In recent years, natural disasters had struck without end. Not only did every household fail to harvest any grain, but they also owed the government substantial grain taxes.
When the government came to collect, some families, at their wit's end, would sell their children, pigs, sheep, and even their wives!
Even those fortunate enough to keep their wives and children were destitute, their homes echoing with emptiness.
Every year, several elderly people and infants in swaddling clothes would starve to death.
The survival of the rest depended on the river outside the village and the barren mountain behind it…
Before Third Master Tai could take the opportunity to curse the heavens for their injustice, Tai Yonglu and Tai Yongyue came running back like they were being chased by dogs, carrying a broken wooden basin between them.
They kicked open the door and started shouting.
"Grandpa, Grandpa! We caught fish! Whoa, several fish!"
"Fish soup, let's make fish soup for little sister!"
Old Master Tai and Third Master Tai were in the middle of a conversation and nearly slipped off their chairs from the shock.
Old Master Tai raised his foot to kick his grandsons, but when he caught sight of five or six palm-sized crucian carp in the water basin, he was overjoyed.
Third Master Tai nearly yanked out half his beard in surprise and shouted, "You caught these from the river outside the village?!"
Tai Yonglu and Tai Yongyue's cotton-padded jackets were half-soaked, but they didn't feel the cold at all. They gestured wildly as they showed off.
"We chiseled a hole in the ice, stuck the strainer in, and pulled up this many on the first try! We wanted to catch more, but Third Fatty and the others got jealous and took over our hole. They even tried to steal our fish, so we ran back with them!"
"Yeah, Third Fatty and his gang are still lying on the ice, freezing their butts off, the little bastards!"
The brothers were about to run to the west room to see their little sister when Old Master Tai grabbed them by the scruffs of their necks and pulled them back.
"Your sister is sleeping. Don't disturb her."
Third Master Tai couldn't wait any longer. His hunched back straightened as he charged out the door. "Let me go take a look."
When he reached the courtyard gate, he ran smack into a crowd of villagers.
Everyone was carrying wooden basins and had grabbed their household strainers.
The children had made such a racket that anyone who heard the story wanted a piece of the action!
In no time, the little river outside the village was packed with villagers chiseling holes and lowering their strainers.
Tai Yonglu and Tai Yongyue hopped around in a panic, terrified that the villagers would scoop up all the remaining fish.
Even Tai Jizu and Tai Jizong grabbed strainers and wanted to join in.
But Old Master Tai stopped them. "Enough, don't be greedy. We already have a few. Let the villagers catch the rest.
"Grab some firewood and hurry up and make the fish soup. Zhuzhu will wake up hungry soon!"
With that, he looked toward the door, his heart full of doubt.
Could it be that Zhuzhu had woken up, and their family's luck was turning around?
That river outside the village hadn't yielded anything in ages, yet those two boys went and caught fish on their first try…
Tai Yonglu and Tai Yongyue wanted to protest, but Old Master Tai gave each of them a swat, and they quieted down.
Tai Jizu and Tai Jizong obediently fetched firewood and cleaned the fish, while Liu Dongniang quickly scrubbed the pot and lit the fire, bustling about.
Half an hour later, the kitchen was filled with a mouthwatering aroma.
Liu Dongniang filled a large bowl and had Tai Yongan deliver it next door to repay the favor of the egg they'd borrowed.
Finally, every member of the household, young and old, got a bowl and drank to their hearts' content.
Tai Yonglu and Tai Yongyue were impatient, hissing through their teeth at the heat while gulping down their fish soup in record time.
Meanwhile, the villagers had been crouching by the river for the better part of an hour.
Their feet had gone numb from the cold, frost clung to their eyelashes and eyebrows, and they shivered in their tattered cotton jackets like they had the ague.
Not a single fish—not even a scale—had they seen!
Some couldn't take it anymore and straggled back to the village. But others refused to give up, grabbing handfuls of crushed ice to stuff in their mouths to fool their stomachs before continuing to chisel new holes.
In all this chaos, naturally no one was watching the children.
A boy of seven or eight slipped and splashed straight into an ice hole.
Luckily, a villager nearby reacted quickly and yanked him out.
The boy's tattered clothes were soaked through, his face was pale from the cold, and his teeth chattered uncontrollably, but he stubbornly refused to leave.
"Wah wah, I'm not leaving… ch-chatter… I want fish soup! Fish soup!"
A man, furious, cursed at him, "Get the hell home! Freeze out here a little longer and you'll be drinking soup with the King of Hell!"
A neighbor with children grabbed the boy and dragged him away, and the rest, worried about falling into the water themselves, followed behind.
As they passed by the Tai family's gate, a faint, tantalizing aroma drifted out from the courtyard and crept into their noses.
Everyone couldn't help but swallow hard and linger for a moment, but seeing no sign of the Tai family opening their door, they could only trudge away dejectedly.
Well, that was just how it was. In times like these, it was already a blessing to keep your own family from starving. Who had the means to look after anyone else's?
Tai Yonglu and Tai Yongyue pressed their eyes to the crack in the gate, watching until the last villager was gone. Then they wiped their runny noses and sprinted back inside.
Their little sister's fish soup was safe!
Zhuzhu woke up in her mother's arms, drawn by the scent of fish soup.
Her mother's embrace was warm and soft, and she nuzzled against it affectionately.
Yang Lihua quickly set down her needlework and smiled as she scooped up her daughter. "Mommy's Zhuzhu is awake—are you hungry? Mommy will feed my little piggy baby, eat until you're full!"
As she spoke, Tai Jizu, who was lying on the other side, also shuffled over and quickly stoked the earthen stove connected to the big heated kang. The half-charred wood in the stove flared back to life, the clay pot sitting on top heated up, and the fragrant aroma of fish soup grew rich and thick.
Zhuzhu's stomach gurgled loudly. She kicked her little legs excitedly and bounced up in her mother's arms.
Both Tai Jizu and Yang Lihua laughed at the sight.
Yang Lihua ladled out a big half-bowl of fish soup for her daughter, then tore off half a piece of sorghum flour cornbread and soaked it in the soup.
Zhuzhu took a sip, then stared wide-eyed with surprise, her big, fluffy lashes blinking.
The baby fat on her cheeks trembled as she pointed at the fish soup and babbled endlessly.
"Little piggy likes it, does she? Then eat lots!" Tai Jizu grinned from ear to ear, chattering on. "Tomorrow Daddy will go up the mountain and catch you a pheasant to make soup—that's even tastier."
Zhuzhu tilted her head, cheeks stuffed full, her little brows furrowed in the cutest way, as if she were mulling something over.
In the end, she pressed her little head against her father's hand and nuzzled it again and again.
Daddy patted her head. Only by going out could he catch a pheasant to feed the family!