"Mother, mother! Look, my brother and I caught a lot of fish, a lot of fish! ”

Before she could reach her own land, the little girl Sui'er began to scream, eager to show off her "results" to her mother, as if she had caught all these fish.

Zhang Li was weeding in the field, and when he heard his daughter's shout, he looked back and saw that his son and daughter were laboriously carrying a wet and dripping basket, waving to him.

So he hurriedly put down the stone hoe in his hand, walked quickly to the two of them, looked at the strange-looking basket that the two were carrying, and asked with a little curiosity: "This is the fish cage made by Ah Ran?" Can this thing catch fish? ”

"No, we've caught more fish this time than we did yesterday!" The little girl proudly raised her chin, grabbed the edge of the basket with one hand, and opened the branches above the basket with the other, and showed to her mother: "Look, Auntie, we have caught more than a dozen fish this time, as well as a lot of shrimp and crabs!" ”

"How can there be so many?" Zhang Li was stunned, lowered his head and looked at the black and lively fish and shrimp in the basket, and couldn't help covering his mouth, revealing an unbelievable look.

"Hehe..." Zhang Ran was slightly proud when he saw his mother so shocked, and explained with a smile: "I heard that the fish are more active at night than during the day, and our fish cage is placed for a longer time than during the day, plus in the dead of night and no one disturbs the shore, it is easier for the fish to be hooked." That's why I caught so many fish this night! ”

After thinking about it, Zhang Ran added: "Don't look at the lot of fish in this basket, in fact, it's not a big deal." Mother, think about it, in our Qingshui River over the years, in addition to the occasional person going into the water to touch a few fish and fight tooth sacrifices, can there be fishermen fishing? Not at all!

Because no one fishes, so the fish resources are relatively rich, we are the first to do trap fishing, at the beginning of the catch more is also a matter of course, after a long time may not be such a big harvest. ”

"I see!" After listening to Zhang Ran's explanation, Zhang Li was a little stunned, looked down at the fish and shrimp in the basket, and couldn't help blurting out: "What are you going to do with these fish?" ”

"How?" Zhang Ran thought for a moment and replied: "I plan to carry it home with Sui'er, and then raise it with clean water, so that the fish can live for a while longer, enough to be eaten at night!" ”

"Hmm!" Zhang Li nodded and agreed: "You should raise it as soon as possible, otherwise it would be a pity if so many fish died!" Ran'er, you and your sister should go home first! I'll just do the work in the fields! ”

"Alright! Then let's go and go back! ”

Zhang Ran nodded obediently.

Then, he said goodbye to his mother for a while, and took his sister along the path and returned home.

After arriving home, Zhang Ran used the big vat to hold water, picked out the shrimp and crabs in the basket and put them in two clay pots and covered them with wooden lids, and then poured all the fish in the basket into the jar...

After dealing with these fish and shrimp, Zhang Ran kept going, took his sister together, carried the basket and returned the same way, and went straight to the Qingshui River.

After arriving at the river, Zhang Ran found a slightly calmer body of water, and after sinking the basket with some fish entrails into the river, he rushed back to the field to help his mother weed together.

This back and forth tossing can make Zhang Ran tired enough. Therefore, when Zhang Ran returned to the field, he did not immediately put himself into work, but rested for more than ten minutes before picking up a hoe and walking into the field.

The painful experience of yesterday made Zhang Ran know that the seemingly simple weeding work is not as easy as he imagined.

And how weak Zhang Ran's own body is, he knows better than anyone else. So today, Zhang Ran didn't recklessly compete with anyone, but strictly controlled the time of work, and took a break of more than ten minutes every one or two hours.

In addition to the grass in the field for more than a day, Zhang Ran gradually found some tips for exerting and receiving, and corrected the original "uncoordinated" posture, by waving the hoe, the movement was much smoother than yesterday.

But despite this, his mother Zhang Li was still worried that Zhang Ran's body was too weak, lest he faint again, so she would look back at Zhang Ran's situation from time to time, and sometimes even put down her hoe, walked to Zhang Ran's side and asked a few words carefully, telling him not to just focus on work, if he is tired, he must rest in time.

