Chapter 153 Fishing

There was a commotion in the crowd, and someone responded loudly: "Auntie Xu, we all know it. You have to repeat it every time, and we can all memorize it!"

There was a burst of laughter from the crowd. Lin Yue looked in the direction of the sound and saw a group of military personnel wearing similar style leather coats and similar leather hats. If one did not look carefully, it would be almost impossible to tell the age of the personnel.

Xu Zhijuan pointed in that direction and said with a smile: "Okay, let's go and have a look!"

Everyone was so anxious just now, but now no one was rushing forward. The ice was very slippery, so everyone was walking forward carefully.

Lin Yue followed Aunt Hua and walked forward together, his face full of curiosity. Aunt Hua smiled and said, "Is this the first time Wanli Niang has seen fishing on the ice?"

Lin Yue nodded, "I've been here for more than a month, and I've never seen this before. Now that the weather is warmer, why are you breaking ice to catch fish again? Won't it be less troublesome when the ice melts?"

Sun Xilai looked over and said with a smile, "How can it get warm so quickly? According to previous years, it may snow soon. The ice in the river will take at least another month to melt. The winter here is long, and we don't have much food left. The troops must catch a batch of fish before the ice melts, otherwise we won't dare walk on the ice after a while."

Lin Yue nodded in understanding. After coming here, her family's food was almost all bought by the troops, and only occasionally they would bring back some meat under the pretext of going out. In the past few days, the staple food at home has become three-in-one Wo Wo Tou, and several children have begun to protest.

She followed Aunt Hua and her mother-in-law and walked closer, only to see large holes nearly two meters deep on the ice. The ice layer was at least one meter deep. The bottom of the hole had been chiseled through. A soldier stood at the bottom of the hole with a sharp iron pestle in his hand. He chiseled hard a few times, and pure black water came out from the bottom of the hole.

The little warrior quickly climbed out from the bottom of the hole, stood on the ice and poked hard a few more times. The black water soon overflowed the hole. Even a fish jumped out of the hole, landed on the ice, and quickly froze solid.

There were low cries from children in the crowd, and Lin Yue looked back and saw Zhang Yuandong leading seven or eight children standing not far away, among whom were Lingling, Wanli, and Xiao Mushroom. When a group of children tried to move forward, Zhang Yuandong pulled them back one by one.

Seeing that he could control this group of naughty children, Lin Yue smiled and turned back to continue watching.

When she turned around, she saw the second fish jumping out of the hole. A little warrior quickly picked up the fish and put it in a large basket nearby.

Lin Yue thought, this is amazing, just dig a hole in the ice and fish will jump onto the shore continuously, all I have to do is stand by and wait to pick them up.

But facts proved that she had thought too simply. Only three or five fish jumped out of the water. Another warrior took a fishing net and cast it skillfully.

The waiting time was long. Lin Yue walked around and saw that the other ice holes were basically covered with nets. The ice surface was very slippery. It hadn't snowed in the past few days. The center of the river was covered with crystal ice blocks, and cracks could be seen in some places. However, despite this, the ice surface was still very solid, and some people even rode bicycles directly on the ice.

Lin Yue also found some fish that were frozen directly, vaguely visible in the thick ice.

She was curious and squatted on the ice to look at it for a long time, and she had the urge to dig it out. Zhang Yuandong was still in the same place, looking over here again and again. He wanted to see what his wife was doing, but he had to take care of the children and couldn't go over.

Fortunately, not long after, the soldiers started shouting "It's time to set up the net!" Lin Yue didn't care about anything else and hurried back to check.

Lin Yue rushed over and saw the moment the fishing net came out of the water. There were a lot of fish in the net, most of which Lin Yue couldn't name, and they could probably fill up her wooden basin.

She let out a low cry of joy. Even though she often caught fish in the air, she couldn't help but feel a little excited. Aunt Hua patted her shoulder and said with a smile: "This is just the first catch. There will be more to come!"

Lin Yue turned around in surprise and asked, "Isn't it a lot to catch so much in such a short time?"

Aunt Hua smiled and said, "Just watch."

The nets at the back caught more fish, and soon the fish baskets were no longer enough. Lin Yue knew that the products here were plentiful, but she had never imagined that they were so plentiful. In comparison, the small fish and shrimps in her space were really nothing.

The soldiers cast their nets seven or eight times until almost noon, when they finally stopped casting nets inside. Some soldiers had already picked up their backpacks and were heading back to the camp.

Lin Yue asked Aunt Hua curiously, "Are you not going to take any more food? There are so many people in the army, there shouldn't be enough food, right?"

Auntie Hua smiled and pointed at a tall and thin young soldier, explaining to Lin Yue: "This is where we stop today. Did you see that man? He is an experienced man. He is very good at setting nets. He can stretch the fishing nets from one end to the other. We can just come back to collect them in a few days."

Lin Yue only saw the young soldier take a long wooden stick, tie a rope to one end, and let it down along the cave entrance. He did not understand how he did it, but he saw him pull the rope and the wooden stick out from the next cave entrance.

There was a large fishing net tied to the rope. The soldier pulled the rope and the fishing net slid under the ice. Immediately, other little warriors helped him fix the two ends of the fishing net, and he went to the next place to continue setting up the fishing net.

