Buying Fish Fry
Jiang Yimian pointed to the basket on the ground not far away, and said helplessly, “This young woman didn’t pay us for the cloth. We came to collect the money, but we didn’t expect to encounter this.”
Widow Cheng was startled. She looked at the cloth stuffed haphazardly in the basket and said apologetically, “I forgot. I heard something happened at the tofu stall just now, and I was so flustered that I forgot to pay. I’ll give it to you now. How many copper coins?”
Saying this, she anxiously fumbled for her money bag.
Liu Dayong quickly said, “Forty Wen.”
Widow Cheng responded, counted out forty Wen from her money bag and handed it over. Her gaze paused on the kitchen knife before she stopped, wanting to say something, but finally she remained silent.
Ma Ming handed over the money bag left by Xu Yongfeng, and instructed, “Next time, if someone makes trouble again, go find a Constable. Don’t scare people with a knife. If you really hurt someone, you’ll really have to go to prison.”
Widow Cheng nodded repeatedly, took the money bag and thanked him, but she was still a little scared in her heart.
Others just thought she was scaring people, but she knew that she was really trying to cut Xu Yongfeng’s neck in a moment of panic, fueled by anger. By the time she reacted, it was too late, and she couldn’t stop her strength.
Watching the knife about to plunge into the other person’s neck, she didn’t know what happened, but it was as if something hit the kitchen knife, causing it to deflect, and a large notch broke off.
She was stunned herself, her head still buzzing, not knowing who had helped her.
If the knife had really plunged into Xu Yongfeng’s neck, the other party would surely have died, and then she wouldn’t have been able to explain herself, even if she were right.
Seeing the matter resolved, Ma Ming greeted Jiang Yimian and the others, and said with a smile, “Big Brother Zhao and Big Brother Zhang aren’t around recently. If you have anything, you can come find me. I’m patrolling Qinghe Town recently.”
After saying this, because he still had things to deal with, he left.
Seeing the soldiers leave, Widow Cheng looked at Zhao Dashu apologetically, “The knife was accidentally damaged. I originally just wanted to scare people. I’ll replace it for you.”
Saying this, she was about to take money from her money bag.
Jiang Yimian simply said indifferently, “That knife was already broken. No need to replace it. Let’s go.”
With that, she left directly.
Zhao Dashu and Liu Dayong quickly followed.
Xu Xiaotao looked at Jiang Yimian’s back, hesitant to speak. With her current appearance, the other party definitely didn’t recognize her.
When the three returned to their stall, Gousheng was already cleaning up the things on the table. The originally half-full bucket of konjac was also empty.
Seeing the few return safely, Gousheng immediately breathed a sigh of relief and quickly asked, “I heard someone say that someone was wielding a knife and attacking people on that street just now. Is it true? Are you alright?”
He was scared to death.
Zhao Dashu helped clean the table and said indignantly, “Indeed! A group of men threatening a girl to marry an old widower is truly infuriating.”
If Liu Dayong hadn’t held him back just now, he would have definitely rushed to help.
Gousheng was also filled with anger. The two cleaned up while cursing.
Jiang Yimian felt a little helpless, only thankful that Zhao Dashu hadn’t gone alone to collect the money. Otherwise, she didn’t know what would have happened. That guy was really impulsive just now.
When Zhao Dashu and the other two rashly followed Old Man Liu back to the small low-lying land, they were also very impulsive.
Zhao Dashu tends to get impulsive when he’s angry. She has to have a good talk with him.
After cleaning up, everyone went to a shop selling wine. Jiang Yimian bought several jars of alcohol with relatively high alcohol content and planned to go back with everyone.
On the way, they saw a stall selling fish fry and loach fry.
It was just an old man with several buckets in front of him, filled with various fish fry and loach fry.
Perhaps because of the cold, the old man was tightly wrapped in a thick lined jacket, and also wore a thick hat. Seeing Jiang Yimian looking over, he quickly said, “Are you ladies thinking of buying fish fry? You’ve come to the right place. I’m the only one in Qinghe Town who sells fish fry.”
Jiang Yimian’s expression brightened, and she immediately walked over, curiously asking, “How much are the fish fry and loach fry?”
Although there were fish in the lotus pond in the small low-lying land, because they were wild, there weren’t many. In addition, there were no barriers at the bottom of the pond, and many fish flowed away along the river.
As a result, they could only catch a few fish every few days.
It was enough for a few families to eat on a daily basis, but it wasn’t enough to sell in town.
If she raised fish and loach in the lotus pond, she could exchange them for money in town later.
This kind of fresh fish was very popular in every restaurant and inn.
Having an extra way to make money was always better than being completely reliant on existing resources.
Even if they couldn’t be sold, the people in the small low-lying land could still eat fresh fish and loach.
The old man quickly said, “Fish fry are seventy Wen a catty, and loach fry are fifty Wen a catty. There are about two hundred in each catty.”
Liu Dayong was startled, “So expensive.”
In the past, there were also people raising fish in Apricot Flower Village, but the fish were really difficult to raise. In addition to the high cost, although a catty of fish fry had about two hundred, only more than one hundred would survive. Daily care was also necessary, and if the fish fry got sick, all the effort would be wasted. As a result, that household stopped raising fish and sold the lotus pond.
This matter spread widely in the village, so no one bothered to raise fish after that.
Most farm families didn’t have a good life. They could barely afford to buy fish fry for a few dozen Wen, but they also needed food for the fish. Altogether, it wasn’t cheap; it would cost at least over one hundred Wen.
One hundred Wen could be used sparingly for two or three months by a family of three. No one dared to spend over one hundred Wen on this, in case the fish fry got sick and all died. Not only would they lose money, but they would have also wasted their time and effort.
Thinking of this, Liu Dayong whispered, “Yimian, raising fish is troublesome. Although it sounds like there are many fish, in reality, very few fish fry survive. It’s not worth it. If you want to eat fish, I’ll go catch one from the lotus pond when I go back.”
Jiang Yimian smiled and said, “Uncle Dayong, don’t worry, I have my own plans.”
Liu Dayong was startled, and didn’t speak anymore, but he felt a little helpless and worried in his heart.
Although they had settled down, there were still many places that needed to spend copper coins. Every time they went to market, they only earned one or two hundred Wen. Spending like this, they would continue to be poor.
He had to carefully consider; he couldn’t touch the copper coins in his hand recently. He should at least save enough to buy seeds, so that the small low-lying land wouldn’t be without money or food.
Jiang Yimian looked at the small fish fry in those buckets. They were densely packed and swimming around, looking quite lively.
After thinking for a while, she said, “I’ll take two catties of fish fry and one catty of loach fry.”
The old man’s expression brightened. He felt that he had a big customer and quickly said, “Good, good, good. I’ll weigh it for you right away, girl.”
He worked quickly, as if afraid that Jiang Yimian would change her mind. He picked up a large wooden ladle, reached into the bucket, and scooped up a ladle of fish, letting the water drain through the holes of the ladle.
After scooping two ladles of fish fry to make two catties, he quickly poured the fish fry into an empty bucket with water, and smiled, “Since you bought a lot, girl, I’ll give you two buckets.”
After weighing the loach fry and Jiang Yimian paid the copper coins, the old man kept smiling. Even when they were far away, they could still hear the old man laughing, “Come again next time, girl!”
Jiang Yimian：……
She didn’t know if the old man was welcoming her or making fun of her because the fish fry would soon die.