Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

After throwing the large grass carp onto the truck, Li Long surveyed the reservoir bottom, which was now nearly dry, and began searching for his next target.

Despite the low temperature, the enthusiasm for catching fish did not diminish at all. Everyone was busy in the muddy water, their faces beaming with smiles. They didn't even bother to wipe the mud off their faces.

One after another, people lifted the big fish ashore and then rushed to the next one.

After Li Long descended to the bottom of the reservoir, he changed direction and saw a large commotion in a water pit less than five meters in diameter. The water was churned up so much that it was impossible to see what was inside, but every now and then a golden, fan-shaped tail would peek out.

Li Long quickly ran over and swirled the net inside. Before the net even reached the bottom, he saw a large red carp leap out and dart to the edge of the pit, exposing itself to his view. Just as he lifted the net, preparing to forcefully trap the fish, its fins and tail twitched rapidly a few times, and it retreated back into the pit.

After Tao Daqiang put the big carp ashore, he also aimed at the puddle, but when he saw that Li Long was already there, he smiled and changed his position.

Li Long immediately became interested in the large carp, which was over a meter long. The stronger its vitality, the better the fish.

Although the puddle wasn't large, it was quite deep, and many fish were struggling desperately inside, making the water so murky that it was impossible to see the fish's exact location.

Li Long simply stopped looking and started stirring the fish in with the net. Several silver carp, each weighing less than a kilogram, couldn't take it and darted upwards. Some landed on the shore, while others fell back into the water and swam away in panic.

The largest carp was also startled, but this time it didn't jump up. Instead, it rammed its head against the edge of the pit and then swung its tail rapidly, trying to escape.

Even a cornered beast will fight, let alone a fish?
Unfortunately, it darted towards Li Long's feet. How could Li Long let such a good opportunity pass by? He picked up the net, put it aside, squatted down, and pinned down the big carp whose head had crashed into the soft mud.

"Clap clap clap!"

The big carp flapped its tail and fins frantically, and twisted its body left and right with all its might, but Li Long was very strong and pressed its head directly into the mud, making it impossible for the fish to open its mouth to breathe. However, he was not without damage. The fish's tail slapped his arm hard, leaving a red mark with vertical ridges.

After confirming that the situation was under control, Li Long grinned, wiped the red mark, then reached into the carp's gills and lifted the fish up with both hands.

Although it wasn't as heavy or as long as the previous grass carp, it still weighed at least twenty kilograms.

After Li Long lifted the fish up, he saw that its mouth was full of mud. He took a few steps back, away from the puddle, and then scooped the mud out of the fish's mouth.

When the fish opened its mouth, Li Long's enormous fist could fit inside. Although this carp wasn't as long as the grass carp, it had a large belly and looked quite fat. Each scale seemed to be larger than a ping-pong ball, and it was golden yellow. Its head, tail, and back were already turning red, and its barbels were also particularly long.

Looking at the carp still struggling in his hand, Li Long laughed and said, "They say that if a carp becomes a spirit, it can transform into a dragon. But you don't look like a dragon at all. What kind of dragon could be so stupid?"
No wonder later generations said that the dragon liver and phoenix gall bladders people ate were taken from the bodies of carp that had transformed into dragons—they were just food ingredients!

"Brother Long, what are you saying to that fish?" Tao Daqiang, who was nearby, pulled a large silver carp weighing about ten kilograms out of a puddle and came over to ask, "Is this fish some kind of spirit? Can it even talk to you?"

"How could that be? I was just thinking about how beautiful and capable the big carp that the dolls were holding back were. Look at this fish, it's so fat and big, it looks like one of the more corrupt ones in the school."

"Hahaha, Brother Long, you really know how to describe things." Tao Daqiang laughed and said, "Most of our small lake carp look like this. They have plenty of aquatic plants and are quite nutritious, so they have food to eat. Unlike the ones from the big lake, they look skinny and have no oil on them."

As he spoke, he waved the large silver carp in his hand: "Take this fish head back and stew it in a hot pot, it will be absolutely delicious."

