Spring Outing

In the fourth month, peach and plum blossoms bloomed in fragrant glory across the mortal world. He Lingchuan rode his horse through a vibrant, pink forest of wild peach trees, hooves clicking crisply against the gravel path. The morning breeze met him, carrying bursts of laughter and cheerful voices. He Lingchuan nudged the steed's flanks, and it broke into a quick trot, carrying him out of the peach grove and onto a shingle beach of river stones. A handful of adults were here with some thirty children, resulting in an expected chorus of non-stop chattering. The little ones were squatting by the stream playing, and a sharp-eyed child noticed He Lingchuan approaching and immediately pointed, shouting: "The commander is here! Commander He is here! Teacher! Teacher!" He Lingchuan was approachable and easygoing, and he often wandered about eating and browsing under the guise of incognito inspections, making him known to almost everyone in Yuheng City. These children were all students of Yuheng Academy and had grown thoroughly familiar with Commander He, who was a frequent visitor. Someone standing in the stream straightened up at the sound, turning toward the unexpected guest. It was none other than Sun Fuling. Only today, she wore a loose outfit of blue floral cotton cloth tied casually with a cloth sash, her hair woven with a blue kerchief into a thick, chunky braid. He Lingchuan also noticed that she was wading barefoot in the water with her trouser legs rolled up, revealing shapely, pale calves, carrying a small bamboo basket in one hand. Seeing him, Sun Fuling set down the basket, walked ashore, and unconsciously scolded in gentle annoyance, "What brought you running out here?" "Why didn't you invite me along on your spring outing? I went to the academy only to find it empty, and they told me you all came to the water to play." He Lingchuan hopped off his mount, and the warhorse trotted off on its own to graze on the tender grass. Sun Fuling pouted slightly. "Isn't our commander a busy man? I don't think I've seen you in three days." "No matter how busy I am, I still have to eat." And accompany my lady. "So you only came for mealtime?" Sun Fuling rolled her eyes at him. "I'm afraid Commander will be disappointed. We don't have any proper dishes to go with your meal!" "Oh?" He Lingchuan noticed several fire pits dug into the pebble beach, filled with buried embers, with pots resting nearby—though nothing was boiling in them yet. Where was that aroma coming from? He walked over and reached out to brush aside the river pebbles around a pit to look, but Sun Fuling smacked the back of his hand. "Don't touch! They haven't roasted through yet!" Can't you keep your hands to yourself? "Potatoes? Sweet potatoes?" "Both. That's the fruits of Master Wang and Master Liu's labor." Sharp nose, isn't it? "But we still haven't found any side dishes to go with them." "And where are those two teachers?" "The academy split up into groups. They took twenty-odd children to pick wild herbs and mushrooms, while our group is catching fish in the creek." Sun Fuling showed a rare look of chagrin. "The results haven't been great." "Is that so?" Since it troubled his girlfriend, Commander He showed tremendous enthusiasm. "Let me take a look." He strolled among the children to inspect their haul. The baskets were mostly filled with river snails and freshwater clams; their proudest catch was merely a few tiny crabs scarcely larger than fingernails. As for river fish, there were only seven or eight, the largest barely the length of a middle finger. How could this meager haul feed six or seven adults and some fifty children? "Oho, you really were just groping around for fish." No wonder Master Sun was distressed. "You're not counting on this for lunch, are you?" He Lingchuan teased the crabs in the basket until they bubbled with rage. "Crabs this small wouldn't even make a mouthful for the kids." "We brought plenty of provisions," Sun Fuling said softly. "But the children prefer eating what they catch themselves." "In spring, Peach Creek is teeming with sharpbelly minnows. You just haven't used the right method." The stream was called Peach Creek because of the peach blossoms along its banks. He Lingchuan said to her, "Knead me a few big balls of dough—keep them on the dry side. Or pry out some snail meat, but you'll need quite a bit." Sun Fuling smiled and went off to knead the dough. He Lingchuan took off his shoes and socks, rolled up his trouser legs, and hauled seven or eight large, smooth stones from the bank. Setting them side by side, he laid a foundation first, then clapped his hands to beckon the children: "Over here, over here! If you want fish, come lend a hand!" The children had never worried about lunch anyway; once outdoors, all they cared about was having fun. At Commander He's wave, they came scampering over in a rush. Under his direction, they began picking up large river stones and building a small weir in the water. "Stack them tight and solid! Don't leave any gaps!" He Lingchuan chose a calm, shallow stretch of water. The pebble weir formed an oblique angle with the sandy bank, shaped like a wide funnel. Xiao Pang hadn't stacked his section well. He Lingchuan nudged it with a foot, and the pebbles collapsed with a clattering splash. "Start over!" Four or five bamboo baskets were placed at the mouth of the funnel, their rims sitting above the water level, their bottoms weighted down with stones so the current wouldn't wash them away. Once finished, the structure formed a small, calm eddy. Fish loved still water. Soon enough, little fish from elsewhere drifted into the funnel, though not in large numbers—hardly enough for He Lingchuan to swallow in one gulp. "From now on, don't move and don't make a sound." He raised a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture. The children eagerly imitated him, an endless chorus of "shh, shh, shh" filling the air. "..." He Lingchuan turned around to ask the teachers for the dough. The three teachers had already kneaded several white dough balls, which had turned dry and firm in the breeze just as desired. He Lingchuan casually broke off a piece, crumbled it between his fingers, and flicked his wrist to scatter it over the water enclosed by the weir. At first, no fish took the bait. The slight disturbance on the surface actually scared the initial fish into the crevices between the stones. For quite a while, everything remained quiet, and nothing happened. Xiao Pang couldn't help muttering, "The fish aren't coming..." A little girl beside him clamped a hand over his mouth and pressed a finger to her lips with a firm "Shh!" How could anything the commander did ever be wrong? Another several dozen breaths passed. Sensing no danger, and with edible dough crumbs sinking below, fish gradually floated up to nip at the crumbs. One, two... ten. He Lingchuan scattered another handful of dough bait and repeated the process. As a boy, he had caught plenty of fish and prawns in streams, so he had patience in abundance. Repeating this a dozen times over the span of two quarters of an hour, more and more fish gathered inside the low weir. Seeing their fellows unharmed, newcomers grew bolder. Whenever he tossed bait, the school of fish jostled and scrambled at the surface, terrified of missing a single bite. He Lingchuan gradually cast the bait toward the funnel mouth, then gave the children the signal: "Charge!" The children had long grown impatient waiting for this signal. Barefoot, they splashed into the creek with exuberant slaps of water. Forming a line, they kicked water toward the weir's opening, driving the fish deeper inside. The interiors of the bamboo baskets were dark, offering what seemed like safe haven to the frightened fish. Judging the timing right, He Lingchuan ordered the three teachers stationed there to hoist the bamboo baskets simultaneously. He grabbed a boulder from the side and slammed it down to block the gap. Sun Fuling peered down into a basket, her face breaking into a radiant smile. "There are fish! There are fish!" And quite a few, too, darting frantically against the woven bamboo—at least thirty of them, though most were shorter than a little finger. Looking into the other baskets, the haul was even better. Hearing that they had caught fish, the children all came running over to see.