HPDBC Chapter 3 Ice-breaking Fishing
Chapter 3 Ice-breaking Fishing
"Huh...? Buying fish? Why are you buying fish?"
Li Xiangyang was puzzled.
The meat consumed by the herders in Inner Mongolia is mostly beef and mutton; they do not like to eat fish.
I don't remember my wife liking to eat fish.
"Recently, my breast milk supply has been a bit insufficient. I heard from the older generation that drinking crucian carp soup would help."
Liu Xiulan was a little embarrassed and said in a low voice with a blush on her face.
"Hmm, yes, yes, let me think."
Li Xiangyang readily agreed.
He then remembered that his daughter was weaned around this time in his previous life, and he was wondering why it was so early.
After all, children in Inner Mongolia generally drink alcohol until they are 2 or 3 years old because of the cold weather.
However, he was out partying all the time back then and never asked why.
Sigh... I'm such a terrible father, I don't even know how my child's food supply ran out.
That's really incompetent!
No wonder he never came back to see his daughter after his wife took her away in his previous life.
Suddenly, Li Xiangyang's eyes lit up.
He came up with a way to both ensure his daughter's food supply and earn some money.
That means going to the village's Zhahar Lake to break the ice and fish.
The herders in Inner Mongolia don't like to eat fish or know how to cook fish, so they don't take fishing seriously, and the villages lack effective fishing tools.
However, in Wuzhen, not far from the village, most of the residents were employees of state-owned factories or coal miners. In those days, the supply of beef and mutton was relatively scarce, so they preferred to eat fish.
Moreover, they have money and tickets, and now that the New Year is approaching, they can buy them to make fish soup or display them on the New Year's Eve dinner table.
Thinking of this, Li Xiangyang became somewhat excited and gripped Liu Xiulan's hand tightly, saying:
"Xiulan, there are no fish for sale around here, but it's okay, I'll go to Zhahar Lake and catch a few for you. You wait for me at home."
"What...?"
Go fishing in Zhahar Lake?
No, no, no... no need, I was just saying, it's fine if they don't sell it around here...
Before Liu Xiulan could finish speaking, Li Xiangyang had already excitedly pushed open the door and left.
She was a little confused and didn't know what was wrong with Li Xiangyang.
He seemed a bit strange to me today...?
When I usually ask him to do something, he either pretends not to hear me or makes up some excuse to refuse. He has never been so proactive before.
Li Xiangyang ignored everything, left the west room, went to the storage room in the yard, and took out tools such as a net, sacks, shovels, and spades.
He tossed it onto the sled and went out the door.
I never imagined I would be given a second chance at life, and have the opportunity to make up for the regrets of my past life.
Just thinking about it gives me a lot of motivation.
The blizzard subsided slightly, and the main road in the village was relatively easy to travel on because someone was clearing the snow. However, the snow on the road leading to Zhahar Lake was already above knee-deep.
My father told me that Chahar Lake existed before he was born. It is a semi-natural, semi-artificial lake that is very large and deep and has never dried up in decades.
There are many kinds of fish in the lake, including catfish, crucian carp, and small carp, ranging in size from a pound or two to over ten pounds.
Li Xiangyang walked for more than half an hour before his head hit the roof. His cashmere coat was covered in snow, and even his eyelashes were covered with tiny ice crystals.
It was quite a ordeal.
Upon arriving at Chahar Lake, he circled the lake for a long time before finally stopping at a reed bed.
By this time, a thick layer of ice had already formed on the surface of the lake, and the fish at the bottom of the lake were almost all in a state of oxygen deficiency.
Although the reed roots and stalks under the reed beds have long since withered, they still carry out weak photosynthesis and can continuously release a small amount of oxygen.
Therefore, fish like to gather under the reed beds, which is also the best area for digging ice holes.
This is knowledge that Li Xiangyang learned on the Internet when he was bored in his previous life.
I never expected it would come in handy.
It took ten minutes to carve out a circular groove more than one meter in diameter, exposing the hard ice layer on the lake surface.
Winters in Inner Mongolia are so cold that Li Xiangyang was already out of breath after exercising for a short while.
"Cracking ice to fish on the lake in winter is absolutely inhuman work!"
Li Xiangyang, panting heavily, spat out a curse.
He took out a flint from his pocket and lit the pile of reeds next to him.
By this time, all my joints were already frozen stiff. If I didn't warm myself up by the fire soon, I'd probably be frozen solid before the fish was even caught.
Not long after the reeds were lit, he heard a familiar voice calling him from behind.
"Brother...brother..."
Looking in the direction of the sound, a familiar figure was slowly approaching through the thick snow.
