212. Dried octopus fillet

A happy lunch was eaten for half an hour, and after lunch, the dishes and chopsticks were cleaned up, and it was not the end of the day. It's time for the fishermen from Lao Tujia Village to return.

After Da Ping Niang cleaned up the dishes and chopsticks, she didn't even breathe, and she was anxious to pick up her husband who had returned from going to sea.

Because the sea here is mudflats, there are large tidal flats, so the location where Lao Tujia Village lives is not strictly speaking by the sea, but next to a sea trench that extends into the mainland, it is very convenient to enter and exit the sea while avoiding the sea tide and even the tsunami to a certain extent.

Looking at Da Ping Niang's eager expression, Qiu Chen knew that the time was very urgent. It happened that the children wanted to see the scene of the return of the fishing boat, so Qiu Chen simply proposed to let Da Ping Niang take a carriage to pick up the boat.

It is said to be next to it, but this trench into and out of the sea is at least seven or eight hundred meters away from Lao Tujia Village. And the road is still potholed and rugged, which is very difficult to walk. The children traveled in a carriage for nearly two quarters of an hour to a relatively flat bank of the river, where a rudimentary pier was built out of logs and planks. When they arrived, there were already boats docked, and several old and weak women and children were on the shore, helping to unload the catch from the boats, and it was evident from the joyful expressions on the faces of the people that they were satisfied with the harvest of the day's voyage.

Da Ping Niang jumped out of the carriage without waiting for the carriage to stop, hurriedly walked to the dock, searched the side of the fishing boat docked, and found no boat painted with the sea, so she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, but soon covered with a layer of worry.

When fishermen go to sea, a small sampan sways above the vast sea, and it can be said that every time they go to sea, they are fighting for their lives. They can't remember how many people have never returned, but in order to survive and support their families, these men who grew up in fishermen's families still have to go out to sea from generation to generation to fish, go to the sea, and go to the merciless wind and waves to make a living.

A fisherman who unloaded the boat saw Da Ping Niang and greeted him kindly: "Pearl, the sea is behind, and he said that he would come back after collecting the net." ”

The other smiled and said, "That kid always works so hard, and he fights more than us every day...... Also, the pearl gave him a small one, and he couldn't do it if he didn't work hard! ”

Pearl lowered her head shyly and a little embarrassed, and subconsciously tugged at the placket of her clothes to cover her belly, which had not yet bulged. In large households, it is a great joy to have children, but in the homes of poor fishermen like them, having more children means having more mouths to feed, which means that the men in the family must go to the sea to get more catch, and by extension, it means that the men in the family will be more likely to be in danger......

At this time, someone from the village who came to pick up the boat shouted: "Hey, the big man has met a noble person today, so old rice noodles, and a lot of meat...... With the help of this nobleman, maybe the sea won't have to take the sea every day in the future......"

The woman who spoke obviously had a sour taste, and someone next to her immediately answered unceremoniously: "Hu'er Niang, what you said is that the sea is from Lao Tujia Village, there is no land and no job, what are you doing if you don't go to sea?" Don't say sour things here, the big people don't help you less. Last year, your man encountered a storm and waves, and it wasn't because the sea risked his life to cross the sea to save your man? If there were no sea brothers, you would be an orphan and widow by now! ”

"Who are you cursing? Whom do you curse, orphans and widows? Yes? ......" Hu'er Niang was annoyed and angry, and she refused to stick to this taboo word among fishermen.

"Dead, what are you arguing about!" A black-faced and stocky man next to him shouted angrily, and Hu'er Niang immediately changed from a tigress to a sick cat, lowered her eyebrows and continued to help her man unload.

This noise did not attract the attention of the children, and Afu Aman was the most curious. When they were in Haipuzi Town, they had followed Qiu Chen to see the unloading of fish, all kinds of fish, shrimp and crabs, and all kinds of small seafood, but now they directly saw the situation of the fishermen returning from going to sea, which still made them re-understand the vastness of the sea and the richness of products.

