Reborn in the Great Northern Wilderness in 1982, I farmed and hunted to support my whole family.

Upon hearing this, Li Mu smiled and looked around with his hands behind his back.

To outsiders, it might seem like a simple matter of breaking a hole in the ice, but there's actually a lot more to it than meets the eye. Location is one aspect; firstly, the ice can't be the thickest it can be, and secondly, it should be in the spot with the most direct sunlight during the day.

Only in this way will the area under the ice be warm, making it easier for fish to gather.

Fortunately, Li Mu was very experienced. He chose a spot and swung the handle of his pickaxe at the ice. Unexpectedly, he thought he could make a sound with one swing of the pickaxe.

Unexpectedly, a small thorn broke open.

"Brother Mu, let me do it. You can't use brute force to break the hole." Tian Xiaohu quickly took the pickaxe. Li Mu shook his head and smiled, not trying to take it from Tian Xiaohu. Everyone has their own expertise, and he really couldn't do this kind of physical work.

Seeing Tian Xiaohu working so hard, digging a hole the size of a washbasin in no time, she didn't try to take it from him. She simply said, "You go ahead and dig," and then turned and went back to the village.

When he returned, Li Mu was carrying a string of pig offal.

"Brother Mu, why did you buy this?"

Tian Xiaohu was panting heavily from exhaustion when he turned his head and saw a string of pig offal in Li Mu's hand. His eyes widened, and he subconsciously swallowed.

Li Mu didn't say anything. He bent the wire he had just picked up back in the village into a hook and then took the pig offal offal down to the size of a fingernail and hung it on the hook. Tian Xiaohu was stunned for a moment, and his heart ached.

This string of pig offal is worth a lot of money. Look, Brother Mu is going to use the pig offal for ice fishing. Isn't that a waste?

Li Mu knew at a glance what Tian Xiaohu was thinking.

However, he didn't explain why most people ice fishing nowadays prefer to use landing nets. But Li Mu didn't do that. Firstly, he didn't have a suitable net on hand. After all, there aren't many families in the black soil of Beidahuang who rely on large-scale fishing, which is related to the geographical location.

In his early years, Li Mu had heard that some people in southern Shaanxi would not even glance at a fish that jumped right up to their feet, saying that they didn't know how to cook it. This is the same principle.

Therefore, there are basically no fishing nets in the village.

Even the fishing line was left over from who-knows-when, and Li Mu bought it.

The reason Li Mu used pig offal for ice fishing was mainly because its fishy smell was much more attractive than old baits like grasshoppers and earthworms.

This is all experience.

However, upon seeing Tian Xiaohu swallowing hard, Li Mu chuckled and asked.

"Craving meat?"

Upon hearing this, Tian Xiaohu blushed and couldn't help but scratch his head.

"You didn't raise pigs this year?"

Li Mu was stunned for a moment.

He knew about the Tian family's situation.

Old Man Tian lost his leg years ago, and his mother is always on medication, so Tiger does most of the farm work on his own. But the old couple can't be idle, so they took a job raising pigs with the village collective.

Although everyone was struggling these days, Tian Xiaohu couldn't possibly be without meat.

"It's superstition."

Tian Xiaohu said in a muffled voice.

Upon hearing this, Li Mu finally understood. It wasn't that the pig was truly superstitious. It was just that it had parasites, making its meat inedible, hence the name "superstitious pig."

The production team and village collective implemented a household contract responsibility system, so the Tian family might have to lose a lot of work points.

Li Mu didn't dare to ask too many questions, afraid of hurting Tian Xiaohu's feelings. Instead, he casually said, "Okay, if we catch any fish later, I'll give you two more."

"That's daring."

Tian Xiaohu chuckled, but seeing him peeking at the pig offal, he still seemed reluctant. However, in an instant, his unwilling expression was replaced by delight.

As Li Mu was speaking, he suddenly leaned back, and the fishing line tied to his wrist suddenly tightened. Immediately, water splashed from the ice hole, and a large fish leaped out of the water.

"Fish, big fish, with three scales."

