pertwk Chapter 37
Chapter 37
Chen Rong squatted beside the wooden tub, his eyes fixed on the fish fry in the water, his lips moving and his finger pointing.
His eyesight is excellent; no matter how fast the fish fry swim, he can count them one by one.
"A total of 1,200 tails."
"OK."
The middle-aged man walked over with a notebook, looked at the fish fry in the wooden bucket, and made a note in the notebook:
"840 silver carp, 240 grass carp, and 120 black carp."
There are 1,205 tails in total. Is that right?
"right."
"signature."
Chen Zheng took the pen and wrote his name in the notebook.
The middle-aged man closed his notebook and patted Chen Zheng on the shoulder:
"Young man, take good care of them. I'll come to buy the fish at the end of the year; the better quality ones are negotiable."
"Thank you, Master."
Chen Zheng picked up the wooden bucket and got off the car.
With water and fish fry added, the wooden bucket suddenly became heavy, and the carrying pole pressed down on his shoulders, leaving a red mark.
He adjusted the position of the carrying pole and started walking forward.
Chen Rong followed behind, carrying a water bottle and dry rations.
It's fifteen li (about 7.5 kilometers) from the town to Lutang Village.
They arrived with empty buckets and left briskly.
On the way back, the bucket was filled with water and fish fry, and we had to be careful with every step.
Chen Zheng walked slowly and steadily, the carrying pole swaying on his shoulder.
The wooden bucket swayed back and forth, the water swirled around inside, and the fish fry darted about in the water.
Halfway there, the sun rose higher, shining brightly, making my forehead feel hot.
Chen Zheng put the straw hat on his head and looked back at the wooden bucket.
The fish fry were swimming in the water, and a few floated to the surface, their mouths opening and closing.
"Rongzi, the water's hot. Change it."
Chen Rong drew a jug of cool water from the roadside ditch and slowly poured it into a wooden bucket.
When cold water was poured in, ripples spread across the surface. The fish fry were tossed about by the current, then regained their balance and darted back to the bottom.
After changing the water, we continued on our way.
By the time we reached the village entrance, the sun was already high in the sky.
Under the old locust tree, several old men squatted there to enjoy the cool shade.
Wang Laoliu, fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan, saw Chen Zheng carrying wooden buckets over and his eyes lit up.
"Zhengwa, have you brought the fish fry back?"
"It's back."
"How many tails?"
"One thousand and two."
Wang Laoliu stood up and leaned closer to look. He glanced into the wooden bucket and clicked his tongue twice.
"They look good. How much did these fish fry cost?"
"A few dozen yuan."
"A few dozen yuan!" Old Wang gasped.
"You're really bold. Raising fish isn't even guaranteed to succeed, and you're already willing to invest tens of dollars?"
"Give it a try."
Chen Zheng continued walking, carrying the wooden buckets. Wang Laoliu called out from behind:
"Zhengwa, when the fish get bigger by the end of the year, save one for me!"
Chen Zheng didn't even turn his head.
When they arrived at the fishpond, Chen Zheng placed the wooden bucket on the bank.
He squatted down and lifted the lid of the bucket.
The fish fry were swimming in the water, lively and jumping around.
The water was changed twice along the way, and none of them died.
"Rongzi, before releasing the fish fry, you need to blanch them in water first."
"Passing through water?"
"Yes. The water in the wooden bucket is canal water, and the water in the fishpond is fertile water. The two types of water have different temperatures and different qualities."
If you pour the fish fry in directly, they won't be able to handle it and will die. You need to let them acclimatize first.
Chen Zheng picked up a ladle, scooped a ladleful of water from the fishpond, and slowly poured it into the wooden bucket.
The pond water, a pale green mixed with fertilizer, was poured into a wooden bucket and mixed with the canal water, darkening the color of the water.
The fish fry were tossed about by the current, flipping several times, but regained their balance and continued swimming.
After waiting for about fifteen minutes, he scooped up another ladle of pond water and poured it in. After another fifteen minutes, he poured in another ladle.
After repeating this process five times, the water in the wooden bucket became almost the same color as the water in the fishpond.
The fish fry swam peacefully in the water, no longer surfacing or darting around.
"Alright."
Chen Zheng tilted the wooden bucket so that the opening was close to the water's surface, and slowly poured the fish fry into the fishpond.
Wow!
The fish fry surged out of the bucket like a silvery stream, flowing into the fishpond.
They spread out on the water's surface, their silvery-white bodies shimmering as they burrowed into the depths.
Some floated on the surface of the water, their mouths opening and closing.
Some darted to the edge of the water plants and circled around them.
Some even sank to the bottom of the water and disappeared without a trace.
Twelve hundred fish fry were scattered like silver needles into three acres of water, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Chen Zheng squatted on the bank of the pond, looking at the water.
Fine ripples spread across the water's surface, one circle after another, caused by the movement of fish fry.
Occasionally, a fry of fish would leap out of the water, flip in the air, and fall back down, splashing up a tiny spray of water.
"Brother, are they hungry?" Chen Rong squatted down beside them, his hands supporting his knees, his eyes fixed on the water.
