Song Tan's Notes

Retrieving fish traps was nothing new to Qiaoqiao.

With a large family, we had to go every few days. The pond in front of our house, the pond in the distance, the large pond on the mountain... and now there's still a huge riverbank.

The fish traps are yielding more and more food: crucian carp, common carp, whitefish, silver carp, bighead carp, loach, eel, crab, shrimp...

In short, just like a fisherman's catch, it has everything, everything is complete.

Sometimes, if there's not enough of a single ingredient to make a dish, you have to put it back or let it sit for a couple of days.

Therefore, Qiaoqiao is too lazy to even do live streams.

Furthermore, Teacher Xin instructed that it would be best if children from out of town didn't show their faces. Qiaoqiao, being an obedient child, decided to take a break for her friends as well!

After all, we sold a lot of things and offered more benefits recently, so it's okay to pause for ten days or half a month, right?
What is commonplace for country folk is something that city kids find incredibly exciting and anticipated.

At most, they would watch their grandfathers fishing or wade in the shallows of rivers and streams to catch small crabs during holidays.

This amazing trick of putting long, long cages into the water at night and reaping a bountiful harvest the next day has opened up a whole new world of possibilities.

Now, three children and a dog surround Qiao Qiao, chattering and making a racket, driving their parents crazy. Only Qiao Qiao is full of pride – as the eldest brother, taking care of the children is truly a great sense of accomplishment for him.

The riverbank was shrouded in mist around 6 a.m., and the slivers of sunshine hadn't yet fully penetrated, but even so, everyone was sweating as they walked.

Chen Xi and Chen Chi went to tidy up the livestock shed early in the morning, while Zhang Wang's family was using a machine to mix fertilizer at the fermentation tank. Only the strong and capable woman Tie Lian and an uncle from the town were busy collecting hay nearby.

And let me also shout it out:
"Qiaoqiao, the boss said you brought a friend, so we won't be collecting duck eggs today. We'll ask you to come and collect duck eggs in the reeds this evening."

Most chickens are obedient and lay their eggs in the same spot each time.

But the ducks were clearly much more indulgent. The reed beds were lush and cool, with thick piles of grass underneath, which was exactly the kind of environment they liked to lay their eggs in.

When we first moved here, many of them really liked to frolic in the riverbed.

Once the duck eggs were soaked in water, they had to be cleaned up quickly, which added a lot of extra work. In the end, it was only when the king and his dogs came to keep an eye on them that they behaved much better.

When Qiaoqiao told them about it, the children were excitedly talking about it even before the traps were set up, clearly showing even more anticipation!
Even the mothers are getting excited:

"Are there many duck eggs? Can you collect them all? Do you need our help?"

There are quite a few, almost two hundred ducks, most of them laying eggs...

Moreover, while it's okay for children to collect duck eggs, it's not entirely safe to carry them.

Qiaoqiao is very clever now: "Yes! We want the aunties to come and play!"

Lu Chuan also laughed and said, "Your schedule is quite full every day. If you have time after collecting the duck eggs, I'll take you to pick water chestnuts."

But the men in the family weren't too happy about it.

They didn't want to give up picking water chestnuts, so they asked, "They're coming to collect duck eggs and pick water chestnuts this afternoon, can we fish in this area?"

Lu Chuan's original plan was to set off at 4 a.m. to bait the spot and fish until around 9 a.m., when the sun was high in the sky and the temperature was rising, before heading back, hoping to have a couple of good meals.

but……

"I really can't get up at 4 o'clock."

Just taking care of the kids takes me more than half an hour longer than other people.

Moreover, Qin Yun and his partner are both notorious for slacking off; they never finish their work before the deadline.

Grandma and maternal grandma didn't have any objections; they waved their hands when Lu Chuan asked for his opinion.
“The scenery here is so beautiful, it’s comfortable to just sit and daydream. They can do what they want, we can do what we want. Xiao Lu, you should take a break too, you don’t have to stay with us all the time.”

With such a large group of people, and the kids being so restless, it would be exhausting to have someone stay with them all day. Now that they've gotten used to the way, they can play by themselves.

“Sure,” Lu Chuan said without hesitation, “Then I’ll take you to pick water chestnuts again tomorrow afternoon—the water is cool in the morning, but it’ll be warm in the afternoon.”

While the adults were talking, Qiaoqiao had already led the children to the rope they had left yesterday and solemnly called out, "Time to get up!"

This fish trap was newly bought by Lu Chuan yesterday; it's longer than the one he had at home, a full 12 meters long.

Now, the long rope is placed in the river, and when he pulls on it with all his might, it is actually quite difficult.

It's clear that there must have been a bumper harvest inside.

Qiao Qiao originally planned to take two steps back and then twist the rope twice and pull hard, but seeing the children standing aside with their fists clenched and intently watching the water, he loosened the rope he was holding.

"Do you know how to tug-of-war? If so, hold the rope. I'll say pull, can you pull back together?"

That would be amazing!

He Tuoluo confidently declared, "I'm strong, I'll be the last one."

Qiaoqiao didn't believe it! He was the strongest!

"If you stand at the back, I won't be able to see the water clearly from the front..."

He Tuoluo then changed his tune: "Then you can be the last one, and I'll be the first one."

The girls weren't to be outdone: "I'm strong too, I want to be first."

"Me too! I'm strong too! Our class won the tug-of-war!"

Everything was going well before, but unexpectedly a disagreement arose here. After a lot of discussion, the eldest brother, Qiaoqiao, made the final decision:

"You three play rock-paper-scissors."

Xiao Shi tilted his head and watched, wondering why the person had suddenly become so indecisive.

In the past, when it was time to retrieve the fish trap, it only needed to jump around and shout to encourage the owner, and after it was retrieved, the owner would give it one or two small fish to eat.

"Hmph!" It let out a short snort from its nostrils, clearly impatient. But unfortunately, the children were chattering away, and there were 0 followers.

Fortunately, the children had the character of honoring their bets, and after the game of rock-paper-scissors ended quickly, no one cheated, and everyone went back to their places.

Qin Beibei

He Spinning Top

Yun Danqing

Jojo.

Qiaoqiao pulled on the rope: "Get up!"

The children tensed their arms, their faces flushed, their bodies leaned back, and their feet firmly planted on the grass. They were truly putting in their utmost effort!
Qiaoqiao also pulled hard.

Under his guidance, everyone retreated step by step, and the fish trap gradually moved from the shallows to the shore. Through the murky mud, the scene of a bountiful harvest could be vaguely seen.

Qin Beibei shouted loudly, "So many! So many!"

Little Ten was anxiously wagging its tail and circling back and forth. Now, seeing the outline of the trap was becoming clear, it cried out:
"Wang!"

Then he quickly lunged forward, biting the rope with his teeth and pulling hard. (End of Chapter)