Reborn in 1984, fishing and hunting in Jiangnan

Chapter 43

"Rongzi, stay home and keep an eye on the fishpond. Feed it twice a day, morning and evening, the same amount as yesterday."

Chen Rong nodded, leaned the thin bamboo pole against the door frame, and turned to go to the kitchen to get the feed bucket.

The boy's back view already showed signs of adulthood.

Chen Zheng pushed the cart out of the courtyard gate, with Zhang Jianguo pulling it from the front, and Chen Feng sitting on the cart as usual.

He was holding his crooked eel cage in his arms.

Before dawn, the clouds in the east were just beginning to turn a pale gold.

The dew on the village road was heavy, and the cart wheels left two wet tracks as they rolled over it.

Today is the last day of the trade fair.

According to Master Qian's experience, the last day is when the most diverse group of people arrive.

There were individual travelers who missed the previous two days, and restaurants that came specifically to buy up leftover stock.

There were also some vendors who came from the lower towns, hoping to snag a bargain before they packed up.

There weren't many goods left, but Chen Zheng was confident that he could sell them all.

By the time we arrived at the county's goods exchange center, it was already broad daylight.

A layer of dew condensed on the tin roof of shed number thirty-six, and dripped down as the sun shone on it.

Chen Zheng unloaded the last batch of fish from the cart: about ten crucian carp, seven or eight bream, and a small bucket of eels.

As soon as the stall was set up, Sister Deng, who sold dried goods next door, came over with an enamel mug.

She was wearing a floral polyester shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, revealing a section of her fair wrist.

The enamel mug was filled with strong tea, the tea leaves were almost mushy, and the tea was as dark as soy sauce.

"Xiao Chen, you left early yesterday, and I didn't have time to say goodbye."

Sister Deng took a piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it over, "This is the phone number of my supply and marketing cooperative."

Go back and tell Jiawang to come find me.

I've already spoken with an acquaintance at the county education bureau. Given his family's situation, it's possible for them to be accepted as auditors.

"I'll audit classes at the county's No. 1 High School for a year first. If my grades keep up, I can become a full-time student next year."

Chen Zheng took the slip of paper, on which was written a phone number.

He folded the note and put it in his pocket, then said to Sister Deng:

"Sister Deng, if this can be done, Jiawang's life will be completely changed. I thank you on his behalf."

"No need to thank me, we're all family."

Sister Deng waved her hand, picked up her enamel mug, and took a sip of strong tea.

"I knew Jiawang was smart when he was a child."

His eyes have a strange way of looking at people, but he sees things more clearly than anyone else.

It's such a waste for him to stay in the village fishing; he should go to school.

Chen Zheng agreed with this statement.

Liu Jiawang's cross-eyed eyes made him a laughingstock in Lutang Village.

But he has a photographic memory and can tell directions by the sound of water.

The map he drew was even more detailed than the blueprints from the town's land management office.

Such a person should not be confined to fishing by the lake for the rest of his life.

As the sun rose higher, more and more people gathered at the exchange center.

Just as Mr. Qian had predicted, the customer flow on the last day was mostly individual customers, but the transaction volume was not low.

The old lady carrying a vegetable basket picked out two crucian carp, saying she would make soup for her grandson when she got home.

A worker riding a bicycle bought a bream, threaded it through its gills with a straw rope, and carried it away.

The young man, who looked like he was running errands, bought five fish in one go, saying that the head chef at their cafeteria had specifically requested crucian carp from Baiyang Lake.

By 10 a.m., the bucket of eels was empty.

A small restaurant owner bought the remaining half-bucket of eels.

They said a relative from the provincial capital was visiting and wanted to try the braised eel in hot oil.

Chen Zheng weighed it for him; it weighed a little over six jin (approximately 3 catties) in total. At two yuan per jin, he charged twelve yuan.

"Brother, how much did we sell today?" Chen Feng squatted next to the empty eel bucket, counting on his fingers.

