pertwk Chapter 54 Fish for Gun
Chapter 54 Fish for Gun
"Uncle Wu, I can't let go. Xiao Kai from the Forestry Bureau's logistics department gave me a three-spool fishing line and five hooks. I'll give it a run first..."
Upon hearing Chen Tuo's reason for not letting go, Wu Laowai curled his lip.
This is a major taboo in mountain running: 'greed'!
Most of the time, the mountain gods and the old leaders will not leave people in the mountains, but the premise is that the mountain runners are not greedy.
If you're incompetent but still dare to steal from a bear's granary, that's greed, and you'll die in the mountains without a word of complaint.
In the freezing cold, going into a snowdrift is greed; if you don't go in, you won't freeze to death in the snowdrift.
Although the mountains of the Xingan Mountains are not high, they are densely forested.
Entering the mountains in broad daylight, it's almost dusk.
At night, it becomes completely dark.
Those goods that insisted on staying overnight in the mountains and couldn't get out are just as innocent.
"Be careful, this is the Dobukur River. This water flows into the Nenjiang River, the Nenjiang River flows into the Songhua River, the Songhua River flows into the Longjiang River, and there are big fish in the Longjiang River!"
The large trucks from Longjiang that Wu Laowai mentioned, measuring one or two meters, are considered ordinary.
The largest sturgeon in Longjiang River is about the size of a small boat, three or four meters long and weighing several thousand kilograms. In the past, it was a royal tribute.
Although Wu Laowai had never seen a sturgeon in the Dobukur River, he had heard that others had.
"What kind of big shipment?"
Seeing Chen Tuo's smooth movements as he fished, Wu Laowai said as he walked towards the ice hole:
"The sturgeon, scientifically known as *Beluga sturgeon*, is said to have grown to three or four meters long, capable of dragging an old ox down a river bend, and also capable of eating people!"
"Uncle Wu, you're talking nonsense. A freshwater fish that's three or four meters long could easily capsize a boat!"
"What do you think? It's when the boat capsizes that people are eaten!"
Chen Tuo felt uneasy about letting Wu Laowai's sturgeon eat people, but unexpectedly, the fishing line in his hand slipped.
A dark shadow, about a meter long, swept across the opening of the ice hole, startling him.
"The black one must be a blackfish stick!"
"Don't talk nonsense. What don't you see up there? Be careful. The unfrozen river downstream is over thirty miles away. Do you think you can hold your breath?"
As he spoke, Wu Laowai pushed Chen Tuo's sled above the ice hole.
In this way, no matter how big the fish is, it won't be able to pull Chen Tuo into the water.
"Uncle Wu, pull the sled away, don't cut my fishing line."
"The fish's here, but with the way you've cooked it, it's only enough for one meal. If you go down there, you won't even get one meal of meat! Oh my god!"
Old Wu was talking!
Chen Tuo tightened the fishing line again and pulled the fish's head out of the water.
Although he had never seen the Kaluga sturgeon in the Dobukur River, Wu Laowai had seen it many times in the deep waters of the Nenjiang River.
Apart from the Kaluga sturgeon, there is no other fish in the Heilongjiang River that is so ugly that Chen Tuo pulled out a head.
"I'll teach you to be so stubborn!"
After being hit hard by the sturgeon, Wu Laowai lost his temper and grabbed the axe handle that Chen Tuo had used to smash the fish, and hit it with it.
"Uncle Wu, what the hell is this thing? It's uglier than a catfish ball!"
Looking at the sturgeon covered in a rough, bumpy snow crust, which was not smooth and slippery at all, Chen Tuo looked disgusted.
"You f***ing don't know anything! This thing is the real valuable one! It's all cartilage, and if it has seeds inside, it's worth more than that bear gallbladder from last night!"
Wu Laowai was also unaware of the price of the Kaluga sturgeon in China.
But the sturgeon by the river, as long as they are alive and have eggs, can be traded for a small car in Russia if they are over a meter long.
"Uncle Wu, can I exchange this fish for a gun? If so, I'll take it to Brother-in-law Sun."
Changing or buying a gun has become an obsession for Chen Tuo; what he wants most is the national treasure, the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle.
