Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 182 This fish has become a spirit!
In the afternoon, Tao Daqiang came to prepare to lower the net. Because Li Long was going into the mountains, the tire was deflated beforehand, and then it was inflated, tied up, and taken to the small lake with the water paddle and net.

Tao Daqiang once again witnessed Li Long's "unique skill" of paddling the water with both hands and releasing the net with his mouth, and he was very envious.

This time they set up eight nets. Li Long was mainly thinking about selling the fish separately with Tao Daqiang tomorrow, so they could catch more.

After casting the net, it was still early, so Li Long found a suitable place again and began to practice casting the net.

Don't be impatient when casting the net. You should shake it out first, spread it in a small circle in front of you like feeding rice to chickens, and then start to reel in the rope.

Seeing Li Long closing the net in an orderly manner, Tao Daqiang was very envious.

He suddenly said:
"Brother Long, do you think it would be okay for me to get a casting net? Let's practice casting the net today, and I might be able to catch some fish."

"Sure, why not?" Li Long nodded. "Casting a net isn't expensive. Buy one... Wait until I sell the skin of the water rat and buy you one."

"No, no, no, I was thinking that if I can make some money from selling fish tomorrow, and then I can buy a casting net after a few days." Tao Daqiang was not greedy at all. He explained hastily, "I don't want more fish tomorrow, just ten kilograms will do..."

Li Long glanced at him, smiled and shook his head:

"Ten kilograms is not enough. With eight nets tomorrow, we can at least get sixty to seventy kilograms of fish. If you set up a stall... you should at least get twenty to thirty kilograms."

"No, I know what I am like." Tao Daqiang said seriously, "If there are fewer fish, I can still take care of them. But if there are too many, I am afraid I won't be able to take care of them. If I lose a lot, I won't be able to do that."

After Tao Daqiang said this, Li Long stopped arguing. The net had been arranged. He held the net with both hands, twisted his waist, and used his skillful strength to throw the net out.

This time, the feeling was very good. Li Long looked up and saw the net spreading out in the air one by one, eventually forming an imperfect circle, which fell into the water with a "swish".

"Brother Long, you cast a good net!"

Li Long smiled, knowing that this was most likely the best time he had played today, and the next time might not be the same.

After waiting for more than ten seconds and feeling that the net had completely sunk to the bottom, Li Long slowly reeled in the net rope.

Feeling something moving in the net, it must be a fish. Li Long then thought of the short videos he saw in his previous life where bloggers would often explode when casting their nets. It seemed that he might also explode today.

As more and more of the net came out of water, fish could be seen jumping around in the net, occasionally bumping against the net. Most of the fish caught my eye were crucian carp, both large and small, with small ditch fish occasionally seen mixed in. Even smaller ditch fish squeezed directly out of the mesh and escaped into the small lake.

Li Long made a final effort, lifted the entire casting net out of the water and threw it onto the grass beside the water.

"There aren't many big fish, but there are a lot of fish!" Tao Daqiang followed and squatted down to start picking up the fish. "This crucian carp is really beautiful - a big crucian carp, it must be at least half a kilogram!"

Li Long looked around and saw that there were nearly 20 crucian carps, both large and small. While sorting out the net, he said to Tao Daqiang:

"If the crucian carp is too small, just throw it back. You can't eat it."

Tao Daqiang responded and picked up the fish and put them into the urea bag that originally contained the net. Li Long took a glance and saw that the largest one was a silver carp, weighing about one kilogram but less than two kilograms.

When Li Long was about to cast the net again, Tao Daqiang had already picked up all the fish and poured some water into it. Although the urea bag leaked, it leaked slowly. Most of the fish in the bag were crucian carp, which could survive for a while with a little water.

Sure enough, the next net was not as round as the last one. Although Li Long changed his position, this time, only more than one kilogram of crucian carp was caught, and most of them were small.

"Da Qiang, come here." Li Long untied the net rope and handed it over, "Let's try another place."

Tao Daqiang excitedly took the net rope and began to organize the net like Li Long.

He was very strong and could throw the ball much farther than Li Long, but the net only opened into a crescent shape in the air before slamming hard into the water.

When the net was hauled up, there were only two small crucian carps. Tao Daqiang looked confused and disappointed.

Li Long smiled and walked forward to correct his movements and demonstrated a net to him.

When Tao Daqiang came to the net again, Li Long said:
"Wait a couple of days after the wheat field is cleared and before the wheat is brought in, you can practice on the field. The key is to use the power of your waist and the speed of your hands. Don't throw them all away at once..."

The sun had not yet set as two men walked back carrying tires and bags of fish.

Li Long looked back and he could already see the location where the net was lowered. There were some big ripples, which meant a fish was caught.

