CHAPTER 28: CHAPTER 28: NIGHT FISHING

Lin Yi curled his lips, "What kind of luck gets you a bighead carp a day! And it’s caught by a kid! I’ve lived most of my life and haven’t caught such a big fish!"

He’d rather believe the carp were overrunning the place than believe luck, having lived for decades and couldn’t even compare to a child, he’d feel embarrassed to talk about it.

The two kids were so happy they danced with joy.

Liu Yaya was just about to loudly announce the good news to Chen Wenjun when Lin Qin stopped her, "Don’t shout everywhere. What if someone finds out we’ve caught big fish and comes to take them?"

Liu Yaya was startled and quickly covered her mouth, shaking her head vigorously, "I won’t say it, I won’t say it!"

Her little look amused Lin Qin, who put the bighead carp into the bucket, covered it with a wooden basin, and asked, "Want to keep playing?"

"Yes! Yes, yes, yes!" The little one nodded vigorously.

Lin Qin hurriedly prepared the fishing line with bait for her.

She too cast her rod afterward.

This time, it was Lin Qin’s side that had action first; she pulled up a roughly eight-ounce eel. Lin Yi, not looking carefully, thought it was a caterpillar, and his face turned pale.

Almost made Lin Qin throw the rod away.

Lin Qin laughed heartily, "Dad! It’s an eel, a pound can sell for two dollars fifty!"

Lin Yi rubbed his eyes, settled back restfully after seeing clearly, "Young people’s eyesight is still good; Dad’s eyes aren’t as sharp!"

Lin Qin didn’t expose him, put the eel into another bucket, and continued fishing.

Now Liu Yaya’s rod also had movement.

With the previous experience, Lin Qin immediately went to help; as soon as she pulled the rod, she knew it was another big fish.

Without a word, she used the net.

Upon scooping it up, she found it was a grass carp, estimated to be about three kilos.

The grass carp looked somewhat like a bighead at a glance, but its color was lighter, more brown. Big grass carp head stewed with tofu is also delicious.

Seeing Liu Yaya’s catch made Lin Yi itchy, "Girl, let me give it a try too."

Lin Qin rejected without thinking, "Dad, don’t mess around. Your rib hasn’t healed. If you accidentally injure it again, it’ll be troublesome. Anyway, we’re on a fishing boat. You can fish whenever you want. Wait till you’re better."

Lin Yi felt regretful but didn’t insist further.

Lin Qin thought Liu Yaya catching two big fish was quite enough, but unexpectedly, the girl seemed possessed by the goddess of luck, every cast yielding a fish over three kilos. Just like Lin Yi said, big fish overrun; otherwise, they couldn’t have such a catch.

Worried that something might happen to the child, Lin Qin packed up the rods and focused on helping Liu Yaya and Chen Ping’an catch fish.

By the evening, Chen Wenjun boarded the boat, and Chen Ping’an immediately excitedly reported today’s achievements.

"Dad, Yaya is amazing, caught lots and lots of big fish."

"How big are these big fish you mentioned!" Chen Wenjun teased the child, picking through today’s harvest and counting carefully.

"Thirteen perch, plus a turtle over two kilos, the supply and marketing cooperative sells for two dollars twenty a pound, and they’re not common, they sell well without lowering the price, and a bucket of river snails too, the meat of which is getting plump now, I’ve seen many old folks and kids from the village come around to collect snails."

This is a sign that summer is about to arrive.

Liu Yaya was eager to try, secretly glanced at Lin Qin but dared not speak.

Lin Qin knew her little mind, didn’t expose it, turned to Chen Wenjun and said, "In another half month, it’ll really heat up, Ping’an’s hair needs cutting, their clothes are all small, I want to buy fabric to make them some new clothes."

After saying this, she remembered Lin Yi, "Dad! Did your summer clothes come along on the boat? If not, I’ll just make you two sets."

Lin Yi immediately refused, "Why waste money on that? If I didn’t bring them, I’ll just go back and get them. You still need to save money to buy land, be frugal!"

Talking about spending money made him heartache, although he’d let it go for the kids, he was nearly in the grave; why need new clothes!

Lin Qin didn’t argue with him.

Instead, it was Chen Wenjun who said, "You should make two new sets of clothes for yourself too."

Lin Yi deeply agreed, his eyes slightly reddening, "All these years in the Liu family, you’ve lived a life without dignity; you need to make two new sets of clothes for yourself to wash away the bad luck!"

"Make money first, and we’ll talk when we have money!" Lin Qin changed the topic.

After dealing with his things, Chen Wenjun checked the kids’ catch and exclaimed at the three large buckets filled with big fish, giving a sharp intake of breath, "My gosh, three bigheads, four grass carps, plus two ’black slippery’ (black fish), and also crucian carp and eels... Wow! Even veteran fishermen can’t match this catch!"

Lin Qin pointed at Liu Yaya, "Don’t look at me, it’s all caught by the kids. I just estimated, these fish could sell for quite a bit of money!"

"Indeed! I see it’s still early, tonight let’s light a kerosene lamp and throw the lines again, catch more, and head to the Xia Tian vegetable market street again tomorrow," Chen Wenjun mused, stroking his chin.

His habit is to accumulate the fish caught for a few days, and when they totaled a decent number, he’d take them out to sell all at once.

Though today’s haul wasn’t as large as yesterday’s, most were big fish, which are valuable and sell well. Selling them fresh fetches a good price.

Lin Qin thought the same; today, she was busy surrounding the kids, she didn’t even fish much, whether her luck was temporary or permanent remains to be tested.

Both hurriedly prepared dinner; after the kids ate and rested for a while, Lin Qin took them to the rear cabin to make their beds for sleep.

The two little ones were so tired from playing during the day, they practically fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow.

Lin Qin only went out when they were sound asleep; as she passed Lin Yi, she lowered her voice in caution, "Dad, Wenjun and I will fish a while longer, you sleep first, if the kids wake up, call me."

"Go on!" Lin Yi shifted a bit to let Lin Qin pass.

When Lin Qin reached the deck, she discovered the ship had already drifted far from the riverbank, surrounded by water.

Chen Wenjun lit the kerosene lamp, hanging it on the side of the fishing boat, tossed in some crushed apple snails inside.

This thing is very fishy and can be used to bait the catch.

After the apple snails were dumped into the water, Chen Wenjun took out the rod and worms, squatted on the deck, and worked leisurely.

The river breeze blew gently, making people drowsy.

Lin Qin leaned against the cabin, casually taking over the fishing rod Chen Wenjun handed over, and seeing the bait already on it, she immediately cast it.

She couldn’t clearly see the water’s condition in the dark, just sensed an unusual pull on the fishline, and immediately perked up, "It’s hooked, it’s hooked! And it’s a big one!"

Chen Wenjun promptly went over to help; he worked more efficiently than Lin Qin, holding the rod in one hand while using the net with the other, calm and unhurried.

Lin Qin couldn’t see the situation underwater, but soon saw Chen Wenjun lift the net; with the light of the kerosene lamp, they both saw the big bouncing fish, another bighead! Weighing five or six kilos.

Chen Wenjun couldn’t stop grinning, handing over his rod, "You have a go; I’ll deal with this fish first."

Such a big fish needs to be secured. If it slips back into the river, it would be a wasted effort.