Chapter 4: The Hope of Making Money

Secretly noting down the faces of those two people, Cheng Feng continued with his own work.

What? Not concerned about that girl? What did that have to do with him, Cheng Feng?

He didn't know her, nor was he familiar with her; wasn't he afraid of inviting trouble upon himself by rushing forward rashly?

If it ended up bringing trouble to his family, who would pick up the pieces?

Sigh, the social experience of an adult always makes one overthink things.

There's no helping it; these are lessons learned from suffering losses in his past life.

Without thinking things through from beginning to end, acting rashly would likely not succeed and would only bring trouble.

But the condition for solving trouble is usually money, and not a small amount of money at that.

A small amount of money that an average family cannot bear.

This would be gambling away his family's future.

If he won, he wouldn't gain much of an advantage; if he lost, he would have to pay with his family's livelihood.

In the world of adults, it's not just about connections; it's more about tangible interests.

Everyone has a whole family to support, who does he think he is!

Seeing that it was past noon and his fishing rod hadn't moved at all, Cheng Feng fell into deep thought.

What was wrong? Why? Were there no fish in the river?

Unable to hold back any longer, he took off his clothes and, bare-chested, began to enter the water to calm himself down.

Cheng Feng began to ponder the difference.

Either his fishing imitation, learned from watching videos, wasn't up to par, or he lacked experience, preventing the skill from forming on the Panmian.

After all, he had never really played with this stuff before.

But that wasn't right either; hadn't the skill formed in just one day yesterday?

So what did he do yesterday?

He didn't do much; he just had a few children pass on their experience to him, and later, he succeeded by chance!

Passing on? Experience?

A flash of inspiration crossed Cheng Feng's mind.

I'm afraid it's not just that; the original owner also used to go into the river for Fishing, but the results were meager, so he stopped going later.

He felt that going was a waste of time; if he couldn't catch fish, he might as well do something else!

But he did indeed have some successful experience.

Predecessor's experience + experience passed on by the children yesterday + one successful Fishing result = skill?

Cheng Feng turned it over in his mind, but considering all factors, this was all he could think of.

Then if this formula holds, the conditions required in the early stages are quite numerous!

To simplify it further:

Experience proficiency + one success = skill.

That's it.

Case closed.

It should be just like this.

No, perhaps it's not just once; if you count the predecessor's successful attempts, it might be a few more times, but it generally doesn't stray from this scope.

The doubts in his mind were cleared away, so next, it was time to act.

The air in ancient times is truly good; if there were no pressure to survive, coming here specifically for a vacation would be quite nice!

Perhaps because the skill had formed, Cheng Feng didn't feel the panic and fear he had when he first entered the water; he held his breath, entered the water, and turned over in one fluid motion.

Not daring to go to the center of the river, he swam along the edge.

Watching the Xiao Yu hovering near the bait, Cheng Feng was secretly delighted; it didn't matter if he couldn't catch them with a rod, catching them by hand would work too.

This had the same effect as setting bait for hunting in the mountains.

Perhaps because he was unskilled at the start, after struggling for the better part of the day, Cheng Feng caught three Xiao Yu under two jin, and one medium-sized fish of about four jin; it wasn't that there were no big fish, they just hadn't taken the bait.

Even so, this was quite a bountiful harvest.

If he could keep this up and persevere, in less than three months, his family's livelihood would be much more substantial than before.

The sunset clouds in the evening were exceptionally red, just like the hope in Cheng Feng's heart.

Returning home in the evening, seeing the fish in the bucket, Cheng Fu and Cheng Mu couldn't stop smiling.

Lao Da and Lao San were also exceptionally happy; their brother had ability, and at the very least, they could benefit a little at the dinner table.

Looking at his family beaming with joy at the table, Cheng Feng took the initiative to ask, "Father, I've discovered the knack for Fishing now, and there might be fish to eat often in the future. Do you think fish of this size can fetch a good price?"

Cheng Fu looked at the fish carefully and said, "The ones that are too small won't do; at the very least, one like this four-jin one can fetch a good price. If it were as big as the one from yesterday, five small coins would be guaranteed."

Cheng Feng felt a little down; if he could catch such big fish every day, it would be fine, but if he couldn't, it would slow down the pace of making money.

Fortunately, there was finally a channel to make money, so they wouldn't have to sit and eat away their savings, and he could also help the family recover some resources.

Cheng Feng then indirectly asked Cheng Fu about the situation with Wang Po and Lai Er.

Cheng Fu gave a rough explanation, then felt it was inappropriate and urged, "That Lai Er is just a local hoodlum; don't associate with him and learn bad habits."

Cheng Feng laughed, "I just saw that the man was so ugly and fierce, so I asked, just to avoid provoking him in the future."

Cheng Fu was very satisfied with Lao Er's attitude of self-preservation; they were just honest farmers doing farm work, so they shouldn't think about other things.

After saving some money from the autumn harvest in a few months, and with Lao Er saving more from selling fish, Lao Da's marriage should be considered.

Otherwise, taxes would be increased again.

That's right, in this day and age, adult bachelors also have to pay extra taxes.

Many who can't afford to get married have to borrow money just to avoid this layer of taxation.

After all, getting married is a once-and-for-all matter.

The government only collects the adult tax the following year, giving people time to hurry up and get things done.

A tax point every two years, increasing layer by layer; they aren't afraid you won't get married.

If you don't marry, you pay the tax; if you do, it adds to the County Magistrate's performance record—a fine job that serves both purposes.

Cheng Shu is 18 this year; if he doesn't marry, the government will increase his tax next year. Before, there was truly no money, but this year there was some spare cash, which was spent on Cheng Feng's medical treatment.

Seeing that Cheng Feng could catch fish, eat meat, and even sell some for money,

the plans that should have been made earlier were brought up again.

But there is no rush; let's wait and see. It's hard to say if Lao Er's luck these past two days is just a fluke!

Young people are just not steady; they are easily impetuous!

Cheng Mu went to cook, and Cheng Feng turned to Cheng Lei and said, "Lao San, don't go out to play tomorrow; come catch fish with me. Remember, don't tell anyone else."

Shitou replied happily, "No problem."

In Lao San's heart, if one can eat more meat, why eat less?

Being with Sanwazi was just idle, boring play anyway.

Since his second brother recovered from his illness, he has indeed been much more attentive than before.

Cheng Feng, meanwhile, thought: As long as the family hasn't saved enough money, this method should be kept secret for as long as possible.

The village is only so big, and there is no lack of jealous people; it won't be easy to turn things around if trouble arises.

The village is not big, but people's hearts are complex.

Just Wang Po and Lai Er alone were enough to open his eyes.

That was their own daughter-in-law; one wanted to buy and the other wanted to sell. If it weren't for the injured groom not relenting, the bride who had just entered the door would have been sold.

Cheng Feng knew clearly that local ruffians and hooligans don't do honest work and often get involved in speculative, rotten business.

Mainly, they don't engage in production and always want to take advantage of others.

Lao Da continued to work with Cheng Fu, Cheng Mu cooked at home, and Cheng Feng went with Lao San to find ways to increase the family's income.

Why did ancient times value men over women?

Cheng Feng could now taste the reason: the Lao Cheng family has three boys; once they reach adulthood, they are three grown men. Whether in terms of speed or quality of work, they have the confidence.

Any ruffian wanting to take advantage has to weigh the consequences; everyone sees each other constantly, so is it really worth it for such trivial matters?

Are they truly not afraid of the three brothers retaliating against their homes and families?

If they are truly offended, let's see who wouldn't dare to risk their life.