Survival skills maxed out, I feed my wife and daughter by catching fish and shrimp

Aunt Liu refused at first.

It doesn't sound credible for a woman like her to go to the county town to sell stinky snail noodles.

But when Chen Erlang offered her 20 cents a day, Aunt Liu agreed without hesitation.

Nonsense! Those young and strong craftsmen can only earn a dozen or so coins a day at most.

And she, an old maid, could actually earn 20 cents a day!

Do it! Only a fool wouldn't do it!

"Then it's settled. Tomorrow morning, bring the tools you need to make noodles and we'll go to the county town to sell them!"

Chen Changfan always felt that this sounded strange.

Shen Cuiyun carefully packed a bag of rice for Aunt Liu, which was the main ingredient for making rice noodles.

Aunt Liu happily went home with the bag of rice.

The process of making rice noodles is quite time-consuming. Aunt Liu needs to make the rice balls tonight so as not to delay the noodle making tomorrow.

After sending Aunt Liu away, Chen Changfan poured the big pot of soup into a large barrel and sealed it. The stench was finally alleviated a lot.

He then realized that the doors and windows had been completely renovated, and he couldn't help but admire Hu the bricklayer's efficiency:

"We've made a killing by hiring a craftsman like Hu the Bricklayer! I'll go look for Hu the Bricklayer later. Tomorrow we'll be setting up the stall, and there'll be a lot of carpentry work to do."

"Erlang, the tax collector is here today. I'm afraid I won't be able to pay the autumn tax in full this year..."

Seeing that Chen Erlang was about to go out again, Shen Cuiyun could no longer suppress the gloom in her heart, and she confessed it to her man.

The autumn tax is getting heavier every year, and this year it is even more outrageous.

This year is the household tax, and each household pays ten taels of silver.

Chen Shuli's family of five paid ten taels of silver.

Chen Changfan's family of three also had to pay ten taels of silver.

The family had just been divided, and Chen Erlang only had five taels of silver in savings thanks to his hard work fishing.

How can I collect the ten taels of silver within three days?

Shen Cuiyun didn't know that Chen Erlang could now earn two taels of silver a day.

She looked worried and clutched the corner of her clothes tightly.

"Erlang, how about... how about we go back? This way, it's just a household tax. If we pay five taels of silver and they pay a little more, maybe we can make up the difference."

Hearing this, Chen Erlang was furious. He pinched his wife's face and said angrily, "Don't mention that weird family to me again. It's just five taels of silver. Your man can earn it back in a day!"

"Besides, do you really think that family can come up with five taels of silver? By then, I'm afraid that even if we pay the money, we will still have to support their whole family of weirdos!"

After hearing what her man said, Shen Cuiyun felt much more at ease.

She didn't want to face that whole family, but when she thought about the fact that three people would have to pay ten taels of tax, she couldn't help but feel distressed.

Chen Changfan felt a little upset when he thought about paying taxes.

His business has just started to pick up, and he is preparing to expand it to become bigger and stronger.

The damn government actually asked for ten taels of silver. Isn’t this robbery?

The two of them took inventory of the silver in the house, and found that there was only seven taels in total, and he had to pay three workers, so...

There is still not enough money to spend.

Doesn’t the government know that there are bandit problems outside now?

Don’t you know that many ordinary people can’t even get enough food to eat?

The government is probably only concerned with collecting taxes, and doesn't care about the lives of the people.

After calming down, Chen Changfan gradually figured out what was happening. What was restricting his development now was the Arapaima. If he could get rid of it, his fishing business would return to normal.

Chen Changfan found a pen and paper, drew a pattern that Shen Cuiyun couldn't understand, then hurriedly put it away and went to find Hu the roofer.

……

"Boss, there's no problem building it tomorrow, but I can't quite understand your blueprint..."

Bricklayer Hu stared at the drawings sent by Chen Changfan for a long time, but still couldn't figure out what it was.

"This is called a speargun. Its principle is similar to that of a crossbow, except it's more powerful and can be fired underwater. Look, I've drawn these diagrams of the speargun's parts. All you have to do is build it in the exact same proportions, and I'll assemble it myself."

