The winter vacation passed boringly day by day in the sea of books. Occasionally, Jin Ling went downstairs to buy MSG for her mother's soy sauce, and when she met her classmates in the alley, she realized that everyone's life was like this, and no one was happier than anyone else.

Jin Yiming went on a business trip. A township enterprise in northern Jiangsu encountered difficulties in the production of ingredients, and made a special trip to the school to ask expert Jin Yiming to help solve it. Huizi has some opinions on this, saying that she refuses to stay at home when the New Year is approaching, and agrees to help Jin Ling fully tutor mathematics during the winter vacation, which is good, the whole winter vacation is not a meeting of the research group or a graduate student to talk about literature, and now he is on a business trip to northern Jiangsu, and Jin Ling's mathematics book has not turned two pages in total.

Jin Ling was quite happy. The sixth-grade textbook is already a little difficult for Huizi, who graduated from the liberal arts, and the calculation questions can be understood with the help of a calculator, but the application questions are quite difficult. So as soon as Dad left, no one corrected the right or wrong of the homework, and Jin Ling was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.

The magazine does not have a winter break, and Huizi's work does not end until the thirtieth day of the Chinese New Year's Eve, although before that time it is a symbolic place to go to work. Because of this, Jin Ling didn't dare to peek at TV when she was home alone, beware that her mother would suddenly come home from work early. Mom's detective methods are very powerful, that is, when she goes home, she often touches the back shell of the TV, if the back shell is hot, it means that Jin Ling watched TV, but she turned off the TV the moment she entered the door. Jin Lingting complained to those who designed TV sets, thinking that they were too stupid and didn't think about the majority of children in China at all.

Of course, there are still happy days, and it will always appear when Jin Ling is not mentally prepared.

One afternoon, my mother had come back from work, and she was busy packing up the New Year's goods that had just been sent out in the unit, sorting them into categories, some hanging them on the balcony, some temporarily storing them in the refrigerator, and some immediately scrubbing the pot. Every year before the Chinese New Year, the refrigerator at home is always full, close to overload, so that my mother is determined to change to a large-capacity latest product. However, as soon as the Spring Festival is over, the refrigerator begins to "diarrhea", and soon all the storage is emptied, and then it is quite empty waiting for the next year. At this time, my mother's determination disappeared, and I didn't mention the old words of changing the refrigerator.

That afternoon, the unit was divided into frozen hairtail fish. Of all the fish food, Jin Ling's least favorite thing is this kind of silver shiny strips, especially those that are frozen, especially those distributed in the unit during the Chinese New Year. Because they are invariably stale, when the mother washes the fish and throws it into the pan, the room will be filled with the smell of stinky sea fish. The funny thing is that if you go downstairs and walk around the alley at this time, you will smell this pungent smell wafting from the kitchen of every house.

Wearing an apron and carrying a pair of wet, silver-stained hands, my mother shouted at the golden bells: "Come and pour me some hot water!" ”

Jin Ling put down the mechanical pencil and ran into the kitchen, pinching his nose to carry the hot water bottle. Hui Zi said: "Forget it, don't make this delicate look like Lin Daiyu, the fish will be fried later, and you will cook it with ingredients, you can eat harder than anyone else." ”

Jin Ling was a little embarrassed and put down the hand covering her nose.

Jin Ling opened the cap of the thermos and poured water into the basin where the fish was washed. Hui Zi yelled, "Don't pour it on the fish!" But it was too late, and the boiling hot water had already scalded some of the frozen fish to the point that the skin was open.

Mom nagged, "I really can't do anything at all." Once upon a time when I was your age......"

Next, my mother should talk about what she would do when she was a child, how smart her heart was, and how skillful her hands were. Don't listen. The problem is not that Jin Ling is not skillful, but that she has no chance to try to do what girls like to do. Every time Jin Ling offered to help her mother share the housework, her mother replied to her with one sentence: "You don't care about these things, your task is to study, just get your grades up." Jin Ling had no choice but to quickly return to the desk.

At this moment, my mother's words had just begun, and the doorbell rang. What a life-saving ringtone! Jin Ling rushed to open the door. Mom hurriedly shouted in the back: "Let's see who it is first!" Don't let the living in! ”

As soon as the door opened, Jin Ling was dumbfounded: standing outside the door was neither an acquaintance nor a living person, but a big silver fish that was slightly taller than her! The body of the fish was thicker than his father's thighs, his head was like a big steamed bun, his tail was fan-shaped and hung on the ground, the scales of his body were as big as the mouth of a teacup, his two eyes were golden like a baby's fist, and there was a reddish circle outside his eyelids, and his crystal eyes stared at Jin Ling with longing, looking like a thoughtful wise man.