It turned out to be Brother Li Xiangdong.
Li Xiangyang wondered to himself, "Why is my brother here instead of staying home to hibernate?"
"Brother... I'm here, what brings you here?"
Li Xiangdong adjusted his hat brim, chuckled, and waved, shouting:
"My father heard from Xiulan that you came to Zhahar to fish, and he was worried, so he asked me to come and check on you. I looked for you for a long time, but luckily you burned the reeds."
Oh, so you were worried about yourself and came to check on me.
Li Xiangyang felt a sudden warmth in his heart. His family members didn't seem to like him on the surface, but they still cared about him a lot.
Especially Brother Li Xiangdong.
In his previous life, he was lazy and loved to eat. Even in his twenties, his family still provided for his food, clothing, and daily necessities, and his brother never said anything to him.
He actually believed that the prince was stupid.
Later, he realized how absurd he had been. Even when his father was injured and the ranch was facing bankruptcy, he was still out partying all the time.
Driven by short-sighted gains, they frantically urged others to sell the ranch.
It was because he hurt his brother's feelings that he, encouraged by his sister-in-law, brought up the idea of separating the family property with his father.
Later, it was because he repeatedly harassed his brother at his home that his brother severed ties with him, causing him to lose this precious family bond.
His parents, brother, sister-in-law, wife, and daughters all left him, leaving him alone to face the coldness and warmth of the world. Only then did he become sensible and understand that his brother's tolerance towards him was not foolishness but love.
Ugh!
Having been reborn, I must not repeat the same mistakes!
Now that my brother is here, let's ask him to help us break the ice and fish. We're brothers in arms, and it's been a long time since I've worked with him.
"Brother, here, take the shovel. After I finish chiseling the ice, help me cut it out so that the broken ice doesn't freeze back up."
Without any formalities, Li Xiangyang handed the shovel to Li Xiangdong.
Li Xiangdong was taken aback.
He wasn't surprised that Li Xiangyang asked him to help break the ice to fish, but he didn't expect Li Xiangyang to take on the heavy task of breaking the ice.
Give him the light work of shoveling ice.
He felt that Li Xiangyang was a little different today, but he still couldn't bear to let Li Xiangyang do heavy work.
"Hehe, little brother, you take the shovel, give me the spade."
Li Xiangdong immediately grabbed the shovel and walked to the snow pit that Li Xiangyang had cleared to start chiseling ice.
Li Xiangyang didn't think much of it. He was the one who came to break the ice to fish, so he should do the heavy work of breaking the ice.
Forget it, let's take turns. The ice on this lake is probably thirty or forty centimeters thick, it's not realistic for one person to break it all.
Li Xiangdong is, after all, a seasoned worker, and his work approach is very sophisticated.
Before chiseling the ice, make a few horizontal lines on the ice under your feet to prevent slipping, and then start chiseling. Every chisel will send up a large number of ice shards.
Li Xiangyang also cooperated; for every three chisels Li Xiangdong made, Li Xiangyang would scrape once.
I was a little cold just now, but I immediately felt warm again after starting to work, and even started to sweat a little.
The ice on the lake was very thick, and it took the two brothers almost an hour of hard work, taking turns to chisel through it.
Then a clear spring gushed forth from the bottom of the lake.
"It's bubbling up, it's overflowing!"
Li Xiangdong stared wide-eyed, as happy as a child. It was his first time coming to Zhahar to fish on the ice in the dead of winter.
Indeed, a man is a boy until he dies!
"Brother, get away quickly, don't get your boots wet."
Li Xiangyang hurriedly pulled up his brother Li Xiangdong.
They now wear felted boots made by themselves from wool, or leather boots made from raw cowhide that has been tanned and sewn into shape, with wool felt lining.
It keeps you warm and protects against snow, but it is not waterproof.
In outdoor temperatures below -30 degrees Celsius, if boots get wet, they can quickly cause frostbite on the feet, which can be extremely fatal.
"Fish...fish, such a big fish!"
Li Xiangdong suddenly pointed at the ice hole he had just chiseled through and shouted, his voice trembling slightly.
Li Xiangyang suddenly turned his head to look, and his heart leaped with joy.
It turned out to be a red carp weighing over 4 pounds that couldn't hold its breath any longer and crawled out of the ice hole that had just been drilled.
"Hehe, now my daughter's food supply and next year's ranch lease fee are secured!"
P.S.: Dear readers who have read this far, even if you want to skip this chapter, please help me turn to the latest chapter.
Readership data for new books on Qidian is extremely important right now; it directly determines the life or death of the book. Please, please!