Reborn in 78, I made my fortune by working in the mountains, supporting three families on my own.

Not long after, the four Zhao brothers met again.

This time it's not hunting, it's fishing!

Zhao Lei wasn't very familiar with fishing, as he was better at hunting in the mountains.

On the contrary, Wang Zongbao was more experienced in this area than the others.

When he was a child, he often went out to herd cattle with his grandfather, and they herded water buffalo, often by the river.

While Niu'er bathed and swam in the water, he would fish and catch fish with his grandfather by the river, even diving into the water to catch fish, thus developing a skill in catching fish.

These fishing nets were all brought from home by Wang Zongbao.

Perhaps Zhao Lei had activated his beginner protection mode, because in the pouring rain, he grabbed a net and scooped it up into the water plants.

As soon as I lifted the net, I felt something thrashing around inside and exclaimed, "Hey? I've loaded my goods!"

Qin Bowen, who was standing nearby, exclaimed, "What the heck! Brother-in-law! You still say you have no experience? I just spent over ten minutes here with my older brother, and all we got were small fish and shrimp."

Zhao Lei carefully lifted the net onto the shore, and everyone then saw that there was a large silver carp weighing four or five pounds in the net, which was very eye-catching as it was jumping around.

Zhao Lei shouted excitedly, "Where's the bucket? Hurry up and bring the bucket, don't let it get away!"

Wang Zongbao suddenly popped his head out from the paddy field ridge and hurriedly called out to Zhao Lei, "Brother Lei! Put the fish here with me, I've dug a puddle to enclose them first."

Zhao Lei picked up the fish and quickly ran over, placing them in the puddle.

He then realized that the puddle was dug out by Wang Zongbao using the paddy field ridges and loose soil.

They dug out a puddle that was nearly a meter deep.

When he released the big silver carp, there were already two or three grass carp swimming inside.

Seeing the impressive mud wall that Wang Zongbao had built, I couldn't help but give him a thumbs up.

"Zongbao, your cooking skills are impressive!"

"Hehe, Brother Lei, you flatter me. My grandpa taught me all this. Putting this big fish in the bucket might hurt it, and it won't live long if we take it back. We can use a puddle to enclose it, and we can hold as many as we want."

After we finish catching the fish, we'll take them all back. If we catch a lot, we can sell some. If not, we'll share them among our families.

Zhao Lei nodded repeatedly, feeling that what Wang Zongbao said made a lot of sense.

If they're lucky and catch a lot of fish, but get injured and bring them home to die, they won't be able to sell them for a good price.

This method of creating a puddle is both space-saving and practical.

After releasing the bighead carp, Wang Zongbao finished repairing the pond and checked the drainage ditches on the nearby field ridges; they wouldn't be washed away.

He built a mud wall, and then walked towards the river, satisfied.

"Brother Lei, you still say you can't fish? We just got to the river and you caught one this big, bigger than the two grass carp I caught!"

"Haha, Zongbao, this is my newbie protection period. I might have to load a big truck later."

"Then hurry up! Brother Lei, we need to catch as many fish as possible before the river rises and washes away the weeds. These fish are hiding near the weeds right now."

Zhao Lei didn't hesitate either. He, along with the Qin brothers and Wang Zongbao, each took a landing net and began scooping fish from the water plants.

Zhao Lei found that Wang Zongbao was right; as long as the net was pulled under the rising water plants, a considerable number of fish could be caught.

There are crucian carp, grass carp, silver carp, and even yellow catfish and grass carp...

Qin Bowen suddenly shouted, "Wait! Brother-in-law Zongbao, look, I caught a mud turtle!"

Seeing this, the others were not to be outdone and began to work hard to catch fish in the water.

Before they had been busy for long, although everyone was wearing straw hats and raincoats, they were already soaked through.

So he simply took off the straw hat and raincoat that were in the way.

With their bodies lighter, they moved more nimbly, and some fish that were about to escape were caught by them.

Qin Dashan scooped up a few crabs and was about to throw them into the puddle when Wang Zongbao stopped him.

"Brother Dashan, put the crabs and lobsters in the bucket, otherwise they'll hurt the fish."

"Oh, thank you for reminding me, Zongbao."

The morning passed.

The four brothers all had a good harvest; the small pond, about a meter square, was full of fish swimming around.

The murky muddy water obscured the fish, but their black backs suggested a good catch.

It wasn't until Qin Dashan started sneezing repeatedly and couldn't take it anymore that he waved his hand and said, "Oh dear, I'm getting old, I can't keep this up. You guys keep fishing, I'll skewer the fish."

Bringing so many fish back home is no easy task.

Qin Dashan had already cut down some bamboo strips and kept them nearby, just in time to use them.

He put his straw hat and raincoat back on, and by the pond, he used bamboo strips to thread through the fish gills and hung all the big fish on bamboo poles.

By the time he finished, both rows of bamboo poles were covered with hanging baskets.

Some small fish were put into buckets, and both buckets were filled to the brim.

On one side, there was a bucket containing shrimp, crabs, soft-shelled turtles, eels, and loaches.

On the other side was a bucket containing small fish and crucian carp.

When the brothers finished their work, they came over and all laughed heartily with satisfaction.

That morning alone, they caught nearly 100 kilograms of fish.

Zhao Lei said, "I think that's enough. The rain is getting heavier and the river is rising, so it's not as easy to fish as before. Let's go back first."

"Yes, that makes sense."

Where to go back has become a headache for the brothers.

With so many fish, we need to find a large pond or well tank to keep them.

Zhao Lei looked at it and said, "Let's go to my house! There's an abandoned bluestone well in my yard, it's not used anymore."

Qin Dashan chimed in, "Perfect timing! My sister and a few of my brothers' wives can help out by processing these small fish and shrimp."

Qin Bowen also said, "Yes, let's go to my brother-in-law's house. If we go back now looking like drowned rats, I reckon our dad will beat me to death."

The crowd burst into laughter.

After the laughter subsided, everyone reached a consensus.

They went in pairs, each carrying a bamboo pole laden with fish, towards Zhao Lei's house.

As I passed by the doors of many neighbors' houses, an old man who was smoking under the eaves saw this scene and shouted at the top of his lungs from afar.

"Hey, Dashan, Leizi, you guys went fishing? You've got quite a catch!"

"Yes, Uncle Liu, there are lots of fish when the water rises."

The old man, known as Uncle Six, waved to them hurriedly: "Lei Zi! Hey, Uncle Six is ​​too old to get wet in the rain. I'll trade you my food coupons for a fish to eat."

Zhao Lei glanced at everyone, and they all nodded and replied loudly, "Okay, Sixth Uncle."

So, he and Qin Bowen carried the bamboo pole to Uncle Liu's door, where Uncle Liu traded their crumpled grain coupons for a large bluefish.

In terms of value, Zhao Lei and his family lost a little, but since they were neighbors and related by marriage, it wasn't a big deal.

"Alright, thank you, Bowen and Leizi, at least the old man still has fish to eat."