Reborn in 1984, fishing and hunting in Jiangnan

Chapter 28

"Let's go to Lin Xiaoyun's house. Her mom gave us a lunchbox of braised pork last time, so we can't go empty-handed. The malted milk powder is for Teacher Zhao; he just got discharged from the hospital and needs some to nourish himself."

Chen Rong said "oh" and didn't ask any more questions.

Chen Zheng went back first and took the malted milk powder to Teacher Zhao.

He himself crossed East Street and turned into the family compound next to the county's No. 1 Middle School.

The old locust trees in the yard are greener than last time, with dense leaves that provide a large area of ​​shade.

Several old men were playing chess under the tree, locked in a fierce battle, attracting a crowd of onlookers.

Some shouted "Knight jump!" while others shouted "Pawn advance!" It was noisy and even more lively than last time.

Chen Zheng walked to Lin Xiaoyun's door and knocked.

The person who opened the door was Lin Xiaoyun's mother.

Today she was wearing a light blue polyester shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, revealing a section of her fair forearm.

Her hair was permed and pulled back with a black headband, making her look energetic.

When she saw Chen Zheng, her eyes lit up and the corners of her mouth turned up: "Zheng-wa's here? Come in, come in!"

"Hello, Auntie." Chen Zheng entered the room and placed the cloth bag on the table. "This is brown sugar and white sugar for you and Uncle, and a can of malted milk powder for Teacher Zhao."

Lin Xiaoyun's mother glanced at the things on the table and clicked her tongue, "You child, you come all this way, but why bring so much stuff? You brought it last time, and you bring it again this time. Do you think your aunt runs a supply and marketing cooperative?"

"Auntie, these weren't bought, they were grown in our own field," Chen Zheng said.

Lin Xiaoyun's mother paused for a moment, then smiled, her eyes crinkling into crescents.

"You silly child, you know how to talk. Do you think brown sugar and white sugar grow in the ground? Are you trying to fool your auntie?"

"Brown sugar is made from sugarcane, and sugarcane is grown in the ground. That's right." Chen Zheng said seriously.

Lin Xiaoyun's mother laughed even harder, covering her mouth with the back of her hand, her shoulders shaking.

After she finished laughing, she picked up the cloth bag and walked towards the kitchen: "Alright, alright, if you say it's from the ground, then it's from the ground. Have a seat, Xiaoyun is reading in the inner room, I'll call her."

"Auntie, is Xiaoyun's dad home?"

"Yes. He's in the study reading documents. He's reading documents all day long, and you can't even get him to come for meals."

Lin Xiaoyun's mother gestured towards the study with her lips, then carried the cloth bag into the kitchen.

Chen Zheng walked to the study door and knocked.

"Come in," came Lin Xiaoyun's father's voice.

Chen Zheng pushed open the door and went in.

The study wasn't big, with a row of bookshelves against the wall, crammed full of books—some on agriculture, some on politics and economics, and some literary works by Lu Xun, Mao Dun, and Ba Jin, their spines worn and frayed from repeated readings.

There was a stack of files on the desk, and an enamel mug filled with strong tea. The tea leaves were almost mushy, and the tea was as dark as soy sauce.

Lin Xiaoyun's father sat behind his desk, wearing reading glasses and looking at a document. Seeing Chen Zheng enter, he took off his glasses and placed them on the document: "Zheng'er's here? Sit down."

Chen Zheng sat down in the chair opposite him. The chair was made of wood, and the cushion was made of rattan. It creaked when he sat down.

"Uncle, I've come here today to ask you about fishkeeping."

Chen Zheng took out the book "Freshwater Fish Farming Technology" from his pocket and placed it on the table.

He turned to Chapter 5, the corners of the book were folded in several places, and there were several slips of paper tucked inside, covered with notes he couldn't understand.

Lin Xiaoyun's father picked up the book and flipped through it. He read very quickly, his fingers rustling across the pages, his gaze sweeping across the pages, occasionally pausing to point at a particular line of text.

