Chapter 6 Fish Soup

Li Shengli looked at the sky and prepared to reel in his fishing rod. As soon as this thought came to his mind, the float began to shake violently. Oh my god, a big fish was caught.

Li Shengli grabbed the fishing rod tightly and pulled hard. Soon, a big fish weighing more than five kilograms was caught.

Seeing Lee Seung-ri's good luck, several old men nearby couldn't sit still and came over when Lee Seung-ri caught the big fish.

"Xiao Li, your harvest is good." Several old men came over and one of them said with a smile.

"Luck, luck." Li Shengli smiled, put away the fish, put the fishing rod aside, and stood up to clean up.

It was getting late in the day, and we were very lucky to catch this big fish at this time.

"Xiao Li, aren't you done fishing?" The old man next to him asked in confusion when he saw Li Shengli starting to reel in his rod.

"I'm not going to fish anymore. I guess there aren't many fish here." Li Shengli put away his fishing rod and stool and prepared to leave.

Several old men looked at each other and prepared to change the pit. Before they could do anything, the third old man Yan Bugui who was fishing on the other side came quickly with a fishing rod in hand.

"This old Yan." Several uncles were convinced. They had never seen such an advantage. Seeing that the nest was occupied by Yan Bugui, several uncles also dispersed. It was getting late, and it was time to go home after fishing for a while.

Li Shengli was not surprised, as Third Uncle Yan Bugui had done this many times. But he didn't always get the upper hand.

"Uncle, you are really amazing." Li Shengli said with a hint of admiration. Li Shengli could not do such a shameless thing.

Yan Bugui smiled but said nothing, and glanced at Li Shengli's bucket.

"Wow, good job. Shengli, you have gained a lot today."

"Shengli, do you need your third aunt to help you deal with it?" Third uncle Yan Bugui asked with his eyes rolling around.

If he asked the old woman at home to help kill the fish, he could use the fish entrails to fish. Besides, if his family members went to help, Li Shengli would not get a bowl of fish soup.

"Then why do we need Third Aunt's help?" Li Shengli understood Third Uncle's character and knew what he was planning.

"I'm a cook myself, but I need help to clean a fish. If I tell others about my cooking skills, they won't know what to make of it."

As a cook, is there anyone who can clean these things better than me?

"Okay, uncle. You continue fishing. I have to catch these fish while they are fresh." Li Shengli shook the fish bucket in his hand and walked towards home.

Uncle San said nothing, and just watched Li Shengli carry the bucket back home. He would fish for a while longer, and maybe he would catch something big in this nest.

To be honest, Uncle Sanda is a bit stingy, and he doesn't rush to take advantage of you as others write. He usually just helps you with something, and makes you feel guilty so that you can share some of the benefits.

I walked all the way home and met an old man named Yi Zhonghai at the gate of the courtyard.

"Uncle." Li Shengli didn't even stop walking, but just nodded to greet him. Uncle Yi Zhonghai also nodded. The two of them greeted each other.

When they arrived at the door of their house, before Li Shengli could open the lock, the aunt next door heard the noise and opened her own door.

"Shengli, have you seen your third uncle?" Third aunt asked anxiously.

"It's Auntie Three. Uncle Three needs to go fishing for a while." Li Shengli paused, turned around and answered Auntie Three, then reached out to open the lock and walked into the house.

"This damn old man, he didn't even come back to eat at noon." The third aunt muttered softly, closed the door, and went home.

Li Shengli returned home and had a simple meal first. He rested for a while and prepared to cook the fish before it got frozen.

I plan to make fish soup with the small ones in the evening, and make the big ones into cured fish.

First, clean the fish, scrape off the scales and gills, gut it, and take out the intestines. Rinse it with clean water, then salt the big fish and hang it on the roof beam.

Seeing Li Shengli preparing the fish, someone in the courtyard jokingly wanted to ask Li Shengli for some, but Li Shengli refused, saying that he didn't have enough to eat. At night, Li Shengli heated up two steamed buns, picked up a knife to cut some onions, ginger and garlic, and marinated a few small fish with onion, ginger and cooking wine.

After the fish is marinated, heat the oil in a pan and cut the fish on both sides. After the fish is fried, add water to the pan and add ginger and garlic.

Simmer over high heat for ten minutes, then switch to low heat and continue simmering.

The aroma of the fish soup burst out all at once.

At the uncle's house next door, the whole family was preparing to have dinner.

Sniff, sniff.

"Whose house is this? It smells so good."

Yan Jiecheng sniffed the fragrance in the air, looked at the steamed bread in his hand and then at the cabbage on the table, and suddenly felt unable to eat.

"Across the street, Li Shengli's house." The third uncle sniffed the fragrance in the air and quickly took a big bite of the steamed bread, as if the steamed bread in his hand would be more fragrant.

"Dad, why didn't you go to his house to ask for something back?" Yan Jiefang smelled the scent and asked the third uncle.

"We eat steamed bread and cabbage every day. When will we have some meat? Didn't you go fishing today? Did you catch anything?"

"That's right, that's right." Yan Jieti and Yan Jiekuang also followed suit.

"Go away, what a shame." The third aunt patted Yan Jiefang.

"Your father is an educated man after all. How can he come here to beg for food?" The third aunt glanced at the third uncle and scolded Yan Jiefang.

"Besides, our family has a limited ration, and your father is the only one who earns money. We don't live alone like Li Shengli next door." The third aunt also understood the hardship of life at home.

"Besides, Li Shengli is a chef. He spends almost no money at the factory." The third aunt said as she leaned out the door to look.

The third uncle picked up a piece of food and put it in his mouth. He chewed it and didn't say anything. What the third aunt said was right.

If someone else gave it to you, it could be considered as respect for the educated people. But if you went to ask for it yourself, you would be a beggar. Yan Bugui couldn't afford to lose face.

How can I support a family with my salary if I don't live frugally? Others say I am calculating, but if I didn't calculate, I would have been unable to make ends meet. I exchanged all the fish I caught for food.

The smell of the fish soup drifted away, and by the time it reached the central courtyard it was already faintly discernible.

At Uncle Yi Zhonghai's house, Uncle Yi and his wife had already eaten. Aunt Yi was sewing shoe soles, and when she smelled something, she sniffed twice and thought she was smelling something wrong.

"Hey, Lao Yi, do you smell anything?" asked an old lady, sticking her nose into his nose.

"What's that smell?" Uncle Yi Zhonghai sniffed in confusion. At this time, a faint fragrance drifted into his nose.

"Whose family is stewing fish?" Uncle Yi Zhonghai sniffed in the direction of the fragrance.

"Looking at this direction, it should be the front yard." Uncle Yi Zhonghai thought for a while.

"It shouldn't be the third uncle's house. His family can't bear to eat fish. So it should be Li Shengli's house." The first uncle analyzed seriously.

"Li Shengli is really good. He can still catch fish at this time." The aunt was a little surprised at Li Shengli's connections. She came up to the uncle Yi Zhonghai and whispered to him.

"As a cook, he has plenty of ways to do things." Uncle Yi Zhonghai's eyes flashed.

"I didn't see him go to the backyard either. It looks like he didn't deliver any to the old lady in the backyard."

"It's okay, don't worry. He won't stay in the hospital for that long. We'll give him a warning later." Uncle Yi Zhonghai said meaningfully.

(End of this chapter)