1983Fishing and Farming between Mountains and Seas

Chapter 99: So Many That the Fish Basket Overflows

Today, there were not many people coming to the beach to push high-legged fishing nets in the shallow water. Occasionally there were a few, but they were in groups of three or four and were widely separated. Liang Ziqiang was the only one in the area near him.

On the shore, Li Liang and Deng Zhaocai noticed the movement on his side, and could not help but trudged on stilts, wanting to run over and catch some fish.

But as soon as they reached the ankle-deep water, they began to stagger and dared not take another step forward.

After all, I haven't fully learned it yet.

Therefore, as long as the sweetfish had not completely dispersed and run away, Liang Ziqiang would be the only one left...

The only regret was that the fish basket was not big enough, and there were a lot of shrimps, crabs, sea bass and the like mixed in. After a flurry of activity, Liang Ziqiang found that when he paddled further in, they all overflowed!

He really didn't expect that what blocked his path to wealth today was actually this.

At this moment, he really wanted to add a few more kicks to tighten the basket and squeeze out some space...

How about pulling the basket ashore first, pouring it into the bucket on the beach, and then returning after there is room?
This is the only way. I hope the remaining sweetfish will be considerate enough to wait for him here when he returns...

When we got ashore, Li Liang and the other two immediately came over:

"Brother Qiang, what kind of fish are you catching that you can't stop catching?"

Deng Zhaocai glanced at him from a few meters away:
"It's a small one, is it a crucian carp?"

Li Liang rolled his eyes and said contemptuously:

"Your crucian carp all grow in the sea?!"

Deng Zhaocai slapped his forehead and said, "Sea carp?"

Li Liang almost kicked him:
"Sea crucian carp, can you be any more outrageous? It doesn't look like this at all, and there is no sea crucian carp this small!"

The two talked closer and closer, and probably finally smelled the odor emanating from the fish basket:
"Where does the honeydew melon smell come from? No way, is it the Fragrant Concubine Fish?!"

As a result, Deng Zhaocai came closer and put his face directly into the mouth of the basket:

"Fuck, it smells so good, what he brewed is really Xiangfei fish! Holy shit…"

Liang Ziqiang quickly dragged the bamboo basket aside and said, "How can you look at fish like this? With your whole head resting on the basket. How come you still want to eat it raw?"

Deng Zhaocai was a little excited:
"This fish is only encountered once every one or two years at the seaside. No, I have to go and push a few nets!"

After walking a few steps, the water was a little deeper and he almost fell into the sea. Fortunately, Li Liang quickly caught him:
"Are you going to catch the Xiang Fei fish, or are you in a hurry to see the Xiang Fei?!"

Liang Ziqiang didn't bother to care about these two guys. Although they were not very proficient in using the stilt fishing net, they were not really going to drown here. After all, the water was only two meters deep. They were both good swimmers and had no problem with their physical strength. Otherwise, they would not have become a public nuisance in Pomfret Village.

He was pressed for time and couldn't walk fast on his stilts. He finally trudged to the beach and pushed the fish basket towards the empty bucket.

So much time has passed, and he thought that the little fur ball was always playful and would have run back to the village to play by now.

Unexpectedly, the little thing was as quiet as a still life. It lay obediently beside the bucket and helped him guard the bucket seriously.

And of course, his smelly shoes which didn't smell so good.

Only now, seeing him returning from the sea, did it jump up from the beach, wagging its tail and shaking its head.

He understood the wagging of the tail, but he didn’t quite understand what the shaking of the head meant. Then he glanced at his stinky shoes and he seemed to understand a little:
"Are those shoes for humans? They smell so bad that even a dog can't stand it!"

Yes, that's what that expression means...

Liang Ziqiang took the big bucket and filled it with sea water, then poured all the different kinds of fish caught in the bamboo basket into the bucket.

The puppy seemed to have smelled the tangy scent of the sweetfish as well. It curiously put its nose close to it, and then actually... snorted.

Liang Ziqiang realized that a dog's nose is more sensitive than a human's. It was smelly shoes and a fragrant scent. It was hard for it to handle the double stimulation of ice and fire. Its nose was confused...

Seeing the little fur ball sticking its head into the bucket, he gave it a stern warning:
"It's too expensive. You can't eat this. Not to mention you, I can't even afford it! Stop looking around and just lie there and guard!"

