Upon hearing Su Erhu’s words, Su Liuhu said nonchalantly, “Second Brother, don’t worry, no need to mind them. Both of them can manage to dog-paddle.”
Dapan and Erpan immediately waved their little hands and shouted.
“Dog-paddle! Dog-paddle…”
Su Erhu let out a hearty laugh, leaned down, and slapped his son’s little bottom.
“Not bad! You little rascal, worthy of being a offspring of our Old Su family!”
Having said that, Su Erhu stripped off his clothes—leaving on only a pair of inner pants covered with patches—and jumped straight into the river.
Seeing this, Su Liuhu instantly took off all his clothes, not even leaving his inner pants on, and jumped in after him.
The thing was, he only had that one pair of inner pants; if it got wet, he wouldn’t have anything to wear.
Soon, the men and boys of the Su family were busy at work in the river, which looked as though it had already been thoroughly dragged by a net.
To tell the truth, both Su Erhu and Su Liuhu fully expected their efforts to be in vain.
After all, they had wasted their efforts in this river many times before.
Times were tough for the villagers; they rarely got to eat meat, so whenever they craved something tasty, they’d try to catch a fish to satisfy their appetite.
Especially those half-grown kids, who practically rooted themselves in the river during warm weather.
“Second Brother, something bumped against me…”
Su Liuhu suddenly stopped, a trace of uncertainty on his face.
Su Erhu stopped as well, his tone somewhat hesitant, “Something touched me too… It couldn’t be… a fish, could it?”
Could there be such large fish in this river?
Judging by the feel, the thing that bumped against his leg was at least as wide as his palm.
The two brothers exchanged a glance, and together they pulled up the tattered fishing net in their hands…
The heavy, weighted feeling made their hearts leap into their throats, so tense they even forgot to breathe.
Several gleaming white, large carp surfaced along with the net.
Su Erhu’s eyes glowed with excitement.
Su Liuhu’s voice even cracked with thrill:
“Second Brother! It really is fish!”
Just as Su Liuhu’s voice fell, Erpan’s childish voice sounded out.
“Dad, fish! Fish…”
Su Erhu and Su Liuhu both thought Erpan was looking at the fish inside the net.
Su Erhu burst into laughter, “That’s right! It’s fish! Big fish! Son, today your dad is going to give you…”
“Second Uncle, fish! Fish…”
Before Su Erhu could finish his sentence, Dapan’s shouting also rang out.
Su Erhu’s face flushed red glowed as he looked toward the two children, just about to continue bragging about the fish he had caught, when the sound died in his throat.
There stood Erpan, struggling beside a water spring, cradling a huge red carp in his arms.
Because the fish was too large and Erpan was too young, the fish gave a thrash in his arms, and with a plop, Erpan landed flat on his bottom.
Yet his two little hands held on tightly, clutching the big fish in his arms without letting go.
At that moment, Dapan also ran over to the spring with a loud shout.
A big fish just happened to leap out of the spring, flying straight into Dapan’s arms.
With a plop, Dapan landed on his bottom as well, an extra big fish now nestled in his arms.
Then came another, and another…
Su Erhu was completely stunned.
He didn’t even know how he had rushed over to the spring.
What was clearly just an ordinary spring that trickled water was now gushing out fish!
Carp, crucian carp, grass carp… fish everywhere!
Su Erhu’s heart pounded wildly as he frantically called Su Liuhu over to gather the fish.
“Dapan, hurry up and run back home! Tell your grandfather to bring big buckets to hold the fish!” Su Erhu instructed, his hands moving non-stop.
“Oh, right! Don’t shout out loud! Don’t let anyone else know—tell your grandfather quietly! Go, fast!”
“Got it, Second Uncle!” Dapan answered and bolted toward the village in a flash.
Children of poor families learn to handle responsibilities early; though Dapan was mischievous, he knew this was something that couldn’t be leaked, or everyone would come and snatch the fish from their family.
So even though his little face was flushed with excitement, he kept his mouth shut tight along the way and didn’t tell a soul.
When Old Man Su heard Dapan’s words, his face was full of disbelief.
Having lived for half a lifetime, he had never heard of a spring spouting out fish.
Still, he knew the child wouldn’t lie to him.
So, taking two large wooden buckets from the house, he headed off to the river.
Not long after Old Man Su left, Eldest Sister-in-law Su entered the inner room carrying a bowl of dough drop soup.
“Mother, eat this quickly while it’s hot.”
As Eldest Sister-in-law Su spoke, her eyes involuntarily drifted toward the tiny baby on the kang bed.
She had truly never seen such a beautiful baby before.
Having given birth to several children herself, she knew every single one of them had looked like a hairy little monkey when born.
No wonder her parents-in-law had longed for daughter.
Involuntarily, Eldest Sister-in-law Su recalled the gossip she had overheard earlier in the village.
She couldn’t help but wonder if this little sister-in-law really could bring fortune and prosperity to the Su family.
When Old Lady Su saw that the dough drop soup was made with white flour and had eggs in the sweet soup, she frowned and asked, “Whose house did you borrow these from? It’s not like I haven’t given birth before, why was there any need to borrow such things?”
“Mother, Father instructed us to borrow them,” Eldest Sister-in-law Su said with a smile. “The white flour was borrowed from Second Uncle’s family, and the eggs were borrowed from Third Grandmother’s house.”
In truth, Eldest Sister-in-law Su really wanted to say “Father cares about you” to her mother-in-law, but as a daughter-in-law, saying that directly felt a bit inappropriate.
“Your Second Uncle’s life isn’t easy either, don’t go borrowing things from him in the future,” Old Lady Su sighed, adding, “Neither of the two daughters-in-law in their house is easy to deal with.”
Hearing Old Lady Su say this, Eldest Sister-in-law Su immediately nodded in agreement.
“Mother, what did Father go off to do? Was it Dapan coming back that called Father away?” Eldest Sister-in-law Su asked.
As a daughter-in-law, she wasn’t trying to pry into her father-in-law’s whereabouts; she was just curious after seeing her son’s little face glowing red with excitement.
“He didn’t say what he was going to do, acting all secretive,” Old Lady Su said, her eyes flickering slightly.
Although she had heard Dapan in the inner room saying there were lots of fish and that his second uncle wanted Old Man Su to go collect them, she felt it was better not to mention such an uncertain matter to her daughter-in-law just yet.
However, deep inside, she couldn’t help but feel a thread of anticipation, harboring a sensation that her little daughter really might bring good luck.
Thinking this way, Old Lady Su couldn’t resist looking down at her little daughter.
Little Tangbao just happened to wake up again.
“Mother, Little Sister-in-law’s eyes are so pretty,” Eldest Sister-in-law Su said with a face full of surprise. “And this skin—it’s as tender as egg whites! And look at these eyebrows: curved, fine, dark, and thick. She won’t even need to draw her eyebrows when she grows up! Her tiny nose is so delicate, and her little lips are rosy and plump…”
Eldest Sister-in-law Su couldn’t come up with fancy words to describe her, but the more she looked, the prettier she found her, just like a little fairy who had descended into the mortal world.
Ignoring Old Lady Su for a moment, Eldest Sister-in-law Su leaned over the edge of the kang bed, doting on her little sister-in-law with pure admiration.
“Oh, right, Mother, look at these eyelashes—long and dense, just like tiny fans…”
“And these little ears, shaped just like little ingots…”
“And her earlobes look just like little pearls…”
Eldest Sister-in-law Su was uneducated, so the words she spoke were plain, simple, and down-to-earth.