"Dongzhu, you go wash the dishes, and you pickle the fish with me." Haizhu said.

"I'm here to help, too." Mrs. Bei rolled up her sleeves.

Grandma Qi didn't let her get it, it made a fishy smell, and the girl was embarrassed when she held the child.

The fish was salted and pressed in a basket with a slate, Haizhu pushed the cart and took the whole family out to cut the green thatch, and Qi Laosan pushed his second brother out to let it go.

A busy day is half a day, in the evening pushing a cart of green grass and mugwort back, Qi Grandma went to the street to buy zongzi and duck eggs, when she came back to meet her own mother, she was just about to make a noise to leave a guest, the gray-haired old lady ran away with a smoke, two old legs than Chaoping's monkey legs are sharper.

Chapter 169: I Miss You

Dumplings, duck eggs and garlic are thrown into the pot to cook, Fengping sits under the stove and burns the fire, everyone else sits in the yard to rest, the heat gradually fades, the sea breeze is blowing, the head is a gorgeous red glow, Haizhu leans on a chair and looks up at the birds flying by, leisurely counting the birds.

"Here, hold your little sister." Qi Laosan handed the child over and said, "I'll go and pull a few buckets of seawater back to wash the fish." ”

Haizhu hurriedly took it and asked nervously, "She won't cry when you leave, right?" ”

"Just coax when you cry." Qi Laosan shook his hands away, he pushed the wooden cart and carried the empty bucket out of the house.

Haizhu lowered her head, facing the bright eyes of Shangxingzhu, the child's eyes were clear and innocent, She flicked her tongue and teased, The swaddling child curled the corners of her mouth, she said excitedly: "Isn't this also very good, why is it unreasonable when you lose your temper?" Scared your grandmother away. ”

Dongzhu came over and made a grimace to tease her, and said, "Crying bag, everyone in the alley knows that you love to cry." ”

"Let me hold it for a while." Chaoping ran over, and he raised his arm in a good manner, urging, "Come, give me a hug." ”

"Help your brother to light the fire, and when the third uncle comes back, you will hug it again, and someone will coax you to cry." Haizhu was blunt.

Second Uncle Qi, with Xingzhu, it is more useful for the third child.

The gray cat came in from the outside, it curled its neck and stared behind the door, Dongzhu thought there was something outside, and when she walked out of the door, she saw that it was the people in the alley who were preparing to go to the sea with a guy.

"Have you eaten? Go to the beach to catch the sea, it's a big tide today, maybe you can pick up a big cargo. "Said something passing by.

"We haven't eaten yet, we're going to smoke fish tonight, and we're not going to catch the sea." Dongzhu said.

"Want to smoke fish? No wonder so many green grasses were cut. ”

The sound of talking outside the door made Xingzhu frown again, and Haizhu picked her up and walked around the yard, saying, "Aren't you happy again?" Don't cry yet, you'll cry when your dad comes back. You are like our cat, from time to time in the alley, when you go to someone's house to ask for fish to eat, you are bold, let people touch it, here there is a passerby, it is like frightened, for fear that others will come in and beat it, alas, it makes people scratch their heads. You say, don't you? Oh, laughing again, who's laughing with you? ”

"Yes, it's all coaxed like this, some people are accompanying and talking, some people are laughing with it, it's me and I don't want to lie on the bed dryly." Grandma Qi snorted: "The child is the best at looking at the face, frowning and hugging, coaxing when crying, she will also pinch people." ”

"You tell my third uncle to go." Haizhu didn't listen.

"I don't tell him."

"Then don't say it, my third uncle is willing to be pinched by his daughter, he is tired and tired, and he has never lost his temper, you say that these are not annoying?" Haizhu said bluntly.

"I can't say it yet? Do you think I'm verbose? Grandma Qi muttered, "If you don't say it, you won't say it, and I don't have an itchy mouth." ”

Second Uncle Qi sat aside and combed the cat, and Chaoping took the combed hair and threw it into the fire, and he turned a deaf ear to the words of the grandfather and grandson.

The glow in the sky dissipated, the zongzi in the pot were cooked, Qi Laosan also came back from fetching water, and picked up a few dead fish and came back to feed the old turtle.

Salted fish smeared with salt pressed out of the mucus in the basket, and one by one they were taken out and thrown into the bucket to wash away the salt particles and salty mucus with seawater. It was only marinated for two hours, and the fish just had a salty taste, if it was rinsed with fresh water, the skin of the smoked fish was light and easy to spoil, and it was just right with seawater, and the coarse salt washed it off, and the salty taste was still there.

After Haizhu sent Xingzhu back to feed, she and Dongzhu carried the table out of the house, and the family sat in the alley outside the gate to eat.

The other two white cats returned, went around under the table and went straight into the yard, and the three cats crouched under the hanging fish and circled.