"Let's order more, whether we eat it or not is another matter. Looking at so many fish, we feel like we'd be doing ourselves a disservice if we didn't catch some."

So the two of them took their fish ashore, put them in the car, and continued their work.

Although everyone knows that such big fish don't taste as good as small fish and are more troublesome to cook, people still choose the big ones when catching fish, at least they look nice and exciting after being caught.

"Ouch!" Li Long had just caught another five-kilogram black slug, weighing four or five kilograms. Feeling lucky, he was carrying it ashore when he heard someone scream.

He immediately turned his head and saw that the person who had spoken was an employee who was sitting in the mud, hugging his feet and shouting.

Li Long quickly grabbed the fish and ran over, and the others gathered around as well.

"What's wrong?" Meng Hai, who was closest to the person, was the first to reach him and asked.

"The wire pierced through my shoe and went right through my foot." The worker gasped as he spoke. "Who would have thought there would be such a thick wire in the reservoir? I didn't notice it when I stepped into the water and got stuck."

"Can you pull it out yourself?" Tao Daqiang asked.

People weren't so delicate back then, and they didn't have much medical knowledge. If they got a nail or a piece of glass stuck in their foot, they would usually remove it themselves, apply some antiseptic, and that would be it.

"I dare not pull it out. I don't know how deep it is. It would hurt terribly if I pulled it out." The employee said intermittently, his face pale.

“Old Meng, drive him to the township health center,” Li Long said. “We don’t know if that wire is rusty or not. He might need a tetanus shot after we get it out.”

The employee hesitated for a moment, then said, "It can't be that bad, can it? It hurts to pull it out myself. You can help me pull it out. I won't go into the water. I'll just watch from the shore. I can apply some white medicine when I get back, right?"

“Don’t joke about this,” Li Long said. “If there’s rust on the wire, tetanus is hard to treat, and you might even have to have your leg amputated.”

Fishing can be done anytime; we definitely won't finish today, and we'll definitely have to keep going tomorrow. Next spring, we'll still be fishing; there will be plenty of opportunities. But injuries can't wait.

Seeing Li Long's resolute attitude, Meng Hai no longer hesitated. He called another employee, and together they helped the employee ashore. "Take two fish to the doctor," Li Long shouted, "make sure he gets the medicine on time and a tetanus shot."

After helping the person into the car, Meng Hai, not caring about the mud on his body, started the car. Meanwhile, another employee took a net and ran to the bottom of the reservoir, found a nearby puddle, scooped up two nets, and then carried a grass carp weighing two or three kilograms ashore.

"Everyone be careful when you're moving around," Li Long shouted to the people nearby as Meng Hai and the others drove away, "Be careful not to get hurt again!"

He was much more careful as he walked into the reservoir. Although the rubber soles of his shoes were hard, it was hard to say whether they could be punctured by sharp or hard objects.

“That worker was wearing plastic-soled cloth shoes. Those shoes look nice when worn, but they’re not durable,” Xu Haijun said from the side. “They can easily pierce through wires, unlike the thick-soled cloth shoes we usually wear. With layers of cloth stacked up, it’s not easy to get pierced through even if you step on a wire.”

For a time, cloth shoes with plastic soles were popular in rural areas, especially among middle school students and young people. These shoes were quite brittle and also quite eye-catching.

These shoes are very slippery on ice or compacted snow, and young people like to slide on them, which is what people in Northeast China call "sliding" or "skating".

By this time, there were already roller skating rinks, but the young men from the countryside rarely went there. When they got together, wearing these plastic-soled shoes, they would skate a long way, which would attract a lot of attention.

But as Xu Haijun said, these shoes are not warm, and the soles are made of plastic, making them very easy to puncture, unlike cloth shoes with multiple layers of soles.

But since it was bought, it looks more fashionable and trendy than the multi-layered soles.

Most villagers know that the water isn't very clean; reed stubble, glass shards, wire, or sharp stones can all easily cut you. So when going down to the bottom of the reservoir, you either wear waders, cloth shoes with thick soles, or rubber boots.

