Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1196 Catching crabs in a reservoir is also a skill

In early July, the days in Team Four become hot and dry; even after sunset, the wind in the air is still hot.

The temperature will not drop until it is completely dark. At this time, the temperature difference between day and night can reach ten to twenty degrees Celsius. Only when the fruits are ripe will they accumulate enough sugar and become very delicious.

Li Long drove Tao Daqiang towards Xiaohaizi, while Tao Daqiang parked his own car in front of Li's house.

"Daqiang, I think you've become lazy. You drove all the way here for just a few steps," Li Long joked with Tao Daqiang.

"Sigh, I'm used to it. I figure it's my own car anyway, so I might as well drive it." Tao Daqiang said a little embarrassedly. "Pingping also said I'm too lazy and extravagant. I told her I needed to bring waders and a bucket because it's inconvenient to ride a bicycle."

It's actually just a lazy habit I developed from being a driver. I rarely walk, and I'd rather drive even for a few hundred meters. It's not that I'm being pretentious.

The road was uneven, and it was nighttime, so Li Long couldn't show off his better eyesight than the average person in front of Tao Daqiang, and he didn't drive fast.

The windows were open, and the wind was sometimes hot and sometimes cool. As we approached Xiaohaizi, the gusts of wind carried a lot of dampness and a fishy smell.

Li Long parked the car below the dam, got out, and together with Tao Daqiang put on their waders. Then, carrying flashlights and buckets, they walked uphill, with Li Long saying to Tao Daqiang:
"Let's stay close to the shore. The water is deep, so don't go in. If you fall in, even if you don't drown, it won't look good if you get all wet."

"I know, but can we just catch them at night? What if the crabs escape?" Tao Daqiang had no experience and didn't know anything, so he asked directly.

"You stay on the shore and watch me for a bit. I'll catch a couple and show you, then you'll know what to do," Li Long said. "But it's not certain. If the crabs don't come out, then we'll just have to use the white ball."

"Of course I know. If there are any, I'll catch them; if not, I'll go back." Tao Daqiang naturally understood that this thing wasn't as easy as catching fish.

Upon reaching the top of the dam, Li Long did not go directly down to the water's edge. Instead, he walked southwest along the dam line. He had released crabs there several times. There were large, gentle slopes there. Although some weeds grew there, they were not deep and would be submerged by the water from time to time, so the crabs were more likely to stay there.

Xiaohaizi is small compared to Dahaizi, which has a surface area of ​​several hundred acres. Although Li Long released crab and shrimp seedlings more than ten times, they were still quite small in such a large area. It was like a pot of porridge falling into a large ocean, not quite like pearls falling into the ocean.

Therefore, Li Long thought that the place where he released the seedlings might be easier to catch crabs.

Of course, such a gentle slope is also a good location, at least here crabs can easily get some fresh air and find food.

Tao Daqiang followed Li Long, looking left and right. He felt that Li Long was very familiar with this area, and even at night, he was still walking fast.

Once they reached the gentle slope, Li Long said to Tao Daqiang:
"Come here, stay over there. Don't go into the water yet. Even if you do go in later, don't make too much noise, otherwise the crabs will be scared away and it will be harder to catch them."

Tao Daqiang nodded, then, remembering that Li Long couldn't see, he hummed in response.

Li Long slowly waded into the water, carrying a bucket in one hand and a flashlight in the other.

This was very inconvenient, and he thought he should find some time to buy a headlamp.

The water in this area is still ankle-deep. Cattle and sheep pass by during the day, and there are many hoofprints underwater. The water isn't very clear, but because it's shallow, you can see the bottom.

Li Long turned the flashlight's aperture wider, making the light slightly dimmer but illuminating a larger area.

He looked into the water, focusing on the hoof prints.

Based on his previous life's experience, crabs that come out of deep water and into shallow water will find a pit or a clump of grass to lie down and slowly eat. Crabs are omnivorous and will eat many things in the water. Li Long suspects that they might even try a bite of cow dung.

Of course, his favorite food was fish caught in the net. Li Long vaguely remembered that in his previous life, he used a floating net to catch whitebait in the Dahai Lake. When he went to retrieve the net the next day, many of the whitebait had lost their eyes or even half of their bodies. Meanwhile, he could usually catch a few crabs in the net.