The fishermen go out to sea to harvest a lot of things, and they are all packed in large open baskets. These large baskets are woven from the most common red vitex on the saline flats, the surface of the red vitex is covered with pimple protrusions, rough and grinding hands, but it is far stronger than ordinary wicker and rattan, more resistant to seawater corrosion, and better load-bearing. Of course, the biggest reason why fishermen commonly use red wattle is because of the convenience of the material, except for a little effort, it does not need to spend a penny.

Fishermen have a limited amount of time to go out to sea every day, and in addition to the cost of traveling back and forth, they also have to find the location of the fish according to the direction of the current. The fishermen put the seafood in these big baskets, transported them back to the wharf, handed them over to the women, children and old people at home to sort them, and then sent the fish and shrimp to the sea shops for sale.

Most of the small fish and shrimp, all kinds of small seafood, etc. are considered by-products, not valuable, just take them home and eat them yourself, some, such as sea urchins, starfish, etc., simply pick them out and throw them away. It has little meat and tastes prickly, and no one among the fishermen eats it.

The women and children took the catch from the boat and began sorting it at the left of the dock. Seafood and seafood are sold as a fresh word. Quickly picking it out, the men ate and drank some water to replenish their strength, and before it got dark, they also sent the sorted fish to the sea shop to sell. Otherwise, after the night, the catch is not fresh, let alone selling for money, no one will ask for it for free, and you can only watch it rot.

Junyan Junzhang Afu A was full of small people, just shuttling among the piles of people sorting catches, Junwen Junshu and Qin Yong and the others just watched from a distance and did not stop them.

Ah Fu looked at these small seafood that were thrown aside by the people, thought for a moment, and stepped forward to ask, "Auntie, don't you want these things?" ”

The woman's subordinates quickly picked and went, and when she looked back, she saw that it was a delicate, neatly dressed little brother, completely different from the children in the village, and she looked really handsome and pleasing, and couldn't help but joke: "Do you want to play with it?" ”

Ah Fu shook his head and said, "It's not playing, my mother will make this, it's delicious...... Well, my mom loves this. ”

The woman's eyebrows were raised, revealing a look of surprise, and then she put away the idea of joking, and said with a smile: "Oh, it's still a filial brother." These can't be sold for money, Auntie doesn't want it, you can take it if you want! ”

A smile bloomed on Ah Fu's face, and he bowed his hand neatly to thank him, and said, "My mother instructed you not to ask for other people's things casually...... Auntie, will I give you the money? ”

The woman laughed heartily and smiled at the person next to her, "Look how well this brother has taught!" ”

As he spoke, he turned back to Ah Fu and said, "Then you can give your aunt a lot of money!" ”

Who knows, Ah Fu still didn't agree, and shook his head and said: "Auntie, I've seen someone sell these in Haipuzi, for a penny and a catty, you can call me and pay you according to the title!" ”

As soon as he heard that these useless things could be sold for a penny and a catty, some people next to him also asked: "Little brother, I also have it here, do you still want it?" ”

Ah Fu looked at the things picked out by the fishermen, and each family had a small pile, and it was estimated that the total was only half a basket, and he nodded very simply.

Picking the catch, someone in the village will bring it over and weigh it to weigh the day's harvest. At this moment, as soon as Ah Fu said that he had received the goods, it spread all over the small dock in a moment. The smiles on everyone's faces deepened a lot, and the hands of each family picking and picking the catch were even more fingers flying, and their eyes were only staring at the sea urchin starfish and other things in the basket, hoping to turn the small fish and shrimp into sea urchin starfish.

On the other side, Da Pingniang waited for another half an hour, and finally saw her husband returning with a boat. Da Ping Niang breathed a long sigh of relief, and when she saw the depth of her boat's draft, her face was filled with joy.

Here, Ah Fu collected small seafood, Junwen Junshu just smiled, not only did not stop it, but also stepped forward to help load the goods, on the other hand, Ah Man and Jun Yan Junzhang had already started to help Tu Dahai's family pick up the seafood together with Daping Niang.