"No. The water is fertile, with plankton in it, enough to feed them for a while. We'll feed them when they grow up."
What kind of feed should we use?
"Soybean cake, rapeseed cake, wheat bran, anything will do. Grass carp also need to be fed green grass, water hyacinth, and duckweed; they love to eat all of these."
Chen Rong nodded and kept those words in mind.
Chen Zheng stood up and walked around the pond embankment.
The inlet screen is intact, the outlet gate is tightly closed, and there are no leaks on the pond embankment.
The water was pale green, with a layer of oily sheen floating on the surface.
Dragonflies flitted about on the water's surface, their wings shimmering in the sunlight.
This body of water now belongs to someone.
He squatted down and put his hand into the water.
The water was warm, having been warmed by the sun all day.
He dangled his finger in the water, and a few bold fry swam over, circling around it, their little mouths opening and closing, nibbling at his fingertips, making them tickle.
He withdrew his hand and wiped it on his trouser leg. His fingers, still wet, glistened in the sunlight.
"Rongzi, starting tomorrow, feed him twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening."
The soybean cake is ground into powder, mixed with wheat bran, and sprinkled on the water surface.
Over by the grass carp, cut some tender grass and throw it in. Don't add too much, the fish fry are small and won't eat much.
If you throw in too much food, it will sink to the bottom and rot, making the water smelly.
"understood."
The two were walking home. Halfway there, they ran into Zhang Jianguo, who was carrying a shovel back from the fields.
He saw Chen Zheng and his eyes lit up: "Zheng, have the fish fry been released?"
"Release them. 1,200 of them."
"Good heavens!" Zhang Jianguo slammed his shovel into the ground. "How big will it grow by the end of the year?"
"If raised well, silver carp can grow to more than a pound, grass carp to a pound and a half, and black carp to two pounds."
With three acres of water and 1,200 fish, we expect to harvest over 2,000 jin (1,000 kg) of fish by the end of the year.
"Over two thousand jin!" Zhang Jianguo's eyes widened. "How much would that sell for?"
"At the current purchase price, one pound of fish costs an average of 70 cents, so two thousand pounds would cost 1,400 yuan."
Zhang Jianguo gasped, speechless for a long time.
Fourteen hundred dollars.
In 1984, a worker's monthly salary was only forty or fifty yuan.
Fourteen hundred yuan is equivalent to three years' work for a worker.
"Ah Zheng, can fish farming really make that much money?"
"Yes, but the fish have to be kept alive. From fry to adult fish, there are risks of disease outbreaks and fish escaping predators."
Of the hundred fish fry released, it would be considered good if eighty grew to adulthood.
Zhang Jianguo nodded.
By the time I got home, the sun was already setting.
Zhang Cuihua was picking vegetables in the yard, and Chen Feng squatted down beside her to help, his little hands clumsily peeling green beans, which scattered everywhere.
"Brother! Have you released the fish fry?" Chen Feng dropped the green beans and ran over.
"Release them."
"How big is it? Can I come and see it?"
"They're about an inch long, like needles, you won't be able to see them even if you go. We'll take you to see them when they grow bigger."
Chen Feng pouted, a little disappointed, but quickly became excited again:
"Brother, you said we'll harvest over 2,000 jin of fish by the end of the year. Will our family be able to eat it all?"
"It's not for our family to eat, it's for sale."
"Sell them? Then we won't keep a single one?"
"Keep them. Keep a few of the big ones for the New Year."
Chen Feng chuckled, squatted back down, and continued peeling the green beans, peeling them much more diligently than before.
After finishing his meal, Chen Zheng opened the camphor wood chest.
He peeled back the layers of the oil paper wrapping, revealing five small yellow croakers neatly arranged there.
Next to it were a dozen or so Yuan Shikai silver dollars, their edges worn smooth.
Further down were the Zhou family genealogy book with a blue cloth cover and the seven land deeds.
He picked up the small yellow croaker and weighed it in his hand.
One piece weighs a little over one ounce, so five pieces would weigh six or seven ounces.
In 1984, the price of gold was about ten yuan per gram, and one tael was more than thirty grams. Six or seven taels of gold would be worth at least two or three thousand yuan.
Including the silver ingots and Yuan Shikai coins, this box of items is worth a total of three or four thousand.
What was the concept of three or four thousand yuan in Lutang Village in 1984?
A worker's monthly salary is forty or fifty yuan, and three or four thousand yuan is equivalent to a worker's salary for six or seven years.
The richest family in the village, Wang Laoliu's family, had accumulated wealth over three generations, but all they had was a few brick houses and a dozen acres of land, worth at most two or three thousand.
But these things can't be moved now.
Gold is too conspicuous in the countryside.
If you take a small yellow croaker to the county to exchange for money, within three days, everyone in the town will know that you, Chen Zheng, have made a fortune.
At that time, not only will the villagers be envious, but people from the town, the county, and all sorts of people will flock to it like flies.
In rural areas in 1984, there was no concept of protecting private property. If someone suddenly found a windfall, it was like a piece of fat meat that everyone wanted a bite to.