"The crucian carp sold for over ten yuan, the bream for seven or eight yuan, and the eel for twelve yuan, totaling about forty yuan."

Chen Zheng wrapped the last bream in a lotus leaf, handed it to a young woman who had been waiting for a long time, took the money, clapped his hands, and...

"All stock sold out, time to pack up."

Zhang Jianguo stood up from the folding chair, stretched, and his bones cracked.

He stacked the empty fish baskets together, tied them with hemp rope, and carried them onto the cart.

Chen Feng climbed onto the cart with his eel basket in his arms, a hint of disappointment on his face.

His eel traps were on display for three days, but he didn't sell a single one.

"Brother, did I write it too badly?"

He looked at the crooked eel trap in his hand.

The gaps between the bamboo strips are of varying widths, the funnel is too large, and the barbs are not sharp enough.

"It's not about the appearance." Chen Zheng took the eel cage and turned it over.

"The opening of your funnel is too big. Once the eel goes in, it can just turn around and climb out."

The funnel that Dad wove was just the right size to catch the eel's gills, so it could go in but couldn't get out.

Go back and disassemble the funnel, re-weave it, reduce the diameter by half, and add three barbs.

Chen Feng nodded seriously, hugged the eel cage to his chest, and remained silent.

After packing up his stall, Chen Zheng went to say hello to Master Qian.

Chef Qian was watching the oil pan on the stove in the back kitchen of Dongfeng Hotel. The oil was heated to about 80% of its maximum temperature.

The cook poured in the marinated eel segments, and with a sizzle, oil smoke billowed up, filling the kitchen with a delicious aroma.

"Sold out?" Master Qian didn't even turn his head, his eyes fixed on the eel segments in the oil pan.

"Sold out. We sold nearly 250 yuan worth in three days, and with the batch you bought before, it's a little over 400 yuan in total."

Master Qian then turned around, a satisfied expression on his face:

"Four hundred yuan is enough to get a wife in Lutang Village."

He took out the pack of Daqianmen cigarettes from his pocket, pulled out two, put one in his mouth, and handed the other to Chen Zheng.

Chen Zheng took it and tucked it behind his ear.

"The training course starts tomorrow. Have you found a place to stay yet?" Master Qian asked, exhaling a puff of smoke and squinting.

Chen Zheng had never really thought about this question.

These past few days I've been busy with the exchange meeting, and my mind is filled with land deeds for turtle and eel fry.

I only had a general idea of ​​what the training course would entail; I hadn't yet thought about the specifics of where I would stay and what I would eat.

"I knew you hadn't looked for one."

Master Qian smiled, took a key out of his pocket, and slapped it into Chen Zheng's hand.

One of the staff dormitories in the backyard of Dongfeng Hotel is empty.

It's usually used by the cooks who work the night shift, but no one has been using it these past few days.

I've already spoken to Lao Zhao. You can stay here for now; the training course is five days long, so you can stay until it ends.

The key was made of brass and had a small wooden tag attached to it that read "Room 203, Back Building, Dongfeng Hotel".

Chen Zheng gripped the keys in his hand, a surge of warmth rising within him.

Master Qian may be a big talker, but he's more meticulous than anyone else when it comes to getting things done.

"Master Qian, this favor—" Chen Zheng was interrupted by Master Qian before he could finish speaking.

"Stop talking nonsense."

Master Qian put a cigarette in his mouth, turned around and patted the cook on the shoulder, "The oil temperature is too low!"

If the temperature were 20 degrees higher, the fried eel segments would be crispy on the outside and tender on the inside to taste good!

At that oil temperature, the fried food will taste like it's been boiled!

He turned around and waved to Chen Zheng.

"Report to the seafood company's conference room at 8:00 AM tomorrow. Don't forget to bring your household registration booklet."

Chen Zheng responded, put the key away, and turned to leave the kitchen.

