Chapter 65 The Big Fish
Since the second crop of vegetables was planted, I've had even more free time.
Aside from basic housework, I'm idle most of the time.
Perhaps it's because I've been so busy lately that I've developed a habit, and suddenly having free time makes me feel a bit empty.
So I thought about it and found myself a new job—fishing in the ponds in the mountain valleys.
Since I discovered that pond, I've only been there two or three times, and I've never actually fished there.
Taking advantage of the cool morning air, I decided to go check if there were any big fish in the pond.
I fed and watered the four puppies and kept them indoors.
Carrying a bucket, fishing rod, dagger, and a plastic bag of snacks and water, they called Xiaodi and Xiaogua and set off.
We entered the ravine in less than 10 minutes.
It is now the height of summer, and the mountain valley is lush with vegetation, the leaves of the big trees blocking out all the sunlight.
The light inside was dim, and the temperature was lower than outside.
However, the grass here wasn't as deep as I had imagined; it only reached my ankles.
Xiao Di and Xiao Gua seemed to really like this place. As soon as they came in, they rolled around on the grass, getting covered in leaves and all sorts of grass.
I looked around and, seeing that there didn't seem to be any wild animals, I dared to venture further in.
He carried the bucket to the pond.
I picked up a twig from the ground and carefully poked at the surrounding grass, afraid that a snake might suddenly dart out.
However, after fiddling with it for several minutes, there was still no movement.
This is normal; there are relatively few snakes in Montreal to begin with, and the extreme cold has killed a large number of animals.
It is indeed reasonable that there are no snakes here.
Look in the water, there are already small fish, about the thickness of a little finger, swimming around the edge of the pond.
It seems the little fish we saw earlier have grown a bit.
I thought to myself, hoping a big fish would appear.
I forgot to bring a stool, so I just sat on the floor.
Take out the fishing rod, put a small piece of pork on the hook, and then cast the hook into the water.
The two dogs were still playing and laughing on the lawn outside, probably unaware of the pond yet.
I brought them along to give myself courage and to help me keep an eye on other wild animals.
But I'm also afraid they'll jump into the water and scare the fish.
Since they haven't found a pond yet, I won't tell them and will secretly fish on my own.
I had heard that fishing requires a lot of patience, and now it seems that's true.
I sat on the grass for over twenty minutes, my butt was almost stiff, but the fishing hook didn't react at all.
The two dogs were tired from playing and lay on the ground, panting heavily.
They finally realized something was wrong and started racing towards me.
Just as it reached the edge of the pond, it suddenly braked, its eyes filled with shock.
That's true, they've never seen a pond or any place with lots of water before.
I imagine their little brains are currently trying to process the information they've seen.
While I was still feeling sorry for the two of them, having been kept at home since they were kittens and never seen a pond, and feeling guilty about it, Little Melon jumped right into the water.
Water splashed all over my face and startled me.
Even though there are no wild animals here to scare me, there are still some clueless little kids who might frighten me, so my heart finally stopped pounding.
After the little melon dived into the water, it opened its mouth wide and stuck out its tongue, as if it were laughing, and it was extremely happy.
Only a small head was visible above the water, with the surrounding fur floating on the surface.
It seems dogs are indeed born swimmers, but I still have some lingering worries.
I don't know if I have a fear of deep water or if I've watched too many horror movies, but I'm afraid that a big fish or snake will appear in the movie and pull me into the water.
But I didn't want to ruin its current happiness, so I suppressed my fear and allowed it to play a little longer.
After soaking in the water for 10 minutes, I ordered Xiaogua to hurry up and get ashore.
Although Xiaogua was somewhat reluctant, after hesitating for a moment, she still swam towards the shore.
As it swam, its eyes looked a little off, and then it suddenly plunged into the water.
This terrified me. I frantically called out Xiaogua's name from the shore.
Seeing my strong reaction, Xiao Di became a little scared and nervously stomped his feet on the shore.
After more than ten seconds, Xiao Gua still hadn't come up, so Xiao Di hesitated for a long time before jumping into the water as well.
But as soon as Xiao Di jumped into the water, Xiao Gua's head floated to the surface.
It looks like it's holding something in its mouth.
But I don't care at all anymore. I'm afraid it will get hurt, and I just want it to come up quickly.
I picked up the stick I had used at the beginning and used it to poke at the bottoms of Little Melon and Little Earth, pulling them towards the shore.
Actually, I can swim, but only in swimming pools. I wouldn't dare to go into a wild pond like this, as a novice swimmer.
Seeing that the little melon was safe and sound, Xiao Di swam ashore immediately, feeling utterly speechless.
Little Gua, perhaps sensing my anxiety or perhaps seeing my wife's anger, swam ashore with something in its mouth.
Once it came ashore, I felt less tense and could see what was in its mouth.
Goodness, it's a huge fish, probably as long as my forearm.
It was quite a struggle for the little melon to carry it.
Once ashore, the fish sensed the lack of oxygen and began to thrash about frantically, shaking its body.
The little melon's head swayed wildly in sync with the big fish's movements, its ears leaving afterimages as it swung around; its head was probably buzzing inside.
Seeing this, I found it somewhat amusing. This child was both naive and silly, but incredibly strong.
Is this what they mean by "simple-minded but physically strong"?
However, after the initial shock, they were also very happy, as happy as if they had won a small lottery.
Fish meat, this is fresh fish meat.
Moreover, with this pond, there will be a continuous supply of fish to eat.
Little Gua is such a good kid!
Perhaps it simply couldn't carry the fish any longer, so it spat it out onto the grass.
The fish was still thrashing about, and I was afraid it would jump back into the water, so I quickly grabbed the big fish and threw it into the bucket.
After securing the big fish, he wanted to get closer to the little melon and praise it.
As soon as we got close, it suddenly started shaking violently, shaking off the water from its fur.
Then all the water splashed all over my face and body, and even my slightly open mouth tasted dog hair.
Forget it, there's no point in arguing with this kind of idiot.
I stood up, stared at the pond for a while, and still didn't know how to catch the second one.
It seems the bait was wrong; the big fish weren't biting.
I should go back and flip through the book again to see what kind of bait big fish like.
I won't waste time here now; I'll come fishing again next time when I'm better prepared.
In a good mood, I took my bucket and fishing rod, and called to my two dogs as I went home.
With this fish, I can't wait to cook something delicious for lunch.
After I got home, I observed the fish carefully.
The fish was huge; its length was as long as my forearm plus a fist.
The fish head was round and plump, about the size of my palm, and its body was also very wide, making it look extremely fat.
Its back is dark bluish-black, gradually turning white towards its abdomen.
The fish scales were also quite large, about the size of my thumbnail.
But I don't know what kind of fish it is; I've never really known much about fish species.
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