Chapter 17: Smartweed

Chapter 17: Knotweed

Sparrows chirped from branches overhanging the river, as the tranquil village stirred early from its night-long slumber.

Lin Shu's spirits lifted just by observing the scene from a distance.

She didn't approach to greet anyone, instead continuing upstream along the river with Lin Xiaopu.

After about another thirty minutes of walking, the two finally reached the river bend Lin Dashan had described.

The river wasn't particularly wide, its banks overgrown with weeds, especially abundant with sweet flag. The water was indeed crystal clear to the bottom, revealing pebbles of all sizes, where fish darted playfully. Being a bend, the current slowed considerably, allowing more fish to congregate.

It was truly an ideal spot for fishing.

Lin Shu even spotted a large grass carp, about seven or eight inches long!

Along the way, she had been gathering knotweed, and by now, her bucket was brimming with green leaves intertwined with clusters of pink knotweed flowers, as if capturing the very essence of summer.

They emptied the knotweed, then used riverside pebbles to crush it, extracting its juices. After the initial mashing, they returned the pulp to the bucket, filled it with water, and continued pounding with a thick wooden stick, stirring repeatedly to ensure the knotweed's essence fully infused the water.

Boiling the knotweed would actually yield the best results, but the iron pot at home was a prized cooking utensil. No matter how much her mother doted on her, Lin Shu couldn't bring herself to misuse such an essential item.

The sisters took turns pounding for a while. Lin Shu observed the white foam forming in the bucket and, deeming it ready, began moving stones. She specifically sought out large ones to place downstream, arranging them to create a single opening. This would divert the upstream water, forcing it through that sole exit.

"Xiao Pu, take the mat and block the fish at the exit. Let's try not to let a single one escape."

They rolled up both ends of the worn rattan mat and secured them with thin hemp rope for easier handling, transforming it into a simple makeshift fishing net.

The fishing mat was placed diagonally at the exit, allowing water to pass through its gaps while trapping the fish.

Lin Xiaopu nodded, her face etched with serious determination as she positioned the fishing mat.

Once everything was prepared, Lin Shu targeted the area with the most fish and poured the entire bucket of knotweed juice into the river.

The green liquid spread, white foam drifting on the surface. Before long, most of the fish, large and small, began to float belly-up, disoriented as if intoxicated!

The sight was quite spectacular, even a little unsettling, as if someone had poisoned the river and killed all its inhabitants.

Lin Xiaopu knew her sister hadn't used poison; instead, she was overcome with joy, shouting excitedly, "Sis! So many fish! Ahhh, they're all floating towards me!"

Lin Shu didn't hesitate. After rinsing the bucket, she waded straight into the river to collect the fish.

Stunned by the knotweed, the fish offered no resistance. Lin Shu picked them up with practiced ease, specifically choosing the larger ones.

Lin Xiaopu, blocking the fish at the exit, cried out, "Sis, I can't hold them back! Ahhh, several fish got away on the side!"

Lin Shu laughed. "It's fine if they escape. We've caught enough as it is."

The knotweed's effect on the fish was temporary. As fresh river water continuously flowed from upstream, the diluted juice would no longer affect them, and the previously stunned fish would gradually recover. The few fish that slipped through the exit recovered particularly quickly—soon after escaping, their bellies righted themselves, and with a startled flick of their tails, they swiftly dove back into the depths.

Meanwhile, after Lin Shu refilled her bucket with clean upstream water, the stunned fish inside also slowly began to revive.

Lin Xiaopu put away the fishing mat and ran over to look, counting the fish one by one but losing track after a while.

"Seventeen in total: two large ones about seven or eight inches long, the rest are four or five inches small fish—carp, crucian carp, and grass carp. Plus two eels." Lin Shu hadn't bothered with the tiny fish and shrimp.

Actually, small fish tasted delicious when coated in flour and fried, but they didn't have the means for that now. No one in the village would spare oil for frying fish, so it was better to let the small fish grow bigger.

Lin Xiaopu’s face flushed with excitement. Seventeen fish, plus two eels—so many! And all so big.

Her sister said the four- or five-inch ones were small, but they weren’t small at all. The two seven- or eight-inch ones were even bigger—she couldn’t even hold them properly!

"Let's go home! There are too many fish and too little water in the bucket; they might suffocate soon."

Lin Shu was still in high spirits, but soon her smile would fade.

It wasn't the fish that suffocated first—it was her.

The bucket, half-filled with water and crammed with fish, was incredibly heavy. After carrying it for about a hundred meters, she was exhausted, her back aching and her breath ragged.

The thought of walking three miles home made Lin Shu's vision darken. She even considered dumping half the fish back.

Lin Xiaopu tried lifting the bucket but couldn't manage it, looking equally troubled.

Lin Shu said, "How about we release a few of the small fish?"

Lin Xiaopu refused outright. "But these are the fish we worked so hard to catch!"

Lin Shu didn't know whether to laugh or cry, thinking, *Hard work? All we did was block and pick up fish.*

In the end, it was Lin Xiaopu who spotted familiar figures in a nearby rice field.

"Sis, it's Third Uncle Lin and Cousin Yu Shu!"

Lin Shu looked into the distance and saw a middle-aged man and a slender, half-grown boy bending over in a rice field, weeding.

