[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-reborn-in-1981-fishing-and-hunting-in-the-northw":3,"chapter-reborn-in-1981-fishing-and-hunting-in-the-northw-reborn-in-1981-fishing-and-hunting-in-the-northw-chapter-38":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Reborn in 1981: Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1933919,2572,"Chapter 38: Fighting Through to Shicheng","reborn-in-1981-fishing-and-hunting-in-the-northw-chapter-38",38,"\u003Cp>\"How much for this big silver carp? It must weigh around ten kilograms, judging by its size?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This one is eight yuan,\" Li Long said with a smile. \"The other large fish—carp, five-striped black, and grass carp—are two yuan each, and the silver carp are one and a half yuan each.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having learned from yesterday's fish-selling experience, Li Long had chosen fish of fairly uniform size this time; they looked about the same, making disputes less likely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Many people eyed the large fish with longing, but no one made an offer. Instead, two large carp were quickly sold, and someone who knew their stuff picked up the only three five-striped black fish at the stall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After that, there were many onlookers but few buyers. Li Long glanced around and noticed the ticket-card seller was still there, and the meat stall was also fairly crowded; with the New Year approaching, every household wanted to buy some meat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There were also people selling grain, but the stalls selling other goods had fewer customers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After more than half an hour, the sky had grown somewhat bright. More than half the large fish at the stall had been sold, and a crowd still gathered, pointing and discussing that big silver carp, yet no one bought it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Young friend, this silver carp is too big; even if I bought it, I couldn't finish it. Could you just sell me the head?\" someone spoke up. \"After all, there's not much meat in the head anyway. How about two yuan for it?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That won't do,\" Li Long quickly refused. Unlike the white carp, the silver carp has a large head that makes excellent soup; was this person taking advantage of his ignorance? \"The head is a good thing. If you take it, the rest won't taste as good for others. Of course, if you're willing to pay more, that's fine—the head is five yuan.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The head of this big silver carp alone weighed three or four kilograms, so Li Long's asking price was indeed steep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The person made a dismissive \"tsk\" sound and made no further offer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A while later, another person came and bought a carp and a silver carp, leaving only that big silver carp and two white carps weighing over two kilograms each on the stall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the crowd begin to disperse, Li Long knew things had pretty much reached their limit here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The county town had few people, and even fewer dared to come to the black market to buy things. The purchasing power of the market was only so large. After thinking it over, he simply rolled up the fish, picked them up, and left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Arriving by the horse cart, he said to Tao Da, who was pacing back and forth to warm himself:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Let's go to the Big Meat Canteen.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having sold a total of seventeen and a half yuan worth of fish, Li Long bought six meat buns at the Big Meat Canteen, and the two of them ate as they hurried toward Shicheng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tao Da walked along, still somewhat hesitant:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Brother Long, why don't we just find a family compound in the county town and sell like we did yesterday? Going to Shicheng... we'll be completely in the dark there...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No, we're going to Shicheng. The family compounds here all have connections; if someone with ill intentions reports us, we'll be arrested along with the fish.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shicheng has many factories, and their family compounds don't care about this sort of thing. Besides, the workers have money, making it easier to sell fish, even if the road is a bit longer.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The road was indeed long; by the time they arrived in Shicheng, it was nearly noon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Long looked at the slightly unfamiliar yet somewhat familiar city, sighed inwardly, and then led the horse cart to the Agricultural Machinery Factory family compound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although the Agricultural Machinery Factory was also under the unified purchase and sales system at this time, it seemed to take on some subcontracting and repair work, so money was certainly not lacking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He again had Tao Da park the horse cart outside the family compound, then shouldered the urea sack and barged inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The guard was an old man. Seeing Li Long trying to rush in, he hurried to stop him. Li Long smiled and said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Grandpa, I'm delivering some fish to my uncle...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Fish?\" The old man's eyes lit up upon hearing there was fish. \"Is everything you're carrying fish?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes.\" Li Long put down the urea sack, opened it, and let the old man see. \"All big fish.