Chapter 54: So embarrassing, so embarrassing
Wang Jingzhe was very generous. He was able to laugh heartlessly just after being rejected. He squatted on the fishing boat and pointed at two Weihe carps and said, "Kill them and eat them. Steam braise the other. As for the river shrimps, just wash and fry them."
"Okay, there are cooking utensils on the boat. Please wait a moment and I will cook for you." Wang Jingzhe sat on the fishing boat, crossed his legs, cigarette in his hand, humming a little tune, with no trace of rejection on his face.
The boatman kills and cooks the fish directly on the fishing boat. The cooking method has a very farm-like flavor. It is simply made by adding some seasonings. It all depends on the fresh nature of Weihe River carp.
Soon, two plates of carp were ready and placed on the deck of the fishing boat. The boatman also brought up a basket of wine that had sunk under the water. Wang Jingzhe picked up a piece of fish with chopsticks and put it in his mouth. After tasting it, he gave a thumbs up and said, "It tastes good, really fresh."
On a fishing boat not far away, the little girl next to the fishing woman sniffed her nose and said unhappily, "There's something wrong with this wind. Why did it blow towards us?"
"It's not the wind that's wrong, it's your greed that's acting up." The woman raised the fishing rod. It seemed her luck today was not very good. She hadn't caught any carp for half a day.
Usually, when she has nothing to do, she likes to go fishing on the Wei River. She never feels lonely after fishing all day. Her master once said that she is a 20-year-old woman with the temperament of a 50-year-old, and her calmness and restraint are a bit surprising.
The weather today seems a little cloudy, the air is filled with the smell of summer rain, and occasionally a little drizzle falls.
"You have to drink well, not less than one glass, and drink them all, and not get drunk in the end..." Wang Jingzhe shook his head and tail, holding the fish in one hand and the wine bottle in the other, humming a tune and drinking it all.
The fishing woman rested her chin on her hand, swung her fishing rod and glanced lazily over there, humming a tune: "When I was young, I listened to the rain while boating on the water, with red candles dimming the curtains. When I was middle-aged, I listened to the rain in a boat, with the river wide and the clouds low, and the geese crying in the west wind."
"Gudong" Wang Jingzhe threw the empty bottle into the river. He heard someone humming a song behind him and subconsciously added a line: "Now listening to the rain under the Weihe River, my temples are already white. Joys and sorrows are always ruthless. I let the raindrops fall on the steps until dawn."
"Cousin, that idiot is reciting a ci poem with you," the little girl said, covering her mouth and laughing.
The fishing woman sighed and said, "If it were you, you wouldn't be able to match it up, so why are you making fun of others?"
"I just hate him eating fish because I have nothing to eat," the little girl said with a pout.
"Well, let's row over there. It seems like there are fish in that area. We just caught two of them in the net..."
After drinking a few bottles of wine, Wang Jingzhe felt bloated. He rubbed his belly and asked, "Boatman, what should I do if I want to go to the toilet?"
"If you have big ones, just hold it in on the shore. If you have small ones, just pee in the river."
Wang Jingzhe said shyly: "Not so good, right?"
"What's wrong with it? The sewage discharged from nearby areas flows into the Wei River to raise fish. Otherwise, where do you think the feces and urine go?" said the boatman.
Wang Jingzhe glanced at the carp that he had eaten half of, and felt a little confused.
Lifting his robe, Wang Jingzhe stood on the deck with his legs apart and started releasing water towards the Wei River below.
“Crash…”
The sound of water was quite crisp, and a refreshing feeling spread throughout his body. Wang Jingzhe shuddered in comfort, exhaled a long breath, closed his eyes and said, "Comfortable!"
"Ah, rascal!"
Wang Jingzhe opened his eyes with a "swish" and saw a wooden boat floating in front of him. A little girl covered her eyes and pointed at him, cursing him with gritted teeth. Next to her was a woman holding a fishing rod, who glanced at him expressionlessly.
Even though Wang Jingzhe was thick-skinned, he felt embarrassed by this awkward situation. His face turned red in an instant. He quickly pulled up his trousers and put down his robe, coughed dryly, and turned around.
"Oh, so embarrassing, so embarrassing." Wang Jingzhe sat back on the boat with his back to the back, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.
The little girl on the wooden boat stamped her feet and said, "Cousin, let's go fishing somewhere else. The fish here can't be eaten."
"No more fishing, let's go home." The woman swung the fishing rod and pulled it up, saying, "Li Menghan, paddle ashore, it's going to rain."
After the boat left, the boatman looked at the sky and said, "We have to go back too. If it rains, it will be windy and it will be unsafe on the river. Most accidents on the river are caused by the weather."
"Yeah, go back, go back..." Wang Jingzhe nodded.
The weather on the river changes the fastest. When Wang Jingzhe and his companions were rowing towards the shore, the rain started to fall harder and harder. The wind gradually started to blow, and the waves on the river began to rise. The old boatman rowed hard and rowed quickly towards the shore, muttering, "What a weird weather today. How could it change so quickly? Is it time to offer sacrifices to the river god again?"
There has been a legend since ancient times that people who live by the big rivers such as the Yellow River, Yangtze River, and Wei River and who make their living by the water pay attention to offering sacrifices to the river gods. In addition to burning incense and praying, they also have to slaughter pigs and sheep and throw them into the river as a sacrifice. Otherwise, the river gods will easily get angry and will not reward the fishermen and boatmen with food.
More than ten minutes later, the fishing boat reached the shore and the rain began to fall heavily. When Wang Jingzhe just got ashore, he saw that the waves behind him had already rolled up. Several small boats had not had time to return to the shore and were swaying violently in the river.
The old boatman frowned and said, "This is not a good thing. It's raining heavily and the waves are rough. It's easy for something to go wrong."
Wang Jingzhe wiped the rain off his face and asked, "Will the boat capsize?"
"Hard to say……"
After a while, several fishing boats came back one after another , but there was still a fishing boat more than 20 meters away from the river bank that had not yet docked.
"Splash!" At this moment, a big wave suddenly rolled over and hit the fishing boat directly. The people on the shore screamed in surprise. In the blink of an eye, they saw that the fishing boat was suddenly overturned , and the two people on the boat fell into the river in an instant.
The old boatman stamped his feet and said, "It's broken. Hurry up and pull the boats. Tie three boats together with ropes and row over to get the fish out."
The boatmen on the shore basically knew each other. When they saw someone fall into the water, they hurriedly organized their boats to go over. The shore suddenly became busy and crowded with people. Wang Jingzhe also went over, but when he walked forward, his foot slipped and he stepped on a piece of moss and fell forward.
Seeing that he was about to fall, Wang Jingzhe subconsciously reached out and pulled the person next to him to support himself.
"Swish" Wang Jingzhe knelt on one knee but did not fall down, but when he looked up, he found a woman standing in front of him. He had pulled her clothes open before he slipped.
A woman blinked her eyes and adjusted her clothes nonchalantly. Wang Jingzhe took a look and his face turned red again. This woman was the one who had caught him peeing in the river not long ago.
The fishing girl straightened her clothes and said calmly, "Why do you blush so much..."
Wang Jingzhe stammered in silence and scratched his head in embarrassment.
Years later, she once asked him a question.
"How did you feel when you first met me?"
He said: "You and I started with blushing and ended with jealousy..."
