Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

After a brief moment of astonishment, the cadres and staff of the Water Resources Bureau immediately surrounded Li Long, bombarding him with questions.

Li Long pointed to the bottom of the reservoir and said, "Look, the water has been almost completely drained. There are quite a few fish in there, but your outfits today aren't very convenient."

"What's inconvenient about that?" Yang Bo, who could already see so many fish in the puddles at the bottom of the reservoir, excitedly rolled up his sleeves and then his trousers, saying, "I knew I was going to catch fish today, so I specially changed into a pair of old shoes. I can wash these clothes when I get back, hahaha, fish, here I come!"

Seeing Yang Bo rush down without hesitation, the other men couldn't wait to follow. As they went down, they rolled up their trousers and sleeves. There was one place where they were not used to the muddy conditions. Before they even reached the bottom of the reservoir, they slipped and fell, getting covered in mud.

Amidst everyone's laughter, he got up without the slightest embarrassment and continued rushing towards the puddle.

Two of the women were rather clean and hesitated a bit while standing on the embankment, but the rest of them rushed down. Today, everyone was supposed to come to catch fish, so most people were prepared.

Finally, the two women on the embankment couldn't resist going down, and one of them even planned to take off her shoes and wear socks. Li Long quickly stopped her.
"Make sure you wear your shoes. There are all sorts of things in the bottom of this reservoir. Last year, when we were dredging, a worker accidentally cut his foot on a wire and had to get several injections to heal."

Upon hearing this, the well-dressed woman quickly put on her shoes, softly thanked Li Long, and then carefully went downstairs.

Li Long had already put the large carp into the prepared truck, and then rushed off again; he already had a new target.

This time, learning from past experiences, the truck used to hold the fish was lined with plastic sheeting and filled with water, so that the fish could live a longer period of time.

The well-dressed young woman was about to call out to Li Long so he could help her down, but Li Long ran past her like a gust of wind and disappeared.

The woman, with a mix of allure and resentment, stomped her foot and carefully went downstairs.

She really couldn't understand why the male colleagues at work, who were usually so polite to her and always willing to help her, were more excited about the fish than they were about her. At this moment, not one of them came back to help her down, making it a little difficult for her to move forward.

Not all the comrades from the Water Resources Bureau have ever been to the countryside, so some of them have good eyesight but don't know how to catch fish.

A man saw a big fish in a shallow puddle, rushed over, and grabbed the fish's big tail with both hands.

The fish weighed about seven or eight kilograms. When it was threatened and its tail was grabbed, it suddenly swung its body, sending up a large amount of mud. The force was so great that the man couldn't hold on to it. As soon as he let go, the fish darted into the water, causing the other colleagues nearby to burst into laughter.

Some people thought the water was shallow enough, so they ran to the puddle and stepped in without hesitation. However, the mud at the bottom was quite thick, and when they lifted their feet, their shoes sank in and they couldn't pull them out. They were swaying and struggling to maintain their balance when a colleague quickly went over to help them up, otherwise they would have fallen into the water.

Li Long scooped up another blackfish weighing three or four kilograms. After glancing at it, he noticed that the male comrades from the Water Resources Bureau were mainly targeting the big fish, while the female comrades were all doing their own thing.

There were two women in their forties or fifties who specialized in picking up crucian carp the size of a palm. When they came, they had prepared tools, holding ropes in their hands. They skillfully grabbed a fish, then used the rope to pull it up through its mouth and gill cover, and soon a string of crucian carp would drip out.

Crucian carp are not very big and don't struggle much. They are the most common fish in puddles and are very easy to pick up.

One woman, who looked like she was about to retire, was different. She carried a small plastic bag and specifically picked out pike from the puddles, refusing all other fish.

There are fewer pike than crucian carp in the water. Sometimes you have to poke the crucian carp aside to see if there are any pike underneath. It seems there are more shallow puddles at the bottom of the reservoir. After wandering around for a while, you can quickly fill a small plastic bag.

