In winter, darkness falls quickly. Wu Jun carried the fish home by the dim light. By the time he arrived, Grandpa Wu had already finished cooking. Seeing Wu Jun enter, Grandpa smiled and said, “This fish looks pretty good. I thought there wouldn’t be enough to go around this time.”
“A few families didn’t exchange for any, so I got lucky. Fortunately, the fish yield was high this year, otherwise there definitely wouldn’t have been enough. I’ll clean the fish after dinner. Grandpa, should we save one for the New Year?” Wu Jun set the basin on the ground and shook his sore arms. He really was weak—it wasn’t even that heavy, yet his arms were already tired. He really needed to exercise more, otherwise when he learned to cook, he probably wouldn’t even be able to flip the wok.
“Leave the biggest one outside to freeze. We’ll use it for the New Year’s Eve dinner. Clean the rest after dinner, cut them into pieces, and salt them. Tomorrow, the two of us will make braised fish chunks.” With that, Grandpa picked up the biggest fish and placed it in a bamboo basket in the corner of the yard. This basket was where the Wu family stored meat in winter. Originally, it only held half a jin of pork, but now it had a long fish as well.
The three of them ate in the main room while chatting: “Junzi, tomorrow come with Grandma to the supply and marketing cooperative. Your Third Grandfather is going to deliver grain to your cousin anyway. It’s almost New Year’s, and Grandma wants to make you a new set of clothes this year. We’re almost out of salt, sugar, and soy sauce at home. We also need to buy some New Year’s candies, so there’s something to give the children who come to wish us well.”
“Grandma, don’t make me clothes. I still have things to wear. It took us a long time to save up cloth ration tickets. You and Grandpa haven’t had new clothes in ages.” Wu Jun said hurriedly.
“Your grandfather and I are both old with one foot in the grave. Why would we need new clothes? Besides, we don’t have enough cloth tickets for both of us. With everything that’s happened this year, I want to make you a new set of clothes so you can wear them for the New Year and ward off bad luck.” Grandma Wu wouldn’t let Wu Jun refuse.
In fact, given the subsidies from the county textile mill, the Wu family should have had plenty of cloth ration tickets. But before, there was that vampire-like former in-law family. To keep them from gossiping, the family had given away most of their cloth tickets every year. Now that the engagement had been called off, they had saved this year’s tickets. Looking back, maybe this was a blessing in disguise—shaking off those vampire-like in-laws.
“That’s settled, then. Junzi, go with your grandma to the supply and marketing cooperative tomorrow. Come back at noon, and I’ll teach you how to cook the fish.” Grandpa Wu made the final decision.
The next day, around 5 a.m., just as the sky was beginning to lighten, Wu Jun had already helped his grandmother onto the village’s oxcart. Since the temperature was still quite low, Wu Jun had specifically brought a worn-out quilt from home to spread over the cart frame to block the wind for Grandma Wu. Also sitting in the cart were Aunt Chunhua, Aunt Dazhu, the wife of the accountant Wu Dali, and a few younger married women. The cart was packed, and Wu Jun was the only half-grown boy among them. He felt a bit awkward.
“Third Grandfather, are we waiting for anyone else?” Wu Jun sat there awkwardly while the women chatted around him. A few of the more gossipy ones started asking him again about the broken engagement.
“We’re still waiting for Sister-in-law Li. Let’s wait a bit longer,” Aunt Dazhu interjected. Sister-in-law Li was a woman from a distant village who had married into Hongxing Brigade. Rumor had it her home village was deep in the mountains with very inconvenient transportation. Her family had married her off to Li Tiedan from the village. Li Tiedan’s family was poor, and no local family wanted their daughter to marry him. He had to wait until he was 30 years old to marry this wife, paying a full 50 yuan as bride price—a sky-high amount for their area!
Unfortunately, Li Tiedan had fallen off a mountain and died while gathering firewood. Sister-in-law Li became a widow. She spent her days hanging around with Aunt Dazhu, gossiping and stirring up trouble. With no man to control her, she spoke without restraint, offending many people in the village. But because she was a widow, the villagers were kind-hearted and didn’t want to hold too much against her.
A figure of a woman could be seen running from afar. “Third Grandfather Wu, you’re leaving way too early! I thought you’d all already left. If you had left without me, I’d definitely go complain to the brigade captain that you’re bullying a widow.” With that, she climbed onto the oxcart. Her eyes landed on the quilt near Wu Jun, and she immediately reached out to pull it over herself. “It’s so cold. This quilt is really nice.”
Grandma Wu was kind-hearted and didn’t know what to say. Wu Jun pulled the quilt back. “This is for my grandma. Sister-in-law Tiedan, if you want one, you’ll have to bring your own.”
