Tao Daqiang helped Li Long twist the rabbit trap here, and Yang Yongqiang went out to find those who dug holes in the ice to see if they were willing to sell the fish to him.
He was a bit dissatisfied with the small troubles and planned to do something big.
Look at Tao Daqiang, he has been with Li Long for a year, he has a bicycle, and he is married to a wife. These days are beautiful, and he must run towards this goal!
Li Long finished making thirty rabbit traps and took Tao Daqiang to go to Hongliutan in the east to lay traps.
Not many people in the village use condoms. Firstly, thin wire is relatively expensive at this time. Secondly, most people don’t know how to remove condoms or when to take them out.
Most people who can catch rabbits with traps are experienced. Some people learn to set traps and set more than a dozen traps. If they fail to catch a single rabbit, or if they catch only one rabbit in a few days, they lose their motivation.
Catching fish is different. After all, you can break open holes in the ice. As long as you have patience, you can catch fish. In the past, if you caught too much and couldn't eat it, you would just leave it and give it away. Now that you can sell it for money, everyone's enthusiasm will naturally be much stronger.
As soon as Li Long and the others walked out of Zhuangzi, they saw Yang Yongqiang running over quickly.
"How about it?" Li Long waited for him and asked after Yang Yongqiang arrived, "Is anyone willing?"
"Only the three brothers of the Liang family are willing." Yang Yongqiang's face Obviously with disappointment, "Everyone else wants to sell fish by themselves. The Zhao family and his son said the price is too low and asked me to raise the price. I want to say 60 cents per kilogram, but they are still not satisfied and hope to raise the price to 70 cents." , I gave up.”
Li Long thought this was normal. What everyone is short of these days is not time or physical strength, but money. As long as there is a way to make money, I can walk for several hours in summer carrying a basket to a family yard in Shicheng to sell coriander for a total price of one or two yuan. It is such a long way back and forth, but it does not feel hard at all.
Compared to Qi Jingyue and others who spent hundreds of dollars to buy roe deer and wild boars that were beaten to death, it was really different.
But this is normal, after all, this is still a time when the gap between rich and poor is relatively small.
In his previous life, Li Long remembered chatting with young people who came back to the village. Those young people talked about their experiences on the line train. The bus can seat four people. The driver said that for an extra two yuan per person, you can take the expressway. It is equivalent to the passengers paying the toll, otherwise the national highway will be slower.
The young people are concerned about efficiency and naturally agree to increase the money, but other middle-aged and elderly people in the same car are not willing and would rather take the national highway.
Li Long was thinking at that time that young people might not know that it was not easy for middle-aged and elderly people in rural areas to earn two yuan. It was equivalent to one kilogram of wheat and one and a half kilograms of corn at that time.
Just like now. I am applying the old experience from the previous life, but in fact, people don’t think it is hard to spend time to make money. I caught ten kilograms of fish myself, sold it to Li Long for five yuan, and sold it to the market for eight or ten yuan. Although it took half a day longer, I got the money!
Of course, it took most of the day to catch ten kilograms of fish. It’s not that they wouldn’t think about it, but they couldn’t turn that corner.
Why should I let you earn money that I can earn by myself? Everyone has their own opinions on the issue of time efficiency.
Going back to the matter of young people taking cars, young people think that spending a little money saves time costs, but in the eyes of middle-aged and elderly people, time costs are almost no cost, and money is real money.
The values are just different.
"Then don't worry, we will take it from whoever is willing to sell it." This kind of thing must be justified by the public and the mother-in-law, just look at the situation behind it. Maybe after the three Liang brothers sold the fish to themselves, they didn't have to go to the county town to sell fish and had to guard the ice hole all the time. Instead, they caught more fish and made more money.
Without explaining the truth to Yang Yongqiang, Li Long took two people to Hongliutan in the east.
Ma Jinbao, the sheep herder, is still wandering in the deserted beach. In winter, there are still weeds, reeds, etc. that have not been knocked down in the wasteland. The sheep can eat them and move around. It is better than staying in the pen all the time. Ma Jinbao is quite lazy. He doesn't mow enough grass in summer and autumn, so he can only herd sheep every day in winter.
