Reborn in 1984, fishing and hunting in Jiangnan

Chapter 3 Stewing Soup

Hiss!

The cut wasn't long, only about two inches.

The knife cut open, revealing a thick layer of white fish oil inside.

Chen Zheng put down the knife, reached in with his finger, and hooked it out.

A grayish-white, slippery substance emerged from the cut.

Those are fish intestines.

Chen Zheng carefully pulled it out, saying as he did so, "When killing a fish, the most important thing is to remove the intestines."

"Don't pull it off, or it'll rot all over, and the fish will taste bad too."

Zhang Jianguo leaned closer to take a look, barely daring to breathe.

The fish intestines stretched longer and longer as you pulled them, segment by segment, slippery and glistening.

Chen Zheng pulled for more than half a meter before he could pull out the whole string of intestines and pile them in the basin, filling the bottom of the basin.

"Good heavens!" Zhang Jianguo couldn't help but exclaim.

"This intestine is half my length!"

Liu Jiawang shook his head and swayed his body beside him:

"As the ancients said, 'The intestines are fat and the brain is full.' This refers to fish."

Chen Zheng put the fish intestines in the basin and then reached in to scoop them out.

This time, they pulled out fish liver.

The fish liver was a large, dark red, soft piece covered with an oily film, glistening under the light.

Chen Zheng said, "Fish liver is a good thing; it's good for the eyes."

Jianguo, isn't your mother's eyesight also bad?

"I'll put the liver in when I make the soup later."

Zhang Jianguo paused for a moment, then grinned, revealing a set of white teeth:

"Ah Zheng, how do you know everything?"

Chen Zheng ignored him and continued to rummage through his fingers.

The contents of the fish's belly were removed one by one.

Fish liver, fish belly, fish oil, and a dark, murky substance.

That's the part at the back of the fish's intestines, which contains the food the fish has eaten.

Shuisheng pointed at the dark, indistinct object and asked, "What's this?"

Chen Zheng said, "Fish food. These fish eat snails, you see."

He reached out and pried open the clump, revealing broken snail shells inside, all white and glistening.

There was also undigested snail meat.

Zhang Jianguo clicked his tongue in amazement and leaned closer to examine it: "Such a big fish, and it eats this stuff?"

Chen Zheng said, "Blue carp love to eat snails."

That's why it's called snail greens; I've been eating this since I was a kid, and I'll eat it my whole life.

After everything was emptied, the fish's belly was empty, with only a thin, translucent membrane remaining.

Chen Zheng picked up the kitchen knife.

With the blade facing upwards and the back of the knife against the fish's belly, make a cut upwards from the previous incision, down to under the gills.

With that one cut, the fish's belly was completely opened.

The white flesh inside was exposed, layer upon layer, with clear texture.

Chen Zheng said, "Alright, it's time to wash."

Shuisheng had already brought over a bucket of water, and he was panting heavily as he carried it.

Chen Zheng scooped up some water and poured it into the fish's belly.

Water was poured in, bringing with it a fishy smell and residual blood, which flowed down the fish's body and into the basin.

Once, twice, three times.

Chen Zheng stopped when the water cleared, shaking the water droplets off his hands.

Zhang Jianguo watched intently from the side.

At that moment, Chen Zheng picked up a knife and began to cut the fish.

First, cut off the fish head.

The knife struck behind the fish's gills.

click!

The fish head fell off.

The cut revealed white fish meat and a round, plump backbone, about the thickness of a little finger, with white bone marrow.

Chen Zheng put the fish head aside and said, "My family will keep the fish head to make soup."

Outside the courtyard wall, someone's dog barked twice.

From the distant lake, the calls of night birds could be heard, cawing and indistinct.

In the kitchen, the water that Li Guixiang had boiled had come to a boil.

Gudu Gudu!

Then cut off the fish's tail.

The fish tail is cut off at the last vertebra, and it's only about a hand's length long.

Chen Zheng handed the fish tail to Liu Jiawang: "Jiawang, this is yours."

Liu Jiawang was stunned: "This...this is a fish tail?"

