1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 158 The less food, the happier they are

Chen Jiazhi stood dumbfounded outside the door, only able to hear the crying from inside.

He's a boy.

In her previous life, her second sister delivered the baby and took care of both mother and child all by herself. This time, she managed to persuade Li Xiu to come to the hospital.

Not long after the baby was born, his second sister came to the hospital, intending to replace him, but Chen Jiazhi refused to leave.

After waiting a while longer, Chen Jiazhi and his second sister finally entered the delivery room.

Li Xiu's face was a little pale. She looked gently at the baby on the other bed next to her and said to Chen Jiazhi, who was looking at her, "It's all wrinkled and small. It's not pretty."

"She's pretty, fair-skinned and plump."

"You're lying through your teeth, saying things like 'you're fair-skinned' and 'you're fat.'" Li Xiu couldn't help but laugh.

"It will be fine after some rest."

He emerged from the body in less than half an hour in his previous life, dark-skinned and thin, a sight he could never forget. It took him several months to grow up and become a beloved figure.

It's much better to get started now.

Her second sister brought some steamed egg custard, and after eating a little something, Li Xiu's complexion improved slightly.

Chen Jiafang said, "Jiazhi, you go back first. I've saved some food for you. I'll be fine here. If you can't sleep tonight, you can go with Yilong to get some eels and crucian carp."

Chen Jiazhi: "Let me sit for a while longer."

Li Xiu said weakly, "Jiazhi, you should go back. I'm fine. You still have to go sell vegetables tonight. Go back and rest for a while. You didn't sleep well at the hospital this afternoon."

Chen Jiazhi laughed and said, "Why are you suddenly concerned about me? Take care of yourself first."

At this moment, the nurse who had just entered said, "The family members can go home now, and the mother also needs to rest more."

"..."

Chen Jiazhi could only suppress his excitement and go back first.

When he arrived home, Yi Dinggan and Yi Long had already finished eating, so they left him some food separately.

"Uncle, how does it feel to be a father?"

"Your mom wants me to go eel fishing with you tonight."

Yi Long was stunned for a moment, then went over what he had said in his mind before he realized what he meant.

"Okay, okay, I'll go dig for earthworms right now. Old man, do you want to come?"

"Go, why wouldn't you go?"

During the meal, vegetable farmers kept returning to greet him and offer their congratulations.

There weren't many vegetables available for dinner, just kale and cowpeas. Cowpeas were selling for a good price, two yuan per jin (0.5 kg). We harvested 195 jin (72.75 catties) from our 2.3 mu (0.25 acres) of land yesterday, and we expect to get about the same amount today.

The daily income has dropped to 1370 yuan, which is still quite good.

He didn't need any help in the vegetable field. After finishing his meal, he went home and stayed for a while, but he couldn't fall asleep. He was lost in thought for a while when he heard Yi Long calling him from outside the door to go fishing for eels.

As soon as he stepped outside, he saw Yi Long holding a yellow eel trap in his left hand, fire tongs in his right, and a bamboo basket slung around his waist. Yi Dinggan had placed the trap on his bicycle and was waiting for him.

Chen Jiazhi glanced at the two fully armed men, shook his head, and said, "Let's go then. I'll take you all tonight—eels, loaches, and big crucian carp!"
"Uncle, it didn't seem to be this way last time."

"I know, I'll take you to try a new place."

That day, while taking a walk with Li Xiu, he discovered that there was also a flat and open field to the northwest of the vegetable market.

It was also a rice paddy, where the rice seedlings had only recently been planted, and from a distance, it looked like a vibrant green.

It was just that it was hard to see clearly at night, but all I could hear was the chorus of frogs in the rice paddies, the stars were low in the sky, and there were hazy lights and shadows in the rice paddies.

Chen Jiazhi stopped only after finding a small ditch that connected to the river.

"Let's get started, first set up the traps."

"Let's get to work! Let's get to work!"

Both Yi Dinggan and his son were very enthusiastic. One hadn't played in a long time, and the other hadn't had enough. They rushed to put the traps down in sections before taking out the eel traps and threading the earthworms onto them.

"Old man, let's see who catches more fish tonight?"

"Fine, I'm not afraid of you." After a pause, Yi Dinggan asked again, "Why don't you challenge your uncle?"

"How could we possibly compare?"

"You think I'm easy to bully, huh? Fine, Xiao Long, just you wait and see."

While the two were still bickering, Chen Jiazhi had already threaded the earthworms onto the skewer and then discussed how to proceed.

In the end, to make it easier for the father and son to compete fairly, they walked along both sides of the ditch in the same direction.

Chen Jiazhi went in another direction.

The night was quiet, and Chen Jiazhi's tense heart finally relaxed as he enjoyed the pleasure of fishing in the countryside.

With every step you take on the ridge, frogs hop around.

There weren't many weeds in the newly planted rice paddies, and when the headlamp shone down, the situation in the water was clearly visible.

A short while later, Chen Jiazhi saw an eel about the size of a ring finger lying motionless on the surface of the mud.

With a pinch of two fingers, it was placed into the bamboo basket.

Several fish were caught on the water; some were caught, while others escaped.

"It looks like Xiaolong is going to win," Chen Jiazhi muttered. Yilong had brought fire tongs, giving him a tool advantage.

