Chapter 80 Ice Fishing, Fishing
After treating everyone to hot pot, life seemed to return to its usual tranquility.
Lai still lives in town, going back and forth between home and the town. Besides selling mung bean sprouts and soybean sprouts, he occasionally sells some leafy greens.
Eventually, even the mayor's butler found out about the new vegetables at the market and would come to Lai's place every now and then to buy a whole basket of bean sprouts.
Don't be fooled by the large quantity of bean sprouts in the basket; at current prices, they're only worth about ten silver coins. For the mayor's family, it's nothing, especially since Lai is offering them as a bonus.
About half a month has passed since Guge was injured.
One day, when Neil returned from delivering food, he was carrying a tightly woven basket in each hand. It turned out that Gug had been bored at home and had woven two baskets for Lai using the flexible branches he had prepared beforehand.
These two baskets were also coated with a natural varnish that could prevent decay. You definitely couldn't buy such well-made items in town. Lai expressed his gratitude to Gug in person.
However, after this meal, Temujin's life seemed to change drastically; he fell completely in love with the combination of hot pot broth and noodles.
When he's too busy to cook, he'll boil a pot of water, add half of the hot pot base, some potatoes and dumplings, and just have a hot meal.
Lei gave out a small amount of hot pot base, and Temuqi ate it sparingly. At first, he ate half a can at a time, then half a can of half a can, and now it's two spoonfuls at a time.
Even with such careful budgeting, the jar containing the hot pot base was eventually emptied.
After enduring several days of this, and resuming his daily diet of leftover bread and dried meat, Temuji finally couldn't take it anymore. Under the cover of night, he went to Laiyi's house and spent money there to buy a lot more.
Lai originally didn't intend to charge him, but he couldn't resist the stubborn Timukchi, so he packed a lot for him at cost price, selling it to him and giving it away for free.
“Neil, take this basket of bean sprouts to Aunt Linda.”
"good!"
Lai had been growing bean sprouts at home and selling them in the city for a long time, and gradually the villagers all knew about it.
Occasionally, villagers would come directly to his house to buy, and Lai couldn't refuse. He would always sell to them at the market price, maybe giving them an extra handful of bean sprouts after weighing them. He would never do anything like giving them away for free or selling them at a significant discount.
Most of the villagers were very considerate; Lai always gave them extra bean sprouts, and they remembered this favor.
But there were also some tactless people. When Lai gave them more, they not only didn't appreciate it, but complained that Lai was charging too much and giving too little. Some even lurked around Lai's house, trying to steal the secrets of how bean sprouts grow.
Lai doesn't want to directly confront these kinds of people, but he also won't tolerate them.
They came three times to buy bean sprouts, and each time they managed to catch them sell out two times, or that the mayor had already pre-ordered them.
Ray explained sincerely, and they had nothing more to say.
Neil carried the basket to Hagrid's house and ran into Farah, who hadn't been out for a long time, on the first floor.
Her lower abdomen was already slightly protruding, but because she was wearing a blouse, it was not noticeable at all.
After getting through the first few months, her appetite returned. Her family gave all the good food to her and her two children, and her cheeks became rounder and rounder.
"Neil is here."
Farah gave a gentle smile, making her look even more tender.
"Ah! It's Uncle Neil! Grandma, Uncle Neil is here!"
When Luna saw Neil, she exclaimed, "Linda!"
"Aunt Linda, my brother asked me to deliver bean sprouts."
Neil handed the basket to Linda.
"They brought more right after we finished eating at home. Lei is so thoughtful."
As Linda spoke, she emptied the basket and filled it with bread and various snacks.
"Fara's been craving fish lately. This afternoon, Rhys will go to the river to catch some, and he'll bring you a few to eat tonight."
"No need, Aunt Linda. If I take so much stuff back, my brother will scold me."
Neil stopped Linda, who was trying to stuff more things into the basket; it seemed she wouldn't stop until it was completely full. Kelly, behind their backs, had already rolled her eyes several times.
"Aunt Linda, I'm leaving."
Neil bid farewell to everyone and left Hagrid's house.
"These bean sprouts are growing so well, Luna. Didn't you say you wanted to eat more bean sprouts? I'll make you a plate of stir-fried bean sprouts with vinegar for lunch."
"good!"
As Linda spoke, she grabbed a small portion of bean sprouts from the basin and began washing them. Stir-fried bean sprouts with vinegar was a recipe Linda learned from Lai, and it had recently become very popular with her family.
When harvesting the sprouted bean sprouts, Lai would use a knife to cut off the root parts, which would make washing the vegetables much easier.
Linda's family also placed several flower pots with some vegetables in the warmer areas by the fireplace in the kitchen and living room, just like Ray did.
Although there's no magic involved, the plants are growing well under Linda's careful care, and they'll be ready to eat soon.
After lunch, Lamb went with Reese to the ice rink to catch fish.
Since Lamb rarely gets a chance to go out and get some fresh air, he doesn't forget to invite Rae, who's staying at home, along.
It's freezing outside, and staying at home is definitely more comfortable than going out. But after staying home for a long time, you can't help but feel a bit bored. Going out for a stroll, even if you don't catch any fish, is still good for getting some fresh air.
After a moment's thought, Lai took the family's fishing nets, shovels, and other tools and went out. Neil and Tata stayed home to look after the house.
Rhys, Neil, and Lai each carried a few tools and headed towards the small river near the village. The river near Timur's house wasn't deep enough, only two or three meters, and the fish in it weren't very big. So, that wasn't where they were going to fish today.