In the afternoon, he asked Zhang Jianguo to take Chen Feng and the remaining empty baskets and carts back to the village first.

Zhang Jianguo draped the cart rope over his shoulder and said he would help him scatter the fish feed in the pond on his way back, so that he could focus on learning the techniques in the county.

Chen Feng was reluctant to leave, so he squatted on the stone bench in front of the Dongfeng Hotel, looking longingly at his brother.

"Brother, you haven't been back for five days?"

"Five days. Stay home and listen to Rong-ge. Don't go swimming in Nanwan; the water is deep."

Chen Feng pursed his lips and pulled the crooked eel trap out of his pocket.

"Brother, I've disassembled and reassembled the funnel. Come back and check it."

"Okay. It's all sorted out. I'll take you to sell it at the next trade fair."

Chen Feng's eyes lit up. He jumped off the stone block, caught up with Zhang Jianguo's cart, and climbed onto it.

After watching the cart disappear around the street corner, Chen Zheng turned around and walked towards the back building of Dongfeng Hotel.

The back building is a two-story brick building.

The walls were painted white, but over the years, some of the white plaster has peeled off, revealing the red bricks underneath.

There was a mixed smell in the hallway.

The smells of cooking oil, laundry detergent, and disinfectant wafting from the public restroom at the end of the corridor.

This smell inexplicably reminded Chen Zheng of the workers' dormitory he lived in when he was working in the city in his previous life.

Room 203 is at the end of the corridor on the second floor. The door is made of wood and painted with a layer of green paint, which has been polished to a shine.

Chen Zheng took out his key and opened the door. The house wasn't big, but it was clean and tidy.

A single bed with a straw mat on the bed board and a thin quilt folded squarely on the mat.

The window faces East Street, and you can see people coming and going on the street.

Under the window was a wooden desk, its surface polished to a shine.

There was a table lamp and an enamel water cup on it.

He placed the cloth bag he carried with him on the table and took out the book "Freshwater Fish Farming Technology" from the bag.

The pages were already worn and frayed, in the insert between Chapters 5 and 6.

He had written down countless questions he couldn't understand.

He opened the book, flipped through it under the lamp, and reorganized the questions.

Water quality management.

How can dissolved oxygen levels be determined without instruments?

How to control the amount of fertilizer and water?

How to check fish gills for diseases? How to adjust feed ratios according to the season? What conditions are needed for self-breeding fish fry?

There were more than a dozen items listed, written on blank pages of the book.

It was late at night. He closed the book, turned off the light, and lay down on the hard bed.

My back aches from the hard bed, but I've been so tired these past few days that I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.

The next morning, Chen Zheng was woken up by the sound of a loudspeaker on the street.

The county radio station's loudspeaker, hanging on a utility pole, was broadcasting the news.

The National Economic Work Conference was held in Beijing, marking a further deepening of reform and opening up and steady progress in rural system reform.

He washed his face, changed into a clean shirt, put his household registration book and training notice in his pocket, and went out.

The county aquatic products company is located in the east of the city, about a 15-minute walk from the Dongfeng Hotel.

Chen Zheng bought a sesame seed cake from a roadside vendor and ate it as he walked.

The sesame seed cakes were fresh out of the oven, the sesame seeds were roasted to a fragrant brown, and they crumbled when you bit into them.

Reaching the entrance of the seafood company, he stuffed the last bite of the sesame seed cake into his mouth, patted the crumbs off his hands, and pushed the door open to go inside.

The meeting room is at the end of the corridor on the first floor.

A red paper was pasted on the door, with the words "First Freshwater Fish Farming Technology Training Course" written in large characters, the ink glistening.

When Chen Zheng pushed open the door, there were already about twenty people sitting inside.

The meeting room was small, with three rows of long tables.

A white cloth was laid on the table, and a notebook and a ballpoint pen were placed in front of each seat.

At the very front was a blackboard, on which several lines of chalk writing had already been written.

