1983Fishing and Farming between Mountains and Seas

Chapter 229: The first spring flood of the new year is spectacular
Time flies in the busyness. In a blink of an eye, from early March to mid-March, Chen Xiangbei has been almost six months pregnant.

She used to be light and graceful, but now she walked slowly. In this life, since she had basically got enough nutrition during pregnancy and had a good rest, she, who had always been slim, actually looked a little plump.

Liang Ziqiang was most aware of this, especially at night. Not only did she have a more round and smooth figure, but her skin was also fairer than when she was a girl.

As March 3th approached, Liang Ziqiang took advantage of good weather, took her by boat, and went to the county hospital again.

This time, the doctor first took Chen Xiangbei's blood pressure, which showed that it was normal, and then listened to her heartbeat and the fetal heartbeat.

I don't know if the doctor still remembers them. After listening to the fetal heart rate, he took the initiative to ask Chen Xiangbei:
"Do you want to listen to the baby's heartbeat yourself?"

"Can you hear it clearly?" Chen Xiangbei certainly thought about it.

"It's six months now. The fetal heart rate is clear enough. You can hear it clearly!" The doctor handed her the stethoscope.

Chen Xiangbei took it and put it into her ears. This time, as she listened, the dimples on her face became deeper and deeper. Her smile was very sweet, and for the first time, she even looked a bit like a loving mother.

My wife got into the role just by listening to the fetal heartbeat...

After listening to it, she handed it to Liang Ziqiang. As soon as he put it in his ears, he heard a clear rhythm, which passed through the amniotic fluid and rushed into his ears.

That rhythm was much faster than his own heartbeat as an adult, which gave him the illusion that the little guy in his belly was extremely excited at the moment, with his heart beating like a deer.

At this moment, Liang Ziqiang truly felt the arrival of the new life. For some reason, the faces and figures of his children in his previous life appeared in front of his eyes unconsciously.

After listening to the fetal heartbeat, the doctor checked the fetal position for her. Without the need for B-ultrasound or other equipment, the doctor quickly determined that the baby's fetal position was normal based on his touch and experience.

After the examination, the doctor told me to come for a checkup every month from now on. When the baby is eight months old, it should be changed to come for a checkup every half a month.

"His heartbeat is like a snare drum, it's so interesting!" After leaving the hospital, Chen Xiangbei gently touched her abdomen, still immersed in that feeling.

This time in the county town, he didn't buy malted milk, but milk powder for her. In those days, you couldn't buy special milk powder for pregnant women, so he bought the kind of milk powder for babies. I had asked the doctor in the hospital before, and he said that if she didn't drink too much every day, drinking it in moderation could supplement some nutrition.

If you can't buy milk, this can be a substitute.

April arrived soon. From the end of March to the first of April, the sun shone brightly for several days in a row, and the temperature rose.

Liang Ziqiang had been to Longju Mountain in late March, but the spring flood had not yet arrived. Now that the temperature has risen, the spring flood should have really arrived.

Since yesterday, Liang's father called Liang Tiancheng and started the first sea trip of the new year. Other villagers in the village also worshipped Mazu and set out on their boats. The sea surface, which had been silent for several months, became lively again.

On the contrary, Liang Ziqiang didn't even have a partner to go fishing with because Afeng was still staying near the county middle school.

It was not until April 1st, early in the morning, when Liang Ziqiang was gargling, that he heard someone calling Aqiang.

When he looked up, he saw that Zhu Tianpeng really did what he said and came over to help him.

"Have you quit your job at the brick kiln?" Liang Ziqiang asked.

"Why don't you just say you want to play? The weather has been good recently, and I thought there should be fish in the sea now, so I came here today!" Zhu Tianpeng walked over and said to him.

Fortunately, there was porridge and steamed buns at home in the morning, so I immediately called Zhu Tianpeng to have breakfast together.

After lunch, they took the fishing gear and baskets and pushed them to the beach. Liang Ziqiang had already worshipped Mazu in the first day of March, and this was not his first time to go out to sea in the new year, so he did not go to the Mazu Temple in the morning.

