A small plot of land in a mountain village

Chapter 58 Fishing

It was the last month before the end of the year. Happy Cottage was bustling with activity. That day, Zhang Niu hired a fishing team to come and catch fish. A lot of kids arrived, all drawn by the King Kong and the little wild boar. The big wolf and the second wolf were too ferocious for any of the kids to approach.

The ducks in the duck shed were all sold out, leaving only about thirty for myself. I can give them to relatives to eat at the end of the year. It's the same in the village; during major holidays, everyone brings plenty of vegetables and meat to give to relatives. The exchange goes on and on, and everyone is so happy they forget about home.

Zhang Niu was waiting on the mountain road in front of his house early in the morning. The fishing team were all from other villages, and he was worried they wouldn't know the way. He even called them several times to make sure they hadn't gone the wrong way. They arrived on six motorcycles. The leader was a burly man. After offering them a pack of cigarettes, they all took out their waders and raincoats from their feed bags. The sun was shining a little today, slightly easing the awful cold; otherwise, it would be extremely cold when they went into the water later.

Fish-hauling teams have only become popular in the last year. Many fish farmers used to basically team up with others. "If you're hauling fish today, I'll help you. Next time I need to haul fish, I'll call you." They'd even cook a feast for us that evening. Now, with these fish-hauling teams, it only costs thirty yuan per person in the summer. They'll haul the fish, sort them, and even tie up the nets for you and carry them home. You don't even have to lift the fish yourself; you just need to be there when they're weighing them. This has become popular in surrounding towns and even distant ones. In winter, it's fifty yuan per person, but it's normal for the price to rise when it's cold.

He led them inside to carry the net. He set the net into the water. Today, the net hauled in exceptionally smoothly without sinking. Watching the large fish leap from the net, Zhang Niu really wanted to go in himself, but the sight of the chilly water gave him goosebumps. He decided to wait until the height of summer to indulge himself, finding a good excuse.

Fish were being hauled in over there. A loudspeaker blared over there. Fatty Qian arrived with the fishmongers. Besides the fishmongers, Boss Wang was also there; he was all smiles this time, seemingly having made quite a bit of money last time.

"You rascal! You never even call me when you're fishing. If it weren't for Fatty Qian's invitation, I wouldn't even know what would happen," Boss Wang's voice drifted over from afar.

"I forgot. I've been a bit busy. Judging from your expression, you must have made a lot of money this time!"

"Don't even mention it. Almost all the ducks have been divided up by others, and I only got a quarter of it." In the blink of an eye, Boss Wang's smiling face turned into a mournful one.

Seeing Boss Wang's face, Zhang Niu joked, "Hehe... Serves you right... You must have been cursed by someone."

"Stop talking about your brother. Sigh. I didn't expect those wolves to be so formidable."

Zhang Niu stopped asking about the whereabouts of the ducks. He figured it was better to check on the fish he was sorting in his pond. He wasn't planning to completely drain the pond this year. He just intended to do a few net casts; if he was lucky, one cast would be enough. If not, two. In this weather, two casts would be the most, otherwise many would die or be injured by the next day and wouldn't be able to stay afloat. But Zhang Niu wasn't too worried. He was afraid of being found out if he did too many casts without any fish dying. So he planned to do two casts and then call it a day.

Standing on the shore, Zhang Niu shouted, "Master, how many fish are in that net?"

The leader, his face splashed with water and covered in sweat, said, "Not bad, I estimate there are about two thousand catties. It's cold, so the fish are all hiding in the pits below." After saying that, he continued to bury his head in selecting fish.

After greeting Fatty Qian, Zhang Niu went back to the kitchen to boil some water so that the fish carriers could wash their faces with hot water later. Hot water is essential when hiring fish carriers in winter, otherwise their hands and feet would be frozen red. Picking fish for an hour or so is tiring, but that's where their professionalism comes in.

After almost the time it took to pick fish there, the fishpond was already full of fish. The fish truck reversed in. Luckily, the narrow road was wide enough. The fish were lifted onto the truck and weighed.

Zhang Niu brought the hot water over early in the morning. He placed it on the shore, saying, "Come on. The hot water is all here. Everyone can wash their faces and warm up."

Their eyes were red as they came ashore, splashed by the large fish in their nets constantly slapping the water. This was a common occurrence. When business was good, fishing teams could easily travel to several places a day, making seventy or eighty yuan a day. Winter, a month or so before the end of the year, was the best season.

After they washed their faces, he handed them three old men's bills. He also let each of them pick a fish to take home. They were delighted and agreed, as a few fish weren't worth much to Zhang Niu. However, the fishing team was very friendly and had packed everything properly, so Zhang Niu was pleased and let them take a fish home.

After dividing the money among themselves and their load of fish, they said they needed to head to another village. They hopped on their motorcycles and left. Time is money, after all.

After they left, the fishmonger paid for the fish and drove off. It would be a loss if the fish froze to death on the road in this freezing weather. Zhang Niu assured him that his fish were safe; not a single one had frozen to death in the dead of winter. Apparently, only some small fish and shrimp had died. The fishmonger didn't take his words seriously. Everyone would say that. Who doesn't boast about their own produce? They're all the same.

The children who had come to watch the spectacle all dispersed and went home. Watching the fish being caught was just for the excitement. Some even picked up small shrimp to take home for their cats. Those were definitely mostly little girls; the boys didn't even glance at them.

Even after everyone left, there were still quite a few fish in the pond. I chose a grass carp that weighed about ten pounds. We'd have spicy boiled fish for lunch. While I was gutting it, Fatty Qian next to me shouted, "Be careful! Don't break the gall bladder. The gall bladder of such a heavy grass carp is very nourishing."

"You eat grass carp gallbladders too?" Zhang Niu asked, scraping fish scales.

"You wouldn't know that. City people these days love to indulge. As for grass carp gallbladders, I actually like eating them because they're cooling."

"No way! You guys eat grass carp gallbladders? Don't you know you can't just eat fish gallbladders like that?"

"Can fish gallbladders cause problems? I'm not sure," Fatty Qian replied uncertainly.

"Snake gallbladders are edible, but grass carp gallbladders are not, especially grass carp as big as this one, they are very poisonous. Basically no one in my village would eat that." He said quite a bit in one go so that Fatty Qian could hear it.

"Ah... I just ate one last month," she exclaimed.

"When you get back, you should take some Niuhuang Jiedu Pills; that should help. Haven't you noticed that your complexion is a bit sallow?"

"Yes, I thought it was from drinking or eating too much. Turns out it's from the gallbladder. Thank you for reminding me," she said gratefully.

Mr. Wang, who was standing nearby, also heard about this. "I've learned something new this time. It seems there are some things you really can't just eat. Old Qian, you're lucky. Otherwise, what would you do when you have too many toxins?"

The scales and innards had already been removed from the fish, and it was tossed to Little Black beside him. "Just be careful when you eat mountain produce in the future, and don't eat wolf's heart either."

Fatty Qian's forehead was covered in cold sweat. "It's alright. I'll be more careful next time. Thank you again this time."

"What are you talking about? If we hadn't been eating fish today, who would have known if you hadn't told me? You're just lucky," Zhang Niu said with a smile.

They lit a fire and cooked. At noon, the three of them sat together drinking mountain wine. The fiery heat was quite enjoyable. Under the table, Little Blackie gnawed on a fish bone, wagging its little tail.

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