Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 10: Nothing is happier than having a good meal
This scoop net caught seven or eight fish, including crucian carp, carp, as well as Li Long's favorite pike and a black carp.

It weighs about three or four kilograms.

Li Long threw the fish onto the ice, then turned around and changed direction, and scooped up another fish with his net.

There were only four fish in this net, the heaviest of which was a carp weighing less than one kilogram.

"I'll do it, I'll get a net!" Tao Daqiang begged.

"Okay, come on!" Li Long handed the net to him and went onto the ice himself.

The fish that was just thrown out is now frozen.

Tao Daqiang took the net excitedly, then went to the other ice hole and stepped on it.

"Da Qiang, step carefully. The water is very deep, at least two or three meters. If you go down, we won't be able to rescue you." Li Long reminded him, "Make sure you step carefully!"

"Got it." Tao Daqiang was originally preparing to cast the scoop net, but after hearing what Li Long said, he stepped hard with his feet, then bent down and put the net into the water.

Li Long stretched out his hand and warmed it close to the fire, his eyes fixed on the situation over there with Tao Daqiang.

The fire warms the chest, but the wind makes the back cold.

Fortunately, his mind was mostly elsewhere, so Li Long did not feel uncomfortable for a while. After he felt his hands warm up, he took a reed and began to peel back the gills of the almost frozen fish. Then he used the reed as a rope to thread the fish into the fish and then through its mouth. He strung a dozen fish together.

"Wow!"

Tao Daqiang lifted the net violently and threw the contents onto the ice.

There were five or six fish on the broken ice of various sizes. Once they came ashore, the fish jumped desperately, but they lost their strength after a few jumps - the temperature on the ice was much lower than that underwater, and they soon froze.

Li Long did the same thing and took another reed to thread the fish.

There were also many miscellaneous fish among these fish, and the largest one was a five-striped black perch, which is scientifically known as red perch, a carnivorous fish, and very fierce. This one in front of me weighed nearly three kilograms and looked quite fat.

The stewed black fish tasted like garlic meat and was very chewy. Li Long remembered that after seven or eight years, the black fish disappeared from the lake, along with the pike, until one or two years before his death, when the water quality improved and they reappeared.

Li Long happily pulled the fish up and said to Tao Daqiang:

"Da Qiang is great! This five-striped black piece can be sold for at least two dollars in the county!"

"Really?" Tao Daqiang had just put the scoop net into the water when he heard Li Long's words and was shocked. "Can you really sell so much?"

At this time, a kilogram of pork only costs 1.67 yuan, and a kilogram of mutton costs 1.2 yuan. In the summer, some people sell fish, but they only sell it for 20 or 30 cents a kilogram, and few people want it. After all, the population of this county is not large, and even fewer people can afford to eat these river fish.

"Of course." Li Long said with a smile, "Think about it, it's winter now and the New Year is coming soon. If those city people want to eat fish, they have to pay a higher price, right?"

"Brother Long, what do you say? We can catch some fish and sell them in the county. We can make a lot of money!"

"That's suffering too." Li Long shook his head. "It's more than 30 degrees below zero now, and we don't have a car. By the time we get to the county, the fish will be frozen solid. Unless you have a large demand and can buy them all at once, it may take an hour or even several hours just to wait for people to buy. You might not be able to sell all the fish and you might be frozen to death."

"I'm not afraid!" Tao Daqiang said with a firm face, "I'm just afraid of having no money!"

Seeing Tao Daqiang's determined eyes, Li Long thought for a moment and said:
"I have to go to the mountains to pull wood tomorrow. Let's talk about it when I come back."

If Tao Daqiang wants to catch fish and sell them, he can only rely on himself. After all, not everyone can afford a scoop net nowadays.

People in the production team came from all over the world. Some of them had never eaten fish before. Even if a fish jumped to their feet while watering the fields in the summer, they didn't know to pick it up because they didn't know how to cook it after taking it home.

What Lu Yao said in his novel "Ordinary World" about some people in the Loess Plateau not eating fish or not knowing how to eat fish is true.