Chaoping bit the zongzi and came in Mimi called, he broke the zongzi to feed the cat, and whispered: "You can't steal the fish, let the milk see it and beat you with a broom." ”

"Leave them alone, you come over and have a good meal, they all come back after eating outside." Grandma Qi shouted, "If you don't eat honestly, I'll beat you on the head with a broom." ”

The tide was silent.

A crescent moon rose, the moonlight was hazy, the light and shadow in the alley were dim, the zongzi on the table entered the stomach one by one, Dongzhu and Fengping quietly broke the salted duck eggs, and the two ate the oily egg yolk in one bite, and the salty egg whites were secretly thrown away.

After eating a meal, Grandma Qi took the chopsticks and went in to wash, the dinner was simple, only the chopsticks and the rice basket containing the zongzi had to be washed, and the pot was washed by the way.

Qi Laosan went back to take a look, Xingzhu ate milk and fell asleep, he put the zongzi and duck eggs on the table, and said to Bei Niang: "I locked the door from the outside, and I will push the cart to smoke fish in a place with few people later, so as not to smoke too much and make the neighborhood sleep badly." ”

Bei Niang nodded, it was almost confinement, she felt that her body had recovered, she had no problem sitting up, and she could hold the child.

In order to smoke the fish, Grandma Qi and Haizhu Dongzhu had to go out, Fengping and Chaoping stayed at home, and Second Uncle Qi did not go.

"There's hot water in the pot, Fengping, you and Chaoping washed and slept first, and I locked the door from the outside." Haizhu said.

Feng Ping obediently responded, and when the footsteps and the sound of the car were far away, he tiptoed to hold the deadbolt and fell from the inside, so that even if someone picked the lock from the outside, he couldn't open the door.

"Second uncle, I'll give you a bath with Chaoping tonight?" He ran over and said.

Second Uncle Qi touched his head and said, "When you are bigger, when Chaoping is bigger, when you two can pick me up together, I will toss you as you like." ”

"Isn't it a toss?"

"Okay, I said it wrong, you want to do your filial piety."

Feng Ping was satisfied, he went into the house and brought a wooden basin out to put it at the feet of the second uncle, and then took a handful of mugwort from the wall of the warehouse and broke it and threw it into a clay pot, and lit the smoked insects with a fire fold.

White smoke rose from the yard, Haizhu also lit a fire, Qi Laosan dug a row of long ditches, first burned the fire with dry wood and charcoal, the flames soared and spread a layer of green grass to cover the smoke, and then set up a bamboo pole on the long ditch, and the fish rack was smoked on the bamboo pole through a layer of green grass smoke.

The beach by the sea was shining with a little light, and the people who were rushing to the sea had not yet dispersed, and the sound of speech was faintly wafting over, and occasionally a few words could be heard.

Haizhu and Dongzhu pulled a handful of green grass and sat on the ground to blow the sea breeze, there is no house to cover this side, the strength of the wind is not as gentle as the wind in the alley, mosquitoes can't flap their wings in the fierce wind, and naturally can't suck blood around people.

"When the fish is smoked, I'm going to Fucheng." Haizhu said.

"If you want to go, you can go tomorrow, and we will smoke the fish without you being there." Grandma Qi pulled the mugwort and threw it on the fire, and said, "Smoke one tonight, go back and hang it under the eaves to dry, take it down and smoke it again tomorrow morning, and then hang it in the yard to dry for an hour or two in the evening, and then light a fire and smoke it again at night or the next day, and after it is smoked and dried overnight, you can wrap it in oiled paper and put it in the jar." I still know this, when I was a girl, I was not afraid of trouble, but I was too lazy to bother thinking about it when I got married and had children. ”

"Married ......," Haizhu sighed.

"What do you sigh for? The family you want to marry doesn't need you to cook, wash the dishes, and take care of the children's laundry, then it will only be more leisurely than at home, and you will have more time to toss. Grandma Qi's voice rose again.

"Okay." Haizhu retracted her unfinished sigh.

The moon rises higher and higher, and the people who catch the sea come back, passing by in groups, and most of them come to take a look.

"Smoked fish with green grass? It's a nuisance. A barefoot old woman said.

"It's not light." Grandma Qi answered.

"Before leaving, remember to extinguish the fire in the pit, the wind is strong, and the sparks will float out and fall on the roof of someone's house, and it will catch fire." Someone advised.

"Hey, I know, uncle, don't worry." Haizhu answered, "We have brought the buckets." ”

"That's fine." The man who spoke saw Qi Laosan, and swallowed the advice that came to his lips again, there were guards patrolling at night, but it was not completely without danger.

There were fewer and fewer people on the beach, and after a while the sound of the door opening and closing, it was quiet, and the guards on duty on the pier patrolled along the beach with lanterns, driving away those who had not yet returned to pack up their belongings and go back.