Tu Dahai brought the seafood off the ship, sat next to his wife, and while eating white flour steamed buns, he discussed with his wife in a low voice: "You just said that people have sent us so old rice and noodles for no reason without relatives, and we can't ask for it in vain...... It just so happened that I met a school of fish today, and the fish I harvested were good. I'm looking for it, let's not sell this boat of fish, let's just give it to others as a return gift...... Although our fish are not worth those things, they are still our hearts. ”

Pearl took a fish skin kettle and handed it to her husband: "You drink saliva and flush it...... Well, I think it's good. We can't pay attention to how expensive or cheap we are, but this is the fish you caught with your own hands, and it's best to be a mind. ”

The two discussed, and Pearl's men kept moving, quickly picking out the few debris in the basket and throwing them into the empty basket next to her.

Looking at the baskets full of fish, the corners of Pearl's mouth pursed a smile and pride, her man is the best in the village's fishing skills, every time he catches more fish, and it is clean, unlike some people's homes, everything is brought back, not to mention the trouble of picking, it is not worth it......

This time, with the rice, noodles and other things given by the distinguished guests, Daping can eat for more than half a year. In this gap, they don't have to worry about buying white noodles for their children, and the money they save saves for a year, plus a little bit of silver accumulated in previous years, their family can strengthen and strengthen the hull...... If the harvest is as abundant as it is today, maybe next year it will be replaced by a large fishing boat...... Changing to a big fishing boat, it is much more stable than a small sampan, and when her husband goes to sea, she doesn't have to worry about it all the time. Moreover, if you change to a large fishing boat, you can go farther, and the more fish you can catch will naturally be...... Naturally, life will get better and better.

If so, if one day, they have money in their hands, maybe they can move out of this Tujia village and buy a house in Haipuzi Town...... That way, you don't have to worry about tidal waves or tsunamis anymore......

Pearl looked forward to a better life, Tu Dahai had already eaten two steamed buns and drank a pot of water, touched the third steamed bun, stuffed it into his arms, and was reluctant to eat. He couldn't last this steamed bun after eating it, so he brought it back to his son, but it was enough for his son to have two days' rations.

Because they didn't need to go to the sea shop to sell goods, Tu Dahai and Pearl followed the Lin family's carriage all the way home.

Seeing the six or seven baskets of sea fish given by the Tu family, Qiu Chen was surprised and moved. She came to this small fishing village just to let her children increase their experience and feel the difficulties of fishermen. The rice, flour and other things she brought cost less than twenty taels of silver, which is nothing to her now...... It's just that she does it casually, but Tu Dahai returns the day's harvest...... Perhaps, he can't get a bag of white noodles after selling these fish, but as Tu Dahai and his wife and Mrs. Liu said, they just show their hearts!

And the rarest thing in the world is this heart!

Qiu Chen sighed in his heart, but he did not refuse Tu Dahai's family's intentions. It was getting late, Qiu Chen didn't stay long, loaded a few baskets of fish with the pickled fish and shrimp paste that Liu Pozi took out, and set off back to Haipuzi.

They booked a small courtyard at the inn in Haipuzi, with a separate kitchen.

Back at the inn, it was already dark, but Qiu Chen did not rest. She took Yufeng Qingxing to make dinner for the family first. Dinner was very simple, stewed an iron pot of sea fish, and simply cooked the small seafood collected by Ah Fu. While cooking dinner, Qiu Chen called Junwen Junshu Junyan Junzhang, as well as Afu Aman, to clean up several large baskets of fish, cut them from the abdomen, smear them with salt, sugar and other seasonings, and then smear a layer of vegetable oil, brush the pot clean, paste the cut fish fillets on the pot and bake them slowly, until the surface is watered, take a bamboo skewer to flatten the fish piece by piece, and hang it on the rope in the courtyard.

The pickled fish made in this way is also easy to preserve and transport, but the taste is much better than that of salted alone. If it can be done successfully, improve the recipe and teach it to Tu Dahai's family, so that the family does not have to go to sea, but collects fish to make dried fish. She sent someone to come over once a month or every quarter to collect it, and then discussed with Yun Er, and the caravan took it inland, as for whether it could be sold at a good price, she was not sure for a while, from the blow of the seafood family that she had made before, it had more or less affected her confidence.

