After that, more and more people started finding soft-shelled turtles. Big Mouth Zhao and Qingmu both found one, and even a little fatty caught a regular turtle. ’It seems the black fish eat other fish and shrimp, but they can’t get their mouths around turtles and soft-shelled turtles,’ Juhua thought. ’That must be how they survived in Tiaozi Pond.’
Of course, all the turtles and soft-shelled turtles they found were given to Juhua.
Juhua released one soft-shelled turtle that weighed just over a pound, but she happily accepted the others, which were two to three pounds each. izi, Liu Xiaoi, and Yan busily tied up the iron-like lumps with straw. Little Shitou watched excitedly from the side, grinning as he asked Juhua, "Sister Juhua, can I go eat at Gou Dan’s house with you all tomorrow?"
Juhua patted his head and said, "Of course! But you have to tell your mother first. These things are very nourishing. Later, I’ll cook one just for your mother so she and your little sister can build up their strength."
Little Shitou bead and agreed.
When Li Gengtian saw that soone had finally found a soft-shelled turtle for Juhua, he breathed a sigh of relief as if he had completed a mission. Seeing her happy made him happy too.
But as they say, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Juhua had gotten her turtles and soft-shelled turtles, but now she had a crowd of freeloaders to deal with the next day at noon. The whole group was clamoring to go to her house to taste her braised soft-shelled turtle.
Juhua quickly announced that she would be cooking the soft-shelled turtle at izi’s house tomorrow, and anyone who wanted to co was welco. She then told izi that since they had so much fish these past two days anyway, they could just cook another big pot of fish like they did this afternoon. With the braised soft-shelled turtle and a pot of braised loaches, she guaranteed they would eat every last grain of rice cooked.
izi nodded repeatedly. But she was a little worried. ’Unlike Juhua’s and Liu Xiaoi’s families, I don’t have an older brother. I only have my little brother, Gou Dan, and he’s still so young. With all these boys coming over, will my mom scold ? Ugh! Whatever, it’s just one al!’
As dusk fell, Juhua started to feel a bit cold. In truth, it had been cold for a while, but she had been too busy watching the excitent to notice. Now that the fish-catching was winding down, she ca to her senses and finally realized how chilly it was.
The cold wind seed to seep into her bones, and she couldn’t help but shiver. "Let’s head back first," she said quickly to izi. "It’s so cold."
izi’s eyes were still fixed on the pond. "Aren’t we going back with them?" she asked, reluctant to leave.
Liu Xiaoi said, "We can just wait for them back in the village. Don’t we still have to divide the fish tonight? Juhua, co to my place first and warm up by the fire." Li Jinxiang also urged her to co.
Juhua shook her head. "No, I’m going ho first. I won’t watch the fish distribution tonight. I feel like I’m going to get sick from the cold!" After saying that, she called out to Qingmu, who quickly urged her to go on ahead.
Juhua felt quite frustrated. ’Look at Huang Dagunzi’s mother,’ she thought. ’She’s been standing here for so long and is perfectly fine, but I’m so delicate that a little wind makes feel awful.’
Seeing no other choice, izi, Jinxiang, and a few others first escorted Juhua ho before returning to the village.
Zhang Huai watched Juhua leave with a worried expression. After she was gone, he asked Qingmu, "What’s wrong with Juhua?"
Qingmu replied regretfully, "She was feeling cold, so she went ho first. I should have told her to leave earlier. Mom even reminded when I left the house, but I completely forgot."
Zhang Huai said nothing, but he was secretly worried.
After standing in the open field watching the excitent all day, Juhua did indeed get sick from the cold. That evening, she felt congested and her body ached, her eyes were sore, and her head throbbed. She quickly brewed a bowl of ginger soup, drank it, and went to bed early. She was so soundly asleep she didn’t even know that her family, led by the Yang matriarch, had lit the lamps and worked late into the night cleaning all the fish they had received.
When Juhua still wasn’t better the next day, she told Qingmu, who was heading out to the pond again, "Tell everyone to go to izi’s house for lunch. I’ll teach i how to cook the soft-shelled turtle and have her bring it over. She already knows how to cook fish, so you can all just go over there and have a good ti this afternoon."
Qingmu quickly agreed, then added, "You just rest. Don’t worry about them. It doesn’t matter whose house they eat at."
The Yang matriarch also chid in, "Exactly. If you were well, helping cook a al for everyone to get together and have fun would be no big deal. But you’re sick now, so how can you worry about all that? You just stay ho and rest, don’t go out in the draft."
Juhua obediently agreed. ’Life has been so pleasant lately, and I’ve been in such a good mood. I really don’t want to be sick for several days right during the New Year. That would an missing out on so much delicious food and so much fun! That’s simply unacceptable. I haven’t experienced this kind of rich, rural New Year atmosphere in so long, and I absolutely can’t miss it!’
So, when izi, Liu Xiaoi, and the other girls ca to see her at noon, they reassured her not to worry. They were just there to see if she was feeling better and weren’t going to eat there.
Juhua held back a laugh. "Even if you wanted to, you couldn’t eat here! I can’t handle all the commotion right now. Co, I’ll teach you how to cook this soft-shelled turtle. Once it’s done, you can take it with you and eat it wherever you like this afternoon."
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