Her Cultivation Diary
Chapter 1042 - 1022. Fishing

Chapter 1042: 1022. Fishing

Although the old men at home never lifted a finger to do household chores, they were surprisingly down-to-earth when out and about. At this moment, they took the giant cabbage from Qiaoqiao’s arms and immediately began preparing it together.

But—

"This cabbage is really huge!"

"It’s not that big," Qiaoqiao blinked and said, "We usually need two slightly rounder cabbages for one meal, and they aren’t that large."

After thinking for a moment, he added regretfully, "Why didn’t you come during the summer? During that time, there are so many pumpkins, we can’t even finish them. If you had come then, we could’ve definitely eaten an entire big pumpkin in one meal."

He later chopped lots of pumpkins to make dried pumpkin slices, and his arms were so sore from cutting!

Yeah, why didn’t they come in the summer? Everyone turned their gaze toward Secretary Xiaozu.

Secretary Xiaozu: ...

She swiftly changed the topic: "So what kind of fish are we eating tonight? Grass carp, white fish, crucian carp, or silver carp?"

Qiaoqiao brought a stainless steel basin and placed it in the middle of the old men, watching them clumsily peel off the cabbage leaves, then tear them into evenly sized pieces. He couldn’t help but feel very satisfied.

Meanwhile, a few tall, young men with slim waists and long legs stood helplessly off to the side, looking confused and unsure.

It seemed like there really wasn’t anything else for them to do.

"Why aren’t you guys sitting down?" Qiaoqiao glanced at the cabbage again. "Do you also want to help tear it apart?"

Quickly finding allies, he dragged out a small basket of freshly washed radishes and said enthusiastically, "Hey, big brothers, how about you grate these radishes?"

He handed out peelers and graters one by one, at last giving the young men something to do so they wouldn’t stand around idly.

Everyone released a breath of relief and looked at Qiaoqiao with gentle expressions of fondness.

Some even initiated small talk:

"Do you do these kinds of chores often at home?"

"Not very often..." Qiaoqiao thought carefully for a moment and answered, "Just once or twice a day. My parents, Master Jiang, Seventh Uncle, Seventh Grandma, and Aunt Lianhua all help me with the tasks."

"But I can grate radishes really well!" Puffed up with pride, he added, "If there weren’t so many people today, I could’ve grated all the radishes myself. I’m really good at it!"

But cooking three meals a day, and doing chores once or twice daily... isn’t that considered "often"?

No one could find it in their hearts to dislike this simple-minded child, and everyone began to laugh warmly. Meanwhile, Lao Zhu had peeled a few cabbage leaves and quickly leaned over.

"Xiaodu," he said, his eyes sparkling, "Let’s switch—you peel the leaves while I grate the radishes."

"No!" Qiaoqiao stopped him firmly:

"Grandpa Zhu, Sister Secretary says you’re a glutton, and you need to be watched so you don’t overeat. You’re not allowed to grate the radishes!"

Lao Zhu was momentarily stunned before retorting indignantly, "I just want to help do some work, not sneak bites!"

He raised his voice, but Qiaoqiao’s innocent tone was even louder: "But if there are so many people here, even if you eat, it wouldn’t count as sneaking!"

Song Tan and Wu Lan, who had no tasks to do at the moment, chuckled as they watched the scene unfold.

Grating radishes and tearing cabbage didn’t take long. The stove in the room burned fiercely, warming everyone up so it didn’t feel chilly inside at all.

Song Tan thought for a moment and suggested, "Why don’t you guys go fishing?"

"We were originally planning to make braised dried fish chunks tonight. But since there’s still time, if you’re up for fishing, we can prepare the catch and have fresh fish for dinner."

With about an hour until mealtime, the small pond at the entrance provided just enough time.

At this suggestion, those peeling cabbages and grating radishes perked up, their eyes lighting with interest.

Song Tan grinned and added, "Since there’s only a short time, and there are so many of you, you can all try fishing together. But be careful—the pond has all kinds of fish! Don’t let each of you catch different species, or it’ll be hard to cook a single dish!"

Old Wang, who had been craving radishes earlier and was now peeling cabbage with a strangely hungry feeling, struggled to keep his urges in check.

He immediately asked, "Are we eating the catch tonight? Will we have enough time?"

The truth was, he liked fishing but loved to eat even more. The former reflected his personal determination, while the latter was beyond his control.

"We’ll have enough time," Song Tan turned to Zhang Yanping and instructed, "Brother Yanping, bring out the fishing rods and give each of them a couple of worms."

Zhang Yanping lazily stood up. Before heading to the storage, he glanced at everyone’s clothing and reminded them, "Make sure your down jacket zippers and hoods are done up—the pondside still gets quite chilly."

Were it not for the biting cold, his little side gig as a fishing guide wouldn’t have been on hold right now.

Xin Jun, however, seemed a bit reluctant—after all, he had helped pick out the fish fry previously. He knew how much effort it took to raise those small fish to their current plump size; it wasn’t easy.

Finally deciding to confirm again, he asked, "Two worms each? Wouldn’t one worm be enough?"

From their experience, one worm was definitely enough to catch fish. But the problem was...

Song Tan confessed frankly, "I’m worried they’ll each catch a different species and we won’t be able to make a complete dish tonight. Giving extra bait might help prevent that."

Old Wang’s question received no direct answer, but the solution was already apparent. He pondered it and couldn’t help muttering to himself, feeling slightly absurd, "Hey, what if dinner time rolls around and no one’s caught a fish? Doesn’t that mean we’ll be short on dishes tonight?"

"Don’t worry," Song Tan reassured him, "If no one catches anything, we’ll stick to the original plan and eat dried fish chunks made from summer stock. Those taste fantastic too."

Then, teasingly, she added, "Grandpa Wang, you better catch something good! Otherwise, if everyone else catches big fish and you only end up with two loaches, we won’t be able to make a proper dish with that either."

Old Wang was confident this wouldn’t be the case. He put down his cabbage leaves and declared, "Impossible! In all my years of fishing, I’ve never caught a loach."

"Yeah," Old Li chimed in sarcastically, "You’ve never caught a loach, but there’ve been plenty of times you haven’t caught anything, not even a loach."

Song Tan: ... Got it—senior citizen version of Loach Brother.

Years of old camaraderie apparently didn’t stop them from pointing out each other’s embarrassing flaws. Old Wang glared indignantly.

At this moment, Zhang Yanping returned with the fishing rods and handed them out. Without another word, Old Wang grabbed one and immediately urged Xiaoli, who had just finished washing his hands after grating radishes, "Quick, grab a rod too—let’s partner up and make sure we catch fresh fish for tonight!"

Xiaoli, sweet-natured and a bit slow, hesitated, "I’ve never fished before... don’t know much about how to do it..."

"Don’t worry," Zhang Yanping said confidently:

"Just thread a worm onto the hook, toss the hook into the pond, and when the float starts moving, lift the fishing rod right away. That’s it."

"Look, it’s just three or four simple steps, right?"

Xiaoli mentally rehearsed it and realized it really was just four easy movements. Instantly, his confidence soared.

"Alright! I’ve got it."

This left the more experienced fishers speechless.

Sure, the steps weren’t incorrect technically... but why did it feel like there was something off about this explanation?

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