The remaining fish were all unrestricted by food or water, picking up any fish they came across, quickly filling their buckets or bags. Then they would discard the smaller ones and keep the larger ones.

Li Long glanced around and saw that these people were all quite safety-conscious, none of them venturing into the deep pools, so he began to concentrate on catching big fish.

In just half an hour, Li Long had caught five or six large fish weighing over ten kilograms each. He also specially selected some beautiful-looking carp, black carp, and silver carp, which he planned to give away as gifts.

Quite a few people from the team also came; these were the real fishermen, holding landing nets, aiming at a target every now and then, and then scooping it up.

Because these fish were trapped in puddles and couldn't escape, catching them was much easier than catching the tide-catching fish we see in later generations.

The villagers know the rules: each person catches one bagful. With the experience from last autumn, they now have a target in mind when catching fish. Most of them mix different sizes, catching a few big fish to show off, and taking the rest home to make soup with crucian carp. Some also catch pike while they're at it, since pike are fat and taste good when stewed for a long time.

After they finished catching the fish, some people carried the fish back home. Before leaving, they would ask Li Long to check the bags to show them that they hadn't crossed the boundary. Some people even stood on the embankment watching others catch fish.

As Li Long charged down again, someone next to him shouted, "Junior brother, what do you think of the fish I caught?"

Li Long then recognized that the speaker was Yang Bo. However, his face was covered in mud, his clothes and pants were also covered in mud spots, and his shoes were so worn that their original color was no longer visible. But the large carp weighing five or six kilograms that he was carrying was quite conspicuous.

This large carp was entirely yellow and red with long whiskers. Although Yang Bo was holding it, it was clearly very defiant and was still vigorously wagging its tail.

"Great job, that's impressive," Li Long gave a thumbs up. "This fish is beautiful!"

“It’s not as good as the one you just caught, but among us, this is probably the first one.” Yang Bo was very self-aware and smiled smugly. “This one is enough for me to take back today.”

"Take some smaller ones back with you; smaller ones are better for making soup," Li Long reminded him. "Just this one big fish is too monotonous to stew."

"Okay, I'll listen to you. I'll find a place to put it in and keep it alive so it doesn't die and become stale." Yang Bo agreed and then went to find a place.

There were still many fish. Li Long felt that there were even more fish than in autumn. He didn't know if it was just his imagination or because the fish in autumn were more active and would run away at the slightest noise, while the fish in spring were not very active and would not run away even if there was any noise.

Daqiang and Liang Dacheng from the cooperative came over. Xu Haijun has been busy with the land matters of the second team recently, while Xie Yundong and Jia Weidong are busy integrating the newly acquired land.

Li Jianguo did come, and not only him, but also his grandfather Li Qingxia, his mother Du Chunfang, and Li Junfeng with a group of Li family cousins ​​and nephews. They came over after the Lantern Festival and are now bringing some fish to improve their meals in the next few days.

However, after they had caught enough fish, they followed Li Long's instructions and caught some of the smaller fish in the shallows, put them in basins, and poured them into the water on the other side of the dam, as a way to protect the fishery resources.

The silt-dredging site was not only occupied by people, but also by excavators, bulldozers, and trucks clearing the silt. The rumbling of the machinery made it particularly lively.

By lunchtime, the staff of the Water Resources Bureau were tired from their busy work and play, and having had a great haul, they finally came ashore to wash their feet and shoes by the dam line, preparing to take the fish back with them.

Li Long told them that fish soup and steamed rice had already been prepared in the cooperative's courtyard, and then he asked the driver to take them there to eat.

By this time, the distinguished guests from the city were quite tired, and upon hearing that fish soup had been prepared, they were all overjoyed.

Li Long didn't go with them. After he stopped fishing, he went to find Meng Hai and pointed out a shallow area for catching crabs to the west. He asked Meng Hai to tell the driver to leave the shallow area untouched, as they were hoping to catch crabs there again in the summer and autumn.

Meng Hai naturally had no objection. He joked that leaving such a large area would save on the amount of work and allow them to complete the dredging task before the flood came.

