Era: Seven money-losing girls? They're trying to trick me into having a daughter again!

"young married woman……"

Just as Fang Wei was pressing down on Wu Shaoli, ready to enjoy himself, that familiar notification sound suddenly rang in his mind.

[Daily Report: Due to changes in upstream water temperature and the arrival of the breeding season, a large-scale migration of wild river shrimp is expected to occur in the shallows of the Kakuyama Wild River from 23:00 PM tonight until 1:00 AM. The number of shrimp is astonishing.]

Holy crap! Why did it only appear at this hour?!

Fang Wei was wondering why he hadn't received any new information all day; turns out he was waiting for these shrimp!

Jiaoshan is a mountain peak located far to the east of Laotang Village, with a wild river flowing at its foot.

Villagers would occasionally go there to catch some small fish and shrimp for a treat, but the river's fish and shrimp yield wasn't high, so not many people went there.

Could it be a "large-scale migration and gathering"?

Although Fang Wei wasn't involved in the fishing industry, he still knew some basic common sense.

River shrimp migrating is practically like a windfall!

The window of opportunity is extremely short; once it's gone, it's gone!

But if you can catch that wave, you won't be catching shrimp with a net, you'll be filling sacks with them!

The restaurants in town always buy as many fresh wild river shrimp as they can get, and as long as they are fresh and plentiful, they will offer a very high price!

Fang Wei looked at Wu Shaoli, who was half-undressed and looking at him with a shy expression, and sighed in despair: "Wife... I have to go to work."

Jiaoshan is quite remote, and nobody goes there in the middle of the night.

Seeing Fang Wei suddenly sit up and put on his clothes, Wu Shaoli quickly straightened her own clothes and asked, "What's wrong?"

"There are fresh river shrimp over at Jiaoshan; I need to go catch some."

After getting dressed, Fang Wei began rummaging through drawers and cupboards at home, trying to find the old fishing nets he used to use.

"What are you looking for? A fishing net?"

Wu Shaoli knew he was going to do something important, so she got out of bed and followed him, saying, "I remember the fishing net at home has been rotten for a long time, it might not be usable anymore."

"Let's find it and take a look."

Fang Wei rummaged around for a while and finally pulled out several old fishing nets left by his father from under a pile of rags and rotten cotton.

Two of them are fine-mesh nets, specially designed for catching small fish and shrimp. The mesh is only about the size of a little fingernail, which is just right!

However, there are several holes in the fishing net, the largest of which is about the size of a palm.

Without saying a word, Fang Wei rummaged through Wu Shaoli's sewing basket and found several skeins of hemp thread and a large needle, and began mending the net with practiced ease.

Are there many river shrimp?

Watching from the side, Wu Shaoli thought for a moment and then said, "If there are enough, you...would you like to ask your older brother to come along?"

"There should be quite a lot."

Fang Wei remembered the intelligence report that the number of river shrimp was astonishing, and said to Wu Shaoli, "Wife, go find my older brother now and tell him to bring all the shrimp-catching equipment, and also tell him to bring someone with him."

Even if he could stay there and fish for two hours by himself, he probably wouldn't be able to catch much. It would be better to invite a few more villagers to go together, which would also improve his reputation in the village.

"After I've finished getting things ready, I'll go find Yang Qian. You can have your older brother wait for us at the intersection on the way to Jiaoshan."

"Okay! I'll go find my older brother right now!"

Wu Shaoli was also happy to see Fang Wei get close to the villagers. Although many people had spoken ill of their family behind their backs, quite a few people had also helped them.

"It's dark outside, please be careful."

Fang Wei continued working, offering a word of advice.

Wu Shaoli nodded, and after making sure she was dressed properly, she tidied her hair and went out.

After she left, Fang Wei quickly repaired the fishing net and then went to find a few sturdy bamboo baskets.

The bamboo basket was also left by his father. It was woven very tightly, and the bamboo strips at the bottom were still intact. It wouldn't leak when filled with water or shrimp.

He checked each basket one by one and tightened the loose bamboo strips in several places.

Fishing nets and bamboo baskets alone are not enough; wild river shrimp prefer fermented, sweet-smelling bait.

Fang Wei ran to the kitchen and found some cornmeal, then took half a bowl of rice wine. He mixed the cornmeal and rice wine together, kneaded it into several fist-sized balls, and wrapped them in oil paper.

Fang Wei sorted out the things he needed to bring.

Two mended fine-mesh fishing nets were placed in a bamboo basket. The three sturdy bamboo baskets were strung together with hemp rope for easy carrying.

A packet of specially made rice wine and cornmeal bait, and a flashlight.

This flashlight is quite rare in the village. Fang Wei bought it specifically when he went to town last time, and it cost him more than three yuan.

As for earthworms, we can dig them up when we get to Jiaoshan.

It should be a little past eight o'clock now. The time when river shrimp migrate and gather is from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m., so Fang Wei has to get there in advance to set up the fishing nets.

That means we have to leave by around nine o'clock at the latest, and we need to find Yang Qian now.

……

Wu Shaoli walked along the village road in the dark, her heart starting to race. Were there really so many river shrimp over at Jiaoshan?

When she arrived at Fang Qiang's house, she took a deep breath before raising her hand to knock on the door.

"Knock knock knock!"

There was no movement in the yard.

Wu Shaoli knocked a few more times, this time with more force.

"Who is it? So late at night!"

Fang Qiang's voice came from inside the house.

After a while, the courtyard gate creaked open a crack from the inside, and he, wearing a gray cloth jacket, squinted and peered out.

"Sister-in-law...no, brother!"

Wu Shaoli almost called out the wrong person and quickly corrected herself, "It's me, Shaoli!"

Fang Qiang hesitated for a moment before fully opening the door. By the moonlight, he could see his sister-in-law's appearance clearly. He subconsciously took a step back and pulled the jacket draped over his body tighter.

"Shao Li? What happened so late at night?"

"Big brother, Dawei asked me to tell you something."

Wu Shaoli quickly relayed Fang Wei's words, "He said there are many river shrimp over at Jiaoshan Wild River, and he wants you to bring your shrimp-catching equipment and wait for him at the intersection of the road leading to Jiaoshan."

"Shaoli, it's not that your brother doesn't believe you, it's just that you know Fang Wei is a habitual liar."

Fang Qiang listened with a frown and said, "Aside from some small fish, it's hard to even find a crucian carp the size of your palm in the river at Jiaoshan."

"How did he know there were so many river shrimp over there? Has he started drinking and acting recklessly again?"

"Big brother, Dawei definitely didn't lie!"

Wu Shaoli's voice trembled with anxiety, "Think about it, what hasn't he done recently been reliable? He would never joke about something like this!"

Fang Qiang wanted to argue back, but then he suddenly remembered that Fang Wei had not only paid him his wages on time recently, but had also specially bought so many things and delivered them to his home.

But going to Jiaoshan to catch shrimp in the middle of the night... that sounds really unreliable!