The widow’s eyes lit up when she saw Wu Jun. Her eyes darted around as she said, “Oh, don’t call me Sister-in-law Tiedan! Just call me sister. I thought this belonged to the village. No worries, give the quilt to your grandma.” And she tried to squeeze closer to Wu Jun.
Aunt Chunhua and the accountant’s wife couldn’t stand it anymore. They quickly pulled the widow aside. “You’re a widow. It’s not proper to crowd so close to a young man. Don’t you care about your reputation? Even if you don’t, Junzi is an innocent, good boy.”
“But Brother Junzi is already out of his engagement,” the widow said, still trying to get closer to Wu Jun.
At that moment, Third Grandfather Wu pointed his whip at the back of the cart and shouted, “Get back there and sit still! I’m about to drive the cart. You’ve already delayed us too long. If you don’t sit properly, get off!” With that, he flicked his whip and started the oxcart.
The widow lurched and nearly fell off the cart. Aunt Dazhu grabbed her just in time. She sat unwillingly at the back, occasionally stealing glances at Wu Jun, clearly scheming about something.
When they reached the county town, Third Grandfather Wu parked the oxcart near the supply and marketing cooperative and told everyone to meet back there at 11 a.m.—latecomers would be left behind. Then he went off with the supplies he had brought to his grandson’s house.
Because the New Year was approaching, the supply and marketing cooperative was packed with people. As soon as Wu Jun and his grandmother walked in, they saw the candy and biscuit counter, which had just been stocked with many new arrivals. There were fruit hard candies and puffed rice candies. The fruit hard candies cost fifty cents per jin plus one candy ration ticket. The puffed rice candies were more precious, as they were made from grains, costing one yuan per jin plus one candy ration ticket. Normally, no one from the village bought puffed rice candies—only county town residents could afford them. The biscuits were the most common type, milk-flavored, costing one yuan per jin plus two grain ration tickets.
Wu Jun looked at the candies, asked his grandmother, and then said, “Comrade, serve the people. We want one jin of puffed rice candy and one jin of fruit hard candies.”
“Serve the people. That’ll be one yuan and fifty cents plus two candy ration tickets.” The clerk wrote out a slip, took the money and tickets from Wu Jun, clipped them, and sent them via wire to the cashier. After the cashier processed the slip, the clerk wrapped up the candies and handed them to Wu Jun. After buying the candies, Wu Jun and his grandmother went to the seasoning counter and bought salt and soy sauce. They turned to go buy cloth, but in the distance, a crowd of older women was surrounding the cloth counter. Looking at his own small build and his grandmother’s age, Wu Jun decided it was better not to squeeze in. He would buy the cloth next time he came to the county town.
The grandmother and grandson returned to where the oxcart was parked. It was still early, and several people hadn’t arrived yet. Aunt Dazhu, who had finished her shopping early, saw that Wu Jun’s backpack basket was nearly empty and immediately asked, “Oh my, Auntie, what did you buy? Looks like you hardly got anything. Don’t tell me you’re out of money? I heard before that the Li family called off the engagement because you had no money. Is that true?” Her face gleamed with malicious glee.
“Whether my family has money or not is none of your business, Auntie.” Wu Jun replied briefly, helped his grandmother onto the oxcart, and fell silent. Grandma Wu looked at her grandson, worried he might be thinking about Li Xue again. “Junzi, don’t be upset. The day before yesterday, Aunt Chunhua said she wanted to find you a new match. Once you get engaged again, no one will gossip.”
“Grandma, that’s not necessary. I’m still young. I’m in no hurry to get engaged. Besides, I just broke off an engagement. If I find someone to get engaged with now, the village will start gossiping again.” Wu Jun knew his grandmother cared about him, but he truly didn’t want to get engaged to any girl right now. Matters of the heart were too complicated. He’d be better off focusing on finding ways to earn money to support his grandparents.
“Pfft, I ran into Liu Zhaodi (Li Xue’s mother) at the grain station today. She told me that Wu Jun had essentially tricked them into the marriage. Liu Zhaodi said that their family now lives in the county town, like proper city people. The only reason they agreed to the engagement with the Wu family was because Wu Jun could get subsidies from the textile factory every month and could start working at the factory once he turned 18.
Otherwise, why would they ever agree to a match with a family of muddy-legged peasants? She saw that her eldest son didn’t pass the steel factory’s recruitment exam, so she figured since her family and the Wu family were such dear in-laws, she went to discuss with the textile factory leaders whether her son could take over Wu Jun’s spot at the factory. But the textile factory leaders told her that their family had already taken a lump sum payment to buy out the job. Now they’re still putting on airs. Just wait until I get back to the village—I’ll tell everyone about their family’s dirty secrets.” She laughed smugly, as if she had found a great treasure.
