Back at home, seeing the eager looks in the children's eyes, Lu Qing didn't hesitate. He immediately started dividing the fish.
He went to the back of the courtyard, picked a couple of banana leaves, and cut them into sections.
Each child received a handful of fish—not much, around half a catty (about 250g) per person.
Though it wasn't a lot, the children were thrilled.
Once they got their share, each of them ran home gleefully, as if they had just received a treasure.
After Lu Qing finished distributing the fish, a few villagers came over.
"Lu Qing, how did you catch all those fish? How'd you manage to get so many all at once?"
"Just lucky," Lu Qing replied with a smile. "Maybe the bait I used was something the fish really liked."
"What kind of bait did you use?"
"Just common earthworms from the fields," Lu Qing said honestly, without holding anything back.
He knew that even if he didn't say it, word would get around soon enough—after all, there had been a whole group of kids watching him fish.
Since that was the case, it was better to be open about it than to be accused of being stingy.
"Earthworms? You can use those to catch fish?" one villager said in surprise.
"Of course. And fish really seem to like them."
Lu Qing wasn't surprised that the villagers didn't know earthworms could be used as bait.
From the original host's memories, he had figured out that this world was similar to ancient China—feudal and traditional.
In such old-fashioned times, with poor transportation and limited information, people were very cautious about new things and slow to try them.
What might be common knowledge in one place could be a rare novelty in another.
No one in the village was skilled at fishing, so it was understandable that they didn't know fish liked earthworms.
"No wonder nobody ever caught much before—turns out we were using the wrong bait," a villager sighed.
"Lu Qing, is this method something your father taught you?"
Lu Qing hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "He mentioned it once before, and I just happened to remember it. Xiaoyan's been saying she's hungry, and we had no food left in the house, so I thought I'd give it a try. I didn't expect to really catch anything."
The villager paused and looked toward Xiaoyan.
The little girl was squatting beside the bucket, watching the fish. Noticing the villager's gaze, she looked up and gave him a big smile.
His heart softened immediately. Then he glanced at Lu Qing's thin figure, and a wave of sympathy washed over him.
"What are you two going to do now? You can't live off fish alone—your stomachs won't hold up."
"I was just about to ask you uncles about that," Lu Qing said sincerely. "You all know our current situation—we don't even have a grain of rice left. I'd like to borrow some grain and a bit of oil and salt. Once I find work in a few days, I'll repay it all double."
"What are you saying, boy? You think we're the kind of people who'd take advantage of someone in need? We're all from the same village—we're supposed to help each other out! It's just some grain. I'll bring you some right away!" the villager said, moved.
With him taking the lead, the other villagers naturally couldn't stand idly by.
"That's right. Just a bit of grain—I'll go get some now!"
"I bought too much salt last time at the market—I can spare some."
"I've still got plenty of lard left. I'll dig some out for you in a bit."
They all patted their chests and spoke generously.
Lu Qing was overjoyed. "Thank you, uncles!"
"Just wait a moment, Lu Qing—I'll go get you some rice," said the first villager, already turning to leave. The others followed suit and headed home as well.
It wasn't long before they returned to Lu Qing's courtyard.
"Here—this half sack of rice should last you and Xiaoyan for a while. If it runs out, just come to Uncle Shan for more!"
"Lu Qing, this half-jar of lard should keep you going for quite some time, right?"
"Here's half a bamboo tube of salt—use it for now."
"I've got some flatbreads your aunt made this morning. They keep well—you only need one to stay full for a long time. Will that do?"
Looking at the supplies the villagers brought, Lu Qing was deeply touched.
He bowed repeatedly. "More than enough. Thank you so much, uncles!"
Then he scooped up a few generous handfuls of small fish from the bucket and divided them into portions.
In an instant, more than half the fish in the bucket were gone.
"Please take these, just a little something for you all to enjoy."
But the villagers waved him off. "We can't take these! You just worked so hard to catch them—keep them for you and Xiaoyan!"
"We can't eat that many ourselves. It's hot, and the fish won't keep long. We don't have any chickens or ducks to feed them to either. You'd be doing me a favor by taking some—otherwise they'll just go to waste," Lu Qing said, pressing the leaf-wrapped bundles into their hands.
"Well... alright then. We won't say no."
The villagers had just given up quite a bit of their own surplus food and were feeling the sting a little—but now, with fresh fish in hand, their hearts felt a lot lighter.
After seeing the uncles off, Lu Qing let out a sigh of relief.
He was grateful.
Luckily, the people in the village were kind and simple—otherwise, he wouldn't have dared to ask for grain so directly.
Now that he had these supplies, he and Xiaoyan wouldn't have to worry about food for the next ten days or so.
This buffer gave him time to figure out a sustainable way to survive in this world.
"Big brother, these flatbreads smell so good!" Xiaoyan's voice suddenly broke his train of thought.
He looked down to see the little girl squatting on the ground, staring at one of the flatbreads a villager had brought, drooling slightly.
He walked over, tore off a small piece, and placed it in her hand.
"Be good, Xiaoyan. Eat this first. Big brother will go make us a proper meal."
"Okay! Xiaoyan understands!"
The little girl nodded obediently and began munching happily on the bread.
With her settled, Lu Qing turned to the kitchen and got to work.
First, he rinsed the rice and started steaming it. Then he took out about half a catty of small fish, gutted and cleaned them.
Once the fish were ready, he was about to fry them when he suddenly realized something.
There was no frying pan in the kitchen.
Thinking back, he remembered.
The family used to have an iron pan, but the original owner had sold it for food a while ago.
Now, all that remained was a clay pot for steaming rice—no cookware for actual dishes.
Sighing, Lu Qing decided to improvise.
He went outside the courtyard and found a relatively flat stone slab. After cleaning it thoroughly, he placed it over the fire to heat it slowly.
Once the stone was scorching hot, he carefully scooped out a small spoonful of solidified lard from the jar a villager had brought.
The moment the lard hit the hot stone, it sizzled with a tsssss—melting instantly and releasing a rich, savory aroma.