One used a hoe to clear short weeds, the other a sickle to cut longer ones—both looking very busy.

"How's our family's relationship with Third Uncle's family?" Lin Shu asked.

Lin Xiaopu hesitated, carefully weighing her words before answering. "It used to be good. Third Aunt once made clothes for me, and Cousin Yu Shu even secretly gave me candy. But—"

"But during the family division later, Third Uncle couldn't argue against Uncle and Aunt, so he wanted our dad to give him an extra acre of land. Things got unpleasant because of that. In a fit of anger, Third Uncle spoke recklessly, saying Dad only had two daughters who would marry off someday, so why couldn't he spare an extra acre? Then Aunt chimed in, saying Dad, having no son, should be nicer to his nephew, who could support him in old age. Third Uncle didn't agree outright but stayed silent and didn't refute her. Dad was furious, and since then, the two families have had little contact. They still visit during holidays, but it's not as close as before."

"Actually, I think Third Uncle regrets it, and Dad isn't angry anymore, but neither can swallow their pride."

Lin Shu understood: while Uncle's family was practically estranged, Third Uncle's family still had some contact, though Dad held a grudge and often gave Third Uncle cold shoulders.

Once she figured it out, Lin Shu immediately called out to the distant figures, "Third Uncle—Yu Shu, my younger cousin—"

In the apocalypse, being too thin-skinned wouldn't get you anywhere. Lin Shu hadn't always been this thick-skinned, but if she hadn't learned to swallow her pride, all the dirty and hard tasks would have been pushed onto her. Gradually, she developed a thick skin.

Lin Shu's shout left Lin Xiaopu stunned.

The familiar address but unfamiliar voice also made the father and son in the field freeze in surprise.

Lin Shu was wearing a clean set of coarse hemp clothes that day. The dull gray fabric did nothing to diminish her beauty—instead, it accentuated her fair, delicate skin, making it glow like polished jade.

Lin Shu waved to them. "Third Uncle, Yu Shu, can you give us a hand?"

After a moment, Third Uncle Lin in the field didn't move, but his son, Lin Yushu, came over. He rinsed the mud off his calves in the field's irrigation ditch, slipped on the straw sandals left on the ridge, and approached them hesitantly.

"Xiao Pu, what's up?" Unfamiliar with Lin Shu and seemingly too shy to look directly at her, he addressed his familiar cousin instead.

Lin Xiaopu stammered, unable to explain clearly.

In the past, she might have dared to ask, but over the last three years, as Lin Yushu grew older and started working in the fields with his father, the two had rarely met and had grown distant.

Lin Shu, however, smiled and said, "Little Brother Yu Shu, Xiao Pu and I caught some fish in the river. We accidentally caught too many and can't lift this bucket. Could you trouble yourself to help us carry it back home? I'll make you some homemade snacks later."

Facing Xiao Pu, Lin Yushu felt normal, but when it came to Lin Shu, he felt inexplicably nervous and quickly replied, "It's nothing. Y-you don't have to be so polite."

"None of this 'you' business—you should call me Sister A Shu."

Lin Yushu’s sun-tanned face flushed slightly. "S-Sister A Shu, you don't have to be so polite."

Lin Shu glanced at him a few times and noticed that the boy had rather refined features. If his skin were fairer, he wouldn’t look like a farmer working the fields but more like a scholar.

Not knowing what else to say, Lin Yushu simply reached out to lift the bucket. As he picked it up and looked down, he stood there stunned.

When he heard there were many fish, he had wondered just how many, but it turned out there really were a lot—the bucket was jam-packed, with what must have been a good ten or twenty fish!

It was indeed heavy, no wonder Cousin A Shu couldn’t carry it and had to ask for his help.

But Lin Yushu, who worked in the fields, might look thin but was actually quite strong. After his initial surprise, he didn’t ask any questions and simply carried the bucket of fish, walking silently ahead.

Seeing his taciturn, honest nature, Lin Shu couldn’t resist teasing him. "If you keep walking with your head down like that, do you even know where your second uncle’s house is?"

Lin Yushu replied stiffly, "I know."

"Little Brother Yu Shu, why don’t you dare look at me? Am I ugly or scary or something?"

"N-No."

"Is Sister A Yao prettier, or am I prettier?"

"B-Both are pretty."

Lin Xiaopu covered her mouth, giggling quietly beside them.

So it turned out her older sister didn’t just "tease" her—she "teased" others even more fiercely.

Lin Yushu, already carrying a heavy bucket of fish, was also struggling to handle Lin Shu’s tricky questions, breaking out in a sweat as he walked.

Lin Shu stopped teasing him and only asked him to rest a few times along the way.

When they reached the courtyard gate, Lin Yushu didn’t say a word about going inside. He set down the bucket and turned to leave.

Lin Shu quickly called out to stop him, scooped out the seven- or eight-inch long grass carp from the bucket, tied a knot through its gills with a blade of grass she had casually plucked along the way, and pressed it into his hand. "I know you feel awkward, so I won’t hypocritically insist you stay for a meal. Here, take this fish back and ask your third aunt to prepare an extra meat dish for you and your third uncle. Remember to tell her to add some fermentation grass—it’ll add flavor and cut the fishiness."