Chapter 109: Into the Pot

One morning, Zhang Tan not only caught a yellow carp but also bought a catfish whisker weighing more than ten jin, two or three jin of hairy crabs, several plump eels and loaches, and over a jin of river shrimp and white shrimp.

River shrimp, also called green shrimp, resemble prawns and are widely found in the Yangtze River basin. These shrimp are very clever and hard to catch, and they sell for more than crayfish. White shrimp are even pricier; also known as Taihu white shrimp because they are abundant in Lake Tai. However, the nearby Chaohu Lake in Hefei and the surrounding small lakes and rivers also have many.

River shrimp and white shrimp look quite similar and are often mixed together. Especially when they get covered with algae, they appear grayish-green and are hard to distinguish. Their taste is roughly the same, so people rarely bother to tell them apart.

Shrimp meat peeled from river and white shrimp, made into shrimp paste, is Zhang Tan’s favorite. It tastes rich, delicious, crispy, tender, and smooth. Eating shrimp paste with rice can easily make him finish two large bowls.

It was a fruitful harvest.

By the time he returned home, it was nearly noon.

Tan Mingxia had already rushed back from Dayang Town, accompanied by Zhang Tan’s older sister, Zhang Yan. Knowing they were coming back today was why Zhang Tan went out with his older cousin to catch fish, hoping Mom would prepare a delicious meal.

“Mom, I got some fresh river delicacies from the Third Station. I’ll make a good lunch today.”

“Did they pump water at the Third Station?”

“Yes.”

“Let me see.” Tan Mingxia took the net bag from Zhang Tan and opened it. “Not bad—hairy crabs, river shrimp, oh wow, such a big catfish whisker!”

“More than ten jin.”

“You caught it?”

“No, I bought it from someone else.”

“I knew you’d just waste money.” Tan Mingxia scolded lightly, then turned to Zhang Yan. “Yan, go peel the shrimp.”

After handing over the river delicacies to their mother, Zhang Tan ran to take the yellow carp from his older cousin’s bucket. He found a basin at home, filled it with water, and put the yellow carp inside. He planned to go to town to see if there were any large fish tanks for sale. Yellow carp were rare and pleasing to keep.

“Mom, I’m going out for a bit.”

In town, Zhang Tan wandered around and found stalls selling fish tanks, but only small ones. Some tanks had finger-sized colorful small carps meant for ornamental purposes and wouldn’t grow large. When he asked the owner, none had large fish tanks. As mealtime approached, Zhang Tan had to return home.

“Looks like I’ll have to buy one in Hefei, but it’ll be hard to transport and I’ll need to find a vehicle. Quite troublesome.”

Since summer was dull anyway, Zhang Tan decided to go to the city in the afternoon to buy one.

Back home, Zhang Tan suddenly realized the basin holding the yellow carp was missing.

He searched everywhere but couldn’t find it.

“Hey, Mom, where’s my carp?”

“It’s right here.” Tan Mingxia’s voice came from the kitchen.

“Where?”

“In the pot.”

“What!” Zhang Tan rushed to the kitchen and saw a fish being simmered in a steaming pot, its body stabbed over a dozen times, eyes wide open as if unwilling to rest, filling the air with a rich fish aroma.

Faced with this, Zhang Tan felt tearless sorrow. “Mom, why did you cook my yellow carp? I was going to raise it!”

“What’s the point of raising a yellow carp? It’s no different from those carps sold in the market except for the color.”

“But I wanted it because of the color!”

“There are small carps sold at the market. If you really want to raise one, just buy a few from there.”

“…”

For lunch, Zhang Tan ate most of the braised carp with a heavy heart. He left half for his grandfather, Zhang Henong, who also loved fish.

The meal was delicious, prompting Zhang Tan to finish three large bowls of rice, almost to the point of fullness.

But his mood remained clouded with a faint sadness.

After digestion, he went to the backyard under the sand pear tree, where a swing made from a small bench hung. Sitting there with a guitar, Zhang Tan sang in a melancholy tone:

“If every fish were a short play,
Releasing their joys and sorrows on stage.
If the world lost its colorful masks,
Would anyone yearn or lament?”

