146: Snail Green

“I think you’re trying to reach for the sky, aren’t you? You want to kill and eat a fish worth 30,000. Anyway, I can’t bring myself to eat it.”

Great Uncle stood up angrily, about to leave. Yang Qi guessed if it were his great cousin, he might have gotten a beating.

At that moment, he blinked his eyes, looking at Zhang Jun with a mournful expression. The implication, 'It's all your fault,' was self-evident.

“Ahem, this… Yang Qi! I think Great Uncle is right, what are you trying to do? You really want to reach for the sky! Will eating it make you grow taller or something? Let’s not eat it, selling it for money is better!”

Zhang Jun said with a righteous expression, suppressing his laughter.

Liu Yao also said with a look of wanting to laugh but not daring to: “Exactly, sell it for money, sell it for money.”

“I say you guys are too…” Yang Qi remembered how greedy they were by the reservoir and was about to retort.

“You better not say anything. I already said I’m not eating it. No matter what you say, we’re selling it for money.” Zhang Jun quickly interrupted him,

“I’ll try to haggle with him again.”

With that, Zhang Jun directly opened a video call, and after connecting, he spoke directly to the large black carp in the basin:

“Old Fan, first look at this black carp. I’ll give you another chance to make an offer. You want to buy this black carp for only 30,000? You need to look closely, not a single scale is damaged. A wild black carp this big is hard to come by.”

“You also know that us brothers aren’t short on money. Look, my brother here is preparing to kill it to treat me and A Yao! I’m only stopping him temporarily because we have a good relationship.”

Zhang Jun even pointed the camera at Yang Qi’s hand holding the knife for a few seconds, then at Liu Yao’s face for two seconds.

Liu Yao seized the opportunity to say:

“Old Fan, you better rephrase your offer. I’m giving you another chance. If it’s not satisfactory, he’s really going to use the knife directly. If not, I’ll bring you a piece of meat to taste when I go back.”

A middle-aged man’s voice came from the other end of the phone:

“Mr. Zhang, Mr. Liu, what haven’t you eaten? This black carp isn’t that special. How about this, I’ll offer your brother 36,000 yuan for this black carp. I’ll come pick up the fish myself, what do you think?”

“Alright, I’ll ask him for you.”

“Yang Qi, you heard him, how about 36,000?”

Zhang Jun pointed the camera at Yang Qi.

“Sigh. Alright then! I’ll listen to you this time! I guess I’ll have to eat it next time.”

Yang Qi’s helpless expression and tone were so clear that Old Fan, on the other side of the screen, could feel it, further confirming that this person truly wasn’t short on money and didn’t want to sell.

“Okay, then I thank this brother and Mr. Zhang and Mr. Liu. I’ll treat you when I get back! Hahahaha.”

Hearing that the fish sold for 36,000 yuan, the uncles and grandparents finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Mom and the aunts were already preparing lunch. Although the black carp was missing, the other dishes were still good.

The yellow beef brought back in the morning was made into two dishes: one stewed beef ribs and one stir-fried yellow beef, plus a large basin of “Hegemon Bids Farewell to His Concubine,” braised crucian carp, and other home-grown vegetables.

The whole family, plus Zhang Jun and Liu Yao, ate heartily.

Especially Zhang Jun and Liu Yao, it wasn't that they hadn't eaten these dishes before, but this whole table of food was either wild or home-grown. The taste was far superior to what was sold in the city.

At noon, the few of them symbolically drank a little alcohol with Grandpa and then stopped. Because in the afternoon, they still had to go catch black carp.

As for the black carp at home, Uncle found a large bucket that was formerly used for manual rice threshing in the countryside.

He placed it in a cool spot, filled it with a lot of well water, and Zhang Jun even took out an aerator from his car. Only then was the black carp transferred to be kept alive, waiting for Old Fan to come and pick it up.

After lunch, the few of them rested for a few hours, then set off fishing again at 2:30 PM. Uncle was quite meticulous, running to the town to buy all the river snails from the market.

When the few of them arrived at the fishing spot, Yang Qi used his golden finger to check the nest. There were several black carp eating river snails in each nest.

“It feels good this afternoon! The nest we set up this morning should be active. Go, brothers!”

Yang Qi reminded them.

“Go, go! Let’s catch some black carp.”

The few of them walked to their fishing spots with full confidence.

Still using pond snails as bait, he cast his long rod, and with a “whoosh,” the pond snail was flung near the nest, landing with a “thud” in the water.

Yang Qi lit a cigarette and smoked, but his eyes were fixed on the float, because he knew there were black carp in the nest and they could bite at any moment.

He had just finished a cigarette when he suddenly saw the float move gently a few times. He immediately focused, placing both hands on the fishing rod, staring unblinkingly at the float, anticipating further movement.

There must be a fish eating the bait near the lure, its body touching the fishing line. As long as the fish gets near the bait, there is hope.

In the ability vision, there were indeed several black carp circling near the bait pond snails, eating the river snails on the side.

“Here it comes, here it comes!” He saw that finally, a black carp pecked at the pond snail, then spat it out. The synchronized float showed a dip, then it rose again.

“Quite cautious, huh! Still testing!” Yang Qi thought to himself.

As the black carp continued to test several times, the float rose and fell repeatedly. Yang Qi remained motionless, hands on the fishing rod, ready to lift the rod and set the hook at any moment.

“I got one!”

Zhang Jun’s loud shout came to his ears.

The sound of the fishing line cutting through the water, “woo woo woo,” reached Yang Qi’s ears.

“Got one, I got one too! Hahahaha!”

Less than ten seconds later, Liu Yao’s voice also came over.

“Damn it, this is a bit awkward! You should eat faster!”

Yang Qi was a little anxious, secretly cursing the black carp in the water for being so slow.

Finally, after several up and down jerks, the float plunged straight down, a solid black float.

A black float usually means the fish has bitten the hook and is running. At this point, it's necessary to lift the rod promptly to firmly embed the hook in the fish's lip.

“Here it comes! I’ve been waiting for you for a long time! Hahahaha!”

The feeling of catching a fish was so wonderful. Yang Qi pulled the big fish with all his might, trying to keep it away from the nest, fearing that it might scare away other fish if the nest was disturbed.

“Hahahaha, I didn’t expect all three of us to hook a fish at the same time! Your Uncle isn’t here, so no one can record a video for us!”

Zhang Jun, unable to withstand the black carp’s first burst of strength, had already resorted to using the lost-fish rope.

Only by using the lost-fish rope could he spare a few words. Liu Yao, on the other hand, was red-faced, squatting, desperately pulling the fishing rod, and the nine-meter-one fishing rod had already been bent into a large arc.

Yang Qi also squatted down, resting the fishing rod on the ground, trying to lower his center of gravity as much as possible.

It must be said that the quality of the fishing rod Liu Yao bought was indeed up to par; the rod was bent into such a large arc, almost a semicircle, and there was still no problem.