Chapter 1718
Eating fish and drinking fish soup
After the two left, Wang An originally wanted to go back to his tent to take a nap, but when he thought about how he always went to bed so early every night, he worried that he wouldn't be able to fall asleep if he slept now. So, after thinking for a while, Wang An suddenly had an idea.
Wang An pointed in the direction below the meadow and said to Huang Zhong:
"I remember there was a big pond down there when I came. I'm going to fish there for a while, and we'll make fish soup for dinner. After they come back, if you want to fish too, come find me down there. If you don't want to go, just stay in the tent."
Huang Zhong's eyes lit up immediately when he heard Wang An say he wanted to go fishing.
Although fishing is not as exciting as hunting, it is still a pretty interesting thing to do.
However, thinking that if he went fishing too, Wang Li and Mu Xueli wouldn't be able to find him and Wang An when they returned, Huang Zhong said:
"Okay, big brother, I'll come find you when my brother Mu and fifth brother come back."
Wang An agreed and then started fiddling with the fish hooks, lines, and rods.
Fishing in those days was far less convenient than it is in later times, because you had to get all the equipment yourself. However, as long as the resources were good, the quality of the equipment didn't seem to matter that much.
Wang An took out the smallest sewing needle from his backpack, heated it with a lighter, and bent the tip into a hook shape. The fishhook was done. He then twisted three strands of sewing thread into one to make the fishing line.
I cut down a willow branch, smoothed it out, and the fishing rod was ready. I dug up a few large earthworms from under the bushes, and the bait was ready.
In this case, there is no need for the sub-line to exist.
As for the fishing float, there's no need for that; you can just fish with a straight rod.
The equipment was so rudimentary that it couldn't be more basic, but Wang An wasn't worried about not catching any fish at all; he was only worried about not being able to reel in a big one.
As the saying goes, in places with abundant resources, strength and equipment are secondary.
That's why he didn't bring a fishing net when he went into the mountains; otherwise, Wang An wouldn't have bothered fishing. He could have just cast a few nets and caught fish.
There's no way around it; in the Lesser Khingan Mountains, the saying "you can beat a roe deer with a stick and scoop fish with a ladle" is no exaggeration.
With everything ready, Wang An, holding a fishing rod in his left hand and a piece of tree bark with earthworms on it in his right, walked towards the pond.
When fishing locally, not only is the quality of the fishing gear secondary, but even fishing skills are optional.
That's right. Whether you know how to fish or not, as long as you can put bait on the hook and cast the hook into the water, there's absolutely no problem.
Because in that area, the idea that fish won't bite is simply not true.
All those sayings like "even immortals can't catch fish at noon," "fish on the surface when it's hot, fish on the bottom when it's cold," "adjust the float to the desired depth," and "one hook on the bottom, one hook touching the bottom," etc., are completely inapplicable here.
As long as you don't end up like Jiang Ziya, who didn't even have a fishhook, you're sure to catch a fish.
Wang An casually sat down under the shade of a tree, broke an earthworm into several sections, hooked one section onto a fishhook, and then cast the fishhook into the water.
Then, just as Wang An took out the cigarette case, before he could even pull out a cigarette, he felt a weight on his arm, clearly indicating that a fish had taken the bait.
In those days, sewing thread was all cotton thread, and even if three strands were twisted together, it wasn't very strong. So Wang An didn't rush to lift the rod, but instead used one hand to control the fishing rod and start playing.
And you know what? Fish are really strong in the water. It took Wang An two or three minutes to reel in the fish before he felt that its struggling strength had lessened.
Only then did Wang An manage to drag the fish ashore with all his might.
This is a crucian carp, not very big, weighing about half a pound.
Fish this size would be fed to dogs or lynxes at home, and bears love them too. But in these mountains, catching a fish this big is quite an achievement. Feeding it to dogs is out of the question, mainly because Wang An didn't realize that the makeshift fishing line and hooks would only catch a few fish before becoming unusable.
Wang An casually tossed the fish aside, lit a cigarette when he had a moment, and seeing that the earthworm on the hook was still usable, he didn't re-bait it and threw the hook back into the water.
It has to be said that in the days before netters and electricians, and especially in a pond deep in the mountains and forests, there were so many fish in it.
Because less than three seconds after Wang An cast the fishing hook into the water, he felt the fishing rod sink again, and another fish took the bait.
However, judging from the feel of the fish, it was smaller, so Wang An didn't bother to play it and just flew it up.
This is another crucian carp, weighing only about 2 liang (100 grams) but less than 3 liang (150 grams).
Finally, the third fish changed; it was a willow root fish that weighed only a little over an ounce.
Compared to crucian carp, willow root is undoubtedly a better fish because it only has one large bone, unlike crucian carp which is covered in countless small bones and is only suitable for making fish soup.
Next, one fish after another was pulled ashore by Wang An. Among them were chub, mandarin fish, catfish, and loach, all of which are common fish in wild ponds. Although the largest was less than a pound and the smallest was less than an ounce, the feeling of catching fish one after another was still quite enjoyable.
Fortunately, the fishing line never broke, so the hook didn't go into the water with the fish.
Just as Wang An was enjoying fishing immensely, Wang Li, Mu Xueli, and Huang Zhong arrived, but only Huang Zhong had a fishing rod in his hand.
Seeing that Wang Li and Mu Xueli seemed normal, Wang An glanced at them and asked:
"How's the gold mine going? Is there not a single person there?"
Mu Xueli chuckled and said:
"Yeah, there's not a single living person here, and the horses aren't running away either; they're all just sitting there grazing peacefully."
Wang An grinned and said:
"I told you it was nothing, you two were just being redundant. Look, in such a short time, I've already caught so many fish."
When he finished speaking, Wang An pointed with his chin at the pile of fish on the grass, showing off his skill.
It was only then that Wang Li and the other two noticed that Wang An had already caught a fish weighing five or six pounds.
Wang Li squatted down and flattered him with a smile:
"Oh my god, Fourth Brother, you're really something! This guy has all kinds of fish!"
Wang An raised his eyebrows and said smugly:
"Absolutely, it's just that the hooks and lines are pretty damn bad, otherwise we could have caught big fish."
Seeing that Wang An had caught so many fish, Huang Zhong couldn't wait to join in.
Unsurprisingly, Huang Zhong was on a winning streak, catching fish one after another.
There's no way around it; fishing in these ponds where you can catch fish with just one scoop of net makes it incredibly easy.
That evening, Wang An and his three companions enjoyed fish and fish soup, and suddenly life felt much more fulfilling. (End of Chapter)