Chapter 23: The Whole Family Mobilizes

Later on.

He left the Xie Family.

Many of the truths Xie Cheng had spoken were proven true, one by one, in society.

Taking the harshest beatings life had to offer, he had slowly sobered up.

It turned out that back then, his eldest brother had truly cared for him.

Xie Zhao smiled at Xie Cheng.

“Eldest Brother.”

“This money,” he said, “I earned it myself.”

Xie Cheng froze.

What… What did he just call him?

Eldest Brother?

Xie Cheng’s hand trembled slightly. He turned around subtly, glancing at the red lanterns outside. After a moment, he finally recovered, turning back to look at Xie Zhao with slightly widened eyes.

“What? You’re saying you earned all this money yourself?”

Xie Zhao suppressed a smile.

He nodded and explained everything about catching and selling the fish, as well as the wild vegetables.

“Fish prices are good in the winter, and crucian carp is easy to sell near the hospital. Plus, it’s the end of the year, so families are willing to spend. That’s why I could make this much.”

“It’s the same for the wild vegetables,” Xie Zhao added. “Shepherd’s purse^[1] is scarce in the winter, so the wonton stalls buy up all they can get. Once another month passes and wild vegetables start popping up everywhere, they won’t be worth this much.”

Xie Tian’s eyes went wide.

“Fish and wild vegetables are worth that much? How come I didn’t know?”

Xie Zhao looked at her with a fond, doting smile. “There’s still a lot you don’t know. I’ll teach you slowly in the future.”

In this day and age, information was scarce. The fastest way to make money was buying and reselling.

Simply put, it meant hauling goods from the east to sell in the west, capitalizing on freshness and the information gap.

The rarer something was, the more valuable it became. It was all about selling rare goods at a premium.

Winter fish and wild vegetables operated on this exact principle.

Xie Tian was stunned for a moment. She turned her head away a bit guiltily, but her heart was pounding with sheer astonishment.

Her second brother… why did he seem so different?

In the past, he would have ignored her completely, or mocked her for being a country bumpkin.

But just now, he said he would teach her?

Had she heard him right?

It took Xie Cheng and Xie Youzhen quite a while to recover from their shock.

Was making money really this easy?

Over seventy yuan?

It would take them several months to earn that much!

Before either of them could say anything else, Xie Zhao stood up, brushed the dust off his trousers, and glanced outside. “Eldest Brother, Dad, I need to go catch fish. I have to head to the county seat tomorrow!”

Xie Cheng and Xie Youzhen exchanged a glance and quickly stood up as well.

“We’re coming with you!”

Xie Cheng frowned, looking at Xie Zhao. “Since it makes money, we’ll go together. Two extra pairs of hands will help.”

Xie Zhao naturally wouldn’t refuse.

He grinned, pointing at the handcart. “Alright! We’ll load two more buckets of fish tomorrow! Once we make the money, we’ll buy meat and have minced meat noodles every day!”

Under the dim night sky, the youth’s features were bright and clear, his spirit soaring.

Xie Tian quickly chimed in from the side, “I’ll go pick wild vegetables! I know so many of them, and I know exactly where they grow!”

*

By the riverbank.

Xie Youzhen was indeed an old hand. He knew this stretch of the river like the back of his hand, knowing exactly where the fish gathered and where they were scarce.

He was currently holding a fishing net made of ramie. It was an heirloom passed down from the older generation, heavy and long.

“Pull it over there! Hold on tight! Don’t let go!”

After shouting to Xie Cheng, Xie Youzhen turned to look at Xie Zhao. “Er Xiaozi, you go drive the fish! There’s a bamboo pole over there. Stand on the bank and don’t come down. The water is freezing, don’t catch a cold.”

Xie Zhao knew Xie Youzhen was just looking out for him.

He nodded and didn’t refuse, grabbing the bamboo pole and running upstream.

Fish liked to hide in places with plenty of water plants.

Carrying a hurricane lantern, Xie Zhao found the right spot and struck the water with the pole, instantly sending up a beautiful line of spray.

Fish were still abundant in these times.

Otherwise, why would there be the old saying about hitting fish with a stick^[2]?

Startled by the bamboo pole, several large, fat fish darted downstream, leaving ripples across the water’s surface.

Half an hour later, drenched in sweat, Xie Zhao shouted to Xie Cheng and Xie Youzhen, “Eldest Brother! Dad! Pull in the net!”

Xie Youzhen quickly began hauling the net back.

The further he pulled, the wider his smile grew.

The net was incredibly heavy, clearly loaded with a massive catch.

“Eldest! Hold tight!”

Xie Youzhen shouted.

A moment later, he and Xie Cheng worked together to drag the heavy net onto the bank.

Wow!

Under the faint moonlight and the glow of the lantern, it was a solid sheet of white!

Powerful tails thrashed and flopped, filling their ears with a lively, splashing din!

It was fish!

Xie Zhao could hardly keep from grinning ear to ear!

There were so many!

Far more than what he could have caught on his own!

“Hurry and put them in the buckets. We’ll sell them tomorrow. Only live fish fetch a good price!”

Xie Zhao said with a smile.

Xie Cheng and Xie Youzhen didn’t waste any time either. They sat cross-legged on the ground, swiftly untangling the palm-sized fish and tossing them into the buckets. The smaller, miscellaneous fish were thrown into a separate bucket.

The three of them worked quickly.

Over an hour later, three buckets brimming with fish stood before them.

Xie Zhao grinned from ear to ear!

Good heavens!

How much money would this make?

It would at least double his previous earnings!

“Let’s go, let’s cast the net one more time!”

Although Xie Youzhen’s teeth were chattering from the cold, seeing these three overflowing buckets of fish filled him with uncontrollable joy and excitement.

If this all translated into money, it was worth it no matter how cold it got!

“No.”

To their surprise, Xie Zhao shook his head in refusal.

His eyes were clear as he looked at the eager Xie Cheng and Xie Youzhen. “We need to make money, but our health is what matters most. It’s freezing tonight, and going into the water once is already hard on the body. If you catch a high fever and can’t get out of bed tomorrow, it won’t matter how much money we make.”

He saw that Xie Cheng and Xie Youzhen were still a bit conflicted.

He added earnestly, “Besides, with so many fish, what if we can’t sell them all? Tomorrow I’ll look for other buyers. If we find people willing to take them, it’ll be much safer to come back and catch more tomorrow night.”

Hearing Xie Zhao’s words, the two of them finally came to their senses.

“True. Cooking fish takes too much oil, and if you don’t fry it with enough oil, it tastes too fishy. Who would buy so much for no reason?”

Xie Cheng turned to look at Xie Youzhen. “Dad, let’s get home and change your clothes quickly so you don’t catch a cold!”

Only then did the three of them pick up their buckets and head home.

…

Early the next morning, just as the rooster crowed, Xie Zhao got up.

The sky was just beginning to pale. It hadn’t snowed for two days, but the melting snow made this the coldest time of the year.

Still feeling a bit groggy, he gritted his teeth, walked over to the well, and splashed a handful of cold water onto his face, instantly waking himself up.

Turning his head, he saw Xie Tian already lighting the fire to cook.

The young girl was only fourteen, but she was skilled at every household chore.

She deftly chopped firewood and lit the stove. It was an old-fashioned brick stove, but because it hadn’t been used in a long time, the iron pot inside was covered in rust. She had spent quite a while scrubbing it, leaving her drenched in sweat.

“Render some pork skin in it. Once the iron absorbs enough grease, it won’t rust anymore,” Xie Zhao said.