Basics of water quality management.

Common knowledge about fish disease prevention and control.

Scientifically formulated feed.

Chen Zheng found a seat by the window and opened his notebook.

He wrote his name and the date on the first page.

Sitting next to me was a middle-aged man in his forties, with a round face and tanned, dark red skin.

He saw Chen Zheng writing in his notebook, leaned over to take a look, and asked, "You're from Lutang Village? Chen Zheng?"

Chen Zheng looked up: "You know me?"

"I'm from Lijiawan, my name is Li Quan, Uncle Dashan mentioned me once."

He stretched out his hand, his palm broad and calloused, "At the trade fair."

Your fish stall has the best business.

We didn't sell a single fish that day; everyone was watching how lively your place was.

Chen Zheng grasped his hand, a thought stirring within him.

"Brother Quan, I heard from Master Qian that you have three fish ponds and have been raising fish for several years. You have much more experience than me."

"This is my first year raising fish, and I just released the fry," Chen Zheng said.

Li Quan waved his hand and sighed, "Don't mention it."

It's true that I've been raising it for several years, but it's getting worse every year.

Two years ago, a fish disease occurred, with white spots appearing on the gills. More than a hundred grass carp all floated up belly-up.

Last year, there were no illnesses, but the silver carp and bighead carp grew slowly, and by the end of the year, they weighed less than a pound each.

They're all only seven or eight ounces each, so they won't fetch a good price.

Master Qian said that my method of raising fish is outdated and can't keep up with the new trends.

I heard that the county aquatic products company was holding a training course, so I rode my bicycle twenty miles over early this morning to get here.

After listening, Chen Zheng roughly understood the situation.

Li Quan's problem should be the same problem that Master Qian mentioned.

Unscientific water quality management, inadequate fish disease prevention and control, and overly traditional feed formulations.

As the two were talking, the meeting room door was pushed open.

A young man in his early thirties, wearing black-rimmed glasses, walked in. He was tall and thin.

Wearing a white shirt with the hem tucked into her trousers, she looked neat and capable.

He was holding a thick stack of lecture notes, which were printed with a mimeograph machine and the ink was still a bit damp.

Good morning, fellow farmers.

My name is Zhou Haiming. I'm a technician at the county's aquatic products company and also one of the instructors for this training course.

He placed his lecture notes on the podium, adjusted his glasses, and glanced around the conference room.

"This training course lasts for five days, and the course schedule is as follows."

The first day covers water quality management, the second day covers fish disease prevention and control, and the third day covers scientific feed formulation and feeding techniques.

The fourth day will cover fish fry breeding techniques, and the fifth day will be a summary and exam.

Someone below gasped: "There's another exam?"

Zhou Haiming smiled and said, "The exam isn't difficult. As long as you can answer 70% of the questions correctly, you'll pass."

Qualified fish farmers will be issued a training completion certificate by the county aquatic products company.

In the future, when people sell fish, this certificate can serve as proof of credit.

Wholesalers see the certificate, know you've received formal training, and that the quality is guaranteed, so they can negotiate a higher price.

A commotion broke out in the conference room.

The farmers looked at each other, their faces showing seriousness.

A certificate that can increase selling price is more effective than any mobilization effort.

Zhou Haiming handed out the lecture notes one by one, pausing when he handed them to Chen Zheng.

He looked at Chen Zheng, his eyes flashing behind his glasses: "You're Chen Zheng?"

Teacher Zhao Deming mentioned you to me.

Chen Zheng was stunned for a moment.

Teacher Zhao had far more influence than he had imagined; even the technicians at the seafood company knew his name.

"Teacher Zhao said you are very hardworking. You read his book 'Freshwater Fish Farming Technology' more carefully than his students."

Zhou Haiming patted Chen Zheng on the shoulder.

"Study hard. Ask me if you don't understand something, and you can come find me after class."

The class has begun.