Mom asked in the kitchen, "Who is it?" Who's coming? ”

Jin Ling opened her mouth, she didn't know what to answer, she couldn't say: "It's the big fish coming." ”

Mom couldn't wait for Jin Ling's answer, and came out of the kitchen with her wet hands. It is said that during this period before the Chinese New Year, there were many criminals in the society, and cases of burglary and robbery occurred frequently.

When my mother saw the big fish blocking the door, she was also dumbfounded. She turned her head and stammered to Jin Ling, "This...... This one...... What day is it? ”

What she actually wants to ask is: Is today "April Fool's Day"? How could anyone make such a joke?

At this time, there was an urn sound behind the big fish: "May I ask if this is Teacher Jin's home?" ”

Hui Zi hurriedly replied, "Yes, yes." ”

The voice said, "Oh, I'm not wrong. ”

Then the body of the fish flashed to the side, revealing two sweaty young men behind it. Their padded jackets were so hot that they were open, and the hair on their foreheads was wet and sticky. The big fish, which was taller than the golden bell, turned out to be carried on their shoulders with a wooden stick as thick as an arm's thick. Probably because they were tired, without waiting for Hui Zi to speak, the two of them couldn't wait to carry the big fish to the door, rushed straight into the kitchen, saw that the small space could not accommodate the behemoth on their shoulders, and then turned around and ran to the bathroom on the side, immediately unloaded the burden, and put the fish into the bathtub. The bathtub wasn't big enough, and the fish had to bend over it, its head and tail cocked in the air.

In a panic, Hui Zi followed them into the kitchen first, and then into the bathroom, and continued to ask in a stammering voice, "This...... This one...... You guys...... We ......"

A young man in a purple sweater brushed his sweaty hair from his forehead and said with a smile: "This fish is for Mr. Jin to eat for the New Year." ”

Hui Zi was still puzzled: "But I don't know you......"

The young man in the purple sweater replied, "It's okay, Mr. Jin knows, you will know it as soon as you tell him." ”

Hui Zi was still not at ease: "How can it be?" It's a big fish, and it costs hundreds of dollars to buy it......"

The young man laughed: "Countryman, what to buy?" The township reservoir hit. Mr. Jin took graduate students to our township for internship last year, and helped our township-run enterprises solve big problems. ”

When Huizi heard this, she was completely relieved, hurriedly wiped her hands on her apron, made tea, and asked Jin Ling to get the melon seed candy prepared for the New Year. But the two young men refused to sit down, saying that there was a car waiting downstairs, and that they had to rush back to the village that day, so they carried the thick wooden sticks that carried the fish and left.

As soon as the fish delivery man went out, Jin Ling jumped up in the room and cheered loudly: "Long live Dad!" Such a big fish! It's an amazing king fish! She ran to the bathroom, slapped the sturdy body of the fish with her hand, stretched out another finger to touch the fish's eyes, and tried to put the whole fist into the fish's mouth, as if she was excited. She thought that this must be a unique big fish in the city, whether it was Zhang Lingling's family or Yu Fat'er's family in the class, no one would give them such a big fish. When school started, she was going to tell the class about it, and she finally had something to show off.

Huizi looked at Jin Ling's happy face, and lost no time in educating her, "Do you see it now?" Knowledge and culture are still useful, there are people in the official's family who give gifts, and my father can be respected by virtue of his knowledge, and he is ...... in the world."

Jin Ling interrupted her mother: "What are you going to do with this fish?" ”

This question was so timely that Hui Zi closed her mouth and began to think about how to deal with the problem of the big fish. Hui Zi estimated that the fish weighed sixty or seventy pounds, and a family of three would not be able to eat it during the Spring Festival no matter what. Put it in the refrigerator in its entirety, unless it's as big as an ice freezer. Then there is only one way: dissect - divide the fish into pieces, then give some to relatives and friends, and slowly digest the rest at home.

Hui Zi went to the kitchen to get the fastest kitchen knife, stood on the edge of the bathtub and looked at the big fish for a long time, and decided to start from the neck of the fish and cut off its big head first.

Jin Ling thought happily in her heart: Fortunately, this fish has been dead for a long time, otherwise it can't stand the pain of cutting off its head, and she can't stand it. The fish's pain is in the body, and her pain is in the heart.

When Hui Zi cut the head of the fish, she realized that she had underestimated her strength and the solidity of the scales. The scales of a copper coin were almost harder than copper coins, and the sharp blade slid lightly across the scales, leaving only a shallow white cut at most. The blade couldn't penetrate deep into the fish's body, and Hui Zibai used half a day's strength. Jin Ling volunteered: "I'll come!" ”

Of course, this is equivalent to saying it in vain, and the golden bell was cut and chopped, making the tip of the nose sweat, and the fish was as if nothing had happened.

