Badong County is located in the northeast region of Guixiang Prefecture, the county border is long and narrow, the tributaries of the Yangtze River traverse it, and the Qingjiang River in the south cuts it into three sections, the mountains on both sides of the Yangtze River stand, and the slope at the foot of the mountain is densely covered with residential small buildings, wooden houses and tile houses. The main street of the county town is built along the north of the river, on the long street that stretches for several miles by the river, all kinds of shops and restaurants stand in a forest, and the fish market planned on both sides of the east gate is full of people's voices, the sound of selling, shouting, and bargaining are endless, and the fish market is set off with a lively and extraordinary.

"Don't hide it, Brother Pi, the fish market has been bad recently, and business is difficult!" A lean middle-aged man put down the scale, threw a bag of grass carp with about seventy catties back at the young man's feet, raised his eyebrows and said: "You see that this bastard fish is not easy to sell now, my brother will give you a real price, how about three dollars a catty?" ”

The young man pulled the bag and turned his head away, not talking nonsense with the lean man. What are you kidding, the old man Liu in front of him still collects five dollars a catty, if he hadn't been able to do so all of a sudden, Lao Tzu would have come to you Yan Mazi?

This lean middle-aged man is named Yan Fuyou, because he was born with a pockmarked face, so the people in the county call him Yan Mazi, Yan Fuyou is very dissatisfied with the name of pockmarks, after opening a fish stall to make some money, he went to give the pockmarks on his face, but he never thought that his face would become more ugly, and later he knew that Yunyou Langzhong, who gave him pockmarks, was a charlatan, and he would not take pockmarks at all.

Yan Mazi saw that the young man didn't eat his own set, so he hurriedly chased after him a few steps and grabbed the bag: "Ouch, I said Pi Yang, my brother Pi, looking at the entire fish market, there are few that can ask for so many bastard fish at once, why bother going around, the price is negotiable, the price is negotiable!" ”

Pi Yang stopped, and when he turned around, he saw that Yan Mazi almost didn't vomit, only to see that his greasy face was pitted, a pair of rat eyes were shining, one hand was dragging the bag, and the other hand was brushing the few thin long beards on his chin, he couldn't help but feel sick to his stomach, and said with a smile: "Brother Yan, aren't there still a few more, say a price, and sell you if it's suitable, and you will often do it in the future." ”

Yan Mazi raised four fingers and shook it when he heard this, and when he saw Pi Yang dragging the bag and about to leave, he hurriedly said: "Five dollars and five dollars, it's five dollars, Brother Pi, your temper is too big!" ”

Pi Yang laughed, carried the bag to the water tank with Yan Mazi, poured the grass carp into it, and laughed: "Brother Yan, if it weren't for the little brother, I would have to support my family, and the pressure was great!" ”

Yan Mazi was walking towards the stall, glanced back at Pi Yang and said in surprise: "Why did Brother Pi get married?" Why have you never seen your siblings? ”

Pi Yang shook his head and smiled bitterly, not knowing how to answer Yan Mazi.

Two months ago, Pi Yang and Wu Zixin sold two military horses to black marketeers in the suburbs for one hundred and thirty taels of silver. Before leaving the city, he saw that a notice had been posted in front of the county yamen that Wu Qinghe's grandfather and grandson were wanted, so he had to rent a small house in Duhe Town, ten miles east of the city.

When he was idle, Pi Yang went to the river to observe how the small fishing boat docked on the shore was structured, and after finding out the structure, he cut down more than a dozen big trees and carried them to the riverside, half bought and half borrowed some tools, and built a small boat according to the gourd painting scoop, during which he went to the old carpenter's house in the town with wine to ask many questions, he himself has strong hands-on ability, and it took less than half a month to DIY a small fishing boat with cabin.

After spending a few days with the fishermen to learn some fishing knowledge, he went to the city to buy fishing rods and nets and other tools, and began to row a small boat to the sea to cast nets, and started to fish for a living.

Most of the fishermen go out to sea in the evening to cast their nets, and only collect the nets in the early morning of the next day, although the tributaries of the Yangtze River in Linduhe Town are not turbulent, and even the water is not flowing with the naked eye, but no one dares to stay on the river overnight, otherwise they wake up early the next morning to find that people have drifted to Xiuzhou.

Pi Yang generally collected the net at the end of the day, went ashore and pushed the wheelbarrow to the fish market non-stop, did not set up a stall, sold all the fish to the fishmongers, bought some snacks to eat and hurried back, mainly because there was no hurry, and there was a living ancestor at home.

It's okay at first, but if Wu Zixin's character can live idlely, the sun will definitely hit the west, and for a few days when she reaches Duhe Town for almost a month, she jumps every day to go out to fish, otherwise she won't cook or eat, Pi Yang had no choice but to buy a light veil to cover her appearance and lead her out.

But even if there is a light veil to cover her face, just looking at her soft figure, you can also get a glimpse of that beautiful face, as long as you go out, whether it is an old man or a young man in the town, she is staring at her intently with her chin hanging, and there is too much to knock on the door at night with wine to fight with Pi Yang until dawn, and before he is allowed to enter the door, he said: "After drinking wine, I will be a brother from now on, can I give my brother this face, and call you a big brother, do you agree?" "So angry that Pi Yang almost sank him into the Yangtze River with a net to feed the fish, you are fucking in your thirties, and you are still licking your face and calling someone else's big brother, are you dead?

In order to avoid causing trouble, Wu Zixin is very sensible and has started her old job at home - sewing clothes, one can kill time, and the other can supplement the family. She is more skillful, she can sew a ready-to-wear garment in two days, and in a month, she has made more than a dozen sets of exquisite new clothes, and Pi Yang plans to take them to the city to set up a stall to sell this afternoon.

Although Yan Mazi is a good person, he is fortunate to be active in business and quite trustworthy, so the entire fish market is the largest in his fish stall. He strung the several copper coins together and handed them to Pi Yang, glanced around, and said in a low voice: "Brother Pi, I heard that Hu Lao Er caught two water tigers a few days ago and sold them to Ronglu Inn. ”

Damn, catch two at once, then it won't be profitable, this Hu Lao Er is really fucking shit luck. Pi Yang is aware of the water tiger, the scientific name is the squid, is a ferocious carnivorous fish, the adult fish can reach up to two meters long, enough to weigh more than 100 pounds, most of them live in the middle and upper reaches of the big river with rapids, in order to facilitate spawning, although this tributary located in Badong County is also a big river, but the water flow is not very turbulent, so it is impossible to catch this water tiger

"It's good that ordinary people can see it, and they can catch two at once, isn't Brother Yan playing with his little brother?" Pi Yang was a little unconvinced.

Yan Mazi was anxious when he heard it: "Whoever lied to you is a bastard!" At the time of July, when the weather is at its hottest, the water tigers are very active, and it is not surprising that a few swim down on the side. Seeing that Pi Yang seemed to be thinking, he continued: "With your ability, brother, I believe that it will not be a problem to catch one or two. ”