Under his mother's earnest care and close attention, until the sun set in the west, and when it was approaching evening, Zhang Ran did not feel too tired and successfully completed today's weeding work.

As the sun sets, the afterglow of the setting sun shines on the earth, shining a piece of gold on the slightly dark face of his mother Zhang Li, looking at it from a distance, as if the whole person exudes a trace of divine brilliance. Seeing this scene, Zhang Ran's heart trembled slightly, and he couldn't help but be stunned.

Perhaps noticing Zhang Ran's gaze, Zhang Li turned his head, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said with a gentle smile: "It's not too early, Ran'er, let's pack up and prepare to go back!" ”

"Hmm!" Zhang Ran nodded lightly, gathered the weeds cut down from the stone hoe under his feet, and then bent down to pick them up one by one and put them into the basket beside his mother.

Then, Zhang Ran bent down to help his mother and sister collect all the weeds left in the field and put them into the basket. It wasn't until there was no trace of green in the field except for the seedlings that he picked up the stone hoe and walked out of the field with his mother and sister carrying the basket.

After carrying a whole basket of weeds to the side of the path at the edge of the field, the mother and son each grabbed a corner of the basket and worked together to remove all the weeds.

Looking at the hill made of weeds in front of him, Zhang Ran patted the dust on his hands and body quite satisfied, and then said with a long sigh of relief: "It's finally done, you can go home for dinner!" ”

With a bit of joy, Zhang Ran hummed a minor tune that he couldn't understand, while carrying the basket, and beckoned to his sister who had a dirty face and was covered with mud: "Go, Sui'er, go home!" ”

"Hmm!" Hearing Zhang Ran's call, Xiao Sui'er nodded happily, jumped three or two steps to Zhang Ran's side, tilted her head, looked at Zhang Ran with a little expectation and said, "Brother, are we still eating grilled fish tonight?" ”

"Of course!" Zhang Ran bent down, carefully patted the dust on Sui'er's body, and then pinched the little guy's red cheek, and said dotingly: "We can not only eat grilled fish tonight, but also eat crabs!" When you go back, my brother will make you steamed crabs to eat, okay? ”

"I don't want to eat crabs!" Xiao Sui'er twisted her body, angrily slapped away Zhang Ran's evil hand, and said with disgust on her little face: "The crab looks so ugly, and there is no meat on it, and it is all hard shell, it is not delicious at first glance!" I don't eat crabs, I eat fish! ”

"Uh" Zhang Ran smiled dumbly, straightened his waist at the same time, and grabbed the hoe in Sui'er's hand, and then carried his hoe and his sister's on his shoulder, turned around and smiled: "Okay, you eat fish at night, and I eat crabs myself!" I can tell you! Crabs are much better than grilled fish, especially the pair of crab tongs, after steaming, break open... Hey, it's full of meat..."

"Really?" The little girl's eyes lit up, and she couldn't help biting her lip, fantasizing about what crab claws full of meat should look like...

"Huh.." Seeing this, Zhang Ran couldn't help but be defeated by the little girl's serious thinking, couldn't control herself, and couldn't help laughing.

Hearing the laughter, Zhang Sui'er woke up suddenly, and when she looked up, she saw her brother with a smile on his face and a little ridiculous, and suddenly felt a deep malice, and couldn't help but say with a dark face: "Hmph! I don't believe it! What's so delicious with crab claws, I'm going to eat fish! ”

Zhang Ran shrugged and said, "Okay, you eat fish, I eat crabs, don't regret it when the time comes!" ”

"Whoever repents is a puppy! Hum! ”

Zhang Sui'er frowned coldly, glanced at his brother who was full of strange smiles and had been "broken" with disdain, and turned his head arrogantly, not wanting to pay attention to him.

"It's getting dark, you two don't play, come back with me!"

As soon as his mother Zhang Li gave the order, Zhang Ran and his sister Zhang Sui'er immediately became honest, obediently picked up the basket, picked up the hoe, followed behind their mother, and walked slowly in the direction where Zhang Li was.