Chapter 13: Catching Fish

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Because it was dinnertime, they encountered no one along the way. The wives, young and old, were all busy preparing supper in their kitchens, while the men who had been working in the fields had already returned home.

A vast stretch of farmland lay ahead, with Maoping Village on the other side.

Suddenly, Gu Tingzhi said, “Manman, let’s catch some fish!”

“Hm?”

Zhen Mi’er understood what he meant, but winter was almost upon them, and night fell quickly at this time of year. She was afraid that by the time they finished catching fish, it would be completely dark and they would not be able to see the way home.

Still, since her husband wanted to go, she could not bear to refuse him, so the two of them turned in another direction.

Their region had both tall mountains and abundant water. At the foot of Changchi Mountain, where they had hunted the wild boar last time, there was a clear, blue canal that flowed without cease throughout the year.

She had once heard the village elders say that the Long Canal and Great Qi’s longest river, the Litang River, were known together as the Mother-and-Child Rivers. In the beginning, the Long Canal had merely been a small stream that overflowed from the Litang River when it passed through Yun’an County.

But gradually, over the course of hundreds and thousands of years, the water gathered into a river—the Long Canal of today.

The river was especially rich in fish, and the villagers often managed to make a good catch there. However, the weather had turned cold, and most of the fish had probably already been caught.

The two soon reached the riverbank. Silver ripples shimmered across the water, while the hazy evening glow cast the afterlight of the setting sun upon its surface. The sight was indescribably beautiful.

Zhen Mi’er picked up a fish spear from the bank. Calling it a spear was somewhat generous—it was merely a long stick sharpened at one end, likely abandoned by someone who had fished here before.

Worried that Gu Tingzhi might wet his clothes, she found a large rock, wiped it clean, and had him sit there obediently. Then she rolled up her trouser legs, gripped the fish spear in one hand, and waded into the shallows.

She widened her eyes and stared intently at the surface of the river, unwilling to miss a single fish, large or small, that might swim past beneath her gaze.

Meanwhile, Gu Tingzhi, sitting on the riverbank, glanced at her, then turned to look behind him. He looked at her again, then at the rear once more, repeating the motion over and over.

Zhen Mi’er was beginning to lose heart. She was practically furious! A fish with a red patch on its tail had swum past her three times already. It was enormous! Yet she simply could not spear it. Every time she judged its position correctly and thrust down, the cunning fish would slip away in an instant from beside the top of her foot.

She was beginning to suspect that the fish had become a spirit and was deliberately toying with her. Just now, she had nearly speared her own foot. That had been close.

Just as she gathered herself and prepared to launch a fourth attack on the fish, the raised spear was suddenly taken from her by a large hand. The next moment, her vision blurred, and a huge fish appeared right before her eyes—so close that it was almost touching them!

Its entire back was ink-black, like armor. Its mouth opened and closed, its eyes rolled white, and its gills fluttered. The red patch on its tail swayed incessantly, as though it were struggling to leap back into the water.

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Afraid it would escape, Zhen Mi’er hurriedly told Gu Tingzhi to throw the fish onto the bank.

What he did next left her speechless with astonishment.

He walked steadily toward the middle of the river. Afraid something might happen to him, she tried to stop him. But when Gu Tingzhi turned and gave her a gentle smile, she immediately lost all sense of direction and completely forgot what she had meant to say.

By the time she came to her senses, Gu Tingzhi had already speared several fish! After tossing them onto the bank, he continued searching for more.

Zhen Mi’er stared at the pile of fish writhing in their death throes, her mind utterly unable to keep up with his speed. Every one of them was huge! Only the two at the bottom were somewhat smaller.

Why was her husband, even after injuring his head, still so formidable? Or had he always been this capable, and she had simply never noticed? After all, she had once only watched him from afar.

When she thought of it that way, it seemed reasonable. She had been terribly shallow before, seeing only the most superficial part of him!

Eighteen different ways of preparing the fish had already appeared in Zhen Mi’er’s mind. But the river water was still icy, and she feared Gu Tingzhi would catch a chill, so she hurriedly called him back to shore.

By then, however, Gu Tingzhi was already soaked through.

“Husband, let’s hurry home. You need to take a hot bath right away.”

“All right.”

He had speared far too many fish, and they had no bucket, so in the end Gu Tingzhi’s outer garment became a makeshift fish basket.

Fortunately, everyone working in the fields had already gone home. Even if they happened to encounter a few people, they were too far away, and the sky was already half-dark. No one noticed that he was not wearing his outer garment.

By the time the two returned home, night had fallen completely. An oil lamp was burning in the main room. The family had already finished supper and were gathered together discussing the things that had happened in the village over the past few days, while waiting for the Third Son and his wife to return. They assumed that the in-laws had kept the two children at home for supper, which was why they were late.

But when they saw Gu Tingzhi return wearing only his inner robe and carrying dozens of fish, the entire family was stunned.

“Where—where did all these fish come from?” Madam Zhou pinched her own thigh, her mouth hanging open in shock.

“Mother, Husband caught them all in the Long Canal!”

Everyone found it unbelievable.

Madam Zhou sent Lin Huiniang and Su Hehua to heat water in the kitchen, then had Gu Qinghe fetch dry towels for the two of them.

“Go take hot baths first. The weather has already turned cold, so be careful not to catch a chill.”

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When the two emerged after bathing, they saw Gu Qingsong and Gu Qingbai carrying two large water jars over from the vegetable plot behind the house. More than a dozen fish were still alive, so they put them into the jars and filled them with water. The remaining twenty or so were already dead and had to be cleaned and prepared that very night, or their flavor would suffer.

The entire family set to work slaughtering fish in the courtyard, the activity bustling and noisy. Naturally, the commotion did not escape the notice of Madam Feng next door, though she restrained herself from coming out to look.

Hmph! Just thinking about it made her furious. The Fourth Branch had obtained a wild boar and sent portions to several families, yet the First Branch had not received so much as a single hair! The Fourth Brother’s wings had grown strong now. He was nothing but an ungrateful wretch who could never be satisfied!

They seemed to be talking about fish now, and she could smell a powerful fishy odor as well. Madam Feng looked at her own husband, who lay on the bed snoring like thunder, and angrily struck him hard on the back.

Gu Litang awoke at once. Seeing that his wife was about to cause trouble again, his face immediately darkened.

Madam Feng was already seething and was not afraid of him. She jerked her chin toward the Fourth Branch’s house.

“Listen. They’re slaughtering fish over there, and it sounds like more than one or two. Go and take a look.”

Gu Litang had also heard the commotion outside, but he had no face to go over there!

When he refused to move, Madam Feng’s resentment boiled over, and she began cursing at the top of her lungs.

“Gu Litang, you coward! Marrying you was the worst misfortune of my entire life! Boo-hoo-hoo…”

“Let go of me, Gu Litang! You—boo-hoo-hoo… You, let go of me!”

“Hiss…” Gu Litang’s palm had been bitten by Madam Feng.

“So now you won’t even let me speak? I’ll speak anyway! I’ll keep speaking!”

“You treat Gu Lizong like your own brother, but to him, you’re nothing!”

“That plague twenty years ago killed every elderly person in the village, and more than half of the young people as well. Why did Gu Lizong survive, hm? Tell me, why was he able to live?”

“So many people were infected and died. Even those who escaped the disease would have starved to death!”

“You cold-blooded wretch! You neglect your own children to care for an ungrateful wolf! My poor Dalang and Hong’er!”

“If you hadn’t secretly given him grain behind my back, would Gu Lizong still be alive today? Would he have been able to marry and have children?”

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