Back to my 1980s

The Zhao Family Courtyard.

The country roads are all wet, soft yellow mud. The wheels are constantly covered with thick mud, and you have to stop every now and then to clean the mud off the wheels.

It took the two of them a great deal of effort to drag the cartload of fish into the yard.

Zhao Hua stood in front of the cart, stamping the yellow mud off his feet. There must be three or four hundred catties of fish on this cart. It was very enjoyable to catch them, but now how to store them has become a problem.

He had reached his limit of keeping 50 or 60 pounds of fish in one tank, so he scratched his head and put the matter aside for the time being.

He ran to Zhao Zhenghong and Zhao Zhengze's house and borrowed all the baskets. Then he and Zhao Ru squatted down by the cart and began sorting the full cart of fish. Fortunately, it was raining, so the fish wouldn't die easily on the cart in a short time.

They first sorted out a basket of crucian carp. Zhao Hua put the crucian carp into the water tank. He stared at the remaining fish in front of him. The carnivorous fish that were worth some money were not allowed to be put together with the herbivorous fish, so they were put into the water bucket. Otherwise, who knows how many crucian carp would have perished overnight.

After sorting for a while, the wooden buckets and water tanks in the house were already at their limit. If any more fish were put in, they would all suffocate and die in less than a night.

Zhao Ru looked at the remaining fish on the cart, then glanced at Zhao Hua, and said, "Brother, what should we do with the rest of the fish? Won't they all die by tomorrow morning if we just leave them like this overnight?"

He looked at the water plants on the cart and said nothing.

Zhao Ru racked her brains and said, "How about we dig a pit and store it there first?"

Zhao Hua rolled his eyes and said, "Where are we going to dig it? The yard is only so big. How big of a pit would it need to hold all these fish? Are we going to dig it outside? Not to mention the weasels, what if someone sneaks some pesticide into the pit? Are you going to stay up all night guarding it?"

Zhao Hua hadn't forgotten that scoundrel Wang Gang. If he really dug a pit outside the yard to raise fish, Wang Gang might hear about it from someone and sneak over in the middle of the night to put pesticides in. Things in the village can't be kept secret for long; any little rumor would spread throughout the whole village in no time.

"Should we borrow buckets and water tanks from our eldest and second eldest brothers' houses?" Zhao Ru frowned and asked softly.

"No, they need water too. If you borrow it, what will they use to hold it? Your sister-in-law will scold you behind your back."

"Shall we go and sell some in other villages now?"

"If we go now, by the time we get to someone else's village, they'll have already finished their dinner. What would they want dried fish for then?"

"What should we do then?" She couldn't think of any good solutions either; she couldn't just leave it on the cart like that.

Zhao Hua pursed his lips, went back into the inner room, took out a handful of coins, and said to Zhao Ru, "You pick these up first, I'm going out for a bit."

After saying that, he ignored Zhao Ru's follow-up questions about where he was going and went straight out to the convenience store.

He went to the village store, bought a pound of nylon rope, paid 1.2 yuan, and then borrowed scissors from Old Man Chen at the store to cut out two five-meter-long sections of rope.

Then he ran to the riverbank, scooped up a large pile of water plants, tied them up with a cut nylon rope, and carried them home.

When they got home, Zhao Ru saw that he was carrying two large clumps of water plants and a roll of nylon rope in his hands, and asked in surprise, "Brother, why did you bring back so much water plant and rope?"

Seeing that all the baskets were already filled with fish, he casually put the water plants on the ground and said, "We'll need them later, so let's sort out the fish first." After saying that, he squatted down and helped Zhao Ru sort them out.

It took the two of them half an hour to sort all the fish, leaving the cheap, low-value ones, like whitebait and bitterling, piled up in a corner.

All the fish that were worth anything were placed in the basket. Zhao Ru, who had been holding back her questions for a long time, finally seized the opportunity to speak up after finishing her work: "Brother! You still haven't said why you brought back so much waterweed!"

Zhao Hua didn't keep anyone in suspense and casually mentioned raising fish. He then poured a basket of fish out onto the ground, laid water plants at the bottom of the basket, and then spread the fish from another basket into the basket with the water plants. He did this to all the baskets.

Seeing him fiddling around, Zhao Ru watched silently without saying a word, helping to distribute the aquatic plants. Only after the last basket was cleared and lined with aquatic plants did Zhao Hua rinse the fish that had been placed on the ground and put them in.

After all the fish were packed, he went inside, took out a pair of scissors, tied the nylon rope to the baskets, pulled it from the opening to the other side and tied it, then cut it short with the scissors. He tied four or five ropes to the surface of each basket.

Finally, they took the remaining aquatic plants from the side and the cart and covered the basket full of fish with them.

Zhao Ru busied herself with the work, and only after everything was covered did she ask, "Won't the fish die this way?"

Zhao Hua found a few sticks and stuck them into the mud, laughing, "Haven't you seen the water plants you dredge up from the riverbank? Even if you leave them to dry in the sun on the bank for half a day, and then kick them away, the fish hiding inside are still alive and well, right?"

Zhao Ru recalled for a moment, and it seemed to be true. She then asked, "Then why use a rope to block the water plants? Wouldn't it have been easier to just cover them up?"

He pulled a nylon rope, tied one end to a wooden stick, threaded it through the two fish baskets one after the other, tightened the rope, and then tied the other end to the wooden stick on the opposite side.

Despite being busy with his work, he still managed to answer Zhao Ru's question, saying, "Because it's raining, the water plants will be washed away. The water plants themselves are also very heavy, and if you just cover them up, all the fish will be crushed to death."

Seeing that the problem that had troubled her for half a day had been solved, Zhao Ru walked forward with a smile and reached out to help Zhao Hua tie the rope.

After all the fish baskets were hung up, Zhao Hua straightened up and looked at the fish baskets hanging all over the yard. He and Zhao Ru walked to the water tank, scooped out water and washed their hands. It was better than leaving these fish in the yard.

After washing his hands, Zhao Hua picked up the nylon rope from the ground and put it in his east wing. He also took out the coins he had left over from buying the rope from his pocket and put them in a drawer. Then he changed into some dry clothes and went out.

Zhao Ru kept staring at the baskets hanging in the yard. After looking at one basket, she would move on to another and stare at it, her face full of excitement and curiosity.

Seeing this, Zhao Hua shook his head and smiled at Zhao Ru, "I'm going to the river to take a look. Do you want to come?"

Hearing this, Zhao Ru turned her head and looked over, her eyes smiling, and said, "Why go to the river now? The road is all muddy, and I reckon Mother will be back to cook soon."

"When I went to the river to collect water plants, I saw many people casting nets on the bank. I wanted to see how much they had collected," he said, putting on his raincoat.

Zhao Ru's eyes lit up, and she exclaimed excitedly, "I'm going too!"

She had finally managed to catch so many fish, and on the way back she had been secretly wondering how many others had caught, but she had been so busy that she had forgotten about it. Now, after Zhao Hua reminded her, she couldn't help but feel itchy again.

Zhao Hua put on his raincoat and slowly walked towards the river. Zhao Ru followed behind him, her face still beaming with excitement.

When the two arrived at the riverbank, the villagers on the shore saw them, exchanged a few pleasantries with smiles, and then turned back to fishing.

Zhao Hua strolled slowly along the riverbank, his gaze sweeping over the buckets, the largest of which weighed just over thirty pounds.