A small yellow dog from his eldest uncle’s house happily ran over, wagging its tail at Zhang Tan.

Just earlier, Zhang Tan had given the little dog a pile of fish bones, and since then, the dog remembered his generosity.

Patting the dog’s head, Zhang Tan recalled long ago when they had a big yellow dog.

The big yellow dog was named Da Huang, resembling this little yellow dog—both ordinary rural native dogs. When Zhang Tan was young, his favorite pastime was running around with Da Huang. Though gentle and timid, Da Huang was possibly part wolfdog and looked tall and imposing.

The bullies who teased Zhang Tan were scared off by Da Huang on Zhang Tan’s command.

Unfortunately, Da Huang later accidentally ingested rat poison and was buried in the ground.

“Little Yellow, never eat rat poison in the future,” Zhang Tan murmured.

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Tan Mingxia’s braised carp completely dampened Zhang Tan’s enthusiasm for raising fish and gardening.

After two days of idleness, he quickly adjusted his mindset and prepared to focus on writing. The creation of “The Legend of the Condor Heroes” needed to speed up. Once Li Yan finalized the publishing deal, full preparation for publication had to begin. After all, he couldn't simply copy Jin Yong’s original as he didn’t have access to Baidu.

What he could do was retell the story using his memory and his own writing style.

His writing tended toward Jin Yong’s plain style, and by deliberate imitation, the martial arts flavor was not much different from Jin Yong’s. Writing style matters, as it affects reading fluency, but ultimately, what truly moves readers is the story itself.

Jin Yong’s works were popular not only for the prose but also because TV adaptations were wildly successful. This shows the story is the core, and Zhang Tan could grasp this core perfectly. By blending in highlights and jokes from other works, the story became even richer and more complete.

Most importantly, Zhang Tan could fix the bugs.

“The Legend of the Condor Heroes” was serialized in newspapers, and to meet deadlines, many inconsistencies occurred. Even the revised editions retained numerous errors.

For example, Ke Zhen’e’s eyes were said to have been blinded by the Black Wind Demons, yet it was stated he was already blind when meeting the other six heroes, who didn’t know why. But later, when Ke Zhen’e, Ouyang Feng, and others were in a temple, he recalled seeing little Zhu Cong reading with a nodding head—as if he could see.

Then there was the matter of snake venom. Ouyang Feng’s venom was deadly enough to kill multiple sharks. Yang Kang died from snake venom, yet Guo Jing’s fourth master, Nan Xiren, was bitten on the tongue and survived for many days until Guo Jing arrived and wrote “The killer is…”

Also, Hong Qigong had Guo Jing write a fake “Nine Yin Manual” for Ouyang Feng. Guo Jing scribbled nonsense, but when Ouyang Feng tested him by having him copy it from memory several times, surprisingly, Guo Jing made no mistakes. Did he memorize it while writing nonsense?

Another major inconsistency was Huang Rong’s age, which fluctuated wildly in different storytellings—sometimes several years older than Guo Jing, sometimes more than a decade older.

In short, these were all issues Zhang Tan needed to revise and overcome.

Creating a classic was a long and arduous journey.

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P.S. Some people say they can’t keep track of the Zhang family’s hierarchy, so here’s a family tree:

Grandparents: Zhang Henong & He Luxue

Parents: Eldest uncle, Zhang Quanshun (second brother), third uncle, fourth uncle, and aunt

Peers: Eldest uncle’s family (older cousin Zhang Qiang, second cousin, older female cousin), Zhang Quanshun’s family (Zhang Yan, Zhang Tan), third uncle’s family (third male cousin, third female cousin, sixth male cousin, fourth female cousin), fourth uncle’s family (fifth male cousin). This generation has many children; among the boys, Zhang Tan ranks fourth; among the girls, he ranks second.

The e-era internet café was co-run by Zhang Quanshun, Tan Mingxia, the second cousin’s wife, and the fourth uncle’s wife. Later, Zhang Quanshun withdrew his shares and opened an internet café in Dayang Town.