Seeing his father dock the boat properly, Wang Chu'an spoke a word to Xu Wenjie and walked over toward the fishing boat.
Seeing his father step off the fishing boat looking happy, he guessed that his father's catch today must be quite good.
"Dad, how is the fish catch today?"
His father, Wang Mangul, said with a look of pride, "We had good luck today. Once the fish are lifted down, you can see for yourself!"
Hearing his father say this, he quickly stepped forward to help lift the fish.
Watching his eldest brother, second brother, and younger brother, the three of them lifting baskets of fish out of the hold one by one, he and his father carried the fish baskets over to an open space nearby.
After bustling about for more than half an hour, they finally moved all the fish off the boat. Looking at these baskets of fish, the varieties weren't very numerous, which meant they must have run into a school of fish today.
There were sea bass, white croaker, swimming crabs, and it seemed there was even a basket of large yellow croaker.
Wang Chu'an looked at this basket of large yellow croaker, feeling his heart race. You had to know that a basket of large yellow croakers like this would be worth at least a hundred thousand or so in later generations!
After a brief thought in his heart, he calmed down. Large yellow croakers were only worth two or three yuan a jin at this time.
Turning his head, he saw his mother and the others coming over with a flatbed cart.
His mother, Chen Hong, saw him standing here and said in a displeased tone, "You vanished right after eating, and people were looking all over for you just now. You didn't even say a word about when you came over!"
"I figured the time was about right, so I just came straight over!"
His eldest brother, Wang Chuanxing, and the others had also finished their work. All three of them came down from the boat, each carrying a bucket in one hand.
Seeing that everyone had come down, his father, Wang Mangul, said, "Eldest, you take Second and haul all these fish over to A-Jun's collection station to sell them. Keep that basket of swimming crabs!"
"Alright, I know."
Wang Chu'an watched them put their buckets on the ground, then stepped forward and handed out cigarettes to all of them in a circle.
His mother, Chen Hong, looked at these baskets of fish and asked, "You ran into a school of fish today, so you aren't going to make us sort them?"
His second brother, Wang Chuanguo, replied, "Mm-hmm, Mom, we had good luck today and ran into a school of fish. Plus, with Fourth here as an extra hand, they were already sorted right on the boat."
"That's good, it saves us some trouble."
He pulled over the flatbed cart that his mother and the others had brought and took down the fish baskets from it.
Together with his eldest brother and the others, he lifted the fish onto the flatbed cart. Seeing this, his father took a few fish out of the basket of large yellow croakers and put them into a smaller basket nearby.
Once everything was ready, the eldest and second brothers pulled the flatbed cart off to the collection station.
Wang Mangul said to him and the fourth brother, "You guys go along and clean up the boat."
"Alright, coming."
He turned his head and said to Chen Hong, "You go back first and get the dishes ready. Mom and Dad and the others are coming over to eat tonight."
"Alright, I've had it ready for a long time, just waiting for Third to go back and cook!"
"Well then, Third, stop messing around here and go home to stir-fry the dishes!"
"Alright, then I'll head back first."
"Don't forget to take some seafood back with you."
"Right, I know."
With that, he picked up two large yellow croakers, a sea bass, and some swimming crabs, and headed home together with his mother and the others.
***
Back home, his mother started butchering the fish and asked the eldest sister-in-law and the others to help move all the vegetables outside to the earth-built stove.
The kitchen at home only had two pots, which still needed to be used for cooking rice. If he had to stir-fry dishes and stew soup with just the one pot left over, there wouldn't be enough time.
Seeing that all the ingredients were prepared, he lit the fire, blanched the pork ribs first, and got the soup going.
Next, he prepped all the dishes that took more time and needed simmering, one by one.
He arranged the butchered fish and swimming crabs neatly in the steamer baskets, placed them on the big wok to start steaming, and then prepared several cold dressed dishes.
Once everything was busywork-done, he saw his paternal uncle arriving with his grandparents and the rest. He hurriedly handed out cigarettes to his grandfather and uncle, greeting them warmly: "Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle, Auntie, Sister, Lulu, you're here."
"Oh—you're here. Where are your parents?"
"My dad is at the wharf; he'll be back in a little while. My mom is inside the house. Go on in, sit down and have some water, we'll be eating soon."
"Good. You go ahead with your work, we'll go on in first."
"Alright."
Seeing that his grandfather, grandmother, uncle, and the others had all gone inside, his elder female cousin, Wang Yunmei, was still standing there and hadn't left. He asked his cousin, "Sister, when did you get back? Is it summer break already?"
His cousin looked at him with a smile and replied, "I arrived in town last night, stayed at Eldest Brother's place for the night, and Eldest Brother brought me back this afternoon!"
"No wonder I didn't see you when I went to your place at noon!"
"Isn't it because you're getting married? I rushed back the moment vacation started."