The fire tongs of this era were a bit different from those of later generations. The width and distance of the clamps were moderate, and they had no bends, making it easier to clamp the body of the eel without letting it slip away.

However, those lying on the surface were mostly small and medium-sized cargo; the larger cargo would only peek out from inside the hole to cool off and get some fresh air. The haul was still pretty good.

Chen Jiazhi walked lightly, his headlamp sweeping across the paddy fields.

The most common wild game in the paddy fields is snails, but Li Xiu can't eat them, and Chen Jiazhi finds it troublesome to cut off the snail tails. The crayfish caught in the traps last time are still being kept alive; they'll deal with them later.

As he walked, Chen Jiazhi's steps became even lighter.

He saw a huge eel head protruding from the edge of the field more than a meter away. It was very large. Perhaps it heard the noise, as the eel shrank back a little, but you could still see part of its head.

Chen Jiazhi cautiously approached, bent down and placed the eel hook over it, slowly teasing it.

The older the eel, the more wary it becomes. This one was no exception; it tried to bite the hook several times but never actually did.

After he got a clear look at it, he felt that it was probably a pound eel, which was really rare. He had never caught one this big in his past life or this life.

We absolutely have to get this done!
He was just doing it for fun. If he really wanted to eat it, he could have just bought it. He doesn't need the money.

So he was very patient, enduring the mosquito bites, and outwitted the old eel for half an hour before Chen Jiazhi finally felt the fierce and powerful bite.

One push, one pull, and the hook is firmly locked!

It bit very deep!

Feeling the fierce force, Chen Jiazhi laughed: "Little brat, I said I'd take you in, and you actually dared to bite!"

He was very confident in his homemade eel hook; it bit so deep that the eel would have no chance of getting rid of it by entanglement.

It will only get more and more painful, a slow death.

Sure enough, after a stalemate of more than ten minutes, Chen Jiazhi hooked the eel out, glanced at it, and quickly put it into the bamboo basket.

He recognized it clearly; it was definitely a giant eel!

It might weigh about one or two ounces!

This alone makes tonight worthwhile.

Chen Jiazhi lit a cigarette to relax for a while before continuing on his way. After catching four or five more eels, he ran into Yi Dinggan and his son.

"It's about time to head back. I still need to sell vegetables tonight, and then I'll come back and collect the traps."

Yi Dinggan said, "Let's go back, let's go back."

Chen Jiazhi asked, "You lost?"

Yi Dinggan was somewhat indignant: "He cheated, using fire tongs to grab the eel, how could he even think of that! How can we compete like this!"

“I can’t accept losing,” Yi Long said, pursing his lips. He then stepped forward and asked, “Uncle, how many did you catch? Let me see.”

"I don't have many, but I have a whole eel, probably weighing about one pound and two or three ounces!"

"Wow!"

"So big!"

Chen Jiazhi opened the bamboo basket for the two men to see, which elicited two gasps of surprise.

"This one is enough!"

"Haha, it wasn't for nothing that I spent so much effort dealing with it. Let's go, let's go back."

"I caught the most, but my uncle caught the biggest. Old man, you'd better try harder next time!"

Yi Dinggan was a little disappointed, but he had a good time and was quite happy. He went back home laughing and talking.

When we arrived at the market, it was quiet. The tricycle was already loaded with vegetables, and several baskets of kale for Hong An were laid out on the ground.

The lights were all turned off in every house.

Chen Jiazhi first told Yi Dinggan to go to sleep. He wanted to tell Yi Long to go to sleep too, but Yi Long refused, so he had to give up.

First, Chen Jiazhi put the eels in a bucket to keep them alive. Then, he found another bucket and soaked the bok choy in it. After a while, Hong An arrived.

Today is the last batch of Chinese kale; tomorrow, Chinese kale will also be out of stock.

Hong An said with some regret, "There will be bok choy at dawn on the 30th, right? I'll be there on time."

Chen Jiazhi smiled broadly: "Yes, there will definitely be one on the 30th."

Following Hong An's little Jiefang, the Shifeng tricycle also set off with a clattering sound, arriving at the market at just past one o'clock.

There weren't many people there, and it wasn't until around 2 PM that Chen Ze arrived at stall number 56 and picked up a piece of kale.

Chen Jiazhi was in a good mood and handed Chen Ze a cigarette. "It's just one dish and I still have to trouble you to make a trip. There won't be any tomorrow, so things should be easier."

"I'd like to keep running every day," Chen Ze sighed. "It's hard to buy vegetables these days. The bok choy, amaranth, and choy sum I bought yesterday were already rotten by noon."

Chen Jiazhi asked, "Are the vegetables wet?"

"Does it have any impact?"

"Of course it has an impact," Chen Jiazhi said. "The temperature is high now. If it's counterfeit, and you cover it up, any leafy vegetable will rot."

You can only buy dry goods now; they can't get wet at all, and you can't buy anything with a tight seal.

"What a hassle," Chen Ze sighed. "I'll stick with yours for peace of mind!"

It wasn't until after 3 p.m. that stall number 56 started to get a bit more people.

Everyone who came to get their food seemed rather unenthusiastic, except for Chen Jiazhi, who was all smiles.

Upon learning that there would be no kale tomorrow, Old Wu was furious: "Does he think he has too much money? He's even happier when there are fewer vegetables!"

(End of this chapter)