Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1201 The fish stall was set up next to the flood.

Chen Qianjin was plowing the team's land. This wheat field was not large, only about thirty mu. The high-horsepower tractor's reversible plow went back and forth a few times and the field was plowed.

In the past, after plowing the land, the landlord would carefully check to see if there were any ungrown ridges buried under the soil. But today, after plowing, the landlord hurriedly signed the book that Chen Qianjin handed him and then rushed away on his bicycle.

What's going on? Is there a fire?

Chen Qianjin was a little confused, but he didn't care too much. He could get one yuan for plowing one mu of land—he had earned thirty yuan by mid-morning.

How good!

Yes, the wages for the helpers who came from the Li family are different for each person. For example, Chen Qianjin used to drive the Dongfanghong 75 and also received commissions. Now that he can drive a high-horsepower tractor, he earns even more.

Li Junfeng received even more.

Li Junxian earned slightly less; he was the third highest earner among these helpers. During this wheat harvesting season, he could earn over a thousand yuan just by operating the combine harvester.

The harvesting fee for one mu (approximately 0.16 acres) of wheat harvested by combine harvesters is 2.5 to 3 yuan, and he can earn 0.5 yuan for harvesting one mu.

Including the work I did before, I can earn a little over two thousand yuan after working hard for most of the year.

Moreover, the three of them not only made money, but also learned new skills, which made them extremely happy and motivated.

The remaining high-powered tractor was driven by Li Junhai and another person in turns, but they would only get their turn when there was work available. That also depended on luck.

Even so, they were all eager to come. They were usually very enthusiastic about work, and even when there was no farm work at home, they were never idle. They would sweep the floor and do chores in the vegetable garden, all wanting to show off.

The competition is fierce.

But when you calculate the money you'll get at the end of the year, you're all smiling, no matter how hard you work.

Even if you only get the lowest pay, you're still happy when you do the math—it's no worse than working in the south. After all, you eat very well here, with meat every day, and unlimited white flour buns and rice. Where in the south can you find such a standard of living?
Chen Qianjin was the only one among these people who didn't have the surname Li, but the Li family didn't exclude him because of this. He was still the only three who directly drove a machine, which shows that the Li family valued hard work.

That's why others will feel it's fair and will be more motivated.

They were also saying privately that even more people might come from their hometown next year. This was because the Li family had so much work to do, and the land was constantly being reclaimed.

Li Junfeng was closest to this branch of the Li family and knew the most about it. He had vaguely mentioned in private that the Li family might need to cultivate several hundred acres of wasteland this autumn—provided, of course, that the cotton harvest was bountiful this autumn.

Chen Qianjin wondered if he should call his cousin over as well—his cousin Chen Fujun was also a farmer, an honest and simple man. His first child was a daughter, but he had a son because he violated the one-child policy. His family was fined so much that they were left penniless and couldn't live a happy life anymore.

Chen Qianjin has two older sisters, one married to Li Anguo, and the other settled down in their hometown. He won't mention his brother-in-law back home, but he still wants to help his cousin.

Driving the high-powered tractor back to the Li family home, Chen Qian parked the tractor on the side of the road, turned off the engine, removed the key, locked the door, and when he entered the yard, he saw that Li Junxian was already washing his face.

"Hey, you're back early," Chen Qianjin asked. "Finished harvesting?"

"It's all done, and we've collected all the money." Li Junxian emptied the water he had used to wash his face, handed the basin to Chen Qianjin, and went over to pump water for Chen Qianjin to fill, saying as he did so:
"When I got back, Third Grandma said that Uncle Xiaolong and the others went fishing. Do you want to go?"

"Catch fish? Auntie, where do we catch fish?" Chen Qianjin asked Du Chunfang while fetching water.

Although he and Li Junxian are about the same age, they are not from the same generation.

"They went to Dongdagou." Liang Yuemei replied, while Du Chunfang was breaking the strings off the sword beans. Sword beans, also known as string beans by city people, have strings on both sides. She habitually broke off the two ends, and the long strings came off with them.

Back in my hometown, after removing the strings, we would just break the green beans into small pieces and stir-fry them.

But here, after breaking the noodles, Liang Yuemei should slice them diagonally into strips, then stir-fry them with green peppers and tomatoes; this makes them tastier when mixed with noodles.

Of course, meat will definitely be added; the Li family has no shortage of meat.

