Chapter 13 Thinking about the way forward

Chen Jie took two small crucian carps to the well, fetched some water, cut open the fish bellies with a knife, removed the internal organs, wiped off the blood attached to the bones, removed the black film, and then scraped off the scales and mucus on the crucian carps.

If you make fish soup this way, there will be no fishy smell.

Chen Jie cooks delicious food. When he just finished school, he worked as an apprentice in a restaurant for a while, so he knows how to cook some common dishes.

Little Douding was squatting not far away, looking at Chen Jie, his eyes full of curiosity. The bad brother-in-law could actually cook?
Seeing that Xiao Douding was staring in a trance, Chen Jie smiled and waved. Xiao Douding shook his head and didn't dare to go over. But Chen Jie waved anyway. Xiao Douding hesitated for a moment, and finally came over for the sake of the fish soup.

Chen Jie smiled and said, "Rui Rui, why is your sister crying?"

Ruirui was stunned for a moment and said, "You were the one who beat her before. Today, um... Ruirui doesn't know, but when you were scolding those bad guys outside, my sister started crying."

After hearing this, Chen Jie asked, "How do you know those people are bad guys?"

Ruirui said: "They always say behind my sister's back that she is a jinx and brought bad luck to father and Granny Chen, so my sister cried."

"Oh."

After hearing this, Chen Jie nodded.

For a woman, living in the countryside where a tongue can kill someone, without a man to support her, one can imagine what life would be like.

Chen Jie washed the fish again, and at this time Xiao Douding suddenly spoke.

"Brother-in-law."

"Ok?"

Chen Jie looked at Xiao Douding, who looked at him seriously and said, "Can you please stop hitting your sister in the future?"

Chen Jie's expression froze, and then he saw Xiao Douding seemed to have made up his mind and said, "If, if my brother-in-law really can't help but want to hit someone, then hit Ruirui..."

After hearing this, Chen Jie smiled bitterly. These two sisters really have a hard life.

Chen Jie rubbed the little kid's head with the back of his clean hand and said, "Okay, brother-in-law promises you that I won't hit you anymore, and no one can hit you anymore."

"Ah."

After hearing this, the little kid grinned happily and stretched out his little hand.

Chen Jie: “What?
"Let's make a pinky promise."

The little bean said in a childish voice, smiled at her, wiped his hands with a rag and said, "Come."

Two little fingers, one big and one small, hooked together.

"Hang yourself with a hook, and it won't change for a hundred years."

"Stamped it."

The two put their thumbs together and made an innocent agreement.

At this time, Su Yunjin, whose eyes were red from crying, walked out of the house and saw this harmonious scene. For a moment, she had an illusion, as if she saw herself and her father as children, and there was even a hint of a smile on the corners of her mouth.

The little kid withdrew his hand, feeling that he had done something great. He turned around and saw his sister, then rushed towards her with a smile.

"elder sister!"

Su Yunjin picked her up, and she whispered, "Sister, I just made an agreement with my brother-in-law."

"What agreement?"

Su Yunjin asked, but at this moment Chen Jie said: "Ruirui, the agreement must be kept secret, no one can tell!"

Xiao Douding's face straightened, and he said to Su Yunjin very seriously: "Well, the agreement cannot be told. I won't tell my sister."

After hearing this, Su Yunjin became interested. What kind of mysterious agreement was this?

The little boy had a look on his face that said, "I'm so tight-lipped, I won't tell you." Su Yunjin, who was looking worried, couldn't help but scratch the little boy's nose. Chen Jie finished washing the fish, and Su Yunjin came over and said, "Let me do it."

Chen Jie said: "No need, I'm an expert at making fish soup."

Then Chen Jie asked, "Do you have any onions, ginger, or garlic at home?"

Hearing this, Su Yunjin shook his head and said, "No."

Chen Jie was stunned, but he didn't say much. He came to the stove and saw the wild vegetables he picked today, including a few small wild onions. Thinking about it, Chen Jie said to Su Yunjin: "Wash the onions, give me the roots, and cut the leaves into chopped green onions."

"By the way, do you have any lard at home?"

"Adding a little bit of lard to the fish soup will make it taste more fragrant."

Su Yunjin shook her head. There was no food left at home, so how could there be high-end goods like animal oil?

Animal oil, also known as lard, is the only way for people in this era to replenish their oil and water in their stomachs. Therefore, it is very expensive and is not something that Chen Jie's family can afford.

Chen Jie sighed and looked at the little bit of rapeseed oil left, which was the only cooking oil in the house.

This is really a bare house.

Chen Jie said: "Well, you cut the onions."

Chen Jie poured rapeseed oil into the pot, heated it up, fry the fish on both sides until golden brown, added some scallion roots to stir-fry, then poured in hot water. The only seasoning was coarse salt.

Looking at the pot of milky white fish soup, Chen Jie fell into deep thought.

The biggest problem he was facing now was survival. He had lost the only three acres of fertile land in his family, and there was no food left at home.

In this situation, there are still three mouths to feed, including myself.

The most important thing for me now is to solve the problem of food. If I can't travel through time, it would be so miserable to starve to death in the end.

But if you want to eat, without land and means of production, it is impossible to be a self-employed farmer.

So the only options left now are doing business and working.

When doing business, Chen Jie could choose to make things like glass, soap, refined salt, and white sugar, but Chen Jie quickly rejected these methods.

Because this is a world of martial arts.

According to the original body's memory, this world respects martial arts. Not to mention the county, even in the city, there are gangs that can stand on equal footing with the government.

For example, the two largest gangs in Mianshui County are the Fishing Gang and the Cao Gang.

The fishing gang manages the fish pens in all the villages in Mianshui County, as well as the sale of aquatic products in the city. In addition, there are various industries in the city.

The Cao Bang is responsible for transporting goods at the docks and also has some related industries in the city.

These two gangs basically control the economic power of Mianshui County.

Even if the county magistrate saw the leaders of these two gangs, he would have to be polite and courteous.

If the people of Mianshui County want to escape from their own class, there is only one way: join a gang. If they can make achievements and become a small leader, they will be considered a well-known figure in the whole Mianshui County.

It can be said that if you want to live comfortably in Mianshui County, you must become a gang member.

Just like in Shanghai in the past, if you want to get ahead as quickly as possible, you have to join the Green Gang.

As for what you said about becoming an official through the imperial examination, forget it. The Daqian Empire was a kingdom established by the northern Mulan people who defeated the former Song Dynasty. In order to suppress the Han people, the government issued a clear ban, prohibiting Han people from taking the imperial examination to become officials.

This was equivalent to directly blocking the path for scholars, and was also the reason why Su Yunjin's father, although a scholar, still had no fame and was not taken seriously.

(End of this chapter)