[{"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-8":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},1927264,2572,"Chapter 8: Smashing Ice to Catch Fish and Doing a Favor","reborn-in-1981-fishing-and-hunting-in-the-northw-chapter-8",8,"\u003Cp>Li Jianguo finally agreed with Li Long's idea, but he insisted on going with him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No need. Big Brother, if I go alone, I can pull a bit more. The horses in our production team aren't fat to begin with; adding another person will mean we haul dozens of kilograms less wood.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Jianguo was left speechless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Then wait, I'll go borrow a horse in a bit,\" Li Jianguo compromised. He always treated Li Long like a child, believing everything had to be handled by himself to be safe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although he felt Li Long made sense this time, he still felt uneasy doing nothing himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The captain won't necessarily lend a horse just on your word,\" Li Long said confidently. \"Big Brother, don't worry about this; I'll handle it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You'll handle it? How?\" Li Jianguo found it hard to believe. His younger brother seemed like a different person now. Could he really handle such a \"big matter\"? How could he possibly succeed?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Xiao Long, do you think borrowing a horse from the production team is easy?\" Li Jianguo asked. \"Our team has only three horse-drawn carts, three horses, and two donkeys.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"In winter, you must use a cart to haul wood. Those horses are the main force for plowing and hauling next year—the tractor is just one unit and can't cover everything. You know the captain won't lend on empty words. Unless... you plan to gift him a frog?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I can't gift a frog, but I'll get something else,\" Li Long said, standing up. \"Brother, Sister-in-law, you go ahead and prepare lunch. I'm heading out. If I manage to get something this afternoon, we'll do as I said. If not, I'll see if I can catch a frog tonight.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Long went to the east room. Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei exchanged glances.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I think Xiao Long's trip to the factory wasn't in vain,\" Liang Yuemei said. She had originally felt pained about giving away fifty yuan, but seeing Li Long's change from yesterday to today, she felt it was worth it even if he lost his job.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Raising her husband's younger brother, Liang Yuemei felt no fault in it. After all, Li Jianguo was the eldest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But raising a wolf that couldn't be tamed would be a waste, and she wouldn't accept that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had previously felt Li Long was like an untamable wolf, but from last night until now, she truly felt his change.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He learned to care for others, knew how to cherish his nephews and nieces, and understood how to share his brother's burdens.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a sense of responsibility, Liang Yuemei felt raising an extra son was no big deal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Jianguo shook his head and said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Let's see what he does. If it really doesn't work, I'll speak up myself. At worst, I'll go catch a frog with Xiao Long tonight.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having a superstitious pig in the house meant the family couldn't eat meat, which was a constant worry for Li Jianguo. Since Li Long returned, he had been worried about burning charcoal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now, it seemed all those problems were no longer problems.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Jianguo finally realized that as long as his younger brother grew up, these problems could indeed be overcome.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why hadn't he thought of hauling wood from the mountains before?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn't realize it was a matter of vision. Even if villagers knew in autumn that charcoal was insufficient, they would only think of digging red willow roots behind the village in the sandy hollow, not of hauling wind-felled trees from the mountains twenty kilometers away. Except for a few who knew the mountain conditions, others didn't know the situation there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, regarding the unknown, they naturally had a fear and were unwilling to try.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those willing to try became wealthy early on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Shufen returned home, looking somewhat distracted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her mother, Wang Yuzhen, seeing her daughter's state, immediately asked:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Shufen, did that Li family boy not agree to break up? Is he still planning to harass you?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No, he agreed to break up.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That's good then,\" Wang Yuzhen said, smiling at the smooth breakup. \"Tomorrow, Mom will have someone look for a match for you. We must find a worker to eat the imperial grain in the city! I knew Li Long wasn't cut out for city life; sure enough, he's back!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Yuzhen had expected her daughter to be happier after breaking up with Li Long, but seeing Wu Shufen's unhappy face, she asked concernedly: \"Shufen, breaking up with him is a good thing; why do you look unhappy?