Du Chunfang is hard of hearing and didn't hear, so Liang Yuemei naturally picked up the conversation:

“The floods these past two days have washed away three reservoirs above Dongdagou. The sluice gates probably weren’t raised in time. They say there are a lot of fish in the floodwaters, so your brother Xiaolong and his men drove over in a van.”

Dong Xiaojuan brought her child over to help with the cooking. Today's dish is hand-pulled noodles, and she can now pull the noodles quite thin.

No wonder that landlord left in such a hurry. It seems he went to Dongda Ditch to catch fish or watch the excitement.
"What about food?" Li Junxian asked. He checked the time; it would be lunchtime in about half an hour.

“They took the net. If they don’t come back, you should go and replace them so they can come back for dinner,” Liang Yuemei said. “It’s not easy to bring the noodles over.”

It doesn't matter whether you eat the rice at home or take it with you, but the noodles are best eaten fresh. Even 30 or 40 years from now, when takeout is popular, noodles won't taste quite the same when taken away.

Chen Qianjin and his colleagues also deeply understand this point. After the noodles are pulled, they are put into the pot, taken out and rinsed with cold water. They taste just right when eaten with freshly stir-fried vegetables. If you come back after work and rinse the cooled noodles in hot soup before eating, the taste is not as good as before.

Of course, I would only be picky if I had the means. I couldn't even eat wheat flour often before, but here I can eat rice and wheat flour every day, so what's there to be picky about?
So after dinner, seeing that Li Long and the others hadn't returned, Chen Qianjin and Li Junxian drove Li Jianguo's GAZ truck and hurriedly headed towards Dongdagou.

By this time, there were quite a few people on the west bank of the Dongda Ditch, some of whom were unfamiliar faces and obviously not from our team.

However, most of those catching fish in the water were from the fourth team. Some people, like those who catch fish in later videos, patrolled the shallow waters and would rush over to catch fish swimming upstream with a net when they spotted them.

Most of the time, the net is empty. The fish are so agile in the water that most people can't imagine. You might think you've caught the fish in the net, but it will dive underwater and swim away with a flick of its tail. In that instant, it's like it's been turbocharged and suddenly accelerated, leaving no time for a person to react.

Some lucky ones managed to catch the fish directly in the net, and when they pulled them out, they walked happily ashore.

But the two most bustling places were the two most lively.

One was where Li Long and his group released the fish. In just half a morning, they caught dozens of large fish.

Because the first location chosen was right in the center of the main flood channel, although the force of the water was quite strong and it was quite difficult to drive the piles and lay the net at the beginning, the benefits became apparent once the net was in place.

Four nets are used, and on average, one or two big fish will go into them every ten minutes and then be caught and brought to the shore.

There were also quite a few crucian carp the size of a palm, as well as larger carp fry, silver carp fry, and half-sized grass carp.

Li Juan helped pick up and collect the fish on the shore. To prevent the fish from suffocating in the bags, Li Long and the others took some time to build a dam with mud on a gentle slope and put the fish directly into it.

Li Qiang and his team used mud to raise the dam so that the fish wouldn't jump out.

In just half a morning, the artificial pond already had dozens of fish of various sizes—few small fish, mostly large fish, which were all weighing two or three kilograms or more.

The largest grass carp was over a meter long; Li Long brought it up.

He had just brought a carp ashore when he looked down at the net on his way back and saw a blue fish head, about the size of a small washbasin, bobbing up and down in the water, which startled him.

Li Long instinctively reached out to grab it, but the fish's head was slippery, and the grass carp was strong, so it dodged away. At first, Li Long's action was still subconscious, but when he failed to grab it, his competitive spirit rose. He went upstream and blocked the opening of the net, then bent down and reached into the water.

With better eyesight than others and the water not being murky, Li Long could vaguely see how the big grass carp was struggling to swim out of the water.

He grabbed the fish's head in one swift motion, but the head was too big. Li Long tried his best to pry open the gill covers. Once his fingers were inside the gill covers, the fish wouldn't be able to escape.

The gill cover is a vital part of a fish, and this fish knows this, so it tries to twist its body to swim out while dodging. However, Li Long is moving left and right at the opening of the net, blocking the fish, which is also very distressed because it can't get out.

Finally, Li Long reached into the fish's mouth, then used his fingers to pry open the gill covers (the bottom of the gill covers is at the corner of the mouth), and lifted the fish up with both hands.

The fish, which is over a meter long, is the largest fish caught at the event so far, prompting many people to exclaim in surprise.

Li Junhai ran over to help Li Long carry the fish to the shore. Many people gathered around to watch, and Li Junhai stood by, watching vigilantly.