Hu the bricklayer nodded, his eyes full of approval. "You are truly a young man! Although I haven't seen what this spear gun looks like, I can already imagine its powerful killing power."

Hu the bricklayer looked at the blueprint and couldn't help but imagine, "If this thing could fire continuously and had a longer range, wouldn't it be invincible?"

You mean a sniper?

Chen Changfan did not continue to discuss this with Hu the bricklayer. After explaining the matter clearly, he went to Xiaoshi Village to find Han the blacksmith.

……

"Wrought iron? I'm afraid it would be difficult to forge..."

Blacksmith Han held the short iron stick in his hand, his eyebrows twisted into a knot.

"You don't need to make any complicated shapes, just make one end into a spike."

This is the stick he bought at great expense, and it would be a huge loss if he couldn't make it.

"If it's just spikes, it should be about the same, but... it'll cost extra!"

money is not a problem!

That night, after Han the blacksmith handed the broken iron spike to Chen Changfan, all the muscles in his body trembled slightly.

Chen Changfan took out a string of coins and paid. Han the blacksmith was so happy that he gave him a bronze spear head as a gift.

As long as Hu the bricklayer's parts are ready, he can assemble a spear gun.

When the time comes, if I encounter that Arapaima again, I will shoot it first.

Chen Erlang was holding a short iron spike in his hand at this time, and he felt much more confident.

Chen Erlang walked along the river bank for a while, but did not find the giant bony fish. Instead, he felt a warm current coming from the River Map and Luo Shu in his arms.

Following the sensation, we moved forward. The river became more and more turbulent and rapid, and the sound of water was like a beast roaring in the water.

Jiudao Bay.

The most dangerous basin of the Chiwei River.

After a careful sensing, he found that the source of the throbbing of the River Map and Luo Shu in his arms was actually below these nine bays.

"Dive down through the cracks in the rocks. The giant bone fish shouldn't be able to get in."

He quickly took off his outer clothes, revealing his strong and bulging muscles.

After mastering the wave-walking technique, it seemed that his physical fitness had been strengthened to a certain extent.

He ate snake bone and lotus root soup every day, and he felt that his physical strength was increasing day by day.

"I don't know if there's a higher realm above perfection. If I could swim faster than that giant bony fish, I wouldn't be afraid of it anymore."

With this thought in mind, Chen Changfan dived into the turbulent river.

The river water was icy cold and muddy, but it could not hinder Chen Erlang in the slightest.

He was like an extremely agile big fish, diving along the cracks in the rocks and soon reached the bottom of the river.

In my impression, there is a very scary undercurrent at the bottom of the Jiudaowan River.

But today the undercurrent was surprisingly milder, and there were even fish swimming at the bottom.

Deep under the water, several strangely shaped fish immediately caught Chen Changfan's attention.

"Akabi! Kito! And others whose names I can't remember!"

Each of those fish is extraordinary in appearance and can be seen as a spirit fish at first glance.

These fish were lurking at the bottom of the water, their mouths opening and closing widely, as if they were trying hard to swallow something.

What on earth attracted all these spiritual fish here?

Chen Changfan slowly dived down, little by little getting closer to the ghost-head knife closest to him.

Those spirit fish seemed to be drunk, swaying with the waves at the bottom of the water, and were completely unaware of my approach.

Chen Changfan gently threw out the fishing net and easily caught four or five spirit fish.

At this moment, there was suddenly a smell of blood in the water.

The light at the bottom of the river was dim, and in the turbid water, a faint trace of light blue blood was slowly spreading.

That's the blood of the arapaima!

The next moment, the water behind him was violently stirred, and the mud and sand rolled violently.

It was as if the entire body of water was boiling at this moment!

Those spirit fish fled in all directions, but Chen Changfan didn't care about them at this time, because at this moment, a strong sense of crisis came over him.

His body trembled slightly uncontrollably, as if every cell in his body was sending him a warning!

Then, at the bottom of the muddy water, less than half a foot away from him, a pair of huge green eyes lit up.

