With Shen Yan, Lu Gu was at ease, not so restrained, and even chatted a few words with a smile.
"Ah, the fish took the bait." The fishing rod in Shen Yan's hand moved, and the fish bit the hook. She quickly stood up and pulled it up.
After some pulling and tugging, the two caught a big fish, and both of them laughed happily. They were so lucky that the big fish came after a short time.
They forgot to take the fish basket and wooden bucket when they came out, but Shen Yan was too lazy to go back. So she went to the wall behind the house and shouted: "Mother! Brother Daqing! Mother!"
Thanks to her loud voice, Dahui and the puppy barked, and soon there was a response from inside the wall.
"Shen Yan? What happened?" Wei Lanxiang shouted from inside the wall.
"Mother, I caught a big fish, you quickly bring the wooden bucket." Shen Yan said hastily.
When Wei Lanxiang hurried over with a wooden bucket, she really saw a big fish in the snow by the river, and she said happily, "Oh, it's only been a while and the fish has taken the bait."
"That's it." Shen Yan agreed.
Lu Gu tied a small piece of dried fish with twine, wrapped it around the hook, and put it into the ice hole for fishing.
Wei Lanxiang dipped the wooden bucket into the river water, brought up half of the bucket with ice and water, put the big fish in, and then said, "Well, both of you stay here, and you will go back when it gets too cold. When you go back, call your two brothers to help carry it. "
" Got it, mother.” Shen Yan nodded and then put her hand on Tang Pozi on Lu Gu's lap.
The two of them were lucky today, and they caught three fishes in total. If it wasn't for the unbearable cold legs, they might want to fish for a longer time.
The big fish was too big to fit on the fish plate, so it had to be chopped into pieces. Wei Lanxiang saw that there was one fish that could fit on the fish plate, not too big or too small, so she picked it out and set it aside to steam a whole fish in the evening.
During the Chinese New Year, fresh fish was a bit more expensive than usual. In the past two years, Shen Xuanqing was frozen when he fished and sold the fish for money. Seeing that Lu Gu and Shen Yan were lucky today, they caught three fishes within a short time after they went out, so he and Shen Yaoqing didn't need to go again, and the remaining two fish didn't need to be sold, and the guests could have dinner with them.
The days passed quickly, and it would be 29th in the blink of an eye. The steamed buns, steamed stuffed buns, and steamed twisted bread rolls had been steamed. This year, they also steamed a bowl of pork slices and several bowls of sweet glutinous rice.
On the morning of the 29th, Wei Lanxiang got busy. Together with Lu Gu, she made two kinds of meatballs with pork and vegetables, and they were deep fried. After deep-fried the meatballs, they also deep fried the chicken and duck. When eating, steamed them in a bowl, and it would be fragrant when they were steamed thoroughly.
Shen Yan lit the fire, while Lu Gu fished out the chicken pieces from the pan full of oil. The smell was too fragrant and she said, "Why don’t I eat one to see if it's cooked?"
Wei Lanxiang wrapped the duck pieces in batter, when she heard what Shen Yan said, she laughed and said: "You are so greedy. We just fried it and if the inside is really not cooked, you still dare to eat it. What will you do if you have a stomachache after eating it. It will be thirty tomorrow, steam a bowl and you will eat it. "
In that case, Shen Yan had no choice but to give up.
Not to mention others, Lu Gu didn't eat so well during Chinese New Year before, and now he was a little greedy when he smelled the fragrance, but he could still hold back.
In the afternoon, the meat was ready, and the smell of deep-fried meat wafted out. The people didn't say anything, but the dogs in the village still smelled it and they wandered around in front of the courtyard.
It was the same in the 29th, even the poor couldn’t open the pot, every family had to prepare the meat dish. Afraid of the dog sneaked into the house and ate the meat, then the children who didn’t have to work would watch at the door.
In the Shen family, Shen Yan was the youngest. When Wei Lanxiang saw a dog coming in front of the courtyard, she asked her to play at the door instead of working.
Their dogs were trained and taught by Shen Xuanqing not to steal the food, and to guard against other people's dogs.
"Aunt, did you buy the couplets?" Shen Yan stood at the door and chased away the dogs, when she saw aunt Miao came back with the couplets, she asked her about her family.
The dogs were reluctant to leave when they smelled the meat. Even if they were driven away, they only ran a few steps aside, then surrounded the door again after a while, and the puppy still ran out to play with them.
The day of New Year's Eve was even more lively and busy. Early in the morning, Lu Gu and Wei Lanxiang were chopping, stuffing and making dough in the kitchen. The meat stuffing was made of pork and scallions, and the vegetarian stuffing was made of cabbage and radish. There were many people in the family, and the two kinds of stuffing meat and vegetable were also lively.
"Mother, Guzi, come out and hang up the laozis (络子)." Ji Qiuyue shouted from the yard while carrying a bamboo basket, which was full of red laozis, they were beautiful and good looking.
"Guzi, you go first." Wei Lanxiang said with a smile. In her mind, the family was full of children, so she let Lu Gu join in the fun, and she chopped the minced meat herself.
Lu Gu wiped his hands on the apron and came out quickly.
The branches of the small jujube trees in the yard and the persimmon trees outside were all hung with red laozis. When it was the high branch, Shen Xuanqing was asked to hang them, they were busy. When Aunt Miao and Quanzi’s niang heard their laughter and they came to see them.