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So much? Who are you delivering to? Sell me two; with the New Year coming, it's hard to make a New Year's Eve dinner without fish.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Two yuan each,\" Li Long heard this and quickly climbed the pole. \"The silver carp are cheaper, one and a half yuan.\" \"This price... is acceptable.\" The old man was delighted inside; in fact, it was already very cheap. Although the factory had issued welfare benefits, how could those frozen-in-ice hairtail compare to these red-headed, red-tailed large carp?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After paying for two carp, the old man exposed Li Long:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Young man, you're here to sell fish, aren't you? Alright, go in, just don't go up into the buildings.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Thank you, Grandpa!\" Li Long, with his sweet tongue, quickly shouldered the bag and walked inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The family compound was not large, with two buildings, each having two units. Several children were playing with spinning tops in the courtyard and looked curiously as Li Long entered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Long regretted not bringing some fruit candies, but for now, he had no choice but to coax them. He walked up to the children, spread open his sack, and said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Little friends, do you want to eat fish? I have big fish here. If you want to eat, go home and tell your family to bring money to buy them. These fish are cheap!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some of the children were half-skeptical, but a little boy suddenly shouted:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I want to eat it! I'll go find my mom!\" With that, he darted into the corridor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two other children followed and ran off. The rest, perhaps because their families didn't lack food or because they weren't interested in fish, just glanced and continued playing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Long waited there. At that moment, a middle-aged man entered from outside. Li Long saw it was a man and knew that in these times, women mostly did the cooking while men rarely concerned themselves with kitchen matters, so he didn't approach to greet him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But that man came over and asked proactively:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I heard from Grandpa Li that you're the one selling fish?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes, it's me.\" Li Long looked at the man with slight wariness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>!.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What kind of fish? Let me see.\" The man moved closer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Long saw the man was some kind of cadre, however small, and worried the other might try to detain him. But then he thought that with his youth and strength, at worst he could just abandon the fish, so he opened the sack for him to see.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The fish is good, quite fresh.\" The man poked at the gill cover of one fish. \"What's the price?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Silver carp are one and a half yuan each, others are two yuan each,\" Li Long said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That price is quite high,\" the middle-aged man said. \"The person who came selling fish a couple of days ago had fish about this size, selling for one yuan each. Your price is too high.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Long scoffed. Near Shicheng, there was the Ma River; in winter, trying to smash ice holes to catch fish there, one might not catch two or three in a whole day. Furthermore, the nearest reservoir was forty or fifty kilometers from the city, even farther than his own home. If someone really caught fish and brought them here to sell, one yuan each? Three yuan would be unlikely!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This man was talking complete nonsense!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, he didn't expose him, smiling and saying:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"First, my fish is fresh, caught just yesterday. Second, these red-headed, red-tailed large carp are rare; they look festive, and having a plate of them on the table for the New Year would be wonderful. Third, I'm earning hard-earned money. Smashing through a meter-thick layer of ice takes two or three hours, and waiting for the fish to come takes half a day; in a whole day, I can't catch more than a few fish...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Oh, you speak very logically.\" The middle-aged man didn't expect Li Long to explain so clearly. Just as he was surprised, a child tugged his mother's sleeve and came down, approaching Li Long:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Mom, I want to eat this fish!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing there really was fish, the woman looked and asked:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How much for the fish?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Silver carp are one and a half, others are two.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"By the kilogram? That's so expensive?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"By the strip.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That's truly cheap, give me two strips!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Very well, business opens again!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of this chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1502,"2026-06-14T06:06:39.549Z",1,"Qwen3.5 122B","74626ba72521dcb1101cb3e0e5b680835acb463b47d55f36e5ec01dfce363cdc","reborn-in-1981-fishing-and-hunting-in-the-northw-chapter-39","reborn-in-1981-fishing-and-hunting-in-the-northw-chapter-37",180,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Freborn-in-1981-fishing-and-hunting-in-the-northw-cover.jpg"]