Chapter 79 80: Photographing the Eel
"Brother, are you going to catch the eels?" Zhou Huaian's voice arrived before he even showed up.
Zhou Huaian usually stays in bed and refuses to move when he feels a little uncomfortable. Today, not only did he help carry wood back, he was also thinking about taking care of the eels. How strange!
Zhou Huaijun glanced at his father and whispered, "Old man, I think something is wrong with the youngest one these past two days!"
Father Zhou said angrily, "I wish he would be like this every day!"
Before he finished speaking, Zhou Huaian ran over, and Zhou Huairong said with a smile: "Aren't you going to take a nap?"
Zhou Huaian asked back: "I will go to the city the day after tomorrow. Aren't you going to catch eels and sell them?"
Zhou Huairong glanced at Zhou Huaijun and nodded, "Go, you go get the lantern basket, I'll go wash my face and leave."
"Okay!" Zhou Huaian walked towards the toilet.
Just as he took down the lantern and the bamboo basket, Zhou Jiaming came running over again, "Dad, I want to go with you to catch eels." Before he finished speaking, Zhou Jialiang also ran over, "Dad, I want to go too!"
"Your old man is going too, go find him and take you!" Zhou Huaian didn't even raise his head, just checking the eel clamps in the basket.
"Dad~" Zhou Jialiang pulled his clothes and acted like a spoiled child, "My old man won't agree. Dad, we have a good relationship, will you take us with you?"
"Speak properly, why are you a man acting like a girl and making coquettish noises?" Zhou Huaian pulled out his shirt and looked at the two of them, "Aren't you going to study tomorrow?"
"Yes!" the two brothers replied dejectedly.
Zhou Huaian kicked one of them and said, "You want to study but you still want to take care of eels? Go to bed!"
"Take us there on Sunday!" The two looked at him eagerly, "Dad~Dad~"
Zhou Huaian felt his pores stand up, "Help grandma with work these few days, and I will take you there on Sunday!"
"Long live~" The two of them jumped three feet high.
Zhou Huaian smiled and shook his head, and asked the two to help carry the lanterns and bamboo baskets to the front yard and wait for the three older ones.
In the main room, Zhou's mother showed the old man and Zhou's father the yellow rubber shoes, boots and cloth that Yang Chunyan and her husband had bought for the father and son.
The old man looked at those things, his eyes moistened, "When the old lady was here, she said that the youngest son was filial, but he had a bad temper, and he needed to be coaxed and stroked!"
Father Zhou still felt a little uncomfortable when he thought of his mother who doted on Zhou Huaian. "He is not a three-year-old kid anymore. He is in his twenties and has a married woman. He still needs someone to coax him. Why were we different from him before?"
Zhou's mother gave him a slight slap and said, "The youngest has gotten much better these past few days. He pushed such heavy things to Ning'an to sell, and then came back to the mountains to look for herbs and wild beehives. His face was swollen, but he still helped carry the wood."
The old man nodded, "That's right, he's already married, don't scold or beat him for no reason, you have to give the youngest one some face for Chunyan's sake."
"I feel like my heart is on fire when I see him!"
The old man glared, "I'm still angry when I see you. Do you think you were like this when you were young?"
Father Zhou wiped the spit off his face and said, "I understand. I will try my best not to beat or scold him in the future!"
The old man picked up his yellow rubber shoes and boots and said, "Guilan, I'll trouble you with the clothes."
Zhou's mother nodded repeatedly, "I understand, old man!"
In the courtyard, Zhou Huaian and his four brothers went out holding lanterns and carrying bamboo baskets on their backs.
Xu Erchun and He Dakuan were already waiting outside with lanterns in hand.
A few people greeted each other, and Xu Erchun said, "Brother, they said that the eels in the fields near the pond are thick, fat, and numerous. How about we go over there and take a look?"
Zhou Huairong remembered that there was a mountain temple over there, and turned to look at Zhou Huaian, "Youngest, where are you going?"
He Dakuan said with a smile: "Youngest, there are so many men, all of them are full of masculinity, what are you afraid of?"
"I'm not afraid!" Zhou Huaian rolled his eyes at him, "Let's go to the pond."
