Her mother-in-law used to think that raising ducks was a waste of food, and it was not worth the while. That was why Qiao Xuan was very surprised to see twenty ducks appearing in the yard.
Ms. Fang smiled. "Your third brother went to town today, and I asked him to bring the ducks home."
Then, she pressed down her voice and chuckled with pride. "Now, we have food for ducks! When they grow bigger, you can just make them into dishes. We can all get a taste of it!"
Qiao Xuan raised her eyebrows, but then nodded with a smile. "That sounds good! I can make many dishes with duck. Mom, just wait to taste the dishes!"
Shao Xiaoqi's eyes sparkled. "Fifth Sister-in-law, what about me buying two more large ducks from town in a couple of days, when the market is on?"
Ms. Fang glared at him in amusement. "You boy, since when did you pick up your third brother's bad habit?"
Shao Xiaoqi chuckled in embarrassment, scooped a small shrimp from the bucket and cast it onto the ground.
Qiao Xuan was brought back to the scene. She said, "You went to fetch fish and shrimps from the river?"
She leaned forward and saw many shrimps, big and small as well as several fish in the bucket. They all looked like delicacies to her.
Seeing them chuckling as they fed them to geese and ducks, Qiao Xuan could not help but let out a sigh of concern.
Those were all river shrimps and fishes from fresh, unpolluted rivers!
They could all turn into delicious dishes!
She had paid too much attention to the mountains, ignoring the treasure in the river.
There were many fish and shrimps in the river these days.
"It is such a pity that you are feeding them to the ducks and geese. They can be our food!"
Shao Taotao's eyes widened. "But Fifth Sister-in-law, they have a weird taste, we don't like it!"
Shao Xiaoqi was motivated instead. "Fifth Sister-in-law, are you able to come up with dishes using shrimps and fish? I can get them home now!"
Shao Taotao got the point too. "Oh! Me too, me too!"
Fish and shrimps had a weird smell, and villagers did not want to put too much oil into making them, nor did they want to add much wine to drive away the taste. So they believed that those things could not be turned into delicious food.
Gradually, people rarely visited the river for fish and shrimps, unless it was a famine.
Hence, they just got the fish and shrimp for ducks and chickens.
Qiao Xuan nodded and smiled. "Of course they can be made into food! There are various kinds of dishes that can be made. Do we have many of these in the river? Let's visit the river and we will make yummy food tonight!"
Shao Xiaoqi and Shao Taotao cheered. They dropped the ducks and geese, and went to fetch a bucket and net, heading towards the river.
They had a net at home, which they had no idea when they made it and when they last used it.
Qiao Xuan smiled. "We can go to the town to buy some fish poles. They should come handy in fishing."
However, those things were ordinary tools which might not be available on sale. They could find a carpenter to make some hooks instead.
Ms. Fang did not know what she should say. "You have so many plans! You are so naughty! Keep your fifth sister-in-law protected, and stay safe!"
"Got it!" Shao Xiaoqi and Shao Taotao answered from a distance away.
They came to the riverside, and saw seaweed growing all over the river with slow-flowing water.