The sunny weather ended at the end of April, and the rainy season began.

This kind of rain is several days in a row, sometimes big and sometimes small, and it is unpredictable. When the rain is heavy, the roof tiles crackle; When it rains, it is like silk, foggy, wet everywhere, and annoying. The literati and writers were very fond of this, and wrote many popular poems to praise it.

Every year before the Dragon Boat Festival, there will always be two or three days of downpour, the water level of the river rises rapidly, creating good site conditions for the dragon boat, the people call the dragon boat water, also called Duanyang water.

The rain was pouring down, and the water from the high places, mixed with fine sand, collected low, forming a torrent in the ditch. The water in the field was soon full, and the seedlings were swaying in the wind and struggling to support themselves.

When the rain is lighter, one person from each household will put on a coat and a hat, and carry a hoe to the field to release water, so that the seedlings will not be flooded.

Some people also go out with a basket and a bamboo basket to set up a barrier in the gutter. After half a day, you will harvest a lot of small fish of all kinds and take them home to add vegetables.

The water in the duck pond is shallow and deep, and the weather is semi-cloudy and sunny when the plum is ripe.

On this day, it was still raining heavily in the morning, but by noon, Tiangong gradually opened his eyes and generously sprinkled a few rays of sunshine from the clouds.

After lunch, Tao Yougui took out the fish dumplings made of old mosquito nets and took Tao Tianbao to net fish and shrimp in the small river next to the village.

The pomegranate flower sat at the door of the hall all morning and watched the rain rushing down from the eaves, and it was boring, and when she saw something interesting, she also carried the wooden barrel with her.

As soon as the heavy rain stopped, the sky was blue and deep, and the air was exceptionally fresh and refreshing.

When he came to the small river, Tao Yougui chose a bend in the river with a steady flow and prepared to go down.

This kind of fish is a penny, the front end of which is tied into a cross with a strip and hangs from the four corners of the net. When it is down, sprinkle some rice and bran cake in the net, and then put a pebble in it and sink it into the water, and after a while, you will get a lot of small fish and shrimp.

There are seven or eight fish dumplings brought today, Tao Yougui makes the bait, and Pomegranate Blossom and Tao Tianbao are responsible for putting them away, and put one at an interval.

Tao Tianbao is small and short, and the penny is long, so he can only pick it up with the strength of milk. When he reached the target position, he threw his hands out, and the end of the hanging net fell heavily into the river, and the end on the shore was cocked, almost hitting himself.

When the pomegranate saw it, she pressed her stomach and laughed.

"Hmph, I won't let it go, I'll let it all go for you." Tao Tianbao pouted unhappily and announced that he was on strike.

"I'll let it go." Of course, Pomegranate knew that Tao Tianbao was taking the opportunity to be lazy, but this method of netting fish and shrimp was novel and interesting, so she didn't want to be serious with the little kid.

Tao Tianbao looked proud and ran to Tao Yougui to play.

The pomegranate blossoms went back and forth several times, and finally put all the fish dumplings away.

At this time, another villager also came with the same tools.

The river can't pick up a dragon boat, but it can add a dish to the villagers' table.

Harvesting is a laborious job, Tao Yougui pulled up the earliest fish dumpling, and the pomegranate eyes suddenly lit up.

There are a lot of small shrimp in the net, and there are a lot of small fish, the larger ones are finger long, and the smaller ones are only a little bigger than the shrimps, and some varieties are not famous.

Tao Tianbao saw a big shrimp in the net and reached out to catch it, but he was stabbed on his finger by the shrimp horn, and he screamed in pain.

Tao Yougui laughed, "Son, it hurts!" Come, Daddy will give you a hoo-hoo. ”

Tao Tianbao immediately leaned over and raised the stabbed finger to his father: "Dad, it hurts so much, it's all bleeding." ”

"Well deserved." Pomegranate blossom gloated on the sidelines.