Hui Zi said: "The people who deliver the fish should really consider the difficulty of killing the fish. I'd rather have a few smaller ones. ”

Jin Ling suddenly thought of an idea and said, "Didn't there be an advertisement in the newspaper?" 'If you have something, please call 110, and the patrol comrades will solve your problems'. Let's call the police on 110. ”

Hui Zi said, "Please ask the patrol to help kill the fish?" It's ridiculous. ”

But Jin Ling's words still reminded Hui Zi, she remembered that Jin Ling's grandmother had an axe specially used to chop ribs, so she quickly washed her hands and called her grandmother for help. Fortunately, the two families were very close, and within 10 minutes of putting down the phone, my grandmother had already arrived panting with an axe.

Grandma said, "It's funny, people have asked me what I'm doing with an axe all the way, thinking that there are robbers from my house." ”

Grandma is old, but her strength is not small, and she is more experienced than Hui Zi, and with the addition of a sharp axe and a quick knife as a weapon, things will immediately become much easier. She first used an electrician's screwdriver to pick up the scales of the mouth of a teacup, then slashed into the back of the fish with an axe, and deftly detoured to the joints when it hit the backbone, and finally slashed off a large fish head.

The head of the fish is abruptly separated from the body of the fish, and the viscous fish blood gushes out. A thick smell of blood rushed out, making Jin Ling sneeze. She saw the golden fish roe, snow-white fish oil, colorful fish belly intestines, and bright red heart and liver as the blood slowly gushed out of the incision, and she felt terrified, dizzy and nauseous, and turned to escape from the bathroom. Sitting outside and thinking, I can't help but look at it, it's a pity not to look at it. She stood at the door of the bathroom, covering her nose and breathing only through her mouth, her eyes narrowed, peeking through the cracks in her eyes.

Hui Zi and Grandma Jin Ling worked together, chopping and chopping, and finally broke down a big fish into pieces. On the walls and on the flush toilet, there was sticky fish blood splattered everywhere. Grandma and Hui Zi had 4 bright red and bloody hands, and they were so tired that they couldn't turn on the faucet to rinse. Grandma slumped on the toilet seat, stating that she had to take a break to clean up the "battlefield". Hui Zi said with a sad face: "Then you go out first, and I'll clean up." Otherwise, someone would have come and think that someone had died in our house. ”

Grandma went out to the kitchen to wash her hands and sit down to catch her breath. Huizi was busy in the bathroom alone, first washing the floor with water, and then mopping with a mop, smelling or smelling blood, simply washing it with a basin, squatting down and wiping every tile gap. After finishing the probe, I looked into the bathtub again, and the fish pieces were piled up in a jar, and the white raw fish meat bulged out from every incision, sandwiched with thin bright red blood, and I felt that my stomach was very full when I looked at it, and I had no desire to cook it to eat.

Hui Zi said worriedly: "What should I do? These fish nuggets? ”

Grandma was very simply: "Send!" The neighbors in the building sent one piece each, and then called Jin Ling and her aunt to pick it up. You stuff the rest in the refrigerator, and if you can't stuff it, I'll take it home and marinate it. ”

Grandma lives like a general, and her command is quite a bit of a vigorous and resolute military style.

Jin Ling became active at this time, and took the initiative to apply for the task of delivering fish to the neighbors. Of course, what she was expecting was a surprise or admiration from her neighbors. She went door to door and explained with a smile: "This is my father's big fish." ”

That night, Jin Ling had a dream, and she dreamed that a huge whale was pressing on her body, her body was cold and cold, and the taste in her mouth was so foul that she couldn't struggle and couldn't breathe. She called out to her mother in horror, and felt that her throat was also stuck, and she couldn't make any sound. She was so anxious that she was sweating and woke up, it turned out to be a dream, it was she who inadvertently put her hand on her chest while sleeping.

Throughout the Spring Festival, and throughout the spring after the Spring Festival, Jin Ling's home was always filled with the fragrance of roasted fish. Braised and fried, minced to make fish balls and fish cakes, sweet and sour fish, watercress fish, sauerkraut fish, fish soup hot pot...... After eating it, Jin Ling was disgusted when he saw the fish. After that, until Jin Ling's graduation exam, Huizi never bought any other fish at home, in her words: "It's just scared." ”

Therefore, Jin Ling summed up a profound truth: it is not a good thing to be too rich in materials, and it is the best reality to always have expectations for the future.