Zecun's farming method is to plan the vegetable fields in a unified way and divide them into rectangles; In the middle of the rectangle, some puddles will be dug to lead the stream from the ground to the vegetable field. In this way, unless you encounter dry fields, if you usually pour vegetables, just scoop water from the puddle and irrigate directly, and the villagers will save a lot of hard work. The puddle is connected with the stream, which attracts all kinds of fish, shrimps, crabs and water. So Zi Ling and his family went to work in vegetable fields, and the last program was to fish in the puddle.
Fishing tools in puddles are hands or dung baskets. Zi Ling invented a faster way to catch fish, that is, to stir the water back and forth with his feet, so that all the mud at the bottom of the water would float up. When the water in the puddle becomes turbid, all the fish and shrimp stick their heads and mouths out of the water for breathing. By observing the water surface, Zi Ling can judge what fish are in the water and how big they are. The fleshy mouth with fibrous roots is catfish, and the top of the head is a tropical fish with a bright triangle. Crucian carp has thorns, and shrimp is black with a long thorn ... Of course, sometimes they make mistakes, and sometimes they mistake the triangular snake head for a fish head. At that time, there will be a fuss. When the fish and shrimps have surfaced, Zi Ling and his younger brother will lift the dung dustpan at an oblique angle of 30 degrees, put it into the bottom of the water, and then pull it from one end of the puddle to the other. Like pulling a net, they will suddenly pull up the dung dustpan and see all kinds of fish and shrimps flapping at the bottom of the water. The caught fish and shrimp will be put in a container at will. If there is no container, they will dig an independent puddle in the puddle and raise it first.
In addition to fish and shrimp, there are soil crabs in the puddles, especially near the puddles in banana fields. The holes of soil crabs are usually made a few centimeters above the water. The hole is slightly smaller than the fist, and it is very wet inside. Zi Ling caught crabs for the first time under the guidance of five big and three thick cousins. When I first put my hand into the hole, Zi Ling's heart was pounding because there was a question mark in the hole. In case of biting eel or Zi Ling's most feared snake ... it gives me goose bumps.
But when I put my hand in for the first time, Zi Ling obviously met something with a hard shell: a crab! The in the mind is not a burst of joy. Remembering what my cousin said, if you find a crab, you should try to open your palm, first put it at the end of the hole, and then wrap it with your palm, so that you can wrap the whole crab without being caught by its mighty pliers. Zi Ling did, and sure enough, she took it out and saw that it was a female crab struggling in her hand. How to distinguish the sex of crabs? At this time, I learned: the female crab with a half-moon belly and the male crab with a triangular belly. Sometimes the mother crab will have a ball of eggs in her stomach, and even some small crabs. After Zi Ling succeeded for the first time, his courage gradually increased, and the more he dug behind, the more comfortable he became. Sometimes she can dig dozens of crabs in one morning. Neither the frightened snake nor the eel has seen her. But once her brother met a big crab, and he was caught in the pliers of the big crab, crying red. When my cousin saw it, he came over in distress and broke another clip of the crab. The crab may have loosened the clamp when he was injured, which is the only way to save his brother. This naturally became the laughing point of Zi Ling and them in the future. The crabs caught were not packed in a net bag. Zi Ling tore off some dried skins from banana trees like Macheng, tied the crabs one by one and strung them into a string.
Before you know it, the sun will set, but the farm work my parents told me is often not finished. When I get home in an uneasy mood, I will be scolded once or twice, saying that I didn't play clean, and then grandma will pick up Zi Ling's grades for dinner later. Shrimp in the puddle is the best. Although it is only as small as shrimp, it is very sweet and delicious. Carassius auratus is often fried or stewed with tofu, which is slightly earthy but not bad; At that time, it was estimated that grandma would not make crabs. The soup used for cooking is full of flavor, and Zi Ling doesn't like it. Later, the enthusiasm for catching crabs declined.
You can always find a stream near a cultivated land. The water surface of the stream is generally one or two meters wide, and the water depth is at most one meter. The shallow place is just ankle deep. The stream is not as turbid as the water in the mine, but it is clear on the whole. The bottom of the water is often a large piece of sand, and red clay is under the sand. The river bank is covered with green weeds, and some sour and sweet fruits can often be found in the grass.
