Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

"Winter fishing?" Xu Xiaoyan frowned immediately. "If I remember correctly, winter fishing requires huge fishing nets, a professional team to thread poles and lines under the ice, and even tractors for traction, right? Where do those people get such professional tools and manpower? Besides, doesn't the base care? Does it allow private individuals to enclose the river on such a large scale?"

"Hey!" The chubby uncle grinned, his expression dripping with sarcasm. "God knows where those people got those fishing nets from. Maybe they were from an old seafood company's inventory, or maybe they dug them out of some ruins. In this world, if you're determined, you can make something out of anything! As for manpower, as long as you're willing to offer food or points, there are plenty of starving people willing to put in the effort!"

He paused, then spat on the ground, the saliva instantly freezing into a small ice dot. "Manage? Heh..." His cold laugh sounded jarring in the cold wind. "Those people at the base? They'd love for these people to catch more fish! With a larger catch, most of it will eventually have to be sold to the base's purchasing points, right? With a sufficient supply, the purchasing points might even be lowered, which is a way to reduce the base's purchasing costs. It's entirely beneficial to the base; they might even secretly encourage this kind of 'increasing production efficiency' behavior!"

His voice rose in agitation, sharp with the grievances of someone whose interests had been violated: "As for us anglers, those guys who rely on catching a few fish a day to earn a few points to survive... who cares about our interests? They have the ability to claim territory, the ability to set up huge nets, that's their 'ability'! We, who have no ability, have been herded like ducks from both ends to this middle section! Look at this situation, today this part of the river is probably going to be crammed into a sardine can!"

It turns out that the living space of the upstream and downstream areas was driven away by human violence, causing a large number of individual tourists to be forced to flood into the middle section, resulting in the current congestion. The base's tacit approval or even indulgence has made this dog-eat-dog rule even clearer.

Just as the chubby uncle finished speaking, the sound of the ice drill in front of him stopped abruptly, and a neat ice hole had been formed. The master craftsman turned off the machine, wiped his sweat, and said, "Alright, your hole is worth 3.5 points." The chubby uncle didn't say anything more, quickly went forward to pay, and started busying himself with his fishing gear, as if his emotional outburst just now was just a small interlude.

Xu Xiaoyan saw that some people had already started casting their lines, but many more were still anxiously waiting to drill holes or frantically tidying up their equipment, and a restless atmosphere permeated the air.

She had to find Xie Yingtang and Wang Xiao! She determined the direction and headed towards the shallow water area. The further she went, the more people seemed to be on the ice. Soon, she saw a black tent marked with a smiley face. Wang Xiao had specifically told her about this mark before he came. She knocked on the tent, and Wang Xiao poked his head out. Seeing it was her, he quickly opened the door.

Once inside, it became clear that the two men looked rather unwell. Their fishing rods were propped up, the floats were motionless, and there were only four or five fish in the bucket at their feet—a truly dismal sight.

"Xiao Yan!" Wang Xiao's frustration was obvious. "Look at this... how are we supposed to fish here? Starting from the middle of the night, people have been flocking here like refugees! We already had no fish, and now there are just too many people!"

Xie Yingtang also looked over and nodded to Xu Xiaoyan. "Something's not right. There are too many people, and many of them are new faces. Their equipment is all over the place. We asked around and it seems that something happened upstream or downstream, and people have been driven here."

"I've already heard about it," Xu Xiaoyan said as she walked over to them, succinctly relaying the information she had heard from the fat uncle about "winter fishing site bookings" and "the base's tacit approval."

Wang Xiao was stunned, then indignant. "Isn't this bullying? Just because those people have internet access doesn't mean they're so great! They've fenced off the entire river, what are we supposed to do? Isn't the base going to do anything about it?"

Xie Yingtang shook his head, seeing things more clearly. "What the base needs most right now is a stable source of food and resources. If private 'winter fishing' can provide a large catch, the base's acquisition costs may decrease. They really don't have a strong incentive to interfere. As for us anglers..." He paused and didn't continue, but his meaning was clear.

"What do we do then?" Wang Xiao looked at the densely packed crowd around him and the constant clanging of ice drills, feeling utterly helpless. "Are we just going to wait here like this?"

Xu Xiaoyan did not answer immediately. Both the shallow and deep water areas were facing the problem of overcrowding and disturbing the fish. Under the circumstances today, the efficiency of each fishing spot would definitely be greatly reduced.

Xu Xiaoyan's gaze swept over the area where new ice caves were constantly appearing, and then she looked at the ice fishing rod in her hand. An idea gradually became clear to her.

She turned to Xie Yingtang and Wang Xiao and said, "I'm planning to resell the fishing hole and fishing rod to someone else. There are still a few days left on the lease. If I return the fishing rod now, I can only get half of the deposit back. But if I resell it to someone else, it will be different."

She paused for a moment, then continued, "Given the current situation of too many people wanting to buy the fishing spot, there must be someone willing to take it at the original price. After all, waiting in line for drilling takes time. If my ice fishing rod is cheaper than the official retail price, it shouldn't be hard to sell. That way, I won't lose too much on the equipment cost. What do you guys think?"

After listening, Xie Yingtang and Wang Xiao did not respond immediately. They both showed troubled expressions. Wang Xiao even subconsciously avoided Xu Xiaoyan's gaze and lowered his head to fiddle with his fishing line.

Xu Xiaoyan was incredibly perceptive and immediately understood the meaning behind their silence. She sighed softly, her tone tinged with apology, "You... haven't recouped your investment yet? This is my fault; I acted on impulse without considering your actual situation."

She recalled that yesterday, although Wang Xiao and his group had some success in the shallow water, their catch was quickly disrupted by the influx of people and the drilling of holes, and their catch plummeted. Meanwhile, she enjoyed a long period of abundant harvest in the deep water, having already recouped her investment and even making a considerable profit.

"How about this," Xu Xiaoyan suggested a compromise, "Why don't you guys try the ice cave in my deep water area later? Although there are more people there now, and there will definitely be some disturbance, the structure of that deep water area might still attract some remaining fish. Anyway, I don't need it now, so you guys go and try your luck, and catch as many as you can."

Upon hearing this, Wang Xiao's face clearly showed a hint of interest. He was not satisfied with his gains today. Xu Xiaoyan's "treasure cave," which had once produced abundant resources, was quite attractive to him. Just as he was about to nod in agreement, Xie Yingtang reached out and patted him lightly on the back.