Letter

The entire village was bustling as if it were New Year's Day, with the children particularly excited and the adults also very pleased. Although after dinner the village chief called the men to discuss their concerns about the dam upstream, it is now late autumn, and the flood season has passed. Even if the dam were to break, there would be no risk of flooding downstream. As ordinary villagers, they naturally couldn't come to any conclusions; at most, they could report it to the village head.

Every household had caught numerous big and small fish, and they were overjoyed. The next morning, the village was filled with the aroma of fish.

Unfortunately, fish can't survive for long once they are out of the river, so they had to be cleaned. Dead fish don't taste good, and they cannot be preserved either.

Zhou Dalang and his companions woke up early to replace the water in the barrel and selected the liveliest batch of fish from the tank. They intended to sell them in the county town.

Although there was a river in the area, it was mountainous, and large fish were seldom spotted. Zhou Erlang estimated that it shouldn't be too difficult to sell them as long as they arrived before others.

Zhou Silang and Zhou Wulang were on their way to the county town to sell ginger. They carried Manbao's letter and some fried small fish with them. Zhou Wulang also brought a bag of sugar, intending to sell it to Miss Fu'er to increase their income.

The children at the school were carefree. After school, they wanted to go to the river to catch some fish. Mr. Zhuang scolded them while anxiously looking at the now calm river.

It can be seen that the current water level has risen significantly compared to before. Initially, as a result of reduced rainfall at the end of autumn, the water level had already decreased, exposing numerous water grass roots. But now, the tops of these water grasses are all submerged.

Mr. Zhuang sighed and wondered how the county government planned to repair the dam upstream. If he remembered correctly, the dam upstream had not been built for more than five years, right?

Miss Fu'er had received gifts from Manbao before, but this was the first time she had received food.

The cold, dried fish didn't taste very good, but Miss Fu'er carefully took a bite and found it quite tasty. She handed the box to her maid and asked her to heat it up and fry it according to the instructions on the paper.

Only then did Miss Fu'er open Manbao's letter.

In the letter, Manbao vividly described the lively scene of fishing yesterday and expressed her wish for the repair of the upstream dam. Miss Fu'er read it with great interest and envy.

At noon, when County Magistrate Fu returned to the backyard from the yamen, Miss Fu'er intentionally set aside half of the dried fish to bring to the dining table, as a demonstration of filial piety.

She found that the dried fish, when heated, was crispy and delicious.

County Magistrate Fu also found it quite tasty and ate several bites. He smiled at his wife and said, "This fish is quite good." Is it a new dish?

Mrs. Fu glanced at him and smiled, "This wasn't made in our kitchen; it was brought by Wenyun, and I don't know how to make it."

"Oh?" County Magistrate Fu looked at his second daughter and asked with a smile, "Did you buy it from a shop?"

Seeing that her father liked it, Wenyun was also happy and explained, "No, a friend gave it to me."

Her sister, Wensuan, laughed on the side, "Is it the girl who sold you the sugar?" "Maybe she wanted to sell you the fish, so she sent you some to taste first?"

Wenyun was not happy with her older sister's tone when mentioning Manbao and said, "Manbao is not like that." She always keeps her word. The fish was caught by their family yesterday, and there's not much left of it. The letter stated that it was sent for me to taste, and there may not be any more in the future.

County Magistrate Fu was not interested in his daughters' friendships and nodded perfunctorily. He casually asked, "Is their family engaged in fishing?" The autumn fish are plump. If they have good fish, they can send them to our house, and we'll pay for them.

"No, they are from the Zhuang family." They were just lucky. The dam upstream in their village broke yesterday, and a lot of fish came down. "That's how they were able to catch so many fish."

County Magistrate Fu, who had just taken a bite of food, was suddenly choked and couldn't help but cough violently.

The people at the dining table were all startled, and Mrs. Fu hurriedly patted his back. "Sir, what's wrong with you?"

County Magistrate Fu was choking, and his eyes were red. Wensuan quickly poured a glass of water for him.

After catching his breath, County Magistrate Fu grabbed Wenyun's hand and asked with red eyes, "What did you just say?"

Wenyun, who was only ten years old, was scared. She stammered, "I, I didn't say anything."

"No, that's not right." "Where did their fish come from?"

"In the river..." Wenyun's eyes were teary, and Mrs. Fu couldn't help but exclaim, "Sir, what's wrong with you?"

"How can there be fish in the river?"

"Oh, if there are no fish in the river, then where are the fish?" Mrs. Fu couldn't help but ask.

But Wenyun suddenly came to her senses and said, "They said the dam in their village broke, and a lot of river water and fish came down."

County Magistrate Fu asked, "Where is their village?"

"I remember she said it's called Qili Village."

"Qili Village, Qili Village… Isn't that in Baimaguan Town?" County Magistrate Fu muttered and quickly asked, "Where is her letter? Does it mention any casualties or flooded farmland?"

Finally, Wenyun gave her father Manbao's letter.

Several thick sheets were stacked, and Manbao's writing was already showing signs of progress. At least it was legible, although in County Magistrate Fu's eyes, the writing still appeared very immature. But he was not in the mood to appreciate the writing at the moment.

He quickly read the letter and showed no interest in the childish descriptions. He quickly scanned through it and found that in the four pages, the upstream dam breaking was only mentioned twice. Once, the fishing was described, explaining why there were suddenly so many fish in their village's river. The last time was at the end of the letter, where the child made a wish, hoping that the upstream dam would break again tomorrow, preferably every day, so they could catch fish daily.

County Magistrate Fu:...

Where did this mischievous child come from?

Finally, County Magistrate Fu rolled up the letter and went straight to the yamen. He didn't return home that night, and it was said that he went to the countryside.

Manbao was completely unaware of this, sleeping soundly amidst the chirping of insects. When she woke up the next day, she stretched and realized that she could fry small fish for breakfast again.

Manbao happily washed her face and hands, and obediently sat at the dining table, waiting for breakfast.

But as soon as her breakfast was served, there was a loud gong outside. Manbao jumped up and wanted to go out to join the excitement, but she was caught by Xiao Qianshi, who said, "What are you doing? Hurry up and eat before going to school."

Manbao pointed outside and asked, "Are they beating the gong outside?"

"That's the village chief calling the men in the village for a meeting." It has nothing to do with you. Hurry up and eat before going to school.

Manbao felt a little disappointed and lowered her head. After a while, she raised her head and asked, "Sister-in-law, did the dam upstream break again? "Did the village chief call everyone to catch fish?"

Xiao Qianshi's toothache flared up. The village chief was about the same age as her father, just a generation younger. Could Manbao stop calling him brother?

Well, she really should call him brother.