Chapter 287

The Song family was full of joy, and the 10-person gang holding their ground by the pond stubbornly came again.

They wore sun-protective shirts, and some were even fully equipped, setting up a parasol by the pond. With a small stool placed and a teacup held, where was this fishing? It was clearly a divine enjoyment.

Except for...

"This tea is too expensive; my heart aches every time I take a sip."

"That's not the tea being expensive; you're clearly having angina. Listen to me, don't come tomorrow."

"Hey, you old Liu, are you jealous that I caught one more crucian carp than you yesterday? Let me tell you, crucian carp stewed at home, it's so fresh! My wife and I ate it until not a single scrap was left!"

The showing off by the fishing veterans was truly too naked.

Old Liu made a sound of disdain from his nostrils:

"What are you acting proud about? Isn't it just that you know how to fiddle with that camera of yours? That's how you cheated to get the earthworms."

However, after chatting like this, the two did indeed discover that the fish in the pond were much tastier than when they first came.

Of course, just for her batch of fish fry, Song Tan patrolled the grounds every night, ensuring equal care, which took quite a lot of effort.

Now, they couldn't even bear to throw away a loach they caught, insisting on taking it home to braise with tofu.

Speaking of cameras, two of the people present curled their lips in triumph:

"Actually, this is just our hobby. We don't want to win any awards or get any accolades, but who told this young proprietor to happen to need our little hobby?"

"Oh my, look at these earthworms; I'm almost embarrassed to take them..."

Listen, just listen!

How many years of friendship is this? Is this human talk?

However, Old Liu didn't condemn them, but instead chuckled and pulled a small box out of his pocket.

It was a palm-sized box with dense ventilation holes. Now that he took it out and placed it under the sun, everyone's gaze was fixed on it:

"What?" The person beside him mocked him: "You're still not satisfied and want to bait the spot yourself? Let me tell you, it's useless. The fish in this pond are cunning; apart from the red earthworms here, they don't want anything else."

"Even if you tore up two handfuls of water weeds, the temptation would be stronger than the bait you made yourself."

As they talked, the topic drifted again.

At this moment, someone chimed in: "Exactly, that day I really used the water weeds from here to mix with bait and went to fish at someone else's reservoir."

"Good heavens, do you know how many fish I caught in a day? 13! It's just that..."

As he spoke, not only was there no sense of achievement, but he felt a bit regretful: "The fish tasted quite good before, but this time when I stewed it again, there was a clear muddy, fishy smell, and it was too fatty; the texture was far worse than the ones in this pond."

"No matter what I catch here, my wife cleans it up neatly when I get home, and we can eat it that same night. If I catch fish from elsewhere, she takes it straight to the entrance of the residential complex and sells it all for 5 yuan a jin, absolutely refusing to let it enter the door."

Mentioning this, which fishing veteran didn't have some sad stories? Everyone chimed in, all sharing the cheapness of their labor results—

Five yuan a jin was considered good; some were bought out for ten yuan a bucket, and others were just given away for free!

Old Liu looked at the box in his hand that no one asked about and laughed: "What do you know? Is this bait I made myself? Let me show you!"

He opened the box, and inside was a brown clump of soil, with a few earthworms vaguely visible wriggling in the middle.

The big man beside him suddenly got a string of goosebumps on his arm: "What's wrong with you? You're carrying earthworms with you! What? You want to raise them?"

They weren't afraid of baiting hooks, but carrying a box of them close to their bodies was a bit perverted.

Old Liu snorted, expressing disdain for this group of foolish mortals:

"What do you know? The little proprietor's earthworms are so good, but I secretly looked for several places to dig before and couldn't find any! I figured it must be her secret method, so I finally managed to get an earthworm, and when I got home, I chopped it into two halves and raised it in this box."

"Now look, both earthworms have grown! You guys only know how to fish when you get earthworms, without knowing about long-term, sustainable development."

Once this was said, everyone immediately regretted it.

Especially the photography master who had previously obtained 20 earthworms alone, his face full of heartache at this moment.

What did he do with those 20 earthworms?

He divided them into three days, and each day was a full harvest.

When he got home, his whole family, from his wife to his children, all ate until their bellies were round, feeling immensely satisfied.

His status in the family soared during those few days, and the pride he felt couldn't be described in words!

But who would have thought there was such a treacherous method?

Therefore, his eyes rolled: "Old Liu, empty words are not proof; earthworms are everywhere. Since the little proprietor's are so attractive to fish, I'd say she must have a unique method for raising them. Whether your own raised ones are useful is another matter!"

"What method?" Old Liu was anxious: "What other method could there be for raising earthworms? Besides, these earthworms were also given by her; they must be useful!"

"That's not the same."

The person beside him walked over quickly to take a look: "Your earthworms don't look as red as the ones the little proprietor gave, and they are a bit thin and weak."

Could they not be thin and weak?

Old Liu defended: "These grew out after I cut them in half! If you don't believe me, I'll fish for you to see right now! The one who catches the most today will definitely be me."

As he spoke, he pulled out scissors without hesitation and snipped again, dividing one of the earthworms into two once more.

He took out this half, divided it into two again, and then carefully threaded the quarter onto the fishhook before casting it into the pond.

10 minutes passed, and he couldn't sit still anymore.

The bait given by the little proprietor would always have a bite within 10 minutes; why was there no movement now that the time was up?

20 minutes passed, and there was still no movement.

Everyone laughed: "Look, I told you that what you raised yourself is definitely different from the secret recipe ones."

Old Liu was anxious: "How could that be? My earthworms are being raised just fine..."

Little did he know, this was because they had lost their spiritual energy and had become ordinary earthworms.

However, there was still a little bit left. After persisting for 30 minutes, Old Liu finally managed to catch a palm-sized crucian carp.

But at this moment, the envious expressions of everyone had long since vanished without a trace.

And he looked at his box, sighed dejectedly, and then pulled out the scissors, snipping the remaining one and a half into small segments—

Since raising them was useless, it was better to use them all now.

In the evening, when Zhang Yanping came over to check, he saw Old Liu's harvest and couldn't help but praise:

"Uncle, you've had a big explosion!"

Old Liu chuckled, thinking: Explosion, what explosion?

8 segments of earthworms caught a total of 6 small fish, completely different from the big guys attracted by the earthworms the little proprietor gave before.

However, even this topped everyone else's harvest.

Come to think of it, if they didn't have such a small harvest every day, this pond wouldn't be enough for them to mess around with.

Zhang Yanping looked at his schedule:

"Uncle, you guys have been here for three days; it's time to change people."

The pond rule was that one person could stay for a maximum of three consecutive days, and then they had to wait for ten days or half a month. Everyone had long accepted this strange rule and snorted at this moment:

"If we don't come, we don't come; your family's food isn't anything rare either."

"The little Feng who sells flower rolls at my door makes them very well too!"

The one who said this ordered 4 meals every day, wishing he could take away whatever he couldn't finish. Zhang Yanping naturally wasn't angry, just saying with a grin:

"Uncle, buy some scallions and fry some scallion oil yourself; flower rolls will taste just as good."

Forget it.

Three liang of small scallions cost 20 yuan, and he'd still have to mess around with oil and flour at home.

Some money, it's better to let others earn it!