Farming Beneath the Changbai Mountains

In the middle of the day, people from the village came back and said that fish were about to come out. Jinghan just woke up, ate something, and was in good spirits at the moment. Zixuan suppressed his excitement, helped Jinghan get dressed, and then everyone went to the lake together.

At this moment, the nets have begun to come out of the lake. When the net is drawn out, three big horses pull the net wheel. The tape and hook on the net wheel cooperate with each other to snap the nets on both sides together. Each pull of three nets on each side from under the ice is called a pull. There was no fish in the first pull, but fish started to come out in the second pull. When fish are released, the fish hanging on the net are pulled down to the ice with the net and then picked off. The fish floating out of the mesh are fished out with a fishing net. There are not many fish in the first few pulls, but there are more fish the further you pull, because the fish are caught in each pull, and more fish are concentrated in the belly of the net at the end.

Gradually, all the nets on both sides came out, leaving only the last net belly. When the net belly was pulled out, the crowd on the ice started to boil. Only tens of thousands of fish were seen jumping in the net. People came forward with scratching hooks, hooked the fish out of the net, and threw them on the ice next to them. The fish jumped a few times on the ice, but because of the cold weather, it couldn't jump anymore and slowly froze.

Jinghan and Zixuan had never seen such a scene before. The cold lake became steaming because of the fish emerging from the water. Thousands of fish are jumping like this on the ice. This scene of fish in the ice lake is definitely exciting.

Jinghan came to the front very excitedly and looked at the big fish. The bigger ones weighed more than ten kilograms, and the small ones weighed four or five kilograms. "Zixuan, look at these fish. They are much heavier than ours." It’s so big, it’s just too big. Which one is the first fish? How heavy can this fish be?”

Zixuan nervously watched Jinghan jumping around happily, and stretched out his hands to hold Jinghan in his arms, "Madam, you'd better be careful. The ice is already slippery, and if you get some water on it, be careful of falling." He said. Then he used his arms to protect Jinghan in his arms, preventing her from moving around.

Jinghan was a little strange, why didn't Zixuan let her go to see the fish? Although she was a little confused, Jinghan still snuggled in front of Zixuan obediently and didn't move any more.

The fishermen began to load fish into the car. The fishermen made a rough estimate and said that this net could probably catch 100,000 catties of fish. When Jinghan heard this, she was stunned. Oh my god, isn't this too awesome?

The fish head noticed Jinghan's shock and said with a smile, "Thanks to the Lord and Madam, we haven't had so many fish here for several years. Usually when there are more fish, we call it the red net. Today's fish One net, but a real red net. Let’s have a fish feast tonight and use this newly caught fish to entertain the Lord and his wife.”

While they were talking here, someone on the other side was already shouting, "The first fish is out, the first fish is out."

Zixuan took Jinghan's hand and walked over there quickly. Sure enough, among the crowd, a big boy was holding a big fish. That fish was so long, probably nearly three feet long, with its tail still on the ground.

"This guy must weigh more than 30 kilograms?" Fish Head said happily, "We haven't seen such a big fish in a few years. Tonight, we will use it to entertain our distinguished guests." Fish Head said happily. Waving their hands, the fishermen took the time to load the fish into the car. These carriages are surrounded by wooden boards so that they can hold a lot of fish.

Zixuan and the Sun brothers were talking there, "Brother Sun, second brother Sun, what do you think of this fish?"

Sun Jianye was still a little excited, "Okay, great. I have never seen so many fish, and they are so big. Let's discuss it with the village chief and them later, and we will net another day. These fish, we We are all responsible for helping to sell it, but we have to pay two cents for a pound of fish, do you think this will work?"

Zixuan nodded, "There's nothing wrong with that. If it weren't for you two, I'm afraid the fish wouldn't be sold, so it's settled. Let's go back and eat the fish first, and we'll talk about something else later." Xuan was a little excited. This net of one hundred thousand catties, even if sold for ten cents per catty, would be one thousand taels of silver. Two hundred taels were given to the Sun brothers, leaving eight hundred taels left. Each household in the village can receive three taels of silver. Although it is a little less, it can probably be used for a year here.

The lake covered by Moon Lake has an area of ​​200,000 acres. Today, I can only cast one net, and even if I can cast twenty or thirty nets next time, there will be no problem at all. So if this fish is done well, the people in the village can make a lot of money just from this one year. Zixuan did a quick calculation in his mind and felt confident.

All the men in the village came to help pack the fish, and every villager had a happy smile on his face. The fish are so good this year, which indicates that next year will be another good year with good weather and abundant harvests. People are working enthusiastically with the yearning for a better life.