They all have thick, hard plastic soles, which offer better protection.

"Alright, alright, it's getting dark, everyone hurry up and catch as many as possible to take back," Li Long shouted again. "But be careful not to hurt yourselves."

His eyesight was good; he could scan from his feet to the distance and see that there were indeed many things in the water that could cause injury, and even some broken bottles.

As the temperature dropped, Li Long caught a few more large fish and took them up. The number of fish in the various puddles didn't seem to have decreased much, but the activity had become much quieter.

It's mainly because it's cold, and the fish don't really want to move.

The sound of a car came from the embankment. Li Long carried a large carp weighing about ten kilograms that he had just pulled out onto the shore and saw that it was his father Li Qingxia's car that had driven up.

Li Qiang was the first to get off the bus. Li Long thought for a moment before realizing that today was Saturday and tomorrow was the weekend. Li Qiang was being taken home by his father to rest.

"Uncle, you guys are really amazing! You really drained this area dry!" Li Qiang said excitedly, looking at the now-green reservoir bottom. "I see so many fish in the water!"

"Quite a few big fish, huh?" Li Qingxia said as she got out of the car. "We just got home and heard that you and your brother were here, so we guessed it was time to catch some fish and came over right away."

“There are plenty of big fish!” Li Long pointed to the truck and said, “The biggest one is 1.5 meters long, it’s a big grass carp, there are several that are 1 meter long, and there are many more in the water.”

"Let me see, let me see!" Li Qiang became even more excited, shouting as he climbed onto the truck and peered inside. "Wow, this fish is huge! I feel like it's almost as long as me! There are so many big fish in here!"

Li Qingxia couldn't resist either. She went over and clung to the side of the carriage, stepping on the tires to get a better look. Seeing so many big fish, she couldn't resist any longer. After getting off, she rolled up her sleeves and said to Li Long, "Hey, this looks really exciting! Let's catch a few too!"

“Stop messing around, those shoes you’re wearing are no good. Just now, one of our workers went down and got his foot pierced by a wire. He’s already been taken to the township health center,” Li Long said. “I’ll get you a bag and put some fish in it. You should go back and cook them.”

"If you're eating them yourself, don't make them too big. Catch some small crucian carp for us. Oh, and get some pike too. They're really delicious when fresh, you don't even need to add oil!" Li Qingxia has been in the fourth team for years and has become a seasoned food connoisseur, knowing which fish are the best.

Big fish may look nice, but it's not easy to get the flavor right. The way the Li family cooks fish doesn't taste as good as small fish when stewed.

Li Long took the net and bucket and went down to catch fish for them. Li Qingxia watched from the shore and casually called out, "Don't make the pike too big, or the meat will turn sour! Don't take any that are longer than a chopstick!"

"Okay, I got it." Li Long replied, then found a small puddle nearby and started scooping fish out of it.

After the large water surface was drained, the small puddles were teeming with fish. He deliberately avoided the big fish and scooped them up with his net. There were crucian carp, carp fry, small black carp, and even the kind of pike that his father wanted.

Even though he deliberately scooped the net very lightly, without reaching the bottom, he still managed to catch seven or eight kilograms of fish.

Holding the net handle in one hand and the bottom of the net bag in the other, I poured the fish into the bucket, and the splashing sound was particularly pleasant.

The net had a mesh size of two fingers, so small fish couldn't be caught and would slip through. In fact, Li Long had also noticed that there were quite a few minnows and gudgeons in the puddle. These two types of fish never grow very big, only five or six centimeters long, and will always be considered small fish.

After carrying the bucket ashore, Li Long handed it to Li Qiang and said to them, "Take it back and clean it up, stew it, or make fish soup for us to drink when we get back."

"You've caught so many fish, what are you going to do with them?" Li Qingxia asked. "These big fish aren't very tasty, and the whole family definitely can't finish them."

“I’ve thought it all out,” Li Long said confidently. “If the ones that are too big are left over, we can make them into dried fish, just like dried meat. If they’re thoroughly marinated, they’re still very delicious.”

