Reborn in the Millennium: Building a Fortune from Fishing

Chapter 169 Inquire about the situation
The meadow is the area opposite the Yuxi River. It is a large piece of barren land covered with weeds, with nests of wild rabbits and rabbit holes everywhere.

If you really want to get some wild goods, you have to go there, but it's a bit far and you have to take a detour from the gate.

"Yeah, you can't even get that many rabbits. The kid on the county road is better than you at catching rabbit bows."

"Drink, drink. You act like you can catch rabbits." Seeing that he was being squeezed out, Erhu started to drink directly.

"Haha, if you're anxious, come and drink." Tiedan showed no sign of weakness.

Qin Dahe looked at the two funny guys, smiled slightly, raised his wine and drank a glass.

It is normal that wild products cannot be obtained in the plains. The population density here is too high. It is just easier to get wild fish. The water town in the south of the Yangtze River is not an exaggeration. There are wild rivers and ponds everywhere.

He had heard from Qin's father and others that there wasn't so much land originally, and the Waihe River was not even narrower than the Yuxi River. However, as the land was filled in, there were more farmlands and the river became smaller.

We ate quite quickly tonight because there weren't many dishes, so we finished before eight o'clock. As usual, I helped the kids clean up the house before the three of us went out.

The next morning, Hanwaer followed Qin Dahe to the town to sell fish.

There are quite a lot of goods today, including a grass carp, a black carp, two soft-shelled turtles, and a lot of crucian carp and angding.

He simply rented a stall and started selling fish. After the spring, fish farmers like Wu Ye rarely caught fish.

One reason is that there are few people in the town, so the price of fish is cheap. Another reason is that fish now have seeds, so it’s the same even if you remove the seeds before selling them.

The silly kid divided the miscellaneous fish into eight portions, and threw a loach and some river shrimp into each portion.

After selling so many miscellaneous fish, he became smarter. It is easier to sell pure miscellaneous fish with some good stuff.

Qin Dahe first asked the kid to watch the stall while he walked around, smoked some cigarettes and chatted with other fishmongers.

"Grandpa, what's the price of crucian carp today?"

"Farmed fish are two yuan per pound, and wild fish are four yuan. If you buy more, you won't be able to sell them." The fishmonger took the cigarette with a smile.

As fellow fishmongers, there was nothing difficult about it, especially since Silly Boy sold few and mixed fish, and no one objected at all.

"Is anyone here to collect loaches during this period?"

As it is also a nearby town, they must come here to collect the goods. The goods from one place are not enough.

"Yes, a group of them came yesterday morning. This group of people is really weird. They want goods for ten yuan per pound. Tsk tsk." Grandpa said regretfully.

He doesn't have time to do it because he still has a fish pond to take care of at home.

"Outsiders?"

"Yeah, the accent seems to be from Hubei. I don't know what he's trying to do."

Qin Dahe relaxed his brows and took a deep puff of cigarette. It’s good to be a foreigner, hey!

I'm going back to sell fish. I didn't bring any loaches today, maybe they can be used.

When someone bought some miscellaneous fish, he would give them to the silly kid to deal with, and he would kill some crucian carp, oncorhynchus and other fish himself.

Sales are indeed slow, as people in the countryside are busy with spring plowing at this time.

Black carp, grass carp and crucian carp are easy to sell and are sold out in a short time.

There were also two soft-shelled turtles, which were sold at a slightly lower price. The consumer group for these fish is the urban population, who do not need to do spring plowing.

The other fish sold slowly, and no one even asked about the small catfish.

The sale lasted until after 8 o'clock, and there were still some fish and miscellaneous fish left.
"Kid, let's go. I'll take Anding to my sister." He was too lazy to waste time as he still had to go to Fenghuang Bridge to do some business.

"Oh."

Upon hearing this, the silly kid immediately packed up his things. The two brothers were very confused about the bill and just divided the money in half.

I sold a total of 470 yuan this morning. The turtles and black carp were the biggest sellers, but the other fish have dropped significantly in value.

Qin Dahe didn't even calculate the electricity bill. One of the three ponds' electricity was connected to Waer's house. When he calculated it carefully, the relationship became estranged.

Of course, if my child gets married, that would be a different situation, and life would definitely be different from now.

He threw a few pounds of the stuff to his elder sister and said a few words.

"Sister, do you know who in town buys yellow leather?" He went to ask the leatherworker, but the leatherworker didn't want it either, but it was definitely valuable.

"Yellow skin guy, why are you doing that dirty thing?" The elder sister's heart tightened when she heard it. Although there is no such thing as Wong Tai Sin here, it is still a bit unlucky.

"My kid and I caught two yesterday and I'm looking for a place to sell them."

At this time, Brother Yong also came over. After asking, he found out that he had actually killed a rabbit and two yellow foxes, and he even started complaining.

