Back to 1980: Farming the Sea and Expanding the Island

"Brother Chuanzi, we've arrived at Baishaqian now, this place should have some, right?" Li Jiaye looked around at the deserted island, his eyes full of anticipation, and couldn't help but ask.

Baisha Shallow, also known as Baisha Shoal, is the second largest island in Qingpingzhou Production Team. The aquatic plants here are particularly abundant, and the island is mostly marshes and wild ponds.

The beach is fine and long; if developed properly, it has the potential to become a 5A scenic spot.

Of course, nobody comes to appreciate this thing now.

Lin Chuan looked up at the sun, which was almost directly overhead, and was surprised to find that so much time had passed without him realizing it.

"Okay, let's paddle into the ditch. We won't look at the shallow parts."

This is the place Lin Chuan is coming to. After passing Baisha Shallow, go another 3 kilometers by waterway and you will reach Que Island.

Beyond Que Island lies Wanghai Island, the last and highest island at the mouth of the Beijiang River.

Actually, Lin Chuan really wanted to go to Wanghai Island. The island is mostly made of rocks, and after many years of river erosion and seawater erosion, the riverbed is full of wide and deep ravines.

It's definitely a must-pass place for sea bass to enter the sea. It's a pity that Wanghai Island is not Qingpingzhou.

The water monkey rowed its paddle to the side of the river where the white sand was close to the center.

"Brother Chuan, my father and I have been to this place a few times before. Every time we caught some eels in the net, and sometimes we could even catch some blue crabs."

"Oh, so this is where you and your father secretly fished?" Lin Chuan couldn't help but laugh upon hearing this.

"Hehe, not really, this place is too far. If we've salvaged enough from other rivers, we won't come here."

The water monkey skillfully moored the boat, looked at the spot, and said to Lin Chuan, "Brother Chuan, I hadn't thought of that before, there should be a fairly wide ditch down there."

Lin Chuan's eyes lit up, and he quickly asked, "Monkey, how did you know?"

"I swam down there once, but it's been over a year," the water monkey said somewhat embarrassedly.

Lin Chuan was somewhat surprised, "Then your dad didn't spank you?"

The water monkey chuckled foolishly: "My dad didn't have any, my sister smoked them."

My sister's hat fell into the river, so I went down and fished it out. I think it was around here.

"Yeah, Sister Haiyue is really fierce." Li Jiaye nodded seriously from the side.

"What, did Haiyue slap you too?" Lin Chuan found it amusing.

Li Jiaye seemed to realize something, shivered, and muttered something under his breath.

The water monkey clearly knew the reason, rolled its eyes and said, "He deserved it, giving him a beating was too lenient."

Now that you mention it, Lin Chuan remembered. A couple of years ago, some people in the village got married.

Li Jiaye and his buddies, having heard from somewhere that the groom had gotten incredibly lucky to marry such a beautiful young woman, were truly blessed.

They deliberately gathered all the dog feces in the village on the road to the wedding, and set off firecrackers, intending to "pave the road with dog poop luck".

A few people lit a firecracker to test it out, and it almost splashed onto Wang Haiyue who was passing by. Naturally, they were going to get a beating.

The funniest thing is that the person who got married was Li Jiaye's fourth cousin, who was also the team leader's youngest son.

Once the bad deed is discovered, the consequences are predictable.

This newlywed couple had a wonderful and lucky wedding; the bride always had to tiptoe when walking this stretch of road.

Lin Chuan couldn't help but laugh as he thought about the past. The Li family business was truly ingenious.

"Brother Chuan, I'm casting my net here."

Lin Chuan tried to suppress his smile and nodded.

"Alright." The water monkey was very skilled at casting nets. With a vigorous swing of his arms, the fishing net soared into the air like a silver arc, instantly covering the blue waves, the mesh of the net shimmering with sparkling water.

Lin Chuan naturally wouldn't let the water monkey row the boat all morning by himself, otherwise even the strongest body couldn't withstand it.

With the three of them taking turns rowing, the water monkey had enough strength to cast the fishing net so beautifully.

Fishermen usually don't pull up their nets immediately after casting them; they wait for a while.

This period allows the fish to swim into the net, especially when using traditional hand-thrown nets or spiral nets.

The net needs to sink completely to the bottom and spread out underwater to form a "pocket" shape in order to effectively trap the fish.

The waiting time generally ranges from a few seconds to a minute, depending on the water depth, the fish population, and the type of net.

"Brother Chuanzi, I won! I won! There's a fish!" Li Jiaye shouted excitedly.

Lin Chuan also saw it. After the net was cast into the water, the surface of the water began to ripple abnormally, and bubbles appeared. It was obviously caused by the fish underwater being disturbed by the net.

He laughed along, though he didn't know whether he'd won more or less.

The water monkey, estimating the time, grinned and began to pull the fishing net up.

"Brother Chuan, we've got a good catch, quite a lot, and it's pretty heavy," Water Monkey shouted happily.

As the entire fishing net was tumbled onto the boat, the excitement began to spread: "Brother Chuanzi has spotted bass! There really are four spotted bass! And this is ribbonfish! Hey! There are also two shad!"

"That's good, it's a good start." Lin Chuan couldn't hide his joy.

It's noon now, and at this time of year, the sea bass usually sink to the middle and bottom layers.

They are most active between 5 and 6 a.m. and 5 and 6 p.m., swimming to the middle and upper layers of the water to forage.

The fact that they can be caught here indicates that the density of spotted bass in this area is very high, and this place is definitely one of the migration routes for spotted bass.

If you come between 5 and 6 a.m., you're sure to catch a lot.

There's also shad, which is considered the top of the three delicacies of the Yangtze River. Its flesh is tender and it's a top-selling item.

There are still quite a few in the Yangtze River basin now, but by the 1990s they were almost extinct, and it will be difficult for future generations to taste such a fresh and delicious food.

Water Monkey and Li Jiaye were equally overjoyed. "Brother Chuanzi, is this the place we've been looking for?"

"Well, if nothing unexpected happens, this should be it."

"Then let's quickly cast a few more nets," the two said impatiently.

Unprecedented enthusiasm filled the three of them. They quickly processed the dozen or so fish in the net and then continued casting.

Lin Chuan and his two companions took turns casting their nets in this area. Perhaps because the first net had yielded such a good catch, the subsequent nets, while catching fish, mostly caught small, miscellaneous fish.

They caught a few sea bass, and also caught seven or eight large hairy crabs.

After casting over a dozen nets, the three of them were exhausted. They had already rowed all morning, which had taken a toll on their energy, and now that so much time had passed, they suddenly felt incredibly hungry.

Li Jiaye, who had collapsed onto the boat, was a little out of breath. He had never worked for so long before, and today was a record-breaking day.

"Brother Chuanzi, it's been so long, why don't we go back? There don't seem to be many sea bass left."

This morning, most of the time was spent rowing, and only a dozen or so sea bass were caught, which was quite a disappointment compared to the initial expectations.

The water monkey couldn't help but look at Lin Chuan. This trip was long and tiring, but the harvest was not bad.

This one boatload of fish, weighing over 60 kilograms, should be worth about 25 yuan, which is equivalent to more than half a month's income for a heavy laborer.

Lin Chuan was also tired and hungry at the moment, and nodded in agreement: "Okay, let's rest for a while and then go back."

Just then, Li Jiaye's eyes lit up, and he pointed ahead and shouted, "Brother Chuanzi, look! There are so many birds circling around catching fish!"