Who knows the story of Qingdao minnows?

In Qingdao, Spanish mackerel is also called "daddy's fish". The girl's boyfriend went to the woman's house for the first time and brought two Spanish mackerel. Every spring, after the local Spanish mackerel goes on the market, the son-in-law also takes at least two of them to visit Mount Tai. Of course, the more Spanish mackerel he brings, the better. So when fresh Spanish mackerel comes on the market, it is the fish seller who takes out the wallet of Qingdao son-in-law.

Why is Spanish mackerel also called "daddy's fish"? Why should fresh Spanish mackerel be given to parents-in-law? There is such a legend among the people in the island city.

According to the fishermen in Shazikou, a long time ago, there was a child named Xiao Wu whose parents died and an old man in the same village adopted him. When he grew up, in order to repay his adoptive father's kindness, he worked in the fields in the morning and evening and went fishing in the sea during the day. He is very hardworking, so the old man betrothed his only daughter to him as his wife.

One spring, during the fishing season, my father-in-law suddenly fell ill and wanted to eat a fresh fish, but the weather was so bad that it rained heavily for several days that he could not go out to sea. Seeing that his father-in-law was getting worse and worse, Xiao Wu braved the wind and rain to go to sea. The daughter said to her father, "Dad, wait a little longer. Xiao Wu went fishing with you and will be back soon. "

When Xiao Wu finally caught a Spanish mackerel in the storm and hurried home, his father-in-law had died.

Since then, every spring, the couple have to buy a fresh Spanish mackerel and offer it to the grave of the old man.

In this way, it has become the custom of Qingdao people to send Spanish mackerel to parents-in-law every spring, which has been handed down year after year.