To meet the project deadline, the workers here barely get any rest, and even eat their meals on the construction site. The fish soup and rice prepared by the cooperative are specially loaded into large barrels by tractors and brought over, where Li Long, his family, and the workers eat.

As for Yang Bo and the others, they will take a bus back to the county after they finish eating, and Li Long will not need to take care of them.

After finishing his meal, Li Long caught some more fish, picked out a few, put them in a bag, and drove to the county.

This time he went straight to the supply and marketing cooperative.

The supply and marketing cooperative wasn't busy in early March; normal purchasing tasks were being handled by others. Li Xiangqian was drinking tea in his office when he saw Li Long come in carrying bags. He pretended to be angry and said:
"You actually came here! I heard from the water resources bureau that they took people directly to the reservoir and made them go fishing. What, are we, the supply and marketing cooperative, outsiders?"

"No, no, look, I brought you fish, didn't I? Going to catch fish and getting covered in mud and smelling fishy isn't as good as eating them directly!"

“That’s different. Fish taste better when you catch them yourself.” Li Xiangqian didn’t believe Li Long’s nonsense. He waved his hand and said, “Any more? If so, I’ll take the people from the commune over there tomorrow. We’re dredging silt, right? We’ll go and support rural development.”

"Yes, yes, yes, how could there not be? There are plenty!" Li Long reacted quickly. "Then we welcome the leaders to come and inspect and provide guidance."

"Do we need a landing net to catch fish? Should we prepare rubber boots? Has the water at the bottom of the reservoir been cleared? Is it muddy or wet?" Li Xiangqian was much more professional. I don't know if he had inquired with the water conservancy bureau beforehand or if he had done similar things before, but he asked specific questions.

"It would be best to get some landing nets, buckets or bags for the fish, and rubber boots would be even better. The water has been mostly drained, and the bottom is mostly muddy, but some fish are in the puddles, so you might have to go in."

"Are mid-calf boots enough? Or do you need waders or thigh-high waders?"

“Waist boots are fine, there’s no need for waders,” Li Long hurriedly said. “There are big fish in the shallow water, some weighing five or six kilograms, some even seven or eight kilograms.”

"What about ten kilograms?" Li Xiangqian wasn't satisfied yet. "I'm planning to take a picture with a camera and a bigger fish. Is that possible?"

"We'll see." Li Long was sweating profusely. The director's requirements were a bit high, but fortunately, they should be achievable.

"That's fine then. I'll have someone go and prepare later. We'll head over tomorrow morning," Li Xiangqian said. "You should bring your bus to pick us up. I know your bus goes directly to pick up the people from the Water Resources Bureau. Our treatment can't be lower than theirs!"

“No problem, I’ll have the car parked right here at 10:30 tomorrow morning,” Li Long said. “It’s all paved road, it’ll only take twenty minutes.”

After agreeing on the arrangements, Li Long left the fish in Li Xiangqian's office and then left.

Li Xiangqian went over, opened the bag, looked at the fish still moving inside, thought for a moment, then walked out of the office and called out, "Section Chief Zhou!"

Zhou Yuan responded and came out of the office, quickly walking up to Li Xiangqian.

"Arrange for two people to be on duty tomorrow. The rest of you will come with me to Li Long's team to catch fish. Take a few fish from here to share with those on duty tomorrow; they've worked hard."

“Okay, I understand,” Zhou Yuan nodded.

"Make some more preparations. The people going tomorrow should bring nets and wear mid-calf rubber boots. Don't wear anything too nice. Also, Li Long and his team are clearing silt. See if you can contact the county TV station and say we're going to help. See if they'll broadcast it on the news."

After arranging these things, Li Xiangqian returned to his office, took out his point-and-shoot camera from the drawer, and started fiddling with it.

He hadn't used up the film in his camera yet; he could still take about ten more shots. After thinking for a moment, he took out a new roll as a spare.

After leaving the supply and marketing cooperative, Li Long drove to the cannery. The cannery was still open for business, and the machines were roaring.

