Chapter 601: Cut-Can Foot Trap (Part 2)

But Li Baoyu didn’t ask, and Zhao Jun didn’t say anything. He certainly wasn’t going to tell Jie Chen or Zhang Yuanmin either.

After taking the money, Li Baoyu didn’t go straight home. Instead, he went to the storage shed, put all the empty cans from their last drinking session into a *weideluo*, and then came back to hand it to Zhao Jun over the wall.

A *weideluo* is what Northeasterners call a bucket that’s wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. The nine cans fit perfectly inside.

The moment Zhao Jun took the *weideluo*, Cyan Dragon and Black Dragon, who had been waiting at his feet, both started barking and rushed toward the courtyard gate.

“Brother!” Just then, Yang Yufeng’s voice came from the courtyard gate. She appeared, also carrying a *weideluo*. Hers seemed to be loaded with something heavy; the shoulder she was carrying it on drooped under the weight as she walked in.

Yang Yufeng hurried over to Zhao Jun. The dogs in the yard were all familiar with her and didn’t bark. Cyan Dragon and Black Dragon flanked her as she approached.

Yang Yufeng held the *weideluo* out in front of Zhao Jun and said to him and Li Baoyu, “Take a look. What do you think this is?”

“Whoa,” Li Baoyu said from the other side of the wall, craning his neck to see. He laughed. “Are these River Pomegranates? Why’d you get so many?”

River Pomegranates, also known as striped loaches, are small fish. But in September, almost every single one is full of roe.

“Baoyu!” Yang Yufeng called to Li Baoyu. “Hurry and get a basin! Yuanmin got plenty for you—enough for both your families.”

“Okay!” Li Baoyu exclaimed, immediately turning and running into his house.

Yang Yufeng glanced down and saw the *weideluo* in Zhao Jun’s hand. She smiled. “Perfect. I’ll pour some into your *weideluo*.”

Hearing this, Zhao Jun went under the eaves—to the side opposite Black Tiger’s doghouse—and emptied the cans from his *weideluo* onto the ground. When he came back to Yang Yufeng, she filled it halfway with the River Pomegranate fish.

That half-bucket of fish was at least fifty or sixty of them. Zhao Jun smiled at Yang Yufeng. “Sister Yufeng, these must be incredibly fresh.”

“You know it.” Yang Yufeng had just said that when Li Baoyu came rushing out of his house, basin in hand.

Yang Yufeng poured the rest of the fish into Li Baoyu’s basin, then said to the two of them, “You should cook these while they’re fresh. Stew them with some soybean paste and steam some rice on top. It’ll be absolutely delicious.”

“Right! Thanks, Sister Yufeng!” Li Baoyu beamed, holding the large basin of fish.

Hearing what Yang Yufeng just said, Zhao Jun understood. ‘When I ate at Zhang Yuanmin’s house a couple of days ago, I really liked the fish paste. They must have caught these this morning and brought them over for me.’

At that thought, Zhao Jun said to Yang Yufeng, “Sister Yufeng, why don’t you come in and rest for a bit? I went to Lingnan yesterday and sold the ginseng. I can give you Yuanmin’s share of the money.”

“Just hold onto it for now!” Yang Yufeng said. “Yuanmin is still over at East Big Gully. I have to go help him pack things up.”

“Oh!” Hearing that Yang Yufeng was heading to the river, Zhao Jun decided against giving her the money. ‘If she lost it or it got soaked, that would be a real pain.’

Yang Yufeng said her goodbyes and started to leave, but after a few steps, she turned back to Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu. “Later on, bring Jie Chen and come over to our place. Yuanmin and I just caught about ten bullheads. Come over whenever, and we’ll stew them in soybean paste.”

“We’ll come by tonight,” Zhao Jun said with a smile. “When are you and Yuanmin heading home?”

“We’re heading back right now!” Yang Yufeng said, lifting her *weideluo*. “I’m just going to help him pull in the nets, and then we have to go home and cook, or Lingdang will be late for school.”

Hearing this, Zhao Jun quickly added, “In that case, tell Yuanmin I’ll come get him a little after six. I’m taking the dogs up the mountain today to see what we can catch.”

‘I’m planning to take all the hunting dogs up the mountain today,’ Zhao Jun thought. ‘With so many dogs, I’ll need someone to help manage them. Since Li Baoyu can’t go, I’ll have to ask Zhang Yuanmin.’

Yang Yufeng agreed and trotted off, *weideluo* in hand.

After she left, Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu went back to their respective homes.

The moment he stepped inside, Zhao Jun set the *weideluo* down by the stove and said to Zhao Youcai, “Dad, how about we make a paste with these fish?”

Zhao Jun loved making rice wraps with fish paste. When River Pomegranates were made into a paste, the tiny fish were savory and delicious, the bones turned soft enough to eat, everything was coated in a rich sauce, and their bellies were still packed with roe.

You’d take a couple of the small fish, place them on a cabbage leaf with some rice, sprinkle on some chopped cilantro and shredded scallions, roll it up, and take a bite. It was so good it could make your eyebrows fall right off.

Zhao Youcai glanced down at the River Pomegranates in the *weideluo*, then looked up at Zhao Jun. He grabbed an aluminum basin from the stovetop, went over to the dish rack, opened the lower cabinet, and scooped out two bowls of soybeans.

Then, Zhao Youcai handed the basin of soybeans to Zhao Jun and said, “Hurry up. Go to the tofu maker’s and trade these for two blocks of tofu. Your mother likes River Pomegranates stewed with tofu.”

“But I…” ‘Just ten minutes ago, Dad was asking me what *I* wanted to eat, but the second I gave him that money, he changed his tune completely.’ Zhao Jun was sure that if he’d waited to give him the money, Zhao Youcai would already be grabbing a bowl to get some soybean paste, ready to make the fish paste just for him.

But one thing Zhao Youcai said was true: Wang Meilan loved River Pomegranates stewed with tofu. Cooking them that way really brought out their fresh flavor.

With that in mind, Zhao Jun decided not to argue with Zhao Youcai. He just took the basin and headed for the tofu maker’s.

When Zhao Jun returned after trading for the tofu, he walked in to see Zhao Youcai sitting on a small stool, cleaning the fish.

As expected of a former cafeteria head chef, Zhao Youcai was grabbing fish with both hands at once. The slippery little things couldn’t even squirm in his grasp.

Zhao Youcai held a fish upside down in each hand, its head facing his palm. With a single push of his thumb up the fish’s belly, he squeezed the guts right out.