Chapter 5: Alternative Sea Hunting
"Don't leave me, I want to go too!"
The three brothers had only taken a few steps out of the door when they saw their youngest sister Liang Lizhi running out, clamoring to go fishing together.
"Nonsense, why are you joining in the fun? Go back!"
The eldest brother's face turned stern and he pushed Liang Lizhi back.
"I'm not just joining in the fun. I'm really good at fishing! I can find oysters, pick up snails, dig clams, and even catch jumping fish!"
After Liang Lizhi was blasted, her bright eyes were full of grievance as she listed her "skills" in a series.
Seeing this, Liang Ziqiang hurried forward to explain to her: "I know you are an expert at catching snails, but the tide hasn't receded yet, so you can't catch snails. Wait until noon, when the tide has receded, and I'll take you to the beach to pick up snails. You can pick up as many as you want!"
"Really? If you don't keep your word, you're a big yellow dog!"
Liang Lizhi's worry turned into joy. She blinked her eyes and even stretched out her finger to make a hook with her second brother before happily going back to the house to learn how to weave a net.
The three brothers continued to walk towards the sea.
The further we go, the wider the world becomes. The village recedes, but the endless sea and sky appear before us.
The entire vision is opened up, this is what people often say, the vast sea and sky!
The light was too dim last night, and only until this moment did Liang Ziqiang have time to take a good look at the sea he had not seen for a long time.
At around seven in the morning, the sun was shining, and the surface of the sea was inlaid with golden and silver lights, as if countless pieces of gold and silver were colliding, making a regular "rustling" sound.
The seagulls were covered with a layer of morning sunlight, and they seemed to be glowing by themselves, shining up and down.
There were busy fishing boats in the distance, and nearby there were a few villagers who had started earlier than the three of them, using stilt nets to fish in the water.
As it was high tide, the mudflat that Liang Ziqiang saw last night had now been covered by the tide and became part of the sea.
Only in higher areas are sand and gravel still exposed.
The three of them placed all their tools on the ground on the shore and began to put on the stilts.
First, put your feet on the footboard of the stilts, and then use a rope to tie the upper end of the stilts to the upper side of the calf so that the stilts have room to move flexibly.
The knees were wrapped with two pieces of felt to prevent them from being scratched by the stilts.
After putting on the stilts, Liang Ziqiang tried to stand up. Suddenly, his body grew one meter taller, and he seemed to have turned into a giant of nearly 2.8 meters.
He tried to take two steps, but lost his balance and his body swayed, and he almost fell down.
Liang Zifeng, who was standing by, was a little confused. He quickly supported him and asked with a puzzled look on his face: "What's the matter, brother? You are the best at stilt fishing in the village. Why did you stray before you even got into the sea?"
There were only about 20 fishermen in the village who could use stilt fishing nets. Liang Ziqiang had mastered this difficult method when he was only a teenager. He could move freely in the shallow sea, better than the old fishermen. Others could envy him, but they couldn't.
But today, before even getting into the water, he couldn't stand still? No wonder Liang Zifeng and Liang Tiancheng were full of questions.
Only Liang Ziqiang understood that it had been forty years since he last fished. Even if he had been good at fishing before, he still had to go through a process of adapting himself.
"It's okay. The stilts got stuck in a crack in the rock." Liang Ziqiang said casually.
Fortunately, the readjustment process was not long. After walking a few steps, the old feelings seemed to be reviving rapidly, and the natural closeness and desire for the sea in my body suddenly woke up like an instinct that could not be restrained or suppressed.
He held the net, pulled the large bamboo basket, leaned forward slightly, and stepped into the layers of waves.
The triangular net had a wooden frame, 4 meters wide, and a 5-meter long wooden pole. He held one end of the pole tightly in his hand, while the other end of the net was propped up in the water, creating a reverse force that supported his body more steadily.
The three brothers quickly walked into the tide.
When they reached a depth of 1 meter, the sea water just submerged the one-meter height of the stilts and stuck to their bare feet.
So, from a distance, the three people seemed to have the skill of "floating on water", walking on the sea as if walking on flat ground. It was a wonderful scene.
He continued to walk towards the sea, until the sea became deeper and deeper, gradually submerging Liang Ziqiang's buttocks. The waves were like the heart of the sea beating, beating against his waist again and again.
Being surrounded and hit by the sea water made Liang Ziqiang completely regain the feeling of being integrated into the sea. Not only did he no longer feel the uneasiness he had before, but he even felt relaxed.
Birds return to the forest and fish return to the sea. Is this probably what it feels like right now?
As they were already quite far from the shore, they slowed down their pace.
As the sea gets deeper, even if they stand on stilts one meter high, they will be swallowed by the sea! Only the tidal zone with just the right depth is the most suitable territory for them to roam.
Start pushing the fishing net.
The 5-meter-long handheld triangular net sank to the bottom of the water. The three people pushed the net forward with force against the direction of the tide.
The bottom of the fishing net is kept close to the seabed, keeping an angle of 45 degrees to minimize resistance in the water.
Liang Ziqiang felt something rubbing against him from time to time, slipping past his feet. It seemed that with their stirring, the underwater world became very lively! Should there be something going on?
However, the result of the fishing net was shocking.
The eldest brother Liang Tiancheng was the first to pick up the fishing net from the sea.
"This luck is not very good!" Liang Tiancheng sounded a little disappointed when he saw the shrimps jumping in the triangular net.
There was a harvest, but when I looked closely, most of them were hair shrimps. There were also some red shrimps, but very few.
Hair shrimp is what people call "shrimp skin". Because it has very little meat, only a layer of skin is left after drying, so it is called shrimp skin.
Hair shrimps are far less valuable than red shrimps, and are even worse than prawns.
This is where Liang Tiancheng’s disappointment comes from.
Fortunately, there were two other stone crabs among them.
Soon after, Liang Zifeng's network also copied over.
The situation is not much different from Liang Tiancheng's. It is mainly shrimp, with an additional sea bass and a large yellow croaker, but they are not valuable items.
"Aqiang, it's up to you. You've always had the best luck fishing!"
The two were disappointed and turned their eyes to Liang Ziqiang at the same time.
"What's the difference? A stilt fishing net is used to catch shrimps. What else can you expect to catch?" Liang Ziqiang said with a smile.
Indeed, most of the fish caught by high-legged fishing nets are shrimps, which is related to the habits of shrimps.
Sea shrimps are timid. When they are disturbed by the fishing net and are frightened, they will panic and jump into the net automatically in a panic.
Therefore, although catching shrimps on stilts is physically and technically challenging, it is quite efficient and can save the money on diesel for driving a boat.
Of course, this is limited to shallow beaches.
As he spoke, Liang Ziqiang began to "raise the fishing net" by lifting it up with both hands.
"Fuck, am I dazzled?"
The net floated to the surface, and Liang Tiancheng wiped his eyes with his arm, his face full of disbelief.
"What kind of fish is this? I have never seen it before!" Liang Zifeng was dumbfounded.
"Let me see!" Another older fisherman nearby also noticed the situation here and immediately walked over on stilts.
After seeing the colorful and particularly attractive sea fish in the net, fisherman Lao Zhang was so surprised that his jaw dropped:
"This is a Zhan San Dao! You rarely see a Zhan San Dao from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, and you managed to get it like this? You are so lucky, kid!"
You can tell that Lao Zhang's tone is sour!
Reply to book friends: The author has published the exact prices of various marine fish in 1983 in the "Author's Words" at the end of Chapter 7. Thank you book friends for your attention!
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
