1980: I have a spiritual spring

Chapter 13 Earning 90 Yuan a Day

"Second brother, your fishing skills are amazing! How come I never knew you were such a good fisherman before?"

"The most amazing thing is that all the fish my second brother caught were these big ones. How did he do that?"

"No wonder my second brother said that our family would never lack fish again. He had this trick up his sleeve!"

"..."

In the evening, the Qiao siblings gathered around the two large water vats in their home. In each vat, there were seven or eight large fish swimming around. These fish were the most common carp, grass carp, silver carp, and bighead carp, and each fish weighed around seven or eight pounds, and they were very uniform in size.

Qiao Erhe did not answer his younger siblings' questions. He said to his eldest brother, "Big brother, get ready. Tomorrow morning, come with me to pick fish to sell at the commune. I've calculated that the feed we have stored is definitely not enough for the laying hens. I need to catch more fish to sell and stock up on feed so that we don't run out of feed and can't afford to buy more. That would be troublesome."

Qiao Dajiang nodded repeatedly and said, "Okay, I'll go with you to pick fish and sell them at the commune tomorrow."

Qiao Erhe looked at the two water vats in front of him and said, "I need to go catch more fish. Sanduo, you can prepare two more vats. Sihai, you can fetch water."

"Ok."

Qiao Sanduo and Qiao Sihai responded in unison.

It was already dark, but Qiao Erhe still took his fishing rod and basket and prepared to continue "fishing". He had already made up his mind that he would try to catch as many fish as possible in the next few days to sell at the commune, and then stop when he had saved up three or five hundred yuan.

After all, even though he used fishing as a cover, catching twenty or thirty big fish a day was still too exaggerated.

Most importantly, the fish in this river belong to the collective. Villagers usually catch a few to eat, and naturally no one will say anything. But if the news gets out that someone is catching twenty or thirty fish a day, and these fish are all big ones weighing seven or eight pounds, it's hard to guarantee that no one will be jealous and try to sabotage him.

Therefore, catching fish to sell was merely a temporary measure for Qiao Erhe.

To prevent the news from leaking out, before setting off fishing, Qiao Erhe solemnly instructed, "By the way, my fishing is something only family members should know. Don't tell anyone else, lest someone get jealous and report me for embezzling public property, understand?"

Apart from the youngest six and seven siblings, the other siblings all knew the gravity of the situation and said they wouldn't mention it to anyone. The older siblings even gave the youngest six and seven a stern warning, telling them how serious the matter was.

Seeing this, Qiao Erhe felt relieved and took his fishing rod and basket to the riverbank.

……

The next day.

Qiao Erhe woke up just as dawn was breaking.

Currently, the Qiao family owns three houses. One of them is occupied by Fatty Laoba, another by Qiao Sanduo and Qiao Liuduo, and the remaining one is occupied by Qiao Dajiang, Qiao Erhe, Qiao Sihai, Qiao Wuhu, and Qiao Qitan.

The five brothers' room has two beds. Qiao Erhe and Qiao Sihai share one bed, while Qiao Dajiang, Qiao Wuhu, and Qiao Qitan share the other. However, since Qiao Wuhu only stays at home on Saturday nights and usually lives at school, this bed is basically reserved for Qiao Dajiang and Qiao Qitan.

In their past life, when their eldest brother Qiao Dajiang got married, the family didn't have the means to build a new house, so Qiao Sanduo and Qiao Liuduo moved into Fatty Laoba's room and gave up their room for their eldest brother to use as his wedding room.

In this life, Qiao Erhe has made up his mind that when this batch of laying hens starts laying eggs, that will be the time for his Qiao family to start building a new house.

After getting up, Qiao Erhe went to another bed and reached out to wake his older brother.

After the eldest brother got up, the two brothers washed up and then scooped the fish out of the water tank one by one and put them into baskets. When all four baskets were full, they covered them with lids and tied them up. With enough straw, each of them carried a load of fish and headed towards the commune.

It was still early, and no one in the village got up that early, so the two brothers quietly left the village with their fish. The journey from Qiaojiawan to the commune was about three kilometers.

Although Qiao Dajiang and Qiao Erhe walked relatively fast, it still took them more than forty minutes to reach Cenhe Commune.

By this time, it was already broad daylight, and the town's residents were all out buying groceries and having morning drinks. When the two brothers arrived at the main street with the highest foot traffic, the sheer volume of customers there was an eye-opener for Qiao Dajiang.

Qiao Erhe, familiar with the place, led his older brother to the spot where they had set up their stall yesterday, where several people were already waiting.

Upon seeing Qiao Erhe arrive, the waiting people immediately greeted him, saying, "Comrade, you've finally arrived."

"Keeping everyone waiting."

Qiao Erhe greeted the guests, then put down the load on his shoulder, and while untiing the lid of the basket, said, "Same as always, three yuan a piece. Everyone can pick whichever they like; they're all fresh and lively."

Qiao Dajiang put down his load. On the way here, Lao Er had already told him that he had sold fish here yesterday morning, so he wasn't surprised to see this scene. Instead, he followed Lao Er's example and opened the lid of the basket, letting the customers choose what they wanted.

"Comrade, I want this carp and this grass carp."

"Comrade, I want this grass carp."

"Comrade, I want this silver carp."

"Comrade..."

With a few regular customers leading the way, and given that Qiao Erhe's fish were both large and cheap, other customers were quickly attracted to come over.

And so, the scene from yesterday was repeated once again. In less than ten minutes, the two loads of fish, totaling thirty, were sold out. Many customers who came after hearing the news couldn't even get a share. The booming business was the envy of everyone.

Those customers who missed out couldn't help but ask, "Comrade, will you be selling fish again tomorrow?"

Qiao Erhe laughed and said, "If nothing unexpected happens, I will be setting up a fish stall here for the next few days. However, the number of these big fish is limited. Once they are sold out, they will be gone. Those who want to eat fish, please come early tomorrow to queue up."

Only after receiving confirmation did the guests reluctantly depart.

After the guests had all left, Qiao Dajiang said with a look of shock, "Second brother, you made 90 yuan in such a short time?"

Qiao Erhe laughed and said, "That's right, three yuan each, thirty fish sold for exactly 90 yuan."

Qiao Dajiang opened his mouth, speechless with shock. That was 90 yuan! That was equivalent to more than two months' wages for an ordinary worker. Was making money really that easy now?
Seeing this, Qiao Erhe couldn't help but laugh and said, "Brother, don't be fooled by how easy it is to make money. Think about it, besides me, who else can catch so many fish in one night? Catching a few small fish is already pretty good."

Therefore, my method of making money is unique and cannot be copied; others can't learn it even if they wanted to.

Qiao Dajiang seemed to wake from a dream, nodding repeatedly and saying, "Indeed, your amazing fishing skills are unmatched."

Qiao Erhe picked up the basket and said with a smile, "Alright, the fish are sold out. I'll take you for some early morning drinks."

Upon hearing this, Qiao Dajiang's eyes lit up with anticipation, and he immediately picked up the basket and followed the second brother.

(End of this chapter)