"Brother Long, is it ready?" Tao Daqiang couldn't help but ask when he saw Li Long standing there motionless.

Startled by these words, Li Long snapped out of his reverie, smiled, and said:
"I was just looking...hey, I've got it!"

Less than two meters in front of him, a small crab was lying motionless in a cow hoof.

Perhaps the crab arrived early, and the mud and sand settled on it when the water cleared. As a result, the crab's back was grayish, almost the same color as the mud at the bottom of the water. If Li Long hadn't been so sharp-eyed, he really wouldn't have been able to see it.

"Got it? Where?" Tao Daqiang couldn't help but take two steps into the water, looking into the circle of light from Li Long's flashlight as he asked.

Li Long put the flashlight in his mouth, freed one hand to point downwards, and then bent down and slowly reached out.

The water was about fifteen centimeters deep. As soon as Li Long's hand entered the water, he sped up, grabbed the crab, and before it could struggle to pinch him, he pulled the crab out of the water and threw it into the bucket.

A rustling sound immediately came from the bucket.

Tao Daqiang barely saw Li Long's movements. By the time he noticed, the crabs had already been put into the bucket.

“Hey, it’s not small at all, it’s even bigger than the one I showed you today.”

Li Long was quite happy. Actually, when he first arrived, he was worried that he wouldn't see any crabs at night, which would mean he'd made a wasted trip. In his previous life, he had also made wasted trips catching crabs at night.

Today was a bit better; the cattle and sheep went home early. In my previous life, some of those who herded cattle and sheep didn't care at all. Even after 10 p.m. and it was dark, the cattle and sheep were still grazing and drinking by the lake, and some even lay down to rest in the nearby fields after eating and drinking.

If the water is muddied by cattle and sheep, then you can't see anything at all.

Li Long reached out and nudged the crab, which immediately raised its pincers in defense. Li Long withdrew his hand and said:

"It's a female crab, and it should have roe by now."

Judging from later experience, the female crabs here had roe in June, although it wasn't very plump. I don't know if the species are the same, but around 2020, even the crabs from that year had a lot of roe in their bellies by June or July.

Of course, the bigger the crab, the more roe it has, and the tastier it is.

"How can you tell it's a female crab?" Tao Daqiang didn't know anything, but he was very eager to learn.

"Look at its back. The one that's rounder is the female, and the one that's more pointed is the male."

Having learned from his previous life, Li Long was happy to be a teacher.

"Brother Long, you grabbed it too fast just now, I didn't even see where it was. When you see it again, don't grab it yet, let me see what it looks like in the water, okay?"

“Okay.” Li Long understood this feeling.

Just like when he went mushroom digging and picking morel mushrooms. Before he saw the first one, all he could see was dirt and weeds, and he couldn't even see the mushrooms at his feet. Some people picked up the mushrooms he walked by and laughed at him.

But when he picked up the first morel or dug up the first reed mushroom from the ground, he suddenly had an epiphany and could see where the mushrooms were.

They should be interconnected.

Li Long was about to pick up the bucket when Tao Daqiang picked it up first, put the flashlight in his mouth, and followed Li Long without saying a word.

Seeing the first crab gave Li Long confidence. He shone his flashlight and saw a crab lying under a patch of grass the size of a palm, its two pincers constantly raising something to put into its mouth.

It looks like a small, dead fish.

Li Long immediately pointed at the crab and said to Tao Daqiang:
"Look, here it is. It's moving, so it's easy to find."

Compared to the crab that was lying in the cow hoof print, this crab was easier to find because it was eating.

Tao Daqiang nodded to indicate that he had seen it, and Li Long bent down, grabbed the crab, and threw it into the bucket that Tao Daqiang handed him.

The crab's claws were very sharp, and when it frantically clawed, it pricked Li Long.

It hurts slightly, but it's nothing serious.

When you gain something, you forget the pain.

"Look, this is a male crab," Li Long demonstrated on the spot. "The point under the shell is sharp."

Tao Daqiang looked at it carefully and nodded.