I don't know if the little thing understood it, but it circled the bucket twice and sat down on the beach. Liang Ziqiang did not stop, pulled up the basket and rushed to the sea again.

By the way, I took a quick glance and saw that Li Liang and Deng Zhaocai were practicing even harder on the shallows. They were probably stimulated by the unattainable temptation in front of them, and they immediately became more motivated...

Liang Ziqiang returned to the sea again and continued to push the fishing net.

Unfortunately, time was running out. Perhaps the sweetfish had already dispersed, or perhaps there were only so many of them. In any case, the harvest in the next few nets dropped sharply, with only about ten fish caught in total.

Deng Zhaocai was right, it is not easy to come across Xiangfei fish.

This fish has a very special habit. In September and October, it starts to swim from the sea to the coastal area, then looks for rivers and enters the rivers to lay eggs. After laying eggs, they die in the rivers. The eggs are washed into the sea and grow up in the ocean. Then the new generation of sweetfish waits until September and October to start looking for rivers, and the cycle continues...

But for some reason, the area of ​​Huagu River and Zhuzi River is not rich in sweetfish. In the final analysis, it may be because the number of wild sweetfish is small.

Liang Ziqiang continued to expand the scope and searched for a while. In the end, he didn't catch any more sweetfish, but he did get a lot of fish, gobies, and sea bass.

Each of these fish weighs about 500 kilograms, much larger than the small sweetfish, which weighs only about 200 kilograms. But in terms of price, they definitely can't compare with the sweetfish...

Anyway, another full basket of fish was dragged to the shore.

As he approached the beach, Liang Ziqiang exclaimed, "What the hell is that little fur ball doing?"

Head down, chewing a small sweetfish seriously? !
Liang Ziqiang hadn't even come close yet, but he was already filled with grief. He was stealing from his employer, which was really disappointing his high hopes.

Do you expect a wasteful thing like this to be used as half a marine dog and accompany him in cage hunting and fishing in the future?
He just wanted to know if Dahuang would still accept the return if he returned the goods now!
The key point is that there was a living person standing next to the puppy, it was Zhang Baomin. When he saw the puppy destroying the fish, he was actually watching with great interest and did not help to stop it.

Zhang Baomin looked up and saw Liang Ziqiang. He was very surprised and smiled at him:
"Qiangzi, where did you get this puppy? It's such a good dog! Seven or eight of your sweetfish jumped out by themselves, and it helped you pick them all up and put them into the bucket. Look, there's only this last one left, and it's still picking them up!"

Liang Ziqiang had already stretched out his leg, but he abruptly stopped kicking:
"What the hell, is it helping to pick up fish?"

As if to prove it to him, the puppy finally managed to hold the small sweetfish steady, leaned over the edge of the bucket with both legs, and even jumped, and actually put the fish back in...

Liang Ziqiang took the fish out of the bucket and took a look. It was still alive, without even a trace of teeth marks on its body.

I don't know how the puppy managed to hold the fish in its mouth without hurting the fish with its teeth.

"Not bad, good dog!"

Liang Ziqiang seemed to have forgotten his misunderstanding of the little fur ball and praised it highly.

What a talent for fishing! The surprise at this moment was even more than the sense of accomplishment brought by half a bucket of small sweetfish.

He felt that the dowry given by Dahuang this time was a bit too heavy!
Li Liang and Deng Zhaocai also ran over and thanked him before going home.

No matter what, it is a great thing for fishermen to have an additional skill of stilt fishing net.

Even if you have a fishing boat at home, a stilt fishing net is still a good addition.

In some months, there are few fish and it is a waste of fuel to go out fishing. Just use a stilt net to catch some shrimps in shallow water, which doesn't cost much anyway.

Sometimes when the fishing boat is taken for repair and people are idle at home, the stilt fishing net can still bring in some income.

After packing up her things and preparing to take the little fur ball home, she saw Chen Xiangbei walking towards her along the beach.

"How did you come?"

"I saw you haven't come back for a long time, so I came to check on you."

Seeing that he was carrying a load of fish on his shoulders and was also carrying stilts, fish baskets and other things which was very inconvenient, Chen Xiangbei helped him take over the sticks and fish baskets and walked together.

Liang Ziqiang started to think as he walked.

I have used more than a dozen nets, and if all the fish are caught, I'm afraid there are more than a hundred sweetfish.

It is difficult to give an exact amount for the time being, but what is certain is that this should be his highest income so far...

(End of this chapter)