After finishing the book, he closed it, placed it on the table, and looked at Chen Zheng: "You read very carefully."

"There are some parts I don't understand. For example, this 'dissolved oxygen level,' the book says it should be kept above five milligrams per liter. How do you measure five milligrams? We don't have the equipment in our village."

Lin Xiaoyun's father nodded, picked up a pencil from the desk, and began to draw on a piece of white paper.

He drew very quickly, sketching a diagram of a small pond in just a few strokes: "The dissolved oxygen level can be determined without instruments."

Look at the fish. The fish are surfacing, their mouths opening and closing as they inhale; that means there isn't enough oxygen in the water.

Especially around four or five in the morning, the oxygen level in the water is at its lowest.

If you see fish surfacing before dawn, it means there isn't enough oxygen in the water, and you need to change the water immediately or turn on an aerator.

What is an oxygenator?

"A machine that uses electricity to drive an impeller, stirring up the water and allowing air to enter it."

The county aquatic products company sells them; one unit costs several hundred yuan.

You're just starting out, so it's okay if you can't afford a machine; you can manage by changing the water. Open the inlet wider so that fresh water keeps flowing in and old water keeps flowing out. Once the water is circulated, there will be enough oxygen.

Chen Zheng kept these words in mind.

An aerator costs several hundred dollars, which I can't afford right now, so I'll rely on changing the water.

"There's another question." Chen Zheng turned to the page with the note tucked inside the book. "The book says that the stocking density of fish fry should not exceed 800 per acre."

Our land has more than three acres of water surface; based on that, we can release more than two thousand fish.

But Teacher Zhao wrote in the margin, "Half the amount for beginners." So how much should I put in?

"Teacher Zhao is right. This is your first year raising fish, so you have no experience and the density cannot be too high."

About 400 fish per mu is enough. With more than three mu, that's about 1,200 to 1,300 fish.

When raising the four major freshwater fish species together, the proportions are also important. Silver carp and bighead carp feed on plankton in the upper layer of the water, making up about 60% of their diet.

Grass carp eat aquatic plants, accounting for 20%. Black carp eat snails, accounting for 10%. The remaining miscellaneous fish, crucian carp and bream, account for 10%.

Chen Zheng memorized these numbers.

Sixty percent are silver carp and bighead carp, twoty percent are grass carp, onety percent are black carp, and onety percent are miscellaneous fish. There are 1,200 fish in total. Based on this ratio, there are about 700 silver carp and bighead carp, more than 200 grass carp, more than 100 black carp, and about 100 miscellaneous fish.

He silently did the calculations and had a good idea of ​​what was going on.

"Uncle, where can we buy fish fry?"

"The county aquatic products company has them. Every spring, in March or April, they bring back fish fry from the fish farms in the provincial capital and sell them to fish farmers."

The price isn't high; silver carp and bighead carp fry, about an inch long, cost two or three cents each.

Grass carp and black carp are a bit more expensive, about four or five cents each. A thousand or so would only cost a few dozen yuan.

It costs a few dozen yuan.

Chen Zheng felt much more at ease. After deducting the money he'd saved for his mother's medicine and for buying things for Teacher Zhao, he still had over a hundred yuan left. That was enough to buy fish fry.

"There's one more thing." Lin Xiaoyun's father put down his pencil, leaned back in his chair, and crossed his arms over his stomach. "After you finish digging that fishpond, you can't put fish fry in right away. You have to 'fertilize' the water first."

"Fertilizer?"

"Yes. The newly dug fishpond has poor water quality, and there's nothing for the fish to eat."

You need to fertilize the water first, so that plankton grows and the fish fry have something to eat when you put them in. How do you fertilize the water?

Use farmyard manure.

Pig manure, cow manure, and chicken manure were piled up in a corner by the fishpond, and the manure water was poured into the pond.

After three to five days of application, the water color changes, turning into a light green or yellowish-brown, and a layer of oily sheen appears on the surface, which means the water has been fertilized.

"Releasing fish fry at this time will make them grow quickly."

