Chapter 215 Selling Fish
Time flies and it is October. The rice in Taohua Village is ready to be harvested.
The water in the rice fields must be drained before harvesting.
So a few days ago, the villagers of Taohua Village began to drain the rice fields.
But there are fish raised in the rice fields, so when draining the water, we have to be careful not to let the fish run away.
When releasing fish fry, the villagers mostly released three common fish fry: grass carp, crucian carp and carp.
However, some people are unconventional and put loaches in it.
At daybreak, the entire Taohua Village suddenly came alive like a landscape painting.
Gu Yuhe slammed the door of Gu Jiayue's room. "Sister, hurry up and get up. If you're late, there will be no fish to catch."
Gu Jiayue opened her eyes drowsily. She really couldn't understand why Gu Yuhe was like a lazy bug when it was time for class and couldn't be woken up even if she called him.
There was no need to study today, so he got up before dawn.
Gu Jiayue had already washed and dressed as quickly as possible, but Gu Yuhe was waiting anxiously.
He stomped his feet one last time, said "Women are so troublesome", and ran away.
Gu Jiayue stopped combing her hair and looked at the person who had already run away, and couldn't help laughing.
This kid...
By the time Gu Jiayue arrived at the field, the water had almost drained away. Then she saw the plump fish jumping in the mud.
The children in the village would take fish baskets, bend over in the fields, and catch the jumping fish into the baskets.
The adults were standing on the edge of the field, holding a stick with a small dustpan tied to the front, also catching fish.
Because the rice is ripe and ready to be harvested, adults are very tall, and if they enter the fields, they will knock down the ripe rice.
Although it is not much, the villagers are still heartbroken.
So, the main force in catching fish are still the children of a few years old in the village.
Gu Yuhe held a fat crucian carp in his arms and shouted towards the ridge of the field, "Uncle, uncle, it's almost time, I can't hold on any longer."
Seeing this, the uncle quickly handed over the stick in his hand.
Gu Yuhe quickly threw the crucian carp into the scoop in front of him.
In a short while, hundreds of fish had been caught on the ridges of the Gu family's fields.
The fish probably knew that their lives were coming to an end, so they kept rolling around in the bucket.
My aunt was carrying a bucket of water, a smile on her face very conspicuous. "Oh, I didn't expect to catch so many fish in just one field. How much would it fetch if we sent them to the county to sell?"
Annan County has only one river, and all the fish in the county come from this river. However, due to years of fishing, the fish in the river have become less and less in recent years, which has also caused the prices of fish and shrimp in Annan County to be quite high.
The fish from Taohua Village look very plump and delicious. If they are taken to the county town, they should be able to sell for a good price.
If it could be sent to Juzhou Prefecture, the price might be higher.
When the people working in the fields heard what my aunt said, they all looked up and agreed. "Sister-in-law, when are you going to the city to sell fish? Can we go together then?"
My aunt didn't agree immediately. "I don't know. I have to ask my mother and let her decide."
The aunt who spoke was not angry. "That's right. You have a large family. Maybe I want to save some for you to eat."
My aunt glanced at the fish in the bucket. "There's so much fish that his family can't eat every day, right?" "Not necessarily. My mother should sell some. If she does, I'll let you know."
"Okay." After the two of them discussed it, the aunt-in-law carried the bucket and walked forward again.
After carrying the bucket to the main road, the aunt wiped the sweat from her forehead. She said to Gu Jiayue with a smile, "Jiayue, all the fish in this acre of land are here."
Gu Jiayue immediately brought a bowl of water to her aunt. "Thank you for your hard work, aunt."
The aunt drank some water and waved her hand. "What's so hard about this? But Jiayue, do you want to sell the fish now?"
Gu Jiayue paused fiddling with her hands. Then she understood why her aunt asked that.
"No, Auntie. I'm trying to collect data to see how many kilograms of fish this acre of land can produce. Then I want to compare whether the amount of fish will affect the rice yield."
My aunt squinted her eyes, indicating she didn't understand. The fish were swimming peacefully in the fields, so how could they possibly affect the rice?
She didn't know if it was her illusion, but she always felt that this year's rice was much better than in previous years.
But now she has learned her lesson. If she doesn't understand, she should ask. If she still doesn't understand after asking, she should just shut up. Jiayue is smart anyway, so just listen to her.