Tao Tianbao turned his head and glared at the pomegranate flower, "You can do it, you go catch it!" ”

"I'll catch it, I'll catch it, watch it." Pomegranate squatted down, picked up the fish and shrimp in the net with both hands and quickly put them into the wooden barrel.

Tao Tianbao puffed up and accused the pomegranate flower of cheating.

Pomegranate replied to Tao Tianbao: "You can come!" ”

Tao Tianbao's face was red with anger, he didn't want to be flattened by the pomegranate flower, and he was afraid of being pricked again, so he saw Tao Yougui go to the front to collect the net, and quickly slipped over.

The pomegranate continues to collect the fish and shrimp, and when the fish and shrimp in the net are cleaned, the fish and shrimp are put into the river.

There are a lot of fish and shrimp in the river, and a small half bucket was harvested in the middle of the afternoon, and seeing that the sky was gloomy again, Tao Yougui hurriedly collected the net and led his daughter home.

The fish and shrimp are poured into the big wooden basin, which is still alive and kicking, and the original ecology is pure natural and pollution-free.

Cao sorted the small fish and shrimp, brought a cutting board and kitchen knife, and prepared to gutt the small fish.

Use a knife to cut a small incision in the neck of the fish, pinch the belly of the fish with your thumb and index finger and squeeze it hard, and the intestines will come out of the mouth.

Pomegranate flowers also came to help, there are more small fish than small shrimp, and when half a pot of small fish is processed, it is time to make dinner.

Cao asked the pomegranate flower to go to the field to cut some leeks and come back, make leeks and fried small river shrimp for dinner, and keep the small fish to make fire-roasted fish.

Making fire-roasted fish is a delicate job, and it is slow and unhurried. After the small fish is processed, wash and drain the water, and marinate it with salt and cooking wine for more than an hour before proceeding to the next step.

When the pomegranate flowers cut the leeks and returned home, Cao had already pickled the small fish.

After dinner, Cao finished cleaning up the stove and began to roast fish in a pot.

In the process of baking fish, the movements should be gentle and the heat should be precise, just like firing a kiln, and you can't be in a hurry.

Cao was afraid that the pomegranate flowers would not burn well, so he let him watch and learn from the sidelines.

The fire-roasted fish pomegranate flower is a seemingly rough but very delicious peasant dish that I have tasted in my previous life, and now I have the opportunity to witness the process of roasting the fish, and I am very interested and very serious.

Cao took out a bottle of camellia oil that had been treasured for a long time, pulled out the firewood after the pot was hot, poured a small amount of oil into the pot, and then used a brush to evenly brush the oil to moisten the pot, and then put the marinated and drained small fish into the pot one by one, spread it straight and flat.

Roast slowly over low heat for a while, turn the fish over and remove the fire, continue to roast with residual heat, and the aroma of the fish will come to the nose as the water vapor volatilizes.

There are not many fish that can be made in one pot, and the residual heat in Cao's and other stoves is exhausted, and the temperature in the pot has cooled down, picking up the fish.

Not sticky, not rotten, not scorched, not dry, a bowl of gold.

Outside, a light rain was falling, and the rain was dripping from the eaves.

As Cao concentrated on roasting the third pot of fish, Pomegranate finally yawned.

"Go to sleep when you're sleepy, you won't be able to help you here anyway." Cao Shi looked up at the pomegranate flower and continued to flip the fish.

Pomegranate Hua's face was slightly red, but fortunately, the light was dim and not obvious, and she said embarrassedly: "Then mother, you bake the fish slowly, I'll go to sleep!" ”

"Go, go, go, this fish is almost done." Cao waved his hand impatiently.

The pomegranate flower is still growing, and it is normal to get sleepy easily. After returning to the room, I quickly fell asleep listening to the ticking sound.

The next morning, the rain stopped, but the sky was still gray, and the earth still had a gossamer of rain, and the humid air was coming out.

After breakfast, Cao Shi lifted the oiled paper on the top of the oven in the corner of the stove, picked out a bowl of small fish with golden color, bright scales, and smoky smell and put it aside, and put the rest away.