Li Long went to see Sister Yang and told her about it.

His idea was this: since the people from the Water Resources Bureau and the Supply and Marketing Cooperative were going to collect fish for fun, they could also give the employees of the cannery and the purchasing station a day off. Those who wanted to go could go tomorrow afternoon and catch some fish to take home, as a kind of benefit for them.

Sister Yang thought it was a good idea. The factory workers had been working overtime almost every day during this period. Although they earned a lot of money, they were under a lot of stress and very tired. It would be good for them to be able to relax a bit.

Li Long's plan was to pick up the people from the supply and marketing cooperative tomorrow morning to catch fish, send them back at noon, and then come to pick up the people from the cannery and purchasing station who were willing to go in the afternoon.

Those who don't want to go can simply take a break.

Since they were going to catch fish, they had to prepare the fish themselves, including the equipment for catching and holding the fish. The team would prepare a dinner for them, and after they finished eating, they would be taken back.

While Sister Yang went to inform the people at the cannery, Li Long went to the purchasing station to tell Sun Jiaqiang and Liang Shuangcheng to inform the employees there as well.

After finishing this matter, Li Long returned to the fourth team. Two groups of people were coming tomorrow, and he needed to make arrangements here.

Cooking in the cooperative's courtyard is relatively simple. Since they need to cook for the workers anyway, it's just a matter of steaming more rice and cooking more fish soup.

However, the workers had to cooperate with the supply and marketing cooperative in the morning, since Li Xiangqian wanted to take photos, probably in a staged manner, so he went to Xiaohaizi and told Meng Hai.

Meng Hai has been working on construction projects for the past two years and has dealt with many officials. He knows that this kind of thing is common and knows how to cooperate, which puts Li Long at ease.

Li Long returned to the Li family home and met with Li Junfeng, gathering Li Junhai and the others together to ensure their safety the next morning.

"Look at those people from the Water Resources Bureau today, they're all so stupid, they can't even catch fish. These city folks can only sit in an office and operate a machine or something." Several members of the Li family really looked down on these people from the city.

They used to dream of going to the city to work as laborers and receiving government-subsidized food rations.

Now that I earn more money and have better living conditions, I'm not so envious of city dwellers anymore. I can even look at them as equals and feel comfortable evaluating them.

After all, they earn much more money than city workers throughout the year, and they get a break all winter.

It's tiring, but there's also a lot of free time, and it's relatively free.

"Don't worry, Uncle Xiaolong," Li Junhai said with a smile, "Whatever you say tomorrow, we'll do it."

The snow has just thawed, and the plowing season hasn't arrived yet. Li Junhai and his group came early to make preparations. After all, staying in their hometown is comfortable, but it's expensive, with only expenses and no income.

People from the surrounding villages and towns knew they were making money in XJ. Some acquaintances came to borrow money, some invited them to play cards, some asked them to treat them to meals, and some wanted them to take them to XJ to make money together.

Unable to bear the trouble, I came over as soon as possible after the Lantern Festival.

Now that Li Long has assigned them tasks, they are naturally very happy. Moreover, they are genuinely willing to do things like cleaning fish at the bottom of the reservoir.

As darkness fell, Li Long rushed back to the county to go to the purchasing station and finalize the details about the bus.

The buses have been picking people up and dropping them off for the past two days. The drivers are confirmed, and there are many buses available, so the service is reliable.

Today, Sun Jiaqiang is on duty at the purchasing station. He said that about eight people at the station are willing to go fishing at Xiaohaizi, while the rest want to take a day off.

Sun Jiaqiang wanted to go too, so Li Long told him to discuss it with Liang Shuangcheng, and the two of them could take turns coming, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

Liang Shuangcheng is already married and has bought a house in the county. As things stand, he's practically a city dweller, so it's normal for him to go and get some fish to bring back home.

“Then I’ll take our purchasing station people over this afternoon,” Sun Jiaqiang said. “Let Shuangcheng go in the morning.”

Li Long didn't care too much; he just let the two of them discuss it.

