Chapter 443: Heart and Lungs
Chapter 443: Heart and Lungs
After lunch at the main house, Jiang Xia overheard Zhou Bingqiang's wife scolding Wen Wan.
She complained that Wen Wan hadn't cooked at home and only started preparing food when she returned late. She blamed Wen Wan for Zhou Guohua's injury, saying they wouldn't have had to go to the city to pick someone up if it weren't for her.
Wen Wan remained silent, not uttering a word in response.
Finally, Zhou Guohua couldn't bear it anymore and spoke up for Wen Wan, which angered Zhou Bingqiang, and the commotion next door subsided.
Jiang Xia washed her face, changed her clothes, and lay down for a nap, anticipating the lively days ahead.
In the evening, Zhou Chenglei returned with a bucket of fish.
Li Xiuxian saw three large bass in the bucket and said, "Ah Lei, you caught so many bass? Can you give me one? Yingying loves eating them!"
Today was the day her family slaughtered the New Year pig, and since the boat hadn't gone out to sea, there was no fresh fish or shrimp at home. With only her and Yingying for dinner, she didn't bother going to the pier to buy any.
Zhou Chenglei said, "Second Sister-in-law, why don't you take all the fish to prepare? Weren't you saying you'd come to the old residence for dinner? Let's do it tonight! We'll pan-fry one, braise one, and steam one. As for the smaller fish, we can make a fish pot. Oh, and remember not to add too much salt. Last time it was too salty, and if it's too salty again, people might think you're doing it on purpose."
Li Xiuxian: "..."
She was alone at home, and they expected her to cook for their entire family?
"I'm feeling a bit under the weather today. Let's have dinner another day. How about the 29th? Your second brother will be back then. I'm really not feeling well today, so it's not convenient."
"Alright!" Zhou Chenglei took the entire bucket of fish home.
Yingying was playing with Zhou Zhou, and most likely, they would have dinner and sleep at his place.
Why did he want to leave fish for her?
Li Xiuxian: "..."
The next morning, at six o'clock, Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Chengxin, along with their aunt and her family, headed to the city.
Jiang Xia didn't go; it was already the 28th day of the last month of the year.
On the 28th, Jiang Xia, Zhou Mu, and Zhou Zhou cleaned the new house.
Since they hadn't lived in the new house for long, cleaning was straightforward: wiping windows and furniture, mopping the floor, washing the bedding, and hanging out the quilts to dry.
Zhou Chenglei said he would wash the bedding when he returned in the afternoon, so Jiang Xia didn't touch it.
There were multiple sets of bedding, so Jiang Xia wasn't worried about washing them too late and not having time to dry them. She left it for Zhou Chenglei to handle.
Jiang Xia, Zhou Mu, and Zhou Zhou cleaned the new house, while Zhou Fu went to the old residence.
The old residence also needed cleaning, and Zhou Fu climbed onto the roof to check for leaks.
Fixing leaks at the end of the year was a common task for many households.
Li Xiuxian was cleaning the stove, while Yingying wiped the cabinets in the kitchen.
Li Xiuxian felt a bit agitated. She hadn't even cleaned the town house yet!
It was all Zhou Chensen's fault. He refused to live in the new house and insisted on staying in the old residence, and now she had to help clean someone else's place.
She hated cleaning the stove the most. "I'm amazed. I've never seen anyone as dirty as this. The stove is covered in a layer of grease and dust, and it's not even cleaned properly. Can the small fish they cook here even be edible? The firewood is also stacked in disarray."
Zhou Ying listened and thought for a moment, "Mom, didn't you make the mess on the stove these past few days? I remember seeing Grandma and Auntie Fen clean the kitchen thoroughly after making dried fish. They stacked the firewood neatly, and the floor was swept clean! I also saw them clean the kitchen before making the dried fish, ensuring it was spotless before they started cooking."
Li Xiuxian: "..."
"Mom, they go fishing every day. When do they have time to clean the stove daily?"
Zhou Ying: "But when Grandma and Auntie return from fishing, they still find time to clean the stove after cooking."
Li Xiuxian: "..."