I'm going to give the rest away. This project is so big, I borrowed water pumps from several organizations, and I can't just use them for free. When I return them tomorrow, each organization will have to send some fish as a token of their appreciation.

I also sent some to my acquaintances and friends; it's almost the end of the year, so it's just a token of my appreciation.

"Alright, then it's good that you keep that in mind." Seeing that her youngest son had already made up his mind, Li Qingxia said, "We definitely can't deliver all the fish, so shouldn't we share the rest with the village?"

"What we caught today is meant to be given to those people. Tomorrow we'll announce it over the loudspeaker, and let anyone in the team who wants to eat fish come and catch some themselves. We'll also tell them to scoop up the smaller fish and throw them back into the water over there so they can keep growing."

"Alright, you guys keep going, we'll head back first." Without the necessary tools to go into the water, Li Qingxia decided not to stay any longer. Watching and getting anxious was pointless; it was better to go back and avoid seeing it.

Li Long continued catching big fish, one after another. Those weighing over 20 kilograms were thrown directly into the truck after being hauled up, while those weighing over ten kilograms were caught one in each hand, two at a time.

As darkness fell, the fish became less active, making them easier to catch.

The people in the reservoir have become somewhat numb from all the fishing. Unless they come across something exceptionally large, which might elicit some surprised discussion, fish weighing around ten kilograms no longer pique their interest.

Soon, the truck bed was filled with big fish. Li Long also caught a lot of large crucian carp. He also caught all the black carp he came across, as these fish have become increasingly rare in the past two years.

Then I found a bucket and scooped up some pike.

Pike are no longer a rarity. Because they are small and slippery, they are troublesome to handle, so many people don't value them.

But this fish, which many people look down on, will become a Class II protected animal in another twenty or thirty years. Except for some people in the source of the Gongnaisi River and the Kashgar River, it will be hard to find in other places.

"Alright, everyone, catch some more fish you want to eat and take them back with you. Then let's get ready to leave," Li Long said. "We'll be out of sight soon, that's all for today."

Li Long noticed that after he shouted that, the people in the library seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Some of them casually grabbed a net from the water bar and then walked upstairs, saying as they went, "I'm exhausted, I'm exhausted. I never thought that fishing could make me so tired."

The speaker was Liang Dacheng.

Hearing this, Li Long smiled and said, "Take some back to eat, then you won't complain about being tired when you eat later."

"I caught a few big crucian carp that weigh almost a kilogram each. I'll stew them when I get home," Liang Dacheng said. "Let's have some drinks tonight to relax. Anyone coming over?"

Xie Yundong, carrying the net, walked uphill and said, "Let's go to my house. I'm planning to stew a big carp. There's an old saying that if someone eats a big carp head, they'll have the luck to become an emperor. Let's try it tonight."

The big carp I've got my eye on must weigh over ten kilograms; just chopping off its head will be enough for us to have with our drinks."

"No way!" Liang Dacheng shook his head and said, "A carp weighing ten kilograms or so is too old. Its skull is as hard as a rock, and it's hard to crack. I think the big crucian carp is much better. The big crucian carp from this small lake are so plump; they'll be delicious stewed!"

Soon, Xu Haijun, Tao Daqiang, and others joined the discussion. Li Long noticed that Jia Weidong didn't say anything, but took a net and started picking and choosing in the puddle, collecting several kilograms of pike and putting them in a bucket before lifting them up.

It seems everyone has their own preferences, and in the end, they decided to go to Liang Dacheng's house.

Li Long said he wouldn't go; he was going back to his older brother's house for fish soup. He also planned to go to the cooperative later to give some fish to the workers so they could stew it for tomorrow.

Although everyone caught so many big fish together, the other members of the cooperative each took two or three, and the rest were transported away by Li Long in a whole truckload.

They knew Li Long had a great use for these fish; giving them away as gifts would be a status symbol. But in reality, they doubted anyone in the village would want to eat them.

Firstly, it's too big to cook in one pot, and secondly, it's particularly difficult to cook until tender. Just as Li Long said, it tastes better when it's air-dried.