Tian Xiaohu exclaimed with delight and pounced on the fish, pulling it into his arms. The big fish's tail slapped at Tian Xiaohu's mouth repeatedly, but the former grinned, showing his teeth.

Li Mu was also a little excited.

These three-scaled fish are scientifically known as mirror carp, which is basically a large carp.

It gets its name from its shiny, large scales, which make it look like it has three scales. Moreover, the flesh of these three scales is delicate and has few spines, making it especially delicious when eaten with garlic cloves.

This one weighs about three or four pounds.

Such a result on the very first try truly delighted Li Mu.

This time, Tian Xiaohu no longer felt sorry for the pig offal. Instead, he watched eagerly as Li Mu lowered the hook back into the ice hole. Sure enough, the fish catch in the small river was plentiful, and Li Mu felt that the harvest would be quite substantial.

He was surprised to catch six or seven fish in just over an hour.

This is so easy to catch.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. Wild fishing is inherently easier to catch fish, unlike the fish raised in later fishing spots, which are more cunning than monkeys.

"Brother Mu, Brother Mu, three-scaled fish, big crucian carp, and five-striped blackfish, are these fish so easy to catch?" Tian Xiaohu grinned, holding the fish tightly.

Most of these fish weighed two or three pounds, and the last one to be brought up, the five-striped blackfish, weighed at least four pounds.

"Alright, that's enough for today."

"Let's go home."

Li Mu threaded the fish onto a wire, holding one end himself and handing the other to Tian Xiaohu. He planned to pack up and go home. An hour or so might not seem like a long time, but at this temperature, he would have been frozen solid long ago.

"We're heading back now, Brother Mu. Shall we catch two more?"

Tian Xiaohu was reluctant to leave.

The fish was cooking so well, and he was really reluctant to go home so suddenly. Li Mu chuckled, rolled his eyes at Tian Xiaohu, and pouted.

"Alright, that's enough. If this continues, you'll end up with a chronic illness."

"Hurry up, if you want to fish, we can come back tomorrow. What, are you afraid this little river bend will get away?"

Upon hearing this, Tian Xiaohu chuckled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

"Brother Mu is laughing at me, but I've never seen a fish caught like this before. Shall we head back now?" With that, Tian Xiaohu took Li Mu's other end and carried it on his back.

The two walked home through the snow.

They didn't realize how busy they were fishing, but by the time they got to the village, they were practically frozen solid. Li Mu's house was at one end of the village, and Tian Xiaohu's was at the other. Li Mu pulled Tian Xiaohu inside to warm up.

"No, my mother has saved some corn for me, so I won't bother your aunt."

Li Mu thought for a moment but didn't stop him. He reached out and took the fish, then removed half of the fish from its shell and handed it to Tian Xiaohu.

"No, Brother Mu, why are you giving me so much?"

Tian Xiaohu was startled.

He knew Li Mu would definitely give him some fish, but he didn't even dare to think about giving him half. He thought that at most he would just get one or two fish and that would be the end of it.

Even so, Tian Xiaohu is content.

Li Mu found the fishing wire and pig offal himself, and he also came up with the method. He only contributed a little effort, so how could he get so much?

Besides, even the smallest fish in this pile weighs two or three pounds. Tian Xiaohu would be satisfied even if he only got two.

“Take it if I give it to you. We brothers agreed to split it, so it’s 50/50.”

"You deserve it, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. You can just work harder tomorrow. Perfect, come early tomorrow, let's get a lot more and go to the county town."

Tian Xiaohu was taken aback, but seeing Li Mu's resolute tone, he accepted the offer.

However, upon hearing Li Mu mention going to the county town, he immediately asked, "Brother Mu, what are we going to the county town for?"

"Of course we'll sell it."

Li Mu added matter-of-factly, "We only worked for an hour today and we've already lost so much. If we get up early tomorrow, we might be able to catch even more. How much of this fish can we eat? We can't just freeze them and eat frozen food later, can we?"

"Let's take this fish to the county town and sell it. The money we get will help supplement our income, won't it?"

"Fish can be sold for money?"