Have a daughter!
Have a daughter!
It's like a thorn in my heart!
A thorn in my heart and lungs!
Just like her father, she's always causing trouble!
Always hitting where it hurts!
So she insisted on having a son.
But Zhou Chengsen refused!
Li Xiuxian planned to secretly get her IUD removed. By the time she got pregnant, Zhou Chengsen wouldn't have a choice but to have the baby.
Zhou Chenglei didn't return home until late in the evening. Jiang Xia and Zhou Mu had just finished preparing dinner.
Zhou Chenglei washed his hands and face and changed into clean clothes before coming downstairs to eat.
Jiang Xia asked, "How did Uncle Dong's surgery go?"
Zhou Chenglei replied, "The surgery was successful."
Hearing this, the family was relieved.
Zhou Fu asked further, "Did the doctor say when he'll wake up?"
Zhou Chenglei answered, "It'll probably take ten days or half a month for him to regain consciousness. The doctor said it's hard to predict, as it depends on the patient's recovery. Some patients wake up earlier, while others take longer. He's still in critical condition and in the intensive care unit."
Zhou Mu added, "I hope he recovers soon!"
Zhou Fu agreed, "Indeed."
The next day was the 29th of the month, and Zhou Chengsen had returned to the village early in the morning.
He could have come back after work yesterday, but he wanted to clean the house thoroughly for the New Year, so he returned in the morning.
The error-free version is available at 6Ⅹ9ⅩBookⅩBar! 6Ⅹ9 Book One Bar, the first release of a novel. Six Nine Book Bar.
Today was the day for the second family to slaughter their pig for the New Year.
Zhou Chenglei waited for Zhou Chengsen to return, and the three of them went to the first family's house together.
Jiang Xia didn't go, but she reminded them to be careful.
Zhou Fu reassured her, "Don't worry, we'll be careful. What happened to Uncle Dong was just an accident."
Zhou Mu added, "Just be careful and tie everything securely."
"Understood," the father and sons replied, and they left.
Today, Granny was making fried rice cakes, fried dumplings, egg puffs, and fried dough twists.
Jiang Xia and Zhou Mu brought glutinous rice flour, wheat flour, eggs, and other ingredients to help with the frying.
During these days, every household was busy preparing various snacks.
"The New Year is the most important festival." After a year of hard work, whether they made a profit or not, every family would do their best to celebrate the New Year.
Jiang Xia spent the morning frying various pastries, and in the afternoon, she ground rice milk to steam New Year cakes, sponge cakes, and radish cakes, keeping herself busy all day.
Then, at midnight that day, the four Zhou men set out to sea.
Zhou Chengsen didn't call Li's father and son because this trip was primarily to help his brothers catch fish.
They arrived at the area with the aquaculture tanks, and the father and sons, along with Zhou Yongguo and Zhou Kangping, took turns diving to retrieve all the fish that could be sold from the tanks and placed them in the livewell to keep them fresh.
After finishing with the tanks on Pearl Island, it was already around 5 in the morning. They sailed to Abalone Island to collect all the fish from the underwater tanks.
Once they had gathered all the fish, they headed directly to the city pier to sell them.
When one fresh fish after another, including East Star Grouper, Mouse Grouper, Kajiki, Yellow Croaker, and Grouper, appeared at the city pier, it stunned everyone there.
"So many expensive fish, where did they come from?"
"They couldn't have been farmed, right?"
"They were probably caught and kept alive until today to be sold."
"Hey, comrade, how much is the Kajiki per pound?"
"How much is the Mouse Grouper per pound?"
"Comrade, I'll take this East Star Grouper!"
...
Everyone was eager to buy them.
Zhou Chenglei kept twenty for Jufulou, twenty for Fumanlou, and twenty for Mr. Jin, all of them weighing around eight liang to one pound.
There were still over two hundred fish left, and even the smallest Yellow Croaker weighed one and a half pounds.
They sold each fish individually without weighing them, setting a price, and the highest bidder would get the fish.
After raising them for so long and going to feed them almost every day, today was the day they had been waiting for!
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
