Chapter 160: An Unprecedented Catch

“My goodness, this fish is huge! I can’t believe there are catfish this big in this river!”

Everyone was stunned as a catfish over a meter long flipped out of the water, its tail still twitching—clearly not fully dead yet.

“That must weigh thirty or forty pounds!” Lin Heng was seeing such a giant catfish in the river for the first time.

“This really is a great spot. Look, there’s another big grass carp flipping out—at least ten pounds,” Lin Yue said, grabbing Lin Heng’s shoulder and pointing ahead.

“There are so many, way too many,” Li Shiwei said excitedly.

They saw numerous big grass carps and big carp weighing over ten pounds, along with some strange-looking creatures they couldn’t identify.

“Little brothers, you and Li Shiwei go in and scoop the fish. I’ll stay here. The current’s gentle here; I can handle it alone,” Lin Yue said with a smile.

“Okay.”

Lin Heng didn’t refuse—he really wanted to scoop some fish.

He and Li Shiwei climbed down the steep slope and started netting fish.

Lin Heng grabbed the catfish by the head and pulled it ashore. Li Baiquan, his uncle-in-law, came over, held the fish’s head, and helped drag it up.

He laughed heartily as he pulled, “Hey, this catfish has to be at least forty pounds. The explosives really work.”

“If we hadn’t blasted once, we’d never have known there were so many big fish here. I thought maybe there just weren’t any, but turns out they just wouldn’t bite,” Grandpa Gao sighed.

“They’re just damn stubborn fish,” Lin Heng said with a laugh.

The truth was, no matter where they were, fish were always stubborn. You feed them the best bait and treats, but they still won’t bite—sometimes you had to use other methods.

Well, now it was all over—virtually no fish left in those two spots.

Lin Heng and the others first hauled in the big fish—the largest being that huge catfish, then four big grass carps weighing over ten pounds each, and five carp weighing more than ten pounds.

The other fish were smaller, mostly under ten pounds, and there were so many they lost count.

“Hey, this softshell turtle’s in bad shape—its belly is smashed,” Lin Heng spotted a five- or six-pound old softshell turtle by the water’s edge, already dead beyond hope.

“This one of mine is fine, didn’t get blown apart,” Grandpa Gao said as he brought another one ashore.

Countless fish were blown to bits—many were just heads or fragments.

No one cared to sort through them. No matter the size, they scooped everything onto the shore.

After over an hour of work, except for the blown-apart ones and some fish that floated downstream, most of the catch was ashore.

They piled the catch into four small mountains.

“That’s way too much—at least three hundred pounds,” Grandpa Gao shook his head in awe. “That was brutal.”

“Didn’t expect that many fish in just two spots. I’d guess it might even be four hundred pounds,” Lin Heng was equally stunned.

The explosive method was incredibly powerful and straightforward—there was a brutal beauty to it. No wonder foreigners often used grenades or AKs to fish, Lin Heng now understood a bit.

“Let’s quickly sort the fish and get them packed up. It’s getting late,” Lin Yue said.

“Alright.”

They sorted the fish, tossing small ones like minnows and small barbs together in a pile without separating them.

The main sorting was for the bigger fish: giant ones stored separately, then groups of crucian carp, common carp, and so on.

After sorting, they found the most were crucian carp, followed by small fish like minnows and barbs, then carp, catfish, and yellow perch, with grass carp last.

They had five black fish, four softshell turtles, one bass, and no others.

“Pack them into bags and take them away,” Li Baiquan smiled so broadly his mouth wouldn’t close.

“Yeah, let’s pack them up and head back,” Lin Heng and the others nodded.

They pulled out woven plastic bags and filled them with fish, four people sharing the load. Grandpa Gao helped carry fishing rods, nets, and fish baskets, along with Lin Heng’s red carp kept alive in water.

Back in town, word spread quickly about their massive haul of big fish. Curious people asked, “Where’d you catch all these?”

“Fishing in Huangtan River. Want to buy some?” Lin Heng replied with a smile.

“Haha, no thanks.”

Most people in town wouldn’t just buy meat or fish casually.

Though they didn’t buy any, many gathered around to watch. When asked, Lin Heng and his crew said they’d caught the fish by fishing.

