Reborn in the 1980s: Nine Stunning Beauties Get Pregnant Before Marriage

That day, the weather warmed up a bit, and Chen Yongqiang reappeared on the ice of Qingba Reservoir, dragging his homemade sled and tent behind him.

A few villagers from neighboring villages were scattered across the ice, each guarding their own ice hole and fishing quietly.

Not far away, Chen Yongqiang spotted two familiar figures: the Zhang brothers, Zhang Jianjun and Zhang Jianguo.

The two brothers, wrapped in thick cotton-padded coats, were busy working around an ice cave.

They had gone hunting wild boars together in the mountains a while ago, so they were somewhat acquainted. However, they hadn't seen each other much since winter started and they were both busy with their own things.

Zhang Jianjun recognized him and smiled, "Brother Yongqiang! You're ice fishing too?"

Chen Yongqiang stopped, and the sled glided a short distance on the ice before coming to a stop. "Just fishing for fun."

Zhang Jianguo straightened up at this moment, but his gaze fell on the sled behind Chen Yongqiang. "Your equipment doesn't look like something you'd just use for casual fishing."

Chen Yongqiang simply replied, "I just messed around with it myself."

He didn't want to explain further, especially when facing equally experienced hunters; saying more would only make it easier to expose his weaknesses.

Zhang Jianjun glanced around a few times and remarked, "Judging by this setup, they're probably planning to make money by fishing, right?"

"Let's try our luck," Chen Yongqiang mumbled.

Zhang Jianjun took out a cigarette case, lit one for himself, and then offered one to Chen Yongqiang.

"I've quit!" Chen Yongqiang waved his hand.

He used to smoke occasionally when they met, but after Lin Xiulian became pregnant, he never touched a cigarette again.

Zhang Jianjun lit a cigarette, took a puff, and said, "It's strangely quiet in the mountains since winter started. That wild boar king we were chasing seems to have vanished without a trace. Have you found any trail of it over there?"

"I haven't been into the mountains since winter started, so I didn't notice anything," Chen Yongqiang said casually.

The enormous and ferocious wild boar king had already fallen to his spear and was now lying quietly in a corner of his space.

But this kind of thing had to be kept secret and never publicized. He didn't even sell the meat; he kept it all to feed the wolf.

Zhang Jianjun exhaled a puff of smoke: "That's true. It's freezing cold here. That beast is probably hiding in some deep mountain valley to spend the winter."

"Maybe. You guys keep fishing, I'll go check ahead." Chen Yongqiang didn't want to stay any longer.

"Okay, we'll talk later!" Zhang Jianjun replied.

Chen Yongqiang pulled the sled and walked a distance on the open ice surface.

The dark, deep color beneath the ice indicates that this is the deepest part of the Qingba Reservoir.

He took the ice pick off the sled.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

The ice layer broke after a short time of chiseling.

Chen Yongqiang set up his tent as usual and settled in to ice fish.

Besides being warm, this tent has another advantage: no matter how many fish you catch, people outside can't see them.

"We need to get some live bait first."

I originally planned to use crucian carp, but after weighing them, I felt they were too small.

"If you want to catch a fish that weighs one or two hundred pounds, the bait should weigh at least four or five pounds."

Chen Yongqiang secretly pondered this as he lowered the baited hook into the water beneath the ice.

Chen Yongqiang caught only small crucian carp on his first few casts, but he wasn't in a hurry.

I patiently changed the bait and cast the line again and again. Half an hour later, the float sank.

This time it felt different. Chen Yongqiang gripped the fishing rod, feeling the steady yet fierce struggle underwater.

Not long after, Chen Yongqiang brought up a carp weighing five or six pounds.

"This is the one," he whispered, pulling a thicker hook line from his tools.

Just as Chen Yongqiang picked up the nylon rope and the large hook, he heard a few slapping sounds outside the tent, followed by Zhang Jianjun's voice: "Yongqiang? Are you inside?"

He could only put his things down first and then turn around to unzip the tent.

Zhang Jianjun peeked inside with a smile: "You made a great little tent, it looks so warm."

"It's too cold to stand, so I just made do with this." Chen Yongqiang stepped aside to make way.

Zhang Jianjun didn't stand on ceremony and ducked in, bringing in a gust of cold air.

His gaze swept over the corner: "There's even a small stove. It's almost like home. You're really good at thinking things through."

The tent was already small, and it felt even more cramped with an extra person inside.

Chen Yongqiang took a half step without making a sound: "Just messing around for convenience."

Zhang Jianjun squatted by the stove: "You've been here for a while, have you caught anything?"

"Just a few small crucian carp," Chen Yongqiang pointed to the bucket next to him, "and the carp were just caught."

Zhang Jianjun turned his head and looked at the bucket.

The five- or six-pound carp was swimming restlessly in the limited water: "This carp must weigh five or six pounds."

He sounded a little envious, "They're luckier than me. We've been struggling for so long, and we've only managed to catch one that weighs three or four pounds."

"Good luck!" Chen Yongqiang replied indifferently.

Zhang Jianjun stared at the carp for a few more seconds and said, "Alright, I won't keep you any longer. I'm going back to watch my fishing rod and see if I can get a catch today."

As he spoke, he bent down and crawled out of the tent. Chen Yongqiang listened to Zhang Jianjun's footsteps gradually fading away on the ice before turning his attention back to the task at hand.

Zhang Jianjun thought this was a good harvest for him, but he never expected that the five or six catties of carp was just bait for Chen Yong.

Zhang Jianjun's appearance disrupted Chen Yongqiang's rhythm.

Fortunately, things returned to normal after Zhang Jianjun left.

Chen Yongqiang tied a custom-made oversized fishhook to a nylon rope and then threaded the fishhook through the back of the carp.

"I wonder if I'll be able to catch anything today?" He slowly lowered the hook, which was attached to a nylon rope, into the ice hole.

As soon as the carp entered the water, it swam away, flicking its tail, and swam towards the dark depths.

The nylon rope was pulled out repeatedly, sliding in Chen Yongqiang's thickly gloved palm.

He let out a long rope until he estimated that the carp had dived to a sufficiently deep water level, and then tied the other end of the nylon rope to a sturdy iron ring inside the tent.

"Fishing and hunting are the same thing; you need to have enough patience." Chen Yongqiang didn't expect to catch that big guy today.

He knew that the larger the prey, the more cunning it was. He had spent a month or two hunting that wild boar king, setting traps, tracking it, observing its habits, and finally waiting for the opportunity to strike and kill it.

The waiting beneath the ice is simply another form of hunting.

He added a piece of charcoal to the small stove, keeping the tent warm just right.

Time passed slowly in silence, and Chen Yongqiang's gaze was mostly fixed on the nylon rope.

"If we actually catch that fish, I wonder how much we could sell it for?" Chen Yongqiang's thoughts had already drifted away.

Ordinary crucian carp and carp can only sell for three or four cents per pound.

If it's a bighead carp weighing over ten pounds or a rare species, it can sell for six or seven cents per pound.

"Fish weighing over 200 jin (100 kg) should sell for at least one yuan per jin (0.5 kg) at market price," Chen Yongqiang thought, already planning not to sell it so cheaply.

Of course, the premise is that you can actually catch the fish; otherwise, it's all just wishful thinking.