As far as Li Long knows, among the 40 or 50 households in the team, no more than five have scoop nets. The scoop net Li Long took was made from a broken fishing net by Li Jianguo when he worked part-time at the reservoir fishery during the slack season in the summer. In those days, everything was in short supply. Things that were common in later generations were treasures in this era.

"Going to the mountains to pull wood? Are you alone?" Tao Daqiang asked.

"Well, I'm alone."

"Then I'll go with you!" Tao Daqiang's eyes lit up. "I've never been out of our village. In the summer, the people from the village's sideline group went into the mountains without me, because they thought I was stupid..."

"Then you need to wear something thicker." Li Long thought it was okay to bring Tao Daqiang with him. He didn't let Li Jianguo go because he wanted to do something else, and it would be difficult for him to make decisions if his elder brother followed him.

But if I take Tao Daqiang with me, then naturally I will be the one taking the initiative.

As for bringing one person to carry a few dozen kilograms less wood - at most one can make one more trip. Once the fish is delivered to the captain's house tonight, can he still not let me use the carriage?

The plan went well, Li Long was in a good mood, and Tao Daqiang was also happy. The two of them guarded different ice holes and cast several nets. In total, they caught more than ten kilograms of fish. Li Long felt too tired to bear it, so he said to Tao Daqiang:
"Da Qiang, I'm done. Let's go back and eat."

"Brother Long, please cast a few more nets." Tao Daqiang was still not satisfied. "I see there are fish in every net. Maybe there will be some big ones later."

No wonder the old people say that there is fire on the body of fish. As long as you catch fish and get something, you won’t feel tired or cold. Just look at Tao Daqiang and you will know that this is definitely true.

"We can't wait any longer." Li Long refused. "Look at yourself, your clothes are soaked. If you stay any longer, you will definitely get seriously ill!"

Li Long's voice left no doubt. Tao Daqiang then put away the scoop net and climbed onto the ice.

"My ears are almost frozen off!" Tao Daqiang stepped onto the ice and felt the coldness in the air. He covered his ears and jumped on the spot. "I can hardly feel my feet."

"Then you don't want to come up yet." Li Long said as he packed up his tools and fish. "Let's go to my house and warm up by the fire. By the way, rub your ears with snow on the way, don't let them get frozen."

Many people in later generations said that rubbing ears with snow is bad, which is wrong. But at that time, this was the only way to do it in the wild. If you roast your ears by fire, they will blister and pus will come out, and your ears will really be damaged.

"It's okay, just cover it for a while." Tao Daqiang covered it again, then picked up the two strings of fish and walked back with big strides.

Tao Daqiang was wading through the snow in front carrying a dozen kilograms of fish, while Li Long was carrying the tools behind, making it easier for them to walk.

Li Long knew that this was Tao Daqiang's way of expressing his gratitude - so he accepted it.

The sun had already risen to its highest point, halfway to the south, and the sunlight was a little warm, but more of it came from the chill in the air.

Forty minutes later, the two men returned to Li's house breathlessly.

"Come in quickly!" Li Jianguo opened the door upon hearing the footsteps. Seeing the two people covered in ice, he immediately called out, "Throw your things on the ground and go change clothes by the fire! The fire is on in the east room, go and change!"

Li Long and Tao Daqiang hurried into the east room, took off their coats, leaned against the fire wall to warm themselves, and then took off their shoes.

The leather pants were frozen hard, and when I took them off, there was still a layer of snow inside. My feet were already a little numb.

There was a basin of water on the stove in the house. Li Long tried it and felt that the temperature was a little hot. He hurried out, shoveled some snow and threw it into the basin. After the snow melted, he reached out his hand to feel the water temperature, then took the basin down and said to Tao Daqiang:
"Come on, soak your feet, or you'll get frostbite tomorrow!"

It might seem a little strange for two grown men to soak their feet in the same basin, but who cares at this moment.

After soaking for a few minutes, Li Long felt much better. He wiped his feet, changed into cloth shoes, stretched himself, and said to Tao Daqiang:

"Have lunch at my house later, take a rest after lunch, and then go fishing again. I guess there will be more fish then."

"Okay." Tao Daqiang nodded vigorously.

He had no tools, no connections, and only a bit of strength. Now that Li Long was willing to take him, he was naturally very willing.

(End of this chapter)