CHAPTER 98: CHAPTER 98: FRAGRANT FISH MINT

It’s fortunate that this is a paddy field, adding a large vat of water and whatnot doesn’t really make a difference.

But precisely because of this vat of Spiritual Spring water, Xiaomi has reason to believe that the rice in the field will definitely benefit from it.

After finishing this task, Xiaomi hurriedly stood up and practically jogged back home, not forgetting to bring her brother’s shoes with her.

The eldest brother was swift, and by the time Xiaomi caught up, all she could see was his distant back.

Xiaomi is small in stature with short legs, running slowly. By the time she finally reached home, her brother had already gone to take a bath.

Second Mother was about to cook, she first boiled a pot of water, yet before she could add the rice, she heard the eldest brother shouting loudly, and rushed out thinking something happened.

Turns out he caught such a large eel, Second Mother didn’t dare to grab it, so she hurriedly got a big wooden bucket, told him to put the eel inside, then covered and weighed it down.

Only then did she realize that the eldest brother had turned into a little mud person, and quickly ordered him to take off his clothes and brought the cooking water for him to bathe in the back.

Since he needed to wash both his body and hair, fearing there wouldn’t be enough water, she used the whole pot and added some cold water, making two big buckets.

Just as the second pot was heating up, Xiaomi entered the house, calling for her mother.

"Mom, where’s brother? I brought his shoes back." Xiaomi stood in front of the kitchen door.

Second Mother just held her forehead: "How did you end up like this too?"

Embarrassingly, she almost forgot that Xiaomi went out with the eldest brother as well.

She quickly stepped forward and helped Xiaomi with her outer clothes. Fortunately, Xiaomi wasn’t as exaggeratedly messy as the eldest brother, only getting her clothes and hands dirty.

While accepting her mother’s help, Xiaomi explained: "Brother fell into the field while catching that big eel, I picked his shoes up for him."

After washing her hands and changing into clean clothes, Xiaomi also saw the large wooden bucket under the eaves being weighed down.

"Oh right, Mom, we caught it in Uncle Liu’s field. Aunt Wang Xiang said that since we caught it, it’s ours. If we feel bad, we can invite Liu Hai to eat eel with us."

Eel is delicious. Although most of the eel their family catches ends up sold, Second Mother still saved enough to make soup twice.

Moreover, Jiang Hu specifically consulted Master Zhang, bought dried yam, red dates, and lean meat specifically for making eel soup, which smelled incredibly fragrant.

Second Mother didn’t know about this; the eldest brother had just come back without having time to mention it.

"You guys caught it in Uncle Liu’s field?" Second Mother asked in surprise: "Did Aunt Wang Xiang really say that?"

Xiaomi nodded vigorously: "Yes, yes, if Dad sells it, we’ll split half the money with Uncle Liu."

Such a big eel would probably fetch a good price if sold, right?

Eating it isn’t a necessity, and this point Xiaomi understands well. Whether they get to eat a big or small one doesn’t really matter; besides, the bigger the eel, the more valuable it is.

Nonetheless, Second Mother did not rush to make a statement, as she got Xiaomi changed and patted her on the head: "Alright, we’ll discuss the eel when Dad comes home. You go rest for now, it’ll soon be time to eat."

"Okay!" Xiaomi cheerfully agreed, then happily hopped away to find her second sister and Iron Egg.

She loves to play, so often tags along with her brother who leads her around the village.

But don’t forget, although Iron Egg used to climb around exploring places and stick to her, he’s grown quieter now, preferring to follow her second sister, feeding chickens and rabbits at home, with no curiosity about the village.

It’s like now, she was told to go rest, yet Xiaomi bounced around to the pigsty in the back.

Oh right, Second Sister discovered a new task, like going out to cut grass for the cows.

With the weather warming and increasing rain, they couldn’t let the cows out every day, so they prepared dry cow grass at home for convenient feeding when it rains.

But she’s still young, often bringing Iron Egg with her, generally not wandering far, busying around the house front and back.

Perhaps due to the Spiritual Spring water, wild grass around their home thrives and grows rapidly.

As a result, Xiaomi searched around but couldn’t find anyone: "Second sister, Iron Egg, where are you?"

"They’re on the slope, where Dad and Mom tidied up over the New Year." The eldest brother’s voice came from the outhouse, as he was bathing and shampooing inside.

"Oh, thanks, big brother!" She then dashed away again.

Sure enough, stepping out from the pigsty and heading to the nearby slope, she spotted them as soon as she approached.

Her second sister and Iron Egg were crouching on the ground, seemingly doing something.

"Second sister, Iron Egg." Xiaomi gasped for breath, climbing uphill.

Second Sister turned and looked at Xiaomi, unsurprised: "Xiaomi is back. There’s so much tender pigskin root here."

Pigskin root? What’s that?

Curiosity piqued, Xiaomi walked over and discovered that her second sister swapped a sickle for a bamboo knife, with numerous small pits dug all over the ground.

After getting closer, Xiaomi was delighted: "Knotweed!"

Exactly, white stems in the nearby bamboo basket, some sprouting tender shoots, looking incredibly fresh!

Second Sister was confused: "Xiaomi, what’s that?"

Only then did Xiaomi realize her second sister might have named it differently.

"Nothing, second sister, how much have you dug? Let me help." This was pure and uncontaminated.

Xiaomi even grabbed some, lifting to her nose and taking a deep breath; so fragrant, so very fragrant!

Second Sister smiled brightly: "Xiaomi likes it too; let’s go home first and clean these up for lunch."

Xiaomi estimated that what her second sister dug should be enough for a meal. However, given that it was newly dug with lots of mud, cleaning would take some time.

"Alright, second sister, let’s go home then." Saying so, Xiaomi picked up the bamboo basket and headed back home.

Second Sister moved slower, needing to bring Iron Egg along, who wasn’t as quick as Xiaomi.

When they got home, the eldest brother had already cleaned himself and was sitting in the sun, drying his hair. Seeing they brought back pigskin root, he quickly joined to help.

This meant an extra dish, one they all particularly liked.

So when Jiang Hu returned on his cattle cart, what he saw were several little ones from his family, surrounding in the yard sunbathing while busy with their hands.

Jiang Hu was delayed with something today in town, so he just returned now.

Luckily, he informed the family earlier, so Second Mother wasn’t anxious.

Just as she checked what the kids were doing, she heard Second Mother talk about the eldest catching a two- to three-pound eel, shocking Jiang Hu almost to drop his eyes.

Looking at the proud eldest and Xiaomi, reminded of his biggest catch being just over a pound, Jiang Hu felt deeply humbled.