Chen Zheng nodded: "The live meat from the fish tail is the best. Take it back and give it to your father to have with his drinks."

Liu Jiawang took the fish tail, his eyes shining, as if he wanted to say something, but then swallowed his words.

Next is the fish body.

Chen Zheng cut the fish in half lengthwise. One half had the backbone, and the other half did not.

He handed the half with the spine to Shuisheng: "Shuisheng, this is yours. You can use the spine for soup or the meat for braised dishes, it's fine either way."

Shuisheng took the fish, looked down at it, and smiled, revealing two small tiger teeth.

Chen Zheng then cut the remaining half of the fish in half, keeping one half for his own family and handing the other half to Zhang Jianguo.

Zhang Jianguo took the fish, grinning, "Ah Zheng, are we really going to get this fish?"

Chen Zheng looked at him and smiled: "You really got him."

At this moment, the footsteps outside the courtyard wall grew closer and closer, making a soft, pattering sound as they stepped on the dry dirt road.

Chen Zheng was still clutching the kitchen knife in his hand, the blade stained with fish scales and blood, glistening in the moonlight.

He looked up towards the courtyard gate.

The door was a wooden fence, and because it had been there for many years, it couldn't be closed tightly, with a crack in the middle.

Moonlight shone through the cracks, a streak of white and a streak of black.

A dark shadow slipped in through the crack, taking large, hurried steps.

His shoulders shrugged, carrying a long, thin object that swayed back and forth.

It's Zhang Jianguo's father, Zhang Laohan.

Lutang Village is known for its stubbornness; they're like donkeys—they won't move no matter how you try to lead them, and they'll even back down if you try to push them.

This man was in his early fifties, dark-skinned and thin, with wrinkles on his face like old tree bark, one after another.

That's because the lake breeze blows year after year, day after day, creating that effect.

The eyes are not big, but they are bright, with more black than white in the pupils.

When they look at you, it's like they have two awls; they could pin you to the wall.

They spend all year round floating in the lake, coming and going in the water, and their bodies are so tanned that there isn't a single white spot on them.

Standing under the moonlight, he looked like a piece of charcoal that had been burning for three days and three nights.

He carried an oar on his shoulder, the oar blade worn smooth and shiny, the handle soaked with sweat, glistening in the black.

He was carrying a fish basket, the bottom of which was worn unevenly, indicating it had been used for at least ten years.

There were only a few fish in the basket, shining brightly in the moonlight.

Today's trip to the lake wasn't entirely a wasted trip.

As soon as Zhang Laohan entered the courtyard, his eyes were fixed on the big blue carp.

The fish was cut into four pieces, with the head, tail, and meat neatly arranged on the reed mat.

The reed mat was newly woven the previous year; the bamboo strips were still white, which made the fish pieces look shiny.

The fish scales hadn't been scraped off completely; they were stacked one by one, and when the moonlight shone on them, they gleamed like copper coins.

Old Zhang stopped.

The oars slid off my shoulder.

Boom!

It sticks into the ground and lifts up a clump of soil.

The fish basket was thrown away, and it rolled to the base of the wall, bumping into an overturned wooden basin.

Clang!

He just stood there, staring at the pieces of fish meat, his eyes unmoving, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed.

The courtyard quieted down, and you could hear crickets chirping behind the kitchen, one long chirp after another.

"Dad..." Zhang Jianguo greeted him, grinning and revealing a set of white teeth, "You're back? Today..."

He hadn't finished speaking.

Old Zhang raised his hand.

He slapped Zhang Jianguo on the back of the head.

Snapped!

The slap was so loud and clear that it startled two sparrows on the wall, causing them to flutter away.

The dark figure vanished into the night in a flash.

Zhang Jianguo clutched the back of his head and took two steps back, tripping over a piece of firewood before staggering and regaining his balance.

Tears welled up in her eyes: "Dad! Why did you hit me? What did I do?"

Zhang Laohan ignored him and turned to look at Chen Zheng.

His gaze lingered on Chen Zheng's face for a moment, then shifted to the fish.

"Did you take this fish?"

His voice was hoarse from years of shouting work songs on the water.

