Chapter 4 Getting Ready to Catch Fish

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  "Yu Lin, don't be foolish, don't try to show off your bravery! Wang Shixin has many henchmen, Yang Kun and Hei Bao are both top-notch villains, and they have many thugs around them. You alone can't possibly take on so many people. If something happens to you, I'll never forgive myself for not keeping my promise to the late Old Fourth Brother to take good care of you!" Yang Kaidi repeatedly warned Zhang Zhun with an unknown expression.

  "Uncle, I know, I won't." Zhang Zhun replied very firmly.

  Yang Kaidi felt slightly relieved.

  However, if Yang Kaidi was a bit more careful, he would have noticed that Zhang Zhun's response was too quick and loud. Yes, Zhang Zhun's answer was completely perfunctory. In his previous life, Old Father had also given similar advice, with the final result... family broken and scattered, wife and children separated. Having learned from this lesson, Zhang Zhun would not repeat the same mistake!

  In other words, he will absolutely no longer be "calm" and tolerant!

  He who strikes first has the advantage; he who strikes later is at a disadvantage. He must make the first move!

  When words don't work, Zhang Zhun comes to find Haozi.

  Haozi is helping his elder brother Yang Rui Feng prepare firewood for boiling salt.

  In the past, when the military households in Fushan owed three or four months of grain taxes, there was still a possibility of payment after dragging it out. Everyone gritted their teeth and endured, tightening their belts to get through it. However, with the increasingly tense Liaodong war and the escalating Shaanxi civil unrest, this grain tax has been dragged out for longer and longer. The grain taxes from last March have not even been paid yet!

  Having no choice, the military dependents had to find their own way out.

  Can't just starve to death, can I?

  Giving officers farmland to cultivate is the most common way of making a living. In other words, it means being tenants for the officers. However, this way of life is not available to every military household. Only those military households that are willing to flatter and fawn on the battalion commanders, deputy battalion commanders, and company commanders have this privilege. For example, the Su Mingyi family in Yangjiatun cultivates land for Wang Shixin. Such military households number only about a dozen or so per village and do not represent the mainstream. Especially in remote villages like Yangjiatun, there are very few military households that work as tenants for others.

  Moreover, as tenant farmers for the military officers, the land rent was also quite high. From the beginning of the year to the end, basically nothing was left over. It was not possible to have a warm and full life. All that can be said is that having land to farm made one's life slightly better than others. In fact, it wasn't much better at all. Being tenant farmers for military officers was almost like being slaves, with their lives and property basically controlled by the military officers.

  Boiling salt is the most common way for soldiers without land to make a living. The three sides of Fushan are surrounded by the sea, and Yangjiatun is the closest to the seaside, where there is plenty of salt in the seawater. The flowers, grasses, and trees on Lao Mountain are also free, so they can be pulled back with force, dried in the sun, and used as firewood. Setting up several large pots by the sea, filling them with seawater, igniting the firewood, and boiling off the water will yield salt.

  Boiling salt requires a lot of firewood, and the Yang family often has to work together to cut wood just to barely meet the needs of three large pots. However, the salt they produce is only sold for four cents or even three cents per catty. After working hard every month from dawn till dusk, they can only produce about 100 catties of salt, and their income is only around 30-40 cents, which has to support a family of seven people.

  In the past, five cents could buy a catty of grain, but now it's definitely not possible to buy it with that amount. At least eight or nine cents are needed, and sometimes even ten cents. The income from boiling salt every month can only buy less than 50 catties of grain. With seven people in the family, plus Zhang Zhun making eight mouths to feed, how could it be enough? Eating wild vegetables with every meal is inevitable, and rice is just for decoration.

  Fortunately, the mountains were rich in resources, with firewood, herbs, wild vegetables, and tree roots. When Yang Rui and his group went to collect firewood, they would also bring back many wild vegetables, grasses, and tree roots. If they could pick some mushrooms, that would be even better. However, because everyone was very hungry and didn't care what they ate, their knowledge of mushrooms wasn't enough, and they often picked poisonous ones. Just last year, more than a dozen people in Yangjiatun had died from eating poisonous mushrooms, so Yang Rui and his group weren't too confident either, and they absolutely wouldn't pick any unknown mushrooms.

