1940s: I supported my wife and sister-in-law by hunting.

The two of them took turns catching fish, and in no time they had caught more than ten large fish, which they piled up on the ice, each one lively and jumping around. Taking a short break, Qian Zhuizi leaned against the shovel.

"The old folks in the village often say that about twenty years ago, when we were winter fishing, we caught a sturgeon weighing over two hundred pounds! That was a rare catch. In the past, it was reserved for the emperor. It took five or six strong young men a lot of effort to pull it up!"

Chen Gaoshan listened in disbelief. He was a native of the black soil region, and the fish he ate most often were common fish such as three-scaled carp, carp, crucian carp, and bighead carp.

He pressed for more information out of curiosity.

"Hey, have you ever eaten sturgeon?"

Qian Zhuizi scratched his head and gave a simple, honest smile.

"Such a big and rare thing, how could we possibly have the chance to eat it? But all the fish in our river are delicious. Take, for example, the old man fish stewed with eggplant. Your sister-in-law makes this dish the best in the village; it's so fragrant you could swallow your tongue!"

Chen Gaoshan immediately became interested when food was mentioned.

"That's a deal! When your sister-in-law makes braised fish and eggplant, you have to let me know so I can come and have a taste of the hot dish!"

"That's no problem! When the vegetables are in season in the summer, my family still has nets. We'll take you down to the river then, and you can catch as much as you want!"

While the two were chatting, all the ice caves were gradually completed.

The fishing leader, Chen Laosan, immediately got to work, taking a long wooden pole and starting to cast the line and thread the needle – the most crucial step in winter fishing. Relying on the buoyancy of the wooden pole in the water, and with the thin line, he threaded the net from one ice hole to another, gradually pulling it underwater, laying it out in the area where the fish gathered, and finally connecting it to the fish's outlet, waiting for everyone to work together to haul in the net.

With everything ready, Chen Laosan raised his voice and called out to all the villagers, young and old.

"Gentlemen of Nangou Village, don't just sit there, come and get the baskets ready!"

Upon hearing the fishmonger's call, Chen Gaoshan immediately gripped the fishing net rope in his hand and followed behind Qian Zhuizi.

Logically speaking, when setting up fishing nets in winter, horses should be harnessed to help with the effort, but Second Uncle saw that the ice surface was frozen smooth and slippery, and he absolutely refused to use horses.

This horse is the village's prized possession. If it slips and breaks its leg, who will do the heavy work? No one can afford the loss. Since there are plenty of strong young men in the village, we'll just have everyone pull the net by hand.

The fish leader stood at the edge of the fish outlet and shouted a powerful call at the top of his lungs.

"Gentlemen and children of the village, listen up!"

"Let's not meddle in other people's business!"

"Hey!"

"There's strength in numbers!"

"Grab it with your hands, heave a strong heave, see your second sister-in-law's cotton-padded trousers waistband? Heave a strong heave, take a step, heave a heave, your sister-in-law is wearing a red cloth belt!"

They were all villagers, and these slightly joking shouts were just to cheer everyone up. More importantly, they used the shouts to find the rhythm, so that dozens of people could work together in unison and pull even the heaviest net more easily.

Chen Gaoshan mingled in the net-pulling team, his hands gripping the rough hemp rope, following the rhythm of the chants, leaning back with all his might, pulling backward.

Perhaps it was the anticipation of fresh fish and the excitement of winter fishing that made him feel energetic, even though it was strenuous work.

Just as everyone was working together and pulling with increasing enthusiasm, the fishing net, which had been moving slowly, suddenly froze, and no matter how hard they pulled, it wouldn't move.

As if being held tightly by something, several people almost stumbled and fell due to the sudden exertion of too much force.

Upon seeing this, Fish Leader's face darkened, and he quickly raised his hand.

"Stop, everyone! Don't pull too hard, you've definitely scraped something down there!"

Qian Zhuizi then moved closer to Chen Gaoshan and whispered something in a low voice.

"Oh no, judging by this, the net is caught, and someone has to go into the water to remove it."

The most dangerous part of winter fishing is going into the water to remove the bait.

Nine times out of ten, the fishing net gets caught on rocks, icicles, or old tree stumps at the bottom of the water. If you don't untangle it, the whole net will be ruined. But the river water is so cold that a person can be frozen solid in half a minute. If you can't find an ice hole and come up on time, something bad will happen.

Chen Gaoshan's heart skipped a beat. He was wondering who would do the work when he heard the fish foreman's voice.

"Take off the hanging ornaments!"

He quickly turned to ask the money pendant beside him.

"Brother Zhui Zi, who's going down to take the pendant down?"

"According to the old rules of our Nangou Village fishing team, the dangerous work is done by the team members in shifts. Whoever just joined the team this year will take their place. We just contribute our strength and help out. After pulling in the net, we get a few fish. The fishing team is responsible for taking the fish to town to sell and making a big share of the profits, so they naturally have to take on the risks."

After hearing this, Chen Gaoshan finally felt relieved, as long as he didn't have to go into the water.

That day, someone slipped naked into an ice hole; even if they didn't die, they would freeze to death.

It might turn into an ice pop and become unusable.

On the other side, Xiao Kouzi, who had just joined the village's fishing team this year, trembled all over when he heard the words "removing the hooks". His face turned pale instantly and his lips trembled.

This child is only sixteen years old, and he hasn't grown tall enough yet. He's thin and small, and looks like a good-for-nothing.

He lost his father at a young age and lived a very hard life. Last December, his mother also passed away from illness. He couldn't even afford a coffin and had to buy one on credit from the coffin shop at the village entrance, promising to pay back the money after he planted and sold the grain the following spring.

At that moment, he was so frightened that his hand went limp, and he immediately let go of the fishing net, taking several steps back in a panic.

The fish's head gaze fell on him.

"This is the usual rule, Little Button, get down here now!"

Xiao Kouzi trembled even more violently, her eyes were red and swirling with tears, and she pleaded in a sobbing voice.

"Boss, I can't go down there! I still have a younger sister to support, and when my mother passed away, she still owed money to the coffin shop! If I die in this river, my sister and the others will have to be taken to the coffin shop to pay off the debt. As her older brother, I won't be able to die in peace!"

Xiao Kouzi knelt straight down on the ice and kowtowed several times in a row.

The ice was frozen solid.

Chen Gaoshan stood in the crowd. He was never a selfless philanthropist; he had his own moral compass.

Let alone the fact that this involves diving naked into an ice hole to retrieve fish, that could be deadly. Even if you don't want the fish, you'll still need to eat.

He couldn't possibly risk his life.

Although he felt bad seeing the teenager kneeling and kowtowing, he couldn't be more tender-hearted than his own life. He had elderly parents and a wife to support, and he couldn't afford to have anything happen to him.

······