Of course, another major reason is that farmers only know a few ways to cook fish and have little experience in cooking large fish, so they can't cook them well.

When they left, there were still some large fish at the bottom of the reservoir, but not many. There were, however, a lot of fish weighing less than one kilogram, probably several tons.

We'll see how the villagers arrest him tomorrow.

Li Long drove his SUV, with his older brother in the lead, while the truck followed behind.

On the bus, Li Jianguo asked Li Long, "We've caught at least a quarter of the big fish in this small lake, if not a third. If we lose so many big fish at once, it won't be easy for them to grow back."

"This is the first time I've done such a large-scale fishing operation since I took over Xiaohaizi," Li Long said as he drove. "The really big fish should still be in the deeper waters, to the north."

Besides, this kind of dredging only happens once every eight to ten years, which gives the fish plenty of time to grow. The annual contract fees we pay shouldn't just be spent on the water; we still need to eat the fish.

Furthermore, once this area is dredged and the water outlets are opened, the number of large fish will basically return to equilibrium. Next spring, we'll dredge another third, and then we won't be able to catch as many large fish as we do now. Even if we clear it all in the end, by doing it in batches, we should still have quite a few large fish left.”

Li Jianguo thought Li Long's words made a lot of sense, so he stopped caring about it. He was exhausted today, but he also had a great time.

Upon arriving at the cooperative, Li Long asked the local chef to select some fish so they could stew them in a large pot the next day.

"Tomorrow we'll use the biggest pot to stew it," Li Long said. "We'll get a few big fish and stew them in two big pots. We'll stew them for a while longer. Around noon, some people from the team might come over to drink fish soup and eat fish."

He plans to announce over the loudspeaker tomorrow that anyone who wants to catch fish should go to the small lake, and if they don't know how to cook, they can bring their bowls to the cooperative to try the fish soup.

Twenty or thirty years ago, many people in the fourth team also did not eat fish. According to Li Jianguo, when he first arrived, many people here would rather eat rice husks than eat fish when they were starving.

It's a bit like the scene in "Ordinary World" where a fishbone gets stuck in the whole village.

However, as more and more people who knew how to eat fish joined the village, those who didn't usually eat fish gradually started to enjoy it too.

It turns out they don't eat it because they don't know how to prepare it. Of course, some people are just lazy.

So Li Long thought, since the goal is to benefit the whole village, those who don't want to work can just eat what's readily available. "No problem!" The cook's eyes lit up when he saw the huge fish. "Can we keep a few more?"

“Of course you can. Take some, big and small,” Li Long said. “The weather is cool at night now, so the fish will keep longer. Take more so you can eat them for a few more days.”

The chef didn't go overboard. In addition to the fish he was going to stew tomorrow, he also kept a carp, a silver carp, and about ten kilograms of small fish.

Because of personal preference, there were almost no silver carp in this truckload of big fish; you could say they were all good fish.

Then the truckload of fish was driven to the Li family's house.

The truck was left here, and the truck driver went back to the cooperative to rest.

The Li family, including their relatives, all came to help, selecting the larger, prettier fish to keep.

The king of fish, the grass carp, was picked out first, along with several large carp weighing over 20 kilograms, as well as silver carp and black carp.

Older sister Du Chunfang was startled by the size of the fish, and then muttered, "A fish the size of the town, how are we going to eat it!"

"We can either make dried fish, or stew the whole thing in that big iron pot that's a meter wide," Li Long said as he picked out the fish.

Since we don't usually lack fish, I only picked out less than ten; the rest were given away as gifts.

Because he was going to deliver the fish during the day tomorrow, Li Long planned to sort the fish tonight.

The water resources bureau sent ten of them, a mix of various colors.

The same goes for the supply and marketing cooperative; he personally delivered the goods to both places.

Xu Haijun delivered the water pump to the village, and naturally, he also delivered the fish. He could decide how many fish to deliver himself.

Then Li Long had to deliver fish to an acquaintance, which meant he had to travel quite a distance.