Seeing Li Long and the others taking the rabbit harness to Hongliutan, he kept an eye on the place and planned to slip the rabbit harness around when he came to herd sheep tomorrow morning.
This person's moral lower limit is not high, so he has no sense of guilt in taking other people's things in the wilderness without anyone seeing him.
"I saw Ma Jinbao staring at us." Tao Daqiang said to Li Long after entering Hongliutan.
"Leave him alone. He must be trying to slip out of our trap." Li Long continued to walk in, "But it's definitely useless. Let's walk in more. The Red Willow Beach is so big that he can't touch it. If it’s the right place, 80% of them will be fascinated by it.”
Only adults can enter Red Willow Beach, and when adults come in, they are only at the edge, mainly cutting tamarisk roots for materials.
Although the growth of tamarisk is slow, there are many seeds. When there is enough wasteland, you can see a large number of small tamarisks emerging from the ground every year. In the second year, they will grow into seedlings half as tall as a person. In the third year, It has thick branches in the first year and begins to spread out to form a shrub shape.
On the beach where the water rises and recedes in Dahaizi, there is a large area where tamarisk trees are densely packed, but they do not grow very big because when the water rises, the water will submerge them, and then the fish will come to eat their leaves and tender leaves. branch. There are no reeds in Dahaizi. Every time the water rises, it is a rare time for these fish to get food.
There are many wild animals in Hongliutan. Li Long has fought foxes, and people in the village have seen badgers, hedgehogs, pheasants, and rabbits. Some people swear that they have seen wolves, but not many people have seen them.
It is not easy to hunt here, so Li Long thought that setting a trap was a good idea, just like setting a sticky net to fish - he felt that hunting and fishing were a bit similar. Setting up traps and traps is like using a sticky net to catch fish, and hunting for prey is like fishing. Each has its own fun.
More than a hundred meters inside, Li Long took a look and found that there were no more human footprints here, mainly the marks of rabbits and various other animals.
There were still a few rabbit marks. Based on his memory, Li Long walked to the southeast. The red willows here were sparse, there were some weeds and other shrubs, and there were more rabbit marks.
"Let's set the trap here." Li Long said, "Come on, five of you each, don't step on the rabbit mark."
Give the rabbit trap to Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang, these two people are very interested They took it and spread out to find a suitable place to put the condom on.
Li Long himself is also looking for it. He needs to find places where the marks stepped on by rabbits are relatively fresh, and where rabbits must pass through.
It is easier for rabbits to stay where several bushes are together. Li Long even saw a rabbit being startled, then darting out like an arrow, and then disappeared - the surrounding tamarisk piles and There were so many bushes that it was too easy for them to find a suitable hiding spot.
The condom in Li Long's hand was quickly finished, and he made a large circle to make it easier to collect.
At this time, Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang also rushed over panting.
"The rain is over, let's go back?"
Li Long looked at the sky, there was still some time, and said:
"Let's get the tools and go to Xiaohaizi There."
At this time, Gu Xiaoxia should have already left for work. Li Long plans to stay in the team for a while this time. His goal is to make more money. He will talk about the rest after getting married.
When Li Long and others arrived at Xiaohaizi, there were people in several ice caves here. He went to see the fish caught by the three Liang brothers.
"Not bad, there is a big one today." Li Long looked at it and smiled.
"Send it to the horse number at night?" asked the eldest brother of the Liang family.
"Okay." Li Long responded and went to the south to look at the hole in the ice that his group had smashed earlier.
There is a thin layer of ice on it, very thin.
"Someone has touched our ice cave." Tao Daqiang suddenly said, "It should be in the morning or early in the morning, they caught fish here."
"Who?" Yang Yongqiang looked around, he was very angry. of.
"Don't worry about it." Li Long waved his hand, "We are not here, so if others move, they will move. It's been a long time now, and it's time to take another look. There are two ice holes. Let the three of us take turns. . There was a man taking a rest in the middle, getting some reeds to burn."
He took the net and broke the thin ice on it with the net pole, then removed the broken ice, and then started digging in the ice hole. Fished it out.
The first net yielded a small harvest, with several small crucian carp jumping happily. The second net was better, with a silver carp weighing over one kilogram. The fish is too small to be tasty, but it looks good. A big fish is always more rewarding than a small fish.
