I'm back in 1990

Chapter 18: If you can't catch fish, go rake some snails.

Grandma got up at around 5 a.m., and Huang Xiaochuan got up with her.

Grandma knew Huang Xiaochuan had come home late last night, so she said with concern, "You little one should get more sleep. Did you and your uncle come home late last night? I'm an old woman and don't need much sleep, so don't compare yourself to me."

Huang Xiaochuan held his grandmother's shoulders and said, "Grandma, I'm going fishing today. I saw a lot of fish in the river east of town. We'll cook fish for lunch."

"Hahaha..." Grandma couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh when fishing was mentioned. She did this mainly because she was afraid that her dentures would fly off from laughing.

Huang Xiaochuan's fishing skills have never been very good since he was a child. The biggest fish he has ever caught is less than an ounce. He usually goes empty-handed and comes back empty-handed, a true veteran of going home empty-handed.

Without even having breakfast, Huang Xiaochuan took his fishing rod and gear, along with a straw hat and a small stool, and headed to the riverbank. The river originates from Taihu Lake to the west of the town, and its waters crisscross the entire town. There are more than a dozen stone arch bridges of varying sizes spanning the river's banks, and these bridges are very old, with the oldest reportedly being several hundred years old.

After crossing the easternmost stone bridge to the other side of the town, Huang Xiaochuan walked a few more steps east along the riverbank and found a suitable spot where he could find shade under the trees when the morning sun came out.

I put down the small stool, sat down, and started to tie the line to the fishing rod, making some preparations.

Although it's called a fishing rod and fishing gear, it's actually very simple. The fishing rod was made by my uncle from bamboo in the bamboo forest behind the house, and the float was cut from the feathers plucked from the geese we used to raise at home. It was also dyed red with the dye used to dye eggs.

The landing net and fish basket were also made by my uncle himself by buying the line and weaving it. Of course, the fishing hooks and lines were definitely bought in town.

The bait was easy to find. Huang Xiaochuan found a spot with a lot of fallen leaves under the willow trees by the river and started digging for earthworms with the small rake he had brought. He could dig up a lot of earthworms with just a few strokes of the rake.

After digging up the earthworms, Huang Xiaochuan used the leftover food he brought to make a feeding area, which attracted a large group of small fish that frantically snatched them up.

Just then, the sun was rising in the east. Huang Xiaochuan, wearing a straw hat, sat on a small stool with his back against a large willow tree by the river, feeling the gentle morning breeze. He leisurely cast his line into the river and began fishing.

At this time, the ecological environment around Taihu Lake was still very good, and the blue-green algae had not yet bloomed. The river water was crystal clear, and all kinds of aquatic plants in the river were clearly visible. Various fish could be seen swimming among the aquatic plants, foraging for food. Wild water chestnuts grew in clusters on the surface of the water, and small damselflies fluttered up and down on them, stopping and landing.

Not far away, women were already cleaning toilets in the river. Gradually, a large number of women gathered on the bluestone platform on the opposite bank to clean toilets. The women chatted about everyday matters, and occasionally someone would peek in Huang Xiaochuan's direction.

After the women who were cleaning the toilets left, nearly an hour later, more women came to the bluestone platform to wash clothes and vegetables. They continued to talk while they worked, and there wasn't a single fish scale in Huang Xiaochuan's fish basket.

The fishhook with the earthworm on it was clearly visible underwater, but the fish seemed to be quite clever, refusing to bite. Occasionally, a large fish would pass by, glance at the bait, and then flick its tail and swim away with a disdainful attitude. Only the greedy little fish would occasionally peck at the bait, causing the float to bob up and down on the surface of the water.

Seeing this, Huang Xiaochuan was too lazy to lift the rod. Only when the bait was pecked up by the small fish would he lift it up, replace it with new bait, and throw it back into the river to continue doing this repeatedly.

Around 7 o'clock, Grandma brought Huang Xiaochuan breakfast. The porridge had a few glutinous rice balls in it, and the side dish was dried radish that Auntie and Grandma had pickled last winter. It was crunchy.

Slurp up a mouthful of fragrant rice porridge, then bite into a crunchy dried radish—it's so delicious! The soft, sweet glutinous rice balls are even more irresistible.

Just as Huang Xiaochuan had finished eating half of his breakfast, a piercing scream suddenly came from behind him.

"Pfft...!" The unlucky Huang Xiaochuan was so startled that he choked on his porridge. Luckily, there were no glutinous rice balls in his mouth, or he would have choked to death.

Huang Xiaochuan was holding a bowl and chopsticks, and couldn't free his hands to wipe his face. His mouth and nostrils were covered in rice grains and snot, and he looked extremely disheveled.