He rewrapped the small yellow croaker in waxed cloth and stuffed it into the bottom of the camphor wood box.
The silver ingots and Yuan Shikai dollars were put back, covered with oil paper, and locked.
We need to find a safer place to hide these things.
Chen Zheng squatted on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), his mind racing, trying to figure out where to hide the things.
The family only had three mud-brick houses: a kitchen, a main room, and an inner room. It was a tiny place, and it wasn't safe to hide anywhere.
There are a few old trees in the yard, under the water vat, and in the cracks between the bricks at the base of the wall, but these places are too common. If someone really comes to search, these are the first places they will look for.
He remembered a story a coworker had told him when he was working in the city in his previous life.
They say there was an old man in their village who had saved up all his money his whole life, hiding it in a hollow bamboo pole on the roof beam.
Later, the old man died, and his children demolished the house. The bamboo pole fell and broke, and the silver dollars rolled all over the ground before they were discovered.
Roof beams.
Chen Zheng raised his head and looked at the roof beams above him.
The old houses in Lutang Village have beams made from whole old pine logs, thicker than waist-high, which are placed on the gable walls to support the entire roof.
His father, Chen Laosan, once said that the roof beams of this house were made from old pine trees that his grandfather had cut down from the back mountain. He had a carpenter plane them smooth and put them on the beams. They were at least fifty or sixty years old.
He raised the kerosene lamp and carefully examined the roof beams by its light.
The surface of the pine wood was blackened by smoke, but the wood itself remained sturdy.
Where the roof beam and the gable wall meet, there is a gap about the width of a fist, which is blocked by spider webs and dust.
From that spot, unless you climb up a ladder, you can't see what's inside at all.
The next morning, Chen Zheng took advantage of the fact that everyone in his family had gone out and moved a ladder to lean against the roof beam.
He climbed up and shone a flashlight into the gap.
The gap was hollow; there was a natural groove between the gable wall and the roof beam, about a foot deep and two inches wide, just big enough to fit an oil paper package.
He wrapped the small yellow croaker in three layers of waxed cloth, then put it in an oiled paper bag, and tied it tightly with thin hemp rope.
The silver ingots and Yuan Shikai silver dollars were also divided into two portions, each wrapped in oiled paper.
Three packages were stuffed into the groove, one by one, and a rag was placed on the outside. Then a layer of mud was applied, making it exactly the same color as the original gable wall.
He removed the ladder and stood on the ground looking up. He couldn't see any trace of it.
As for the silver ingots and Yuan Shikai dollars, he had no intention of touching them.
These things were retrieved along with Zhang Jianguo and Liu Jiawang.
Jianguo holds the rope, Jiawang listens to the water, Rongzi probes the bottom, and he goes into the water.
If four people work together, the results should be shared among the four of them.
But he didn't tell anyone about the little yellow croaker.
This is not greed.
This is human nature.
Five small yellow croakers, divided among four people, one for each person and one extra.
How should it be divided? Who gets more and who gets less?
Even if the money is divided equally, can Zhang Jianguo keep the secret?
Liu Jiawang was tight-lipped, but his mind worked faster than anyone else's. Once he got the gold, he could figure out a whole way to make a fortune.
As more and more people get involved, the truth will no longer be able to be covered up.
Rongzi is the most reliable, but he is only fourteen years old. A fourteen-year-old boy carrying a gold bar in his pocket is not a blessing, but a curse.
So he took on the whole responsibility for the small yellow croaker incident alone.
This is not treating the brothers unfairly.
In the future, when the fishpond makes money, he will naturally give more to Jianguo and Jiawang.
Rongzi was his younger brother. He supported Rongzi's education, sending him to university and helping him find a job in the city; that was his duty.
But the fewer people who know about the gold, the better.
In the evening, Chen Laosan returned.
He went fishing in Dongwan today and brought back two crucian carp and one bream. The crucian carp were about the size of a palm, and the bream weighed a little over a pound. They were both of good quality.
He placed the fish basket in the yard, squatted on the threshold, filled a pot with tobacco, lit it, and took a puff.
Chen Zheng walked over and squatted down next to his father.
"Father, I'd like to discuss something with you about that box of things."
Chen Laosan took a puff of his cigarette.
"There are five silver ingots and thirteen Yuan Shikai silver dollars. I plan to distribute these to Jianguo, Jiawang, and Rongzi. Jianguo will hold the rope, Jiawang will listen to the water, and Rongzi will probe the bottom. Without them, I can't get it out by myself."
Chen Laosan took the pipe out of his mouth and tapped the ash on the doorstep.
"Keep Rongzi's share for him. He's too young to handle the money."
"I know."
"How do you plan to divide the spoils between Jian Guo and Jia Wang?"
"Of the five silver ingots, three will be kept by myself and Rongzi, and the remaining two will be given to Jianguo and Jiawang."
Thirteen Yuan Shikai silver dollars, three for the founding of the nation, and three for the family's prosperity.
With this division, Jianguo and Jiawang will each receive roughly the same amount.