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Chapter 59: Tainted by Jiang Xia
Chapter 59: Tainted by Jiang Xia
"Right, I need to get someone to clean the fish," Zhou Mother quickly responded, then stood up and said to her family, "You all continue eating. The fish cleaners are here."
With that, she took her bowl and left the courtyard.
Jiang Xia recognized the voice as the female lead's and instinctively glanced at Zhou Chenglei.
Seeing her look, Zhou Chenglei assumed she couldn't finish her meal and said, "Try to eat more. You can give me the leftovers."
Jiang Xia lowered her head and continued eating. The sea work was physically demanding, and she was both tired and hungry.
More voices came from outside the courtyard, indicating that the fish cleaners Zhou Mother had invited had all arrived.
Zhou Father, having finished his meal, put down his bowl and went out.
Zhou Chenglei, also done eating, stayed to keep Jiang Xia company.
Once Jiang Xia and Zhou Zhou had finished eating, Zhou Chenglei told Jiang Xia, "Rest a bit, then take a shower."
Jiang Xia nodded in agreement.
Zhou Chenglei took the bowls and dishes to the kitchen to wash them.
In the courtyard, about seven or eight people were cleaning the fish, so Zhou Chenglei went to the kitchen to wash the dishes.
Everyone was surprised to see Zhou Chenglei washing the dishes.
Wen Wan was also surprised and felt even more that Zhou Chenglei was a good husband.
One person strongly disagreed, asking Zhou Mother, "What about your daughter-in-law? She's not washing the dishes, and you let Ah Lei do it? You should manage this! She's riding roughshod over him!"
Zhou Mother replied, "It's just washing dishes. Who does it really matters? Xia has been busy at sea all day and is tired. It's normal for Ah Lei to do it."
This person was a relative, an aunt from the same family line, and Zhou Mother didn't mention that she usually did the dishes herself and never asked Jiang Xia to do it.
The great-grandmother, with her high status, laughed and said, "It's just washing dishes. What's the big deal? A man who loves his wife will prosper. Your great-grandfather always washed my clothes!"
The aunt pursed her lips, thinking, _So that's why your great-grandfather was always under your thumb and never amounted to anything!_
Zhou Mother smiled and said, "Ah Lei also helps Xia with the laundry."
The villagers couldn't help but laugh, "Whoever marries into your family and marries Ah Lei will be very fortunate. Your daughter-in-law has good luck!"
Though they said this, they didn't really believe it. Marrying a city girl who couldn't do anything and was lazy and gluttonous was a different story. Tian Caihua had already spread the word that Jiang Xia was useless and lazy.
As for taking Jiang Xia out to sea, they said it was just luck. If she had any real skills, she would be lucky every time she went out to sea.
Wen Wan, watching Zhou Chenglei, thought, _A good man like Zhou Chenglei is a rare find in this era. Most men don't do household chores, and Zhou Chenglei is going to be the richest man in the future. Marrying him would be a blessing. Otherwise, why would Jiang Xia cling to him so much?_
Wen Wan had another dream last night, where Zhou Chenglei caught many golden threadfin breams, and the Zhou family hired people to clean and dry the fish. Most importantly, Zhou Chenglei would find many pearl oysters on his next sea trip.
So she came over, and indeed, she saw the courtyard full of golden threadfin breams. The Zhou family had indeed hired people to clean the fish, and her dream had come true again.
She had to find a way to get Zhou Chenglei to take her out to sea.
At that moment, Jiang Xia came out and saw that everyone was just cutting open the fish and removing the guts.
Jiang Xia went to the kitchen to find another cutting board and knife.
Seeing her with the knife and cutting board, Zhou Chenglei said, "Don't clean the fish. Let someone else do it. You should rest and take a shower."
Jiang Xia replied, "It's fine. I'll show everyone how to clean them. This way, the fish will dry faster and look better when steamed, making them easier to eat."