"Why don't you take me with you? Take me with you next time you go hunting."

He was bored to death guarding the shop every day. He was curious about the motorcycle tricycle when he first got it, and then gave it to his father to ride.

"There are only a few small ponds. If too many people go there, we can't even earn enough wages." He said with a wry smile.

"The yellow fur is to be sold at the county fur shop."

Qin Dahe frowned. He seldom went to the county except to deliver goods. There was a fur shop in Jiuzi, just opposite Scar's shop.

"Forget it, I'll go to Jiuzi to sell it next time."

"Abao, here are some big red dates for you. Let Yanyan take some of them later." Seeing her younger brother about to leave, the elder sister quickly handed the things over.

"Thank you, sister." He smiled and said, "Brother-in-law, if you want to play with a crossbow, I'll get you one. Just don't point it at anyone."

Just as my brother-in-law was about to nod, my eldest sister interrupted him, "He's already so old, and he's still playing with a crossbow. What if he gets hurt? In the future, you should stop playing with such dangerous things."

Qin Dahe nodded in disappointment, pretending he didn't hear it. If he didn't play now, he would not be able to play in a few years.

"Then I'll go first."

As he said that, he took the child into the car. There were already seven passengers gathered here, so he could even subsidize the gas costs.

When you get home, put the transfer box, scale and other things away first, otherwise it would be a disaster if they were stolen when you take them to Fenghuang Bridge.

"Mom, where's my sun protection clothing?"

"Go find your wife in your new house." The old lady said unhappily.

Before I got married, I kept calling her "Mom" and "Mom" every day. Now that I have a wife, I don't want to deal with these little things anymore.

"Oh."

I turned around and went to the new house to find my wife. She should still be grilling something upstairs at this time.

When we got upstairs, Yanyan was roasting chestnuts as expected.

"Brother, do you want to eat sweet potatoes? They are delicious when baked." Yanyan asked him with a smile while holding fried noodles in her arms and watching VCD.

"I won't eat it. I'm going out later. Where did I put the sun protection clothes my mom made for me?"

"I'll get it for you." The little girl clapped her hands, put the dog down and got the clothes.

This sun protection suit is made of gauze that he bought at the department store in Jiuzi, and the cost is not low.

I use double-layer material and asked a tailor to make it. It is both breathable and sun-protective.

"Brother, why are you wearing this? Are you going fishing?"

"I'll ride a motorcycle tricycle to Phoenix Bridge later." He took the sun protection clothing and tried it on. It fit perfectly.

Sunscreen doesn’t just protect against sunburn in summer; the sun in spring and autumn can also tan people.

"Can you go over there and buy me some raw walnuts? I want to roast them myself."

Yanyan hugged him and acted coquettishly, even touching his cheek affectionately. "I know, I will definitely buy it for you, you greedy girl."

"You're greedy too."

The two joked for a while, "Don't feed the dog baked sweet potatoes, it will rot his mouth."

"I know, it's not enough for me to eat." Yanyan nodded.

Rural people still have some common sense. Dogs can't eat this kind of roasted sweet potato.

When he got to the yard, he took more than a pound of loaches and put them on the tricycle. He stepped on the accelerator and set off.

The spring sunshine is just right, it feels warm on my body, and the wind blowing against my face feels cool.

In this weather, riding a motorcycle tricycle is much more comfortable than riding a big tricycle.

There are relatively few shops on the Phoenix Bridge side. After asking, he found out that the person collecting loaches is in the hotel.

There was a large urn next to the inn, and two men were guarding it.

"Brother, I heard that you collect loaches?" He walked straight forward and started to inquire about the information.

"Well, ten yuan per pound, that's a good price. Do you have the goods?" The man handed him a cigarette.

The two men had rather harsh voices and spoke broken Mandarin, and indeed sounded a bit like Hubei people.

"Yes, I caught more than a pound of it yesterday by smoking wild pond cigarettes. It's in the car." He said with a smile, lighting up the cigarette and taking a puff.

"Sell them to us." The man said casually. It is really difficult to collect loaches in this weather.

"Right away, take a break. We've been busy all day." He smiled and asked tentatively, "What are you going to do with these loaches?"

"Ship it to Guangdong, where many people eat it and the price is good."

Qin Dahe curled his lips. It's getting hot in Guangdong now. Will there be a shortage of loaches?

I was very sure that these people were not telling the truth and were probably going to cause trouble.

I looked over to the side and saw a large van parked there. I wanted to go in and take a look, but I had no good reason to do so, so I gave up.

After finishing the cigarette, I found a one and a half pound loach in the net bag in the car, so I took it out and weighed it.

"One catty, four ounces, and six ounces. So, you're worth one and a half catties?"

"Okay, thanks." Qin Dahe looked delighted, as if these few cents were a great bargain. "Open-minded, haha."

