Chapter 159

Of course, "Skinning Song" still left one thing unsaid.

That is, she plans to use spiritual energy to lure the things in the pond these next few days. Once their palates become picky, then relying on the bait of those old fishermen...

Hehehe.

It's estimated that apart from the gluttonous bitterlings and topmouth gudgeons, it will be very difficult to lure anything else.

Just consider it letting them spend money to embrace nature.

But this little thought can only be kept in her heart; if she says it out loud, she'll be scolded.

Amidst Zhang Yanping's look of "you're doing a losing business," Song Tan still nodded firmly at him.

The people working had all gone up the mountain, and the courtyard returned to a state of quiet.

The two helping aunts were the same two from last time, and by now, they were familiarly starting to boil hot water, filling everyone's thermoses.

Song Tan saw it in her eyes; there are quite a few people in the family now, and they can't keep borrowing everyone's thermoses every time there's something going on, right?

Boiling hot water is time-consuming and takes up the stove.

She thought for a moment and directly placed an order online for a large-capacity factory water boiler, choosing one that uses two-phase household electricity. As for the capacity... 30L will do.

When everything was ready, Zhang Yanping was squatting on the side sending messages, and only then did Qiaoqiao rush back, sweating profusely, carrying a basket:

"Where's the fish! Where's the fish!"

Song Tan laughed: It's hard not to be happy when seeing Qiaoqiao early in the morning!

"It's by the pool, hurry up and go help Seventh Cousin-Grandpa."

Without needing Song Tan's instruction, Qiaoqiao had already impatiently thrown down the toon in the basket and followed him to squat by the pool.

Seventh Grandma returned a step behind him. Seeing the pitifully small half-basket of toon sprouts, she couldn't help but laugh: "If we eat this at noon, it won't be enough for one chopstick per person. Let's make toon egg pancakes."

And Qiaoqiao was already busy looking at the fish.

There was a large cement pool there that had been abandoned for many years. Seventh Cousin-Grandpa had just rinsed it with a little water, and was now filling it with water.

While filling it with water, they were pulling fish out of the ground cages:

Crucian carp, grass carp, bighead carp, common carp.

River shrimp, loach, swamp eel, small crabs.

And a large handful of bitterlings and topmouth gudgeons...

While pulling them out, he was puzzled:

"I remember you only put in one piece of meat, right? How come even grass carp came over? Tantan, did you add bait?"

"I didn't," Song Tan said with an innocent face: "Maybe these fish haven't been touched for many years, so they're just silly."

Seventh Cousin-Grandpa exerted force with his hands, accurately gripping the gills of that lively black carp—the one that could slap someone in the face with its tail—and was utterly baffled at this moment:

"Then this fish's brain is truly too silly."

Qiaoqiao, however, had already started chattering while pointing at the fish in the ground cages:

"What fish is this?"

"This is a bighead carp. Look, isn't its head round and fat? Let's make a spicy stew for lunch; we'll use this one."

"What about this one? It's so energetic?" He pointed again at the one in Seventh Cousin-Grandpa's hand.

"This is a snakehead, also called a black carp. It eats other fish; it's very fierce and has a lot of strength. Look at the spots on its body; doesn't it look fierce?"

Seventh Cousin-Grandpa put the fish into a bucket on the side: "We'll grill it at noon."

"But there's no water in the bucket..."

Qiaoqiao lowered his head to look.

"It's fine," Seventh Cousin-Grandpa taught him: "This kind of fish can live for a long time without water. If you put one in a pond, all the small fish will become its food."

As he spoke, he looked at Song Tan with implication, obviously also knowing her great achievement of putting fish fry into the water without clearing the pond.

Song Tan, however, was very open-minded:

Whether the big fish eats the small fish or the small fish luckily survives, they're all going to end up in her family's mouth anyway, so she's not losing either way.

Besides, by setting a few more ground cages these next two days, sooner or later she'll pull all these snakeheads out.

Therefore, she appeared exceptionally thick-skinned.

Seventh Cousin-Grandpa glanced at her, turned his head, and continued teaching Qiaoqiao:

"Look at this small fish; isn't it very small? It's flat, and its scales are iridescent in the sunlight. This is called a bitterling, and this slightly thinner, longer one is called a topmouth gudgeon."

"These two types of fish don't grow big, and they're especially gluttonous. They rush wherever there's food; they're silly. Usually, when fishing, you can always catch them, and they can make people furious."

Qiaoqiao nodded, summarizing succinctly: "Fish that make you furious."

Then he asked a soul-searching question: "Is it delicious?"

Seventh Cousin-Grandpa smiled: "Delicious!"

Zhang Yanping looked up blankly: "Didn't they say the meat of this kind of small fish is bitter? If it's really delicious, why are fishermen so angry?"

Seventh Cousin-Grandpa snorted: "That's because they're lazy. If you don't remove the internal organs and the gallbladder from the fish, how could it not be bitter?"

Zhang Yanping made a bitter face: "Then let's just feed it to the dog. This fish isn't even bigger than my thumb, and I have to remove the gallbladder? Forget it, forget it."

Seventh Cousin-Grandpa snorted: "Lazy person, you deserve not to eat good things."

He turned his head again to look at Qiaoqiao, feeling that although this child is a bit silly, he is pleasing to the eye in every way, so he couldn't help but nag again:

"Don't look at this fish as something your Brother Yanping dislikes; that's because they don't know a good thing. Abroad, this is called the Chinese Rainbow, and the Japanese Emperor even specially sent people to look for it."

"If processed properly, it's not only delicious to eat, but it's also very beautiful when kept in a fish tank. Moreover, it can replenish Qi and strengthen the spleen. It can also detoxify. If a person has a pimple or sore that won't come to a head, eating this can quickly bring the toxin to a head."

"The Era of Genes"

"It's a good thing!"

Qiaoqiao nodded seriously and quickly extracted the keywords:

"Chinese Rainbow, Japanese Emperor, replenish Qi and strengthen the spleen, can also detoxify and cure pimples. Need to remove the gallbladder, it's delicious!"

Listening to this, Zhang Yanping couldn't help but whisper to Song Tan:

"Your previous plan was right. I think Qiaoqiao is really smart; if we don't teach him, it'll be a waste."

Seventh Cousin-Grandpa said so much, rambling on and on, and even adults would find it hard to accurately extract the keywords in an instant.

Yet he could do it. This has to do with a child's pure mind, but it also represents Qiaoqiao's thinking ability.

Song Tan was flipping through her contacts to see if there was anyone suitable to introduce, and she sighed at this moment:

"Finding a teacher is so hard."

And how should this job posting be written?

She pondered for a while and simply sent a message in her vegetable-selling group:

【Looking for a teacher for Qiaoqiao. Gender doesn't matter, with or without certification or experience is fine.

Needs to be patient and loving, have standard Mandarin, be flexible, and teach according to aptitude.

Salary is negotiable, includes room and board with internet, teaching materials can be provided, farm-style meals, excellent taste.

Address: Old Song's House, Yunqiao Village, Yuncheng

Contact number: 156xxxxxxxx】

Everyone in the group has had dealings with her at the vegetable market and knows Qiaoqiao's situation well. And middle-aged women are very good at spreading news, Song Tan thought—

What if, right?

Also, she doesn't require certification or experience (though it's better if they have it), but for Qiaoqiao's state, if they are teaching basic knowledge, patience and love are more important than anything else.