As the patrol farther and farther away, the light from the lantern became weaker and weaker, until it turned back when it was almost gone.

Qi Laosan and Grandma Qi's hands were rough and scaldant, and the two were busy picking up the smoked fish and putting them in a clean basket, while Haizhu and Dongzhu carried the fish that still had residual water and put it on the bamboo rack.

"Why do you come out at night to smoke fish?" The patrolling guards approached.

"It's cool at night, it's too hot during the day, and I can't stand it when I squat in the sun." Haizhu answered, and she took the initiative to say: "After smoking the fish, we will carry water to extinguish the fire." ”

"It's you, it's you, we're relieved." The leader recognized the person, waved his hand and said, "It's time to go home and sleep." ”

The patrol guards changed again, and Haizhu stood in the night watching the sea, thinking that such a day would be really good.

After the last ten fish were smoked, there was nothing else on the beach except the sound of the waves and the wind, Qi Laosan went to the beach to carry water, and looked at it from a distance, there was still light on the dock, and according to the direction in his memory, the brightest lantern should be hung on the grass pavilion.

The fire was extinguished, and before leaving, Haizhu and Dongzhu kicked the excavated soil and sand to fill the pit to ensure that it would not rekindle, and a group of four people pushed the cart back.

There was still movement in the stone houses outside the town, and people who had returned from the sea were collecting their catches, and some people were opening the doors and coming out when they heard the sound of wheels. The more you go into the town, the quieter it becomes, the coolest night is the best sleep, and those who don't worry about their livelihood have already fallen asleep.

"It's my sister who is back." Feng Ping slipped off the chair when he heard the sound of the wheel, and he ran to the door and deliberately asked, "Who is it?" ”

"You haven't slept yet?" Haizhu took out the key to unlock the lock.

Feng Ping pulled the door bolt from the inside and said, "I'll go to sleep when you come back, and I'll talk to my second uncle." ”

"Has your little sister ever cried?" Qi Laosan asked as soon as he entered the door.

"I cried a few times and then I didn't cry." Second Uncle Qi said, "It's okay, it's good tonight." ”

"There is hot water in the pot, I want to bathe my second uncle, but he won't let me." Fengping is half an invitation and half a complaint.

"When you grow to my height, he will let you go, go back to the house and sleep, and if you sleep late, you won't grow tall." Qi Laosan picked up Fengping and sent him back to the house, this child is careful and worried.

Grandma Qi took her two granddaughters to hang fish, and when she saw the third child coming out, she asked him to bathe the second child first, and there was nothing for him here.

Fifty fish were hanging under the eaves, and the yard wafted with a faint smell of fireworks, mixed with a faint smell of grass.

"I'll go back, Haizhu, you come and close the door." Qi Laosan shouted.

Haizhu dropped the deadbolt and went into the kitchen to scoop water and take a bath.

Another fulfilling day has passed.

……

After breakfast the next day, Haizhu went around the house, hugged Xingzhu again, greeted Bei Niang, and then went to the dock to take a boat.

"It's gone, and there will be no boat for a while." Qi Laosan said.

Dongzhu and Fengping have already gone out to set up a stall, and the sisters and brothers are no longer as anxious as before whenever Haizhu wants to go out, they still rely on her, but they don't rely on her anymore.

Haizhu passed by the street and saw that Dongzhu and Fengping were busy, so she didn't bother and walked over directly. When she arrived at the dock, there was a boat to leave, she ran over quickly, and when she got on the boat, she heard someone calling her, and she looked over and found that it was Yu Laishun.

"Uncle Yu, are you going back to your hometown? It's almost forbidden to the sea, can you still rush back? She asked.

"I haven't been back for half a year, and this side is not suitable for business when the sea is forbidden, so I just went back to accompany my wife." Yu Laishun gave up the bench for Haizhu to sit on, and he sat directly on the board.

"Are you going to Fucheng?" He asked.

"Yes." Haizhu nodded.

Yu Laishun was silent for a moment, then turned his head and talked about his life, he couldn't get a father in front of Haizhu, so he naturally didn't interfere with her family affairs, so as not to make his face ugly.

At noon, the merchant ship docked, Yu Lai obediently disembarked from here and hired a boat to go up the river into the sea, while Haizhu continued to take the ship, and finally arrived at the wharf of Fucheng at sunset.

After she got off the boat, she asked the guard on duty at the pier whether Han Ji was in Fucheng or on the island, and learned that it was on the island, and she planned to rest overnight at the inn and hire a boat to go to the island tomorrow morning.

At night, she had just finished taking a shower and was lying in bed, and was about to blow out the lamp to fall asleep, when there was a knock on the door.

"Who?" Haizhu sat up and asked.

"Me, haven't slept yet?"

Hearing the voice, Haizhu got dressed and went down to open the door, and as soon as the door opened, she first asked, "Where did you fool around in the middle of the night?" ”