Chen Zheng kept the words "fertilizer" in mind. Pig manure, cow manure, and chicken manure were plentiful in the village and free of charge.

After three to five days of splashing, the water turns green and then yellow, and then fish fry are released.

"Uncle, how much manure should we use for the fertilizer? Won't pouring too much poison the fish?"

"Yes. Too much manure makes the water too fertile and there won't be enough oxygen, and the fish will suffocate. Two to three hundred catties of manure are enough for one acre of water. Sprinkle it in several batches, and after each batch, wait two or three days to check the water color."

Add more water when the water becomes too light, and stop when it becomes too dark. You'll have to figure out the right balance yourself. Raising fish is like farming; experience is more important than books.

Chen Zheng nodded. He mentally reviewed what Lin Xiaoyun's father had said, then asked, "Uncle, how do you manage the fishpond in winter?"

Fish don't eat much in winter and are less active. There are two main things to pay attention to.

First, the water must be deep enough, with a depth of at least two meters in the deep water area, so that the fish can overwinter in deep water without freezing to death.

Secondly, holes need to be drilled in the ice to let air in, otherwise the fish will suffocate. Winters here aren't too cold, and the ice isn't thick, so a few holes will suffice.

Chen Zheng wrote these words down. The water was over two meters deep; in winter, they would chisel holes in the ice.

At that moment, the study door was pushed open.

Lin Xiaoyun stood at the door, holding a plate with several slices of watermelon on it. Today she was wearing a white dress with blue flowers, and her hair was tied in a ponytail with a sky-blue ribbon.

When she saw Chen Zheng, her eyes lit up for a moment, then she quickly looked away and placed the plate on the desk: "Dad, Mom asked me to bring in some watermelon. Zheng-ge, have some."

"Thank you." Chen Zheng took a slice of watermelon and took a bite. The watermelon was sandy and very sweet, and the juice dripped down the corner of his mouth. He wiped it with the back of his hand.

Lin Xiaoyun didn't leave. She stood next to the desk, her hands behind her back, her fingers twisting the hem of her skirt.

She glanced at her father, then at Chen Zheng, and her lips moved slightly: "Dad, are you two finished talking?"

"I'm done talking." Lin Xiaoyun's father glanced at his daughter, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Is there something you need?"

"I...I want Brother Zheng to help me with my math problems." Lin Xiaoyun blushed slightly. "There's a trigonometric function problem that I've solved three times, but the answer is still wrong."

Lin Xiaoyun's father didn't say anything, picked up his reading glasses and put them back on, then looked down at the documents.

Chen Zheng followed Lin Xiaoyun out of the study and walked to the square table in the living room.

A math textbook lay open on the table, turned to the chapter on trigonometric functions. Next to it were several sheets of draft paper, densely covered with equations, written in neat handwriting, but several places were circled in red pen with the word "wrong" written on them.

"Which question?" Chen Zheng sat down.

Lin Xiaoyun pointed to an example problem in the textbook.

Chen Zheng looked down and saw that it was a question about the law of sine. He looked at it several times but found that he didn't know how to do it either.

He stopped attending school after graduating from junior high school, and he had never even heard of trigonometric functions.

"I...I don't know how," Chen Zheng said honestly.

Lin Xiaoyun paused for a moment, then smiled.

When she smiles, her eyes crinkle and a few fine lines appear on the bridge of her nose, which is very beautiful.

She pulled up a chair, sat down next to Chen Zheng, picked up a pencil, and began writing and speaking on a piece of scrap paper:

"Here's the problem. Look, in triangle ABC, angle A is 30 degrees, side a is 10 degrees, and side b is 15 degrees."

Find angle B. Using the Law of Sines, sinA divided by a equals sinB divided by b. Therefore, sinB equals b multiplied by sinA divided by a…

She wrote lines of equations on the draft paper, her handwriting neat and her logic clear.

Chen Zheng watched her pen tip move across the paper and listened to her voice, but his mind wandered a little.

Her fingers were very white, and when she held a pencil, her knuckles protruded slightly. Her nails were neatly trimmed and clean.