  Completely different from Haozi, Yang Jia's eldest son, Yang Rui Feng, is a very honest person, diligent and capable, rising early and retiring late. In his twenties, he looks like he's already in his forties or fifties, with wrinkles and weathering all over his face. Due to long-term contact with sea salt, his hands have cracked open, resembling the bark of an ancient tree. Yang Kai De feels that the most unforgivable thing for himself is that until now, he still hasn't been able to find a daughter-in-law for Yang Rui Feng.

  The poor military dependents often practiced exchanging daughters-in-law. It was like you would marry your daughter to my son, and I would marry my daughter to your son, neither side asking for a dowry or anything else. Yang Yinghua was not only beautiful but also kind-hearted, so many military dependents came to propose the exchange, but Yang Ruijing firmly refused to trade his own sister for a wife, and the matter dragged on.

  For such a honest man, Zhang Zhun has always been very caring and sympathetic. If he had loosened his mouth, Yang Yinghua would have been someone else's woman. He helped to tidy up the firewood, piling up bundles of dry firewood with force, and asked casually: "Feng Ge, how many kilograms of salt can be cooked today?"

  Yang Rui said with a poker face: "Three catties."

  Zhang nodded silently.

  The salt content of seawater is about 3%, and to boil out a catty of salt, you need to put in thirty or forty catties of seawater. This is already a big pot! It's really not easy to evaporate such a large pot of seawater! The Yang family has three pots, and they can only boil three catties of salt per day, which is already the limit. However, the income from three catties of salt is only ten cents, which can only buy a little more than a catty of grain.

  "Second brother, let's go fishing!"

  After preparing the firewood, the mouse picked up the scoop net.

  Fishing is the second choice for military dependents to make a living.

  There's a saying that goes, "Rely on the mountain and eat from the mountain; rely on the sea and eat from the sea." Since Fushan is surrounded by water on three sides, it naturally has to make use of the ocean. The seafood around Fushan is still very abundant. In this era, without industrial pollution or overfishing, the fish are all growing vigorously. People who go out to sea in boats often see large schools of big yellow croaker swimming leisurely back and forth, completely unafraid of humans.

  However, the fish caught can basically only be eaten by oneself, and it is not possible to sell them for money. The commodity economy in Fushan is not developed, and no one buys fish. Even so, it's not every military household that has fish to eat, it depends on luck. After all, they are not professional fishermen, nor do they have professional fishing tools, and the big yellow croaker is not stupid enough to be caught by simply reaching out.

  Eating meat, eating pork, eating mutton, and eating beef is a luxury for poor military households. Pork costs over 50 cents per catty, equivalent to the income from boiling salt for five or six days, which poor military households cannot afford. Only during festivals can they buy a small piece, but they must also prepare oil in advance as a reserve for several months or even a year. After frying the oil, the remaining oil residue is divided among each person, so the military households have to make up their minds to go out to sea to get some oil.

  Without professional fishing tools, the military dependents could only come up with their own unique methods and make their own fishing tools according to local conditions. Casting nets were the most common, usually made from old rags. Haozi's casting net was already worn out, with several large holes in the middle, which he had wrapped around with tree vines to barely patch up. But as soon as he wasn't careful, the vines came loose and the holes reappeared.

  Yang Yinghua came out of the house and saw the two men holding a fishing net. She frowned and called out, "Second brother, don't let Yulin go into the water, his wound can't come into contact with raw water."

  Hao Zi said: "I know, we don't go into the water."

  "Don't worry, I won't go into the water. My own life, how could I not cherish it? Hǎozi is in charge of scooping, I'm in charge of watching."

  Yang Yinghua's expression was somewhat strange, as if she wanted to say something to Haozi, but in the end didn't say anything. She turned her head and said to Zhang Zhun: "You be careful yourself... it doesn't matter if there is no fish."

  Zhang nodded slightly.

  Yang Yinghua then went into the house.

