Back to my 1980s

Ah, there are fish!

Zhao Ru was overjoyed and exclaimed with a smile, "Brother, I saw a fish!"

Zhao Hua applied a little force with his hand: "Move to the side a little, don't get your clothes dirty."

With a happy expression, Zhao Ru nodded obediently and took a few steps back while carrying the tin bucket.

Seeing that Zhao Ru had retreated to the grass, Zhao Hua tossed the fishing net into the water.

The fish in the net, now out of the water, were thrashing about desperately inside.

Zhao Hua curled the corners of his mouth, bent down, and leaned forward to examine the harvest in the net bag, saying, "Pass the bucket over."

Even though it was just a trial run, who wouldn't be happy to see some results?

Hearing Zhao Hua's words, Zhao Ru stepped forward, put the bucket on the ground, and looked at the struggling fish: "Brother, what kind of fish are there?"

Zhao Hua straightened the net in his hand and shook it downwards, and the fish fell to the ground with the force of the pull.

He squatted down and pressed the fish one by one into the bucket: "Crucian carp, whitebait, these are the kinds of fish that are mostly found on the shore."

Fish that are worth a little money live in deep water and don't often come ashore.

Only these small fish like to go to the riverbank, whether they have something to do or not.

After her brother finished picking up the fish, Zhao Ru squatted down, stretched her neck, and counted the fish in the bucket: "Two crucian carp and six whitebait. There are so many whitebait!"

Zhao Hua, without turning his head, straightened the fishing net: "That's right, but whitebait isn't worth much, nobody wants to eat it. Let's take it home and dry it into fish jerky."

The white-striped catfish has a slender, laterally compressed body, resembling a willow leaf. Its back is bluish-gray, while its sides and belly are silvery-white. Its tail fin is grayish-black, and its scales are thin and easily detached. In some places, it is also called a "meal catfish." It cannot survive long out of water and has many spines. In later generations, it was generally dried, fried, and eaten with the spines. Now, oil is precious, so it is dried, steamed, and eaten.

Zhao Ru nodded upon hearing this, not disappointed at all; gaining something was better than nothing.

"Step back a bit, let me cast a few more nets and see if I can gather more to send to the purchasing station."

There were purchasing stations at the dock, but the prices were lower than if you sold them at the market yourself. They were state-run, and only later, when there were more boats, did a few private purchasing stations emerge.

Zhao Hua saw that his younger sister had already hunched over and moved the bucket to the side, and was playing with the fish in the bucket.

He twisted his neck, stared at the water, thought for a moment, changed his position, and cast the net out again.

Zhao Ru's attention was drawn to the sound of the fishing net falling into the water. The fish in the bucket stopped playing and watched the net slowly sink into the water, beginning to look forward to what the next catch would be.

After the fishing net sank completely into the water, Zhao Hua pulled it up. The rope tightened and tightened, and the net slowly emerged from the water. Suddenly, a fish with a distinctly different color splashed in the water.

Zhao Ru, with her sharp eyes, ran up excitedly, shouting, "Brother! It looks like a mandarin fish has been caught in the net!"

Zhao Hua stared at the net, looking left and right, and said, "Really? I don't see it?"

"I'm not sure, it looks like it to me, we'll know once we pull it up."

"good!"

Sure enough, once the hand-thrown net was completely pulled out of the water, a fish stood out, jumping and wriggling in the net.

Its bluish-brown stripes are particularly striking in the sunlight, its back is arched, and its dorsal fin stands upright.

Zhao Hua was delighted. In later generations, a wild mandarin fish weighing about two pounds would be worth a hundred yuan or so, and it probably wouldn't be cheap even now.

He quickly stepped forward, carefully avoiding the sharp dorsal fin, firmly held the fish's body, grabbed it, and threw it into the bucket.

"Brother! It really is a mandarin fish!" Zhao Ru exclaimed excitedly, running to the bucket and staring at the brightly patterned fish inside. "Brother! How much is this fish worth?"

