"So, how was the harvest?"
The dog became interested as soon as he heard this.
"Hehe, nobody dares to cast nets in this river, but nobody cares if you set traps. Luckily, the water level has risen recently, so there are a lot more fish and shrimp. Many kids in our village are scrambling to come, but they're not as good as me. The spots I choose yield the biggest harvest!"
Mo Yuan knew this. The place was called Zhao Wang River, which connected to the Grand Canal system. The waterways were extensive, and every year as summer approached, the water level would rise, resulting in a large number of fish.
As for the claim that no one dares to cast a net, it's because no one dares to defy public opinion. Small-scale operations go unchecked, but if you use a net to catch a large catch, and someone gets jealous and reports you, you might be accused of undermining socialism!
As the dog explained, Mo Yuan craned his neck to look into a basin he was holding.
The harvest was quite substantial. There were large grass carp and black carp that were as long as a bundle, and several of them were still jumping around in the basin. But there were even more small fish, about one or two fingers long, filling half a basin. It probably weighed several pounds!
Seeing the dog beaming with joy as it showed off its bountiful harvest, Mo Yuan was deeply moved!
"Wow, you're amazing! If you do this every day, you'll be rich selling them all the time at the supply and marketing cooperative!"
These fish are worth far more than the work points Gouzi earns by working himself to the bone in the team all day. Mo Yuan is delighted that Gouzi has found a way to make money.
Upon hearing this, the dog's face immediately fell.
"Hey Yuan-ge, what kind of fortune are you talking about! You don't understand, nobody wants these little fish, so we can only eat them ourselves! They would be delicious if we marinated them and fried them, but nobody would be willing to waste oil like that. We just boil them in water, and that's still a bit of meat!"
“The bigger ones do have buyers; they sell for over 50 cents a pound in the city! But even if we offer them a lower price, they won't take them. They say it's too little, and they're likely to die if we leave them until they're old. So we can only dry them and store them until we have more to sell as dried fish. But with less fish, the price is lower, and they're only willing to buy them for 20 cents a pound! Then we resell them for 30 cents.”
"Besides, there are only a few months of abundant fish each year. All in all, I can only make less than ten yuan a year, but it can still supplement my household income. Anyway, it doesn't take much time!"
Seeing the dog's increasingly gloomy expression, and then looking down at the lively, wriggling fish...
Mo Yuan suddenly had a flash of inspiration!
"Hey dog, name your price! I'll buy all these fish!"
…………
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