Chapter 5: First Visit to Pigeon City
Chapter 5: First Visit to Pigeon City
Today is not a rest day, and there are still a large number of anglers gathered by the river, mostly elderly people.
You can kill your free time without spending any money.
If you are lucky enough to catch two big fish, you might be able to supplement your family income.
With each person having two taels of meat coupons and two taels of oil coupons per month, everyone was short of oil and water and it was rare for them to have a meal of meat.
Although fish meat is not as delicious as pork, it is still meat after all, and is much more nutritious than cornmeal and flour.
Wang Dong found a place with few people, broke the ice first, threw the bait he had prepared in advance into the water, and then started to tie the fishing line, fish hook, and adjust the height of the water float...
Wang Dong waited until bubbles began to appear at the nesting place before hanging the bait on the hook. He held the fishing rod with one hand and cast it gently. The baited hook landed on the water surface five meters away...
All you need to do next is wait quietly.
Perhaps it was because of the bait, or perhaps it was because of the special bait, but less than five minutes after the hook was put in, the reed float moved.
Wang Dong immediately focused his attention on the fish float, trying to grasp the best time to lift the rod.
The fishing rod in my hand is made of bamboo, which is far less elastic than the carbon fiber of later generations.
If you want to catch the fish right at the mouth, you must grasp the best time to lift the rod.
The fishing float suddenly sank into the water. In a flash, Wang Dong quickly picked up the fishing rod.
At the same time, a force was transmitted from the fishing line to Wang Dong's hand.
"A fish has taken the bait..."
Wang Dong was secretly delighted and held the fishing rod tightly to prevent the fish from getting off the hook.
A half-pound crucian carp was immediately lifted out of the water and fell on the grass on the shore.
Wang Dong decisively pressed him to the ground, removed the fishhook and threw it into the bucket.
I'm in a very happy mood.
The first fish caught was a half-pound crucian carp, which shows that the fish resources in this river are quite abundant.
Quickly put new bait on the hook and throw it into the water.
The bait in the water cannot last for too long.
He must catch a few more fish before the bait is eaten up, otherwise it will be difficult to catch fish.
In his memory, the third uncle would go to the river to fish every time he had a break. Most of the time he would only catch a few small fish as long as a finger, and even a half-pound crucian carp was difficult to catch.
The third uncle's fishing skills are recognized as the best in the hospital.
He couldn't catch any fish, which shows how difficult it is to catch fish in the river.
Today I caught a half-pound crucian carp, probably because I used nesting materials and special baits.
Once the nesting materials are eaten up, you will no longer have any advantage.
No matter how good your fishing skills are, they will be useless if no fish takes the bait.
Over the next half hour, Wang Dong lifted the rod almost every five minutes. Except for two or three empty-handed catches, he was able to catch one fish every other time, some were big, some were small.
The smallest crucian carp weighs about 2 taels...
The largest one was a carp, weighing more than three pounds, golden in color, and looking very tempting.
After waiting for more than ten minutes without catching a single fish, Wang Dong realized that the bait he had prepared in advance had been eaten up and it would be futile to continue waiting.
Besides, I have already caught more than ten crucian carps and carps of different sizes. It would be difficult to handle if there are more.
He decided to keep a few small crucian carps for soup, a big carp for stewing, and send the remaining medium-sized crucian carps and carps to the Pigeon Market to sell.
In order to prepare dinner tonight and prove his cooking skills to his family, Wang Dong went to the kitchen before going out.
Apart from a tiny amount of lard, a little salt, and half a can of soy sauce, there were no other ingredients.
Make bricks without straw.
Without raw materials, Wang Dong’s cooking skills would be useless no matter how good they are.
So he thought of the Pigeon Market. Although it was illegal to buy and sell things in the Pigeon Market, as the city's supplies became increasingly scarce, the government could not just watch the people starve to death, so it began to acquiesce to the existence of the Pigeon Market.
As long as there are no large transactions and they are not too excessive, the streets basically turn a blind eye.
We covered the bucket with water plants, put away the fishing hooks and lines, and headed for the Pigeon Market.
It's already two o'clock in the afternoon. Going to the pigeon market, selling fish, and buying materials at the supply and marketing cooperative... all takes time, so we have to hurry.
…………
The Pigeon Market was in an alley. There was someone guarding the door, and Wang Dong had to pay five cents before he was allowed in.
It's more lively inside than I imagined.
The vendors stood on both sides of the alley with their goods in front of them, not saying a word.
The buyer walks in the middle, asks the price of something he wants, pays, takes the item and leaves without any delay.
Although the streets condone the existence of the Pigeon City, this kind of transaction is illegal after all. People buy what they want as soon as possible and leave as they don’t want to stay in the Pigeon City for too long.
Perhaps because everyone was short of meat, Wang Dong attracted the attention of several people as soon as he put the fish in the bucket out.
"Young man, how much do you sell this fish for?" a well-mannered middle-aged man asked with shining eyes.
"Two cents for a piece weighing half a pound... Thirty cents for a piece weighing seven or eight ounces, forty cents for a piece weighing more than a pound..."
"The two carps weigh more than 1.3 jin, 50 cents each..."
"Pork at the supply and marketing cooperative costs more than 80 cents a pound and requires meat coupons. Although fish is not as good as pork, it only costs 40 cents a pound and does not require coupons. It is definitely a good deal."
Wang Dong worked hard to sell the few fish he brought.
The fish were still swimming in the bucket and looked very fresh.
The Chinese New Year is coming soon, but no matter how poor you are, there should be a meat dish for the New Year’s Eve dinner.
If you can't buy pork, you can use a big carp instead.
And Wang Dong’s selling price is indeed very cheap.
The middle-aged man was immediately tempted, fearing that the two big carps would be snatched away by someone else, so he quickly replied: "I want two big carps..."
"Little brother, this is one dollar, keep it!"
Several other middle-aged men felt regretful because they also had their eyes on these two big carps.
But someone else had already gotten there, so he could only pick the big ones among the short ones, leaving only the crucian carp.
Five minutes later, except for a few fish left by Wang Dong himself, all the remaining carp and crucian carp were sold out.
The empty pockets were filled with change again.
Wang Dong calculated in his mind and found that it was exactly two yuan and eighty cents, which was higher than the daily salary of most workers in Beijing.
A bold idea quickly popped into my mind.
There is still one year before the natural disaster. If we don’t want to go hungry by then, we must store food in advance.
But buying food requires money, and my salary is definitely not enough.
He decided that in the next year, apart from working, he would go fishing whenever he had time, and try to exchange all the fish he caught for food in Pigeon City.
After putting away the bucket, he began to visit the pigeon market as a buyer, trying to buy as many ingredients as possible for the evening.
Ginger, garlic, peppercorns, dried chilies...are all common dry goods in rural areas and were bought quickly.
When he was almost at the end of the Pigeon Market, Wang Dong was lucky enough to buy a piece of tofu, which was the perfect match for making fish soup.
Just when Wang Dong was disappointed and frowned worrying about oil, a young man in a military coat suddenly came over.
"Little brother... do you want a ticket?"
"I have all kinds of tickets here, and the prices are guaranteed to be fair..."
Wang Dong's eyes suddenly lit up and his frown relaxed.
(End of this chapter)