The Courtyard House: Xu Damao's Aunt is the Queen of Women

Whether it's hard or not, why don't you come and cut it yourself and you'll know?

Working outdoors in temperatures below -10 degrees Celsius, it's common to have frostbite on your hands and feet. Your hands will crack, your feet will freeze, your ears will get frostbite, and your whole body will ache after a day's work.

Reed stalks are hard and sharp, cutting hands and arms. Without thick gloves, hands will be covered in bloody cuts in just a few strokes, but with gloves on, the cold makes it impossible to hold the sickle.

Bending over all day, my back felt like it was broken. I was always bending over to cut, and straightening my back was considered slacking off, which would get me scolded by the guards.

The ice was slippery, making it hard to stand, and we dared not stop. The wind was strong, the ice was slippery, and we were exhausted. If we slowed down even slightly, we would be scolded and given extra work.

The task is heavy, with each person assigned a large area. If they don't finish harvesting, they have to work until dark and freeze to death.

There was no warm place to rest, no hot water to drink, so when thirsty we grabbed snow to eat, and when hungry we ate frozen cornbread. A gust of wind chilled us to the bone.

Do you think I'm tired?

Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi were full of resentment, but they dared not show the slightest abnormality on their faces, and even forced a smile to greet her.

"Hello Secretary Liu, hello Secretary Ye, I'm not tired! Working for the farm is what I should do!"

Jia Zhangshi quickly added, "It won't trouble Secretary! I promise to do my job well and never hold anyone back!"

Liu Hao smiled and nodded, picked up the canvas bag containing his fishing gear, and stepped onto the ice.

After the group had gone some distance, Madam Jia cursed under her breath, "That little beast is a smiling tiger! So many people from our compound have gone to jail because of him!"

Qin Huairu rolled her eyes, too lazy to pay any attention to Jia Zhangshi.

What does the fact that the people in courtyard number 95 are in jail have to do with Liu Hao? Didn't he break the law himself?

……

On the ice, Ye Juan started to frolic like a husky, skating lightly and nimbly.

Liu Hao wasn't worried about her falling. This little queen was no weakling; she had a strong physique and excellent balance due to her martial arts training.

"Hey, Sha Zhu, Yi Zhonghai, is this the ice cave you guys dug?"

Liu Hao walked to the edge of the ice cave, glanced at it a few times, and casually asked, "Ye Zhen, where's the stool?"

Ye Zhen chuckled: "Yes, I do! Liu Guangqi, bring me a stool!"

Liu Guangqi brought over two small round stools. Liu Hao pulled his coat up, sat down on the stools, opened his canvas bag, and took out a small, dark, smooth fishing rod made of iron bamboo, which was very sturdy.

The bait used was ready-made bloodworms, a small ball wrapped in oil paper, which was specially prepared by the farm's logistics department. They are resistant to freezing, attract fish quickly, and are most suitable for the cold-water fish under the ice in Bosten Lake.

He baited the hook and gently cast it. Everyone held their breath. The lake was so still that only the sound of the wind could be heard. The sunlight fell on the thick ice, dazzlingly bright.

Not long after, the tip of the rod dipped slightly and then slowly pressed down.

Liu Hao's eyes lit up, and he immediately sensed that the thing underwater was quite large, heavy, steady, and not surging forward; it was an old fish.

Are there really that many fish in the lake? Or am I just lucky?

Ye Juan tiptoed over, took a small half-step forward, and spoke with suppressed joy.

"Is it a big fish?"

"I reckon it is; it's quite powerful!"

Liu Hao gripped the fishing rod tightly and slowly increased the force.

The big fish underwater began to exert its strength, pulling sharply downwards, causing the fishing rod to bend into an arc instantly, and the line to hum.

Those with less strength would have been pulled forward long ago, but Liu Hao simply straightened his shoulders and back, holding them firmly as if nailed to the ice.

"Don't pull hard, let it slide slowly."

Ye Juan's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly spoke up to remind her.

"Um."

Liu Hao remained calm and patient, gently guiding the fish along its movements, sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right, gradually wearing it down.

The ice hole wasn't large, and fish thrashed about underneath, causing the ice to tremble slightly.

