Wang Ying suddenly recalled a text she had studied: “Beating deer with sticks, scooping fish with ladles, pheasants flying into the cooking pot.”
Although this wasn’t the northeast, just a small place somewhat close to it, the abundance of natural resources was truly satisfying.
Wang Ying picked through the fish, keeping the three largest ones at the bottom of the basket. Since nobody came to this fishpond, she could bring Xu Shuang along next time. Winter was coming, and Xu Shuang could cure the fish — perfect for winter provisions.
Wang Ying deliberately avoided people on her way back home. As she reached her doorstep, she saw Xu Shuang waiting outside.
Speaking of which, even though they were already quite close, only Wang Ying had the key to her home. Xu Shuang had come over during a free moment in the afternoon. Not finding Wang Ying at home, he just waited patiently at the door.
“Hurry, hurry! Here’s the key — open the door quickly!”
Wang Ying hadn’t forgotten that Wang Yaozong from next door had just returned home. He was holding a grudge and itching to stir up trouble. If he saw her coming back with a whole basket of fish, he might very well cause another scene.
Xu Shuang obediently opened the door without a word of complaint. Once inside, he helped unload the basket from Wang Ying’s back.
Wang Ying, like she was showing off treasure, said, “Tada~” and revealed the fish inside the basket.
“…Where did you get these?”
The brigade couldn’t procure fish. People in the county could still buy them at the supply station, but in the smaller brigades, they had to trade with those located by major rivers or streams.
But even in trade, it was rare to get fish this big.
Each of these weighed at least six or seven jin (around 3–4 kg).
Wang Ying proudly shared how she had discovered a wild pond in the mountains: “There are even bigger ones in there.”
Xu Shuang picked one up, looked it over, and commented, “Good fish.”
These fish were wild and naturally grown — large and lively — the meat would definitely be good.
Wang Ying suggested, “You should come with me to the mountains tomorrow. Let’s catch more and dry them into fish jerky.”
Xu Shuang replied, “Let’s wait until next month. We can go before the mountain gets closed off, bring them back as frozen fish, and keep a few alive in a tank.”
When it came to food, Wang Ying always listened to Xu Shuang — after all, she was the cook.
“Great! We’ll catch a bunch.”
She had clearly seen that pond — all the fish in it were shockingly large. One of them looked like it weighed more than ten jin (over 5 kg). If they caught those now, small fish could grow back in time for next spring.
Xu Shuang pointed to the three fish in the basket: “How do you want to eat these?”
Wang Ying immediately thought of sweet and sour fish — that tangy, delicious flavor. The only problem was the lack of sugar. Sugar was too expensive these days. Lately, they’d only been eating salty dishes, and she really missed something with a sweet and sour taste.
“Sweet and sour fish… Can we make it?”
Xu Shuang rummaged through the basket, preparing to pick the lucky fish. A fish this size couldn’t be finished in one meal anyway. Luckily, there was a water tank in Wang Ying’s courtyard — they could keep the fish alive and eat them slowly.
“Yes, we can.”
Xu Shuang selected the biggest fish and put it back into the basket. “Come eat at my place tonight?”
The seasonings at Wang Ying’s house had been borrowed from Old Lady Xu a few days ago when she cooked a big meal for the neighborhood — not much was left. But Xu’s kitchen had everything they needed.
Wang Ying didn’t even think before agreeing: “Sure!”
Only after agreeing did it hit her — wasn’t this kind of like going over to the guy’s house?
Come to think of it, this would be her first time going to Xu’s house.
As she looked down in thought, she missed the fleeting softness in Xu Shuang’s eyes. Wang Ying hesitated and asked, “Should I bring something?”
Help! In her past life, she was always the proud peony — situations like this were really hard to handle.
Xu Shuang seemed to sense her nervousness, held up the fish, and said, “Isn’t this what you’re bringing? I’ll take this for now — just bring yourself tonight.”
After sending Xu Shuang off, Wang Ying felt her face heating up.
As for why she was blushing? Probably just tired from catching fish on the mountain.