After returning home, Li Long began to divide the fish. After casting the net, he caught five or six kilograms of fish. Li Long asked Tao Daqiang to take two kilograms. Tao Daqiang waved his hand hastily:

"For my dad and I, seven or eight crucian carps are enough. We can't finish any more." As he said that, he went to the yard to pull a thin reed, came over and put seven or eight palm-sized crucian carps in the basin, picked them up, said something to Li Long, and left.

Li Juan and Li Qiang have returned, and they are very happy looking at the fish in the basin.

They hadn't eaten fish for a long time, and now seeing so many fish, their eyes were full of excitement.

Li Long felt a little worried when looking at the basin full of fish. After thinking for a while, he took out an enamel basin and poured some crucian carp, ditch fish and a carp into it.

"Juan, Qiangqiang, you guys take care of the fish, I'll come back to pick them up." Li Long said to Li Juan and walked out with the basin.

Li Qiang asked Li Juan in a low voice:
"Sister, who do you think my uncle is going to give this fish to?"

"It must be Uncle Gu's family." Li Juan said, "My uncle is dating Teacher Gu. I heard from mom that Teacher Gu even makes shoes for my uncle."

"Then Teacher Gu will soon be our aunt?" Li Qiang looked gossipy, "Should we change our words later?"

"Don't make noises!" Li Juan had already finished cooking the pig food. She went to the kitchen to get a pair of scissors and a clean small basin, moved a small stool to the basin, and threatened Li Qiang while preparing to pinch the fish:

"You can only yell at her after your uncle marries her. If you yell now, she'll be embarrassed and won't marry your uncle anymore. I'll beat you up!"

Li Juan's threat was still very effective. Li Qiang immediately said:

"I won't call you, I won't call you, I'll just call you Teacher Gu... Sister, you pick your cheeks and I'll pick your scales."

"Okay, don't move the scissors."

"know."

……

Li Long carried the fish basin to Gu's house. Gu Boyuan had just returned from the fields and was changing his shoes at the door after putting down his shovel. He heard the noise, turned his head and saw Li Long, and said with a smile:

"Xiaolong, what's that?"

"I just cast a net in the small lake and caught some fish. We can't eat all of them at home, so I brought some to you."

Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei developed a habit that, even though the things were specially delivered, they would implicitly say that they were leftovers from the house that could not be eaten or used, and they were simply trying to refuse the acceptance of the things because they were afraid.

"Then I'm in for a treat." Gu Boyuan didn't refuse and went to the kitchen to get a basin. After Li Long poured the fish in, he said with a smile:
"Are you going to sell fish tomorrow?" "Yeah." Li Long exposed his shortcomings. "I have nothing to do. I don't want to work in the fields. I can make a lot of money selling fish today. There are other things I can do, so I am not idle all year round."

"That's fine. The current policy should not change back to paying," Gu Boyuan grabbed a crucian carp and said with a smile, "Although it's unstable, but seeing that you are smart, there shouldn't be any problem. You are in the supply and marketing cooperative..."

"Part-time buyer. It's just a title, but it's quite useful." Li Long did not hide it from Gu Boyuan, "I plan to ask them to help me get the identity of a forest ranger, so that it will be more convenient to go into the mountains in the future. There are many good things in the mountains. If I can do it well, I can earn as much in one day as I earn in a year here..."

"But the mountains are dangerous too. Be careful."

"Well, I see."

When he got home, Li Long saw Li Juan and Li Qiang peeling the fish while listening to the small speaker on the radio. They had almost finished processing the fish.

Li Long smiled and said:

"You guys are fast, so let's stew the fish. Don't peel the remaining fish. Qiangqiang, take the rest to Uncle Luo at the horse brothel."

"Okay, okay!" Li Qiang was very happy. He ran to the kitchen to get a basin, put the remaining fish in it, and carefully carried it to the stable.

The fish had to be eaten fresh, so Li Long went to the well and drew a bucket of water. He washed the fish twice after peeling it, soaked some dried chilies, and then went to the vegetable garden to pick some wild amaranth and onions that had just grown.

While I was washing at the pressurized well, I heard footsteps at the gate of the yard.

Li Long turned his head and saw that it was Mrs. Lu who came over carrying a bucket of water.

"Xiaolong is back. With your return, the food at home has improved." Mrs. Lu said with a smile as she looked at the fish.

"Sister-in-law, take some back to eat." Li Long pointed to the basin and said, "It's just been peeled."

"No, no." Mrs. Lu said, "When Tietou's father came back from watering the trees two days ago, he picked up a basin of water from under the gate of the head canal and ate it for three meals. He doesn't want to eat anymore. I'll fetch two buckets of water back - you know what, the water in this pressurized well is cleaner than the water in that well, it's clear and sweet!"

"That's right. It's sealed on all sides, so there's no pollution. The wells my elder brother and elder brother Lu dug are deep, with a gravel layer underneath, so the water quality is very good. The water people in the city drink is not as good as this."