Chen Zheng nodded: "Uncle Lao Han, we took it."

Old Zhang walked around the fish once, then squatted down.

Click!

There was a popping sound from my kneecap.

He reached out and touched the fish's head.

The fish head was as big as Chen Zheng's head, with its mouth open, revealing its fine, ring-like teeth.

Old Zhang pressed his finger on the fish's teeth, then flipped it over to look at the gills.

The gills were cleaned out, leaving only two dark holes with traces of blood still clinging to the edges, indicating they hadn't been washed clean.

"Who paid for it?"

"I paid for it."

Old Zhang nodded and went to touch the fish's spine again.

There's a small opening on the fish's spine.

But it went deep; the fork tip pierced in more than two inches, breaking off several fish scales and revealing the white flesh inside.

The meat was turned inside out, with a ring of blood seeping around the edge.

Old Zhang stuck his finger into the opening, touched it, then pulled it out, looking at the blood on his fingertip.

The blood had dried and was sticky. I rubbed it between two fingers and some blood flakes came off.

"Who stuck this in?"

Zhang Jianguo whispered from behind, "I...I did it."

Old Zhang turned around and glanced at him.

Zhang Jianguo instinctively shrank back, his heel bumping into a clay pot, almost causing him to fall again.

Old Zhang turned back to look at the fish.

The fish was cut into four pieces with clean cuts, starting from behind the gills.

With one cut, the bone broke, but the flesh didn't shatter, and the spine was visible at the break.

After staring at it for a while, Zhang Laohan stood up, patted the fish scales and blood off his hands, and wiped them on his pants.

He looked at Chen Zheng.

"Zhengwa, did you cut this fish?"

Chen Zheng nodded.

Old Zhang grinned.

With that smile, the wrinkles on her face deepened, and the crow's feet at the corners of her eyes could trap a mosquito.

"You're an interesting kid."

As he spoke, he walked to the edge of the stone platform and plopped down on it.

He then pulled a pipe from his waist.

He filled it with tobacco, the kind that comes from the supply and marketing cooperative, dark brown, in clumps.

It's all set up. Let's strike it and light it.

laugh!

The match illuminated that face, dark red and purplish-black, with deep-set eyes.

He took a sip, his cheeks hollowed out, and then he spat it out.

A plume of white smoke drifted under the moonlight, stinging the eyes.

"Tell me, how did you take it?"

Chen Zheng glanced at Zhang Jianguo, and Zhang Jianguo winked at him.

It means you keep talking, while your hand is still rubbing the back of your head.

Chen Zheng then spoke.

Let's start with the story of the four of them secretly going down to the lake.

When Zhang Jianguo confronted the fish, Zhang Laohan grunted and looked up at his son.

Zhang Jianguo scratched his head and chuckled, a guilty smile on his face.

Speaking of Zhang Jianguo, he thrust his fork into the fish's spine, causing him to fall into the water. The bamboo pole slipped from his hand, and the fish dragged the pole along with it.

Old Zhang grunted again, took a drag of his cigarette, and the tobacco in his pipe burned bright red.

When Chen Zheng came to his senses, he told Shui Sheng and Liu Jiawang to row out and surround the fish, while he himself carried a scoop of fish heads.

Old Zhang's pipe stopped in mid-air, motionless.

Finally, Zhang Laohan slammed his pipe on the stone platform, causing sparks to fly.

A spark landed on his trouser leg and burned a small hole, but he ignored it.

"The four of you, you just brought the fish up like that?"

Chen Zheng nodded: "That's how it was brought up."

"Listen," Zhang Laohan turned to look at Zhang Jianguo.

Zhang Jianguo took a step back.

Old Zhang didn't hit him, he just asked, "Did you stab the fish in the spine with that fork?"

"It's...it's stuck."

"It didn't go in?"

"Poke it in a little deeper, the fish scales are too hard..."

Old Zhang snorted.

"The scales on the fish's spine are the hardest on its body. It's no wonder you can't pierce them."

Zhang Jianguo lowered his head and remained silent, his eyes fixed on the tips of his shoes.

