After finishing her meal, Zhang Hongmei quickly went home, afraid that Liu Changhe would still want to play chess, which would be torture.

In the afternoon, Shi Tou came over and asked, "Sister Hongmei, are you going fishing in the mountains tomorrow?"

"Go ahead, or you can stay put. You absolutely cannot go."

"Hey! I know, I can go when I turn ten next year, right?"

"How would I know? It's up to my third uncle to decide."

"Hongmei, Shitou, are you here? Did you tell your sister Hongmei?"

"I told you, Stone told me. Are you going tomorrow, Er Ya?"

"Let's go together. Shouldn't we tell Jingze first?"

"Yes, we should tell him. He said he wanted to come along yesterday. Does Brother Zhu know?"

"He knows, and this time the village chief also plans to leave at four in the morning."

"Okay, does the cafeteria prepare meals?"

"They said they'd steam cornbread for us. We can just eat it too."

"Okay, it's settled then. Stone, could you go and tell Jingze?"

"Okay, then I'll go."

"Hongmei, I'll go back and prepare too."

Zhang Hongmei didn't take a nap in the afternoon. She just lay on the kang (a heated brick bed) and read books all afternoon. It was a habit from her past life; she liked to read while lying down.

While eating in the cafeteria in the afternoon, Liu Jingze found Zhang Hongmei and said, "My mom made pancakes for us, so you won't dislike cornbread."

"There are too many people. It's not good for my aunt to cook for herself."

"Can you even eat this?"

"Sure, just eat less so you won't be hungry. It'll be fine."

"Alright then, you go and talk to her, otherwise she'll think I'm being reluctant."

"Hehe, if I were your own sister, you wouldn't have anything to do at home."

“She’s not my biological sister, and there’s nothing going on at home right now. My great-grandmother said she’d leave half of her things to you, and the rest would be divided among my siblings and me.”

"Hehe, it's okay, I'll secretly return them all to you later. You still benefited."

"Then I'll be waiting. Okay, go talk to my mom."

Zhang Hongmei found Hu Aifen and whispered in her ear, "Auntie, stop making pancakes. There are too many people. It's not good for us to eat alone. It's just one meal. Just bear with it. Besides, it's just cornbread."

"Are you really sure?"

"It's okay, I just don't like it, it's not that I can't eat it. Who likes to eat cornbread these days?"

"Okay, I'll make noodles and poached eggs for you when I get back tonight."

"Okay, I'll eat the tomatoes."

"Okay, go line up for food."

Er Ya also came over and whispered, "Hongmei, my mom said she'll steam some buns for us to take with us."

"No, it's too much trouble for us to be the only ones eating refined grains among so many people. Don't bother making it, just eat cornbread."

"My mom is worried you won't like the food."

"It's edible." I really am being too delicate.

But looking at the corn kernel bits floating in the bowl, I really couldn't bring myself to eat it. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to be a little fussy.

I only kept two sweet potatoes and gave the rest to Shi Tou. But this kid insisted on giving me the sweet potatoes from his bowl. I really didn't spoil him for nothing.

The next day, Zhang Hongmei was all ready by 3 a.m., and Liu Jingze also came to knock on the door. The two of them didn't go to the brigade to assemble, otherwise they would have to pass by here later.

There were twenty people going up the mountain this time, plus the four of them, making it a grand procession.

Halfway through, Liu Jingze was still holding Zhang Hongmei's hand, which showed that everyone else had better stamina than him.

Because no one maintained the trap, Zhang Hongmei and her group didn't check it last time, mainly because they couldn't see any animal footprints anymore, so they gave up on this territory.

This time it took three and a half hours to reach the edge of the pool. There were many people, and many fishing nets, so the ice surface of the pool was bustling with activity.

This time, we're planning to set up four nets, so we'll need to make about forty holes in the ice just for that.

Da Shan's father told everyone who was alright to go up, as it was too noisy in the morning and the fish probably wouldn't come up.

Before setting the nets, Zhang Hongmei took a walk around and released some spring water. Because she used large-mesh nets, she wasn't worried about the fish becoming extinct.

Besides, as the old saying goes, fish can be caught in a thousand layers of nets, and every net will have fish; the fish will never be completely drained.

When the nets were being cast, Liu Maocai assigned ten people to build rafts, so even if there were no fish, the rafts wouldn't go to waste.

The division of labor was clear. Da Shan's father even made the ice holes at the bottom of each net extra special so that it would be easier to get online later.

Liu Jingze followed behind Zhang Hongmei; these tasks were being done by others.

After the nets were set, only the four of them remained, while the rest went to help build the raft. After all, they needed to finish quickly, as there was no guarantee there wouldn't be any danger.

"Hongmei, there's nothing for us to do on this trip up the mountain."

"That's great! Last time, Brother Jingze and Brother Zhuzi were exhausted."

"Many hands make light work; it's easier than having just the four of us."

After the rafts were tied up, they were all pulled over; seven rafts were made in total. That should be enough; unlike last time, a single net wouldn't yield two thousand catties of fish.

No one came back empty-handed; they all carried tree branches and expanded the area they had cleared last time. They lit six fires and sat around them eating steamed buns.

Liu Jingze baked some cornbread for Zhang Hongmei, but Zhang Hongmei hesitated when she saw the crumbly cornbread. However, she still peeled off a layer of the golden and crispy crust and ate it.

"Jingze, you can have the rest."

"I knew you wouldn't be able to eat. This is a peach shortbread I brought for you. Eat it quickly. It's okay, no one's watching you."

Zhu Zi and Er Ya were secretly laughing on the side. No matter how capable Zhang Hongmei was, she was still a child.

Zhang Hongmei was indeed hungry. She took a piece of peach shortbread and ate it, then accepted a bowl of hot water from Liu Jingze, which made her feel much better.

They were all grown men, sitting together chatting idly about everything under the sun, and the four of them were quiet around the fire.

It was almost two o'clock when Da Shan's father shouted loudly from the ice, "Hurry up, there are plenty of fish, let's haul in the net."

Everyone jumped up at once, forming groups of five to set up the net.

The four of them carried baskets filled with snakeskin bags on their backs, handing the bags and ropes to the adults.

It took an hour to haul this net in, and the four nets only yielded slightly more fish than last time, bringing the total to nearly 3,000 jin (1,500 kg).

Wang Hongxi was overjoyed and discussed with Liu Maocai, "Why don't we buy all the fish this time? We still owe money to Ernai and Hongmei. Hongmei will be going to school soon, so we have to pay her off first."

"Okay, I'll go back and ask the mistress. I reckon we'll have to sell her in the city."

"That's what I think too, but transporting it to the city is a hassle."

"Oh, this is troublesome. We'll deal with it later. Let's hurry up and get it back."

While some people were hauling in the nets, others were picking fish from behind. Once a bag was full, they carried it up to the raft. This time there were more than thirty bags, which were spread across seven rafts and didn't stand out as much as the last time.