Era-Ch37

Chapter 37: Long Worms and Old Turtles
“What happened?”

Lin Yue ran over and asked.

“A yellow snake just crawled into the house. Dad just caught it and was about to release it,” said Sister-in-law Liu Juan.

“This yellow snake weighs at least four pounds. It’s so fat,” Lin’s father said, holding a large yellow-patterned snake, about 1.4-1.5 meters long, thicker than an adult’s wrist, coiled around his shoulder.

“Dad, give me the snake. I’ll take it to the river and release it so it doesn’t come back into the house,” Lin Heng said suddenly, looking at his father.

In rural areas, boys often herd cattle in the mountains from a young age, and by the time they’re teens, they aren’t afraid of snakes, unlike superstitious people.

“Alright,” Lin’s father nodded, not thinking much about it, and handed the snake to Lin Heng.

“I’ll shine the flashlight for you,” Lin Yue said and was about to walk with him.

“No need. Let Xiulan hold the flashlight for me. You take the yellow eel back and keep it,” Lin Heng shook his head.

“Alright then.” Lin Yue nodded, not thinking much of it.

Xiulan took the flashlight and walked with Lin Heng towards the river. Lin Yue and the others went back inside.

Everyone else was eager to ask Lin Yue how many yellow eels he caught that night and wanted to see the haul.

After walking a short distance, Xiulan suddenly spoke: “Are you planning to secretly sell the snake?”

Lin Heng was taken aback: “How did you know?”

He didn’t expect his wife to guess it. Indeed, when he saw the snake, he had the idea, but his parents were superstitious and believed selling snakes would bring bad luck and retaliation. However, Lin Heng didn’t believe in such things. In his view, making money to improve his family’s life was the priority.

The local price for yellow snakes was three yuan per pound, and this one would easily sell for ten yuan, more than half a month’s salary for most people.

“If you didn’t have other plans, you wouldn’t have taken this job,” Xiulan said, looking at him with a bit of fear. “Maybe we should just release it. If Dad finds out, it won’t be good. They all say this creature has a spirit and shouldn’t be sold.”

“At least ten yuan! Don’t worry about it. I’ll sell it secretly,” Lin Heng said firmly. He needed startup capital urgently.

In his previous life, he had never sold a snake, but he never ran into trouble. Those who did sell snakes never seemed to have bad luck.

To accumulate capital, he wouldn’t hesitate to sell even a hundred snakes.

The snake wasn’t collected earlier because no one would buy it. Local vendors only bought three types of snakes: yellow snakes (king cobras), black-eyed cobras (black-browed snakes), and water snakes.

Any other snakes had no value unless for personal consumption.

When Xiulan heard “ten yuan,” she fell silent. Gathering herbs might take two months to earn that much.

“Do you have a bag?” Xiulan eventually agreed.

“No. We’ll find one from someone else’s house,” Lin Heng said, shaking his head. It was too late to do anything else, and the snake couldn’t be killed, as dead snakes couldn’t be sold.

“I have one. I put a bag outside while gathering piggrass today. I’ll go get it for you,” Xiulan said and went off to find the bag.

“Be careful,” Lin Heng reminded her, squatting down to wait.

Looking at the yellow snake, Lin Heng thought about how rare such a big one was, as over the past few years, big snakes had been caught and were almost gone.

“Here’s the bag,” Xiulan said, bringing back a cloth bag she had sewn from scraps of fabric.

After putting the snake in the bag, Lin Heng sealed it and hung it on a tree stump in the forest, planning to get it in the morning with a basket.

“Alright, let’s head back,” Lin Heng smiled and led Xiulan back.

By the time they returned home, everyone had already gone to bed. The yellow eels were in a wooden tub, and when Xiulan saw the quantity, she was surprised: “So many.”

“This is the first time this year, of course, there’s a lot. It won’t be like this every time,” Lin Heng smiled.

He then checked on the fish eggs. Most of the fish embryos were starting to tremble. In two days, they would fully hatch.

“Quickly wash your feet and rest,” Xiulan said softly, bringing Lin Heng some water to wash his feet.

Lin Heng nodded, washed his feet, and went to bed. He had been sore all over lately, but he had no choice. He needed to work hard to make money.

The next morning, it rained lightly. This was a good time for planting sweet potatoes. Lin Heng’s mother, Caiyun, and Xiulan went to plant them at 5:30 AM, while Lin’s father was helping the carpenter.

Lin Heng didn’t get out of bed until almost 6:00 AM. He ate half of the leftover sauerkraut soup and fed the other half to Xiong Ba.

“Get up. Go with your brother to the town and order some tiles. Order 5,000 tiles first, and we’ll order more if we need them,” Lin’s father said when he saw Lin Heng up.

“I know. I’ll go check the river first,” Lin Heng said and grabbed a bamboo basket before running out.

He first went to the woods where he had hidden the yellow snake to make sure it was fine. Then, he placed it in the basket, covered it with some piggrass, and headed quickly to the river. If he was late and someone took what he left, it would be a huge loss.

He rushed a kilometer to the river, not even stopping to wipe the sweat from his face, and immediately focused on the spot where he had set the fish hook last night.

Splash!

With a splash, a large turtle started struggling wildly in the water. Lin Heng didn’t even catch his breath, pulling on the cotton line and swiftly hauling it onto the shore.

Once he stepped on it to secure it, he felt relieved. Only once it was under control could he truly claim it as his.

“Wow, it’s huge! It must weigh at least three pounds,” Lin Heng said, watching the turtle flip its limbs and stretch its neck to try and bite him.

Sure enough, it had eaten the fish from the hook last night. Catching an uninjured fish was incredibly hard, but an injured one couldn’t swim fast, so the turtle couldn’t resist.

As a seasoned fisherman, Lin Heng had a great understanding of the turtle’s psychology. The hook had pierced the turtle’s jaw, preventing it from escaping.

He quickly grabbed its head, removed the hook, and placed it in the prepared large bag.

On the way back, Lin Heng was excited.

The so-called turtle is the same as the “wang ba” (a term for turtles). Wild turtles are highly nutritious, and a dish like “霸王别姬” (a famous dish) can sell for dozens of yuan.

This turtle could be sold for three yuan per pound in the town’s restaurants, which was quite rare and difficult to catch. If sold to a city restaurant, it could fetch an even higher price.

When Lin Heng returned, Lin Yue hurried over to ask, “Did you catch anything?”

Lin’s father and the carpenter looked over as well. They had heard from Lin Yue that Lin Heng had set a hook in the river to catch the turtle that escaped last night.

Both of them didn’t hold out much hope, but they couldn’t help but look at Lin Heng when he came back.

End of Chapter