Lin Yue was amazed. This might be the wisdom of the working people. She had almost understood what this was about. It was just like catching fish in a pond. However, because it was on the ice, most people couldn't cast a net, so some skills were needed.

Aunt Hua pulled her and said, "Let's go. There's nothing to see right now. Come back in a few days."

Lin Yue looked around and saw that everyone was walking back one after another. She knew that she would not be able to go online today, so she quickly called Zhang Yuandong and the children to go home together.

It was a rare weekend holiday, Zhang Yuandong and several children were at home, Lin Yue planned to make something delicious, she asked several children for their opinions, Ling Ling said loudly: "Mom, I have no opinion, as long as there is meat!"

The little mushroom shouted: "White flour steamed bun!"

Sisi followed suit and said, "Steamed buns! Steamed buns!"

Seeing that Wanli didn't say anything, Lin Yue asked him, "What do you want to eat, Wanli? Why don't you say anything?"

Wanli sighed like a little adult, "Mom is teasing us. We've been eating black flour steamed buns for the past few days. Where can we get white flour to make steamed buns? Besides, the troops haven't distributed meat these days. We only have cabbage and radishes at home, not even potatoes. How can we make anything delicious? Why not see if we can get some fish tonight so that mom can cook fish for us?"

Lingling and Little Mushroom opened their eyes wide, with disillusioned expressions on their faces.

Lin Yue laughed and said, "There really isn't anything else to eat at home, but we do have meat. Have you forgotten the leg of lamb in the vat outside?"

Wanli looked at his mother helplessly and said disapprovingly: "Mom, you can't eat that leg of lamb. It was said to be for Aunt Tingting to nourish her body!"

Lin Yue smiled, "You are very thoughtful. However, I have left something else for your Aunt Tingting. It just so happens that Aunt Tingting needs to eat something good to replenish her body. Let's eat first and I will buy more after we finish eating."

Lingling asked quickly: "Mom, are you going into the city? Can you take us with you?"

Lin Yue was a little hesitant. When she went to pick up Wang Tingting, she only brought Lingling and Wanli with her. Sisi and Xiao Mushroom were taken care of by Aunt Hua. Last time, she really had something to bother her. She had many children at home, and Lin Yue didn't want to bother her all the time. Besides, it was cold now, and she was afraid that the two children would suffer if they sat on the sled for so long.

Seeing that she didn't say anything, Lingling grabbed Lin Yue's sleeve and begged, "Mom, Mom, just take us there!"

Lin Yue was entangled and had no choice but to use a delaying tactic: "Let's talk about it after your father is off duty!"

Before they got home, they saw Zhuang Jie running over from a distance. He took a deep breath when he saw the family of six and said, "Captain, someone is looking for you and says he is your relative."

Zhang Yuandong asked: "What's your name?"

Zhuang Jie said, "His name is Zhang Shoufeng, and he's still at the gate."

Lin Yue asked in surprise: "Cousin?"

Zhang Yuandong nodded and said, "You and the child walk slowly. I'll go over and take a look first."

Before he finished speaking, the man had already followed Zhuang Jie and left quickly.

Lingling looked up and asked, "Mom, is uncle here?"

Lin Yue nodded and said, "Let's go faster and go home to get ready, okay?"

Although he said so, the child was still young, and when they arrived home, Zhang Yuandong had already brought his elder brother Zhang home.

Zhang Yuandong was muttering: "Why didn't you call me in advance so that I could pick you up!"

Zhang smiled innocently and said, "The phone bill is so expensive. It would be the same if I came directly. Anyway, the troops will definitely find you. By the way, here are some fish that were just caught in the village, and a deer leg. I'll bring them here for you to taste."

Lin Yue wanted to refuse, but Zhang said with a smile: "Sister-in-law, you must accept this, otherwise my mother won't let me into the house!"

Lin Yue smiled, and simply accepted it, saying, "Okay, let's make this for lunch today. It just so happens that we haven't eaten venison yet!"

Lingling and Wanli said at the same time: "I haven't eaten it either!"

The little mushroom also said loudly: "I have never eaten it before!"

Sisi followed suit and shouted, “I’ve never eaten it!”

The group of children repeated one after another like a repeater. Brother Zhang laughed: "Okay, let your mother do it for you!"

Lin Yue really had never eaten venison, and she didn't know how to cook it. When she asked Brother Zhang, his answer really broke her heart: "What else can you do with meat? Just stew it in water? Oh, and sprinkle some salt on it."

Lin Yue looked at Zhang Yuandong and finally knew where he learned his cooking skills.

Since she couldn't count on others, she simply cut the meat from the venison leg, set aside half, and fried the other half with potatoes.

Brother Zhang filled half a sack with fish. Their team had been fishing on the ice these days, and he brought the fish to their home as soon as he got some.

Lin Yue picked two crucian carps. Crucian carps have many bones and it is dangerous for children to eat them. She simply made some crucian carp soup so that the children could drink it when the time comes.

There are many people in the family, and the children eat a lot, so these two dishes are definitely not enough. Lin Yue took some out and asked Lingling to take them to Wang Tingting to the hospital. She also made a dish of cabbage stewed with vermicelli and a dish of stir-fried radish strips, making a total of three dishes and one soup.