Of course, no one believed them—everyone figured they’d used nets. No one suspected explosives.

Lin Heng and company took the fish straight to the backyard. Wang Zhou was stunned by the catch.

“That’s way too much,” he sighed.

“Take whatever fish you want,” Lin Heng said, smiling.

“Yeah, help yourself,” Li Shiwei echoed.

“I’ll just take a crucian carp. I don’t want the others,” Wang Zhou laughed.

Lin Heng said, “Grandpa Gao, you should take some too.”

“I’ll take a black fish,” Grandpa Gao thought for a moment, then agreed.

Lin Heng thought that was too little and brought out the old softshell turtle whose insides were blasted out. “This old softshell turtle is pretty destroyed, but you can stew it for a nourishing soup. It’s winter—good for your health.”

“No, no, you guys keep it,” Grandpa Gao shook his head. Since it wasn’t his explosives, he felt he shouldn’t take such a valuable catch.

“It’s fine,” Li Baiquan smiled.

But Grandpa Gao insisted on refusing, so Lin Heng didn’t argue. He took the old softshell turtle, cleaned and cut it into pieces, blanched it, and stewed it in Grandpa Gao’s pot, adding some herbal medicines they bought—Gastrodia and Codonopsis.

“Hey, you’re too polite,” Grandpa Gao said, a bit helpless but happy. Having a young man genuinely care for him was rare.

Lin Heng waved his hand, smiling, “You’re getting older, you need to nourish yourself. We catch fish often; missing one won’t hurt.”

Everything he did came from sincere respect for these heroes who defended the country—not for their status or anything else.

Though this era was poor, at least it was peaceful and sovereign—all thanks to these heroes. When encountering them, you couldn’t let them suffer.

“Alright, I appreciate this. Let’s go hunting together in a few days,” Grandpa Gao said, patting his shoulder with a smile.

“All right, I’ll come down to pick you up myself when the time comes,” Lin Heng said with a smile and a nod.

“We’ve already weighed the fish on our side. Guess how much it is?” Li Shiwei said with a grin as Lin Heng came out into the hall.

“Four hundred pounds?” Lin Heng asked curiously.

“More than that—420 pounds of fish. The biggest catfish weighed 42 pounds, and three grass carp were all over 15 pounds,” Li Shiwei replied.

“That’s impressive,” Lin Heng said, amazed.

“There were 53 pounds of small fish like minnows, over a hundred pounds of crucian carp, and the rest were mostly common carp and grass carp,” Lin Yue added happily.

“Not bad at all. Uncle-in-law, you guys are set now—quick, load it onto the cart and take it home to clean and make dried fish,” Lin Heng joked.

He was mostly here to have fun; his family already had plenty of fish, so just two fresh ones for eating were enough. The rest he let them take home.

“It’s us who got lucky,” Li Baiquan said with a laugh.

“Okay,” the group packed the fish and dragged the cart back, tossing a few big fish straight on top without covering them—they didn’t bother.

By now it was 5:30 in the afternoon. It took an hour to get the fish home.

They met many people along the way. They all agreed to say they caught the fish by fishing, which scared off the curious crowd.

Lin Heng couldn’t stop grinning all the way. No wonder anglers always got lost after catching big fish.

“Too bad I wasn’t the one to catch them, otherwise that would’ve been awesome!”

He looked around at the mountains and scenery with a sigh.

“You’re not bad either. That black fish you caught wasn’t small,” Lin Yue patted his shoulder.

Li Shiwei laughed, “Besides, saying we caught them by fishing isn’t a lie. Using our hands to pull them from the river still counts as fishing, right?”

Lin Heng nodded, chuckling, “You’re right, we each caught one.”

They chatted and laughed their way back to Hongfeng Village, walking proudly.

Lin Heng’s parents were digging sweet potatoes when they saw all the fish and were utterly shocked.

“Two blasts and so many fish?” Lin Heng’s father couldn’t believe it.

“I said I caught them, Dad. Do you believe me?” Lin Heng grinned.

His mother was quick to reply, “Only when pigs fly.”

Lin Heng: “Mom… you’re going to lose your son if you keep this up.”

She snorted coldly, “I don’t believe it.”

