Chapter 5: Great Harvest
After savoring the sweetness, Jay began catching more fish from the surrounding area.
After feeling satisfied, he asked Nining to rest while he gathered firewood for lunch.
Shortly after gathering enough firewood, Jay asked Nining to light it, while he took two 1-kilogram fish to grill.
After removing the scales and guts from the fish, Jay skewered the fish with wood and began grilling them over the fire.
Smelling the fragrant aroma of the fish, a hungry Nining urged her brother to hurry up and grill it.
"Brother, when will the fish be ready? Nining is hungry," Nining said coquettishly, staring greedily at the grilled fish.
"Wait a little longer, the fish will be ready, so Nining must be patient," Jay replied, admonishing Nining.
Nearly half an hour later, the grilled fish was finally done. Lifting the cooked fish, Jay began separating the meat and bones onto a leaf, which served as a plate.
Not forgetting to bring out some roasted sweet potatoes, they were also brought out to serve as a staple food, along with a handful of salt placed on the edge of the leaf.
The two of them then began to eat with gusto.
"Yes... this fish is delicious, big brother," Nining said happily as she ate the grilled fish.
"Good, if Nining likes it, Brother'll make it more often," Jay replied happily, watching his sister eat with gusto.
It only took about 5 minutes to finish the 1 kg of fish and several sweet potatoes.
And after feeling satisfied, they then rested there for a while to digest their meal.
While digesting their meal, Jay looked into the bucket of fish he had brought, where it contained four fish weighing less than 1 kg.
Feeling that there weren't enough fish, Jay then decided to catch more, based on his memory.
After he returned home with the fish, his family would surely decide to send some to their grandparents.
This was done because their grandparents treated Jay's family well, and as good grandchildren and sons, they would naturally send them delicious food.
"Big brother, Nining is sleepy," Nining said lazily, leaning against a tree after eating a large meal.
Seeing this, Jay could only shake his head, knowing it was normal for a small child like Nining to feel sleepy after eating her fill.
"Then, you can rest here for a while, I'll continue fishing," Jay replied again.
Nodding in response, Nining began to drift off to sleep.
Watching his sister slowly drift off to sleep, Jay focused on fishing.
Only this time, he would act more directly than before.
Soon, the number of fish around the tree quickly dwindled, thanks to Jay's actions.
However, due to the limited space available, he was unable to catch fish beyond a distance of 5 meters.
Thinking about this, Jay decided to walk around the area a bit to see if he could find another school of fish.
Luckily, less than 10 meters from his previous position, he found several fish within reach.
He quickly began to put the fish in.
Watching the increasing number of fish in his space, Jay became even more excited.
But then he realized that he was getting farther away from Nining, which naturally made him worried for her safety.
Finally, after some thought, Jay decided to carry the sleeping Nining while walking along the riverbank.
Luckily, Nining, who was sound asleep, didn't wake up after he carried her, so he supported her with one hand and the other holding the bucket and fishing pole.
Jay began walking along the edge of the Child Adam River, from upstream to downstream.
Jay caught all the fish he could reach, but during the process, he also caught some clams and shrimp from the riverbank.
By late afternoon, Jay, who had walked to the edge of the village, realized he had harvested a substantial harvest.
Satisfied, he decided to return home to prepare dinner for his family.
"Ummm... where's Brother?" Nining asked in surprise as she looked at the village and Her brother carried her, walking along the riverbank.
"We're going home. Big Brother has had a good harvest," Jay answered, pointing to a wooden bucket filled with fish, shrimp, and clams.
"Wow... so many fish, and look at the shrimp and clams... that must be delicious," Nining said happily, looking at her brother's catch.
"Of course it's delicious, later For dinner, Big Brother will make Nining delicious fish soup," Jay replied happily.
Although he was tired, he felt happy and satisfied, especially when he thought about the dozens of large fish in his space. Of those dozens, the smallest weighed 1 kg, and the largest weighed 3 kg. It was truly a good harvest.
The total number of fish in his bucket ranged from 4 to 5 kg, with the largest almost 1 kg.
Remembering not to be greedy for the small fish, which were smaller than the palm of his hand, he decided not to catch them and let them live in the river.
This aligned with Jay's thinking: to maintain the fish stocks in their village's river, harvesting restrictions were necessary.
He decided to let nature heal itself and avoid overdoing it and being greedy, as that would only lead to disaster, especially since there were certainly villagers who also hoped to eat fish.
Upon arriving home, Jay let Nining feed the chickens in the coop, while he began preparing to cook for his family, including the fish he would send to his grandparents.
Seeing that it was already past 5 p.m., Jay hurried up the cooking, as his parents would be home in less than half an hour.
Fortunately, Jay had a solid foundation in cooking, and with the added knowledge he had acquired from his previous life, he was able to improve his cooking skills. Although he wasn't quite on the level of a restaurant chef, Jay was confident that his cooking would surpass the average home cook.
Having boiled sweet potatoes and potatoes as the staples, Jay then decided to make a fresh and delicious fish soup with some shrimp for added flavor.
After cleaning all the ingredients, Jay then picked some vegetables like mustard greens and tomatoes to add to the soup.
He also didn't forget to pick ginger and turmeric as additional spices.
It took Jay about half an hour to finish cooking, and during the process, Nining, already hungry again from the aroma of the food, made several trips to the kitchen to check if Jay's food was ready.
"What's that smell? It's so fragrant?" a soft woman's voice rang out as she entered the house.
"That's right, the fragrance reaches the yard. Who's cooking?" Jay's father asked, surprised.
"Mom and Dad, you're home!" Nining greeted her parents happily.
"Nining, who's cooking at home?" Her mother asked, holding Nining in her arms.
"Big brother cooked, Mom. Brother cooking is delicious," Nining replied happily.
Hearing Nining's answer, a look of surprise crossed the faces of Jay's mother and father.
"Your brother, is he awake?" her mother asked anxiously as she walked toward the kitchen.
And sure enough, when they entered the kitchen, they saw Jay busy preparing a meal.
"Jay... are you awake?" her mother asked in a happy, trembling voice.