He really wishes he had one of those thick, inflatable bags so he could put the fish in, fill it with oxygen, and tie its mouth shut so it could live a little longer.

Fortunately, it's cool now, so all these fish are huddled together, helping each other out, and some of them might even survive until tomorrow morning.

I roughly divided the fish, then washed my hands and drank the fish soup.

I'm exhausted.

Most of the Li family members were discussing these large fish. They had seen large fish before in the river back home, but never so many; this was truly an eye-opener.

"Uncle, this fish is so big! Can we take a picture of it at home?" Li Qiang suddenly said. "We might never see a fish this big again."

Li Long was reminded of this and thought the suggestion was quite good.

But it was getting dark, so he said, "Let's do it during the day tomorrow, it'll be clearer then."

We have two cameras at home, one is a point-and-shoot and the other is a manual focus type. With current technology, the nighttime photos aren't very clear.

After finishing the fish soup, Li Long took some fish back with him, both big and small.

He plans to make some dried fish at home as well.

When he got back, he told Gu Xiaoxia, Mingming, and Haohao about what happened today. They all heard that Li Long had caught a fish that was 1.5 meters long, and they all wanted to go and see it.

Even Sister Yang was very curious.

“Let’s go down together tomorrow. We can all take pictures with the fish. These fish are really rare. We might not even be able to catch them next spring, let alone after that,” Li Long decided.

Upon hearing that he would be taking pictures with the big fish the next day, Mingming Haohao was so excited that he didn't want to sleep.

Li Long simply asked them to help the adults process the fish they brought back.

The largest fish we brought back weighed over 20 kilograms and was more than a meter long, which was quite impressive, and it wasn't easy to process them.

By the time I went to bed, it was already past eleven o'clock, and I had to wash the fishy smell off my hands many times before I could get rid of it.

The two children, however, didn't find the fishy smell unpleasant at all; on the contrary, they thought it tasted like fish and was quite nice.

The next day, Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia were woken up by the two children, who kept urging them to get up quickly, eat breakfast, and go to the team to take photos.

Fortunately, Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia have gotten used to it. On Sunday mornings, the two children never sleep in, and they have gotten used to not being able to sleep in anymore.

As always, Sister Yang got up early to prepare the meal, and then said regretfully that Han Fang hadn't come back this week, otherwise she could have taken a picture with the fish.

There's nothing we can do about it; those fish simply won't last a week.

“We’ll do it again next spring,” Li Long said after thinking for a moment. “When it’s time to pump the water, we’ll tell Xiao Fang in advance to come back on time, so she can catch a big fish.”

After the five of them finished breakfast and tidied up, they drove two cars to the fourth team.

Sister Yang doesn't usually go there, but she was really curious today, so she went with Gu Xiaoxia in her car.

Li Jianguo's family had already finished breakfast. When Li Qiang saw his uncle's family coming over, he couldn't wait to go and move the big grass carp.

Mingming and Haohao quickly went over to help, and when they saw the big fish that was almost as long as themselves, the two children were stunned.

Yesterday's giant carp was enough to shock them, but today's fish is even more astonishing.

So the big grass carp became a prop, and everyone in the family took a photo with it, and they also took several group photos.

Li Qiang said that once the photos are developed, he will definitely send them to his sister so that she can also see the king of fish in the small lake.

After filming was finished, Li Long asked Gu Xiaoxia to take Mingming and Haohao to play at his older brother's house. He went to the cooperative to bring workers and trucks to pick up the water pump, intending to return it to them and deliver fish along with it.

Xu Haijun has also made arrangements. As for the fishing task within the team, the eldest brother, Li Jianguo, will go and inform the captain.

When Li Long and his team finished installing the water pumps and heading towards the county with the truck loaded with fish, the village's loudspeaker was already blaring.

The main announcement was about two things. One was that those who wanted to catch fish could now go to the dredging area near Xiaohaizi to collect their catch. The bottom of the reservoir had been cleared, and each household could collect their own fish.

