Fishing and Hunting 82, Starting with Three Sisters Who Overprotect Their Brothers

"Uncle."

Upon spotting a figure at the courtyard gate, Zhao Qiang immediately let go of his grandmother's hand, kicked his short legs, and dashed out, his eyes wide with barely suppressed curiosity.

In the past few days, Zhao Qiang has seen too many things he had never seen before.

Wood ear mushrooms, soft-shelled turtle, large shrimp, crabs, and fish.

"Slow down, don't fall."

Zhang Wenshan couldn't help but smile when he saw his little nephew's happy expression.

The people behind him also started laughing.

Only Zhang Fengxia retorted irritably, "Didn't you see your mother?"

Zhao Qiang's eyes darted around, and he immediately stopped in his tracks, opening his chubby arms and rushing over: "Mom, hug me!"

"You!"

Zhang Fengxia knew her son was pretending, but she still put down her basket and picked him up.

Just that one hug.

Zhao Qiang caught a glimpse of what was inside the fish basket.

A dozen snakes were tightly coiled together, some with their heads mangled and others with half of their heads still intact and their eyes still open.

Even adults would get goosebumps seeing this, let alone children.

"Wow!"

Zhao Qiang burst into tears instantly.

"What happened?"

Xu Xiulian arrived shortly after, and upon seeing the contents of the basket, she involuntarily took two steps back.

Why are you scaring him?

"I didn't, I..." Zhang Fengxia panicked, quickly patting her son's back while running her other hand down his head, "Feel his fur, he's not scared..."

For a moment, everyone's excitement subsided somewhat.

They hurriedly carried the items into the yard and, as Zhang Wenshan instructed, placed them in a shady spot.

"Shanzi, you're really... good heavens!"

Aunt Zhu peeked out from behind her cane, but before she could finish her sentence, her gaze swept over the bamboo basket, and she stumbled in fright.

He stumbled back several steps, almost falling flat on his backside.

Aunt Zhu snapped out of her daze, her expression becoming much more serious. "Why did you bring poisonous snakes? One touch and you're dead! It's so dangerous!"

"We just happened to run into each other," Zhang Wenshan replied with a smile.

They meant well and were concerned, so it's not right to be cold to them.

In fact, Aunt Zhu was not an isolated case these days. Her bluntness and lack of boundaries were characteristic of the times.

"What? A poisonous snake?" Xu Xiulian's expression changed drastically upon hearing this.

He withdrew from the group of people coaxing his grandson, rushed over, bent down to take a look, and then turned to glare at his son.

"That thing can kill you. You should be avoiding it like the plague. How dare you provoke it?"

"no……"

"What do you mean 'not'? I think you're asking for trouble. Aren't there enough things all over the mountains and fields for you? Why provoke it?"

"Most of them were found."

Under his mother's barrage of death threats, Zhang Wenshan had no choice but to raise his voice and shout.

"???"

"Found it?"

Not only Xu Xiulian, but Aunt Zhu also exclaimed in surprise, her whole body almost completely pressed against the cane, her neck stretched out as far as it could go.

"Really? You can ask them if you don't believe me!" Zhang Wenshan hurriedly turned around and pointed to the other members of the fishing and hunting team.

"Auntie, we really found them!" Lin Cuihua was the first to react. "There are snakes everywhere, and rabbits too!"

Ge Ergui and Lang Qiuping added to the story, giving a detailed account of what had happened.

"I've lived this long and this is the first time I've ever heard of such a thing." Xu Xiulian's eyes still held a hint of doubt, as the whole matter was simply too unbelievable.

Snakes and rabbits were scattered all over the ground, waiting to be picked up.

Zhang Wenshan explained with a smile, "Snakes are cold-blooded animals, and after several hot days, they have long lost their vitality. This is the best time to catch them, with almost no danger."

"That's true. In the past, when people in our village found snakes, it always seemed to be during the hot season."