Lin Heng shrugged, “Fine, it really was blasting. The key was choosing the right spot. That backwater bay had a slow current—obviously a big fish hiding place.”

Li Baiquan told everyone, “Enough talk. Let’s get a mat out, kill the fish, salt them, and hang them up.”

“And we’ve already split the catch—we get seventy percent, you get thirty,” he added with a smile.

Lin Heng’s father shook his head, “No need for all that. We’ll just take a few to eat. The explosives were yours.”

Li Shiwei shook his head, “Uncle, don’t say that. We all agreed to this. Taking seventy percent is already plenty.”

“Yes, Dad, let’s get started and stop fussing,” Lin Heng said, waving his hand.

The division was fair. Although he and his brother didn’t supply the explosives, they helped a lot, so they deserved a share.

“Right, hurry up. After drying, we can bring them back. Carrying hundreds of pounds of fish up the mountain would be deadly,” Li Shiwei laughed.

“Okay then,” Lin Heng’s mother went inside to get the mat.

Lin Heng put the live black fish, carp, and crucian carp they’d caught back into the fish pond at home. These types are hardy; as long as there’s water, they can survive a couple of hours easily.

Having live fish in the pond meant fresh fish whenever they wanted—much better than dried.

“I’m exhausted—come massage me,” Lin Heng said, sitting in the pavilion and looking at his wife.

Xiulan blinked and smiled, “You stink. No massages for you.”

“If it weren’t for the fishy smell on me, I’d at least get you dirty,” Lin Heng teased.

But his wife smelled so good he really couldn’t resist.

“Come inside, I’ve prepared something tasty,” Xiulan said. Xiaoxia had been taken away by Caiyun, so it was just the two of them.

Inside, Xiulan reheated the stir-fried pickled beans with pork and brought it out with soft flatbread, wrapping some up for Lin Heng.

“Why don’t you feed me? My hands smell like fish,” Lin Heng chuckled.

“Well, I guess I’ll suffer through and feed you then,” Xiulan said, glancing at him as she sat down beside him to feed him.

“Ah, this tastes so much better already,” Lin Heng said contentedly. After a day out, coming home to his wife feeding him was wonderful.

Xiulan puffed her cheeks, took a bite herself, and grumbled, “Eat the leftovers.”

Lin Heng laughed, “Thanks for the reward, wifey.”

He happily took big bites.

Xiulan: “…”

She was truly exasperated with him.

After filling their stomachs, the two went to the old house. Lin Heng pointed at the giant catfish on the bamboo mat and laughed, “Xiulan, do you believe I caught this?”

“Don’t lie to me,” Xiulan blinked, clearly not convinced.

Lin Heng: “…”

“Xiulan, you’ve changed—you don’t believe me anymore,” Lin Heng feigned tears.

Xiulan shrugged innocently, “Mainly because you always come up empty-handed fishing for creek grouper.”

Lin Heng was speechless.

“Hahaha, see? Nobody would believe you,” Lin Heng’s mother laughed heartily.

Lin Heng looked at his mother decisively, “Mom, I’m disowning you—don’t recognize me as your son anymore.”

His mother didn’t care at all, “Oh no, really? Then will you look after the horses and sheep yourself?”

“Disowning has nothing to do with that,” Lin Heng said, losing his tough act immediately.

Everyone burst out laughing, filling the house with cheerful energy.

“Wait and see, Mom. Next time, I’ll catch a fifty- or sixty-pound fish with my own hands,” Lin Heng said.

“Hm, I believe you,” his mother said, patting his shoulder.

Lin Heng didn’t want to argue with his mother—it was pointless; she always teased him.

They dumped all the fish on the table. Lin Heng said, “Let’s divide the work: some people will scale the fish, some will gut them, and some will remove the entrails and gills.”

With the tasks assigned, the whole family pitched in. Lin Heng handed his knife to his wife to cut the fish.

Removing guts and gills is rough on the hands, and scaling gets messy. He didn’t want his wife to do those tasks.

After the division, Lin Heng and Li Shiwei took care of scaling, while Lin Heng’s father, uncle-in-law, and older brother handled gutting—they all had calloused hands, so it didn’t hurt them.

