Xiang Jinlan, who lived next door, smelled the aroma of meat. "Are you cooking at your house?" she asked. She peeked in and looked longingly at Niu's family, feeling a little envious but too shy to go in.

Chen Yu said, "Yes! Aunt Xiang, please come in and sit down!"

"I'm still busy at home, I'll head back now."

Normal families can't afford to eat meat even a few times a year, and Xiang Jin, a widow for decades, hasn't been able to eat meat for several years. She was envious, but she didn't dare to look at him shamelessly.

Xiang Jinlan walked away as fast as she could.

The Niu family didn't have many meat dishes, so they didn't offer many to anyone. However, some greedy and ignorant little children stood at the entrance of the Niu family. Chen Yu picked out a small half bowl of meat for the children, but then she saw Da Tan Shi bring over a bowl.

He immediately poured all the meat from the little boy's bowl into his own:

"Children who eat meat will develop boils."

The three or four little children were so frightened that they burst into tears.

The fish remained silent.

When Niu Cuihua saw Chen Yu come in, she slammed the door shut, afraid that Da Tan Shi would follow her in and that the adults of the four children would come looking for them and take them home.

The pig's trotter soup was reserved for Chen Yu to nourish her body. Niu Cuihua and Niu Meihua drank a bowl of meat and vegetable soup to their hearts' content, and even two-year-old Niu Baozhu obediently ate a bowl of rice by herself.

"We'll have pork lard rice for dinner," Chen Yu said. She had fried a pound of pork until it was cooked, and the oil was stored separately in a large bowl, enough to last for several days.

The Niu sisters were overjoyed. Niu Baozhu stared blankly at her two older sisters' happiness and became happy as well.

Niu Da washes the dishes.

Chen Yu then took several children out to play. Niu Meihua would show off her candied hawthorn to everyone she met, which made seven or eight children in the village extremely envious, wishing they could pounce on her and crunch it in one bite.

But the adults said that he was a bad kid.

The three Niu Meihua sisters ate the candied hawthorns with gusto, making the neighbor's children drool with envy.

After washing the dishes, Niu Da went fishing, only to find that the spot he had painstakingly prepared had been taken by Zhao Si's second son.

"Zhao Si's second son, that's my den."

A "nest" is a spot in the water that anglers have carefully selected after considering the right time, place, and conditions, and where they have scattered a lot of bait.

Zhao Si's family used a large bait nest to fish.

Moreover, the lakeside is mostly covered with wild grass and vines, and the silt on the shore is very deep, so anglers need to dig a spot a day in advance to make fishing easier.

Originally, Zhao Si and his son were the only ones fishing, each staying in their own spot. But as soon as the second son of the Zhao family arrived, he took over Niu Da's spot.

It's obvious they want something for nothing.

“Hey Niu Da, why are you arguing with a kid? Besides, this den doesn’t care who started it; whoever gets there first gets to claim it,” Zhao Si said.

Niu Da was furious.

But he could only find another place far away from the Zhao family father and son. That place was clean and didn't require Niu Da to clean it up again, but it was too cold. Niu Da made another nest there.

Zhao Si sneered:

"With so many trees blocking the view, no light can get in, and it's so cold, what good fish can you catch there?"

Sure enough, Niu Da only caught small fish, one bite at a time, and didn't catch a single big fish in half an afternoon.

The Zhao family father and son were watching the spectacle. Niu Da was initially a little unhappy, but after carefully examining Xiao Yu'er, he was overjoyed.

Outsiders may not recognize its value, but old man Niu Da, who has been fishing for decades, knows its worth. This is a silver willow fish. It looks similar to an ordinary fish, but if you look closely, you will find that the silver willow fish is whiter overall and its silver scales are purer.

Silverfish generally don't grow very big. Because their meat is delicious and tastes better than any other fish, they are more expensive than meat. In winter, silverfish cost 50 coins per catty. In spring, their meat becomes even more plump and tender, and they sell for more than mutton, at least 80 coins per catty. They are mostly favored by wealthy and official families.

It is rare in the south, so some people who have been fishing for it for a year or two don't recognize it and just think of it as a small fish, thus demeaning a good thing.

Niu Da had caught silver carp twice before, both times in the dead of winter, but because this type of fish is rare in the south, he had only caught a maximum of two jin (1 kg).

This time, Niu Da caught 27 or 28 jin of silver carp in just one afternoon. Although Zhao Si and his son didn't know much about fish, they were a little envious when they saw that Niu Da could catch so many small fish.

The father and his two sons fished all afternoon and caught a total of three small fish.

Niu Da didn't expect to catch so many. Although silver carp like to live in groups, there have never been so many silver carp in Niushan Village before. They must have swum from other places.

Niu Da happily went home and asked Niu Cuihua to bring a vat of water to raise the silver willow fish.

Shen Yu was somewhat disappointed: "Are all the fish small today?" Ordinary small fish only cost ten coins per catty, so fifty-eight catties would only be worth about five hundred coins at most. Well, how could their family always be so lucky?

"Honey, these aren't ordinary little fish, they're silver willow fish, very expensive, more expensive than meat. I'll go fishing for some more tonight."

Niu Da said.

Chen Yu exclaimed in surprise, "More expensive than meat?"

"Let's catch half a jin of fish tonight so the family can have a taste. If we catch some more tonight, we'll give half a jin to each of the families who helped us before," Niu Da said, catching half a jin of fish and killing it.

In the past, they would never have been willing to eat fish themselves.

The fish they caught were all sold in town to exchange for food. They ate porridge for half the year just to have enough to eat.

Chen Yu was somewhat reluctant to eat it, and said:

"Even though we've been so lucky this month, we can't just keep eating like this, can we? That half a jin costs twenty-five coins, enough to buy half a shi of grain, enough to eat for two months. It's not worth it to spend so much on a single meal."

“Our fourth and fifth daughters need your milk. If you don’t take good care of your body, how can you withstand this? We have enough food and money at home. I’m thinking of selling these silver willow fish.”

No matter how lucky he was, there weren't that many silver carp to catch in the south. When the ice formed in the middle of winter and the twelfth lunar month, his oxcart would be busy again. A trip to the county could earn him several hundred coins, which was no less than the income from selling fish.

"I'm thinking of buying a few more geese, and next year after we build the pigsty, we'll buy a few dozen more pigs." "Every time you go out to catch so many fish, the news has reached Village Chief Zhao. I think it won't be long before he leases this pond. Today, some of his people came to discuss this with our team, promising to give us ten taels of silver a year for the lease."

Village Chief Zhao is not Zhao Si, but he is Zhao Si's cousin.

Guhu Lake doesn't belong to Niu Da privately; it belongs to four teams. Naturally, Niu Da wouldn't stop it on his own. "Have the clan heads agreed?"

"No, not at all. Everyone in our team and the entire clan relies on Guhu to support their families when they don't have other work. They feel that fifty taels of silver a year is too little, even for the whole clan, let alone four teams. They've asked Village Chief Zhao to raise the price, but he's been hesitant for now." "However, I think he'll agree soon enough."

Chen Yu said:

"When you go to town to sell fish tomorrow, take Da Niu with you. You can take her to town to sell them. The three little ones are all well-behaved and easy to take care of; Mei Hua can keep an eye on them."