The Lucky Heiress

Chu Lan, Lu Yuhong, and Xie Jue were on the opposite boat, while Xie Ying was on this side, each occupying a spot, grabbing their fishing rods, picking their bait, and beginning to fish.

The tools Wei Ruo needed arrived a bit late, but it didn’t matter because the four fishermen had not caught anything yet.

After a while, Chu Lan’s fishing rod showed the first movement.

Following some tugs, he pulled up a black fish, weighing roughly two taels. Though it wasn’t as flavorful as a mandarin fish, its flesh was quite good perfect for grilling.

Chu Lan sent his servant to take the fish to the boat where Wei Ruo was.

After receiving the fish, so as not to let the smell of processing the fish dampen the mood, Xiumei took the fish to the tail of the boat and smoothly dealt with it.

Scaling, gutting, removing gills, her movements were swift and smooth. In no time, a fish that was still alive and kicking was made clean and white.

Then, she made diagonal cuts on the fish belly and rubbed coarse salt over it for marination.

While Xiumei was processing the fish, the Xie family servant arrived in a small boat with the ingredients that Wei Ruo had requested.

Garlic, scallions, lettuce, bean sprouts, tofu skin – these were the ingredients she could buy at the moment.

And a small iron pot.

To speed up the process, Wei Ruo and Xiumei divided the work. Xiumei was responsible for preparing the ingredients, and Wei Ruo took charge of the cooking.

Wei Ruo seldom cooked for herself anymore, generally letting Xiumei handle it when time permitted.

Wei Ruo moved the two stoves on the boat, used for boiling water, to the front of the boat, lit the fire, and placed the iron rack on top.

While Wei Ruo and Xiumei were getting ready, Xie Jue caught a grass carp weighing more than four taels.

Seeing that both his brothers have caught their fish, Lu Yuhong became a little anxious. Even though the other two didn’t intend to compete, Yuhong was keen on winning.

Xie Ying was also somewhat anxious. She had confidently promised to catch a big fish for Wei Ruo to roast, but there were still no signs of a catch. How vexing!

Subconsciously, Xie Ying glanced at Lu Yuhong across the water, thinking to herself that she couldn’t be the last one and that she needed to catch a big fish faster than young master Lu.

Unfortunately, things didn’t pan out as she had hoped. Before Xie Ying had any luck, Lu Yuhong had a fish on his hook.

He excitedly pulled up the rod, only to find a tiny crucian carp at the end. Though the crucian carp was flavorful, due to its numerous bones and small size, it was unsuitable for grilling.

A little disappointed, Lu Yuhong was interrupted by Xie Ying’s excited voice from the opposite boat.

“Ruoruo, I’ve got a fish on the hook, come help me pull it in! It’s so strong!” Xie Ying’s voice shook with excitement.

Wei Ruo hurried up to help Xie Ying hold the rod and prevent it from being pulled into the water by the fish.

-What do I do, Ruoruo? I can’t pull it in!” Xie Ying was a little anxious.

“Don’t worry, let’s loosen the line a bit, then tighten it again. We’ll tire it out and when it doesn’t have much strength, reel it in,” Wei Ruo said calmly.

“Alright, I’ll do as you say.”

Wei Ruo and Xie Ying collaborated, they didn’t rush to pull the fish up but adopted the technique of loosening and tightening the line, pulling back and forth.

The three people on the opposite boat initially wanted to send help, but they noticed that the two girls were methodical and calm.

With this, Xie Jue felt relieved. If the fish had escaped, given his sister’s uptight temperament, he estimated she would have been upset for at least half a month.

Lu Yuhong’s heart was still in suspense, he was curious about what kind of fish Miss Xie had caught.

Chu Lan watched the two struggling with the fishing pole with interest. Wei Ruo’s calm reaction and the words she had spoken earlier had given him a new respect for her.

After struggling for the length of an incense stick burning, the fish in the water lost its strength. Wei Ruo told Xie Ying, “Now we pull it up strongly.”

Xie Ying nodded, “Okay!”

With a joint tug on the fishing rod, they managed to pull the fish out of the water.

The moment the fish emerged, Xie Ying exclaimed in surprise.

“Ruoruo, look at what kind of fish this is, a big one!” Xie Ying’s voice was filled with excitement.

“This is a catfish, also known as a bighead carp. Its head is big and its flesh is fresh,” Wei Ruo identified the fish.

Catfish are a kind of fish that can grow very big. The one Xie Ying had caught weighed probably seven or eight pounds, but that was not the limit for this kind of fish. Surely in East Lake, there were bigger ones.

“RuoRuo, you can roast ours, it’ll be delicious!” Xie Ying happily suggested.

‘This fish is too big, roasting it whole might not cook it thoroughly. I will cut off the head and keep it to make fish head soup later, use the belly part for grilling, and the tail for stir-frying later,” Wei Ruo proposed.

“Okay, okay, I’ll listen to you, you choose how to cook it.” Xie Ying nodded continuously. Matters of cooking were best left in RuoRuo’s hands, so she could continue fishing!

Lu Yuhong, watching from the opposing boat, gazed at Xie Ying’s bighead carp and then at the small crucian carp he had caught himself, promptly dampening his mood.

No way, he, Lu Yuhong, could not lose to a girl!

Lu Yuhong called upon his servant to bring an extra fishing rod. He planned to set out several rods, casting both left and right!

After Wei Ruo had helped Xie Ying land the fish, she began working on grilling the fish.???????????????????????? ^{&?? 6}

The charcoal fire was just right, and the first blackfish that they had caught was marinated just enough.

Wei Ruo brushed some vegetable oil on the fish and then started grilling it on the fire.

While grilling the fish, Wei Ruo started stir-frying the spices in another burner with a pan she had purchased, adding her own soy sauce, salt, five-spice powder (a mix of ground amomum, clove, cardamom, cinnamon, and star anise), cooking wine, green onion, and ginger.

Shortly after stir-frying, the fragrance spread out, enveloping the lake surface.

Lu Yuhong, as a renowned food lover, had his eyes lighten up at the smell. He stood up, looking over in Wei Ruo’s direction.

After the sauce was stir-fried, it was set aside, waiting for the fish on the side to get grilled.

When the blackfish was golden brown on both sides, Wei Ruo moved it to a pot.

The bottom of the pot was already spread with cut seasoning vegetables.

The fish went on top of them, and the pot was filled with boiling water to start the cook.

Wei Ruo then took out a jar from her bag, ladling out black beans from inside, spreading them on top of the fish.

As the water was brought to a boil, an appetizing scent filled the air with the aroma of the spices seeping into the fish.

The smell made Lu Yuhong, who had just been bragging about catching a matching big fish, lose all his interest in fishing. His eyes drifting towards Wei Ruo every so often, lest he miss anything.

Xie Ying was also getting hungry. She was eager to taste the grilled fish prepared by Wei Ruo.

Seeing that the food was nearly ready, Wei Ruo instructed a servant to bring a soup bowl. She divided half of the fish and side dishes into a large bowl, and then ordered the Xie Family’s servant to take the rest of the fish and the pot to the opposing boat.

The servants took the iron pot from Wei Ruo and paddled their boat towards Chu Lan’s..