Chapter 42 The best sister-in-law in the 1980s (42)

When Xu Yin was walking on the village road facing the setting sun, her cousin's rice flower fish had all been driven out of the rice fields and swam along the canal into the large bucket connected to the opening. There were more than a dozen pots on the side. The buckets are filled to the brim, and fish jump out from time to time.

 She also leaned over to take a look: "Hey! Brother Jianjun, your fish are really good!"

When everyone saw it was her, they happily chatted:

 “Is Yinyin back?”

 “Yin girl is finally back! We still want to ask you to make clothes.”

"What clothes are you making? Yin girl must be here to help the family collect fish."

“No, Yin Yin, my family will also raise fish with your family next season. Can you teach us how to prepare fish feed?”

Xu Yin glanced at her cousin and asked: Did you do it?

Xu Jianjun touched his nose and said, "Let's all leave now. Yin Yin just came back and hasn't gone home yet."

Squeezing through the crowd, Xu Jianjun tied the two largest carps with straw ropes and handed them to Xu Yin: "Go home and have a fresh meal."

 Xu Yin waved her hand: "I have it at home too."

　　"Your family belongs to your family, and what I give you belongs to my family. Take it! Why are you so polite to me!"

Xu Dajiao was busy dividing the fish. Hearing this, he immediately expressed his opinion: "Yinyin, take it quickly. The fish can grow so big because of your recipe."

Xu Yin accepted it with a smile.

When Xu's mother saw her daughter coming back, she was both happy and complained: "Why did you stay for so long? Didn't you say you came back before seven months? If you don't harvest rice or fish, are you still going to stay?"

Xu Yin felt funny in her heart: "You asked me to stay a few more days and enjoy the food at my eldest brother's house! Do you think I'm a little fatter?"

　　　…”

 Fat fart!

Xu’s mother rolled her eyes: “Your small body can be blown away by a strong wind.”

Xu Yin curled her lips and said, "It's not as exaggerated as you said."

 Forget it, stop messing with her mother.

“Mom, these are the fish from brother Jianjun’s family. His family collected fish today, and many people gathered around to look at it. I passed by and took a look, and he gave me two.”

Xu's mother snorted, took the fish and said, "You came up with the fish food formula, so they can raise such big fish. It's cheaper for them to give you two to eat."

Xu Yin looked at the sky and changed the subject: "How do our fish look?"

　　When mentioning her own rice flower fish, Xu’s mother’s face suddenly burst into smiles:

“Our fish are really impressive! The big ones are almost three kilograms, and the smallest ones are about half a kilogram. I’m just waiting for you to come back and drain the water to collect the fish.”

 “Where’s Dad?” Xu Yin followed her mother into the house, put down her luggage, and looked around, but she didn’t see Father Xu.

“I went to see his watermelon field again. Our watermelons are growing very well this year. He was very happy. He said that our family’s fortune has improved this year. We are raising fish to make fat and growing melons to make them sweet.”

 When Xu’s mother mentioned the family’s income, she couldn’t smile from ear to ear.

"If I knew you were coming back today, your father would definitely pick out a big watermelon. You will know after eating it. This year's melon is particularly sweet and has a lot of water. You don't even need to cut it. Just scratch it with a knife and it will crack. It will turn black. The seeds are red and very beautiful, and they will definitely fetch a good price."

 “When are you going to sell it?”

"Let's finish cutting the early rice. Your father has seen it. Not much is ripe yet. When the harvest is finished, the rice will be almost all ripe. When the fields are plowed and fertilized, take them to the purchasing station. Your uncle will also come to help then. "

Xu Yin nodded: "I took the time to go to the farm and ask Master Yu if I could borrow a tractor and pull the watermelons after plowing the land, which would save me the time of pushing the trolley."

Xu's mother's eyes lit up when she heard this: "It would be great if I could borrow a tractor! When will you go? Remember to bring a few watermelons when you go." Xu Yin thought for a while: "How about tomorrow morning? Try to be as early as possible. Come back and don’t delay our harvest of fish.”

“I told you to wait until you finish harvesting the fish, and pick up a few more fish by the way.” Xu’s mother was very fond of Master Yu who was willing to lend him the tractor, and she was not stingy in giving gifts.

Xu Yin naturally has no objection.

"Mom, these are new shoes and clothes that my sister-in-law made for you and dad. By the way, she also packed a big package, which are all specialties from Tongcheng. Unfortunately, it takes a long time on the road, and my brother is worried that I won't be able to pick it up. , I checked it in, and it will take two days to arrive. My going this time really cost my sister-in-law a lot of money."

 “That’s what it should be.” Xu’s mother has always been harsh on her daughter-in-law.

 But compared with before, my attitude now is very good, at least I don’t scold my daughter-in-law frequently.

Xu Yin took out the things in the bag one by one.

"These are the famous snacks in Tongcheng. I brought two boxes and sent one to grandma later. This is lanolin for you to wipe your hands in winter, this is wine and tea for dad, and this is for uncle. …”

 They are all scattered food and supplies.

 As for the rolls of wool, cashmere thread, cloth, and several pieces of duck, ham, and dried mutton, they were all checked in with the package.

Sister-in-law Xu also asked her to deliver some things to her parents' family. When she went to pick up the package, she stopped by Houhai Village. In addition to delivering things, she also wanted to collect some goods and send them to Tongcheng.

Xu’s mother put away the things and said, “I’ll call your dad and bring back a watermelon.” After saying that, she went out.

Xu Yin glanced over, pursed her lips and snickered.

I thought to myself, Mom, you are going the wrong way. Dad is in the watermelon field, which is completely opposite to the entrance of the village. And why did you put on new clothes and shoes when you went to the fields? It's obviously just to show off, tsk!

 …

 That night, Lao Xu’s family cut open a big watermelon.

As Xu’s mother said, the red flesh with black seeds is sweet and juicy, and is many times more delicious than the greenhouse melons of later generations.

 Xu Yin was full without paying attention. She leaned on the recliner and didn't want to move for a long time: "We lost money when we sold this melon to the buying station."

 The purchasing stations all have a unified purchasing price, and melons are collected by the pound. Good melons and poor quality melons are all priced at the same price.

After thinking about it, he suggested: "How about we go to a residential area to sell melons. It's a hot day, so there will be a lot of people buying melons."

 “Is it possible?” Xu’s mother’s thoughts were still stuck in the past. When she heard about private sales, she was always worried about being caught.

 Xu Yin talked about the market conditions of street stalls in Tongcheng, and finally said: "Mom, there are some street stalls here, but we don't know about it."

Xu’s mother couldn’t make up her mind and looked at Father Xu: “Dad, what do you think?”

 “Just listen to my daughter.” Father Xu said.

This is the first time in his life that he has grown such a good melon and sold it to the purchasing station at the same price. He is indeed a bit unwilling.

"Then it's settled." Xu Yin agreed, "After harvesting the fish tomorrow, I'll go find Master Yu to borrow the tractor."

 The next day, Lao Xu’s family began to release water from the rice fields and collect fish.

 Of the four acres of paddy field, only one acre has fish. Obviously, the rice ears on this acre are fuller than those on the other three acres.

Xu Yin said that this is the contribution of rice flower fish.

Xu’s mother once again regretted that she didn’t listen to her daughter’s advice to raise more fish. Not only did she raise a few more fish in this acre, but also if the other three acres of land were also raised with rice flower fish, it would really be a bumper harvest this year.

 (End of this chapter)