Back home, at the dinner table that evening, Sister Yang brought up the matter again. Mingming Haohao had heard that they were going to catch fish again and was clamoring to go, but Gu Xiaoxia suppressed him, saying that they weren't on holiday and that they should wait until they had a holiday.

The two children were a little unhappy. Li Long said that the dredging would take a few more days and would be completed by Sunday, which made the two children a little happier.

The child is older now, and harder to soothe. The next day, when Li Long arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative in his Land Cruiser with a bus, Li Xiangqian had already gathered his men, who were lining up in the courtyard and giving speeches.

These people were dressed quite neatly, all wearing straw hats, each holding a shovel in their left hand and a bucket in their right, and wearing mid-calf rubber boots. They actually looked quite professional.

To Li Long's surprise, there were also TV reporters carrying cameras, filming Li Xiangqian's speech. They must have been invited by Li Xiangqian.

Li Long immediately understood that Director Li intended to make this activity a combination of public and private interests. On the surface, it was to support the dredging work, but in private, it was to take the employees to do some welfare work.

That works too.

He looked around and finally found a pile of nets in the corner, about ten of them, which should be enough.

It seems that supply and marketing cooperatives have a lot of supplies; if you want to get something, you can find it in the warehouse.

"Alright, that's all for today. Now let's board the bus in order. Once we arrive at our destination, we'll proceed as planned." Li Xiangqian finished speaking after seeing that Li Long and the others' bus was ready.

The TV reporter skillfully filmed the scene of everyone lining up to board the bus, and the scene of Li Xiangqian walking towards Li Long and the two talking was also captured on camera.

"Director, you've gone a bit too far. We've arrived at the destination, it seems I need to change my plan."

"What plan should we change?" Li Xiangqian asked.

“You’ve brought the reporters here, so we’ll have to do some work when we get there. I need Meng Hai to get a truck to dump the silt, and you can organize people to clear the silt that can’t be unloaded from top to bottom, how about that?”

"Sure, do you need us to go down down and dredge the silt to load it onto the trucks?"

"No need, no need. We have excavators and loaders. Manpower is just for support. You're here to help us, not the main force for dredging," Li Long explained.

“Not bad, pretty much what I expected,” Li Xiangqian said approvingly, then naturally got into Li Long’s Land Cruiser and signaled to him that they could drive off.

The two cars drove all the way to Xiaohaizi Dam Line. After parking, they organized the people to get out of the cars. Li Long went over to Meng Hai first to talk about this. Meng Hai had already guessed it when he saw the reporter carrying the camera getting off, and smiled and said no problem.

Li Xiangqian actually led a group of people with shovels to the site of the silt and took the lead in shoveling the silt that was stuck firmly to the ground from the truck.

They were really doing it, not just posing for photos. They cleaned up the scattered mud and the mud that wouldn't shake off the truck. Their clothes got covered in mud, but nobody cared.

These are the kinds of shots that reporters want—authentic and unpretentious.

After clearing three truckloads of silt, Li Long went over to the reporter and asked if this was enough material. The reporter said it was, and the next step was to conduct an on-site interview.

The on-site interview only required Li Xiangqian, Meng Hai, and one employee representative. The rest of the people were arranged by Li Xiangqian to take nets and buckets and go to the bottom of the reservoir to catch fish.

Li Long quickly instructed the Li family members to help look after the situation. The cadres and staff cheered and ran over. Li Long followed them and found that these cadres and staff were quite capable, better than those from the Water Resources Bureau yesterday. Not only were they equipped, but their movements were also much more skillful.

He felt somewhat relieved.

Seven or eight minutes later, Li Xiangqian brought the net and bucket and hurriedly came to Li Long. Looking at the cadres and staff shouting below, he cursed, "What a mess... what kind of people are these!"

Li Long thought he meant that these people were a bit chaotic and undisciplined, and was about to explain that he thought it was a good thing, but then Li Xiangqian said again: "They didn't even wait for me, they all forgot about their leader as soon as they got the fish!"