The more Lai walked, the more familiar the road seemed to him.
"Is this the river where everyone often comes to wash clothes?"
"yes."
It was Ries who answered.
"If we walk along the river, there's a deep pit upstream. In the summer, the fish in there are plump and plentiful. Today, we'll go there and set up our fishing nets. Whether we catch any fish or not depends on fate."
Looking around, the entire river surface was almost completely frozen solid.
The ice surface was covered in a blanket of white snow, making it impossible to tell how thick the ice actually was, and no one dared to walk on it.
After walking for more than half an hour, passing the grove where Lai had smelled the strange fragrance earlier, and continuing for another half hour, we finally arrived at the deep pit that Riis had mentioned.
Reese held the stick across his chest and walked into the river, testing the thickness of the ice.
"The thickness is about one meter near the center. We should be fine if we don't gather together here. Come down, and don't get too close to the center."
Lamb rushed onto the ice, with Ray following behind him, and together they headed towards the drilling site chosen by Reese on the left.
The ice was too thick to drill a hole, but with Lamb, who was strong, there was no problem in chiseling out a hole more than half a meter wide in the ice.
Once the ice cave was carved out, Rhys began to set the net.
The eight-meter-long fishing net disappeared as soon as it was thrown into the water, held in place only by two thick hemp ropes on an iron hook deeply embedded in the ice.
Besides fishing nets and burlap sacks, the men also brought fishing rods. After casting the nets, the three went in another direction and chiseled several holes there as well.
First, they threw in the small fishing net that Lai had brought, and then each of them guarded a hole in the ice and started fishing.
In winter, when the river is frozen over, the fish often suffer from difficulty breathing and lack of oxygen.
The ice hole had only been carved out a short time before several fish mouths emerged from the water to breathe. If the water hadn't been so damp and cold, Lamb would have loved to catch the fish with his bare hands.
"Today will definitely be a bumper harvest!"
Lamb excitedly cast his line into the water and began fishing.
Sure enough, a fish took the bait after only ten minutes or so, and it looked quite big. It took Lamb a while to finally pull it up.
But the temperature was too low, and the fish, exposed to the air, only struggled and thrashed a few times before becoming still. By the time I picked it up, it was already stiff.
A grass carp the size of an adult's palm—that's the best thing we had today.
"It was too cold, and the fish froze to death as soon as it was brought ashore."
Lamb, both amused and exasperated, untied the frozen fish and threw it into the sack.
"The ice layer has a warming effect. Even though the weather outside is so cold, the water under the ice is warm, which is why the fish and shrimp in the river can survive the winter."
Reese explained to Lamb.
"Hey, you idiot, don't touch it with your bare hands!"
Rhys couldn't stop his curious, silly younger brother, Lamb, who had already put his hand into the water.
"It's really warm!"
Lamb pulled his hand back, and immediately felt the cold as soon as it touched the air.
"It's so cold."
"idiot!"
Lai silently handed the water bag in his hand to Lamb. It was filled with hot water and was very warm.
"Thanks, bro."
Lamb hugged the water bag tightly and laughed without a care in the world.
"It's alright, just don't get too cold."
After the little incident, everyone quietly sat on the small stools and began ice fishing. An hour later, all three had caught something, but none of them were very big.
Lamb had been fishing for half a day and started to get restless, swaying back and forth as if he needed to relieve himself.
Wild animals are most frequently seen during the winter.
Although most of the wild animals near the village have been cleared out, and it should theoretically be very safe, some inevitably slip through the net.
The ice surface is wide open, and you can see the surroundings at a glance, so there's no problem.
Reluctantly, Rhys asked Ray to go into the woods with him to avoid any potential dangers.
"Brother, don't peek!"
Ries: "..."
Ray and Lamb walked further and further away into the woods.
"Brother, wait for me here."
"Um."
Lamb dashed off into the distance.
Few plants retain their leaves throughout winter; most trees in the forest have lost all their leaves. The forest is bare and desolate.
The ground was covered with fallen leaves and snow, and occasionally you could see some small animal footprints and bird droppings on the snow.
In such a cold season, you can still hear all kinds of birds chirping in the forest. I really don't know how they survive.
"Brother, I'm back."
As soon as Ray saw Lamb's smug expression, he knew Lamb wasn't up to any good.
"Brother, let's go for a walk around. Maybe we can catch some prey."
So, Lamb deliberately carried a bow and arrows out, claiming it was to protect everyone's safety, just for this?
"no."
"ah......"
Lamb looked disappointed.
"Then let me ask Rhys. If he agrees, can we go together?"
"Can."
Lamb became happy again.
"elder brother!"
"What's wrong?"
Reese turned to look at Lamb and Ray.
"I want to go for a walk around the neighborhood with Leigo, we'll be back soon."
"Go ahead, you two be careful."
"good!"
Having received permission, Lamb's tone became more assertive this time.
"Brother, let's go!"
"Um."
Ray and Lamb went back into the woods.
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Author's Note: Sigh, I've recently discovered that even a noob like me is getting plagiarized. It's so frustrating. So, to protect everyone's and my own rights, I'll be implementing a 30% anti-piracy measure this afternoon. It's better than nothing, I guess. Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my work between 2023-09-20 23:50:14 and 2023-09-23 08:01:01!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: xxx 114 bottles; Temporarily returned 37 bottles; Qingge 9 bottles; Above the Clouds is the Ocean, Cooking Porridge and Steamed Cake, Luoning, and Disi 1 bottle;
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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