Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Li Longqi returned to the county town and went to the free market first. He found that Li Jianguo was not there. He must have sold all the fish and went home. Meng Zhiqiang, the fish seller in the team, was not there either. However, another person, Zheng Dongsheng, was there. In front of him was a wet urea bag with a pile of fish on it. He didn't even prepare a basin. He came with the urea bag on his back. When he found the stall, he took out the fish and placed it on the urea bag. There was an enamel basin next to it to measure the fish.

There are still more than two kilograms of fish now, all crucian carp. They are okay, not dried to death. I guess they get some water from the ditch nearby and pour it on them from time to time.

Seeing Li Long, Zheng Dongsheng was not embarrassed and greeted him with a smile:
"Xiaolong, you went to Shicheng? I see your elder brother went back."

“You haven’t sold out yet?”

"Well, this is all that's left." Zheng Dongsheng was also quite content: "Whatever money I can sell it for is worth it."

"Then you go ahead and do your work. I'm leaving." Li Long didn't know what to say. The other person was different from him. He was content with what he had. In fact, he had also thought about this, but he had seen too many beautiful scenery and eaten too many delicious foods. He couldn't swallow the bran.

He looked around but didn't see the mother and daughter selling food. He guessed that they must have finished their work, so he rode his bike to the big yard.

Gu Xiaoxia was not around, so Li Long put the basin and scale away, checked the tires again, and seeing that they did not need to be inflated, he began to prepare dinner.

Pick some green onions and coriander from the vegetable patch and set aside. First, knead the dough. After the dough is kneaded, cover it with a cage cloth and set it aside. Then start cutting the vegetables.

There are tomatoes and green peppers on the vegetable racks. Pick a handful of celery from the vegetable patch, wash it, pick the leaves and throw them into the trash can. This thing is said to lower blood pressure, but it is usually not eaten at this time, mainly because it tastes bitter.

Peel a few cloves of garlic, cut them into slices and put them in a small bowl, then add some ginger.

Chop the tomatoes, green peppers, and celery and place them on a large plate. Use a spoon to scoop a spoonful of the cooked oil and meat into a bowl and start lighting the fire.

I'm familiar with the process. I heat the pan, add oil, add garlic and ginger, stir a few times, add the vegetables, stir-fry until it's almost done and the aroma comes out, add salt, stir a few more times and serve.

Wash the pot, pour the water into the swill bucket next to it, add more water to boil, start rolling out the dough, cut it into dough pieces with a knife, and cover it with a wet cloth to keep it moist. When the water boils, start pinching the dough sheets - try to make them as thin as possible, no need to show off your skills, and it's okay if you're slow.

After the noodles are pulled and boiled, pour in the fried vegetables, stir with a spoon, scoop out some soup to taste, it’s a bit bland, then add some salt and turn off the heat.

Pour the chopped coriander in, scoop it out into an enamel basin, and let it cool a little. Li Long couldn't wait to eat it - it was so delicious!
After eating a small bowl of soup and rice, Li Long felt that life was like this and it was enough.

I was so full that I didn't want to move. After a while, I finally recovered. It was still early, so I rinsed my own bowl and put the noodle soup and rice in the pot into the big bowl. This thing can't be left in the pot for a long time.

The noodle soup and rice were placed in the kitchen and covered with a pot rack. After Li Long cleaned up the kitchen, he rested for a while and pushed the cart out.

There are so many fish in the sea, Li Long originally just wanted to give it a try, but now it seems that he needs to manage it well.

Of course, now is also a time to prepare for what’s to come.

When riding back, Li Long also saw Wu Shufen at the gate of the township middle school, and she also saw him. Li Long didn't care and rode to the elementary school. The middle school had just finished school at this time, and Li Long guessed that the elementary school should have finished school as well. When he arrived at the elementary school, he happened to catch Li Juan holding Li Qiang's arm and walking out, scolding him as he walked:

"School is over, and homework is done, but you don't reply - all you do is play all day. How long will you play?"

"Why can't I play now that I've finished my homework? Several people are playing here—!"

"Then didn't you see that most of them came back? They know how to help with housework when they get home, but what about you?" Li Juan felt a little disappointed. "You were very active when I bought popsicles, but you urged me when I was a little slow. How come you are not active when you get home..."

"I'm just thirsty!" Li Qiang struggled and tried to defend himself.

Li Long wanted to laugh when he heard this from behind. He shouted:
"Juan, Qiangqiang, come, take the car!"

There are not many people in the village who can ride bicycles now, so he is very attractive at the school gate. His shouting attracted a lot of people's attention.

Li Juan turned around and saw Li Long, smiled and let go of Li Qiang. Li Qiang hurried over and automatically climbed onto the beam, and said to Li Long:

"Uncle, my sister said that to me again!"

"That's your sister. She said you're doing this for your own good."

Although many people in later generations complained that their relatives oppressed them under the banner of "for your own good", to be honest, it was quite useful for Li Long to say it at this time.

Li Juan came over and sat in the back seat, and Li Long started riding the bike.

After asking a few casual questions about the situation in school, Li Juan praised the handles and brooms that Li Long helped to make, because most of the handles in the class were broken, but their group's were still in good condition, as were the brooms.

"Let me know when you're getting it done next year." Li Long knew it was just a simple thing to do, but it would bring a lot of spiritual benefits to Li Juan.

"Okay." Li Juan was very happy.

