There is a special lighting tool for fishing in the countryside, called "fire basket", equipped with a tool called "pecking needle" to catch fish, as well as a fish basket and bamboo basket, which is generally used to catch fish at night at the turn of spring and summer when fish are spawning.

The "fire basket" is made of iron wire twisted into a basket, hence the name. The basket was used for firewood, and a long wooden stick was attached to the front end, which could be used to hold it.

"Peck needle" is to use two bamboo pieces to clamp together, find some thin steel wires cut into dozens, the length is the same, one end is sharpened, densely arranged in a row, sandwiched in the front end of the bamboo piece, the pointed end is exposed, the blunt end is hidden in the bamboo piece, and then firmly fixed with the wire, it is made into a pecking needle.

The firewood used in the fire blue is more particular. After the pine tree dies, after a period of time, the surface is all rotten, the core part of the tree will gradually accumulate pine resin, the longer the dead time, the smaller the core part, the higher the pine resin content, after getting this pine tree back, split into small pieces, a little to burn, the flame is very large and very resistant to burning.

The hometown dialect calls the pine tree "Qiongshu", which is roughly the pronunciation, probably because the pine tree is rich in resin and shaped like agar jelly. Therefore, such pine roots, after being chopped into firewood, are called "Qiongguang".

"Qiongguang" is also a common ignition material in the villagers' homes, and when used as a ignition material, "Qiongguang" should be split into a slender wooden strip the size of a match and placed next to the stove. When lighting the fire, first use a match to light the "Qiongguang", and then ignite the firewood in the stove.

"Qiongguang" is practical, and the demand of rural families in mountainous areas is very high, so it is not so easy to find, and it is often found occasionally in the deep mountains and old forests. When I was a child, I often went to the deep mountains and old forests to cut firewood, because the miscellaneous trees there were thick and resistant to burning.

Once the "Qiongguang" is found when chopping wood, the people in the mountains will regard it as a treasure, dig it out and pick it up home, and accumulate it for daily fire, and also accumulate for the "fire basket" pecking fish. If you are lucky, you may find a fallen and dead pine tree, which is rotten all around, and the oil in the heart of the tree accumulates, and the whole pine tree is "Qiongguang", then you will be rich.

Because it is a "fire basket" lighting to catch fish, this fishing method is called "Zhaoyu" by the image of rural people. In addition to "fire blue" and "pecking needle", "Zhaoyu" also uses fish baskets and bamboo baskets.

The basket is made of bamboo strips, with a small mouth and a large belly, and is also worn with a strap that can be tied around the waist to make it easy to hold the fish caught.

The bamboo basket is made of bamboo strips, which can be worn with shoulder straps and carried on the shoulder, which is used to hold the "qiongguang". Some people want to save trouble, often put "Qiongguang" directly in the fish basket, Qiongguang loose does not prevent the small fish from being put in. The length of time to "shine on the fish" depends on how much "Qiongguang" is carried.

Spring is the season of revival of all things, and it is also the season of animal reproduction, and the small fish at this time often stay in shallow water at night to lay eggs, motionless.

At this time, the farmland has just been leveled, and a mound full of water is waiting for the seedlings to be planted. The dikes in the creek have also been lowered, and the ditches in the fields are full of water, ready for irrigation purposes.

The water in the rice fields is shallow and calm, the ditches are full and slow, which is the most suitable for fish to spawn, and after a winter, the bait is the most abundant, and the fish come down the river as a habitat, and the silent night fulfills the sacred reproduction mission.

At the same time as the rice fields, there are also winding fields. The field is used to cut off the farmland, which is generally enclosed along the terrain to ensure that a piece of farmland is flat, and it is also conducive to walking or carrying things.

The field is narrow, completely dirt, particularly soft, a year of field labor, walking and carrying the load of the road, with farm tools to drive cattle to change the field, trampling on the field, the destructive force is not small, the field will often suffer damage, so it is necessary to repair and maintain.

Weeds will also grow on the field, easy to hide insects and snakes, and also affect the growth of rice, so it is necessary to clean up frequently, after spring and summer, weeds have grown quite vigorously, especially the small "scar grass", can grow all over the steep slope.

The steep slope between the upper and lower farmland, the countryside is called "Kan", but it is not a real Kan, the dialect is the meaning of the vertical steep slope, eliminate the weeds on the "Kan", called "Cutting Kan", generally carried out at the same time as "double grabbing", the early rice has just been harvested, and the late rice field has not yet begun to be leveled, so it is necessary to "cut the Kan" at this time.

"Cutting the ridge" will make the field narrower, and it will also need to be widened by maintenance. This maintenance method is to use iron palladium to pick up the soil from the farmland, and make it taller and thicker, which is called "Zuotian" by rural people.

Iron palladium is similar to Zhu Bajie's nine-tooth nail palladium, but only four teeth, generally divided into two kinds of size, the big one is mostly used by men with great strength to lift heavy objects to dig the soil, and it is also used to clean up the cattle pen, and the small ones are mostly used by women with little strength to loosen the soil between the seedlings in the vegetable field.

"Farming" to have experience, the farmland with iron palladium, the moist soil evenly piled on the field, after the soil is dry, re-widening and firm, waiting for the "double grab" to come, waiting for the load.

In some deep-water fields, the soil is too thin to be picked up, and it is impossible to "make fields", where weeds can only grow naturally and wither naturally.

Therefore, the field is also very fertile, many farmers will plant soybeans on it, on the freshly made field, the bean seedlings are placed all the way over, grab a handful of mud in the field, buckle the root of the bean seedlings, and you can survive. Planted in the spring, the late rice can be harvested before it matures.

If you encounter the field is not dry, or soybeans are planted, you must be especially careful so as not to damage the field or bean seedlings, otherwise you will be scolded by the owner.

The small "scar grass" on the field, when it just emerges from the ground, is wrapped in a hard shell, which is particularly sharp, and sometimes can even pierce the rubber sole.

In the sound of frogs, walking on the field, holding a fire basket in one hand, a pecking needle in the other, a fish basket tied to the waist, and blindly carrying a bamboo basket, you can start to "shine on the fish".

Put the "Qiongguang" into the fire basket first, and after it is lit, the vigorous flame is very hot, and the grease burns to emit a unique pine fragrance, and there will be some smoke, which often smokes to the eyes. Therefore, the handle of the fire basket should be made longer and carried far away to avoid being smoked.

But it can't be too long, there are more than a dozen "Qiongguang" at one end, the handle is too long, it is difficult to lift, and it can't last too long, especially for children like us, it is more difficult to lift it, which will affect the length of time of "shining on the fish".

In the paddy fields, in the ditches and ditches, it is easy to find the fish lying quietly, holding a pecking needle in hand, quickly splitting it, and the side by side spikes can peck the fish up. After pecking, the pecking needle taps lightly on the edge of the basket, and the fish naturally falls into the basket.

Sometimes, you can go to a deep field overgrown with weeds or a small river, and if you're lucky, you'll be able to catch big fish. There is a saying in the countryside that "the fishy rice essence of fish" is especially fragrant when there is fish.

In that era when there was a lack of entertainment activities at night, "Zhaoyu" also became a kind of entertainment pastime, and it could also improve the food, and it was generally not stopped by adults, and I was tired of it in my childhood, whenever I cut wood in the mountains, I would actively search for "Qiongguang", just in order to have enough fuel for "Zhaoyu" in the future.