Zhao Hua picked up the remaining fish from the net and threw them into the bucket, saying as he did so, "I'm not sure either. Let's clean them up and send them to the purchasing station first; the live ones are more valuable."

"Okay!" Zhao Ru replied crisply, obediently following her brother who had finished packing his things towards the dock. They hadn't gone far when they encountered Zhao's mother, who had come out looking for them out of concern.

Zhao's mother quickly stepped forward, gently poked at the tin bucket in Zhao Hua's hand, and glanced inside: "Looks like quite a lot, what did you catch?"

Zhao Hua, carrying a bucket, nodded to his mother and went to the dock to report: "Five crucian carp, not very big, maybe a little over a pound each. There are also some small miscellaneous fish that I'll dry for myself."

Following behind, Zhao's mother thought to herself that a pound of crucian carp was worth a few cents, and they had only been out for a short while. It was still better than carrying heavy loads at the dock.

"We even caught a mandarin fish in the net!" Zhao Ru added from the side.

"Oh? A mandarin fish? You caught one too?" Zhao's mother was overjoyed, and the joy was evident on her face. She quickly stepped forward, took the bucket, and shook it a few times. Sure enough, she saw a bright mandarin fish lying quietly among the other fish. Seeing this, she shook it gently again, and the mandarin fish was suddenly startled. With a sudden burst of strength from its tail fin, it sprang high into the air with a "thud," struggling wildly in the bucket, splashing water everywhere.

Zhao's mother handed the bucket back to Zhao Hua, casually patting the water off her hands, and said, "Then you two hurry up and deliver it to the dock. Come back for dinner after you've sold it all. I won't go with you."

After saying that, she took the fishing net off Zhao Hua's shoulder and turned to walk back.

Zhao Hua and Zhao Ru rushed to the dock. The mandarin fish was 1.6 jin and 2.2 yuan per jin. They sold it for 3.52 yuan and the crucian carp for 0.5 yuan. They gave the two cents change to their younger sister.

He happily put the four yuan into his pocket, while Zhao Ru also happily kept her two cents.

"Thanks, we'll head back now. We'll deliver again next time we have goods."

After saying hello, I walked back with my younger sister.

When I got home, my mother was already waiting at the door.

"You're back. How much did you sell it for?"

"Four yuan!"

"How come it sold for such a low number..."

"I've given two cents to my little sister. Oh, why are you so concerned about that? You're not satisfied with the money you're making. Hurry up and eat, I'm starving." Zhao Hua handed the bucket to his little sister and pushed his mother into the house.

After finishing his meal, Zhao Hua went inside to take a shower, leaned against the headboard, crossed his legs, and stared at the ceiling, silently making plans in his mind.

I made four yuan today just by trying it out online. If I cast the net a few times into deeper water, I don't know how much I could catch.

With this thought, he suddenly felt full of energy and motivation. Zhao Hua turned over and lay down, and soon fell into a deep sleep.

……

……

The next morning, before dawn, when all around was pitch black, Zhao Hua quietly got up. He had already packed his things the night before, and he could leave as soon as he picked them up this morning.

He gripped the fishing net and bucket he had prepared beforehand, and tiptoed to gently push open the door. The cool morning air, carrying dew, rushed towards him, instantly sweeping away the last trace of his drowsiness.

The village was eerily quiet; not even a rooster crowed, and the sky remained a thick, impenetrable darkness. Zhao Hua followed the familiar dirt path in the dark, hurrying towards the river.

After walking for a few minutes, he could vaguely hear the sound of the river water lapping against the bank. With the help of the faint light emitted by the moon, Zhao Hua found his boat, which was tied to a tree trunk.

He put the buckets, fishing nets, and fish traps he was holding onto the boat, untied the ropes from the tree trunk, and gently pushed the boat toward the center of the river. As soon as the boat was a little away from the shore, Zhao Hua jumped aboard.