Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"What's that?" Zhao Xiaowu straightened up, shaking the mud off his hands, and turned to look at his younger brother, who was digging with his rear end sticking up. He walked over.

"Brother, dig a pit to drain the water here." Zhao Feng told his brother without looking back. His upper body was plastered to the ground, his clothes already soaked, a clump of mud stuck to his chin, and his right arm was almost entirely inside the hole. "It's so thick and slippery, I can't get a grip on it."

He straightened up to check the position, took a few steps forward, and began digging furiously in another direction.

"You found a yellow eel?" Zhao Xiaowu wasn't foolish either. Catching loaches didn't require such a commotion. Seeing his brother acting as if he wanted to turn the field over, he instantly realized this might be a whopper.

His face lit up with excitement as he pulled Xi'er over to dig a catch pit. He then ran to Zhao Feng's side, knelt on the ground, and reached into the hole his brother had dug. When his fingers touched something slimy at the bottom, Zhao Xiaowu suddenly clamped down on it. The slippery body twisted violently and broke free.

Damn, it's strong!

"Grandma, let me use the hoe. Third Brother found a big one." As Wang Shi walked over, Zhao Xiaowu reached for the hoe in her hand.

"Be careful, don't collapse the field ridge." Wang Shi scooped up the grubby little Zhao Xiaobao and handed the hoe to him. She had originally intended to hoe the weeds around the field ridge to keep an eye on this playful little mud monkey.

"Got it."

Zhao Xiaowu had Zhao Feng point out the spot, raised the hoe, and brought it down. Today, even if he had to collapse the field ridge, he was determined to catch that eel.

Zhao Xiaobao still wanted to watch and squirmed, unwilling to leave. Wang Shi patted her chubby bottom. "First, wash the mud off your legs and put your shoes on."

"Mom, I want to catch the eel. That's Xiaobao's eel!" Zhao Xiaobao kicked her legs.

"Let your big nephew catch it for you." Wang Shi picked her up without further discussion and carried her to the riverbank. She pressed her down, scrubbed the mud off her body, and with her rough, large hands, she carefully warmed Zhao Xiaobao's icy-cold feet before finally releasing the kid who was dying to get back.

"Don't go back into the field!" she admonished.

"Okay!"

Zhao Xiaobao huffed and puffed as she ran back to their field ridge. The spot was already surrounded by children from the village, and even many adults busy working in the fields had gathered around.

With people crowded all around, Zhao Xiaobao, relying on her seniority, pushed her way through one by one, past men about the same age as her eldest brother. "Make way, make way, Third Nephew Mang, Nephew Iron Pillar, move aside a bit..."

In just this short while, a corner of their field ridge had already collapsed.

"Xiao Wu, haven't you caught my loach yet?"

"Catching a loach isn't this much trouble. This is clearly an eel." A bearded man nearby teased her. "Aunt Xiaobao, don't you recognize an eel?"

Zhao Xiaobao looked up at him, imitating her mother's usual manner with younger generations. She clasped her hands behind her back and beamed a kindly smile. "Oh, it's Nephew Donkey. Why are you slacking off here instead of going into the mountains to help Second Brother carry firewood? Second Brother's got a bad leg. Nephew Donkey should help Second Brother with more work."

Zhao Quan's smile froze.

Donkey? Donkey? Calling him?

Seeing his stern face fall silent, Zhao Xiaobao sighed, shook her head, and said no more. Poor lame Second Brother, his family is unfortunate! Nephew Donkey isn't filial!

"Oh my, it really is an eel!"

Someone next to her exclaimed, and Zhao Xiaobao quickly looked over.

"This is an eel?? An eel this thick? Isn't this a snake?!"

Exclamations of surprise rose from all around. Not just the children, but even many adults had never seen such a thick eel. They all pushed forward excitedly, nearly shoving the crouching Zhao Xiaobao into the field.

Zhao Xiaobao reached out and grabbed the pant leg of Big Nephew Donkey, who had suddenly crowded in, to prevent herself from being pushed down while craning her neck to stare intently into the field.

Zhao Xiaowu was tightly gripping a large yellow eel as thick as a baby's arm. The creature was yellow tinged with blood-red, its body covered in slippery, slimy mud, writhing and twisting frantically in an attempt to break free and escape.

Zhao Xiaobao's eyes widened. Her small hands tightly clutched Nephew Donkey's clothes. Caught up in the excitement around her, her little face flushed with excitement, yet she also felt a hint of fear.

She was most afraid of snakes, and that eel looked so much like a snake.

Zhao Xiaowu's hands were trembling with excitement. Feeling the big creature in his hands trying to escape, he quickly turned his head and called out, "Third Brother, bring the bucket over!"

Zhao Feng was already waiting nearby with the wooden bucket. Hearing this, he immediately handed it over. "Brother!"

Zhao Xiaowu took the opportunity to toss the nearly unholdable eel into the bucket. A dull *thud* was heard, followed by the sound of frantic thrashing against the wooden bucket. The weight and strength of this eel were astonishing.

Zhao Feng looked happily into the bucket. Inside was a small eel and seven or eight loaches he had caught earlier. Now, compared to this giant, they were like a grandson meeting his ancestor, the difference as stark as between chopsticks and a wooden club.

"Third Brother, Third Brother, let me see quickly!" Zhao Xi jumped anxiously nearby.

"Fengzi, quick, pass the bucket to me. I've never seen such a big creature like this. It's really rare." On the field ridge, several men reached out, asking Zhao Feng to hand them the bucket.