Meanwhile, Wang Yaozong had returned home. Li Chunjuan bustled around, making a big pot of chicken noodle stew. She ladled a generous portion of sauce onto the delicate white noodles, placing all the chicken meat right in front of Wang Yaozong.
Wang Yongshun came back from work. Seeing his son at home, he was happy. But he was the type who valued his son deeply while still trying to act like a strict father.
When Wang Yaozong saw his father return, he didn’t offer him any of the chicken — just kept slurping up the noodles noisily.
Li Chunjuan sat by his side without eating, just watching him with eyes full of maternal affection.
Wang Yongshun choked slightly, cursing this brat in his heart but said aloud, “Why are you back? School shut down?”
Since the year before, schools in some places had become chaotic — teachers had been driven away, and classes were no longer held. Red Flag Middle School had stayed relatively peaceful, and classes were still ongoing.
Having just been fed a head full of complaints from his mother, Wang Yaozong was even more irritable when he heard his father ask.
“I took a leave to come back… Dad, why did you give the house to Wang Ying? Didn’t you say everything that belonged to Second Uncle would be mine? I even smashed the basin for Second Aunt — why didn’t I get the house?”
Wang Yongshun had been thinking about how to explain things to his son, but apparently, Li Chunjuan had already spilled everything. He shot her a glare as she turned away. The bruises from their last fight were still visible, and neither had bothered to speak much since.
“Don’t listen to your mom stirring things up — it’s complicated. I’ll explain it to you in a bit.”
Li Chunjuan didn’t know about the money he’d stashed away, nor the real backstory with Wang Ying’s family. She foolishly thought she was just trying to get her hands on Second Brother’s house, but only Wang Yongshun knew he had deeper reasons.
“Finish eating and come inside — I’ll tell you the whole thing.”
Wang Yaozong gave a grunt of agreement, happily slurping up the noodles. Seeing he’d eaten a whole bowl, Li Chunjuan used her sleeve to wipe his mouth. “Had enough? If not, I’ll cook you another bowl.”
There wasn’t much white flour left in the house. She had traded their last chicken to get this flour — and one chicken leg.
The brigade had a family that gave birth to a chubby baby boy, and today they killed a chicken. That’s how she managed to trade for a drumstick.
Wang Yaozong jerked his head away to stop her from wiping him: “I’m full. Not to be rude, Mom, but you cut the chicken too small. Next time, cut it into bigger pieces.”
The pieces were so small, he could barely pick them up.
Li Chunjuan quickly agreed, “Next time we kill a chicken, I’ll cut it into big chunks so my son can eat to his heart’s content!”
This drumstick had already been chopped up by the other family—it was just small diced meat. Li Chunjuan secretly cursed them in her heart: stingy people, even cutting the chicken into such tiny pieces!
Wang Yongshun took Wang Yaozong into the inner room. Looking at his tall and burly son, he felt that his life had been worthwhile.
Raising a son was already a great contribution to the family line. Now all that was left was to find the boy a good job and a good wife—his mission would then be complete.
Wang Yaozong was feeling very annoyed. He thought both his parents were messed up. That weakling girl next door—how could she possibly hold power over their family? If it came down to it, he’d just beat her! She’s just a girl—beat her until she obeyed, and she’d learn to be scared.
Wang Yongshun could tell what his son was thinking. But this time, he intended to rein him in.
“Yaozong, I know you’re not happy about this. I’m not either. Your second uncle had no other children—just a daughter. If he were still alive, forget just the house, he would’ve arranged a job for you and sent you to the Worker-Peasant-Soldier University. He would’ve relied on you in his old age, so naturally, everything should’ve gone to our family.”
Wang Yongshun didn’t see anything wrong with this logic. His brother got married not long before being conscripted, and back then, Wang Yongshun didn’t even have Yaozong. If Yaozong had already been born at that time, he would’ve clarified everything before his brother left.
The two brothers had divided their families, yes, but Wang Yongshun couldn’t stand to see his brother die without descendants. Someone had to honor his memory. His son was also his brother’s son in a way—if both families raised Yaozong and he succeeded, wouldn’t that also be a win for his brother? His brother would then have a legacy.