Then he turned to Li Long: "I made a bet with Lao Zhou and Lao Hong yesterday that we'll definitely catch the biggest fish today. Now it's all up to you. Come on, let's go! Don't let them take all the big fish!"

Li Long was both amused and exasperated; so that's why.

He quickly led Li Xiangqian to the bottom of the reservoir to find some deep water pits.

The water in the deep pits is now quite murky, and in some places you can't even see the fish. So most of the staff and workers go to the shallow pits to look for the fish that are visible.

“Director, there should be a big fish in here. Let’s both stir it up with the net and scare it away. Maybe it will jump out,” Li Long said.

"Okay, I'll listen to you." Li Xiangqian took the net and, along with Li Long, stirred the puddle with it, one on each side.

"Director, I've caught a big one!" Zhou Yuan called out from a short distance away. When Li Xiangqian turned around, he saw him holding a large silver carp weighing seven or eight kilograms. Li's face trembled slightly, and he immediately said loudly, "Old Zhou, don't get too cocky. I'll be getting a big one here soon!"

Then he turned his head and started stirring vigorously again.

"Splash!" A large fish leaped out of the murky water, jumped onto the bank, and struggled to swim back into the water. Li Xiangqian reacted quickly, grabbing the net with both hands and stopping the fish at the edge of the pit, shouting, "Li Long, hurry, hurry, hold this fish down!"

Li Long used a landing net to block the fish, then said to Li Xiangqian, "Director, come here, this is your trophy."

He could tell it was a large silver carp weighing less than ten kilograms; the fish itself wasn't very good, but the weight was decent.

Li Xiangqian also saw it and was a little disgusted, but something was better than nothing, so he went over, pressed the fish down, and lifted it up by removing its gill cover.

He turned around and shouted at Zhou Yuan, who was carrying a fish ashore, "Old Zhou, look, mine is bigger than yours!"

Zhou Yuan laughed heartily: "Then let's compete on the next one. Your big silver carp isn't tasty!"

“Just tell me, isn’t mine bigger than yours?!” Li Xiangqian insisted on this point.

"Yes, yes, you win."

Li Xiangqian was a little smug, but then he saw Section Chief Hong carrying a grass carp that was even longer than his own, walking triumphantly toward the dam line. His expression changed, and he threw the big silver carp into a shallow puddle beside him, saying, "Come on, let's continue!"

Li Long thought to himself, "This director isn't young anymore, but his competitive spirit is still so strong."

The two continued stirring the water in the puddle, and about ten more silver carp, each weighing over a kilogram, darted up and then fell back down. Normally, such fish would be quite popular, but Li Xiangqian didn't care at all. One of the silver carp landed at his feet, and he kicked it into the water, muttering, "What are you doing!"

After stirring a few more times, Li Xiangqian became a little impatient, stopped what he was doing, and said to Li Long, "Are there no more big fish in here? Should we try another one?"

Just then, ripples appeared on the water. Li Long reached into the net and felt something hit him. He hurriedly shouted, "Director Big Fish, hurry up, be careful!"

Li Xiangqian instinctively stretched the net into the water. At that moment, a yellow-red shadow darted halfway up from the water and then plunged headfirst back down.

Li Xiangqian quickly adjusted his posture, shifting the net half a meter to catch the big fish.

The big fish plunged headfirst into the landing net, its body shaking and thrashing violently. The net couldn't hold the weight, and Li Xiangqian felt it getting heavier and heavier in his hands. Seeing that things were going badly, Li Long quickly came over and used his own landing net to cushion Li Xiangqian's net, then swung it horizontally and knocked the fish out of the water.

What they scooped up wasn't just fish, but also murky muddy water. Li Xiangqian couldn't dodge in time and his upper body was splattered with mud. However, the fish's struggle slowed down, and then the two of them worked together to pull the net and the fish up. Once the fish was out of the water, it wasn't as strong in the net.

With Li Xiangqian as the main force and Li Long as his assistant, the two of them worked together to lift the fish to the edge of the puddle. At this moment, Li Xiangqian's excitement was palpable. As he dragged the fish out, he excitedly shouted, "This fish weighs at least ten kilograms! Such a big carp, I caught it!"