Well, let's make it, take it back and send it to the Yun family's restaurant to test the water, see how well people accept it, and then make a decision.

As long as this pickled fish sells well, you can also make grilled fish fillets, and you can also make all kinds of dry goods......

With people almost busy until midnight, six or seven baskets of fish were marinated and baked, Qiu Chen also made a small half basket of grilled fish fillets by himself, she and Qingxing Yufeng tasted it, and they all thought it tasted good. I'll give you a taste tomorrow, maybe people will be more receptive to this fillet.

The fish fillet is really done, and the word of mouth is good, and you can't help but buy sea fish to make it, and when the fish comes out of Nannuma Lake in autumn, you can also make some of it into grilled fish fillet...... Fresh seafood is not easy to preserve, and the price is not good. If it is processed into grilled fish fillet, it can also increase a lot of income.

After taking a hot bath, he almost rubbed a layer of skin off his hands and arms, and the fishy smell on his body was still like a shadow, lingering faintly in front of his nose, but Qiu Chen was already sleepy and tired and had no strength to pay attention, so he went into the house and almost fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

The next day, after the end of the day, Qiu Chen woke up. The first thing I did when I got up was to ask for hot water, and I took a hot shower carefully to make sure that there was no more fishy smell on my body, so I stopped and left the house in a clean cotton dress.

Ah Fu Aman ran in with a piece of fish fillet in his hand, and shouted at Qiu Chen with a happy face.

Receiving the support of the two little guys, Qiu Chen was relieved, and went to ask Junwen Qin Yong and others, and received unanimous praise, Qiu Chen's heart was half relieved. The other half is roasted cured fish...... Although this kind of pickled fish has to be dried for a few more days to be delicious, Qiu Chen has to rush home, and he can't wait, so he took a few baked pickled fish at noon that day, fried and braised them, and made several dishes.

After lunch, Qiu Chen asked Junwen Junshu to catch a car, and Qin Yong escorted him to Lao Tujia Village again. The method of baking and marinating dried fish was taught to Mrs. Liu and Da Ping Niang, and this time, a large vat of vegetable oil and twenty catties of white sugar were sent by car. He also left a fixed amount of ten taels of silver for Tu Dahai's family, and let them be responsible for collecting fish to make dried fish, and a month later, they would send someone to buy it.

It took four or five days to get out this time, and the children still have to go to class, so it's time for them to go back. So, the next day, with a few baskets of dried fish fillets and a lot of dried and fresh seafood, the family got on the boat and embarked on the return journey.

On this trip, the children were a little tanned, but much stronger. The main thing is that the children's previous signs of arrogance and squeamishness disappeared when they came back from a trip. After seeing so many poor fishermen's children, who were reluctant to eat even a piece of candy and drooled over a bowl of white rice, it also evoked memories of the previous poor days...... As a result, the children are less proud and impetuous, and more stable and composed. This result made Qiu Chen happy, and also made Pan Jiaqing, Qin Yong, Qin Li and others feel a lot of emotion.

Back in Anyang Mansion, Qiu Chen washed up and sat down on the kang, and Chunxiang, who stayed at home, brought her two brocade bags. A dark gray brocade bag Qiu Chen is very familiar, it is a newspaper that Zhishu will send to her every ten days. The other brocade bag was indigo, which Qiu Chen had never seen.

Chunxiang replied beside her: "The gray one was sent by Zhishu." Indigo is sent by frankincense. Along with this brocade bag, there was also a large box of things, and the slave and maid put it in the Westinghouse. ”

Frankincense? Liao Wenqing sent it?

According to the distance, at this time, Liao Wenqing and Yun Jichen should also arrive in the capital. I don't know if the establishment of the workshop in Beijing is going smoothly.

Qiu Chen nodded, waved his hand to let Chunxiang go down, took the indigo belt and opened it, and pulled a thick envelope from the brocade bag.

------Off topic------

If you have a cold or fever, you will have these first, and if you are better tomorrow morning, you will add more...... Before twelve o'clock!