“But then your second uncle suddenly disappeared, and our family was already struggling. I thought I should take care of your cousin on his behalf. Who knew that girl would suddenly go nuts and insist on marrying someone into the family—and it’s your second sister’s ex, no less.”
Wang Yaozong had already heard all this and was too lazy to listen again. He said impulsively, “I’ll go over and smash her house, beat her to death! I even broke the bowl for Second Aunt’s spirit—if she were alive, she’d say the house is mine!”
Wang Yongshun frowned, pulled his impulsive son down into a chair, and only then said, “Your second aunt wouldn’t approve. You’re too young to understand the full story.”
He pulled a paper bundle from his coat. Opening it revealed a thick stack of banknotes.
Wang Yaozong’s eyes lit up immediately. Grabbing his father’s hand, he said excitedly, “Dad, where did this come from?”
That stack must’ve been over two hundred yuan!
Wang Yongshun shushed him. He had watched Wang Ying’s house closely earlier and only dared to talk so openly now that he was sure she was out.
“The truth about your second uncle is more complicated. When he came back from Korea, he didn’t actually disappear.”
He recalled the events of over a decade ago, speaking slowly: “Your second uncle was called to carry out some kind of secret security mission. He didn’t say exactly what in the letters—just said not to worry and that he’d probably be moved again.”
“For five or six years, your second uncle was still in contact with your second aunt. He sent her dozens of yuan every month.”
Back then, with no news from his brother, he had gotten greedy.
Wang Ying’s mother was beautiful and would have no trouble remarrying. She hadn’t even given the Wang family a son—why should she get to keep his brother’s house?
But just when he was halfway into scheming, she showed him the letters—like a warning to her not-so-honest brother-in-law. She made it very clear that Wang Yongfu was on a secret mission, even the brigade leader didn’t know about it, but the commune did.
As long as she was alive and well, the commune wouldn’t interfere. But if anything happened to her, someone from the commune would immediately investigate. Wang Yongshun had to think twice about doing anything rash.
He had to admit, her words scared him. For years, he even held Li Chunjuan back, never letting her so much as argue with Wang Ying’s mother—for fear she’d report them.
“When Wang Ying was around seven or eight, your second aunt became a barefoot doctor and could earn her own money. But around that time, your uncle seemed to have been transferred and stopped writing to her.”
Wang Yongshun only found this out by accident—he had coaxed the information out of little Wang Ying herself.
“But even if the letters stopped, no news was still good news. If your second uncle were truly dead, your second aunt would have known. She wouldn’t have been able to hide it.”
Wang Yongfu and his wife were deeply in love. If they weren’t, Wang Ying’s mother wouldn’t have stayed alone all these years.
“Until a couple of years ago, when everything was chaotic, your second aunt started looking dazed—as if she’d heard some bad news. I had your mother try to find out, but she couldn’t get anything. Then one night, your mother eavesdropped at her window and heard her crying. Apparently, a leader at the commune had told her that her husband had died.”
Wang Yongshun looked a bit lost in thought. Those events felt like they had just happened, but they were from so long ago.
“After that, maybe due to grief, your second aunt’s health declined. She died unexpectedly while transporting grain.”
Looking at his son, Wang Yongshun’s gaze softened. Compared to his younger brother, who was now god-knows-where or even dead, his own life, though tough, was much safer. It just showed—don’t chase after lofty ideals. Being an ordinary person means you can live a better life.
Now, his younger brother’s body was probably lost somewhere unknown, and the Wang family only had one girl left. But he had a son and a daughter—life would be hard, yes, but his son had a bright future ahead.
“I’m telling you all this so you know what’s going on.”
Wang Yongshun hadn’t spent the past few days lying idle. He had been seriously thinking things through over and over. In the end, he made up his mind about the path ahead.
“What happened to your second uncle was two years ago, during a chaotic time. Even now, we don’t know if your second uncle died a martyr or because of something else.”
“I was originally planning to find someone for Sanya to marry, so we could take over the house. Even if your second uncle came back, he wouldn’t have much to say about it. The couple weren’t around, and we took care of his daughter—that’s not unreasonable. And besides, the person I asked your mother to find for Sanya, at worst, came from a complicated family, but he’s no drunk or gambler.”
