Chapter 78: The Honest Man Zhou Ye said seriously: Because I am an honest man...
Lin Xiaopu's shout immediately dispelled the strange thoughts that popped up in Lin Shu's mind.
She followed Lin Xiaopu's gaze and her eyes widened in shock.
There were two wooden barrels at home and a barrel borrowed from my third aunt's house. All three barrels were filled with water, and the water was full of fish.
Lin Shu took a closer look, and wow, it was indeed a big fish, a fish that was over □□ inches long!
Last time, she and Xiao Pu only caught two or three fish of seven or eight inches, but in Zhou Ye’s three buckets, almost half of them were fish of this size, or even bigger!
There are so many fish in the river, but no one in Tianshui Village catches them. Now they all get it for free!
"Aye, did you catch all these by yourself?" Lin Shu asked.
Zhou Ye hummed. "I heard you talk about the fish vine method, so I tried it. Crush the fish vine roots and throw them in. Soon all the fish in the river will float up. All you have to do is be quick and aim well, and pick out the big ones."
Lin Shu was still surprised. "You were so quick, weren't you able to catch any big fish?"
"One or two did get away, but there are so many fish in the river, one or two won't make a difference."
"What about the dosage? I told you, if you use too much of this fish vine, the fish in the river will be poisoned to death, but the fish in these three buckets look so alive and kicking."
Derris is different from hot polygonum. Hot polygonum is known for its spicy properties, while derris is known for its toxic properties. Derris is far more effective at catching fish than hot polygonum, precisely because its roots contain a toxin called rotenone. This rotenone is highly toxic to fish and insects, but harmless to humans, making it an excellent choice for catching fish.
Therefore, if the fish vine is used in moderation, it will only cause the fish to faint briefly, but if it is used in excess, it may directly poison the fish to death. Of course, the fish that are poisoned can still be eaten.
Zhou Ye explained, "It's not difficult. Start with a small amount and then gradually increase it. After trying a few times, you'll get the right dosage. The fish I caught were stunned by the poison for a very short time, and they all came back to life after the water was changed."
After hearing this, Lin Shu felt that Zhou Ye was smart again.
"Ashu, are these fish enough?" Zhou Ye asked.
Lin Shu nodded like a chick pecking at rice, "Three big buckets, that's enough!" The more fish in the fish pond, the better.
But she suddenly thought of something, and her expression changed again. She put her hands on her hips and scolded him, "Aye, you took on all the fishing work by yourself. Didn't that make Xiao Pu and I come all the way here for nothing? We walked all the way from the end of the village to the beginning just to look at these three buckets of fish? Xiao Pu and I wanted to fish ourselves! You've taken away all the joy of fishing from us, okay?"
Lin Xiaopu glanced at Lin Shu and nodded, "Sister is right. Brother Ye, you caught all the fish by yourself, what are sister and I supposed to do? Even if you catch fish a little later, it would be better for sister and me to see you frantically picking up the fish, hehe."
Zhou Ye was silent for a moment, then said seriously, "Ah Shu, we still have some fish vines. You and Xiao Pu can catch them again."
Lin Shu: "Your three buckets are full of fish. If Xiao Pu and I catch more fish, where will we put them?"
Zhou Ye said, "I brought my backpack with me. I put the fish I caught in it and we can eat them today."
Lin Shu looked around and saw the backpack from home lying on the ground, with a fishing mat and a bamboo shoulder pole beside it.
She asked in confusion, "Why are you carrying a basket when you come here to fish?"
Zhou Ye didn't explain much, just said: "I'm used to it."
"That's fine. Xiao Pu, let's go and try our hand at fishing with a dace!"
"Okay, okay, sister said this fish vine is even better at catching fish than the wine yeast. I want to see how good it is!"
Lin Shu turned to look at Zhou Ye again, "Aye, you've already caught three buckets of fish here. We can't just keep catching fish in one place. This time, go a little downstream and find a section of the river where the water is only as deep as Xiao Pu's knees."
After hearing this, Zhou Ye quickly offered a suggestion: "Just go about ten feet downstream. But Ah Shu, there probably aren't many fish there."
Lin Shu glanced at him and said, "Don't ask for too much. Just feel the joy of fishing. Don't you understand this?"
Zhou Ye didn’t understand before, but now he understands.
The work can be done, but it cannot be completed completely. Some should be left. In fact, he knew these principles very early, but he did not expect that some people would think that catching fish is an easy and happy thing.
Children in the village sometimes go to the river to catch fish and shrimps, but these children do not go there mainly to catch fish and shrimps, but to play in the water.
Ah Shu is like this... no different from other kids in the village.
"Aye, how are you going to carry these three buckets?"
"Just go ahead, don't worry about me."
Lin Shu didn't ask him to take everything. She and Lin Xiaopu each took a wicker fishing mat and an empty backpack.
In fact, it was not an empty backpack. The fish vine roots were placed in the backpack, covered with a layer of weeds. Lin Shu lifted it up and saw that there were still a lot of fish vine roots inside.
After the two took a few steps, Lin Shu looked back and found that Zhou Ye was carrying two buckets of fish on a shoulder pole. He held the shoulder pole with his right hand, and his free left hand was holding the third bucket, but he walked easily, as if he was carrying three empty buckets.
Zhou Ye was extremely strong, but these were just three buckets of fish, which meant nothing to him. If the buckets weren't too full and the fish wouldn't overflow when they tilted, he could just hold all three buckets with one hand.