“Auntie, is that true? Let’s see how high and mighty they act after this. Once the whole village finds out, Wu Jun will have a hard time finding another match. The old are too old, and the boy looks skinny and not fit for hard work. He doesn’t even have siblings to help him. Hmph.” The widow thought about how Wu Jun had looked at her with disdain on the cart earlier, and she laughed darkly.
By the time the oxcart set off back to the village, thanks to Aunt Dazhu and the widow’s gossip, everyone on the cart had heard the rumor. Most of the people on the cart were decent folk and immediately refuted it. But those who usually loved to gossip and stir up trouble were already laughing amongst themselves. Since Wu Jun was a young man, he felt it wasn’t proper to argue too much with these middle-aged women. He simply told his grandmother and a few of the friendlier aunts that there was no need to say too much to these gossips right now.
In his previous life, when this rumor started spreading in the village, he had specifically gone to ask Li Xue about it. At that time, Li Xue had firmly denied that her family started it, saying the Wu family must have offended someone. She had cried and begged Wu Jun to let the rumor be. After all, he was a young man; if he married later in life, it wouldn’t be a big deal. But she was a young woman—if the real reason for the broken engagement became known, she would be subjected to endless scorn and finger-pointing.
Back then, he had been completely blinded by infatuation. For Li Xue’s sake, he had willingly taken on the blame of having tricked her family into the engagement. Now, watching coldly from the sidelines, he realized that the Li family had orchestrated all of this to deflect blame. And he had been foolish enough to willingly walk into their trap. This time, he would find a way to tear off Li Xue’s disguise and let everyone see the Li family’s true colors.
Grandpa Wu came out of the kitchen and saw his fuming wife walking in front and his innocent-looking grandson behind. He asked in confusion, “What happened? Weren’t you just going to the supply and marketing cooperative? Why are you coming back so angry?”
Wu Jun closed the yard gate and said helplessly, “Aunt Dazhu ran into Li Xue’s mother in the county town. She told her that the engagement was called off because our family tricked them. It seems many families in the county have probably heard this rumor already. A lot of villagers went to the county today, so by tomorrow, the whole village will probably know.”
“Back then, her family was the one who despised poverty and chased after wealth. They broke off the engagement because they found someone better. Now they’re turning it around and blaming us. No way. Tomorrow, I’m going to the Li family to confront them. If that doesn’t work, I’ll go find their factory leaders and demand justice…” Grandma Wu said indignantly.
“Grandma, please calm down first. I’ll think of a way to let everyone know the truth. You just sit down and rest for a while. Wait for Grandpa and me to make something delicious for you to try.” Wu Jun set down his backpack basket, picked up the things he had bought today, and headed to the kitchen.
Grandpa Wu looked at his grandson and said with a gratified smile, “Our Junzi has grown up. Don’t worry. I’ll go teach him how to cook the fish.”
On the kitchen stove were all the ingredients for braised fish chunks: scallions cut into sections, ginger sliced into strips, dried red chilies cut into rings, an appropriate amount of rehydrated dried mushrooms, and the marinated fish chunks as the main ingredient.
Grandpa Wu had Wu Jun tend the fire, first burning it high. After the wok was hot, he coated it with oil, added the ginger strips, dried red chilies, and mushrooms, and stir-fried several times. Once the aroma emerged, he added the fish chunks, poured in a little water, covered the wok, and reduced the heat to low for slow simmering. During this time, he occasionally opened the wok to stir-fry, ensuring all the fish chunks absorbed the flavor.
After about ten minutes, he added an appropriate amount of soy sauce, sugar, and salt for seasoning. He then transferred the fish to a basin and sprinkled scallions on top. It was complete. Looking at the vibrant, aromatic fish chunks, Wu Jun couldn’t help swallowing his saliva.
Once the three family members sat down, Wu Jun picked up a golden-brown piece of fish and put it in his mouth. The moment the fish touched his taste buds, a surge of umami flavor rushed up. The ginger strips and dried red chilies perfectly suppressed the fishy smell. The fish meat was tender, sweet, and delicious, while the mushrooms further enhanced the fish’s freshness. It was truly a heavenly delicacy.
“Grandpa, your cooking skills are amazing. The fish is so tender and fresh. If only Aunt were here, she could taste it too.” Wu Jun couldn’t help reaching for another piece after finishing the first, so much so that he forgot to eat his corn pancakes.
“It’s the fish from our lake that’s good. With good fish, the flavor won’t be bad. Back when I was in the army, the fish there didn’t taste as good as ours. Still, life was hard back then, and everyone was just grateful to have something to eat.” Grandpa Wu began recalling his glorious days in the military, his face full of pride.
It’s often said that good food can heal the soul. Grandma Wu, who had been feeling stifled, tasted the fish and smiled contentedly as she looked at the two most important men in her life. She thought to herself that as long as the family stayed together, safe and sound, they could weather any storm.