“Blasting fish is fun for a moment, but cleaning them is really exhausting.”

After working for a short while, Lin Heng already missed his electric fish scaler—those things work so fast.

“My back and waist are killing me,” Li Shiwei shook his head. Scraping fish scales was really no fun.

As they cleaned the fish, many villagers gathered around, amazed by the sheer amount of fish.

Some curious folks asked how they got the fish, and naturally, Lin Heng and the others said they were caught with nets—there was no way they’d admit to using explosives.

They didn’t stop working to eat; from six-thirty to nine o’clock, they finally finished cleaning all the fish.

Everyone reeked of fishy smell, and they had filled two big basins with guts. Even Xiongba was stuffed full and lying on the ground, not wanting to move.

Except for the fish they planned to eat in the next couple of days and some smaller fish, they cut the rest in half—it’s easier to dry that way.

Two large wooden tubs were packed full of salted fish, ready to be hung out to dry first thing in the morning.

That night, everyone just had a simple bowl of sauerkraut noodles before turning in.

Lin Heng showered several times before he could finally wash off the fishy smell.

Luckily, he had plenty of cleaning products bought from the city—otherwise, it would’ve been impossible to get rid of.

The next morning, Lin Heng opened his eyes and noticed his wife wasn’t beside him. He immediately pulled her close and held her.

“Feeling unwell?” He touched her head, but she didn’t have a fever.

“No, I’m just spacing out,” Xiulan smiled and tied up her hair with a rubber band, then snuggled back into Lin Heng’s arms.

Over the past six months, Lin Heng’s been climbing mountains, crossing rivers, practicing archery, and exercising regularly—his muscles became more defined, making Xiulan even more comfortable leaning against him. She was deeply attracted to his strong masculine energy.

And Xiulan herself was no longer as tired as before, no longer doing heavy farm work. With Lin Heng’s care and the skincare products she used, she looked even fairer and more beautiful than before—like she was made of water.

“There’s a light rain outside. Do you still want to go ahead with the barbecue today?” Xiulan asked, pressing against Lin Heng’s chest.

Lin Heng inhaled the scent of her hair. “If it’s just this fine drizzle, then yeah, let’s go. You don’t want to?”

“I do. Everything’s already prepared,” Xiulan nodded. This kind of simple life was exactly what she had been hoping for.

“But I want to rest a bit more, so don’t move around too much.” She shifted positions and curled up on Lin Heng’s chest like a little cat.

Although Lin Heng had to log in every morning for work, he could still control himself—staying quiet like this was nice.

After half an hour of lounging in bed, Xiulan said, “Get up now, we still have to make fish balls this morning.”

“All right.”

They got up, washed up, and Lin Heng led Xiulan in some Tai Chi to warm up. Afterwards, he did fifty push-ups and several sets of abdominal exercises.

Archery, of course, was also a must—he couldn’t lose his skills.

Xiulan went to cook while Lin Heng woke Xiaoxia.

Xiaoxia had a bit of a runny nose recently, so Lin Heng dressed her warmly and brewed some ginger-brown sugar water for her on a small stove.

After drinking the tea, Xiulan had breakfast ready. Since they were going to barbecue at noon, the morning meal was a simple soup.

“Look, the sun’s actually out,” Lin Heng said after eating, pointing at the sky.

Xiulan shook her head. “The weather’s weird, but the sun’s good—it’ll help dry the fish.”

After checking the sky, Xiulan took out half of the big catfish. “Let’s make fish balls with this.”

That was the 42-pound catfish. After dividing it last night, Xiulan had taken half home.

“Okay, I’ll help.” Lin Heng nodded; he was good at making fish balls, and they were perfect for Xiaoxia.

“I’ll press, you scrape.” Xiulan handed Lin Heng a kitchen knife.

They didn’t mince the fish directly but scraped it bit by bit to get a finer texture.

From 7:30 to 9:00, they took turns scraping all the fish meat into a big white pile.

Once the fish balls were ready, Xiulan handed them to Lin Heng: “You stir it all in one direction, I’ll get some scallion-ginger water.”

“All right.” Lin Heng nodded.

He stirred the fish meat for a while. Xiulan came back with a big bowl of scallion-ginger water, added two egg whites, some salt, and pork lard, and mixed it all in.