"It's no big deal. As long as we can get the loach." The other party said with a smile.

"How many days will it take for you to harvest? I'll go get two more ponds."

"It will take at least a week." After hearing this, the two of them became more friendly towards him.

"Okay, I'll think about it later." Qin Dahe nodded and locked the car. "Brother, I'm going to buy some walnuts on the other side. Please keep an eye on me."

"Don't worry, it's locked even though people are coming and going." The other party said politely.

I can’t forget what my wife told me. I have to go buy some walnuts first.

He thought about it and decided that the group of people who wanted to hunt for loach nests must be on the Phoenix Bridge side. At least there would be much fewer people on the edge of the levee, so they would probably go there to hunt for loach nests in the afternoon.

As for the canal transport area, the population is much larger than here, and there are many people with many eyes.

Just go to the Yuncao across the street and buy some walnuts.
After buying the walnuts, he didn't rush back. He went to the nearby store to buy a pack of cigarettes, and sat there to ask the owner where the two men came from.

He wasn't afraid that the other party would find out. If he came here so conspicuously to catch loaches, there would definitely be a lot of people asking about him.

"These aren't just two people. There are five or six people in their two cars. The small truck in the back is also theirs." The boss took the cigarette from Qin Dahe and said mysteriously, "I don't know what this group of people are doing. They even have a lot of turtle guns in the car."

"Haha, he's probably a peddler." He said casually.

Lure fishing is a standard for fishing in large rivers. Nowadays, there are no ten-meter rods. Besides, such a long rod will be slow to retrieve fish, and it will take half a day to catch the fish.

This group of people are carrying turtle guns, they must be going to the loach nest.

"What do they do every day? Just collect goods?" Taking a deep puff of cigarette, he was thinking about how to find the hideout.

"I don't know either. I went east yesterday afternoon."

"Haha, so that's it." Qin Dahe thought about it and felt that the other party should be raising a nest.

He didn't know the specific operation, but he knew that a wide open water surface was necessary to accommodate a large number of predatory fishes patrolling around.

I looked around and there was no place else to hide. If I kept staring at the other person, he would definitely become suspicious, so I decided to go back and change cars.

After putting out his cigarette, he went to say hello to the loach collector.

"Brother, let's go back."

"Okay, remember to sell it to us when you have goods." The other party nodded with a smile.

He chuckled, ignited the three-wheeled motorcycle and left.

An hour later, a large tricycle stopped stealthily a short distance away.

Qin Dahe changed his clothes and took off his sunglasses, so the other party might not recognize him even if they saw him in person.

Sitting on the tricycle is not so conspicuous. He just needs to wait until the other party goes to the hideout and keep an eye on them here.

If these guys were setting up the bait in the middle of the night, then we would have to wait until they started fishing before looking for them. There was no point in hiding along the embankment of the Yuxi River.

As for why this group of people did not go to the riverside, it was probably because they were afraid of conflicts with fishing boats in the Yangtze River.

He had heard from Scar that the fishing boats on the river bank were divided into gangs, each with its own fishing area, and it was normal for those who crossed the line to be drowned in the river.

If these outsiders were to go fishing in the loach nests of the Yangtze River, they would be visited the next day.

After waiting for a while, the other party still didn't move, so he drove to the front to find a dining boat to eat.

Anyway, just keep an eye on the cars, a small truck and a van, and you will always find it if you look along the embankment.

After dinner, we got in the car and drove back, but we found that the van was gone, but the fish collector was still there.

Hey, are you out fishing? That's a catch.

He turned around and headed straight for Sancha River, speeding along the way as if he had something urgent to do.

The tricycle is not as fast as the van, so if the other party finishes it, it will be a waste of time.

When we were almost at the collapse area, we finally saw a van parked on the side of the road.

This place is about one kilometer away from where he went fishing before the New Year. Just walk a little further and turn a corner and you will arrive. The place is quite well chosen.

There is abundant food in the collapsed area, which can attract predatory fish and retain them, allowing them to continue fighting for a period of time.

He looked down along the embankment and saw two men pouring something into the water, but he couldn't see clearly from a distance.

But are these bastards still waiting for a spawning season? Are they pouring loaches into the water every day?

He has never been to a loach nest, so he doesn't know the details, but he should be able to fish there now, right?
If you can't figure it out, don't think about it. You have to go back and gather people. After fishing, you have to notify the fishermen who transport the grain.

It’s a pity that this fishing spot in Sancha River will definitely be abandoned in the future, including this entire river section. It will be difficult to fish in the next year.

Fishermen don’t care. If they can’t catch fish in this place, they can go to Longwangguai, a little further ahead. The river channel of more than 30 miles will not be affected.

But the fishermen are in trouble. If they can't catch any fish nearby, they have to sail their boats to farther places, and the fishing costs will rise sharply.

(End of this chapter)