“Alright, this shallow area is about seven or eight meters from the deep water. Let’s walk side by side, me inside and you outside. Take it slow and don’t rush.” Li Long took the bucket from Tao Daqiang and said, “If we walk slowly, we can find the crabs.”

In fact, he glanced around and saw a crab lying motionless underwater less than a meter in front of Tao Daqiang's feet.

Similar to the first crab Li Long caught, it was covered in dust, almost the same color as the soil, and you could only see a rough outline of it. If you didn't have experience, you probably wouldn't be able to spot it.

He wanted to test Tao Daqiang to see if he could find it, but Tao Daqiang stepped on it!

"Stop!" Li Long shouted hurriedly.
"Daqiang, don't move! Back up! Back up!" His instruction was a bit contradictory, leaving Tao Daqiang somewhat at a loss.

“You’re going to crush a crab with your foot.” Li Long pointed to the foot he was about to step on. “See that? That’s a crab.”

Tao Daqiang pulled his raised foot back, shone his flashlight, and only after Li Long pointed it out again did he see the crab.

"Hey, it's really hard to see clearly." Tao Daqiang wasn't discouraged. Anyway, at home, his wife always said he wasn't as smart as their daughter, so he wasn't bothered.

Tao Daqiang has been called a spoon, an idiot, and a stone since he was a child. He is used to it. Although he knows that he is not a spoon, but just a little slower than others to react, Li Long has also told him this. However, being called a spoon has its advantages, namely that he has a very good mental quality.

Tao Daqiang imitated Li Long's actions, suddenly reaching into the water and grabbing the crab in his hand. He then threw it into the bucket, and the crab landed in the bucket, leaving a pincer on his glove. The crab retaliated quickly, but since both of them were wearing gloves, they were not injured.

"Hehehe, now I'll know how to catch them." Tao Daqiang laughed.

Li Long felt he still needed to keep an eye on him, until two minutes later Tao Daqiang suddenly pointed down and said:

"Hey, this one's big!"

Li Long looked in the direction he pointed, and sure enough, there was a crab that looked quite big, bigger than the ones the two of them had caught before, so he was relieved.

Li Long focused on the water's surface and soon spotted a crab. Sensing the danger near the water's edge, the crab was quickly scurrying sideways towards the deeper water, which Li Long scooped up.

"Daqiang, let's keep it down, or the crabs will all get away," Li Long reminded him. Tao Daqiang, with his flashlight in his mouth, nodded without saying a word.

"Hey! There's a dead crab floating on the water," Tao Daqiang said after catching another crab.

Li Long glanced at the dead crab a couple of meters in front of them, shook his head, and said:

"It's not dead, that's its shell. Crabs molt when they reach a certain age, and this is what it shed."

"Like a snake?" Tao Daqiang was somewhat surprised. He took two steps forward, picked up the crab shell, and examined it closely.

Sure enough, it was just an empty shell, very light.

"Yes, they molt several times a year. When they finish molting, the crabs are all soft, and you can even eat the shells of the new crabs... but I've never encountered one."

Li Long had never encountered this in his previous life either.

I'd heard about it online, but I just found it intriguing.

The two of them looked carefully. After Tao Daqiang found the pattern of the crabs lying down, he tried to look into the cow hoof prints and found about ten of them.

Li Long had a better catch. He caught half a bucket in less than half an hour, but he had reached the end of this shallow area.

"Brother Long, let's walk back a bit more. Maybe we'll still see some crabs," Tao Daqiang said, still eager for more.

“We can’t find it. We went over there and stirred up the mud and sand at the bottom of the water, so we couldn’t see anything.” Li Long shook his head.

Tao Daqiang shone his flashlight back and found that the place he had returned to had become murky.

“Let’s go to the East Dam line. The water is deep there, but there might be crabs on the shore—I’ve released quite a few crab larvae there,” Li Long said. “We just have to be careful.”

When he first reminded Tao Daqiang, he was thinking of the Dongba Line, but after going up the dam, he changed his mind and is now back to the place he originally thought of.

Li Long thought that he should release more crab seedlings here next year, as this was a suitable place to catch crabs.

I wonder how many of the crabs released this year will survive the winter.