They kept stirring until the fish paste stuck to Lin Heng’s hands and wouldn’t come off easily. Then they formed the fish balls and dropped them into water—each one smooth, white, and full of fresh fish aroma.

Authentic fish balls don’t need starch. Lin Heng felt like his hands were worn out—definitely no easy task.

Xiulan took the fish balls inside to simmer gently until fully cooked and firm.

Lin Heng couldn’t resist and tried one. It was springy, smooth, fresh, and almost free of any fishy smell.

“Here, Xiaoxia, try one.” Lin Heng fed half to their daughter.

Xiaoxia was immediately captivated by the delicious fish ball, clinging to Lin Heng’s leg and whining, “So good! Daddy, I want more.”

“I’ll make her some to eat so she won’t be hungry during the barbecue,” Xiulan said. Fish balls are easy to digest, perfect for Xiaoxia.

They made a soup with fish bones and winter melon, which quickly turned milky white and fragrant.

“So delicious~” Xiaoxia followed Xiulan like a little puppy. The winter melon fish ball soup had a bit of cilantro in it, and Lin Heng was powerless to resist the aroma.

“Sit on the stool; I’ll feed you.” Xiulan said.

Xiaoxia obediently sat down. Xiulan cooled the fish balls and fed her slowly.

Xiaoxia finished the whole bowl of fish balls and winter melon, not leaving a drop of soup—proof the flavor was excellent.

Lin Heng packed up everything needed for the barbecue.

“Let’s just go.” Lin Heng looked at Xiulan.

“Okay.” Xiulan took Xiaoxia’s hand and headed out.

Lin Heng’s older brother and sister-in-law were ready too, and their three sons were all excited for the picnic.

For rural kids, it was almost unbelievable for parents to take them on a picnic.

“Big brother, why’d you bring a whole chicken? Fish and beef are enough.” Lin Heng looked at his brother with mild exasperation.

“There are a lot of people, and it’ll all get eaten. Roast chicken smells so good—I want some too,” Lin Yue smiled.

Sister-in-law Liu Juan was also very kind, smiling as she said, “There are five of us. If we don’t bring anything, that would be hard to explain.”

“All right then,” Lin Heng said helplessly.

In the old house, Li Shiwei had already gotten up, carrying a ten-pound big grass carp and two pounds of small white fish. A few of them headed straight to Red Maple Mountain.

Lin’s mother had also prepared quite a few dishes, planning to invite Lin Heng’s third uncle over for lunch.

It was already November 1st. North of the Qinling Mountains, autumn came with a sharp chill—mornings had become quite chilly these past few days.

“I want to swing!”

Once they reached Red Maple Mountain, Lin Wei and Lin Tao immediately rushed to claim the swings. Luckily, there were two, so both could play.

Xiaoxia watched Lin Yong, who was about her age, wanting to talk but too shy to say anything.

“This place is really beautiful,” Liu Juan sighed. It was her first time here.

Lin Heng chuckled and said to everyone, “Let’s get started. Let’s get the charcoal going, skewer the beef and pork, and marinate the fish.”

“Okay!” Everyone eagerly jumped into action.

Before long, Caiyun arrived with Lin Hai and Tian Yan.

It was Tian Yan’s first time at a Lin family gathering. Although most people were young, she was still a bit shy.

Lin Hai was all smiles, holding her hand as he introduced her to the group: “This is my girlfriend, Tian Yan. I’m sure you all know her.”

“Hello, everyone,” Tian Yan greeted with a smile, letting go of Lin Hai’s hand and grabbing Caiyun’s instead.

“Of course we know her. Lin Hai, you better treat my teacher well,” Caiyun joked.

After Tian Yan greeted everyone, Caiyun pulled her off to explore the place.

The scenery at Red Maple Mountain impressed Tian Yan, and the cozy forest cabin made her see Lin Heng in a new light—she hadn’t realized he had such a refined side before.

But she knew it was all because of Lin Lian’s wife, Xiulan. Caiyun had told her a lot about Lin Heng and Xiulan, so instinctively, she and Caiyun went to find Xiulan to play, wanting to see what kind of woman she really was.

(The End of chapter)