Siheyuan: Bringing Warehouses to 1959

Except for Zhang Xiuzhi, the others took turns pedaling the tricycle because the distance was a bit far and it was too much for one person to pedal alone.

Zeng Hu was the first to go up, followed by Zeng Bao and Lin Huyang who sat on one side, and Zeng Wangcai and Zhang Xiuzhi who sat on the other side.

"No, Yangzi, where are the fishing line and fishing rod that I asked you to prepare? Why the hell did you bring a pot, and half a pot of oil and a knife..." Zeng Wangcai, who was checking the equipment, went crazy.

He didn't want to go to Yan Bugui's house across the street to borrow fishing gear, as there was a great possibility that he would be skinned, and there was no guarantee that he would be able to borrow any, so he asked Lin Huyang to prepare it.

Lin Huyang took out a paper bag from his pocket and threw it to Zeng Wangcai: "There are no fishing lines and hooks, but no fishing rods. We can just cut a bamboo when the time comes. I have a knife with me."

"Then why do you bring a pot?"

"What are you talking about? Aren't we going to eat lunch? I brought not only a pot but also a bowl. If you catch fish, we can cook fish soup directly. Who can stand eating only dry food and biscuits..."

Well, we are here for a picnic.

The section of Yongding River chosen by Zeng Wangcai is close to Mentougou, a little over 20 kilometers away from Nanluoguxiang. Four people took turns pedaling the tricycle. When they arrived, it was already early in the morning and the sun was high in the sky.

When we arrived at the riverside, each person had a breakfast.

I didn't expect that there were people fishing by the river, and there were quite a few of them. I guess they were fishing like Yan Bugui to supplement their family income.

Zeng Wangcai pretended to choose a fishing spot. He picked a place with shade from trees, went down the river bank and cleared the weeds along the way. But when he came down he found an old man fishing hiding in the shade about ten meters to the left.

The old man was wearing a straw hat and a white short-sleeved shirt. He held a long fishing rod in his hand and had a bucket beside him.

Zeng Wangcai asked Lin Huyang to get the fishing rod while the Tiger and Leopard brothers dug earthworms. He wandered over and asked, "Uncle, how's your luck today?"

"Not bad!" The old man glanced at the direction of Zeng Wangcai's fishing spot, "Little brother, do you need so many people to go fishing... Oh, we are out to play, and we even brought a pot."

"Uh..." Zeng Wangcai turned his head and found Zhang Xiuzhi cooking the pot. "Haha, let's cook the fish later. It's rare to have something fresh. Let me see what fish you caught."

"Look, look, take a look at whatever you want!" The old man was very kind.

Zeng Wangcai took a look at the old man's bucket. The old man should have come early. There were indeed quite a few fish in the bucket. The largest one was a silver carp and bighead carp weighing more than three kilograms, commonly known as bighead carp. In addition, there were two or three yellow catfish and two or three crucian carp.

At this moment, the old man's fishing rod bent and a fish was caught. A small crucian carp as long as a finger was pulled up while swaying.

The old man took the fish down, thought it was too small, and threw it back into the river.

Zeng Wangcai did not comment on the old man's behavior, but it can be seen from this that the old man should not be an ordinary person. If an ordinary person catches a fish, who would throw it back at this time? It's pretentious.

Lin Huyang came back, holding a bamboo with some branches still in his hand, and called Zeng Wangcai on the river bank.

"Little brother, you don't have any fishing rods?"

"Haha, blind fishing is just for fun. The fishing rod is not important, what is important is the process."

"So you guys also prepared a pot?"

"Just in case we're lucky, uncle, you're busy, let's get started."

Zeng Wangcai basically has an idea of ​​what the most common fish species are. Bighead carp, crucian carp, grass carp, yellow catfish and black carp. In his space, except for black carp, all other four types of fish are available.

Returning to his fishing spot, Zeng Wangcai processed the "fishing rod" that Lin Huyang brought back, tied the fishing line on it, wrapped a piece of sorghum stalk around it as a float, and hung an earthworm on the fish hook.

I won’t do such things as making nests.

Zeng Wangcai went fishing, the Tiger and Leopard brothers went to collect firewood, and Lin Huyang dug a flat bottom by the river and piled up the stones that Zhang Xiuzhi had found, and a simple stove was made.

The old man had been paying attention to this place. He had good eyesight and could tell from Zeng Wangcai's preparation and actions that he was a novice in fishing. However...

You newbies, how can you have the confidence to cook fish without any fish?

Zeng Wangcai threw the fishing hook far away awkwardly. In less than a minute, the sorghum stalks rose and fell slightly. This was not his trick, but a real fish was eating the bait. He excitedly pulled up the rod, but ended up pulling it up in vain.

“Haha, hahaha…” The old man who was watching this side stood up and laughed, “Little brother, fishing is not like this. You have to be patient. It won’t work if you lift the rod as soon as the float moves.”

The old man seemed to be trying to teach Zeng Wangcai, or he was tired of fishing and wanted to interact with the young man. He put away his fishing rod and walked over, pulling out a pack of Xiangshan from his trouser pocket: "Do you smoke?"

There is no such thing as smoking being harmful to health nowadays. As long as men are adults and have the conditions, basically all of them smoke.

A cigarette brought them closer. The old man said his surname was Liu, but didn't say anything else.

“The position of your fishing float is wrong, it’s too low, so the fish hook can’t go down. Different fish are used to living in different water depths, you have to understand…” Old man Liu taught people without regrets, and Zeng Wangcai accepted it with an open mind.

To be honest, Zeng Wangcai doesn't know how to fish, he was just pretending. If Old Man Liu wasn't there, he would have put the fish directly on the hook after lifting it twice.

The fishing line and float were readjusted and the hook was put into the water again. This time, Old Man Liu taught how to identify the float.

"When you see the float moving gently like this, you must stay calm, because the fish is 'testing' it. Hey, right now..."

Zeng Wangcai followed Old Man Liu's instructions and lifted the pole, but naturally, he still ended up with nothing.

With the old man here, Zeng Wangcai couldn't play tricks, so he honestly hung the earthworms one by one on the hook. After about half an hour, old man Liu smoked half a pack of cigarettes, but Zeng Wangcai still got nothing.

Lin Huyang, who was waiting for the fish to be cooked, was eagerly waiting and complained: "Wangcai, are you going to do this? I have already washed the pot, but you didn't catch a single fish. Who was it that promised a catch before, and asked me to prepare a sack..."

"Don't be anxious, be patient. Didn't Uncle Liu say that you have to be patient? With Uncle here, why worry about not being able to catch any fish?"

"That's not necessarily true. The key is... your understanding of fishing is too poor." Old Man Liu smiled embarrassedly.

It's been half an hour, he's really anxious.

He originally just wanted to give some pointers to the boys. Anyone can eat the fish in the river, and it's not easy for anyone these days. But for some reason, Zeng Wangcai only had fish taking bites but couldn't catch any. It seemed as if his pointers were inadequate.

After more than ten minutes, Zeng Wangcai still found nothing, and Old Man Liu finally couldn't stand it anymore.

Goodbye, take your time fishing!

Feeling humiliated, Old Man Liu slowly walked back. Just as he returned to his fishing spot, he heard Zeng Wangcai laughing behind him.

"It's hooked, it's hooked. This fish must be quite big. The fishing rod is bent..."

As soon as Old Man Liu left, Zeng Wangcai picked out a bighead carp weighing five or six pounds from the space and hung it on the fishhook.

Seeing Zeng Wangcai’s fishing rod bent into a bow, Old Man Liu had difficulty breathing... Could it be that my advice was wrong?