They walked to the backwater bay, where Ye Chenliang untied the ropes tied to the rocks and slowly pulled the fish trap upwards.
It was a bit inconvenient for Feng Ye to hold the flashlight in one hand, so he didn't pull the other cages, but just used the flashlight to provide light for his brother-in-law.
As the water slowly drained from the fish trap, the catch inside gradually came into view for the two of them.
This fish trap is different from the ones Feng Ye sets in the sea; the mesh is much smaller, so even small river shrimp can't escape once they get in.
Once the entire fish trap was pulled up, the fish collection bag at the other end was already filled with a considerable amount of freshwater fish, shrimp, loach, and other freshwater delicacies.
Most of the fish were small, and Feng Ye didn't recognize the only large fish, which weighed about two pounds.
I asked my brother-in-law and found out that it was a mandarin fish, one of the "Four Famous Freshwater Fish".
They were both quite happy to have so much stuff after only a short time.
Ye Chenliang untied the fish collection bag, poured all the river fish inside into the bucket, tied the bag back up, and threw it back into the water.
"Leave it overnight, and we'll come back to collect it tomorrow morning."
Feng Ye said enthusiastically, "I'll come with you to collect it tomorrow."
"If you can get up, let's get up together."
As Ye Chenliang spoke, he squatted down and picked out the less tasty bitterlings and small crucian carp, throwing them back into the river, leaving only the small fish that wouldn't grow big, such as the whitebait and yellow croaker.
Feng Ye knew very few freshwater fish, so he didn't interfere to avoid throwing the wrong fish away.
We caught several other fish traps, which were all pretty good. Although there were no big fish, there were plenty of river shrimp and small fish, as well as some crayfish.
After collecting the fish trap, the two did not continue catching loaches and went straight home.
When they returned to the village, it was almost pitch black, with only a few houses still emitting faint light. From the sounds they heard, they knew that people were still watching television.
These days, electricity isn't cheap; it costs more than one yuan per kilowatt-hour, and each household has to add an extra two kilowatt-hours of waste electricity every month.
Therefore, in order to save electricity, there is not much to do at night in the countryside, so people go to bed early.
Even households with televisions don't watch them with the lights on.
The father-in-law's house was also quiet at this time; the two episodes of the TV series had ended, and everyone had gone to bed.
...
Perhaps because he had to get up too early to go to sea, he was severely sleep-deprived. As soon as Feng Ye hit the bed, he slept like a log and slept until dawn.
Ye Qingling woke him up when it was time for breakfast.
Meanwhile, Ye Chenliang had already pulled back the fish trap that had been set in the river the night before.
After breakfast, Ye Chenliang rode his bicycle to town, while the others sorted and processed the harvest of traps.
Crayfish need to have their gills, heads, and intestines removed; eels, fish, and other similar items need to be gutted and their internal organs removed...
Around 11 o'clock, Ye Chenliang returned after shopping.
Also present was Feng Ye's sister-in-law, Ye Qingmeng, with her husband and two children, making the house quite lively once again.
At noon, the Ye family set a table overflowing with seafood, river fish, wild game, duck, pig's feet...
I can say we haven't eaten this well even during the Lunar New Year.
The adults were fine, but the children were already itching to eat, their mouths watering at the sight of the delicious food, but they couldn't touch their chopsticks first.
The entire lunchtime was filled with laughter and joy, and everyone enjoyed the delicious food.
...
The sister-in-law went back that afternoon, while Feng Ye and his wife stayed another night with their son. They didn't leave until after lunch on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year.
Going back in the morning would mean waiting for the ferry in town until five or six o'clock anyway, so it's better to go back in the afternoon.
Gao Lianxiang packed a lot of things, put them in snakeskin bags or bottles and jars, and asked Feng Ye and the others to take them back.
"This is tea oil, made from tea seeds picked from the mountain and pressed at an oil press. It's a really good product, Ah Ling, you should know that. You don't even have this on your island, and it's quite expensive and hard to find..."
"These are dried fish and shrimp cakes that I fried this morning. I'll take some back with me; they can be eaten as snacks or as a side dish."
"I've also prepared the bayberry wine for you. You can take it home and drink it in a month or two."
"There are also fresh bayberries. Take some back for your in-laws to try. Bayberries are the only fruit trees planted this season. I'll ask your father to send you some more when the peaches and plums are ripe."
"Take more zongzi back with you, so your in-laws can have a taste. Making zongzi on your island is quite troublesome; you have to buy both bamboo leaves and glutinous rice..."
"There are also dried bamboo shoots, dried radishes, smoked turnips, and other dried goods. These can be stored for a longer time and won't spoil..."
Gao Lianxiang kept rambling on about what he had prepared.
Ye Qingling opened her mouth, wanting to interrupt several times, but finally waited until she finished speaking before saying, "Mother, you've looked at so many things, how are we going to take them back?"
Feng Ye quickly added, "That's right, Mom, it's too much. Besides, my sister and brother-in-law went back empty-handed yesterday. It's not good for us to bring back so many bags and packages, is it?"
Gao Lianxiang started talking again: "It's okay, I'll have your brother take you to town on his bicycle so you can catch the bus. You'll only need to carry things a bit from the time you get off the bus to the dock."
“A-Meng won’t say anything. She lives in town, and we often bring her something when we go there.”
“You guys are different. You travel by boat and car, it’s not easy for you to go back, so you definitely need to bring more back with you.”
"You're building a house now, so you must be consuming a lot of vegetables. I'll go pick some more peppers, eggplants, and cucumbers for you to take back..."
As Gao Lianxiang finished muttering to herself, she stood up and prepared to leave.
Feng Ye quickly stopped her: "Mom, no need, we grow our own vegetables. Building a house doesn't actually consume many vegetables, and I go out to sea every day, bringing back fish, shrimp, and crabs..."
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