After all the fish were loaded on the cart, everyone drove the carriage and the horse sledge filled with tools and headed toward the village. When we arrived in the village, some women had already come over, unloaded a lot of fish, and then took it to each house to stew it. Tonight, the whole village will have a celebration feast together. The location is at the village chief's house and several nearby families. Tables have been set up in these houses for a long time, and they were all brought from each family. There were four or five tables in a room on the kang and underground. The workers went home and changed their clothes, and then came over to sit and chat, waiting to have dinner together in the evening.

Zixuan and the others were of course arranged to live in the east room of the village chief's house. The village chief and several old people in the village were chatting with Zixuan and the others. So everyone talked about what Sun Jianye said about selling fish just now. When the village chief heard that he could help sell all the fish, he was very excited and kept holding the hands of the Sun brothers to thank them.

"Uncle Tian, ​​you don't have to do this, we also want to make money. This is a matter of reciprocity, as long as you don't mind that we smoke too much." Sun Jianye said.

"I understand these rules. I am also a village chief, so I have some knowledge. In this business, the middleman draws a bonus, usually one out of five, so you don't get much. My eldest nephew, the fish in our village is very good. I leave it to you. If we can sell it, we can have a good New Year." The village chief was still a little excited, but gradually he got better.

"Uncle Tian, ​​can you see if we can cast a few more nets in two days? Tomorrow, we will take the people in our village to sell fish everywhere. It happens to be the Chinese New Year soon, and every household needs to prepare something. Is it a good time for the fish to celebrate the New Year? Let’s take advantage of this time to cast a few more nets to make more money?” Sun Jianye asked.

"Okay, in the past, we had fish but no place to sell it, so we didn't dare to catch more. Otherwise, how could we raise the fish in this bubble to be so big? Look at how big our moon bubble is. There are just a few more today. A place? Yes, as long as you can sell it, we will set up a few more nets in a few days." The village chief agreed happily. This is a good thing. In the past, the fish could only be eaten by the village. It turned into money, and everyone was very happy.

Naturally, Jinghan did not sit with Zixuan and the others. The village chief specially found a few decent wives and girls to accompany Jinghan. They sat on the kang in the back room. The kang was warm and comfortable. Several daughters-in-law brought out melon seeds, and everyone talked and cracked melon seeds together.

At the beginning of the Youshi period, all the meals were ready, and the women in the village began to serve them. Today’s protagonist is, of course, the fish. The women in the village are all good at making fish. All kinds of fish, all kinds of preparations, this is called a serious fish feast.

The village chief picked up the wine glass and said to Jing Zixuan and his party, "I have to thank our magistrate very much today. Thanks to you, we got out of the red net today. In addition, this fish can also be exchanged for money, and the little old man won't say anything." , do it first as a courtesy, come and do it." The village chief drank the wine in the cup at once.

Everyone also toasted, and Zixuan was not polite and started drinking with everyone.

Jinghan and the others are in the back room, so naturally the food can be served a little slower. When several women came into the house with large plates of fish, when Jinghan smelled the fish, she felt sick and couldn't help but cover her mouth and wanted to run out.

A young daughter-in-law grabbed her and said, "Madam, go this way." It turned out that there was a small room attached inside, which should be a place to store sundries and relieve herself at night. Jinghan took a wooden bucket and started vomiting. She didn't eat much at noon, and there wasn't much in her stomach to vomit, she just kept retching.

Someone had already gone to notify Zixuan outside, and Zixuan hurriedly came to the house. "Jinghan, what's wrong with you?"

Jinghan was feeling better now, and she said with a pale face, "I don't know what's going on, but when I smell the fish, I want to vomit." Jinghan reached out and took the water from the person next to her, and rinsed it Rinse your mouth, "I'm feeling much better now. It's okay. I might have a cold. I'll be fine in a while."

There was an older woman next to him who smiled and said, "At first glance, she looks young and inexperienced. She obviously has a baby. What kind of cold is there? My child, hurry up and go back to my house with the old lady. I'll give it to you." Get something to eat alone. I'm afraid you've just started to feel bad and can't smell the fishy smell."

The old woman's words stunned Jinghan. She reached out and touched her belly, "You have a baby? Is this true?"

A daughter-in-law next to her also laughed, "It was the same when I was pregnant with my eldest son. I couldn't smell the fishy smell at all, and it would be fine after a few months. You should be like this. "

Jinghan thought for a while, it seemed that her little day really didn't come this month, it must have been a long time. Jinghan patted her head. She was really too careless to even forget this. It turned out that she had a child, Jinghan couldn't help but giggle.

Zixuan heard someone talk about it at noon. Now it was confirmed that his wife was pregnant, and he was very excited. Putting his arm around Jinghan's shoulders, "Let's go, I'll take you to my aunt's house first, and come back later for a drink."

My home is being renovated these days, so the update time is a little unstable. Dear readers, please bear with me.