si-mexico Chapter 249: Out of the Net! Exciting!
Chapter 249: Out of the Net! Exciting!
Sun Weimin snorted and said generously, "500 yuan! That's generous, isn't it? But you'd better have the ability to get married, and who are you having your wedding banquet with?"
Li Ju'an handed him paper and pen, telling him to write it down in black and white: "You said you'd give me 500, what else can I do if I don't?"
"That's exactly what we said! Anyone who doesn't follow our example is a dog."
"That!"
After Sun Weimin finished writing, he watched as Li Ju'an carefully folded the paper and hid it in his pocket, only then realizing he had been tricked. He suddenly said warily, "Li Ju'an, you don't actually have a girlfriend, do you? Who is it? Lin Mei?"
Speaking of Lin Mei, his heart ached. He really wanted to fight Li Ju'an again. Looking at Li Ju'an's expression, he understood what was going on and immediately became anxious.
He shouted, "Li Ju'an, you're really a toad lusting after a swan! Lin Mei is such a beautiful girl, the belle of our village. If you want to marry Lin Mei, you really have to think twice. Don't say I won't help you; I've already heard that Zhang's matchmaker is going to arrange a blind date for Lin Mei with that driver, Xu Da. It's not that I'm being mean, but with Aunt Lin's snobbishness and her arrogance, do you think she'd choose you over a driver?"
Li Ju'an understood Sun Weimin's meaning. What mother-in-law wouldn't want a driver as a son-in-law? He was a hot commodity in those days. He said, "Aunt Lin's idea is Aunt Lin's idea, and Lin Mei is Lin Mei."
Sun Weimin laughed angrily and said, "Li Ju'an, I think you've really made something of yourself. If you hadn't told me, I would have told my parents to get to know Aunt Lin better. Guess what Aunt Lin said? She looks down on us hunters from the bottom of her heart. She's single-mindedly trying to send her daughter to the city."
He spoke in a sarcastic tone, sneering, "Aunt Lin doesn't even respect us, so why would she respect you? Didn't you separate from the family a long time ago?"
Seeing Li Ju'an's darkening expression, he subconsciously glanced at his fist. The shadow of being beaten in the past was still strong, and he shrank back, too frightened to speak. He quickly whistled, opened the window in a good mood, and shouted loudly for Lu Zhiqiang.
"Lu Zhiqiang! Stop hiding, or the whole village will see you."
Lu Zhiqiang was embracing and kissing Yang Tingting when he heard this. He jumped up as if startled, and Yang Tingting in his arms was also startled. The two looked around like thieves and spotted Sun Weimin and Li Ju'an by the window.
Lu Zhiqiang glared at the two of them and started yelling. Yang Tingting covered her face in embarrassment, stomped her foot, and ran away.
Li Ju'an said, "Just you wait and see, I've noted down this gift."
Sun Weimin snorted. The two bickered and argued until He Shangguo called them over. Li Ju'an responded, grabbed Sun Weimin, and hurried towards the Huma River.
Many people went there, and the fishermen all ran quickly. This scene felt very familiar to Sun Weimin.
Sun Weimin spent all his summer vacations at his maternal grandparents' house when he was a child. Before his grandfather passed away, his mother would send him to his grandparents' house every winter and summer vacation. Not for any other reason than that he was too mischievous and naughty; even the dogs disliked him. Even the yellow dog at the village entrance would get kicked a couple of times if he passed by. Sun Quande, after being complained about by the neighbors so much, had no choice. He couldn't possibly take his son to the mountains every day; it was dangerous work, and no one could bring such a young child into the mountains.
Sun Quande had no choice but to discuss with his wife that they should send this troublesome boy to her parents' home so that she could also go home and see her parents, instead of him complaining to her every day.
In Sun Weimin's memory, the Huma River experienced both flooding and drought. During floods, the only recourse was to drain the water, completely inundating the downstream fields. When drought struck, the Huma River would irrigate the farmland. This river was like the mother river of his maternal grandmother's hometown.
During the summer rainy season, there were torrential downpours every day, making the Huma River very muddy. He was having a good summer vacation at that time, and no one was watching him at his maternal grandfather's house, so he became more and more unruly. As a result, his great-grandfather called him to move the fishing net.
The method of fishing with a net is very old. In the city, people would say that it uses the principle of leverage. He remembered that when he was a child, his grandparents would use a main bamboo pole, then tie a long, thick hemp rope to the back, take out a net, make the four corners of the square net symmetrical, then prop up the four corners of the net with the bamboo pole, and finally fix it with rope.
This is called a net. Adults would tie bricks to the four corners of the net and then smoothly place it into the river in the summer, letting the net sink to the bottom.
This process is different from winter fishing, which requires a keen eye to see through the ice, but this isn't necessary for moving nets. Because of summer floods, rivers become very murky, with very low visibility. In murky water, not only can people not see the fish, but even the fish can't see the net. It's like a blind cat catching a dead mouse.
At that time, the villagers would unite together, raise and lower the net every two minutes, alternating between slow, gentle, and fast nets, in a continuous cycle.
Sun Weimin looked somewhat dazed. Just as he was thinking, Li Ju'an called out to him, "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and lend a hand."
The ice surface was filled with villagers and fishermen. Old Qin and Old Zhang stood next to He Shangguo, staring at the spot He Shangguo pointed to.
He Shangguo shouted, "When the net is pulled out, the key is not the two fishing nets, but the big net bag behind it."
After the fishing nets are closed, there is a large net bag behind the nets on both sides, and all the spoils will eventually be poured onto the ice through the large net bag.
Local winter fishing methods include winter angling, spearfishing, and large-scale ice-hauling net fishing. Only by pooling the resources of the entire village can the massive ice-hauling net fishing operation be carried out.
The large net was being pulled in. Several fine horses had something tied to their hooves, ready to pull, and a few mules were being used as laborers. He Shangguo shouted this.
The scene of the winter fishing on the Huma River is spectacular. In the freezing cold of minus thirty degrees Celsius, the large nets are pulled up, horses neigh, mules bray, and the fishermen and villagers on the shore cheer wildly, their shouts shaking the heavens.
The moment the net was pulled out was the most tense, exciting, and exhilarating. Everyone's eyes were glued to the river, their hearts pounding, almost leaping out of their throats. As the net was pulled up faster, a large carp escaped, leaping and thrashing through the air, causing a pang of disappointment. The fishermen quickened their pace, and the shouts and cheers from the shore grew even louder. The children, their faces flushed with excitement, shouted even louder than the fishermen.
The nets are out. Hundreds and thousands of pounds of fish are being hauled up from beneath the thick ice. Whitefish, yellow croaker, carp, mandarin fish, taimen, and large crucian carp, among others... The ice surface is piled high with fish, a spectacular sight resembling a small mountain.