No matter how much she shouted or tried to reason with them, they wouldn’t listen, so she directly grabbed the bamboo broom nearby.
“I’ll count to three. Go to the main hall right now and finish your porridge, one bowl each.”
“One… two…”
Wu Yulan raised the broom high.
Seeing this, Chunni quickly ducked her head and dragged Song Yinhua and Song Qianhua toward the main hall.
Song Dalang and the others, afraid as well, hurriedly pulled Wang Guiqin and Song Zhiyong along into the main hall.
The second daughter-in-law, Zhao Lijuan, didn’t dare lag behind and followed them into the main hall.
Looking at the large bowls of sweet potato porridge on the table in the main hall, everyone exchanged glances.
Song Yinhua licked her lips, tugged at Wang Guiqin’s sleeve, and blinked as she asked, “Mother, is this really for us to eat?”
Wang Guiqin looked at the porridge on the table, also somewhat incredulous.
She turned back, shrinking her neck as she asked, “Mother, this… this porridge…”
“What are you dawdling for? Hurry up and eat, then get to work. You’re all just trying to slack off!”
“Look, what time is it now? Dawdle any longer, and I’ll deal with you!”
As Wu Yulan spoke, she waved the broom in her hand again.
The children in the family all had bruises here and there, which showed that the original owner had really hit hard.
Hearing this, everyone hurriedly picked up their bowls and drank, afraid that Wu Yulan’s broom would land on them if they were even a second late.
Of course, they were also afraid that Wu Yulan might suddenly change her mind and take the food away, so they kept glancing over at her from time to time.
After finishing a big bowl of porridge, everyone felt their stomachs full, especially the younger ones, whose faces unconsciously showed satisfied expressions after eating their fill.
After quickly washing the bowls and chopsticks, everyone grabbed their back baskets, hoes, and sickles.
When Wu Yulan saw Chunni also picking up a small back basket, clearly ready to go gather firewood and cut pig grass, she quickly called her to a stop.
“Chunni, you don’t need to go. Stay home and take care of your mother.”
“In a bit, if your mother needs water or anything, there won’t be anyone to help her.”
Hearing this, Chunni’s body stiffened a little.
Wang Guiqin looked at her sympathetically, thinking to herself that her mother-in-law was finally going to make a move on Chunni.
Wu Yulan saw through their thoughts at a glance. She went into the woodshed and rummaged around for a while, then came out with a long wooden stick and also carried a bucket.
She planned to go to the river in the village to catch a few crucian carp and make crucian carp and tofu soup for the third daughter-in-law, Li Xiuyun.
“Chunni, you and your mother lock the door and stay home.”
With that, she followed the group outside.
Chunni saw Wu Yulan leave and let out a long sigh of relief.
After locking the door, she trotted into her mother’s room.
……
Song Zhishu woke up, hungry to the point of dizziness. He thought that after being angry all night, his mother should have calmed down by now and come to bring him food.
But he waited and waited, and there was no sign of her.
He opened the door and came out, only to find that his mother was long gone.
“Mother must have left me food in the kitchen!”
Song Zhishu held his stomach and rushed excitedly to the kitchen. However, there wasn’t a single grain of rice or drop of porridge left.
“Bang!”
Song Zhishu, furious, swept the bowls and chopsticks off the table onto the ground.
“Where’s the food?”
“Where’s my food?”
Li Xiuyun heard the roar from the kitchen and hugged her two daughters tightly, not daring to make a sound.
Song Zhishu threw a fit for a while, then slammed the door and stormed out.
……
Wu Yulan arrived at the river and saw Song Dalang and the others heading toward the mountains. She called them to a stop.
“You lot, hold on a moment. Go find me some earthworms first!”
The few of them dared not disobey Wu Yulan’s words. Upon hearing this, they hurriedly trotted off to find her some earthworms.
Wu Yulan waited until they were far away, then took out the fishhooks and bait from her bucket. These were items she had purchased at the Medical Mall for twenty Mall Coins.
Although the mall also sold fish, a single two-jin fish would cost twenty or thirty Mall Coins. Wu Yulan, thinking about sustainability, had instead bought fishhooks and bait.
Song Jia Cun was very favorably located—fronting water and backed by mountains. Relying on the memories in her mind, Wu Yulan came to the village’s Chuanxi River.
The Chuanxi River was about six or seven meters wide, with depths reaching three or four meters. There were plenty of fish in the river, and villagers often fished there.
At this moment, by the banks of the Chuanxi River, there were also several half-grown children fishing.
