Chapter 135

"This silly guy, his cast net got caught on reed roots under the water. He didn't know how to get it out, so he just took off his clothes and jumped into the water to untangle it—how could it not be cold when the ice just melted in early spring?" Li Jianguo explained, both annoyed and amused. "Hurry inside, boil some water to soak your feet, and wipe your body with hot water..."

"It's fine, I'm fine..." Tao Daqiang defended himself, "That cast net is so expensive, and the water wasn't that cold..."

Looking at his pale face and shivering lips, Li Long couldn't help but get angry and scold:

"No matter how much that cast net costs, is it worth more than you? What if you were swept away by the water or got stuck at the bottom and couldn't come up? You really are a silly guy!"

"Hehe, I know how to swim, I just dove down—even if I couldn't see, I could feel..." Tao Daqiang knew the Li brothers were doing it for his own good, so he lifted the bag in his hand like he was showing off a treasure:

"I caught quite a few fish!"

"Come, come, soak your feet quickly!" Liang Yuemei had already poured water from the thermos into a foot basin, added some cold water, and after testing the temperature with her hand, said: "Take it to the east room, hurry up and wipe yourself off!"

Li Long took the bag from Tao Daqiang's hand, and Tao Daqiang bent down, picked up the basin, and went to the east room.

"Why is he so honest?" Liang Yuemei also felt that Tao Daqiang was being a bit too simple-minded. Getting a cast net caught on the bottom was a very normal thing. Shaking it a few times or changing direction might untangle it, and if that didn't work, finding a stick to poke it was also a way.

"He was worried about breaking the cast net." Li Jianguo said, "We were clearing the main canal right there. Everyone laughed when they saw him casting the net, so I paid attention. When I saw him jump down, I ran over. By the time I got there, he had already grabbed the net and come up. He was shivering all over then."

Li Long sighed, feeling a bit gratified. He had found a very suitable worker.

At noon, Tao Daqiang still insisted on going home to eat, so Liang Yuemei served him some of the stir-fried dishes to take back.

"When I go to the street to sell fish tomorrow, I want to bring Xiaoxia some braised meat and mutton, as well as oil, and some cured meat. She eats buns and pickles there every day, there's no nutrition at all."

"Sure." Liang Yuemei and Li Jianguo looked at each other and said readily, "I'll find some canned jars later, bring her more, and seal them with oil. They can be kept for a longer time."

Li Long didn't think too much about it. After eating and resting for a while, the loudspeaker in the team sounded, which meant it was time to go to work. Tao Daqiang came over just in time. Li Jianguo carried the shovel and left first, while Li Long and Tao Daqiang took turns blowing air into the tire.

Blowing up a large truck tire took a long time, so Li Long simply let Tao Daqiang blow while he went to find three boards. One was to be tied to the bottom of the tire to support the person's weight.

The remaining two were for making paddles. Li Long roughly measured the boards, then took a hatchet from the east room and began to chop and carve.

Although he hadn't done this for a long time, Li Long still knew roughly how to do it, and soon it looked decent.

Next was grinding the edges, shaving off the prickly splinters, and polishing it smooth.

It didn't need to be that refined at first; he could take his time later when he was free.

The tire was already inflated, but it needed more air to support a person. Tao Daqiang blocked the tire with his finger, his face red and swollen, and asked Li Long:

"Brother Long, are those the paddles?"

"Yeah."

"They look fun, but I don't know how to use them."

"It's fine, just watch me use them later." It wasn't easy to teach in the water right now, and Li Long didn't intend to be a good master. When the water wasn't so cold in May or June, he could let Daqiang try it a few times in the water himself. In this day and age, no one would teach these technical skills hand-in-hand; everyone just watched from the sidelines, and you learned as much as you could.

When Tao Daqiang had blown the tire up enough, Li Long pressed it, took the soap he had prepared, and pressed it hard against the valve.

Feeling that the soap in the valve should have gone in three or four centimeters, Li Long stopped, then took the rope he had prepared, tied the tire into an oval shape, and tied the bottom board to it as well.

"Let's go." Li Long said, "You carry the tire, I'll take the paddles and the net, and we'll take turns on the way."

"Why take turns? Carrying this is easy." Tao Daqiang lifted the rubber boat made from the tire with one hand and walked out with big strides.

Li Long realized that this was the time when manual labor was most common and when people were most capable of carrying heavy loads in his two lifetimes. At this time, a young man in his twenties carrying an 80-kilogram sack wasn't a particularly surprising thing.

Compared to a young man in the future who couldn't carry 40 kilograms of luggage, people at this time were all strongmen.

He carried the net behind Tao Daqiang and walked quickly toward the small lake.

It was windy at the small lake, and it wasn't easy to catch fish when it was windy. Li Long looked and said:

"Let's go to the southeast side. There are reeds blocking the wind there, so it won't be affected."

There were many northwest winds in early spring here. Although the wind wasn't strong, the ripples it blew on the water surface would affect the sticky nets catching fish. After all, there were lines on the net, and some dead leaves on the water surface would gather there when blown. Moving even slightly would cause the net under the water to move, and the saying "pulling one hair affects the whole body" meant the fish would be startled and stay away after discovering the net.

Finding a relatively spacious area of water on the southeast side of the small lake, Li Long put the tire into the water, took off his pants, wore old cloth shoes, got into the water, and sat on the tire.

!.

"Daqiang, throw the net bag to me." Li Long ordered. Tao Daqiang carried the net bag to the water's edge and reached out to hand it to Li Long—his shoes were already stepping in the water, but he didn't react. The reason he didn't throw it was probably that he was worried about not throwing it accurately and causing trouble if it fell into the water.

Li Long took the net bag, placed it between his legs, and then used the paddles to row into the water.

Watching Li Long skillfully row and maneuver the tire, Tao Daqiang didn't blink; he really wanted to learn.

Li Long rowed to the edge of the reeds and stopped, found a suitable bay, took a net out of the net bag, put the net bag away, untangled the net, tied one end of the cloth strip to the reeds in the water, held the net in his mouth, and began to row backward with both hands.

Tao Daqiang watched in surprise as Li Long rowed backward while releasing the net from his mouth—the net actually fell into the water in an orderly manner from Li Long's mouth so easily!

This technical skill—it really wasn't something an ordinary person could learn!

Li Long was also trying out the skills he had learned in his previous life—ordinary people rowing a tire to set nets usually row for a while, then stop to set a section of the net, then row for a while and stop again.

Skilled fishermen hold the net lines together in their mouths, and only need the coordination of their teeth and lips to skillfully set the net, freeing up both hands to just row steadily.

Of course, the speed of rowing is also very important; it can't be too fast or too slow. If it's too fast, the net won't be released in time; if it's too slow, the net will get tangled together.

Releasing while moving backward, soon one net was finished. Li Long let out a long breath. Not bad, the skill hadn't been forgotten!

(End of chapter)