"This one alone could make a whole pot of stew, right? Haha."

"Quick, let us have a look!"

"Here, take a look." Zhao Feng tilted the bucket slightly. He stood in the field, they were on the ridge, ensuring they could see. He wouldn't hand over the bucket. There were quite a few unscrupulous people in the village. Things were only safe when in one's own hands.

"Look at your stingy little manner. What's wrong with letting everyone have a look? We're not taking it." Li Dashun really disliked his guarded attitude. What did he mean? Did he think someone would snatch it?

Zhao Feng pursed his lips, standing stiffly in the field without speaking.

Zhao Xiaobao, standing on the field ridge, was not pleased. She put her hands on her hips and scolded fiercely, "My Fengzi is not stingy! That's my big eel, and I won't let you see it!"

With that, she stretched out her short arms, blocking Li Dashun's tall figure, and said to Zhao Feng standing in the field, "Fengzi, don't be afraid. Your aunt is here."

Zhao Quan beside her almost burst out laughing. This just-weaned child, imitating adults' speech and actions in such a funny way, was hilarious to watch.

Zhao Feng didn't find it funny. Seeing his aunt, who wasn't even as tall as Li Dashun's leg, daring to stand up and speak for him, he just felt a warm feeling in his heart.

Turning his head, he saw his eldest brother carrying the hoe, repairing the collapsed field ridge. Thinking of the great effort they had expended to catch this eel, he thought it was okay to let them look, but touching it was not allowed. Stingy? So be it. What if they played with it to death? He still wanted to sell it for money in town.

Ignoring Li Dashun, Zhao Feng walked step by step through the mud puddles to Zhao Xiaobao, handed her the bucket, and said with a light laugh, "Here, Aunt, your eel. My brother and I caught it for you."

Zhao Xiaobao leaned her whole body over the edge of the bucket, looking excitedly yet timidly at the large yellow-and-red creature coiled inside. It had squeezed the small eel so much it was almost invisible. She reached out, eager to touch it, when she heard Zhao Xiaowu, who was repairing the ridge, say, "Aunt, don't put your hand in there. That thing is fierce. Earlier, it almost bit me. Its teeth are sharp."

Zhao Xiaobao quickly retracted her hand in fright. "Xiao Wu, I won't touch it."

"Goodness, in all my years, I've never seen such a thick eel. It must have become a spirit." Li Dashun, taking advantage of his height, reached out to grab it.

Zhao Xiaobao quickly used her own body to shield the bucket, using action to show it was for looking, not touching.

They were both children. Zhao Feng being protective of his catch, Li Dashun could call him stingy. But Zhao Xiaobao was purely a little milk baby. Anyone who took her seriously would instead be scolded as shameless—how could an adult argue with a child?

Everyone could only crowd around to take a rare look, exclaiming incessantly with envy at the good luck of the Zhao Feng brothers in catching such a giant.

No matter what it is, rarity commands a price. A local snake of the same size wouldn't be rare, but if it were an eel, the selling price probably wouldn't be low, right?

Two or three *qian* of silver, at least?

Li Dashun's eyes flickered. If the Zhao family's field could produce an eel as thick as a child's arm, and they were from the same village, there was no reason his Li Dashun's field couldn't produce one too, right?

The same mountains and waters nurture the same people. The same fields should grow the same eels!

At this thought, a surge of excitement ran through him, and he didn't have time to stick around and watch. Turning around, he headed straight for his own field.

Once the onlookers had dispersed, under the reluctant gazes of the village children, Zhao Xiaobao directed Zhao Feng to pick up the bucket. The aunt and nephew pair escorted the large yellow eel as they made their way home.

Along the way, Zhao Xiaobao wanted to parade through the village, but Zhao Feng grabbed her clothes and steered her around several fields, making sure to avoid the village entrance altogether and taking a small path back home.

The courtyard gate was half-open, and the chicks chirped noisily inside their bamboo-fenced enclosure.

"Sister-in-law—"

Zhao Xiaobao dashed into the kitchen, where she saw Sun Shi sitting by the stove, tending the fire. Before Sun Shi could speak, Zhao Xiaobao rushed over, threw herself into her arms, and poured out her story in a rush: "Sister-in-law, there's a huge, long yellow eel in our field—I found it! I'm the best! Xiao Wu and Fengzi are amazing too—they caught it. Xiao Wu even dug up the field ridge, and he's fixing it now. If Mother sees it, she'll definitely scold him, hehe." She finished by covering her mouth with a giggle.

Sun Shi felt dizzy from her rapid-fire speech and hadn't yet processed it all when Zhao Xiaobao added in a coaxing tone, "Sister-in-law, can we have eel soup for lunch?"

"What? Eat it?!"

Zhao Feng, who had just set the bucket down in the yard, was startled to hear his aunt wanted eel soup for lunch. He quickly hid the bucket behind his back. "Auntie, we can't eat it! We need to save it to sell for money!"

We can't just eat it! It would be such a waste to consume it ourselves, especially since there's only one—it wouldn't even be enough to fill the gaps between our teeth.

Better to take it to town and sell it to wealthy households. Those well-to-do folks have refined tastes. Even though there's only one eel, the kitchen servants were sure to have clever ways to prepare such a plump, rare catch. Good things are valued for their quality, not quantity—it's all about the novelty.

"Auntie, if you really want eel soup..." He quickly reached into the bucket, grabbed the tiny yellow eel that had been nearly invisible, squeezed against the edge by its massive ancestor, and held it up, shaking it slightly. "Then let's eat this one!"