Chapter 223: The Catch

This was the beauty of assembly-line work: everyone functioned like parts of a machine, smoothly coordinated, making the whole operation run at full speed.

If it were still the old cottage-style setup like Physician Cui’s family used to have, there was no way they could’ve processed this much medicine in just three days.

But let’s set aside Madam Cui, who had already rushed home in excitement to tell Physician Cui the news.

Yan Yu finished her stroll around the courtyard, taking a leisurely pace after tending to the chickens and sheep.

Liang Fengnian was still bent over his writing, scribbling away furiously.

Yan Yu picked a few numbers, did some quick calculations, and noted them down, then told Liang Fengnian to copy the rest as they were.

Just then, a commotion rose from the courtyard.

Yan Yu quickly ran out.

She saw her mother thanking the person who had helped bring back the fish.

Uncle Qi Wu’s square water barrel had come in handy. The limp fish had barely hit the water before springing back to life, tails thrashing, trying to leap out. The splashes glittered in the air, raining down all over the place.

One lucky escapee managed to arc through the air in a perfect half-circle… only to land hard on the ground.

Dazed for a second, it started flopping around wildly.

“Mom! So many fish!” Yan Yu ran over in delight.

Her small hand reached for the fish flailing on the ground—she grabbed it by the tail and tossed it back into the water barrel.

Li Xuemei wiped the sweat from her forehead and let out a breath.

She hadn’t done much—just gone to watch by the river. No one let her help, but maybe standing under the sun for a bit too long and walking back a little too fast had taken its toll.

Now that she had caught her breath, she beamed, “There were so many fish in that river! We cast the net twice—it was so heavy that several people had to haul it up together. They divided everything right there on the riverbank. These are ours. There’s more—they’ll bring them over later.”

Honestly, she was just like the rest of the villagers, adults and kids alike—she’d only gone to watch the excitement.

But the moment people saw her, they insisted on giving her a share of the catch.

She felt a little embarrassed and ended up coming back with them.

“I thought taking twenty percent would be more than enough,” Li Xuemei said, “but it seemed like they’d already talked it over beforehand. They wouldn’t take no for an answer. This is probably half the haul.”

She looked both pleased and a bit helpless. “I told them again and again, but they wouldn’t budge. If we caught this much every day, we’d run out of buckets, and even if we dried them into fish jerky, we wouldn’t have enough space to store it all.”

“Mom, your worries are… pretty unique!” Yan Yu laughed. “Too much fish is a good thing! We’ll figure something out. But yeah… half the catch is kind of a lot.”

She didn’t want to take advantage of others. Truth be told, all they’d provided was a fishing net—everyone else had done the heavy lifting and spent the time. It didn’t sit right to reap such a big reward for so little effort.

Granny Rong came bustling over, joy practically radiating from her eyes.

She gestured excitedly: “Are we eating fish today? How should we prepare it?”

Yan Yu grinned and tugged on her sleeve, swaying playfully.

“Aunt Rong, let’s have fish today! We’ll probably be getting more catches like this pretty often, so we’ll follow your lead. You handle it all—we’ll do as you say.”

Granny Rong patted her hand, nodded, and gave her a reassuring look.

Then her gaze shifted to Li Xuemei. She circled around her once, eyes crinkling with a wide smile.

The rest of the catch arrived not long after.

This batch had more than just fish—there were also some shellfish, river crabs, and river shrimp mixed in.

The man who brought them was unfamiliar. He introduced himself as Li Dazhu, said he lived west of the Big Stone, and explained a bit sheepishly that they’d left the fishing nets to dry not far from the river. The nets were heavy when soaked and too cumbersome to haul back and forth.

Yan Yu now really felt how insufficient their water buckets were.

She looked to Granny Rong, who pointed at the fish, then up at the sun.

“You’re saying we should dry these into fish jerky first?”

Granny Rong nodded, then gestured for a larger water container.

A water vat, basically.

“Yeah, we’ll need to buy some water vats. A few more at least,” Yan Yu said, nodding in agreement.

Hearing her say so, Granny Rong was reassured. She left and returned carrying a knife, scissors, a chopping board, and a wooden basin. She set down a small stool and, without even looking, reached out and grabbed a fish. Then another. Each fish got a quick smack with the knife’s spine and went still. Slice, gut, clean…

She worked with practiced efficiency.

Li Xuemei had intended to help, but the moment she got close and caught a whiff, she felt nauseated. She gagged twice, hurriedly backed away, and only felt better once she was far enough not to smell it anymore.

Yan Yu quickly gave her a dried apricot to ease the queasiness.

Li Xuemei recovered a bit and said, “I ate plenty of fish on the road before. I didn’t feel sick at all.”

Yan Yu thought it over. “Cooked fish probably doesn’t bother you—it’s the raw, freshly killed kind. The fishy smell is too strong. You’d better stay away from it.”

She added, “Just to be safe, we shouldn’t only make fish today. Let’s cook something else too, in case you can’t handle it—you’ll have options.”

Li Xuemei looked longingly at the fish, then turned her gaze to the lively river shrimp and the slowly stirring crabs.

Yan Yu quickly said, “Mom, stop looking! Leave everything to Granny Rong. Whatever she gives you, you eat. She’ll make sure it’s balanced and delicious.”

Li Xuemei nodded. Yan Yu was just about to walk her mother away from the fish-prepping area—

When suddenly, she felt something.

She snapped her head around.

“Mom! Look—is that Dad? Is it him? Is Dad back?!”

Yan Yu’s eyes went wide, trying to see more clearly.

Li Xuemei followed her gaze.

Sure enough, that moving dot was growing clearer by the second, Sanbao’s familiar figure gradually emerging.

The man steering the ox cart was doing a dangerously bold move, yanking the reins while standing right at the front of the cart frame.

A rush of joy surged in their hearts.

“It’s your father! It’s him! Your dad is back!” Li Xuemei took a few quick steps forward. Yan Yu hurried to catch up, grabbing her mother’s hand so she wouldn’t walk too fast.

More villagers were catching sight of the Yan family’s ox cart and stopped whatever they were doing.

“That’s the Yan family’s ox cart—Yan Lao’er is back!”

“You’re finally back! You’ve been gone for days—we’ve all been worried.”

“Haha, look at that cart, stacked sky-high! Don’t tell me it’s all medicine?”

“That’s a hefty load. Yan Lao’er really is something.”

…

Granny Rong temporarily let the fish, shrimp, and crabs off the hook. She quickly washed her hands and hurried out to greet them.

Displaying the full competence of a household service bot.

She welcomed Yan Lao’er home with a gentle smile.

“Daddy, Daddy, Daddy! You’re finally back—I missed you so much I thought I was going to die!” Yan Yu shot forward like a gust of wind.

Sanbao brought the ox cart to a stop, and Yan Yu nimbly clambered up, scaling the towering sacks piled high.

“Wow! Are all these herbs? All of them? Dad, you’re amazing!” She scurried about like a little hamster, poking here, sniffing there.

At that moment, Yan Lao’er looked distinctly awkward.

Seeing his daughter rushing over, this old father had already gotten into position—stooping slightly, ready to scoop her up.

But his little girl, thoughtful as ever, hadn’t let him exert himself…

Qi Si hopped down from the cart and patted the dust from his clothes.

Yan Yu followed the swirl of flying dust with her eyes, then turned her head for a closer look at her father.

(End of chapter)