Team leader Xu Chengjun emphasized several points to note. First, while catching fish is fine, there should be no fighting or disputes. Second, dredging work has already begun, so stay away from areas where excavators, bulldozers, and trucks are located.

The third rule is that each household that goes fishing should bring several basins of small fish and pour them into the stagnant water so that the fish can continue to grow, otherwise there will be no fish to eat in the future.

The fourth point is to pay attention to safety. Yesterday, someone got their shoe pierced by a wire and injured their foot. Everyone should remember to wear shoes with hard soles to avoid getting injured.

Also, each household should not catch more than one bag of fish, and they can choose between big and small fish.

The second thing in the notice was that if you don't know how to cook fish at home, you can go to the cooperative's courtyard at noon to have fish soup and fish, but you can't waste any.

As soon as the notice was issued, people from all over the country poured out of their houses. Some walked, some rode bicycles, some drove cars, and some drove tractors, all rushing towards Xiaohaizi.

If a drone were to be seen from the air, it would look like these people swarming out from all directions, heading towards Xiaohaizi.

Whether they catch fish or not, whether they cook fish at home or not, everyone wants to see the excitement. Those who catch fish naturally want to be the first to catch a few big ones. Those who don't catch fish just think the scene must be interesting, since they're just killing time anyway.

So in less than half an hour, the embankment of Xiaohaizi was already full of people.

Xie Yundong and his team did not go down to the bottom of the reservoir today. Instead, they stayed on the dam to maintain order and occasionally yelled at those who were crowding around the tractors, bulldozers, and excavators to be careful.

Thanks to Li Long's success in catching fish and getting rich, eight out of ten households in the fourth team now have fishing nets.

So at this point, when the reservoir bottom is cleared out, you can see rows of waving landing nets. When they are swung down and then pulled up, they are half-net full of fish.

Because you can't have more than one bag, you have to be very selective about what kind of fish you want.

Generally speaking, everyone was quite conscientious. Any fish that were not needed, as long as they were alive, were picked out and thrown directly into the water on the other side of the dam, giving those fish a chance to survive.

Soon, bags of fish that had been pulled out and selected were carried onto the dam.

Although they had already caught enough fish, everyone was reluctant to leave, watching others choose their fish.

The most excited were the children who were already on holiday. Although they didn't have nets, they were all excellent at catching fish by hand.

After catching some fish, they quietly took them ashore, strung them on reeds, and carried them home, and the cooperative members pretended not to see it.

A little more or a little less doesn't matter; the standard for a bag of fish is just a general rule.

Xie Yundong noticed that regardless of whether they usually ate fish or not, almost every family brought home a bag of fish.

There were still quite a few fish left, so he called to the people to scoop up some of the live fish from the shallows and throw them back into the water.

As for the fish in the deep pits, since these pits won't be dug up during the dredging, they can survive in the pits for a while. Once the dredging is completed and the dikes are opened, they will still be alive.

The villagers were busy catching fish, and it didn't end until noon. Mainly, some people were picky and only liked to catch one type of fish, such as the black bream.

Since there are relatively few black five-striped berries to begin with, it's naturally quite difficult to pick out a whole bag of them.

The aroma of fish filled the air above Team 4 all noon.

Some people carried their bowls to the cooperative's courtyard alone, while others brought their families, planning to have lunch at the cooperative. They were worried about not having enough staple food, so they brought steamed buns with them when they came to drink the fish soup.

Meng Hai had a bowl of fish soup with meat served to the Li family.

Li Jianguo quickly and politely said that he had stewed fish at home, and Meng Hai smiled and said that the taste of stewed fish in this big pot was different.

It really is different.

However, Li Long was not fortunate enough to eat any fish. When he arrived in the township, he gave Guo Tiebing and Principal Yang each a fish, and then went to the county.

After arriving in the county, he first went to find Yang Bo, and asked Yang Bo to take him to the homes of several bureau leaders to deliver fish. After that, he returned the water pump.

These water pumps were all cleaned thoroughly, and Li Long even gave the warehouse manager two fish weighing five or six kilograms each as a token of his gratitude.