  Zhang Zhun suddenly reacted and turned his head to look at Haozi, curiously asking: "What did Xiaoyan mean by her last sentence? What's 'no fish, no problem'?"

  Haozi's face suddenly became unnatural, and he said unnaturally: "She thinks I'm not good at fishing, that's why she said that. Today, I must catch a stone bass to show Xiao Yan my prowess."

  Zhang Zhun slightly stunned and subconsciously asked: "You... have never caught fish back before?"

  Hao Zi's face suddenly turned red, and his expression became even more unnatural. He stuttered and said: "It's not that there isn't... hasn't it all been snatched away by others?"

  Zhang Zhun understood now, this kid originally did everything with a silver tongue, looking very clever and slick, but in reality, he didn't have any real skills, couldn't even catch a fish. No wonder Yang Yinghua had that kind of reaction earlier. Her words when she retreated just now were probably: "Second brother, you'd better not go, it's a waste of time."

  Haozi's face turned even redder, but he couldn't bring himself to admit that his fishing skills were actually not great. He covered it up and said: "Today, I'll definitely find a good spot to cast my net... I must catch a fish..."

  Zhang Zhun lazily asked, "Do you have a spear?"

  "What spear?" Hao Zi said vaguely.

  Zhang Zhun was too lazy to ask, looked around and went to find it himself.

  Not found outside, go inside.

  The people living in Fushan were all military households, and by rights they should have been soldiers, but strangely there wasn't a single decent weapon to be seen inside or outside the house... Hmm, on the wall there was a waist knife, which should have been a Ming army regulation waist knife, but the dust on it was so thick that it seemed like it could stick the knife and the wall together. Zhang Zhun took one look and gave up on the idea of taking it down. Taking down the waist knife would be simple, but if he accidentally knocked down the wall, that would be a problem.

  Yang Yinghua was busy in the kitchen and saw him looking around, asking in surprise: "Yu Lin, what are you looking for?"

  "Javelin."

  Yang Yinghua didn't quite understand either.

  "It's... for catching fish!"

  He said, then made a fishing gesture.

  When I was in the Marine Corps, soldiers never lacked seafood. In addition to often going into the rocks to catch crabs and lobsters, spearfishing was also their specialty. Friends from the north may all know that in winter, on a frozen river surface, they would chisel open a hole, use bait to lure fish over, then raise a harpoon gun, shoot it down, and as long as the action was fast enough, accurate enough, and ruthless enough, a fish would be speared dead and pulled up.

  In the south, there is no such convenience. However, it doesn't matter. As long as there are fish, warriors can show off their skills. Whether using bait to lure the fish or stones to scare them out from under the water, as long as the fish appear by your side, a spear thrust downwards will hit one every time. If you miss, you'll be too ashamed to show your face afterwards.

  Yang Yinghua thought for a moment, lifted up the firewood pile, and pulled out a long spear from behind the firewood, which was also covered in dust. "Is this it?"

  "This..."

  Zhang Quan was speechless.

  Sister, this is not a javelin, it's a spear.

  With such a thick long spear thrusting down, even whales would be pierced to death.

  Forget it, just make do with it then.

  Took over the long spear, came to the well side, fetched water.

  Hao Zi asked strangely: "Er Leng, what are you doing? Why are you carrying a long spear? Are you going to war?"

  Zhang Zhun said in a bad mood: "Don't talk nonsense! Come over, help me grind the gun tip and wipe off all the rust. The gun handle also needs to be washed clean, get rid of all the dust on it."

  Hao Zi smiled and said: "Alright!"

  He took over the long spear and got busy.

  Sharpening the spearhead isn't because it's needed to pierce fish, but because there is rust on the spearhead. If you stab into a fish with a rusty spearhead, it will leave rust marks all over the fish. Would you still want to eat that fish?

  Hao Zi can't do big things, but he did a good job with this small matter. He carefully polished off all the rust spots on the gun tip and washed away the dust on the gun handle before handing over the spear to Zhang Zhun.

  Zhang Zhun tried the gun tip with his hand, it's still good, quite sharp.

  "Alright! Let's go!"

  Zhang Zhun raised his long spear and said loudly