reached her slender white arm into one of the wooden buckets, trying to scoop up the large carp floating on the top layer. However, the carp flicked its tail and swayed its body, and slipped out of her palm in a flash.

Seeing this, Jiang Yuan quickly said to Xie Wanniang, "I'll do it."

Xie Wanniang moved aside, "What kind of fish are in this bucket?"

Jiang Yuan recalled for a moment, "Two carp, one black carp, three yellow catfish, seven or eight mandarin fish, and half a bucket of small miscellaneous fish."

At this point, he raised his hand and pointed to another wooden bucket, indicating that Xie Wanniang had put all the small fish there.

Xie Wanniang circled the two buckets, exclaiming, "So many!"

Jiang Yuan's lips curled up slightly. "Which one do you want to eat? I'll scoop it out for you."

Xie Wanniang thought about how the two of them were going to hunt and gather in the more distant mountains tomorrow, so she looked up at Jiang Yuan and asked, "When will we be able to get back from the mountains tomorrow?"

Before sunset.

Xie Wanniang was immediately relieved upon hearing this. "Then let's eat the wilted ones first, otherwise they won't taste good if they die. We can keep the lively ones alive for now and cook them tomorrow night."

Dead river fish are not only not fresh, but they also smell fishier than live ones. This is because river fish contain a substance that, after the fish dies, decomposes into two other substances with a strong fishy smell under the action of bacteria and enzymes.

Xie Wanniang had long forgotten the specific names of these three substances; all she remembered was the common sense that river fish should be eaten alive.

Although Jiang Yuan, who had received the instructions, lacked the relevant knowledge, he was aware of the common sense that living things taste better fresher than dead ones.

Following Xie Wanniang's instructions, Jiang Yuan scooped out a carp and two mandarin fish from the bucket, then hesitated before glancing at the bucket of small miscellaneous fish.

Xie Wanniang noticed this and understood his idea after a moment's thought. "I'll fry the small fish into dried fish. If we can't eat them tonight, we can take them to the mountain to eat tomorrow."

Even the fish bones were crispy and savory from the deep-fried dried fish, which was quite delicious. She believed Jiang Yuan would like it.

As for the carp and the two mandarin fish, "Can the carp be braised and the mandarin fish steamed?"

Jiang Yuan nodded. He was someone who only knew how to add water and stew, so he didn't offer his opinion on such matters.

The carp was quite large, weighing about two and a half pounds. Xie Wanniang stunned it with the back of a knife and carefully scraped off all the scales, including those on the belly and near the fins.

After scraping off the scales, she carefully cut open the fish's belly with a kitchen knife, removed the internal organs, and explained to Jiang Yuan, "This is the gallbladder. If you find the fish bitter, it's probably because you accidentally broke the gallbladder while processing it."

Jiang Yuan listened attentively, trying to learn Xie Wanniang's skillful techniques for handling fish as soon as possible.

Seeing his interest, Xie Wanniang added, "Next time you accidentally break the gallbladder, rinse it with plenty of water first, and then apply a small amount of wine to the inside of the fish's belly to remove the bitterness."

She turned the fish's gills inside out, removed the black substance from the gill filaments, rinsed the fish thoroughly with clean water, and finally made a few cuts on both sides of the fish to help it absorb the flavor.

Since there was no cooking wine at home, Xie Wanniang chose scallions, ginger, garlic cloves, and coarse salt to remove the fishy smell.

After processing and marinating the two mandarin fish, each weighing about a pound, Xie Wanniang asked Jiang Yuan, "Shall we add some stewed eggplant?"

Jiang Yuan nodded, "I'll go pick them."

As for staple food, there are still quite a few steamed buns left over from lunch, and they won't be able to take them all tomorrow.

Jiang Yuan quickly returned with eggplants and chili peppers. Since Xie Wanniang couldn't handle spicy food, he only picked one chili pepper to add flavor.

About 45 minutes later, the enticing aroma of food wafted out from the end of the village again, making the villagers living in that area eager for more.

Some children silently swallowed their saliva, some cautiously discussed with their elders about cooking meat for them tomorrow, and others cried and rolled around, insisting on having a fragrant and delicious meal tonight.

The adults, with mixed feelings, found some to make the best of a bad situation by eating their rice amidst the delicious aroma, while others tried to appear nonchalant so their children wouldn't notice their own cravings. Still others were throwing things around and cursing, annoyed by their own children's lack of manners and also resentful that Jiang Yuan had been blinded by greed, letting that spoiled young lady from who-knows-where squander his meager savings.

Jiang Yuan was completely unaware of the villagers' complex feelings. After having dinner with Xie Wanniang, Jiang Yuan first washed the pots and dishes as usual, boiled water for Xie Wanniang to wash up, and then picked out a yellow catfish and two mandarin fish to send to Wang Xiaozhi's in-laws' house.

In front of her in-laws, Wang Xiaozhi didn't want to nag Jiang Yuan. She forced a smile, poured the fish into the basin, and then returned the wooden basin that Jiang Yuan had brought to him, asking him to take it back with him.

Wang Xiaozhi's parents-in-law, husband, her brother-in-law and two younger brothers-in-law were all very welcoming to Jiang Yuan. Firstly, the two families had always had a good relationship, and secondly, they had indeed eaten quite a lot of meat dishes that Jiang Yuan had sent over the years.

Even Wang Xiaozhi's sisters-in-law, who were not familiar with Jiang Yuan, were always polite to him and always greeted him with smiles.

The whole family warmly saw Jiang Yuan off at the door, and Wang Xiaozhi's mother-in-law, Liang, even asked Wang Xiaozhi and her husband to accompany Jiang Yuan a little further.

Wang Xiaozhi had the same idea, so she agreed and left with her husband Chen Zhao.

Their eldest daughter, Chen Yuan, was four years old and already old enough to follow along. As soon as her parents left, she immediately took her little steps and followed them.

Their youngest son, Chen Fang, had just turned one year old and was mostly held in the arms of Wang Xiaozhi's mother-in-law, Liang Shi. So at this moment, he could only watch helplessly as his parents and sister left together.

Fearing he would cry, Liang immediately took him back to the house to comfort and soothe him after Jiang Yuan and the other three left.

As for Wang Xiaozhi, after asking her younger brother a few questions about Xie Wanniang's recovery, she began to mutter about Jiang Yuan's wasteful behavior.

"How many times have I told you not to keep sending me fish and meat? Why won't you listen?"

"You say you own neither a house nor a plot of land, what decent family's daughter would be willing to marry you?"

"No matter how good Uncle Hao is to you, you can't just stay at his house forever, can you?"

"If you don't save up money to build a family business, I'd be too embarrassed to even ask you to be my matchmaker!"

Jiang Yuan was surprised. How come he didn't know that Wang Xiaozhi was sometimes too shy to speak up?

If he remembered correctly, Wang Xiaozhi had tried to match him with a certain girl at least five or six times.

However, just as Wang Xiaozhi said, the parents of the five or six girls she had her eye on immediately shook their heads and waved their hands to refuse her when they heard that the man was Jiang Yuan.

Although Jiang Yuan is a man of few words, his personality is not bad. Anyone who has been with him knows that he is actually a diligent, upright, filial, and polite person.

In addition, he was outstanding in appearance and sturdy in build. He was skilled in farming, hunting and fishing. If any family married their daughter to him, they would have no problem being well-fed and clothed and not being beaten or scolded.

But when a family marries off their daughter, would they only consider whether she can eat and dress well and not be beaten or scolded after marriage?