Chapter 90 Pulling the Net to Catch Fish

"Yes, I have made great progress."

A few days later, the old man held the neatly traced calligraphy in his hand and said with satisfaction, "This brushstroke looks like Yu'er's. Did he trace the calligraphy you want to use?"

The old man naturally has a rare and beautiful handwriting.

However, the calligraphy he copied for Xu Yanran was deliberately simplified a lot, and the style was very different from the homework submitted by Sang Zhixia.

Sang Zhixia suppressed her embarrassment and nodded: "He did it."

To be precise, Xu Yu stayed up for two consecutive nights to finish the calligraphy copybook. When she saw it, she felt too embarrassed to not practice it.

The old man seemed to pause, then smiled and said, "Although he has restrained himself a bit, his calligraphy is still too sharp. It's not suitable for you to practice, but..."

"Some edge isn't a bad thing."

He placed Sang Zhixia's handwriting, which had made significant progress, on the table and said with a smile, "Look at your expression. Is there something else going on?"

Sang Zhixia felt a little embarrassed: "Xu Yu said that the Internet will start today, and I promised Yanran and the others to take them to watch the fun."

In order to successfully complete the literacy task at home, the old man has been staying indoors these days as a strict teacher, so this group of illiterate people, big and small, have no chance to go out for a walk.

She was fine, but the younger ones couldn't bear it any longer.

Sang Zhixia hesitated for a moment and asked, "Grandfather, do you want to go and take a look together?"

"go."

"Go call someone, I'll change my clothes and go with you."

Winter fishing is a big event in the village, and pulling up the nets is undoubtedly the highlight.

When they, young and old, arrived at the place, the ice holes used for setting up and lowering nets were already filled with people, and all the people who could come from the village had arrived.

The village chief was sweating as he arranged his troops.

"Young men are strong, everyone stand forward!"

"Xu Yu, Zhuzi, those of you who are strong, stand at the front!"

Xu Yu, who was called, walked forward through the crowd and, following the village chief's instructions, wrapped the exposed piece of fishing net around his arm and clenched it with both hands. The people behind him followed suit.

The village chief trotted back and called out, "Hurry, hurry, hurry, everyone, get your strength out! Once the firecrackers are set off, the net will be raised!"

The oldest uncle in the village, holding a gong tied with red silk, smiled. When everyone was ready, he banged the gong loudly and shouted, "The auspicious time has arrived!"

"Exploding whip!"

"Raise the net!"

Amid the din of firecrackers and gongs, the man holding the fishing net exerted all his strength, and veins all over his body were bulging.

The little kid who couldn't help was infected by the atmosphere and imitated the adults and shouted loudly: "Come on!"

"Push harder!"

"Catch the big fish!"

"good luck!"

Xu Mingyang and others shouted until their faces turned red, and Sang Zhixia couldn't help but tighten her sleeves.

The voices of people ignited the endless ice surface like waves, and the big net that was put into the deep of the glacier finally made a sound.

Crackle...

The fishing net was empty when it was pulled out at first, but as the pulling became stronger, the struggle and resistance from under the water became more obvious.

Xu Yu gritted his teeth and lowered his center of gravity. The people standing in a long row like a tug-of-war were also sweating profusely.

As the men pulling the net slowly moved backwards, the village chief, who was carefully watching the ice hole, clapped his hands and laughed excitedly: "A fish has been caught!"

“I saw fish!”

"fish?"

Xu Mingxu asked in surprise: "Where are the fish?"

Sang Zhixia quickly grabbed him and said with a smile, "There are too many people here. We can't run around."

She took out the prepared cloth belt and tied it to Xu Mingxu's little hand. After tying it, she waved to Xu Mingyang who was constantly standing on tiptoe: "Come here too."

Xu Mingyang looked at the extra cloth strips on his hands, and at Sang Zhixia who was tying them into knots on Xu Yanran's hands, and asked, "Sister-in-law, what are you doing?"

"do what?"

Sang Zhixia said with a headache: "This is a safety rope to prevent getting lost."

She wrapped the other end of the cloth around her palm a few times and said helplessly, "If you guys let go, you'll be like moles. What if you get lost in the crowd?"

There were so many people today that many people from nearby villages came to watch the fun. But the old man went to talk to the third uncle, so she was the only one left to look after the baby.

The three of them couldn't be held in one hand. Even if they didn't run away, how could they not notice that they fell into the ice hole?

Sang Zhixia decided to use the most primitive method: tying the dolls into a string.

She tugged at the strap in her hand and said, "Follow closely. I'll take you there to see it."

In the crowd that was messed up by the crowd, the bunch of little radishes led by Sang Zhixia was simply an organized and disciplined stream of fresh air.

They barely made their way around the crowd, and without warning, a burst of surprise erupted from the center of the group.

"This year's fish are bigger than in previous years!"

“Lots of big fish!”

Big fish?

Sang Zhixia stretched his neck, trying to see through the gap whether there was a huge king fish weighing over a hundred pounds. His sight passed through the shoulders and arms of many people and unexpectedly caught Xu Yu's eyes.

Xu Yu exhaled a breath of hot white air with a smile. He turned his head and the muscles on his strong forearms tensed rapidly, even his jaw was biting into a tense arc: "Come on, back!"

As if by magic, the enthusiasm of the people unearthed hidden treasures beneath the seemingly calm glacier.

As the area of ​​the fishing net being pulled out became larger, the cheers from the crowd became more deafening. In addition to the messy footprints on the snow-white ice, there were also many fish jumping desperately.

The experienced women raised the mallets in their hands high and hit the heads of the fish entangled in the fishing nets. The unconscious ones were pulled back directly. The people who prepared the baskets quickly picked up the unconscious fish and threw them into the baskets. When the baskets were full, they quickly moved back.

The assembly line created by time and experience has now become an annual sight, which Sang Zhixia marvels at.

“How amazing…”

“Is this amazing?”

Aunt Wu was so busy that she didn't even bother to wipe the sweat off her face. Beneath her unconcealed smile was a hint of regret: "We harvested quite a lot this year, but unfortunately, we didn't get any particularly large ones."

After she finished speaking, she laughed first: "But having this much is not bad. Our village has caught more than the nearby villages!"

Someone from the neighboring village heard this and complained, "What do you mean your village made the most? We made a lot this year, too, didn't we?"

"Exactly, why does Luobei Village claim to be the best?"

"Hey, you guys are still not convinced?"

Aunt Wu rolled up her sleeves and started arguing with the protesters: "Why isn't our village first? Open your eyes and look at what's in these baskets!!"

"That's not a lot..."

The noisy chattering broke out in joy, and Sang Zhixia chose to take the three little ones who had been stunned and quietly leave the battlefield.

Faced with the honor of being the village leader, people in every village have their own stubbornness.

She would not get involved in the top-level fights among her aunts.

I can’t win the argument.

There's no way I could win the argument.

Sang Zhixia, who had a clear self-awareness, stamped his feet on the spot, and determined that this situation would not be over for a while, so he waved his hand and decided to go home.

Xu Mingyang still felt regretful when he entered the house: "Why didn't I go with my uncle and eldest brother to pull the net? It would be so impressive to pull out so many fish!"

Sang Zhixia laughed mercilessly: "Impressive?"

"With your small body, I'm afraid the fish will pull you more often. Who will fish who out?"