Xiaojing Brigade has always had lakes and ponds, and there is also a big river at the gate.

In the past few years when there was no collectivization, every household had a fishing net and would go to the river to catch fish from time to time.

Later, due to policy changes, rivers, lakes and ponds became collective property and private fishing was not allowed. At the end of each year, the ponds were dried up and fish were caught, and those fishing nets gradually disappeared.

The team leader and the branch secretary suddenly asked each household to find the discarded fishing nets. This made everyone look for it for a long time. After finding the nets, they handed them over to the team headquarters. After such a search, they actually found more than a dozen small fishing nets.

The people who came to weave the fishing nets were Jiang Wanyue's mother-in-law Zhou Xiugui and Tian Youliang's mother, Old Lady Tian. Because this matter had to be kept low-key, it was not easy to find other people.

Principal Zheng said with gratitude, "You two ladies work during the day and have to weave fishing nets at night. It's really hard work. Don't worry, the school will pay you."

"What more do you want for wages?" Zhou Xiugui rubbed her hair with a needle. "You are doing this for the children, and we are doing this for the children too. We have the same heart."

Old Mrs. Tian nodded and said, "I have never been educated in my life, but I hope that the children can be educated. The principal and teachers have taken the lead in seeking benefits for the children. How can we fall behind? Don't worry, we will definitely have a big fishing net tomorrow."

The next day, it didn't rain.

The school was in session as usual. At the end of the first period, Old Mrs. Tian brought a large fishing net to the school on her bound feet.

The old lady turned and left without saying a word.

Jiang Wanyue felt warm inside.

From the beginning when she started doing this, from the beginning to the end, the people she met were all enthusiastic. If there was just one person who didn't cooperate, things wouldn't have gone so smoothly.

She did not bother the team to arrange people to pull the fish, because there were many things to do in the village, so she asked the children to participate as well.

The average age of children in grades four and five is twelve or thirteen. They are all quite tall and can be considered half adults.

Jiang Wanyue didn't say what the fish were for, lest the students gossip about it and spread it to other villages. She just said that the voluntary labor was changed to today.

The last class in the afternoon was fishing. The children were so excited that they kicked off their straw sandals and took off their pants.

Principal Zheng specifically asked someone for advice on fishing techniques. First, three teachers went into the water, cleared the floating weeds above the one-acre pond, and then began to cast the net.

Jiang Wanyue rolled up her trouser legs and stepped into the pond water. She felt a little cold at first, but it was fine after her legs adjusted to the temperature. However, there was a lot of silt at the bottom of the pond, making it very difficult to walk. It took almost an hour just to lower the net.

The two ends of the fishing net were pulled by Principal Zheng and Teacher Wan, who had the greatest strength.

Jiang Wanyue took five male students to the middle of the fishing net, bent over, and let the fishing net stick to the bottom.

The rest of the students were scattered at other locations on the fishing net, working together to protect the net as it slowly moved toward the shore.

As the encirclement narrowed, the fish became alert and flapped their wings from time to time, splashing water on Jiang Wanyue's face, scaring her.

Really, she never dreamed that she would be able to go into the water to catch fish.

Everything went smoothly at the beginning, but when the net was about to be closed, a group of fish broke through the net and more than a dozen of them escaped. Fortunately, the young and energetic students reacted quickly and pulled the two ends of the net together in a lightning speed, thus avoiding the tragic situation of drawing water with a bamboo basket.

Finally we reached the shore and the younger children also came to help pull in the fish.

All the fish were pulled up, except for the grass carp. The other fish were thrown away. The live fish were struggling on the shore. Principal Zheng wiped his sweat and quickly took out the scale borrowed from the brigade.

I weighed it in batches and found that the total weight was only 120 kilograms.

Have to do it again.

The three adults were exhausted.

But the group of children were still not satisfied.

The tallest boy in the fifth grade was called Wan Xuegong, and he was Teacher Wan’s nephew. He vaguely knew something about the situation and patted his chest and said, “Let us students handle it this time. The teachers can just direct it on the shore.”

Boys are full of energy and love to do this kind of thing. They jumped into the water and started casting the net without saying a word.

Where the fishing nets were torn, they simply tied them together and used them as is.

The first time, several students did not cooperate well and caught only three fish. They were not satisfied and came a second time immediately.

By now, it was already past school time and it was almost four o'clock in the afternoon.

When Jiang Wanyue was sitting on the shore to rest, Song Huaizhi, who had been watching, came over and took out a candy from his pocket: "Pulling fish is very tiring, eat something to fill your stomach."

He found it incredible that his mother, who had never been on land before, actually went into the water to catch fish.

Jiang Wanyue then noticed that the boy was still in school. She took the candy and put it in her mouth. It was quite sweet.

She looked at the pond. There were a lot of fish in the last net, probably enough to make up 200 kilograms. She could call it a day. She stood up and said, "Huaizhi, go home and pick some vegetables and start a fire. I'll count the fish and then go back to cook."

Song Huaizhi nodded obediently.

All the fish were weighed and the total weight was 192 kilograms.

Teacher Wan asked, "Should we throw two back into the water?"

Jiang Wanyue shook her head: "We agreed to give each person five kilograms of fish. I'm afraid it's a bit difficult to divide. If we give them a few more kilograms, they will have more room to spread the fish and we can continue to cooperate in the future."

Principal Zheng's eyes widened: "And in the future?"

"Of course." Jiang Wanyue smiled, "Our school doesn't even have a mimeograph machine, so we have to find a way to buy one ourselves."

Speaking of this, Teacher Wan has a lot to say. For the two classes, the final exams in Chinese and math add up to three or four hundred test papers, all handwritten. His hands are almost broken. If there was a mimeograph machine, it would really be a great help.

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