When they saw even Luo Song, the Hua Yunao brothers, and the cleanliness-loving Jin’er were among them, they were even more shocked, their mouths gaping open.
"Uncle..." Jin’er, who was in high spirits, called out when he saw the two uncles who were stunned.
"Uncle Qiang, Uncle An Nai..." Jin’er waved his mud-clad little hand in front of the two.
"Ah... Jin’er" They blinked and came back to their senses, smiling sheepishly.
"Uncle... hurry back to the village and call people. If we don’t hurry, the fish we brought back will all go bad." Jin’er said with a chuckle, looking at the two who were still out of sorts.
"Ah... yes, yes, I’ll go call someone right away." Hua Qiang couldn’t help but grin as he looked at the pile of fish, then dashed toward the nearby mule cart and headed into the valley.
"Uncle An Nai, do you have any water here? We’re dying of thirst." Hua Dabao was so tired that he didn’t want to move a step, his throat feeling terribly dry, and he shouted at Hua Annai gasping for breath.
"Yes, yes." The other young men couldn’t help it either, each looking at Hua Nai’an with eager eyes, making him feel creepy, almost thinking he’d turned into some elixir being fought over.
Daya and Xiaomao, these young women, though thirsty, were too shy to say so, young ladies surely caring about their image.
"Wait here." Never having been so popular before, Hua Nai’an quickly went inside and brought out a jar of cooled boiled water, with a stack of bowls on the lid.
When the valley gate was initially built, a gatehouse was constructed along with it, meant as a resting place for gatekeepers.
"How did you get yourselves so messy?" Seeing how exhausted the kids were, Hua Nai’an couldn’t help but curiously ask while pouring water for them.
"Uncle, if you worked non-stop for two or three hours under the sun, you’d be tired too." Hua Xiaobao drank a bowl of water in one gulp, and his throat felt much better instantly. The usually talkative him actively responded.
"Well, that makes sense." Hua Annai gave a thumbs up to these young people.
If it were him, working continuously under the scorching sun for two or three hours might fare worse than these kids, Hua Nai’an looked at them appreciatively.
Especially Hua Dabao, Hua Xiaodan, and Liu Sheng, these three kids, were known troublemakers in the village, and it wasn’t just that, they were extremely lazy too. It took scoldings and beatings to get them to do some chores at home, and yet, surprisingly, they were obedient to the village chief’s children.
In the past, making them work continuously for a few hours under the scorching sun would’ve been worse than killing them.
"Come, come, drink more. If it’s not enough, I’ll boil more."
Hua Annai handed the remaining clean bowl to the young women.
It was a problem that the valley was too large; even at Hua Qiang’s fast pace, it still took him a tea’s time to reach the inner valley. He went straight to the village chief’s wooden house.
Without knocking, he started shouting outside.
"Village Chief Uncle, Village Chief Uncle, hurry up and get Brother Chengtian to drive the cart to load the fish. Yun Ao and the others caught a lot of fish."
The door opened with the sound of Black Big barking, accompanied by the voice of the Hua old man.
"What did you say, what fish?" The Hua old man stood behind his son.
"It’s Yun Ao and the others. They’ve caught a lot of fish, a whole big pile of them, all at the valley entrance."
"Really?" The Hua old man was pleasantly surprised.
"Yes, yes, it’s best to drive an extra cart." Hua Qiang nodded, a big smile on his face.
"Alright, alright, Chengtian, what are you waiting for? Hurry up." Knowing that the weather wasn’t good for preserving, especially the fish, the Hua old man suppressed his doubts and urged his son, not idle himself, with the father and son each driving a cart.
Upon arrival, the Hua old man understood why Hua Qiang suggested they drive an extra cart. There indeed was a lot, like a small hill, and on the other side were the kids covered in mud like little monkeys.
The boys directly ignored, but seeing all the girls covered in mud too, especially his granddaughter looking so down to earth, the Hua old man couldn’t help but want to laugh.
"Jin’er..." Hua Chengtian jumped directly off the cart in front of his daughter, calling out in a disbelieving tone.
"Dad, don’t you recognize me?" Jin’er rolled her eyes at the sky.
"No..." Hua Chengtian’s mouth twisted for a moment, holding back a laugh, "I just think my daughter still looks so pretty even with her head covered in mud!"
Jin’er pouted, as if she couldn’t see that they were trying hard to hold back their laughter.
"Dad, Grandpa, hurry and load the carts. I’m afraid if we delay any longer, the fish will spoil, wasting our hard effort to bring them up."
Such a gleeful dad, feeling a bit stuffy.
"Yes, yes." Hua Chengtian’s attention immediately shifted to the huge pile of fish at the entrance. The Hua old man even kicked his two grandsons directly.
Could not bear to see young people, acting all exhausted and spiritless.
Being young, so what if you get tired!
"Get up, get up, loading the carts."
They were about to get up anyway, just a step late ended up getting a kick from their grandpa for nothing, the two were truly at a loss for tears.
The village chief’s voice quickly got the other kids on their feet, no urging needed, and they swiftly started working, loading the pile of fish onto the carts.
With seven or eight young lads plus Hua Chengtian and Hua Qiang helping, the speed was quick. Before long, the ox cart was packed full, with quite a lot on the horse cart too.
Then Hua Chengtian and the Hua old man each drove a cart, taking Jin’er, Daya, and the other girls away.
...Just left like that.
Hua Yunxiang, Hua Dabao, and the others: "..."
Looking at the already distant carts, they collectively looked toward the sky.
How much did they despise them to not utter a word and leave like their backsides were on fire.
The carts were driven quickly on this side, stopping directly by the lake in the middle of the valley.
The fish in the cart couldn’t wait any longer. Few were still breathing with open mouths; delaying further would indeed spoil them.
The lakeside had water, convenient for cleaning the fish.
"Jin’er, Daya, you go back to the village and call people."
"Got it, we’ll go now."
Agreeing, Jin’er and her sisters ran quickly towards the inner valley.
Before long, the men and women, young and old, of Hua Village came out in groups from the inner valley, carrying basins and fish knives and scissors, rushing happily to the lakeside.
By then, the Hua old man and his son hadn’t unloaded even half of the fish.
"Whoa, this much fish?" Although Hua Deshin was older than the Hua old man, he was still very robust, knowing there were fish to handle, he put down his work, grabbing his stuff and coming out from home, far ahead of everyone else, his pace no less than that of younger people.
"Dad, Mom, so much fish!" The speed of the little kids was the fastest, reaching the lake and seeing piles of fish, in their excitement, pulling their parents urging them to hurry.
For fear their parents would be too slow, and they wouldn’t get any fish at home by then.
"I see it, I see it, slow down, Iron Egg..."
Being pulled by the kids, the men and women couldn’t help but speed up, looking at the kids indulgently, their smiles widening at the sight of the fish not far away.
This scene played out repeatedly until everyone reached the lakeside.
"Wow, Yun Ao and the others are incredible, so much fish." The old ladies, including Lilin’s wife and Sun’s wife as well as Hua’s wife, couldn’t stop grinning from ear to ear.
This much fish could finally let everyone have a feast. To be honest, being stuck in the mountain for so long, it had been a long time since they had fish.