When the third net came out, there were only two small crucian carps - there are really few fish underwater now.
Li Long turned his head and looked over there where Yang Yongqiang was digging a hole, and found a dozen fish on the ice next to him.
Tao Daqiang ran on both sides, picking fish into the bag. In a short time, the two of them caught two or three kilograms.
Then in the next two nets, there were no fish.
Li Long was a little disappointed. Think about how much he harvested when fishing last year! One net can catch several kilograms!
Of course, things are different these days.
Li Long put down the net copying and planned to wait.
"Brother Long, shall I come?"
"Okay, you can do it." Li Long went to collect the reeds and planned to light a fire. I don’t know if lighting a fire on the ice will attract more fish.
High probability...can't?
Li Long made two piles of reeds and lit them in the two ice holes. The fire started burning all of a sudden. Only then did he feel that there was wind. The sun slowly sets in the west. Some fishermen have left, but some are still there. Li Long went to fish for Yang Yongqiang for a while. He felt that when it got dark, he could get ten kilograms of fish in the two ice holes.
The biggest one was a carp weighing more than three kilograms. Tao Daqiang caught it. It looked so beautiful that Li Long couldn't bear to sell it.
"Daqiang, take this fish home and eat it, maybe you will give birth to a fat boy later." Li Long thought of the legendary story about chasing fish and dragons, and joked.
"Okay." Tao Daqiang didn't refuse. The fish looked beautiful, and he wanted to take it home to show off to his wife.
Zhao Laoshi came over, and his son Zhao Dagang was waiting in the north with something.
"Xiaolong, you are also digging for fish." Zhao Laoshi said with a smile.
"Yes, Uncle Zhao." Li Long asked, "How was it today? How much did you get?"
"About ten kilograms." Zhao said honestly, "I just smashed a hole in the ice. , can’t take care of it.”
“Not bad.”
"We will sell fish tomorrow morning. If you want to catch more, you can use my ice hole." Zhao Laoshi pointed to the place where he originally fished.
"Okay." Although Li Long had no intention of using it, he accepted the kindness.
Obviously, Zhao Laoshi’s original intention was very clear. He did not agree to Yang Yongqiang’s proposal to collect fish, but he did not want to ruin the relationship with Li Long and others.
After Zhao Laoshi left, Li Long and the others continued to copy fish. However, the harvest is getting less and less, and the colder the fish are, the less they want to move.
Watching the sun set, Li Long shouted:
"Let's go, we're back."
"I'll copy another net!" Yang Yongqiang shouted and copied another net.
This net also only had a few small fish, which was quite disappointing.
Pack up and go home.
The three brothers of the Liang family have gone back, but there are still two families in Xiaohaizi who are copying fish. As soon as Li Long and the others returned to the horse number, the eldest and third brother of the Liang family came over with fish.
"Weigh it, weigh it." Boss Liang said.
“We keep the crucian carp that is too small for us to eat, and the ones we bring to you are larger ones.” Liang Laosan explained.
"Okay." Li Long smiled.
I brought a scale and weighed it. Even the bag weighed 16 kilograms. Li Long took out eight yuan and handed it over:
“Fifty cents per kilogram is not easy.”
The original offer was 40 cents per kilogram, but now it was 50 cents. Boss Liang immediately smiled sheepishly, "This..."
"It should be. It's not easy." Li Long said, "Hurry up. Go back, it will get dark soon and the road will be hard to see.”
With eight yuan, the two Liang brothers happily went back with their bags.
Li Long probably weighed it when they came here, otherwise it wouldn't be such a round number.
Separating the fish and freezing them, Tao Daqiang went back with the big carp in his arms, and Yang Yongqiang also went back with some small crucian carps - although he was different from Tao Daqiang, he had parents and a younger sister at home, so he had to take care of them.
Li Long and Uncle Luo started to peel the small crucian carp that were not intended to be sold in the house, soaked it in some spicy skin and stewed it for a while. After stewing it for a while, the fish was not ordinary fragrant!
At dawn the next day, Li Long got up. He was going to ride the rabbit trap.
Rabbits are not particularly cautious when moving in Red Willow Beach. They are active in the afternoon and evening. Although there are natural enemies, there are few people, so they should have traps.