Jiang Xia walked over to Zhou Mother, put down the cutting board, and took a fish. She then said to the others, "Aunties, I plan to clean these golden threadfin breams this way. It makes them easier to dry. Everyone, watch!"
Wen Wan glanced at Jiang Xia, wondering if she knew how to clean fish at all.
Apart from the great-grandmother's family, the other women had similar doubts.
Then everyone watched as Jiang Xia took a golden pomfret from the basket, deftly slicing open the fish's belly with one swift cut. She then scraped out the innards with her knife, and with a few more precise cuts, she divided the fish into several even sections, each about an inch wide.
She lifted the entire fish, and the sections remained connected, not breaking apart.
The whole process took less than a minute, and her technique was impressively skilled.
Wen Wan looked at Jiang Xia in surprise. Was her knife work even better than hers?
The woman who had been watching couldn't help but say, "I didn't expect Ah Lei's wife to be so good at cleaning fish."
Tian Caihua's words were clearly all lies!
Zhou Mother laughed, "Xia does everything quickly and well. I can't even compare!"
Jiang Xia added, "Aunties, can you clean the fish like this, trying to keep them in one piece?"
Her aunt-in-law, however, was not pleased. "This is too much work. What if we accidentally cut them into pieces? Wouldn't it be even more troublesome to stuff them back together?"
Jiang Xia replied, "I know it's more work, but this way, the fish will dry more easily. I'll charge two cents per fish if you clean them this way. If you only gut and remove the innards, I'll charge the price my mother mentioned. What do you think? Just try not to cut them into pieces, and if you do, you can tie them together with string."
Zhou Mother: "..."
Two cents per fish? That's a bit painful!
She had initially agreed to pay one yuan per person to clean all the fish.
She had hired eight people, so it would only cost her eight yuan in total.
Now, she wasn't sure how much it would cost.
But Zhou Mother wisely didn't argue with Jiang Xia. She would consult Jiang Xia before hiring anyone next time; otherwise, it would be too much of a loss.
Her aunt-in-law immediately agreed upon hearing the two cents per fish. "Two cents per fish? That works! Can I go back and add a few more cuts to the ones I've already cleaned?"
Jiang Xia nodded. "Sure."
"We'll clean them this way too."
Two cents per fish, and with enough fish, they could earn two or three yuan in just two hours, which was the same as working a whole day outside.
And Jiang Xia's method wasn't difficult; it just required a few more cuts. After all, they were all skilled at cleaning fish, so this was no challenge for them.
Usually, they could earn less than one yuan a day weaving fishing nets.
Their enthusiasm instantly soared, and they started cleaning the fish more energetically.
Zhou Mother, to save a few more cents, also worked particularly hard. Now it was piecework, and every cent saved was a cent earned.
With nothing else to do, Jiang Xia fetched a small stool and joined in.
Zhou Chenglei, having finished washing the dishes, walked over. Wen Wan stood up, "Big Brother Zhou."
Zhou Chenglei nodded in acknowledgment but didn't look at her. He took Jiang Xia's hand. "Don't work too hard. I need to talk to you."
Jiang Xia looked at him. "What's up?"
"There's something I need to discuss." Zhou Chenglei took the small stool from her hand and set it down, then pulled her back to the room.
The village women, seeing this, couldn't help but joke, "Hey, is Ah Lei feeling sorry for his wife and doesn't want her to clean fish?"
Grandma laughed heartily. "Of course he's feeling sorry for her! If not, who would? Besides, a man who loves his wife will prosper!"
Zhou Mother also chuckled. "You don't know that Xia gets up before dawn to go out to sea with Ah Lei. She's been working hard all day and deserves a rest."
Wen Wan watched Zhou Chenglei holding Jiang Xia's wrist, feeling a strange sense of her man being tainted by Jiang Xia!
For a moment, she felt an urge to rush over and separate them!
She couldn't hold back and followed them, calling out, "Big Brother Zhou!"
(End of Chapter)
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