"Uncle, can I tell you when we are tying the broom and carrying the handle?" Li Qiang asked hurriedly.

"Yes." Li Long answered while pedaling with a smile.

Li Qiang was satisfied. He held the handlebars with both hands, looked forward with a smile, and greeted loudly to his classmates on the roadside.

"You have to wait until the third grade to make brooms—" Li Juan said ruthlessly, "You are so young now, who dares to let you play with fire?"

"Oh..." Li Qiang's mood suddenly became depressed.

Fortunately, the child had a strong ability to adapt psychologically, and soon he said to Li Long:

"Uncle, my classmates all think my gun is great, and someone almost stole it..."

"I helped you get it back." Li Juan continued to finish off the opponent from behind.

Li Long almost couldn't hold it in. "Well, it wasn't my sister, someone really took her away." This time Li Qiang said seriously, "My sister took a big broom and beat that person so hard that he almost cried..."

Li Long laughed out loud. Li Juan could be so "violent" sometimes!
"I... I will be going to middle school in two years." Li Juan tried her best to explain, "By then, Qiangqiang will have no one to look after him. I feel... I feel..."

"You think that if you beat the guy into submission, then no one will bully Qiangqiang anymore, right?" Li Long added with understanding.

"Ah."

"Well done." Li Long praised, "You are a good sister, you should think like this."

"Uncle, can you please not tell my mother?" Li Juan was very happy, but she still gave Li Long a warning.

"What?"

"My mother would say I was a 'wild girl' who only knew how to fight..."

"Hahaha, no. Okay, I won't say anything. Actually, you did the right thing. I think if your mother knew, she would praise you."

"Or... let's not talk about it." Li Juan was a little uncertain.

"Okay, then Qiangqiang, don't tell me either."

"I understand!" Li Qiang assured loudly.

We rode our bike across the reed ditch. The road here had been leveled and a simple bridge had been built. It was much better than before.

When we got back to Li's house, there was no one in the yard. After the two children got off the car, they put down their schoolbags and went to drink water.

Li Long propped up the bicycle, thinking about continuing to go fishing later.

However, since Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei were not there, he planned to cook the pig food before leaving.

Now that the weeds have withered and the beet leaves have dried, bran, sugar residue and oil residue are the main ingredients for cooking pork. Li Long brought a bundle of sunflower stalks over, and Li Juan had already started pouring water and ingredients into the pot used to cook pig feed.

The fire had only been burning for a while when Li Jianguo came back from outside, carrying a large bundle of grass, which was for feeding the horses today.

After a while, Tao Daqiang walked in from outside the yard.

Li Long stood up and gave the position of burning the fire to Li Juan. He said to Daqiang:

"Daqiang, let's go and cast the net."

"Okay." Tao Daqiang was very happy, but he asked again: "Brother Long, how many nets are you going to cast today?"

"Eight," Li Long said after a moment's hesitation. "Maybe we encountered a school of fish this morning. It's hard to say if there are really that many fish in the sea. Let's try it first. If there are still that many fish when we take the net out tomorrow, we'll cast six tomorrow."

"Okay." Tao Daqiang also thought this was the right approach.

"Then you can set down the nets and go directly there tomorrow morning with the horse-drawn carriage. If there are a lot of fish, that's just right. If there are few, we'll have to wait and see what happens next." Li Jianguo also suggested, "So you don't have to make an extra trip."

Li Long thought about it and asked:

"Brother, how are the fish sales today?"

"It's OK. They're cheap and sold out in two hours. Mainly because we went too late."

"Then we should set up ten nets and harness the wagon tomorrow," Li Long said. "If there are a lot of fish, we can go there earlier and sell the fish earlier, just like today. I think the buyers will be able to accept this fish."

"What's wrong with that? It's just a little thinner than the fish from Xiaohaizi, but we're cheaper."

According to Li Jianguo's idea, it's good to have something to eat, and it's so cheap, where can you find it?
After leaving the yard, Li Long took out a ten-dollar bill and handed it to Tao Daqiang:
"Da Qiang, we have a lot of fish this time and we can make a lot of money. If you make two more trips, I will give you an extra five dollars. It will still be five dollars tomorrow."

"Okay." Tao Daqiang wasn't picky.

Li Long and Tao Daqiang carried the tire and the net to Dahaizi, and the news soon spread throughout the settlement.

Xiaohaizi is the team member by default, but Dahaizi is not. Therefore, many people have always resisted going to Dahaizi to catch fish, which has led to many missed opportunities.

Li Long doesn't want to miss it this year.

When passing through Dongzhuangzi (a residential area in the east), people greeted Li Long from time to time, and Li Long responded one by one.

Someone asked Li Long directly how much the fish sold for today. Li Long laughed and said not much. The two walked all the way to Dahaizi, but there was still no one there.

Both of them had good eyesight and could see that there were not many people even on the north bank - in fact, the north bank was very deep because of the dam, and one had to use tires or small boats to cast the nets, which was not as convenient as the south side.

As usual, Li Long went into the water to cast the net. This time, Li Long was conducting an experiment, so he changed the trough to cast the net. This trough was to the west of the original trough, almost running through the Dahaizi from south to north. Li Long guessed that if the density of fish in Dahaizi was similar, then there should be more fish in this trough.

After all ten nets were cast, the sun had already reached the edge of the land in the west and began to slowly descend.

Next, let's see what happens tomorrow. (End of this chapter)