But Sun Changkui wouldn't change, and that bastard Chu Maolin kept interfering.
"It depends on whether you have bullets or not! If you have bullets, you should be able to get a better gun. If you don't, I'd guess you'll just get an old single-shot Buick."
Not only is Chen Tuo unaware of current prices, but Wu Laowai is equally clueless.
He knew only the prices of oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar at the supply and marketing cooperative, as well as the prices of bottled liquor and loose liquor.
As for the remaining items, in which year must they not be subject to market fluctuations?
There are furs, and their prices vary from year to year.
Grain also has a price, but that doesn't fluctuate much.
For example, if you want to hunt wolves now, you can take the wolf pelts that the Songling Supply and Marketing Cooperative previously refused to accept to the Armed Forces Department to exchange for guns.
Vast land with sparse population means isolation.
Bartering and exchanging mountain products for money at the supply and marketing cooperative to buy daily necessities was the main trading method in the forest area.
In Songling, there's really nowhere to spend money besides food, drink, and clothing.
"Uncle Wu, why don't you try and see if you can get a water-beaded one?"
Chen Tuo had tried the Berek gun at the Armed Forces Department. It was more troublesome to load than a hunting rifle, and the recoil was ridiculously strong. It didn't feel like a good gun at all.
"Alright! I'll go run it. Be careful, don't fucking fall into an ice hole!"
Wu Laowai dragged away the ugly sturgeon, and Chen Tuo's catch was much worse than before.
Although fish were still biting the hook from time to time, it was far less frequent than before.
Wu Laowai only caught a dozen or so fish on his round trip, and most of them were small fish about a foot long, with none exceeding two feet in size.
"Kid, you're in luck. The forestry bureau from Jagdaqi was coming to check on the wolf infestation, and Sun the Cripple gave you some water beads and bullets too."
After sharing the good news, Wu Laowai pointed to the two water beads he always carried and added:
"However, Crippled Sun said that you are not allowed to bring the Water Beads up the mountain except to hunt wolves. These guns have a long range and great power; he's afraid you might hurt someone!"
When people from Jagdaqi arrived, Wu Laowai also divided up shares for himself.
A Dabry's sturgeon was exchanged not for a gun, but for two water striders and two hundred rounds of ammunition, which he and Chen Tuo each received in equal measure.
As per the agreement, the two had already discussed it before they went fishing.
Therefore, he didn't mention that his water-beaded necklace had also become his personal property.
"As long as it's not the old Buick, Uncle Wu, you've switched the gun for the fish. How about I give you the bear bile from last night?"
Chen Tuo did not intend to break the rules established before fishing.
He just didn't know the prices, and he didn't know how to compensate Wu Laowai.
"You're quite generous! When people from higher up come, the Forestry Bureau will definitely treat them well. It just so happens that Blind Chu is there too, so I just raised the price and asked for two water lilies."
After discussing the distribution of the catch, Wu Laowai was generous and didn't take the bear gall bladder that hadn't contributed any effort.
"You were the one who killed the brown bear, and you were the one who lured it here. Give me a pot of braised pork, and I'll have enough to skin it and cut the meat into pieces."
"I've already processed the bear bile for you; I used lime to dry it."
"Next time you hit a bear and don't know how to clean it, just scald it with clean hot water. That way, the gallbladder lining will be tough and won't break."
Whether the harvested goods can be exchanged for money depends on how they are processed.
If the leather is not properly processed, it will not only spoil easily, but also shed fur easily.
The same applies to bear bile; it must be processed using traditional Chinese medicine methods to avoid having its weight reduced.
The price of rare delicacies like ginseng and bear bile can drop significantly if they are not handled properly.
"Uncle Wu, that won't do! I don't feel at ease without you here, do I?"
"Don't say that, you little brat! I didn't ask you to fight the bear, don't try to pin everything on me!"
Old Wu still feels lingering fear when he recalls the perilous bear hunt last night.
That would leave that little bastard in the dark, in case he misses his target.
Today, it wasn't the two of them who came to dig ice pits and set traps; instead, Sun Changkui came to help them piece the ice together, one piece at a time…