Aunt Zhu slapped her thigh suddenly, her surprise instantly turning into realization, "People in our village have caught snakes before, and it was always on hot days like this!"

Xu Xiulian was still somewhat dazed, murmuring, "But I've never seen so many picked up before..."

Aunt Zhu's eyes lit up, and she turned to stare at Zhang Wenshan: "So, according to you, we can find another snake?"

"It's going to be tough," Zhang Wenshan shook his head and said. "The temperature is about to drop, and we're lucky to have caught the last wave."

"Going colder?" Aunt Zhu wiped the sweat from her neck, looked up at the scorching sun in the sky, and felt her skin burning from the sunlight.

Xu Xiulian, however, believed it without a doubt and said with a smile, "That's great, it'll make digging the toad pond easier for them."

"What can I say?" Zhang Wenshan didn't waste any words, turning his head and saying, "Uncle Ergui, is it convenient for us to go to your house now?"

Knowing that the temperature would start to drop this afternoon, he had already made plans in advance.

"no problem."

"Alright, let's split up. Uncle Ergui and I will go call for help, Qiuping and Sister Cuihua will go collect and release the traps, and Sister..."

Zhang Wenshan spoke up instinctively, but then saw his nephew hesitate.

"It's alright, you all go ahead with your work, I'll take care of things at home." Xu Xiulian took her grandson and waved to reassure them.

The group quickly began to move.

Ge Ergui's house was occupied by only himself, and the space was large enough to be used as a temporary warehouse or workshop.

Zhang Wenshan originally planned to rent it with money.

As a result, Ge Ergui refused to accept it no matter what, so they had to give up for the time being.

They called over Aunt Chunhua, Liu Dazhuang, and two other aunts, and the entire fishing and hunting team was basically present.

These days, impoverished households are those lacking labor force; either the men are not present, or there are disabled individuals.

"Everyone, the allocation method for the fishing and hunting teams has already been explained."

"Time is of the essence, and I will not repeat myself. If you have any objections, you may leave now."

Zhang Wenshan looked at the four newcomers and got straight to the point.

It's no longer the situation it was a couple of days ago when the brigade leader went door-to-door trying to persuade people, but no one responded.

The news of him earning twelve yuan a day and signing an agreement with a state-run restaurant had already spread.

Everyone was eager to join immediately, afraid of being left behind.

"Alright, everyone, please sign the agreement."

Zhang Wenshan took out the fishing and hunting group cooperation agreement that he had prepared long ago.

Chishongtun had been recognized as an advanced village in literacy campaigns, so its literacy rate was not low. A few people pieced together the agreement and roughly understood the contents, which were the same few clauses that the old team leader had explained to each household before.

After confirming that everything was correct, they signed and pressed their fingerprints in turn.

Zhang Wenshan carefully put away the signed agreement, tucked it into his pocket, and let out a long sigh of relief.

I finally have the amulet in my hand.

Going forward, as long as we grow bigger and stronger, we will definitely be able to weather the storm next year.

Just then, a noise came from outside.

Zhang Wenshan turned his head and saw that they had just returned with shrimp and crabs. He immediately went out to greet them, and the rest of the fishing team quickly followed.

They had heard many rumors before, which were incredibly exaggerated.

Seeing it with my own eyes now, I truly felt the awe.

The fish basket was filled with shrimp and crabs, each one large and rare, rarely seen on ordinary days.

"Alright, you three each pick someone and divide them into groups to teach them how to sort the goods."

Zhang Wenshan clapped his hands to bring everyone back to their senses, then turned to Zhang Fengxia and said.

"Big sister, you're in charge of checking and accepting the goods. Remember to count the number of defective items."

"I..." Zhang Fengxia subconsciously hesitated, but seeing her brother's serious gaze, she could only bite the bullet and say, "I know."

Zhang Wenshan wasn't finished yet.

He continued speaking with a cold expression.

"Hurry up, or you'll miss out on catching snails and lose money."