Yang Bo was also busy, but he was quite polite and only ordered a three- or four-kilogram carp, refusing to take any more than that.

The supply and marketing cooperative was quite familiar with the process. Li Long went to Li Xiangqian's house and released two silver carp and common carp, each weighing about ten kilograms. When he returned the water pump, he also left two fish for the warehouse manager.

There were still many fish left. He gave some to Sun Jiaqiang and Liang Shuangcheng at the purchasing station, and also took seven or eight to the canteen at the cannery.

I gave one to Zhong Guoqiang in Ma County, two to Section Chief Hu in Shicheng, two to my sister's family, and two more to Song Ming, who had become the head of the transport team at the sugar factory.

Next, we headed east, first to Beiting City. We gave gifts to Director Qian, Director Wei, and Chen Hongjun. By the time we finished delivering all of these gifts, it was already noon.

After having lunch at Chen Hongjun's place, Li Long took the truck to Wucheng and released a fish for Engineer Liu.

It's not that they didn't want to release more, it's just that Mr. Liu only wanted one—the rest of the fish were quite large, mostly weighing seven or eight kilograms or more. Mr. Liu said that with just this one, his family would have to eat for several days.

The professors from the College of Agriculture each kept only one fish. If Li Long hadn't said he had other things to do, they would have all wanted to keep him for a chat.

Professor Yang, in particular, was very busy this year and did not visit Li Long's large-scale drip irrigation farming, but he was very interested and said he would take some time to visit Li Long and have a good chat with him.

After all, there is a big difference between experimental farming and large-scale farming, and Li Long has firsthand information.

Li Long also sent fish to Li Yu and Zhao Shijie. These two had been very helpful to him in the drip irrigation support project, and Li Long had contacted them on a whim, and surprisingly, he got through.

He didn't give them anything particularly valuable, so each of them only asked for one fish. They were also very happy to learn that Li Long's drip irrigation project had been quite successful this year.

Finally, Li Long also delivered some fish to the Ethnic Affairs Commission.

It's almost the end of the year, and there are still quite a few people working overtime at the Ethnic Affairs Commission. Li Long's delivery of fish surprised and touched them.

Li Long himself is well aware that the Ethnic Affairs Commission has given him a lot of help over the years, and now that he has these local specialties, it is only right that he send some over.

After going around in circles, by the time Li Long returned to the county, it was already very dark.

Fortunately, the fish in the truck were all delivered.

Looking back over the years, he has accumulated quite a network of connections.

But we have to continue tomorrow; the deliveries to Lao Du at the machinery factory and my second brother's family haven't been made yet.

People are more concerned about inequality than scarcity. Since my brother-in-law's family has already given, it wouldn't make sense for my second brother's family not to give anything in return.

So the next day, Li Long went to the reservoir again. Seeing that the dredging was quite large, he chatted with Meng Hai and then took a net to look for fish in the deep water.

It's easy to catch fish the night before last, but now it's incredibly difficult.

After all, once the villagers have made their move, it will be much harder to catch a big fish again.

He figured if he really couldn't get any more, he took two fish that he had prepared at home to make dried fish. Although they weren't particularly fresh, they were big and looked impressive.

Fortunately, after scooping around in several deep pits, we actually managed to catch a few fish that had escaped the net. They were all around seven or eight kilograms in size. Although they weren't particularly big, we caught a couple more to make up the number.

After running around Kui City and Youcheng, Li Long felt really tired.

If this happens again, he won't be willing to accept it. Even if he catches a lot of fish next spring, he will resolutely refuse to send them away!

P.S.: The following is not paid and is less than 200 words.

I searched many places today before finally finding a tiny piece of Cynomorium songaricum. It's like pike; it used to be plentiful and nobody wanted it, but now it's so rare you can't find it anywhere.

The distant mountains, the western entrance to the mountains is Hongshanzui, and the low mountains are the outer mountains, all earthen and rocky hills. The snow-capped mountains in the distance are where the summer pastures are located. (End of Chapter)