Upon arriving at the Dongba Line, Li Long surveyed the terrain and said to Tao Daqiang:

"You go south from here, and I'll go north from south. We'll search in opposite directions, and when we meet, we'll head back, okay?"

"Sure." Tao Daqiang was naturally happy to be able to catch crabs again.

Catching fish, shrimp, and crabs—from eighty-year-olds to eight-year-olds, everyone loves it.

Li Long strode forward on the dam, stopping after about seventy or eighty meters. He hadn't released any more crab seedlings there, and he figured the crabs wouldn't go there either.

After going down to the water's edge, they walked north for about ten meters before seeing a small crab. The crab had been on the shore, but as soon as it sensed the movement, it immediately darted into the water. Li Long didn't pay it any attention, mainly because the crab's shell was about the size of a five-cent coin; it was too small to eat.

After walking another three or four meters, Li Long saw a slightly larger crab swimming in the water. He put the bucket aside, and with quick eyes and steady hands, he scooped it up and threw it into the bucket.

It's such a hassle not having a headlamp. I'll go to the department store tomorrow and see if I can buy one.

There will be quite a few crab-catching trips ahead, continuing until October, so I need to prepare the necessary tools in advance.

When the two met up, there were about ten more crabs in Li Long's bucket, making quite a commotion.

"I caught four." Tao Daqiang showed the bucket to Li Long. "Not bad, there are about twenty. We can make a meal when we get back."

Li Long told him on the way that the crabs should be stewed or made into spicy crab.

In the beginning of their previous life, the fourth team even tried deep-frying crabs, cutting them in half and frying them, which they found quite delicious.

These water-raised crabs taste very fresh and delicious; they're good no matter how you cook them.

Even when stewed with fish, it enhances the fish's flavor, and even if you don't eat the crab, the fish flavor and the fish soup taste wonderful.

"Don't eat it tonight. Steam it first thing tomorrow morning, then make a dipping sauce with ginger and vinegar for it," Li Long said.

Tao Daqiang said he understood.

Li Long wouldn't teach you too many details about eating crabs. People who regularly eat fish can generally tell which parts of the crab are edible and which aren't once the shell is opened.

Besides, later generations described things in such detail, mentioning things like the heart, lungs, intestines, and stomach; people at this time wouldn't care about such things.

Besides, the crab isn't very big; it's just for the taste.

The two men carried the buckets back, and Tao Daqiang indicated that he would come back in a few days. Li Long then mentioned the headlamps, and Tao Daqiang immediately took out his money and asked Li Long to bring him two as well.

Tao Daqiang's family was quite wealthy; he always carried money in his pocket.

Li Long didn't refuse, and after taking the money, he asked about the cotton.

“My dad always wanted the cotton to grow a little longer before pruning it.” Tao Daqiang scratched his head as he spoke of this, “It wouldn’t be good if it was too short.”

"Then you'd better hurry. If the cotton grows too tall, it really won't produce any fruit. You'll be left with nothing but bare stalks, and then you'll be crying." Li Long was very cautious. This was the first time the team had planted cotton. If it were just his family, it wouldn't be a big deal; he could treat it as an experiment. But with so many people in the team following his family's lead, he had to be responsible for them.

At least what needs to be said has been said; whether or not people listen is another matter.

Especially Tao Daqiang and Xie Yundong, who were following him, Li Long couldn't let them suffer losses.

When they arrived at the Li family's house, the Li family members all came out upon hearing the car. Li Qiang, in particular, was the fastest to run with Mingming and Haohao, taking the bucket directly from Li Long and going inside to check.

Tao Daqiang said goodbye to Li Jianguo and the others, then drove his Lada back home.

As soon as Li Long entered the house, Liang Yuemei brought out the milk.

"Quite a lot," Li Jianguo said, looking at the crabs.

"They're a bit small, though. They'll grow bigger by September, and if any survive next year, they'll be bigger by June or July," Li Long said while drinking his milk. "Then they'll be delicious."

He planned to leave some of this stuff with his older brother, and then take some back to the courtyard to cook and try it out.

After all, none of his family members had ever eaten this before in this lifetime.

Watching Mingming and Haohao intently watching the crabs, wanting to touch them but not daring to, Li Long felt that the night was well worth it.

(End of this chapter)