Not far after he walked out of Zhuangzi, Tao Daqiang caught up with him.
"You have a wife, why do you get up so early?" Li Long joked, "Don't you sleep in in the winter?"
"My daughter-in-law doesn't sleep in! She got up early to make breakfast." Tao Daqiang said, "My father also got up early to pick up manure. I thought you would definitely want to slip into a rabbit trap, so I followed you."
< br>Two people said Smiling, he walked towards Hongliutan. The weather was very cold. Li Long covered his mouth from time to time. He knew he should have worn a scarf or a mask. He had a cotton hat and his ears were not afraid. I don’t know where the nose guard from the military hat went, otherwise he would still be wearing it. Can block a block.
When the two people arrived at Hongliutan, the sky in the east was just a little red, and they quickly came to the place where they set the rabbit trap.
A fox heard the noise, flashed in front and disappeared.
“I’m wearing something, and I don’t know if the fox will eat it.” Li Long said, and then the two of them started to slip on the condom.
Li Long planned to just sneak away and still kept the condom, so he was still very careful when walking.
Although he wanted to go immediately to see if there was any harvest in the position where Hu Zi stayed just now, he finally decided to follow the order in which he placed the traps, so that he could easily remember them and avoid missing them.
There was no rabbit in the first three condoms, but there was one in the fourth one. The rabbit was frozen, there were signs of a desperate struggle around it, and many of the thin red willow branches were broken.
The fifth set also has a little rabbit. Compared to the previous one, which weighed four to five kilograms, this one weighed at most two kilograms. There were blood stains on its neck, which was because it had been strangled into the flesh.
Then they arrived at the place where the foxes were. Li Long carried two rabbits and saw that one rabbit was still alive, with blood on its ears, a thin wire strangled around its neck, and foam at its mouth. After seeing Li Long, he quickly backed away and hid in the bushes.
This rabbit must have just been harnessed not long ago, and the sound of struggling attracted the fox. Unfortunately, the fox came over before the fox could succeed.
This should be the case.
After Li Long finished guessing, he stepped forward and stepped on the rabbit. He took off the condom and threw the rabbit down hard.
There is a rabbit in the back. It is not small, about four kilograms. These ten sets are worth it!
Tao Daqiang also slipped over, with only a rabbit in his hand.
"Yongqiang's condom caught him." Tao Daqiang didn't lie. "I didn't catch any of my condoms."
"Here, help me carry one." Li Long said, "Let's go back. You can take one back later and give Yongqiang one to eat.”
These rabbits are not going to be sold, they will be kept to eat. He planned to get some condoms at noon and use them in the afternoon.
There are quite a lot of rabbits in Hongliutan. He vaguely remembered hearing that rabbit meat had no fat and could not gain weight. But it’s meat after all, so it’s better than corn noodles, right?
The two people walked back. When they were less than one kilometer away from Zhuangzi, they saw Ma Jinbao driving sheep out of Zhuangzi.
Ma Jinbao looked at Li Long and Tao Daqiang carrying the rabbit, and cursed in his heart, why did these two boys run away so early? I was still thinking about using the condom when herding sheep, but now I can't touch anything.
Ma Jinbao also thought about going over and asking if he could get a rabbit. Unexpectedly, Li Long and Tao Daqiang turned to another road while walking. This road is a trail. There are usually few people walking on it, and the snow is not packed into the porcelain.
Ma Jinbao cursed in his heart again, how cunning!
Of course he didn't think it was because of his bad character, he just felt that Li Long was too treacherous, and Tao Daqiang didn't learn well from Li Long.
If there is a chance, these two boys must be dealt with!
Li Long carried three rabbits to the horse barn, handed one to Uncle Luo, and then took two to his eldest brother's house.
The two rabbits just gave it a try. There is no shortage of meat in the eldest brother’s house now, but rabbit meat is not eaten all year round. In winter, we are blessed with it, so we can eat it several times.
Li Jianguo was just about to have breakfast, and Li Long arrived just in time. Liang Yuemei hurriedly brought him chopsticks, and Li Juan and Li Juan made room for their uncle.
Same as before.
Very good. (End of chapter)