After the agreement, a few people walked towards the ravine with lanterns, chatting and talking nonsense. Along the way, they could hear the chirping of insects and frogs in the fields, and could also see a few lights moving slowly on the edge of the field.
He Dakuan took a few quick steps to catch up with Zhou Huairong, "Brother, have you ever caught a bone-dissolving eel (moon-gazing eel)?"
Zhou Huairong shook his head. "I haven't seen it. My grandfather said that the bone eel is as thick as a child's arm, and its head looks a bit like a dragon head with a big bump on it."
Legend has it that this eel looks up at the moon on full-moon nights.
Farmers are very particular. If they catch an eel with two bulging sacs on both sides of its head, they will say it is a moon-gazing eel. They say this kind of eel is poisonous and cannot be eaten. Some even say that after eating this kind of eel, the person will be turned into a pool of blood!
Xu Erchun stepped forward and said, "My sister used to love eating yellow eels, but after hearing from my grandmother that there are bone-dissolving eels, she no longer dares to eat yellow eels."
Zhou Huaishan laughed and said, "I think it's just a joke. I've been catching eels since I was seven or eight years old. In the past 20 years, I've never caught an eel with a lumps on its head."
"I haven't caught one either!"
A few grown men chatted and laughed as they walked onto the main road and to the foot of the embankment, then they followed the embankment of the field toward the new river.
After crossing a ditch that is more than one meter wide, you will see the large field below. After walking up the ditch for a few dozen meters, you will find the village’s reservoir.
The pond was dug during the period of mass production and was specifically used to irrigate rice fields during droughts. This ditch was also dug at that time and leads directly to the rice fields below.
Going up from the reservoir, there is an ancient mountain temple. Going further ahead, you will reach deep mountains and old forests.
Zhou Huaian followed Zhou Huairong to a large field. The two brothers bent over, widened their eyes, and walked like cats, patrolling the edge of the field.
Under the cover of night, the croaking sounds of frogs in the rice fields can be heard one after another.
After walking a few steps, Zhou Huaian found an eel that looked really thick and fat. He shone a lantern on it and whispered, "Brother, this eel is thick!"
Zhou Huairong took a look and said, "Not bad, you catch this one, I'll go check the field next to it." He took two steps and came back worriedly, "Watch carefully, don't catch the snake!"
"Xiao's!"
Zhou Huaian held the eel clamp tightly, and the opened eel clamp was like a crocodile's wide-open mouth. He held his breath and carefully put the eel clamp into the water. He aimed at the eel, clasped his hands together, quickly and forcefully closed the eel clamp, and lifted it out of the water.
He looked at the yellow eel struggling and twisting in the eel trap with a smug look on his face, "You can get away, Ma Lao Ke!"
He happily put it into the basket and released the eel clamp. He listened to the sound of the eel swimming and flipping anxiously in the basket, looked at his big brother on the edge of the field next to him, and continued to patrol forward.
After walking a few steps, I saw a few small yellow eels lying in the rice field. I shook my head and said, "You are too small. Hide well. I will catch you when you grow up."
In those days, people who caught eels would keep the small eels and let them continue to grow. But nowadays, people will not even let go of the small eels as thick as chopsticks. After catching them, they will take them away regardless of size.
After a few steps, he saw another one. He walked closer gently, shone the lantern on the eel lying in the rice field and dreaming. Then, he caught it in the blink of an eye and put it into the bamboo basket.
"Oh, there's another one in front." Zhou Huaian took off his slippers, tiptoed into the field, and quickly picked up an orange-yellow eel weighing about four taels.
There are indeed more eels in the big fields than in the small fields. After walking through a field, when the two brothers met, there were already a dozen eels in Zhou Huaian's basket.
"Oh my god, I caught a water snake~"
Suddenly, He Dakuan's terrified shouts were heard from the large field opposite, accompanied by the flickering light of the lantern and the crackling sound of his running.
When the cat was young, he loved eating eels. But ever since he heard the story of the bone-dissolving eel (Moon-gazing eel) from the old people, he suddenly became a little afraid of eating eels, fearing that he would be dissolved by it!
(End of this chapter)
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