NOVPUB
Chapter 244: Chapter 234 Exploding Hairtail
Wang Dashuan and Shen Yougen braved the wind and frost, and didn’t make it back to Gaijiatun until the afternoon. When the old man Shen heard the news, he hurried over to ask about the situation. Learning that Yunfang was staying in the city hospital but the doctor said it was nothing serious, his heart finally settled down; he had been worried all through the previous night.
"Eh, that doesn’t make sense, if it’s nothing serious, why is she staying in the hospital?" Old Shen questioned with a sudden change of heart.
Dashuan explained the situation to him again, including what the doctor had said and what Yunfang was thinking.
"Yunfang told me she’s fine, and I am thinking about going to the city again in a couple of days to see them." Gaijiatun is too far from the city, they could only plan to visit every few days.
After listening, Old Shen just nodded in the end, murmuring about his own daughter causing such trouble, and about his niece destroying the family’s reputation. With hands clasped behind his back, he walked home, preparing to discuss with his wife visiting Yunfang in the city. The trouble was caused by his own child, so they as parents had to cover for her; what else could they do? Yunxiu was already grown up and a mother herself, he truly couldn’t hit or scold her anymore. But after this incident, he had made up his mind; once home, he planned to send Yunxiu and her family to live with the production team. A daughter who was already married off, still shamelessly staying at home, causing trouble without settling down, shouldn’t be indulged by anyone.
"You just take care of the home, when I come back, I’ll ask your auntie to go to the city to look after Yunfang," Old Shen stopped and turned his head to speak to Dashuan.
Dashuan didn’t respond; he would definitely have to go to the city to see his wife and Yunfang when the time came. However, he felt that it was only right for Old Shen’s family to take care of Yunfang, since she was hospitalized because of Shen Yunxiu.
Meanwhile, Shen Yunfang in the hospital was hungry after missing lunch. After the nurse had drawn her blood, Dashuan’s wife then went to the canteen to get food. Knowing that Yunfang had to skip lunch, she also chose not to eat, saying she wanted to wait to eat with Yunfang, saying it’s more enjoyable to eat together.
Fearing that people might find it expensive, Yunfang insisted on vegetarian dishes, so she specifically instructed that they should bring back something nutritious, and if there were any meat dishes like fried fish, to bring some back.
Ten minutes later, Dashuan’s wife came back carrying two bowls of food.
"Take a look, see what I brought back, just looking at it is making me hungry." She placed the bowls on the bedside table, pulling the table close so that Yunfang could reach without getting out of bed. "You wouldn’t believe it, the canteen is fantastic, they have everything, and just for vegetables, they have four kinds – shredded potatoes stir-fried with cellophane noodles, only ten cents a serving, and tofu stewed with Chinese cabbage for fifteen cents, look, look, this small bowl, it’s almost filled with tofu," she said with delight.
When she went to the hospital canteen, it was like Granny Liu visiting the Grand View Garden; she looked around every window and got a general idea of the place. There were steamed buns and rice for staple foods – the buns weren’t yesterday’s white flour ones, they were made with a mix of flours, three cents each. As for rice, there was white rice for five cents for two liang and cheaper sorghum rice, two cents for two liang. For vegetables, there were four kinds: shredded potatoes stir-fried with cellophane noodles, black and white cabbage, tofu stewed with Chinese cabbage, and a meat dish, fried hairtail fish. There were also millet porridge and radish soup, both thin and runny, with millet porridge costing two cents a large bowl and radish soup only one cent.
"Really? Let me take a look," Shen Yunfang said, showing great interest as she leaned over to look.
On top of the two bowls were two large mixed flour buns, one bowl contained tofu stewed with Chinese cabbage and the other fried hairtail fish.
Wow, these were rare delicacies.
In the North, where they were, seafood like this was normally unseen.
"Wow, this is really nice. It’s just not the same as back home; they even have hairtail fish here," Shen Yunfang said earnestly.
Dashuan’s wife looked at her with surprise, "You recognize this fish too?" She had only seen hairtail fish once in her lifetime, given to them by a relative of Dashuan’s from the city. She hadn’t expected Yunfang to be so knowledgeable as to recognize such a sea fish.