Arapaima!

Why is this big guy lurking here? Is he ambushing me on purpose?

Chen Changfan didn't have time to think about it, because the arapaima had already opened its bloody mouth and bit towards him fiercely with a strong current.

His mind was blank, and he instinctively thrust out the broken iron spike in his hand.

Iron Mountain Thorn!

It was indeed made of iron, and it pierced through the scales on the giant bony fish's head, lifting up a large piece of flesh and blood.

A large amount of light blue blood suddenly floated out.

It turned out that it was the blood of the arapaima that attracted the spirit fish!

The fish's eyes were pierced, and the giant bony fish went crazy in pain, causing the surrounding water to surge violently. Many fish were knocked unconscious by the impact, and Chen Changfan found it difficult to maintain his shape.

Even so, the reaction speed and strength of this giant bony fish have been much weaker than the last time they met. This must be due to the iron fork that I threw into its mouth last time.

If you give yourself enough time, you might be able to slowly wear down this arapaima.

call!

At this moment, the turbulent undercurrent under the water hit again.

He was not paying attention and was swept away by the undercurrent.

The whole person felt like being thrown into a washing machine and being swept downstream by the huge waves.

"Damn it, there was clearly a chance!"

Chen Changfan thought it was a pity, but he was soon overwhelmed by a strong feeling of dizziness. In this undercurrent, he had nowhere to get leverage. He only felt his body constantly hitting the reefs under the water, and his whole body was in pain.

He simply gave up resisting completely, curled up into a ball, and let the river carry him away.

He didn't know how many times he was hit, and even when he was a little numb, he suddenly started to spin rapidly.

Then, he felt like he had fallen into a huge flush toilet and was sucked into a cavity by a strong suction force. The flow of water suddenly slowed down, and then his whole body slowly floated up.

When Chen Changfan surfaced to breathe, he looked up and found that the surroundings were very unfamiliar.

This place seems to be in a mountain, the sound of water echoes constantly, and the air is filled with the smell of rust.

Stalactites of various sizes hang down from the top, forming a variety of shapes.

This is actually a huge underground cave!

"Although I don't know where it was washed up, fortunately I escaped from the fish's mouth again."

Chen Changfan couldn't help but feel a little scared.

Who would have thought that the giant bony fish was lying in the mud at the bottom of the river. If I had reacted a little slower just now, I would probably have died here today.

This cave was actually connected to the Chiwei River, but in his memory, it seemed that the Chiwei River had no other tributaries.

He guessed that this should be the bottom of the Nine Bays, and there was an underground river connecting here.

The underground river rises and falls, and he just happened to catch the rising water, so he escaped the pursuit of the arapaima.

It's a blessing in disguise.

After coming ashore from the underground river, I untied the fishing net tied to my legs, and found that the spirit fish inside were still there.

I was in such a hurry just now that I didn't notice the prompts given by the system.

With that one move just now, my adventure points increased by 5 points, and now I have 8 adventure points.

After thinking about it, I added 5 of the encounter points to the River Map and Luo Shu.

After the fusion, the Hetu and Luoshu could only vaguely predict the weather fifteen days later. He had long wanted to try to make the prediction more accurate by adding some points.

However, if all the 5 adventure points in hand are used for this, there will be less room for redemption.

He seems to have figured out some skills in casting nets to catch fish recently, and this skill is also very practical if you extrapolate it.

After infusing the encounter points, the River Map and Luo Shu in his hand suddenly emitted a bright light, almost blinding Chen Changfan's eyes.

The simple and ancient small characters on it seemed to have life and were moving on their own.

The last line of ancient writing on the tortoise shell quietly changed.

Fifteen days later, hail fell from the sky, some as small as eggs and some as big as watermelons.

If the predictions of the River Map and Luo Shu were not always extremely accurate, he probably would not have believed it.

But what is described in the Hetu and Luoshu is very convincing, so the deduction should not be wrong.

Hailstones the size of watermelons are extremely rare even in later times, but this extreme weather further confirmed his speculation.

Little Ice Age.