There's a hole in the toe of the shoe, and the big toe is sticking out.

Old Zhang looked at Chen Zheng again: "Zheng, what were you thinking about when you were scooping up the fish heads?"

Chen Zheng thought for a moment and said, "I'm thinking about making sure the fish doesn't get away."

"this one?"

"That's it."

Old Zhang stared at him for a while.

The creases at the corners of his eyes were all squeezed together, and his eyes were narrowed into slits, with light shining through them.

"You've got some skills, kid."

As he spoke, he filled another pipe, lit it, and took a puff.

The smoke rose and slowly dissipated under the moonlight.

At this moment, Li Guixiang came out of the kitchen carrying a basin of hot water.

The basin was an enamel basin, with several pieces of paint chipped off, revealing the black iron inside.

She looked around but didn't say anything.

Old Zhang, puffing on his cigarette, suddenly said, "Guixiang, go get something to eat."

Li Guixiang was taken aback. The water in the basin sloshed and a few drops splashed out.

Old Zhang added, "Zhengwa and the others are eating at our house today."

Chen Zheng quickly said, "Uncle Lao Han, no need, I..."

Old Zhang waved his hand: "Just eat what I tell you to eat."

These words are like hammering nails, each strike creating a dent until it reaches the bottom.

Li Guixiang responded and turned to go back to the kitchen.

Shuisheng and Liu Jiawang stood to one side, looking at each other, unsure of what to do.

Chen Zheng nodded to them, meaning that since they were already there, they might as well make the best of it.

Just then, Zhang Jianguo leaned over and whispered, "Ah Zheng, what's wrong with my dad today?"

Chen Zheng glanced at him and recalled his past life.

They went back empty-handed, and Zhang Jianguo was even hit on the head by a fish tail, which made him dizzy for half a minute.

When I woke up, I had a purplish-red bump on my forehead.

After returning to the village, Zhang Laohan tied Zhang Jianguo to the door frame and used a rope dipped in water to whip him.

Zhang Jianguo was so loud from the smoking that the whole village could hear him howling. He howled until midnight, and his voice became hoarse, sounding like a cat meowing.

After finishing his cigarette, Old Zhang squatted in the yard and smoked all night.

One pot after another, the pipe never went out, and the stone table was covered with tobacco ash.

The next morning, he carried his oars out of the lake and floated on the water all day, but he didn't catch a single big fish.

When he came back in the evening, he sat in the yard, still smoking, without saying a word.

Li Guixiang brought him the food, but he waved his hand and refused to eat.

Zhang Jianguo hid inside the house and peeked out through the crack in the door. He saw his father's back, which looked like a fully drawn bow.

On the third day, he went out of the lake again.

This time I got a fish, not very big, weighing seven or eight pounds, it was a silver carp, and its tail was still moving.

He brought the fish back, entered the yard, and saw Zhang Jianguo sitting on the threshold, so he threw the fish over to him.

The fish hopped twice on the ground and landed at Zhang Jianguo's feet.

Zhang Jianguo caught the fish and was stunned.

Old Zhang said, "Let's make soup with it."

Just those three words.

Later, Chen Zheng learned that Zhang Laohan had been struggling with himself during those days.

He felt it was his fault that his son almost drowned.

It was his fault for not teaching his son how to survive in the water.

But he didn't know how to say those sweet words, so he kept it to himself.

I felt so uncomfortable holding it in, my throat felt like it was on fire.

After holding it in for so long, three words finally came out: "Stewed soup."

But this time they had fish.

Zhang Jianguo didn't faint or drown; he even forked the food himself.

Although it didn't go in, that one fork was enough for Zhang Laohan to ponder.

Chen Zheng thought to himself, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

Just then, footsteps sounded again at the courtyard gate.

More than one person came in this time.

Chen Zheng looked up and his heart skipped a beat.

It was his father, Chen Laosan.

Two other people followed behind: Liu Jiawang's father, Baldy Liu, and Shuisheng's mother, Zhou Guifang.

The three of them entered the courtyard one after the other, their steps were hurried, and their faces were not very good.