She spoke slowly, as if afraid he wouldn't understand.

"...Therefore, sinB equals 0.75. Looking up the table, angle B is approximately 48.6 degrees. Do you understand?"

Chen Zheng snapped out of his daze and nodded: "Understood."

"Do you really understand?" Lin Xiaoyun tilted her head and looked at him, a hint of slyness in her eyes. "Then tell me again."

Chen Zheng was stumped by her question; he opened his mouth but couldn't say a word.

Lin Xiaoyun laughed, laughing so hard she almost fell over, her ponytail swinging back and forth behind her head. When she finished laughing, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and said, "Didn't you hear me? What were you thinking about just now?"

"I was thinking... you spoke really well. Even better than Teacher Zhao," Chen Zheng said.

Lin Xiaoyun's face flushed red instantly.

She lowered her head and scribbled on the draft paper with her pencil, drawing one circle and then another, circles nested within circles.

After a long while, she raised her head and said in a soft voice, "If you want to learn, I can teach you every time you come to the county town."

"Okay," Chen Zheng said.

At this moment, Lin Xiaoyun's mother brought out a plate of fried peanuts from the kitchen and placed it on the table.

She glanced at her daughter, then at Chen Zheng, her lips curving into a wide smile, and the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes crinkling into a flower shape.

"Zhengwa, don't leave at noon, eat here. Auntie made some stewed pork ribs."

"Auntie, no, I still have to go see Teacher Zhao."

"Teacher Zhao can't run away. Eat before you go." Lin Xiaoyun's mother pushed the peanuts towards Chen Zheng. "Try them, they're homemade, with salt and Sichuan peppercorns, very fragrant."

Chen Zheng couldn't refuse any longer, so he took a peanut, peeled it, and put it in his mouth. The peanut was roasted until crispy, salty and fragrant, and it filled his mouth with delicious flavor.

"It's delicious," he said.

Lin Xiaoyun's mother smiled with satisfaction and turned to go back to the kitchen.

Lin Xiaoyun sat opposite Chen Zheng, resting her chin on her hands as she watched him eat peanuts.

After watching for a while, she suddenly said, "Brother Zheng, I heard there's a South Bay in your village, and a sunken ship at the bottom of the lake?"

Chen Zheng paused in shelling peanuts: "How did you know?"

"My dad said that a cargo ship carrying grain and cloth sank in the waters of Baiyanghu South Bay decades ago."

It's also said that someone went into the water to try and retrieve it, but failed. This incident is recorded in the county annals.

The county gazetteer. Chen Zheng's heart skipped a beat.

The shipwreck his father mentioned was also known to Lin Xiaoyun's father; it was even recorded in the county annals.

This proves that the shipwreck was real, and not a story his grandfather made up.

"What else did your dad say?" Chen Zheng asked.

"He didn't say anything else. It was just that once when we were having dinner, he was talking to my mom about the history of Baiyang Lake and mentioned this incident."

They also said that there might be a batch of gold and silver on that ship, which the ship owner brought back from the provincial capital, intending to buy land in his hometown.

Later, the ship sank, and the gold and silver disappeared without a trace.

Chen Zheng's heart skipped a beat. The ship owner had brought back gold and silver from the provincial capital.

The "gold" his father mentioned matched the "gold and silver" that Lin Xiaoyun's father mentioned.

"Does the county gazetteer record the exact location of the shipwreck?" Chen Zheng asked.

"It's not written there. The county gazette only says 'the waters of Baiyang Lake South Bay,' without specifying the exact location. My dad said that only the local old fishermen know the location of that shipwreck, but almost all of them have passed away."

Chen Zheng remained silent for a while.

His grandfather carved a cross mark.

But his grandfather has also passed away. Now, the only one who knows about that mark is his father, Chen Laosan.

His father only told him that "in the deepest part of the South Bay, near the west side of the reed marshes, there is a large rock underwater with a cross carved on it."

This body of water is quite large; it will take a lot of effort to find it.