Chapter 96: First Failure in Selling Fish after New Year It was not until the tenth day of the first lunar month that Li Longcai and Tao Daqiang resumed their business of fishing from the ice hole. After a break of ten days, the fish in the lake needed more and more oxygen. The two of them caught more than 100 kilograms of fish a day. They were shocked by the amount of fish. Then they pulled the fish back and started to sort them. The big ones and the small ones were left at home. The Li family kept some, and Tao Daqiang took some back. The next day, Li Long and Tao Daqiang took the fish to sell, but to their surprise, the demand for fish was not so urgent, whether in the black market of Ma County or in the family compound of Shicheng. The fish were placed there, and although Li Long shouted loudly and many people came to see them, not many people offered to buy them. When the two men came back after dark, the fish had not been sold out! Li Long simply gave the remaining seven or eight kilograms of fish of all sizes to Zhong Guoqiang at the big meat canteen. After returning to the team, Li Long gave Tao Daqiang a five-yuan note and said to him: "Da Qiang, I don't plan to catch fish in the next half month. Fish are not easy to sell now, as you can see. If you want to catch fish for your own home, just come to my house and get the net. I won't catch fish for the time being." Tao Daqiang was also very disappointed. If Li Long didn't catch fish and sell them, he would lose his way to make a living. All the money I earned before was spent on buying New Year's goods and charcoal at home. Now I only have the five yuan given by Li Long.
When I was earning money before, I spent it without much care. Now I feel that the five yuan in my hand is very precious and I cannot spend it carelessly. "Then Brother Long, when can we sell fish again?" "Let's wait for a while." Li Long thought about it and said, "Let's see in half a month." "Okay." Tao Daqiang returned home. He can wait for half a month. In fact, this time when he went out, Li Long also discovered something new. After the Chinese New Year, although people's enthusiasm for shopping has declined a lot, the black market has become more active. The number of people setting up stalls in the black market in Ma County is more than doubled compared to before. Eggs, meat, rice, noodles, rabbits and all kinds of other things are sold. Some people even bring their own handmade baskets and crates. In short, it can be seen that the market has been revitalized and the authorities seem to have relaxed a lot on setting up stalls to sell things. Although there are more competitors, the market has become more active and more people are buying things. Li Long is happy about this change. After returning home, Li Long told Li Jianguo about the situation. Li Jianguo nodded and said: "If we don't want to catch fish, then we don't. Anyway, the lake is so big and there are so many fish, we can catch them anytime we want. But when the snow melts in spring, it will be hard to catch fish." "It's not difficult," Li Long said with a smile, "We can just cast the sticky net when the time comes." I remember that in my previous life, many fishermen in the team used large truck tires to inflate as boats, tied wooden boards on them to make two small paddle boards, and paddled while lowering nets in the lake. They lowered the nets in the afternoon of the previous day and took them out in the early morning of the next day. They took the fish directly out and rode bicycles to the county to sell them. After breakfast, they came back to pick up the nets. At that time, the big crucian carp in the small lake were very popular. The price increased from two or three yuan per kilogram to fifteen yuan per kilogram later. The big crucian carp could be sold for twenty to twenty-five yuan, and there were still people who wanted it. After all, in the eyes of gourmets, wild fish tastes better than farmed fish. And because the small lake is full of reeds and cattails growing behind, crucian carp have something to eat, and they look beautiful when they are caught, plump and shiny, and you can tell at a glance that they are different from the pale farmed ones. So until Li Long passed away in his previous life, the fish in the small lake were the most popular in the market, without a doubt. With this calculation, buying a bicycle is a must. And then buying a sticky net, a casting net, tires or a wooden boat is even more important to consider. Hunting is something that must be done, but Li Long will not give up being a "fisherman". It can make money and it’s also a hobby. "Brother, can you cast a net?" Li Long suddenly thought of something. In his previous life, his elder brother passed away early, so he had never seen him cast a net. "Yes, but I can't cast it wide, usually only half of the net can be cast." Li Jianguo rolled up a Mohe cigarette and said, "In the past, in my hometown, the best at casting a net was my second brother. The second brother’s net could be cast in a circle or in an angle, covering whatever he wanted. When the big river nearby was flooded, there were fish under the bridge hole, so he cast such a big net in a small circle, just covering the square table-sized area in front of the bridge hole, and no fish escaped…”
The second brother that Li Jianguo mentioned was the second oldest among his uncles and cousins, older than Li Jianguo. Li Long had no memory of this. His memory of his hometown was almost blurred, and he only remembered that he didn't have enough food to eat there. "Dad can cast a net," Li Jianguo lit up a cigarette, took a puff and said, "There was a food shortage back then, so in the spring, Dad would go to the river to cast a net, catch fish and shrimp and cook them. Even though there was no oil, it was better than having nothing to eat." Unexpectedly, his father, who Li Long considered to be unreliable, actually had such a skill. "In fact, it is easy to learn how to cast a net well," Li Jianguo said with a smile. "Wait until the snow melts, find a net, clean up the open space in the wheat field, and practice. As long as you know the initial gestures, practice a hundred or eighty times a day, you will be able to cast a round net in a week." Li Long thought about it and realized that he knew how to cast a net, but he didn't cast a line or a small semicircle. The reason was that he lacked practice. He doesn't like the later-day coiled nets, he still prefers the old-fashioned casting net - just practice it when you have time. The next day, Li Long went to the county. When he came out of the department store, he pushed out a brand new 28-inch Forever heavy-duty bicycle with an air pump. A pack of cotton socks, a scarf and other cold-proof items were tied directly to the back seat of the bicycle. Then he went to the supply and marketing cooperative and bought some sandpaper and a scale. He couldn't sell anything without a scale. After buying all these things, Li Long rode to the big house, took out five or six semi-automatic rifles from the side room, and began to gently polish the rust spots on the receiver cover with sandpaper. After the gun was ready, Li Long put on his equipment, got on his bicycle, and headed into the mountains in the howling cold wind. It’s really cold, but it’s also really fast! It took him two hours to drive a horse-drawn carriage, but less than an hour to ride a bicycle, and he had already arrived at Halimu's winter home. Halimu came out of his winter den when he heard the dog barking. He was surprised to see Li Long riding a bicycle. “This bicycle is very expensive, right?” "It's really not cheap." Although Li Long is rich, he still feels a little pain in the ass after buying this bicycle. "More than 160 yuan, the price of ten sheep." "That's not expensive." Halimu felt that it was only ten sheep, so it was really not expensive. Handing the cotton socks and scarf to Halim, Li Long said: "I plan to walk around the mountains in the next two days to see if there is anything I can fight with." "There are so many things to hunt in this mountain!" Halimu smiled, "I'll take you there if I have time. There are some places that have good things even in summer!" Thanks to book friend 20180307133112452 for the reward, thank you to book friend Kong Zhimo for the reward, and thank you all for the support of the large number of monthly tickets and recommendation tickets in the past two days. It is basically certain that it will be on the shelves at this time tomorrow. I have prepared twenty chapters of manuscripts, more than 40,000 words, in response to everyone's long-term support. I will put more words in the remarks for the release of the product. That’s it for now. Go to sleep, everyone. (End of this chapter)