After walking downstream for a while, the three of them found that the river was indeed not deep. Lin Shu and Lin Xiaopu rolled up their trouser legs and waded into the water, each holding a fishing mat.
"Aye, we are ready, you can put out the fish vine!" Lin Shu shouted.
Zhou Ye took a handful of fish vine roots, smashed them into pieces with a stone, squeezed out the juice, and rinsed them repeatedly in the river water.
Soon, fish of all sizes floated up in the river one by one, revealing their white bellies.
Lin Xiaopu exclaimed, "Sister, this fish vine is really better than the wine yeast! Last time, we crushed half a bucket of wine yeast, but for this fish vine, Brother Ye only crushed a handful of roots and threw them into the river. In a short while, fish started to turn over!"
"Sister, stop talking now. Hurry up, the fish is coming. Stop it!"
"Sister, here, here, there are fish coming over here!"
"I'm coming over here too. Stop the ones on my side first. I have a big one over here!"
"Okay!"
The two sisters worked together in perfect harmony and caught a lot of fish using the fishing mat.
Zhou Ye was not idle either. He grabbed the empty backpack and put the fish in the river into it.
If he hadn't caught a lot of fish, Lin Shu and Lin Xiaopu would have missed even more fish.
However, the two sisters had a lot of fun fishing.
After reaching the river bank, Lin Shu shook the water off her legs, put on her straw sandals and went to count her achievements.
The section of river they chose was shallow, so they didn't catch as many fish as Zhou Ye, nor were they as big as Zhou Ye's, but they still caught about ten. They didn't take any that were smaller than four inches, but only picked the big ones.
Zhou Ye looked at the two sisters with bright smiles and asked, "Are you still catching them?"
Lin Shu wiped the water that splashed on her face and said, "No, let's go back. I'll clean up and stew these fish when I get back. Ah Ye, if I stew all these fish, will it be enough for you to eat?"
Zhou Ye: "...Enough."
Lin Shu said with a smile, "If that's not enough, here are the three big buckets of fish you caught. I dug this fish pond so you can have enough to eat every meal. By the way, Ah Ye, I saw the bamboo tube water flow device you made. It's really well made. I just told you once and you made it. You're so smart!"
Zhou Ye hummed, "It's nothing."
"You also made a long-handled bamboo water ladle, a chopstick holder, and a bamboo spoon!"
Zhou Ye: "These are easy to make, no big deal. I also made two extra bamboo water guns and bamboo slingshots. You should have promised others last time, don't forget it."
"Thank you for helping me remember this. Ah Ye, have you heard the story of the Snail Girl? If not, I'll tell you later."
“Yes.”
"I think you're becoming more and more like a snail man."
Zhou Ye:......
"Xiao Pu and I came over just now. Why did you suddenly put on that dress? Are you shy? Or don't you want me to see it?" As Lin Shu spoke, the topic gradually became less serious, but the smile on her face became bigger and bigger.
Zhou Ye stopped talking, but his ears turned a little red again.
Now Lin Shu was always right in catching Zhou Ye’s shy look, and she could see clearly. She covered her mouth and laughed.
"Is that what I said right? It's good that you have this awareness. With such a good figure, how can you let outsiders take advantage of it? Of course you should keep it for your family to see. Xiao Pu, am I right?"
"Ah?" Lin Xiaopu was thinking about the big fat fish in the bucket and was completely out of touch with the situation.
What was Aye's figure like? She had been so busy looking at the fish that she hadn't really noticed. But she knew it without her sister telling her, because Aye was so tall and strong.
"Sister is right." Lin Xiaopu agreed.
"Let's go, today's great catch, let's go home!"
"Go home and cook fish, hehe!" Lin Xiaopu thought of something and quickly put his hands together. "I hope those aunties under the big locust tree will go back to cook breakfast and eat breakfast, and stop staring at us and grumbling."
Zhou Ye guessed something when he heard this. He didn't ask, but quietly picked a few handfuls of weeds and placed them on the barrel to block the prying eyes of others.
Lin Shu wanted to laugh when she saw this. "Aye, you are trying to cover up the truth. Putting this weed on the mouth of the barrel will make others even more curious about what's inside and will come over to take a look."
Zhou Ye said with certainty, "No. After I tell them, they won't read it."
Lin Shu asked curiously, "Why is that?"
Zhou Ye replied seriously: "Because I am an honest man."
"Pfft, hahaha..." Lin Shu was amused by him, and laughed so hard that tears came out and she couldn't straighten her back.
Lin Xiaopu scratched his head, not quite understanding why his sister was laughing. What Brother Aye said was true.
On the way back, before they reached the big locust tree, they were seen by other villagers.
Those who are curious will ask a few more questions.
"Aye boy, what did you pick? Why are you covering it with weeds?"
Zhou Ye's expression was calm, and his tone was the same as usual. "Auntie, we went to the river to catch some fish. The fish smell is strong, so covering it with grass will reduce the smell."
"Hey, it sounds like you've caught a lot of fish. If the fish in this river were that easy to catch, they would have been caught long ago."
Zhou Ye replied: "There are some in every bucket, quite a lot."
When the aunt heard this, she thought he had caught three.
Three fish is quite a lot.
I heard that Lin Yushu from Lin Laosan's family brought back a big fat fish from Lin Laoer's family last time, and it was probably caught by Zhou Ye.
Zhou Ye has always been a capable kid, so it's no surprise that he can catch fish.
Lin Shu kept her head down the whole time, not saying a word, only a secret smile on her lips.
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