We drove the forest to get the road and walked not far away. Sure enough, we saw a pool of water. Because it was dark and foggy, the visibility was less than ten meters. We couldn't see the size of the pool. However, we heard the sound of water in the distance and flowed very much. It was probably not small. Standing on the bluestone beside the pool, I raised the light and saw the water rolling. Many fat black fish were attracted by the lights and swam over.

People in the Baron Zuo Pastoral area regard fish as gods and never eat fish to catch fish. The fish in lakes of this grassland live freely and are never afraid of people. Unlike fish in the mainland, they will escape from the bottom of the lake as soon as they see someone. However, we can't control these things. There is nothing else to eat here except fish and horses. On this desolate grassland, fish are immortals, horses are friends, eat gods or friends? For us educated youth who have been Red Guards, this is a question that we don't have to consider at all. We will choose to eat the former without hesitation.

The fat man and I rolled up our arms and sleeves to catch fish. Ding Sitian settled the old sheepskin, tied the old military horse, picked up some gravel and formed a stove. There were dead branches and leaves in the forest, so she picked up a large bundle. She quickly set up a fire, set up a pot with the branches to boil water, boil a little water first, clean the pot, and then cook some hot water for everyone to drink.

For a male educated youth like Fatty and I, who had no wife, cooking was the most sad thing. Although I was in the wild, I saw Ding Sitian cooking in an orderly manner. Seeing her busy back, I felt a sense of melancholy inexplicably in my heart. However, this mood was quickly driven away by hunger. We discussed that the fish here are not afraid of people, which saves a lot of trouble. We don’t have to fish in the troubled waters like in the Xing'anling Mountains. We directly found two branches and sharpened the "Kangxi sword" in the old sheepskin and used it as a harpoon.

Of course, we can't poke in the water randomly. Instead, we must first hang the kerosene lamp on the water surface to attract all the fat black fish. Next, we must be patient and understand the swimming pattern of the fish based on signs such as water flow, bubbles, and water splashes. Due to insufficient light, we did not fully grasp the movements of the fish swimming in the water. Although we were not prepared enough, the black fish in the pond were still poked by us. The other larger black fish finally realized that it was dangerous to come over and swam into the deep water without looking back.

I saw that the fish I caught were fat, and no matter how many people were, they could eat enough, but when people were hungry, they felt that the amount was small. So the fat man and I handed the fish to Ding Sitian to pack it up and put it in the pot, and returned to the edge of the pond again. So I used the plan again and forked a few black fish that had just swam from a distance. Then I felt that it was almost enough for four people to eat. In fact, let alone four people to eat the fish we caught, even four more people would be enough.

Ding Sitian told us that the black fish was dry and uneasy when roasted on fire. So he cut the fish belly with a knife to remove the internal organs, scraped the fish scales, cut it into sections and put it into a hot pot. It seemed that a pot of fish soup was to be cooked. The hot water was so hot that the aroma was overflowing in the pot. Although there was no condiment, who would care whether it was salty or light at this time? We swallowed our saliva and pressed the fire hard, staring at the fish in the pot with good eyes, so that our eyes almost fell into the pot.

The fat man was so greedy that his saliva fell off. He wiped a few strokes with his sleeves and said to me and Ding Sitian: "It is said that the buddies from the Northern Wilderness Corps drink soup for three meals a day. They also wrote a poem for the soup. I will recite it for you before drinking the soup - Ah! Soup, soup, soup, revolutionary soup! I thought about not drinking one meal, but I didn't drink two meals, and I felt nervous about not drinking three meals..."

Ding Sitian and I were both amused by the fat man's poems. Ding Sitian said, "Where did the fat man's poems come from? It's all old yellow calendar. In the past, the Beida Wilderness was very desolate, with rabbits and wolves, and only weeds but not grain. Later, there were more and more people in the Corps, and the Beida Wilderness was built into Beida Gang. I heard that it is much better now and there is no need to drink soup all day long. A classmate of mine is here to be the class monitor. By the way, what are you two eating in Xing'an League?"

The fat man said, there are so many delicious foods over there. We have eaten all the dragon meat from heaven and donkey meat from underground, but we didn’t think there was anything delicious. It’s not as good as our pot of fish soup. The soup is really fresh, and it’s a pleasure to just smell it.

Ding Sitianqi said, "Does there be any dragon meat to eat? Is the old sheepskin Grandpa really saying? There are really dragons in this world?" I explained, "Dragon meat in the sky, donkey meat underground, and the so-called dragon meat is actually the hazel chicken in the mountains. It is commonly known as Feilong. Because it tastes delicious and is the best among the wild game, it is so famous that it is called Rilong meat. In fact, it is not much different from ordinary pheasants. Next time I will get you two from there to try the dragon meat. But Xiaopang said it is really right. I also feel that our fish soup is too fresh and there is no seasoning. Why is it so good? Maybe I am hungry, but I don't think I have smelled such an attractive fish soup in my life."

As he spoke, the fish soup was almost cooked, which made people's index fingers move. Suddenly, he heard a cough behind him. The old sheepskin slowly woke up and sniffed the pot of fish soup: "Oh, it smells so fragrant... how much is it cooked, why is it so fragrant?"

When we turned around, we were relieved to see him awake. It seemed that he had fallen out of coma after being hungry. He woke up by smelling the fish soup. I thought I could not say it to the old sheepskin as fish soup. Although this old man was also a poor and lower-middle peasant, his superstitious thoughts were still very serious. His feudal tail was not cut clean. I wanted to tell him it was fish soup, and he would definitely not let us drink it. It would be better to let him drink it first and then tell him the truth, and then he would have nothing to say.

Thinking of this, I didn't wait for the fat man to eat it first, I snatched the horse spoon in his hand, generously filled a spoonful of soup and handed it to the old sheepskin: "We intellectual young people responded to the call to go to the mountains and the countryside to learn from poor and lower-middle peasants. We should listen more to the opinions of poor and lower-middle peasants and receive education from poor and lower-middle peasants. You can taste it first and comment on how the soup is cooked."

The old sheepskin may have been so hungry, or it may be because the fish soup tastes too fragrant. Seeing that the horse spoon was delivered to his mouth, he didn't bother to ask anything. He took a few sips and drank it. Tian Tian's lips were still unsatisfied, and walked to the pot tremblingly and started drinking spoon after spoon. He didn't bother to mention it. He drank half of the pot in one breath, and even took out the fish and ate a lot of it.

The fat man was anxious when he saw this. Such a big pot is enough for eight people to eat. The old man himself went to half a pot. Why is this dry old man so amazing? Ding Sitian and I were also stunned. Why is it endless to eat like a demon? Isn’t it going to be overwhelmed if I continue to eat like this? I quickly grabbed the old sheepskin: "Do you know whose meat is cooked in this pot? If you don’t ask clearly, you will eat so much. This is the black fish meat in the pond in the forest."

The old sheepskin had already eaten too much, which made him roll his eyes. When he heard it was fish, he was shocked: "What? Black fish? It's a sin, so God can eat it? If you eat it, you will suffer retribution... and retribution..." But as he said, he seemed to be unable to control his hands, and then he used a horse spoon to catch fish and eat it.

I saw that the old sheepskin had his eyes widened blood, which was completely different from usual. It was impossible for a person to drink so much fish soup and look like a hungry ghost. I felt a little shocked at that time, and an ominous premonition arose, and this pot of fish soup could not be drunk!
Chapter completed!