Chapter 23 Fishing for shrimps
Mao Xi went to the food shop in Lihua Town early in the morning. After Chen finished working in the fields, he took his younger sister Ajiao to wash clothes in the village stream.
Ajiao stood in a small puddle next to Aniang, fishing for shrimps with both hands. The water in the river was clear and shallow, barely reaching the calf of little Ajiao. The shrimps were only about the size of a fingernail, so picking them up required some skill.
There are too many small fish and shrimps in the river, and Ajiao also has his own method. She put her hands together like a dustpan, sank to the bottom of the water, and kept her hands and feet still. She waited for the shrimps to relax their vigilance and slowly swim on top of her palms. Then she lifted them up and fished them out of the water together with the shrimps.
Holding a shrimp in his hand, Ajiao approached Mrs. Chen and said, "Mom, look, I caught one!"
"Ajiao is so awesome! Put it in your little wooden bucket quickly." After Mrs. Chen praised her daughter, she took the laundry stick and patted the clothes on the river rocks hard.
Every time Ajiao went to the stream, she would bring her beloved little wooden bucket and put her favorite river stones in it, as well as the small fish and shrimp she caught.
Brother Chunsheng finished his work in the fields and passed by the creek. He saw Ajiao fishing for shrimps and shouted to her: "Ajiao!"
Ajiao was startled, his hands and feet shook, and the shrimp he was about to get swam away.
Chun Sheng picked up Ajiao and carried him to a river rock. He looked around the river and said, "Ajiao, let me help you fish for shrimps."
He found a shore with shallow water and made a large circle with small stones. He made a stone gap in the middle so that fish and shrimp could swim into the circle. He also pulled a bundle of grass on the shore and tied it tightly, and placed it on the bank. The circle is on the shore side.
"When the sun goes down, I will take you here to fish for shrimps."
Ajiao looked at Chun Sheng's trap and said with doubt, "Brother Chun Sheng, can you really catch shrimps in this?"
Chun Sheng carried A Jiao to the shore, picked up the farm tools and said, "You can definitely do it. A Jiao, your brother Chun Sheng can catch big shrimps from a young age!"
In the evening, Mrs. Chen prepared the ingredients for the supper and called Ajiao: "Ajiao, hurry up and go to Lihua Town."
"Mom, wait a minute, I'm going to find Brother Chunsheng to get my shrimps."
Chunsheng was pulled by Ajiao from the field to the stream. There were some small fish in the small circle surrounded by stones, and the shrimps were lying in the bundle of grass.
Chunsheng took the whole bundle of grass out of the water, put it into Ajiao's bucket and shook it. The shrimps fell into the bucket, and after brushing away the fallen leaves and small fish, there was actually more than a bowl of shrimps in the bucket.
Ajiao just wanted to have fun, but the amount of catch was unexpected, so she took Chunsheng to rearrange the shrimp trap.
Chunsheng carried Ajiao back to Mao Xi's house. Ajiao showed off today's results to Chen and said happily: "Mom, I want to take it to my second brother to see."
At the time of Youshi, Mrs. Chen brought the midnight snack ingredients and Ajiao to the snack shop in Lihua Town. Xiaodouzi left the school and was helping Mao Xi. Ajiao carried the small wooden bucket and ran towards Xiaodouzi: "Brother, look, these are the shrimps I caught by the stream!"
"Amei, it's okay. Did you get it all yourself?"
Ajiao smiled sweetly, revealing two shallow pear dimples: "Brother Chunsheng helped me make a trap to catch it, let's bake it and eat it!"
Xiaodouzi touched A-mei's head and said with a smile: "A-mei, wash the shrimps first and wait until brother comes back." After that, he ran out of the store and disappeared.
When Xiaodouzi came back, he was holding a few stones and a piece of green tile that he had brought from nowhere. He skillfully built a small stove with stones, took some charcoal and firewood from the bottom of the naan pit where Lou Laner baked naan, and put it in the stove. The green tiles were washed with water and placed on the stove.
When the tiles are dry and slightly hot, place three or five shrimps on the tiles and bake for a few seconds until the shrimps turn from green to red. Place the small beans on top of the tiles with your hands to prevent the shrimps from jumping out of the tiles. After it changes color, use your fingers to flatten the shrimp on the tile.
Ajiao squatted on the side and took a small bowl to put shrimps in. She grabbed a shrimp and put it in her mouth: "It smells so good, brother, you should try it too!" After that, she also grabbed a shrimp and put it in Xiaodouzi's mouth.
Ajiao was eager to give it a try. She gave the bowl to Xiaodouzi, and she also caught a few shrimps and roasted them on the tile.
