Fishing and Hunting 82, Starting with Three Sisters Who Overprotect Their Brothers

"You didn't see it, it was quite a scene."

"Old Mrs. Li collapsed on the ground, crying and wailing, spitting everywhere, cursing her eldest son for raising her for nothing."

"Li Kuai-zui wasn't someone to be trifled with either. He kept hurling insults at Li Yuejin... and finally got the old Party Secretary to witness the severing of ties, and then..."

When Zhang Wenshan stepped into the house, Aunt Zhu was chatting idly with his mother across the courtyard wall.

Seeing him come in, her face stiffened, she mumbled two incoherent words, and shrank back into the house.

Xu Xiulian glanced at her son and daughter and mused, "That old woman from the Han family usually has such a haughty attitude and speaks with a sharp tongue, why is she all smiles today?"

Zhang Wenshan scratched his head and recounted the minor conflict from yesterday.

"I was wondering," Xu Xiulian glanced at the neighboring yard, a look of realization dawning on her face, then she frowned. "Why did you use an old net? Will that even work?"

"The new ones cost over four yuan a meter, which we can't afford. The old ones are more than half the price." Zhang Wenshan unfolded the old fishing net, carefully examining every inch of the net line with his fingers. "Mom, what happened?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Xiulian sighed and said, "It's about Li Dong! In the heat of the moment, his mother said in public that Li Kuaizui couldn't have children and that all his possessions would have to be left to his nephew."

There's an old saying that if a nephew stands at the door, the family line isn't cut off. I don't know what made Li Kuaizui decide this time.

I should have known better than to fuss over that.

"Mom, our family has already made an enemy of the Li family, we can't be soft-hearted." Zhang Fengxia pouted, indicating her disagreement.

"Do I need you to teach me?" Xu Xiulian rolled her eyes, puzzled. "The net looks fine to me, what are you fiddling with?"

"It looks decent enough," Zhang Wenshan pointed to a spot. "This thread is so thin it'll break if you pull it. The knots here need to be retied..."

He pointed out several places in a row.

"You know what, he looks fine, but he has a lot of problems."

"Wouldn't that be a bad deal? How much will it cost to fix it up?"

"It's alright, we can do it ourselves." Zhang Wenshan took the sewing needle and began to repair it.

The old woman quickly said, "Slow down, tell me how to do it."

The eldest sister nodded repeatedly and stepped forward as well.

Seeing this, Zhang Wenshan did not refuse and explained in detail several different repair methods for damaged items. His mother and elder sister listened more and more attentively and finally decided to try it out themselves.

"I'm going to find the captain." Seeing that he didn't need to do it himself, Zhang Wenshan was happy to relax and went out again after informing the captain.

We arrived at Wang Tieshan's house.

He immediately noticed that the elderly couple were standing in front of the vegetable garden, looking worried.

"Auntie, Uncle," Zhang Wenshan greeted with a smile.

"Oh, Shanzi's here." Wang Tieshan's wife greeted him with a warm smile. "Come inside."

"No need, I'll just say a few words and leave." Zhang Wenshan asked curiously, "What are you doing here?"

"The persimmons aren't growing well; the leaves are yellow. Your uncle has been working on them for two days, and the seedlings are almost broken. It looks like they're going to fail."

"Hey Shanzi, what brings you here?" Wang Tieshan rubbed his hands together, as if he had seen a savior, and was eager to rush out.

"Auntie, you're deficient in potassium. Just water it with some wood ash water and it'll be fine."

"Splash!" Wang Tieshan retorted, as if to say, "Do you need me to tell you what I mean?"

"You need to mix ten catties of ash with fifty catties of water... stir it well, soak it for a day, and then water the roots. My family had the same problem a while ago, but it's much better now. My mother knows the details."

Zhang Wenshan readily agreed to help his mother find work.

Human relationships are built through interaction; if you help me today, I'll help you tomorrow, and over time, we'll naturally become connected.

"Then I'll have to go and learn from them tomorrow."

"Go ahead and go, Uncle. How's the selection of the impoverished household going?"

"Upon hearing that they would have to bear the profits and losses themselves, they all shrank back, afraid of working for nothing. Some even considered sending people from the brigade..." Wang Tieshan said, choosing conciliatory words.

