Chapter 200: Borrowing a Boat for Fishing

Chapter 200: Borrowing a Boat for Fishing

Jiang Yu bought two jin of meat and brought a bag of Fugiang flour, and the family headed toward Yunjiao Village.

Wang Yunshan hadn’t seen her for a while, but she often asked Jiang Ye to deliver things into town.

Whenever Jiang Yu had something, she would ask Jiang Ye to deliver it to Wang Yunshan’s house.

Although the two sisters hadn’t met, they cared for each other in another way.

Wang Yunshan was irritated when she saw Jiang Yu come over with things.

"Are you trying to distance yourself from me?"

Even Lin Chenghui frowned and said unhappily, "Brother Yue, you bringing things when you come to my house is just humiliating me, isn't it?"

Jiang Yu smiled. "It's not about becoming distant. Look at how many people we have in our family. There are many mouths to feed. No household's grain comes from the wind."

Wang Yunshan said playfully, "Just this once, and no more. You're off today, why didn't you bring Ah Ye along?"

Jiang Yu entered the house arm in arm with her and told her that Jiang Ye was an apprentice under Master Yang.

"The second factory is recruiting female workers next month, do you want to give it a try?"

The requirements for recruiting workshop female workers weren’t high, as long as they were willing to learn, work hard, and had the right attitude.

But it was mainly for families in the compound, so if Wang Yunshan wanted to get a position, she would need Jiang Yu and He Tingyue’s help.

"Female worker? I do want to go, but the city is too far away."

Wang Yunshan was a bit hesitant. She didn’t want to be separated from Lin Chenghui.

Moreover, from the beginning of their marriage, they had consciously wanted children. If she got pregnant right after joining the second factory, she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to handle the high-intensity work and would hold the factory back.

Jiang Yu didn’t push her. She knew how much Wang Yunshan wanted to have her own family and her own child.

It stemmed from her own family issues. Not having good parents made her want to love her children even more to compensate for her own lack of love.

"Then think about it some more. If you change your mind, come to me."

After sitting at Wang Yunshan’s house for a bit, Jiang Yu and the others headed toward the reservoir.

"So you’re here to catch silverfish, huh? It’s not easy to catch those in winter." Wang Yunshan said.

Jiang Yu smiled. "If we can't catch any, we'll just mooch a meal from you."

Wang Yunshan gave her a displeased look. "There's plenty of food. You don't have to mooch. I'll have Hui Zi borrow a boat for you. Take a fishing net over, but be careful. The water’s deep over there."

"Alright."

The boat that Lin Chenghui borrowed wasn’t big. It could only fit three people, so they decided the siblings would wait on the shore.

The old man who lent the boat to Lin Chenghui heard them talking about trying to catch silverfish and scoffed.

"These days, everyone wants to eat these. It's not that easy. In the middle of winter, if there were any silverfish, I would have caught them all already. Where would there be any left for you?"

He had a boat and often went out to fish, but it wasn’t that easy to catch any fish. Eight out of ten times, he came back empty-handed.

Especially in winter, when he came back empty-handed after a freezing cold trip, it was incredibly frustrating.

It wasn't the old man's fault for speaking discouragingly.

Jiang Yu didn’t mind and smiled as she said, "Uncle, if we really catch any fish, I'll give you one as payment for the boat ride."

The old man finally smiled. "Alright then, off you go."

He Zhengdong watched longingly; he also wanted to go.

Lin Chenghui smiled, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Bro, I'll take you two up the mountain to catch some pheasants."

The two kids immediately got excited again.

By this time, Jiang Yu had reached the middle of the reservoir.

The water was calm, and they hadn’t actually seen any fish along the way.

He Feiyan muttered, "Is there really any fish here? I don’t believe there are."

He Tingyue chuckled. He didn’t believe there were any fish here, but he trusted Jiang Yu.

"With my sister-in-law here, we won’t return empty-handed."

It was He Feiyan’s first time following Jiang Yu, so she hadn’t seen just how amazing she was.

In He Tingyue’s opinion, Jiang Yu’s luck was like the heavens spoon-feeding her.

Probably because the heavens couldn’t bear to see her go without meat.

"Bro, hurry up and cast the net!" He Feiyan couldn’t wait any longer.

"Alright."

The net He Tingyue used had been borrowed from the old man. It wasn’t big, but it was sufficient for the reservoir.

Following the old man’s instructions, he cast the net, waiting for it to sink vertically in the water, and when the time was right, he pulled it back up.

His technique was pretty good, but the net only brought up a few silverfish.

He Feiyan looked visibly disappointed. "Is that all? Is there really no fish here, or did you cast the net incorrectly?"

He Tingyue: "... Then you do it."

"I’m going to! Bro, row the boat over there, I want to cast the net there!"

He Feiyan told him to row the boat further ahead.

Then, mimicking He Tingyue, she cast the net across the water.

But the net wouldn’t open and just messily fell into the water.

He Feiyan, refusing to give up, tried again, but she got the same result.

"What’s going on? I saw Brother do it just now, and it looked really easy."

Jiang Yu, seeing her frustration, pulled her down to sit beside her.

"Don’t worry about it. Let your big brother handle it."

He Tingyue retrieved the net and turned to ask Jiang Yu, "Which side should I cast to?"

He Feiyan made a face. "No wonder everyone says my elder brother is whipped. Even casting the net requires your approval."

Jiang Yu just smiled and stood up to take a look.

Her face was still bright red from the cold, even though she had a scarf wrapped around it.

"Let's row over there," she said.

He Feiyan stretched her neck. "Sister-in-law, do you think there are fish over there?"

Jiang Yu shook her head. "I don't know. We'll have to wait for your brother to cast the net."

He Tingyue cast the net where Jiang Yu pointed, with practiced ease, and waited to haul it in.

He Feiyan looked at the calm water and had a feeling this haul would be empty again.

But as He Tingyue started to pull the net in, she couldn't help holding her breath in anticipation.

The net wasn't up yet, but it was clear this haul required some effort from He Tingyue.

He Feiyan wondered, "Is it waterweeds? It looks really heavy."

He Tingyue said, "It's something alive."

Before the net had even surfaced, he was already certain there were fish.

He Feiyan shot him a skeptical look. "Elder brother, you're just blowing smoke."

As the net broke the surface, fish of all sizes splashed and flopped around, sending ripples across the water.

He Feiyan was shocked. "There really are fish!" she exclaimed.

Countless silverfish, each about the size of a little finger, filled the net.

Among them was a large silver carp that occupied most of the net, its strength impressive.

He Feiyan couldn't hold it with both hands and got slapped by the fish's tail but couldn't stop laughing.

"This fish is really strong, brother! What size is this silver carp? It's massive!"

He Tingyue estimated its size with his hands, a gleam of joy in his eyes.

"At least sixty pounds. Forget about that for now, let's take care of these silverfish."

They let the small ones go and kept only the big ones.

Apart from the large silver carp, they caught plenty of grass carp, some as big as seven or eight pounds, others as small as one or two pounds.

While they packed up, Jiang Yu had already started thinking of different ways to cook the silver carp.