Wu Yulan looked around and noticed that the fishhooks these children used were all bent from iron wire. Because they lacked barbs, the fish could easily escape.
She observed for a while, found a good spot, and added some water to start mixing fish bait and setting up a fishing spot.
Perhaps because the bait was quite fishy and pungent, it attracted quite a few fish as soon as it was thrown in. Seeing this, Wu Yulan felt confident it should be a sure thing.
After setting up the fishing spot, Song Dalang and the others returned.
“Grandma, earthworms.”
Song Dalang handed Wu Yulan a small bundle of earthworms wrapped in taro leaves.
“Good, go on and get busy!”
Wu Yulan took the earthworms and stopped paying attention to them. Although Song Dalang and the others were still half-grown children, they could already do quite a bit of work.
She wasn’t very familiar with the farm work yet, so she could only let them tend to it. Once she got the hang of it later, she didn’t plan to keep them tied down—if they could help, they’d help a bit, and if they didn’t want to work, they could go out and play.
Seeing this, Song Dalang and the others went off—some to the fields, some to cut pigweed.
Wu Yulan stood by the lake and noticed her reflection on the water’s surface. She bent down to take a look.
What she saw was still the face she knew well, except it had aged by more than twenty years.
In the past, although she was thirty-five, she had taken good care of herself and looked like she was only twenty-seven or twenty-eight.
But now, she looked like someone in her fifties. Her brows and eyes had drooped into a downturned shape, and wrinkles had crept across her face. However, considering the original owner was forty-six, she could be considered well-preserved in this small mountain village.
Wu Yulan shook her head and turned her attention back to the lake.
“Plop~!”
Water splashed on the surface.
Wu Yulan quickly tied the fishing line, picked up a small wooden stick to use as a float, then baited the hook and cast it into the spot she had prepared earlier.
Afraid she might not catch anything, she put on two hooks—one baited with the bait she bought from the Mall, and the other with an earthworm.
Not long after casting, the hook with the bait showed signs of movement.
The small wooden stick floating on the water sank bit by bit. Wu Yulan watched for the right moment, and when the fish had taken the bait firmly, she jerked the hook up.
“Flap~ flap~.”
A crucian carp weighing over a pound was pulled up, flopping around on the ground.
Wu Yulan’s eyes curved into a smile. She quickly stepped forward to grab the fish and filled a bucket with some water.
“Crucian carp and tofu soup, that’s a sure thing!”
With this catch, Wu Yulan felt even more motivated. She re-baited the hook and cast it back to the same spot.
She glanced at the other hook with the earthworm—it was still and quiet.
She figured that since the villagers all used earthworms to fish, the earthworms no longer held much appeal for the fish in this river.
This pungent, fishy bait was actually more effective.
Before long, she caught another fish, but this time it wasn’t a crucian carp—it was a grass carp weighing three or four pounds.
After that, it was as if Wu Yulan had stumbled into a nest of grass carp—they came one after another.
In no time, the bucket was filled to the brim with fish.
Seeing that the float was still moving, Wu Yulan decided to carry this bucket of fish home first and bring back another bucket.
……
“Chunni, open the door!”
Chunni was pulling weeds in the vegetable patch. When she heard Wu Yulan’s voice, she shrank her neck.
After hesitating for a moment, she trotted over to open the door.
“Grandma…”
Seeing the bucket full of fish, Chunni couldn’t help but let out a “Wow~” in surprise.
“So many fish!”
Wu Yulan put the fish into the large cracked water vat in the courtyard, then picked up another bucket and headed back out.
Before leaving, she instructed, “Chunni, watch these fish and don’t let them jump out. In a bit, Grandma will cook fish soup for you and your mother!”
Chunni blinked her dark eyes and crouched by the water vat, staring at the fish inside.
Remembering that her mother didn’t know the news yet, she trotted happily into the house.
“Mother!”
“Grandma caught a lot of fish, and she said she’ll cook fish soup for us later!”
Her eyes curved into a smile.
Li Xiuyun vaguely heard some of it and, seeing the joy on her daughter’s face, couldn’t help but smile as well.
But then, thinking of something, her brows were again clouded with worry.
……
Wu Yulan returned to her previous spot and, after half an hour, filled two more buckets with fish.
Figuring it was about time to prepare lunch, Wu Yulan didn’t delay any longer. She packed up her fishing rod and carried the two buckets of fish home.
On the way, she was already planning in her mind to take the fish to town in the afternoon to sell, and to buy some cotton cloth to make little clothes for the little one at home.
When she got home, she found the courtyard gate open.