In this season, the food is easy to become rancid and moldy, and it is better to preserve the small fish that have been roasted at low temperature and then smoked over a dark fire.

Cao Shi handed the bowl of fire-roasted fish that was put away separately to the pomegranate flower, "Send it!" ”

The brainless sentence made the pomegranate look dazed and asked, "Where to send it?" ”

Cao Shi hated her and said angrily: "Don't you often run to the next courtyard?" It's going to be confusing. ”

The pomegranate flower was stunned for a moment, and then said with great joy: "Mother, you don't object to me associating with Hongdou Gu?" ”

Cao Shi snorted and said: "I don't know anything about the truth, but I know that I can't let the dog take away even the minimum conscience." Their mother and son have done their duty in the village all these years, and they have not done anything to be sorry for others, which is much better than those who gossip openly and make stumbling behind their backs. ”

Pomegranate nodded and blurted out: "They all say that you have no brains, it turns out that you are not stupid at all!" ”

Cao's suddenly went violent, "Dead girl, who is brainless?" If I don't beat you for three days, my skin is itchy, right? ”

Pomegranate hurriedly said goodbye.

Cao didn't really want to beat the pomegranate flowers, so he withdrew his raised hand and said lightly: "Ming'er is the Dragon Boat Festival, this fish is not a precious thing, but it can add a dish to them." ”

"Mother......" Pomegranate looked at Cao's family, and didn't know what to say for a while.

Cao waved his hand to let his daughter go quickly.

The pomegranate flower arrived at the door of the next courtyard, knocked on the door, and shouted with a bright voice: "Freshly baked fire-roasted fish, delivered to the door, free to taste, not delicious and no money, come and buy it!" ”

The door opened quickly, but it wasn't Dow who answered the door.

The scholar stood inside the door, his eyes shining, and he smiled softly.

Liuhua was stunned, feeling that her childish behavior just now was a little embarrassing, she smiled awkwardly and asked, "Why are you at home today?" ”

"Let's talk about it first!" The scholar stepped aside and invited the pomegranate flower into the courtyard.

Pomegranate stepped into the courtyard gate, looked left and right and didn't find Tao, so she asked the scholar: "Auntie, what are you doing?" ”

The scholar closed the courtyard door, turned around and said with a smile: "Mother is picking up zongzi in the stove room, I started cooking it yesterday, and I covered it all night, I should be able to eat it now, you came just in time." ”

Tao heard the sound of talking and came out of the stove room, holding a dustpan of zongzi in his hand, and beckoned to pomegranate flowers: "Pomegranate flowers come into the house, the zongzi that has just come out of the pot, come and taste fresh." ”

"Whoa." Pomegranate agreed.

The scholar walked in with the pomegranate flower, and he told the pomegranate flower that because some students had a long way to go, the academy had been on the Dragon Boat Festival holiday since the end of last month, and he would only go back to the academy after the holiday.

Pomegranate Hua listened to the bitterness in her heart, it has been raining since the end of last month, she only came out of the threshold yesterday, otherwise how could she have such a big appearance just now.

When she entered the house, Pomegranate put the bowl containing the fire-roasted fish on the table, and said to Tao: "Auntie, this is the fire-roasted fish that my mother just made, and I specially asked me to bring it to you to taste." ”

When Dow heard that the pomegranate flower said that the fish was brought by Cao's family, he was surprised at first, and then smiled and said, "Yo, this thing is difficult to make, it takes time and energy, why don't you keep it for yourself?" ”

"I still have a home, I have left it." Pomegranate also smiled.

"Then I'm welcome, you can bring some zongzi back in a while, thank you for me." Tao smiled and took a zongzi and handed it to the pomegranate flower.

Pomegranate Hua took it and thanked her, peeled off the palm leaves wrapped outside, and found that the zongzi was filled with eight treasures, which contained red beans, mung beans, dates, lotus seeds and other ingredients.

The zongzi bun is small and exquisite, and it can be eaten in two or three bites.