"Really? That's great!" Mrs. Lu smiled and went to press the water, while Li Long began to prepare to stew the fish. Before stewing the fish, he went to mix some dough and planned to stick some unpasteurized cakes on the fish pot.

Li Qiang happily ran back from outside the yard. He put the basin on the well-pressing platform and said loudly to Li Long:
"Uncle, Old Luo said he was in the mood for some fish. He also said the little wild boar and the fawn are both fine, so he'd like you to come over and have a look when you have time."

"Okay." Li Long nodded and continued to work.

Li Juan brought a bundle of corn stalks and waited for Li Long to get ready before she started to light the fire. There was always a box of matches on the stove, but they were not needed this time.

Li Qiang had already reached a tacit understanding, and he had already pulled a handful of dry reed berries and handed them to Li Juan. Li Juan took them and stuffed them under the stove, then used a fire hook to pick up some corn stalks, lowered her head and blew into the stove, and the residual fire left over from cooking pig food directly ignited the reed berries, and a burst of fire rushed out directly.

Li Juan was experienced. At this time, she leaned back to avoid the fire, then slowly lowered the fire hook, allowing the fire to ignite the corn stalks, and the fire started.

"Fuck!"

Li Long put some oil in a hot pan, added seasonings, stirred them randomly, then put the fish in and briefly fried both sides of the fish. He then took the thermos and poured boiling water to stew the fish.

"Xiaolong, you cooked this fish very well!" Smelling the fragrance that spread out, Mrs. Lu said with a smile, "Xiao Gu will be blessed in the future."

"I'll just mix it all up." Li Long said modestly.

By the time he put the unleavened bread on the pot, covered it with the lid and simmered it on low heat, Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei had already returned.

The family happily ate fish and unleavened potstickers. Li Qiang picked the most burnt and golden one, but what Li Long didn't expect was that Li Qiang actually gave it to his sister Li Juan.

"Eat it, there's more." Li Juan didn't expect it either, her face slightly reddened, and she pushed it over and said, "Eat it."

"Qiangqiang has grown up." Li Long praised him. Li Qiang blushed and felt very proud.

"Eat the fish slowly, it tastes better with the soup." Liang Yuemei reminded him worriedly, "There are small bones."

"Got it." Li Juan and Li Qiang nodded in unison.

The next morning, Li Long got up at dawn. He put on his clothes and went out, and saw Tao Daqiang standing outside the yard.

"Why don't you come in?" Li Long was a little surprised. How could this kid get up so early every day? He didn't have an alarm clock at home.

"I just got here a while ago." Tao Daqiang smiled innocently, "Brother Long, can I get the net today?"

"Okay." Li Long didn't care. Fishing is a job that cannot be done by one person. In his previous life, there were several people in the same village who caught fish and sold them all year round. They worked together and could take care of each other if anything happened. If he could train Tao Daqiang, it would be nice for the two of them to have a companion.

The other "fishermen" in the team will have to wait at least two or three years before they can come to this path.

Carrying tires and several urea bags, they came to Xiaohaizi.

Because the water here is quite large and the humidity is high, it is obviously cooler than other places.

When they reached the water's edge, Tao Daqiang put the tire into the water, then sat down with the water paddle.

Li Long saw that he was wearing a pair of tattered old cloth shoes, so he did not remind him. There were reed roots and rotten wood under the water, so he definitely could not go in bare feet.

Tao Daqiang paddled clumsily to the head of the net, put away the paddle, tied two of the three urea bags behind him, took one in front of him, bent down to untie the head of the net, and started to collect it by pulling it.

Fish were hanging on the net, some were no longer moving, while some were still jumping when out of water, unwilling to accept their fate.

Li Long could see from a distance that a fish had jumped directly from the net, jumped into the water and swam away. This fish must have been hung loosely, so it was easy to break free.

There’s nothing to regret because there are a lot of fish online, really a lot.

"Big fish!"

Tao Daqiang suddenly shouted excitedly, and then increased the speed of pulling the net.

"Be careful!"

Li Long hurriedly reminded him that for Tao Daqiang to call it a big fish, it must be at least three kilograms, right?

Then he saw Tao Daqiang pull the net forward two or three meters, stop, and stuff the extra net on hand into the urea bag in a somewhat flustered manner.

How big a fish could make him so excited?
While Li Long was still wondering, Tao Daqiang had already bent down and reached into the water. Was he planning to catch the fish?
"Snapped!"

Li Long saw a white shadow emerging from the water with a large splash of water, hitting Tao Daqiang's face and head hard. Tao Daqiang screamed "Ah" and was knocked into the water!

"Daqiang!" Li Long shouted loudly. He didn't expect to encounter such a thing!
(End of this chapter)