People didn't pay much attention to the small fish in the net. If there were no big fish, they might take them out and put them in their pockets to catch a batch before sending them ashore. When there were big fish, they would catch the small fish and not regret it even if they got away.

So dozens of people on the shore watched the spectacle, most of them gathered around these big fish, some with envy and some with jealousy.

Another place turned out to be where Li Qiang and his team were blocking the network.

Almost all the children who could come from the village gathered here.

Li Long originally set up the net here for Li Juan, Li Qiang, Mingming, and Haohao to play with, so they would have something to do and wouldn't run around and get into danger.

However, the location of this net was just right to avoid the main current of the flood. The small fish swept downstream by the strong current couldn't swim at all in the middle of the main current, and if they wanted to swim upstream, they could only go along the side. And this spot where the net was placed was just a good one.

Many small fish—mainly crucian carp—had just swum to the edge when the group of children who volunteered to help waded through the water and chased them into the net.

So, the net can gather two or three kilograms of fish in a short time. Li Qiang untied the knot at the end of the net and poured the fish into a fertilizer bag.

In just over an hour, I managed to get half a bag of crucian carp, each about the size of my palm, along with some carp and silver carp fry.

The lively scene was mainly due to the gathering of over twenty children of varying ages. Some were there to watch the excitement, while others were there to help; most were from the village. Some tried to sneak in and catch a few fish, but the others who were helping gave them a good scolding.

Just before lunchtime, some children had to leave. Li Qiang was generous and gave each of them a few fish, asking them to pick some reeds and then take the fish back with their mouths and gills pierced.

The children were overjoyed – how could they not be happy to help out for free and receive something in return?

Although we might compare the size of the fish, we're happy no matter the size, at least we don't have to worry about getting wet and getting scolded or even beaten by our parents when we get home.

If you have fish in your hand, you can justify getting your clothes dirty.

Actually, Li Qiang and the others were also hungry, but Li Long and the others didn't have time to deal with this right now, so they decided to wait.

Of course, their interest in catching fish also took precedence. It's normal for children in the countryside to eat late, and even Mingming and Haohao weren't complaining of hunger at this point. They were both almost completely soaked and had a great time playing.

Hao Hao even jumped into the water to catch a fish that had been scared by the children wading through the water and rushed to the shallows. He got completely wet, but he was very happy to catch the fish.

Where else in the county can you find such an opportunity to have fun? We've really gone crazy with it now.

Chen Qianjin and his group arrived just in time. As soon as Li Long saw the car arrive, he immediately told Li Junhai and the others to drive back first, taking Li Juan, Li Qiang, Mingming, and Haohao with them.

Li Juan and Li Qiang didn't say anything. It was clear that Hao Hao didn't want to reply, so Li Long said:
"Go back and eat first, you can come back after you finish eating."

The children immediately agreed; in fact, they were hungry too.

"Mingwa, this net is yours now. Any fish we catch while we're away are yours." Li Qiang solemnly handed the net to Xu Chengjun's son, Mingwa, with whom he had a good relationship.

"Don't worry, the fish is yours. I don't want it; I just want to play with it," Mingwa said generously.

“It’s alright. You caught some fish, so you should share some with others. Some people are going home and can take a few fish with them,” Li Qiang said solemnly. “You may not care, but some people do.”

Li Long watched the two children pass the net around like adults and found it quite amusing.

As it turned out, Li Junhai and the others didn't want to leave, so Li Long said:

“We’ll all go back, have a meal, and then come back to relieve Qianjin and Junxian. We’ve driven the stakes into place securely, so as long as someone is watching over the fish, we can manage.”

He then said to Chen Qianjin and Li Junxian:
"You two just need to keep an eye on the big fish. You can't catch all the small fish. Catch them if you want, and don't catch them if you don't."

Li Junxian and Chen Qianjin stared wide-eyed at the big fish that Li Long and his team had caught—even if the river in their hometown were flooded, they wouldn't have such a resource. Both of them were a little distracted, their eyes fixed on the net.

Li Long didn't say much. He went to the small pond where the fish were kept, took a bag, and prepared to put the fish back.

While catching fish is enjoyable, preparing them can be quite troublesome.

"Boss, are you selling these fish?" Suddenly, someone spoke up. Li Long looked up and saw a young man who was not yet thirty years old. He had a buzz cut and his eyes gleamed with shrewdness.

Li Long felt that the man looked familiar, and after thinking about it, he realized that this man was a fishmonger in Shicheng, and he had seen him before.