One of the shrimps was as big as a baby and seemed to have shrimp eggs in its belly. She shouted excitedly: "Brother, this is just a baby shrimp~"
When Xiaodouzi saw it, he took the shrimp from his sister's hand and put it in his mouth: "Let me help you taste it!"
Several little kids from the neighboring store saw the brother and sister grilling shrimps in front of the store, and curiously gathered around to watch.
Seeing that they were blocking the passage into the store, Lou Lan'er moved Xiaodouzi's stove aside.
For three days in a row, the brother and sister and the children from the neighboring shop were playing with roasting shrimp outside the store. Lou Laner thought they were a little noisy, so when the brother and sister were not paying attention, he poured out all the shrimp in the bucket, put it in a basin, covered it and stuffed it in the oven. Grilled throughout.
The brother and sister, who were tired of playing with grilled shrimps, did not make any fuss and ate the fragrant grilled shrimps baked in the basin happily.
"Brother, the soles of my feet hurt!" Ajiao suddenly shouted.
Xiaodouzi stepped forward and took off Amei's shoes, and then he discovered that there was a small pustule on the bottom of Ajiao's foot near the big toe. It seemed that it was infected and inflamed due to scratches in the river. The pustule was as big as her index finger.
"It's so serious, why are you just talking about it now?" Xiaodouzi felt a little distressed and said to A-Niang, "A-Niang, I'll take A-Mei to see Dr. Zhang. A-Mei's feet are wrapped."
Ms. Chen hurriedly stepped forward to check. She held Ajiao's ankle distressedly: "Does it hurt? Let me take you to bandage it. Don't run around anymore recently."
"It doesn't hurt! Mom, Ajiao still has to go fishing for shrimps."
Xiaodouzi carried Ajiao to the drug store at the end of the street and found Doctor Zhang sitting in the hall.
After examining it, Dr. Zhang put the needle on the fire to disinfect it, then pricked the affected area and drained the pustule of blood.
"Fortunately, the pustule is not big. If the infection were bigger, it would be serious." After applying ointment and bandaging, Doctor Zhang gave Xiaodouzi a small bottle of ointment and told her, "Remember to change Amei's dressing regularly, and remember not to walk on the ground or enter the water."
After putting away the ointment, Xiaodouzi carried Ajiao back to the food shop. Auntie Chen carried her to a chair and said, "Ajiao, if your feet hurt, stop running around! You are not allowed to go down to the river to fish and fish for shrimps again!"
Mao Xi took out a chive pancake from the oven and gave it to Ajiao, comforting him: "Our Ajiao is the bravest. Sister Ajiao will give you pancakes every day from now on."
Ever since Ajiao's foot was injured, Mao Xi had taken her with her, and waited until Xiaodouzi left school before taking her back to Liujiacun. Lu Da didn't see little Ajiao visiting him for several days. When Youshi came to Mao Xi's house to look for Ajiao, he found out that her foot was injured.
"Daniu Daniu, my feet are injured and I can't play with you anymore." Ajiao said coquettishly to Luda.
The next day, Luda brought a homemade bamboo cart and asked Xiaodouzi to push Ajiao to play in the village.
The handle on the back of the cart is as high as a small bean. Ajiao sits in a fixed chair with a windmill in front.
Xiaodouzi was pushing the cart quickly in the open space in the village. Ajiao sat on the chair with his feet off the ground and shouted: "Brother, push it faster!"
The windmill whirred at the front of the car, and Ajiao patted the back of the chair excitedly, seeming to have forgotten the pain of his foot injury.
Several little boys were squatting on the top of the stone wall at the end of the village, admiringly watching Xiaodouzi pushing his sister's cart. One of them boldly stepped forward and asked, "Xiaodouzi, your cart is so beautiful. Let me push it too." Ajiao!"
Xiaodouzi was eager to protect her sister and shook her head quickly, not agreeing.
In the evening of Xu, Nalan Jue came to Liuxiang Shop again.
"Miss Ah Miao, are there any more pickled cabbage pancakes?"
Lou Lan'er looked at the oven and saw there were two left. She took out one and handed one to Nalan Jue.
Nalan Jue collected the food and continued to ask: "Ah Shu, can you sell me the recipe of this pickled cabbage cake? You can give me a price!"
Seeing that Nalan Jue was still persistent, Ma Xi said slyly: "Master Nalan, if you really want this cake recipe, come to my vegetable field at Yin time tomorrow, help me fertilize and grow vegetables, fetch water and catch insects, and I will teach you."
Nalan Jue put away the folding fan, put it to his mouth and said with a smile: "One word is settled."
Unexpectedly, Nalan Jue would take it seriously, so Ma Xi said happily: "You have to change into farm clothes for going to the fields. If you wear this plain satin robe, don't blame my local dog for itchy teeth."