"They don't trust me!" Zhang Wenshan said nonchalantly. "Not a single one is willing?"

"There are a few: Ge Ergui, who has a leg injury; Lin Cuihua, a little girl; and Dazhuang, that simpleton... How do they manage to go up the mountain and down the river?"

Wang Tieshan named several households, all of which had problems to varying degrees.

"Then let's go with Uncle Ergui and Sister Cuihua," Zhang Wenshan decided after a moment's thought.

Ge Ergui was in his early thirties and was born with a limp. When his parents died, they left him the house, and his brothers and sisters became estranged from him.

Lin Cuihua was two years older than him. Her mother was from another village and had a falling out with her family. After her father died, she suffered all kinds of bullying. It is said that she was almost forced to marry a mentally challenged man.

They were all driven to desperation and unable to survive.

"Actually, some people are envious, but they're afraid to take on the responsibility of making a profit or loss, otherwise..."

"The rules can't be broken." Zhang Wenshan shook his head and made up an excuse, "Once the brigade takes over, it will be like the old collective industry, unable to help those in need."

He knows the future policy direction.

The fishing and hunting group is a talisman to protect us from the turmoil next year; we must hold onto it.

It also paves the way for future acquisition of mountains, forests, and waterways. Most importantly, it hides the small workshops under the big tree of the collective.

"Sigh, what a mess this has become," Wang Tieshan sighed. "Even without other people in need, I'm afraid it won't work out with just the two of them."

"Of course, others will use it too," Zhang Wenshan said tentatively. "They're just afraid of working for nothing and only getting paid for each day they work."

For things like shrimp and crabs, which require people to select and sort, you can let them do it, just like they're doing odd jobs.

Also, if the town needs any local mountain or aquatic products, I can give them priority in purchasing them.

Upon hearing this, Wang Tieshan gasped: "Isn't this still speculation and profiteering?"

"We call this helping those in need, and besides, there are tons of people doing business in town," Zhang Wenshan suggested, guiding the conversation step by step. "How about we report to the commune and see what they think?"

"You've given me a real problem!" Wang Tieshan glared at him. "After all this back and forth, aren't you just finding new ways to do business?"

"It's better to pass through my hands than to have another one like Li Dong pop up, right?" Zhang Wenshan said, offering his last bargaining chip.

"Hiss... That makes sense!" Wang Tieshan couldn't help but take out a welding torch, light it, and take a deep drag. "Now everyone's itching to get involved but also timid. If they sneak around and cause trouble, it'll be even harder for the brigade to handle."

"Come on, I'll take you to ask."

Actually, there's another reason, which both of them knew but didn't say.

This was a real success, a genuine achievement.

……

Zhang Wenshan followed the brigade leader to visit several impoverished households, and it was already dark when they returned.

The family was listening to the eldest sister do the accounting at the dinner table.

"Three and a half catfish, two yuan each."

"Three grass carp weighing seven pounds and two ounces cost five dollars and seventy-six cents."

"Seven crucian carp weighing two pounds and eight ounces cost one dollar and forty-eight cents, totaling nine dollars and thirty-four cents."

"These old folks, almost ten yuan?"

Old man Zhang Jianshe shuddered, almost dropping his pipe. Zhao Hongwei, standing beside him, looked at his wife with a questioning gaze.

After receiving a positive answer, he looked at his brother-in-law, who had just returned, with a complicated expression.

He used to be so unreliable that people were so angry they wanted to grind their teeth.

Making money now is even more terrifying.

"They earn a lot, but they spend even more." Xu Xiulian served her son a bowl of porridge. "Ask them how much they spent."

He noticed his father looking over.

"I spent seven yuan on the fishing net," Zhang Fengxia said casually while munching on her cornbread, not taking it seriously at all, as if she were just saying seven cents.

Clang.

The pipe in Zhang Jianshe's hand still couldn't escape the fate of falling to the ground.

Brother-in-law Zhao Hongwei could no longer keep his composure. He stared intently at his wife. When did seven yuan become such a trivial amount of money in her mouth?

Just as Zhang Wenshan was about to explain, his third sister spoke first.

"This money was well spent."