Chapter 370: Chapter 367: Frolicking
After hearing this, Lin Lan glanced at Yao Xiuyun. "See? Now he’s blaming us."
"Well, at least it was just the ditch in front of your house," Yao Xiuyun said, patting Little Hai on the back before taking the three fishing rods and putting them in the car.
From the front passenger seat, Qiaoling waved to Little Douzi. "Douzi, come sit with me."
Little Douzi shook his head. "No way. I’m not sitting with a girl."
"Hmph!" Qiaoling huffed indignantly. "Next time, you’re not allowed to ride on the back of my bike."
Little Douzi replied, "A bicycle is different."
Little Hai pointed at Lin Lan. "Auntie Lin is a girl, too."
Little Douzi shot him a look. "Moms are different from girls."
Lin Lan and Yao Xiuyun both laughed. "Hurry up and get in the car. You’re just a little tyke, but you’ve got so many excuses."
Little Douzi looked at them. "My classmates will make fun of us if they see."
Once they were in the car, Dandan said to Lin Lan, "Auntie, my deskmate drew a line down the middle of our desk. If I cross it even by accident, she pokes me with her pen tip."
Little Hai gave her a smug look. "I’m the one who drew the line at my desk. And I’m always the one who pokes her."
Xu Dong turned and shot him a glare. "A big boy bullying a little girl? You’re a disgrace to me."
Yao Xiuyun pursed her lips and exchanged a look with Lin Lan. They both started laughing...
’Those lines on the desks from my memories... some desks had several of them, some drawn with crayons, others carved with a small knife...’
The car left the city and reached the riverbank, where the air grew moist. It rumbled over pebbles of various sizes, swaying back and forth until it stopped beside a patch of reeds.
Lin Lan saw that the sedan Yang Xiaoman had driven was also parked there.
Hearing the noise, Lin Jun, Lin Qing, and the others ran over from the river. "Little Douzi! Dandan! What took you so long?"
Dandan and the others jumped out of the vehicle and pointed to the trailer in the back. "We brought fishing rods!"
Lin Jun nodded happily. "Awesome! We can compete with the grandpas. They’ve already started fishing by the river."
The kids climbed into the trailer, grabbed the fishing rods, jars, and a small trowel, and ran toward the river.
Xu Dong watched them go, quickly calling out, "Be careful! Don’t fall!"
"Got it!" Qiaoling shouted back as she kept running.
Lin Lan got out of the car. She saw vast patches of alfalfa and nameless wild grasses sprouting from the cracks between the pebbles, blooming with small purple, yellow, and pink flowers. A few other children were picking wildflowers in the grass, making the whole scene look like something out of a painting.
Past the reeds, a sandy beach appeared. The river water was so clear you could see the bottom, and a faint scent of fresh grass drifted on the breeze.
Yao Xiuyun looked at Lin Lan and smiled. "The view is beautiful, isn’t it? We come here a few times every year."
"Mhm!" Lin Lan nodded. "I never expected to find such a beautiful place by the river near the city."
Yang Xiaoman walked over to them. "Yeah, being cooped up in the city all day makes the kids go stir-crazy."
By the river, Old Li and Lin Changyou watched the children chattering away like a flock of sparrows. "Are you here to fish or to cause trouble?" one of them asked helplessly.
Dandan said with a cheeky grin, "We’re here to fish, Grandpa."
Little Douzi tugged on both of them. "Grandpa, Grandpa, we want to have a competition with you to see who can catch the most."
Little Douzi and Lin Jun took a couple of earthworms from the bamboo tube Old Li had brought. They put them in their palms and slapped them a few times to stun them before threading them onto the hooks.
Seeing this, Dandan and Little Hai did the same. Soon, a whole row of children was sitting by the river.
The goose-feather bobber dipped twice, and ripples slowly spread across the water’s surface. Dandan shouted, "Brother Jun, a fish is biting!"