"Yeah, I saw it when I went to see Li Hongjun in the city last year," Shen Yunfang lied effortlessly.
Dashuan’s wife slapped her thigh, "Of course, their place is right next to the capital. If our small city has it, then theirs must have it for sure," she said, as if it had just dawned on her.
Shen Yunfang smiled and said nothing, knowing that saying too much at this moment was prone to mistakes. It was best to let Dashuan’s wife fill in the blanks with her imagination.
"Guess how much these fried hairtail fish pieces cost?" Dashuan’s wife said through clenched teeth. She had the same expression when she was getting food from the cafeteria earlier, which scared the young man serving so much that his hand trembled and he gave her two extra pieces.
"Fifty cents?" Shen Yunfang said, uncertain.
Her opportunities to eat out had been limited these past two years. In the county town restaurants, a portion of roasted eggplant was slightly over four cents, shredded pork with vegetables was slightly over six cents. Given that hairtail was a sea fish and rarer here, not to mention being a fried food item, it should be more expensive. However, she guessed that many locals probably weren’t used to it and considering the cafeteria’s prices were much cheaper than restaurants, she combined all these factors and offered fifty cents.
"Nope, you guessed too low, just these few pieces cost sixty-six cents," Dashuan’s wife said, gesturing the number six with her fingers. If it weren’t for considering Yunfang’s presence, she definitely wouldn’t spend so much on this herself. For her own meal, a four-cent bun and a bowl of one-cent soup were enough.
Shen Yunfang took another look at the basin, and although there was a bun pressing down on them, there were probably more than ten pieces. That wasn’t few.
Nowadays people were practical, and the cafeteria was just as sensible. The fried hairtail was even wider than fingers; more than ten pieces must weigh almost a pound, right?
"Sister-in-law, sixty-six cents isn’t expensive for so much. Think about it, they worked hard to catch it from the sea, transported it all the way from the south to the north, and even had to fry it for us in oil. Plus, smell this aroma, the price is fair," Shen Yunfang said as she spoke, her mouth watering.
Just moments ago, she felt no appetite, but upon smelling the fried fish, she suddenly wanted some and couldn’t wait to dive in.
Dashuan’s wife suspiciously leaned over to smell the basin but quickly retreated. The greasy smell was nice, but the fishy smell was too strong; how could it be fragrant?
"Only you would think that way. If everyone thought like you, we couldn’t get by." Indeed, if one considered everyone’s hard work, nothing would ever come cheap. The common folk didn’t earn much in a year and couldn’t afford to spend so freely. "If you’re fond of it, eat up while it’s still hot." Dashuan’s wife pushed the hairtail closer to Yunfang, indicating for her to eat quickly.
Yunfang didn’t hesitate, picking up the chopsticks next to her and biting into a piece. Mmm, delicious.
Seeing how much she enjoyed it, Dashuan’s wife was a bit envious but thought it was better for Yunfang to eat more, so she didn’t join in, just sticking to the tofu and cabbage.
Shen Yunfang didn’t know what she was thinking, but she wasn’t comfortable eating alone, so she picked up a piece of fried hairtail for Dashuan’s wife.
"Sister-in-law, try this, it’s delicious, the more you chew, the tastier it gets," Shen Yunfang relished the fish’s flavor.
"Don’t give it to me, I’ll eat anything, you should eat more of the good stuff and nourish yourself," Dashuan’s wife said, embarrassedly trying to push the hairtail back. 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓅𝓊𝓫.𝒸ℴ𝓶
"There’s a lot here, I can’t finish it all by myself, please eat," Yunfang insisted, firmly prompting her to eat.
Dashuan’s wife hesitated for a moment, then cautiously bit into the fried hairtail. The expression on her face turned sour; she simply couldn’t understand how Yunfang could stomach something so fishy and still look so content.
However, with a mindset against waste, even though she disliked it, she forced herself to finish the piece and then resolutely rejected Shen Yunfang’s further offers. She scooted the tofu and cabbage towards herself and pushed the fried hairtail back to Yunfang. This odd taste, let those who could enjoy it have it, she couldn’t stand it.