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Shufen couldn't help but say:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"When I went there, I saw them plucking a frog at his house. Mom, do you know how many frogs Li Long caught yesterday? Five!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She held up her hand to show five fingers:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Full five! He didn't even think to give me one—even if we broke up, we could still be friends. In the past, he would have definitely given me one, no, two! But he didn't even ask me to stay...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If Li Long heard Wu Shufen's words, he would immediately realize that fairies weren't unique to the future.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some people naturally feel the whole world must dote on them; buying a meat bun, if a strange boy doesn't pay, they think the other person is a loser!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Yuzhen didn't think too much about it and comforted Wu Shufen:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Shufen, let's not think about that frog. Li Long's brother's family has a superstitious pig; they have no meat to eat, so they go after that frog. Our family slaughtered a pig; Mom will fry meat for you at noon!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although that meat would last nearly a year—the fatty meat was already rendered into oil and buried in lard—if her daughter wanted to eat it, then she would make it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Mom, I want to eat meat, and I want to eat frog too...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Yuzhen turned and shouted to Wu Lao Han, who was dozing on the kang:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>!.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Husband, Shufen wants to eat frog; aren't you going to catch one for her?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"To hell with it! Where would I catch a frog? Going out in this heavy snow would freeze me half to death; I'm not going!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Shufen pouted, unhappy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After entering the east room, Li Long found a pickaxe and a pry bar, packed them in a fertilizer sack, and placed them by the door. Then he put on a cotton hat, a heavy coat, woolen socks on his feet, and stepped into leather boots—made from a whole piece of cowhide, with holes punched along the edges and laced with leather thongs. They froze rock-hard in winter, but with the woolen socks, they were at least more cold-resistant than cotton rubber shoes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was going to break the ice in the small lake to catch fish; cotton rubber shoes wouldn't work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There were a few puddles near the village. In these times, as long as there was flowing water, there were fish inside—mainly crucian carp, large crucian carp, domestic crucian carp, as well as carp, grass carp, and silver carp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The small lake had existed for many years. According to Li Jianguo, when they first arrived from all over the country, the small lake was already there, and the fish inside never disappeared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A few years later, a great flood broke the dam of the small lake, which had been converted into a reservoir, washing the fish downstream into the reed lake. The young and strong of the village took homemade fish spears to catch fish; Li Long had seen the largest fish nearly one and a half meters long, weighing twenty to thirty kilograms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since then, there had been no large fish in the small lake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He estimated the ice in the small lake was at least thirty to forty centimeters thick; breaking a hole to catch fish would definitely be a laborious task.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But to show off in front of others, one must be prepared to suffer in private; nothing comes without a price.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Going out, Li Long also took a landing net from the shed. Breaking an ice hole would take at least one or two hours; usually, after the hole was broken, the fish wouldn't come immediately, requiring a wait.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, the ice was frozen solid now, and the small lake had many fish. Although some reeds grew, providing a little oxygen for the fish underwater, it wasn't much. So he thought that perhaps after breaking the ice hole, he might wait and catch some fish.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sound of Li Long opening the door startled Li Qiang, or rather, the little boy had been waiting. He ran out from the west room, saw Li Long \"fully armed,\" and immediately shouted that he wanted to go along.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You can't go today; the place I'm going has deep snow, and I can't take care of you,\" Li Long refused Li Qiang, then shouldered his gear and walked toward the south of the village.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With such heavy snow in winter, people usually only cleared the roads within the village and the road leading to the township.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The path toward Xiaohaizi was covered by thick snow; one step sank to the knee.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was alone, slowly disappearing into the snowfield.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1544,"2026-06-14T03:07:11.886Z",1,"Qwen3.5 122B","89939836291d3bec599c60ec7eaff058a2d5c68b1c2586e9ea779ab7f5140f26","reborn-in-1981-fishing-and-hunting-in-the-northw-chapter-9","reborn-in-1981-fishing-and-hunting-in-the-northw-chapter-7",180,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Freborn-in-1981-fishing-and-hunting-in-the-northw-cover.jpg"]