The aunt bent down to help Gu Jiayue pick up the fish and put them into a larger bamboo basket nearby. The two of them then lifted the fish up and weighed them.
"Sixty kilograms."
Gu Jiayue measured the fish in more than ten acres of land and the harvest was about 40 to 80 kilograms.
After measuring, the two poured the fish into the bucket.
We can't let these fish die. There are so many of them, and if they die we won't be able to eat them all.
It took a day to drain all the water from the fields.
We have to wait until the sun hardens the mud in the paddy fields before we can harvest the rice.
So these days, everyone in the village is busy selling fish.
Part of it was sold to Qiushi Academy. The villagers didn't want to ask for money. But Gu Jiayue said that if she didn't want money, she wouldn't want the fish.
In the end, there was no other choice but to buy hundreds of fat crucian carps at the local market for a penny to make soup for the students to nourish their bodies.
The Gu family kept half of the fish for smoking, pickling, etc. The remaining half was dragged to the county town by the villagers to be sold.
When my uncle was selling fish in the market, he happened to meet Zheng Qinghe.
Thinking about what his niece said about the county magistrate last time, the uncle quickly lowered his head, hoping that Zheng Qinghe didn't notice him.
But Zheng Qinghe had very good eyesight and spotted the uncle in the crowd at a glance.
"Uncle Gu, are you here to sell fish?" Zheng Qinghe smiled and walked forward in an approachable manner, wanting to communicate with Uncle Gu.
Uncle Gu was in tears. He felt that he could not even make money today and might not even be able to return home safely.
"How are you, sir? I recently got some fish, but I couldn't finish it at home, so I brought it to the county town to try my luck."
Zheng Qinghe raised his eyebrows and looked at the very nervous uncle of the Gu family, feeling funny in his heart.
Does he look like a very stingy person?
"Uncle Gu, this fish looks very plump. It doesn't look like it was caught from the Xicang River, does it?"
Uncle Gu breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Zheng Qinghe did not let the yamen runners behind him take him to the cell, but instead chatted with him with a smile.
The fishmongers were all from Taohua Village, so Uncle Gu wasn't as frightened as he had been earlier. "These fish are from my fields. Isn't the rice harvest coming up in a few days? So we released the water and caught some yesterday. But there are too many to eat at home, so we decided to try our luck by sending them to the county town."
After saying this, Uncle Gu became a little worried again.
Because Zheng Qinghe and his men were standing in front of his stall, those who wanted to buy fish did not dare to come to his location.
The fish brought by the villagers of Taohua Village are not only lively but also very plump. People buy two or three at a time.
In just a short while, the fish from the surrounding villages were almost sold out.
Zheng Qinghe had no idea of Uncle Gu's inner torment, but he was very interested in what he was saying. "Oh? Raising fish in the fields? I haven't heard of that before. Uncle, could you tell me more about it?"
"Ah? This..."
Uncle Gu was a little embarrassed. This matter couldn't be explained in just a few words.
When Jiayue first told them about it, the whole family was confused. It was only after they sat down and listened step by step that they began to understand a little bit.
If he were to explain this in detail from the beginning, would he still sell fish today?
It cost ten cents to hire an oxcart to bring it here. Wouldn't it cost another ten cents to bring it back?
Zheng Qinghe was not a fool. He was a little reluctant when he heard Uncle Gu's tone.
Looking at the bustling market, passersby were all buying fish for the stall next door, but Uncle Gu's stall was deserted. He understood instantly.
He is delaying other people's business.
He waved to the yamen runners behind him. "Take these fish back and have Chef Chen cook them tonight. I'll treat everyone in the yamen to a fish feast."
The yamen runner behind him happily stepped forward to move the fish.
Uncle Gu was in a very bad state.
Here it comes, the thing he worried about finally happened. Was this County Magistrate Zheng trying to rob his family of fish?
What should he do? What should he do now? Fight hard or give in?
Before Uncle Gu could figure it out, the fish were carried away by the yamen runners.
He opened his mouth but didn't dare to shout. However, his resentful eyes kept looking at Zheng Qinghe.
Seeing this, Zheng Qinghe knew that Uncle Gu had misunderstood, and quickly took out a tael of silver from his pocket. "Uncle, this is the money to buy the fish."
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