Lin Jun quickly said, "Don’t shout! You’ll scare the fish away."
Dandan lifted her fishing rod. Sure enough, there was no fish.
Qiaoling and Lin Hong took off their shoes and socks, rolled up their pant legs, and waded into the water to play. Seeing this, Lin Jun and the other boys also tossed their fishing rods aside and ran to join them.
Old Li and Lin Changyou shook their heads with a smile. "Good thing we brought a fishing net, or there’d be no hope for grilled fish today."
Lin Lan walked up to the two men. "Dad, have you caught any fish?"
Old Li and Lin Changyou shook their heads in unison. "We had just arrived when these little rascals showed up. We were just about to get the net out and cast it."
Lin Lan glanced at the children, who had taken off their shoes, rolled their pant legs up high, and were now shouting and splashing in the shallows. She smiled. "And Little Jun said he wanted to compete with you. It looks more like he’s here to cause trouble."
"Exactly. A bunch of little troublemakers," Lin Changyou said with a laugh as he went to the car to get the fishing net.
Meanwhile, Xu Dong found a few stones and built a makeshift stove. He took an aluminum pot to the river, filled it with water, and placed it on the stove to boil.
Lin Lan went back and helped Yang Xiaoman set up the grill stand, placing the brazier and grate on top. They then laid out a bamboo tube of five-spice powder, an aluminum lunchbox full of barbecue rub, and some soybean powder, waiting only for the charcoal to get hot enough to start grilling.
Yao Xiuyun walked over carrying the charcoal. "Old Xu," she said to Xu Dong, who was tending the fire for the boiling water, "grab a few lit coals for us."
Xu Dong nodded. He used a pair of fire tongs to place a few hot coals in a metal dustpan and carried them over, smiling at her. "You all just have fun today. Chef Xu is at your service, for both the big kids and the little kids."
Yao Xiuyun gave him a thumbs-up. "Not bad today, Old Xu! So considerate. You deserve some praise!"
Xu Dong spread his hands. "What can I do? I’m the only able-bodied man here today. I’ll handle the hard work so you can all enjoy yourselves."
Lin Lan and Yang Xiaoman listened to the couple’s banter as they set out a table and small bamboo stools.
Yang Xiaoman smiled. "Lin Lan, I brought my camera. Let’s go take some pictures."
Lin Lan pointed to the children playing by the water. "Take a few of them first. We can take our time and get more after we eat."
"You got it!" Yang Xiaoman went to the car to get her camera, walked to the riverbank, aimed at Lin Changyou casting his net, and pressed the shutter button.
As Lin Changyou dragged the fishing net to the shore, the children all crowded around, eagerly helping out.
"Whoa!" Little Douzi caught a small crucian carp about two fingers wide. "Look! I caught a carp!"
Lin Jun glanced at it and shook his head in disdain. "It’s too small, all bones. Throw it back in the river to grow bigger before we catch it again."
Dandan grabbed a few river shrimp and put them in a bucket. "Grilled shrimp is delicious, too."
Little Douzi nodded. "Yeah! Mom grilled some for us last time. They’re tastier than small fish."
Qiaoling spotted Yang Xiaoman taking pictures and pointed at her, shouting, "Little Hai, Dandan, look! Auntie Xiaoman is taking photos!"
"I want my picture taken! I want my picture taken!" The little ones dropped the net and ran toward Yang Xiaoman.
Old Li and Lin Changyou smiled as they pulled the net open. They picked up the larger fish to put in the bucket and released the smaller ones. After shaking out the entire net and gathering all the fish, the bucket held about ten fish that were four or five fingers wide, along with a dozen or so river shrimp.
Old Li laughed. "One more cast should be enough."
Lin Changyou said, "Mhm. We’ll cast it a couple more times before we leave and bring some back for the kids at home."
Just as the two men were straightening out the net, Xu Dong waved from a distance. "Uncle Li, Uncle Lin, it’s time to eat! You can catch more fish later."
