After lunch, Shu An immediately went to take care of her documents. Fortunately, Jiang He was a soldier, so the procedures were a little more convenient than they would have been for an ordinary person.
When she returned to the village, she did not keep it a secret and immediately told everyone the news.
When Feng Aidi heard that her younger daughter-in-law had gone out just once and somehow managed to secure a job, she widened her eyes in astonishment. “Goodness gracious! Did my family just marry a golden phoenix?”
“Really?”
“Really, Mom. I start work the day after tomorrow. I won’t come home for lunch then, but I’ll come home for dinner as usual. I might just get back a little late.”
“That’s fine, sister-in-law. At worst, we can just delay dinner by half an hour and wait for you to come home before eating,” Chen Hong said excitedly when she heard that her sister-in-law had found a job.
Jiang Erzhu was even more shocked by the news. He kept smoking beside them for a long while before finally forcing out, “Are you sure this is real? Don’t tell me you’re making it up.” He simply couldn’t believe that she had managed to find a job in just one day.
“Bah! You old fool, what are you talking about? What do you mean she’s making it up? Can’t it be that she’s capable enough to get things done? If you’re so good, why don’t you go find her a job? Honestly!” Feng Aidi immediately launched into him.
“Don’t listen to your father. He speaks without thinking. He has no ability himself, yet he looks down on other people.”
“Hey, you woman…”
“What about me?” Feng Aidi stuck out her neck defiantly, completely unafraid of him, looking like a hen ready to fight.
Jiang Erzhu had no money in his hands, so he could only back down. Feng Aidi now knew exactly whom she ought to please. The second son’s family had put the money under her control, and now the younger daughter-in-law had a job too. Wouldn’t that mean she might be able to hand over her wages to her as well?
That evening, when Shu An went to return the bicycle, she took the opportunity to tell her eldest uncle about the matter.
Jiang Dashu was quite surprised when he heard the news, but the next moment, he was happy for his nephew’s wife. “Then Jiang He really is lucky to have married you. All right, don’t worry. I’ll take care of the file transfer for you.”
“Mm-hmm, all right. Thank you, Uncle.”
After she left, Song Chunmei couldn’t help saying to Jiang Dashu, “Tell me, how come the second branch has such good luck? They have a son as capable as Jiang He, and now they’ve even got a daughter-in-law with a job. With conditions like theirs, I can’t even imagine how good their life will be.”
Meanwhile, the very husband Song Chunmei was envious of was complaining angrily to his wife.
“I told you to let me manage the money. You’re just a woman. How would you know how much to spend? You can’t even read.”
“Cut it out. There’s no way I’m giving you the money. So what if I can’t read? Can’t I ask someone? Did my mouth grow shut? Instead of thinking about how to get me to hand over the money, you’d better think about how much work you’re going to do tomorrow.”
In another room, Chen Hong was also twisting Jiang Tian’s ear.
“I’m telling you, in this family, stop taking your father’s side all the time.”
“That old miser of a father of yours never gives anything away. Don’t forget, all the meat and other good food you’ve eaten these past few months was paid for by your younger sister-in-law.”
“In this family, you need to stand on your younger sister-in-law’s side. Think about how much good food your two sons have eaten because of her. When it really matters, you need to know whose side you should be on. Understand?”
“Ouch, all right, all right, I understand. But he’s my father, after all. Sometimes I still have to give my dad some respect.”
“Fine, I won’t lecture you anymore. Just make sure you know where you stand.”
Early the next morning, because of the household registration matter, Jiang Dashu took the documents Shu An had given him and went to handle the procedures. Shu An had nothing else to do for the moment, so she packed some things that she would take with her to work.
“Auntie! Auntie!”
Suddenly, Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei came running over from outside and called out from the doorway.
“What is it?” Shu An looked toward the door when she heard the two children calling her.
“Auntie, we’re going to the river to catch little fish. Do you want to come?”
“Catch fish? Sure!” Shu An’s eyes lit up at once. Catching little fish sounded great. She could make some fried dried fish and bring them to her master tomorrow for him to try.
Once she decided, she acted immediately. She ran outside to get a bucket and followed the two children toward the river.
Everyone was busy working in the fields at this time. The reason Shu An hadn’t gone was because she was afraid of earthworms—a fear that was both physiological and psychological.
She had been frightened by mischievous children when she was little, which had left her traumatized. So when she had transmigrated here and married Jiang He, she had made it clear from the beginning that she would not work in the fields. She could do other kinds of work, but working in the fields was out of the question.
Jiang He had agreed at the time. He already received a military allowance, so supporting his wife was still manageable. That was also why her father-in-law had such a big grudge against her.
After an entire rainy season, the river was quite deep, and there were plenty of little fish and shrimp.
Many children were afraid of getting their clothes wet. Some simply stripped naked and went into the river to catch fish.
Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei used to do the same. They were afraid of getting their clothes wet or ruining them, so they would strip naked and catch fish in the river.
But ever since Jiang Bei had once had his little penis pinched by a crab, he had never dared to do it again.
Shu An actually liked eating these river crabs. Although they didn’t have much meat, if you fried them lightly in oil, then stir-fried them with the homegrown spicy peppers and garlic oil, the taste was absolutely incredible.
Of course, it used a lot of oil, so they couldn’t eat them every day. Jiang He had made them for her once when he had been home trying to build their relationship.
His mother-in-law had cursed them both terribly that day, calling them wasteful fools for using so much oil just to cook crabs. But there was no denying it—the more oil you used, the more fragrant the food tasted.
Anyway, she was going to start work tomorrow. Making this dish could count as a little celebration. It shouldn’t be too much, right?
Thinking of this, Shu An became even more enthusiastic about turning over the rocks. As she worked, she reminded the two brothers, “Don’t go toward the deep water.”
Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei obediently answered when they heard their aunt’s warning. They had no choice. Their aunt was genuinely generous when it came to feeding them, but when it came to disciplining them, she was just as genuine about hitting them. She really knew how to teach them a lesson.
Jiang Nan carried a bamboo winnowing basket behind them, while Jiang Bei ran ahead, stepping on the water plants along the riverbank to drive the fish forward.
There were a lot of crabs here, but since cooking crabs used too much oil and there wasn’t much meat on them, most of the children who caught crabs simply took them home to feed the chickens.
“Auntie, look!”
The two brothers suddenly came over and showed Shu An the baskets hanging around their waists.
Shu An leaned forward to take a look. “Whoa, you even caught yellow catfish? Be careful with those. Don’t let them prick your hands.”
“Mm, we’re being careful. We drove them into the winnowing basket. We didn’t catch them with our hands.”
The fish tasted delicious, but its spines could really hurt if they pierced your hand. Most of what they caught, however, were small fish commonly found in streams, which were called “padi tigers” around here.
Shu An didn’t know their scientific name. These little fish could be cleaned by pinching out their innards, coated in flour, and dropped into hot oil. Once fried, they were incredibly crispy and fragrant.
After catching quite a few little fish and crabs, Shu An glanced at her watch. It was almost time for lunch, so she urged the two children, “All right, get up. We need to go home.”
They followed the field path toward home.
Just then, someone came riding a bicycle toward them, with two burlap sacks tied to the back.
The sound of the bicycle bell caught their attention. Shu An instinctively looked back and realized that it was a postal worker.
With a squeak of the brakes, the mailman stopped in front of Shu An. He looked at her for a moment, then asked, “Are you Shu An?”