The stall was quite large, consisting of two metal boxes filled with water, where they sold live fish.

I didn't expect him to come here to buy fish; he's quite well-informed.

"Sell, definitely sell. How much are you willing to pay?" Li Long asked.

We can't possibly eat all the fish we catch, and even if we tried to make dried fish like people in Tacheng and Yili, we wouldn't have the time.

So Li Long's idea is that since there are buyers, all the fish except for the ones they want to eat should be sold.

The others naturally had no objections, and the crew-cut boss was quite pleased, saying:
"Alright, I see you guys did a good job processing the fish. You're all experienced. To be honest, you guys caught more fish today."

Someone in the village chimed in:
“Xiao Long has been catching fish and selling them in Shicheng for five or six years now. He’s an old fisherman. Even though he’s the boss now and doesn’t catch fish anymore, he’s still very skilled.”

"No wonder, no wonder, senior!" The crew-cut man immediately offered a cigarette and tried to build rapport. "I was wondering why the boss looked so familiar. To be honest, I also sell fish in Shicheng now, and every now and then old men and women come to buy fish and talk about how there used to be a young man from Ma County who sold fish. He said that the fish tasted so good, much better than farmed fish."

Li Long smiled. This guy really knows how to do business; he can even make connections in this situation.

Seeing that Li Long didn't respond much, the other man didn't say anything more, and pointed to the fish, saying:
"Your fish here are all big fish, so I won't haggle. Carp is three yuan a kilogram, grass carp and silver carp are two yuan fifty, bighead carp are two yuan, and crucian carp... the bigger ones are two yuan fifty, the smaller ones are two yuan. How about that?"

“Okay.” Li Long rarely buys fish, but he thought the price was fair. He mainly didn’t want to take them to the market to sell himself, not because he disliked the price, but because he felt it was a waste of time.

As for the price, he could accept it; it wasn't cheap by the way.

The flat-headed boss was very happy and immediately went to the car to get the scale and bags.

Li Qiang came over and tugged at Li Long's arm, saying:

"Uncle, could we sell some of the fish we caught? I feel like we can't eat them all at home..."

"Sure," Li Long laughed. His little nephew had a knack for business.

When Pingtou arrived, Li Junhai had already dragged over most of the bag of crucian carp that Li Qiang and his group had caught. Li Qiang and his group were small-time fishermen, and they kept adding water to the bag, so most of the crucian carp were still alive.

Although the crew-cut guy didn't understand why Li Long wanted to weigh the small fish separately, he was happy to accept them since the other party wanted to sell them.

First, weigh the fish belonging to Li Qiang and his group. Since they wanted to take some home to eat, they sold three-quarters of them, leaving about five or six kilograms.

The remaining 20 kilograms were sold. Because the sizes were mixed together, Li Long decided to sell them for two yuan each, for a total of 48 yuan and 60 cents.

Li Qiang handed the money to Li Juan, who then gave Mingming and Haohao ten yuan each. The remaining twenty-eight yuan was split equally between her and Li Qiang.

This was the first time in their lives that Mingming and Haohao had earned money. The two children weren't very excited, but Li Juan and Li Qiang were.

The big fish left behind two silver carp, four common carp, and four large crucian carp.

Li Long was somewhat surprised that none of the big fish caught today were blackfish.

The remaining fish, including the large grass carp, were sold for a total of over 130 yuan. Li Long divided the money among Li Junhai and the others, but none of them felt comfortable taking any. Li Long said:

"See? Juan and Qiangqiang have already divided the money among themselves, and so will we. We get paid for our work. As for the fish, we'll cook it for dinner tonight."

Only then did the group take the money, and then they hurriedly took the remaining fish back home.

The man with the crew cut drove a single-cab pickup truck, loaded the fish into a tin box, drained it, and hurriedly left.

He was originally going to buy fish, but some people were asking for exorbitant prices, so he didn't bother to haggle. In this one go, he bought quite a lot of fish from the Li family.

So he planned to come over in the afternoon.

On their way back to eat, Li Long and his group could still see people continuing to come this way.

Li Qiang whispered to Li Juan, "Mingwa and the others said they didn't want fish. I told them that when we're not around, they can use the net, and they can divide the fish they catch among themselves. That's fine."

"Okay." Li Juan nodded, looking a bit like a big sister.

On the way back, Li Long saw that several canals were also full of water, indicating that the flood had spread to the branch canals.

There are quite a few fish in here!

(End of this chapter)