For a moment he didn't know how to answer, so he scratched his head and said, "Sister, you've had a hard trip. Eat more tonight."
"Alright! Dad said your culinary skills are almost good enough to graduate from apprenticeship. I'm going to have a good taste of your cooking tonight!"
"You bet!"
At that moment, his father, Wang Mangul, also came back with the eldest and the others. Seeing that Wang Yunmei was also there, he greeted her, "Xiaomei, you're back. When did you arrive?"
"Uncle, I got to town last night, stayed at Eldest Brother's place for the night, and Eldest Brother brought me back this afternoon!"
"Is this your vacation? You're graduating soon, aren't you?"
"Mm-hmm, just one more year and I graduate."
"That'll be soon, then. Alright, don't just stand here, go inside the house and have some water!"
"Okay."
***
Wang Mangul, the eldest brother, and the others dumped the seafood that needed to be kept alive for tomorrow into the water tanks, then put everything else away.
Seeing that Wang Chu'an hadn't started stir-frying yet, he asked, "When are you going to start cooking?"
"In about ten minutes!"
"Alright then. Eldest, Second, you guys go home and rinse off!"
"Okay, we'll come back in a bit."
With that, the eldest and second brothers walked toward home, while Wang Mangul and the fourth brother also went back to their room to get their clothes ready for a quick rinse.
***
Seeing that the time was about right, he opened the steamer. Seeing that the fish and crabs were done, he lifted the steamer down, took the fish and crabs out, emptied the water from the wok, and started the wok to heat the oil.
Once the oil was hot, he poured the sizzling rapeseed oil over the fish bodies and then added the steamed fish soy sauce!
After the dish was done, he called out toward the house, "Xiuxiu, Lulu, you two come out and carry the dishes."
Hearing the call, Wang Xiuxiu and Wang Lulu came out together.
"Third Brother, we're here!"
"Good. You two take the cold dishes, the steamed fish, and the swimming crabs inside first."
"Okay!"
Seeing that the braised sea bass in soy sauce was also done, he reduced the sauce over high heat and took it out of the wok as well.
Wang Xiuxiu and the others ran back and forth three or four times, carrying all the dishes into the house.
"Third Brother, do you need us to do anything else?"
"Nothing needed right now. I'll call you when it's time to carry more dishes later!"
"Alright."
He started the wok and heated oil, cooking with two woks simultaneously. His practiced and skillful technique left the two young girls staring in wide-eyed amazement.
Before long, several stir-fried dishes were finished and came out of the woks one after another. At this time, the eldest and second brothers also came over.
"Third, are the dishes done?"
"There's still a white-cut chicken and the pork rib soup; they'll be ready right away."
"Do you need our help?"
"No need. You guys go on inside and have them sit at the table!"
"Alright, we're going in."
As the brothers went inside the house, he chopped the white-cut chicken and arranged it on a platter, and the pork rib soup was also ready.
He placed the dishes on a tray and walked toward the main hall carrying it.
Seeing Wang Chu'an walk in carrying the tray, his eldest aunt smiled and teased, "Ha-ha, look at how the groom-to-be has worked up a sweat!"
His mother, Chen Hong, smiled and replied, "Nothing to be done about it. He's the best cook in the family; if he doesn't do it, who will?"
Seeing that he had also come in, Wang Mangul asked, "Are all the dishes ready?"
"They're all ready!"
Knowing that the dishes were complete, Wang Mangul began calling everyone to take their seats at the table to eat.
The portions of the dishes Wang Chu'an cooked were quite large, so they split into two tables: one table for those drinking alcohol and one for those not drinking.
The eldest brother poured wine for grandfather and the others first, then filled the cups for the brothers. The fourth brother was still in school, so he wasn't allowed to drink.
Raising their glasses together, they took a sip first. After grandfather picked up his chopsticks, everyone began to eat.
His eldest uncle took a bite of the stir-fried pork slices Wang Chu'an had made, nodded, and said, "Third, your culinary skills have grown lately—haven't seen you for a few days, but you're getting better!"
The second brother chimed in teasingly from the side, "Ha-ha, is it because he's getting married? His mood is good, so the food he cooks tastes even better!"
Hearing what his eldest uncle and second brother said, Wang Chu'an replied with a smile, "Of course. When you're in a good mood, even the feeling of cooking is different!"
Hearing him say this, his eldest uncle also laughed and said, "If you can keep up today's skill level, you'll be ready to graduate from your apprenticeship. By then, you can go out and cater banquets on your own!"
Hearing his eldest uncle's words, Wang Mangul happily smiled and said to Wang Mancang, "Ha-ha, isn't this all thanks to you teaching him well, Eldest Brother?"
"Ha-ha, Third really does have a natural talent, too. None of the apprentices I used to take on were as good as him."