His voice was loud, attracting many people around. Section Chief Hong, who was carrying a large grass carp up the dam, and Section Chief Zhou, who had already put the fish down and was walking down, both heard him and quickly walked over.

"Hey, this carp is so beautiful!" Zhou Yuan exclaimed. "It must be about 70 or 80 centimeters long, or even closer. Look how plump it is, just like the big carp that the children in New Year's paintings hold. It's so pretty!"

The fish was placed by the puddle, covered in mud. Li Xiangqian walked over, squatted down, scooped some muddy water from the puddle, splashed it on the fish, wiped off the mud, and then said smugly, "How about that? Convinced now?"

"I'm convinced, I'm convinced!" Both section chiefs nodded repeatedly.

"Li Long, you watch the fish for me, I'm going to get the camera. We have to take a picture with this trophy today!" Li Xiangqian said with great enthusiasm. "I don't even know if this fish is male or female."

Li Long didn't reply, but instead went over and dragged the fish a little further out of the water. These fish were all quite large and very energetic; if you didn't hold them down properly, they would thrash back into the water.

He had seen too many scenes like this in short videos in his previous life, and he didn't want to wait for the fish to escape and then be met with Li Xiangqian's wrath upon his return.

Zhou Yuan and Section Chief Hong both leaned closer to take a look. Zhou Yuan said, "The scales of this fish are almost the size of an egg. How many years must it have taken to grow? It must be the king of fish here, right?"
“Not even close,” Tao Daqiang, who had come over to watch the commotion, said after hearing what Section Chief Zhou said. “Last year, Brother Long caught a grass carp that was 1.5 meters long. That’s what you call the king of fish. This fish isn’t even qualified.”

"Is it really that big?" Old Zhou was a little skeptical and turned to look at Li Long.

Li Long nodded, indicating that it was true.

"I really didn't expect that. This reservoir isn't very big, but the fish are raised quite well. It's not easy to keep such big fish here!"

Li Xiangqian ran out of the car with a camera, then squatted down and washed the fish until it was almost clean before lifting it up and letting Li Long take a picture.

After taking the picture, he handed the camera to Zhou Yuan and directed himself and Li Long to stand on either side of the fish. The two of them lifted the fish together, and then Zhou Yuan took a picture, saying that the fish was caught by the two of them working together.

After taking several photos, Li Xiangqian brought the fish ashore and put them back in their place. Surprisingly, he stopped catching them and started taking pictures of people at the bottom of the reservoir with his camera. He took pictures here and there, sometimes even snapping candid shots, as if he had become obsessed with photography.

Li Long felt that he had caught such a big fish that he was satisfied and his craving was over, so he didn't plan to catch any more.

Although the people from the supply and marketing cooperative came with all their equipment, by the time they came up from the warehouse to the dam line at mealtime, they were covered in mud.

The main problem is the bottom of the reservoir, which is still quite muddy and wet. It's easy to slip and fall if you're not careful. But after slipping, these people don't get angry. They just wipe off the mud and continue fishing. Everyone is pretty much the same anyway.

After putting their fish in the bucket, the extra fish, if any were alive, were thrown into the running water next to them, while the dead ones were put directly into the truck that was used to transport the fish. Then they went to the water's edge to wash their hands and faces.

Knowing that the cooperative had already prepared the meal, these people were extra careful when washing up. Li Long even pointed out that there was a cement gravity well nearby, where the water was clean and it would be convenient to wash there.

However, no one cared and they washed their hands right next to the sluice gate. After they finished washing, they looked at each other and pointed out where there were still mud spots that hadn't been washed off.

As they were traveling by bus to the cooperative, Li Long reminded the cadres and employees to remove any scales that hadn't been properly washed off their bodies.

"These fish scales don't look like much now, but once they dry, they will curl up and get stuck in the flesh, making them difficult to remove."