Then the perpetrator appeared triumphantly in front of Huang Xiaochuan. It turned out to be his second sister, Zeng Xia, who had been sent by her grandmother to collect the dishes, but she had arrived a little early.

Huang Xiaochuan didn't bother to settle accounts with her. He put the bowls and chopsticks in his left hand, freed his right hand to wipe his nose and mouth, and snorted as he spat out the rice grains.

He poured some water from the kettle and washed himself before feeling a little better. Then he angrily confronted his second sister, Zeng Xia, saying, "What's wrong with you? Can't you see I'm eating breakfast? You almost scared me to death! Look, you scared the fish away. It looks like we won't be able to have any fish for lunch today." Huang Xiaochuan took the opportunity to shift the blame for not catching any fish onto his second sister, Zeng Xia.

Unfortunately, this little trick couldn't fool Zeng Xia, his second sister who grew up with him. She grabbed Huang Xiaochuan's ear.

"You can't catch any fish and you're blaming me? Don't you know how many fish you've caught since you were a kid?"

"Ouch, ouch, ouch!" Huang Xiaochuan tilted his head and hunched over as Zeng Xia led him by the ear. There was no way around it, after all, there was a height difference between the two.

"I want to eat snails. Since you can't catch any fish anyway, why don't you go and rake some snails?" Zeng Xia made a request.

Huang Xiaochuan stubbornly retorted, "No way. If you want snails, just buy them at the market. Why do you want me to go dig them up in the river?"

"Buying ready-made snails is pointless; the snails you rake yourself taste the best." Zeng Xia's reasoning was far-fetched, but her grip on the snails was firm.

Huang Xiaochuan almost got depressed. If you want to eat them, why don't you go and raft them yourself? What's the point of making me raft snails? This is so unlucky. I originally wanted to use fishing as an excuse to avoid these two older sisters today. Besides, I've been going to the factory too many times and I'm a bit tired of it. I wanted to come to the river to relax and change the environment.

Unexpectedly, man proposes, God disposes; there was no escaping it after all.

Raking snails is a local method of catching snails. One end of a long bamboo pole has a large, openwork cage with a flat bottom. It's placed in the river and pulled along the riverbed, raking the snails into the cage. After bringing it ashore, because the riverbed contains all sorts of debris, it needs to be cleared away, leaving only the snails.

However, raking snails is very physically demanding, and Huang Xiaochuan certainly didn't want to suffer in the sweltering heat.

Huang Xiaochuan still wanted to die rather than submit, but unfortunately, he couldn't fight city hall. Under pressure from his second sister, Zeng Xia, Huang Xiaochuan had no choice but to agree.

After putting away his fishing rod and gear, Huang Xiaochuan was taken home by Zeng Xia because he needed to go back to exchange for a rake for raking snails.

When he listlessly carried his fishing rod and gear into the house, he was seen by his grandmother and older sister, who were picking vegetables in the living room.

Grandma asked, "You're back so soon? What about the fish we had for lunch?"

Huang Xiaochuan pointed to his second sister Zeng Xia behind him and complained to his grandmother: "This gluttonous girl wants to eat snails and insists that I come back and get a rake to rake them. I told her to go to the market to buy them, but she insisted that she rakes them herself and they taste better. There's no time to fish, so you can ask your granddaughter for the fish we caught at noon."

Unexpectedly, my grandmother also thought that catching some snails to eat was quite good, much more reliable than fishing.

"Oh well, since you can't catch any fish anyway, you might as well rake in some snails to eat. The ones sold at the market are really no good; they're too skinny and the meat is rock hard."

Huang Xiaochuan's face fell when he heard this. He couldn't find any allies, so it seemed that his grandmother and sister were on his side today.

Then let's stop talking nonsense and find a rake to rake the snails.

However, this time the chosen location was on the west side of the town, upstream of the river. The place where we were fishing was where toilets were cleaned in town, and Huang Xiaochuan definitely wouldn't eat the snails from that area.

On the way, Huang Xiaochuan, still feeling resentful, taunted Zeng Xia with his words: "Second sister, if you become a nurse, patients will be cured as soon as they see you, and doctors won't even need to come."

"With your fierceness, wouldn't you prick me all the way through with one needle? I'd rather not see a doctor than fall into your hands."

Second sister Zeng Xia slapped Huang Xiaochuan on the back of the head: "You talk too much. If you keep talking nonsense, I'll go home and get a needle and thread to seal your mouth shut. I just learned how, do you want to try?"

The eldest sister, Zeng Hong, carrying a basket, didn't participate, but watched them bicker with a smile.

Seeing that he couldn't gain any advantage, Huang Xiaochuan decided to shut up, believing that a wise man doesn't fight a losing battle.