In the dry season, when the water level drops and the puddle in the vegetable field dries up, Zi Ling and his parents will go to the stream to fetch water and spray vegetables. After picking several times, during the break, Zi Ling and his fraternity once again caught fish and touched shrimp in the stream. There is also a special program, which is touching Bai Bei.
Bai Bei can only be found in streams, and it is slightly larger than ordinary white shellfish. The key is that the meat is delicious. Zi Ling once ate Bai Bei's soup and was fascinated by it.
The process of touching Bai Bei is simple. All you have to do is roll up your trouser legs, bend down in the water, touch the red soil on the shore with both hands, and dig with your fingers when you meet something hard, which is often the beautiful Bai Bei. So you can touch more than a kilo of Bai Bei in half an hour! However, this kind of shell is rare when touched in the same place, and Zi Ling slowly forgot the program.
In Zi Ling's view, activities in puddles and streams are all hands-training, and the real fishing skill is in the pond. Every winter, the public pond in the village will drain the water and then make the final big fishing. At this time, half the people in the village will often participate in it, which is the climax of fishing.
The rumbling water pump was on, and the number of people gathered by the pond gradually increased. Everyone is chatting excitedly with buckets or dung pots, and they are all eager to try.
When the water had been pumped to the end and the mud at the bottom was exposed, the village cadres shouted and everyone swarmed in from all directions with tools and stepped into the dark mud. In that scene, Zi Ling later watched the BBC classic documentary "Planet of Man", in which there was an episode about Dogon people fishing in Lake Antogou in the desert, and the scene was somewhat similar.
Fishing in the mud pond basically depends on both hands, because of the interference of mud, the fishing net is useless. The frightened fish are now desperately trying to find a safe place to live. The fisherman's hand stirred in the mud like a rake. Once his finger touches something moving, his other hand will quickly follow. When his hands are closed, a lively fish will be firmly caught.
In this case, catfish is the most difficult fish to catch, because its body is oily, and it is even more difficult to catch in slippery mud. In addition, the catfish has two thorns in its mouth. If you accidentally get stabbed by it, it will be worse than a needle, so whoever catches the catfish will show off for a while, which will attract others' praise. Zi Ling is good at catching catfish and always avoids the dangerous area of fishbone, so Zi Ling also concentrates on finding catfish in the crowd.
Touching around in the mud of the pond, occasionally touching some big clams with surprise. These giant clams are bigger than my palm, and one weighs a kilo. Take them back and keep them for a few days. Pry open the shell, take out the meat, add it to the thick porridge, add ginger and cooking wine to remove the fishy smell. It tastes very delicious.
There are also some children of a few years old who are unwilling to be lonely and cry to step into the pond. Parents have no choice but to give them a net bag and let them find a small puddle to catch shrimp or something. As a result, when children are playing, there will be a mud fight, which not only makes them covered in mud, but also splashes mud all over the people around them. At this time, there will be a burst of laughter in the pond, mixed with abuse from parents and victims.
Such a feast will last for a long time. When all the fish and shrimp in the pond are caught, people will go ashore and go home one by one with trophies and mud on their feet. Soon, the smoke from the kitchen chimneys in the village curled up, and every household could smell the unique taste of fish protein.
At this time, the pond is like a scene of being looted, messy and tired. When the water in the pool is completely dry, someone will come with a shovel and turn up the mud at the bottom of the pool to dry. When the weather is dry, they will break the soil with hoes and transport it to crops. Everyone knows that pond mud precipitated and fermented by various microorganisms is a rare fertilizer.
After that, the pond will be filled with water by the roaring pump, and the fry will be put back to start the cycle of the new year. ...
Many years later, Zi Ling recalled these experiences of fishing and shrimping, which became a topic of discussion for everyone. Apart from their own fun, these aquatic products were a rare supplement to protein for rural people in that era of material and nutrition shortage. Thanks to these natural gifts, generations of dolls have thrived, including Zi Ling.