"Hey, it's already stuck to the flesh," one employee shouted. "This thing can even change shape?"

The other members of the Li family who came with them to the cooperative to prepare for their meal laughed, thinking that these city people were really making a fuss over nothing. They explained that fish scales are slightly curved when in water, but they naturally shrink when they lose water.

Fortunately, they were dealing with large fish, and the large scales were easier to remove. If they were handling small fish, the tiny scales would stick to the flesh, and it would be much harder to remove them after a while.

After a tiring morning, lunch tasted especially delicious.

Last year's rice, steamed to a fragrant perfection, was so delicious I could eat two bowls even without any side dishes. Now, with fish broth poured over the rice, topped with pieces of fish or a spoonful of fish roe, the flavor is so exquisite it's practically melting in your mouth.

"Hey, this big pot of stewed fish tastes so much better than the fish I make at home," someone exclaimed while eating. "I can never make fish taste like this."

"Tofu needs to be boiled a thousand times, fish a thousand times," the chef said with a smug look on his face. "I've been stewing this fish for an hour and a half. At home, you usually stew it for half an hour at most. The taste is definitely different."

There's nothing wrong with that.

After finishing the meal and seeing everyone off, Li Long instructed the driver to pick up the people from the cannery and the purchasing station. Since they were all his own people from now on, he could be more relaxed.

After planning the newly added land, Xie Yundong and Jia Weidong took their car and bought more agricultural supplies.

Part of it is to deal with the newly added 500 mu of land, and another part is to prepare for the 1,000 mu of land that Xu Haijun got.

This quickly depleted most of the cooperative's loan. Next, there will be several rounds of watering, hiring people to do the work, and finally picking up the flowers.

This money is definitely not enough. Fortunately, Li Long had said beforehand that the newly acquired land was an unexpected event and that if there wasn't enough money, he would temporarily lend it to the cooperative as a safety net.

This also made Xie Yundong realize that when preparing for next year's operating expenses, he should set aside a larger portion of the money he received from selling cotton at the end of this year as contingency funds.

The machine farming fee, water fee, and other expenses for the team's work can be paid after the cotton harvest is settled, but the money for the students to pick cotton cannot be delayed.

This is the big one.

This can be considered a lesson learned. Since the cooperative agreed to the unexpected event, it can only be considered an unplanned expense.

Xu Haijun didn't have these worries. He only needed to plan the land there, whether to plant east-west or north-south, and whether to divert water from the Second Team's canal or from the upper reaches of the Mohe Canal.

After consulting with the people at the township water management station, Xu Haijun decided to honestly draw water from the dry canal of the second team.

Because the water from the Mohe Canal is not supplied to this township, but mainly to four or five agricultural farms downstream and a Xinhu General Farm.

However, Xu Haijun felt that diverting water from the second team's canal was only a temporary measure. He hoped that when building the pump house and filter pond, he could also apply for some funding to drill wells and use the well water directly for irrigation. Although the approval fees and well drilling costs would be higher, it would be a permanent solution.

Last year, the cotton fields planted by the cooperative used more water than ordinary fields. Since the second team doesn't have a small lake to provide additional water to the cooperative's land, drilling a well became the optimal solution.

Xu Haijun believed that once this was explained clearly, the others in the cooperative would agree. He himself was doing this for everyone's benefit, so that the land could produce more cotton.

He accepted Li Long's suggestion and, after arriving at the second team, directly contacted his classmates and recruited four people to help manage the 1,000 mu of land. Each person was paid an annual salary of 1,500 yuan, with bonuses at the end of the year depending on the situation.

Anyway, his classmates and the people they found were very happy. After signing the contract, they withdrew a portion of the money and then followed Xu Haijun to measure the land, dig ditches with a tractor, mark the plots, and prepare to plow the land.

Seeing the excitement of his classmates and those other people, Xu Haijun couldn't help but admire Li Long's analysis, which was insightful and reasonable.

With money in his hands, this young man's enthusiasm for work has increased dramatically.

It's absolutely true that money gives heroes courage! (End of Chapter)