The two arrived at the beach, and Li Liang and Deng Zhaocai also came over after worshipping Mazu.

"Marshal, why are you here again? Are you going to be Brother Qiang's partner for a long time from now on?" Deng Zhaocai came over and asked in surprise when he saw Zhu Tianpeng appear.

Liang Ziqiang had not mentioned to the two of them that Zhu Tianpeng was coming to help him go out to sea, so they were a little surprised.

Zhu Tianpeng frowned: "You are as fat as a pig, how dare you call me Marshal! Ah Peng is Ah Peng, why don't you call me by my name?!"

Zhu Tianpeng's anger naturally had no effect. On the way to Longjuling, Li Liang and Deng Zhaocai called the "marshal" along the way. They sailed all the way and gradually arrived at Longjuling.

The situation this time is very different from the previous times when we came here to look for spring floods.

As soon as we entered the strait, we saw countless bubble patterns like raindrops on the water surface of the strait, and under the bubbles, gray-green spines were floating.

These fish with smooth and slender body lines swim happily and at a fairly fast speed.

At a glance, the gray-green color evenly covered the entire strait and the sea surface a little further away, just like racehorses, vying to announce their grand return.

The two boats were heading forward, while the fish were pouring into the strait from Longju Ridge. For a moment, the boats and the fish were like meeting on a narrow road.

"Wow!" Zhu Tianpeng, who was standing next to Liang Ziqiang, took a breath, "Isn't it true? Where did all these fish come from?"

"This place is called Longjuling. There are a lot of fish in winter and spring. But I don't know if Brother Qiang has told you that you must not come here on hot days. Black dragons are deadly!"

Deng Zhaocai now acted like a know-it-all in Longjuling and rushed to introduce himself to Zhu Tianpeng.

Liang Ziqiang spoke to him briefly and then started to pick up the net, ready to catch fish.

The fish bravely swam towards the shallow sea, not hesitating for a moment because of the two boats that suddenly appeared. They moved towards each other and quickly came into close combat.

As they got closer, they recognized all four of them.

"This is the herring season. It's so spectacular!" Zhu Tianpeng said while holding the net.

That’s right, what is rushing towards us is a large wave of herrings.

The herring, also known as Cao white fish and dried fish, tastes very good and is also very expensive.

This fish not only swims fast, but also has a special feature: the scales under its belly are hard. And not just ordinary hard, they are said to be as hard as a knife blade.

When veteran fishermen talk about the croaker, they always sigh: Once this fish comes out, who else dares to touch it? If you give way a little slower, you will get your belly ripped open and lose your life!

The fishermen's claims are somewhat exaggerated, but it also shows how hard the belly of the herring is. It is no surprise that it will cut other small fish.

Right now, some small groups of spring fish in the strait are actually swimming away to the side.

It seems that the herring is not big in size, but it has a great reputation.

Zhu Tianpeng was of course much more experienced in fishing than Liang Zifeng. Without Liang Ziqiang's call or instructions, he had already aimed at an area with denser fish and threw out the fishing net.

While quietly waiting to close the net, Deng Zhaocai on another boat said curiously:

"We came here during the winter flood last year and encountered so many fish, but we never encountered a flood of bream. How come so many bream suddenly appear in the spring?"

Li Liang rolled his eyes at him:
"During the winter flood last year, it rained heavily and the north wind blew from time to time. We couldn't go out to sea in that kind of weather. How do you know if the herring goes to the deep sea on a windy day? Besides, it floods at night, so we can't encounter it!"

What Li Liang said was of course the truth. There are so many migratory fish, and the few waves of winter fish that Liang Ziqiang and his team caught last year were only a part of them on the right days when the wind was calm.

As they were talking, the four of them began to close in their nets.

Liang Ziqiang and Zhu Tianpeng each pulled up a net. At first glance, the net was pure, full of bream, and the other small fish were afraid of the hard serrated scales on their abdomens and automatically hid.

The two men tried their best not to confront each other head-on. They put on gloves, poured the two nets of herring onto the boat, and immediately started a new round of fishing.

Burst

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(End of this chapter)