Sha Zhu and Yi Zhonghai exchanged a glance, and one of them couldn't help but admire Liu Hao's luck.

They had come to Bosten Lake to cut reeds several times. Each time they came, the officers would break the ice to fish, but they could only catch small crucian carp, because the big fish were said to have all been cleared out by the army.

As a result, Liu Hao caught a big fish right away. What else could it be but good luck?

Ye Zhen squatted excitedly at the edge of the ice cave and peered inside, exclaiming, "A big fish!!! It's a big fish! The ice cave is too small, I'm afraid we can't pull it up!"

Liu Hao held the fishing rod with one hand, bent down to pick up the large iron hammer, and swung it to smash the ice layer next to the ice cave.

Boom! With a loud bang, the ice layer, which was 60 to 70 centimeters thick, shattered, sending ice shards flying everywhere, and the ice layer within a radius of 100 meters was shaking.

The air seemed to freeze instantly; everyone except Ye Juan was stunned.

Is this even human?

Liu Hao then hammered around the ice cave a dozen more times, expanding its diameter to about one meter.

Drop the hammer and start to fight the big fish head-on.

If he weren't afraid the fishing line would snap, he could easily pull the fish up by force.

After more than ten minutes, the big fish gradually weakened and stopped struggling.

Liu Hao slowly reeled in the thread with his gloved hands.

Everyone held their breath, their eyes fixed on the ice eye.

Finally, a huge dark shadow emerged from the water.

"It's a bighead carp!"

Ye Juan exclaimed in surprise and squatted down by the ice cave, staring wide-eyed at it.

Liu Hao continued to exert force with his wrist, his strength steady yet ruthless, using the resilience of the iron bamboo pole to gradually pull the fish toward the ice mouth.

The fish had barely peeked out when it suddenly thrashed about, its tail slapping the water hard and sending up a spray of ice shards.

"Juan'er, move aside!"

Liu Hao told Ye Juan to move aside, then suddenly increased the force in his arm, dragging the 70-80 pound flat-snout fish out of the ice hole.

Bang!

The large fish landed heavily on the ice, twisting and turning wildly, whipping its tail with enough force to knock a person down.

Sha Zhu, who was nearby, raised his ice chisel and stabbed it hard into the fish's eye, killing the big fish.

Ye Zhen exclaimed in surprise, "Wow... what a huge fish! Is it tasty?"

"It's delicious. Bighead carp has few bones and thick meat, making it perfect for stewing in a rich broth. The soup is white and flavorful, warming and refreshing. It's also good braised, savory and perfect with rice."

Sha Zhu swallowed hard, staring intently at the large fish.

Since being arrested and taken to the police station, and then sent to Xinjiang to serve his sentence, he has never seen any meat or fish, and has almost forgotten what fatty meat tastes like.

Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, Xu Damao, Liu Guangqi, and Liu Guangtian were all swallowing hard, wishing they could rush up and take a few bites.

Ye Zhen glanced at Sha Zhu and asked, "Do you want to eat?"

Sha Zhu shrank his neck and quickly shook his head.

"In no mood!"

Ye Zhen then asked the others.

"And you?"

"In no mood!"

"Never mind then. I was actually thinking of making you some fish and meat for the Lantern Festival today!"

Sha Zhu and the others were devastated, and tears almost welled up in their eyes.

We really wanted to say we wanted to eat, but we were afraid of getting beaten up.

Liu Haizhong finally couldn't hold back and weakly said, "Actually, we wanted to..."

Snapped!

Ye Zhen slapped Liu Haizhong across the face and shouted angrily, "I hate people like you who go back on their word and are dishonest!"

clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap

Ye Zhen seized the opportunity, how could he let it slip away so easily? He grabbed Liu Hai by the collar and slapped him repeatedly.

Liu Hao smiled and continued to bait his hook and cast his line.

Tonight he plans to invite all the cadres and their families to dinner in the canteen, hoping to catch a few more fish.

People in this era were not as refined as those in later generations; they ate meat and drank very heartily!

By the way, we can share some fish innards with our fellow inmates to make soup, since they're old neighbors!