Rebirth in 1984, starting from beekeeping in the mountains

Chapter 99: -pound catfish! I am so impressed!

"Big fish!"

Yang Huaping shouted.

Several people stood up immediately.

Fang Hongan was just a little bit slow.

By the time he stood up, Lan Jianjun and a few others had already run over, chasing each other.

Then they jumped down one after another.

Seeing this, Fang Hongan also jumped down.

After several people swam over, Yang Huaping excitedly explained: "When I touched here just now, it was right here at the opening of the rock. When I touched it, its tail hit me hard!
That's quite powerful! It's slippery, it must be a catfish! I estimate that it weighs at least five pounds!
Unfortunately, I reacted too slowly, and when I reached out my hand, I only touched its whiskers and failed to catch it!

But there are cracks in the rocks here! He is most likely still in there. Let's feel along this piece together, maybe we can find him!"

"Five kilograms of catfish?" Lan Guihai couldn't suppress his excitement. "That's a big deal! The catfish in our Lanxi River are probably more delicious than those in other places!"

"Yes! I caught one in the lower river section last year. Your sister-in-law cooked a pot of soup, and the old man had an extra bowl of rice!" Lan Jianjun also looked eager to try.

After he finished speaking, several people had already tacitly centered around Yang Huaping.

He buried his body and began to feel around in the cracks of the rocks.

Seeing how excited they were, Fang Hongan couldn't help but move over.

The name of this stone catfish seems to be a unique name in the Lanxi area.

Fang Hongan heard from Lan Wenxiu that this was the name used to refer to all catfish that like to live in cracks in rocks in rivers and streams.

In fact, it should include many kinds of catfish.

However, if Yang Huaping's feeling is correct.

The catfish weighing five kilograms is most likely the bigmouth catfish.

This kind of fish is actually not very popular in later generations.

Because they are all farmed, they have a strong muddy smell and the meat is sticky, making them difficult to handle.

But the bigmouth catfish produced in the Tianmang Mountain area these days are all wild species.

And because most of the rivers and streams here have sandy bottoms, there is basically no muddy smell.

As for the quality of the meat, thanks to the high altitude of Tianmang Mountain and the relatively low temperature of rivers and streams, the texture of the meat is more like that of cold-water fish. As long as the catfish weighs more than two or three pounds, the meat is extremely delicate.

In addition, catfish has few bones, does not consume much oil and is not picky about cooking methods. Whether it is cooked in soup or braised, simple processing can make it a rare delicacy.

In this day and age, that was quite popular.

When he first came here, Fang Hongan also made special observations.

The place where Yang Huaping caught the fish happened to be a bay. There was a pile of rocks next to the shore. The area surrounded by these rocks was exactly the environment where catfish like to forage and live.

The only pity is that the depth nearby is more than a person's height, and Yang Huaping has already frightened the fish. With so much water, even with these rocks restricting the movement of the big fish, there is probably not much hope of catching it.

Most of the time, it's just a matter of luck.

Lan Jianjun and his companions obviously understood this.

Everyone was muttering to themselves, "Big fish, don't go away!" while they were trying hard to touch the fish.

Seeing that they were touching it seriously, it was just a matter of luck anyway.

Fang Hongan just found a place at random and started touching it.

There is a big difference between catching fish and catching river clams.

River clams don't move, so the key is to probe. Use your feet to probe, and if you can probe it, you're basically 99% sure.

But to fish in such cracks in the rocks, besides the need for luck, another more important thing is to react quickly.

Rock crevices like this one on the shore are where many fish like to live. Because they hide in the crevices, if you want to reach in to touch the fish, you must react immediately and try to force the fish inside.

The cracks in the rocks on the shore, like this one, are usually caused by water erosion.

The further in you go, the narrower it becomes. Once you are forced to the innermost position, it is like catching a turtle in a jar.

Of course, some crevices in the rocks are interconnected, so no matter how fast you react, you can't be faster than the fish in cement.

Therefore, when it comes to fishing in cracks in rocks, the element of luck is sometimes even greater than when it comes to catching clams.

Fang Hongan felt that the frightened big fish had most likely already slipped into deep water.

After searching twice, I didn't find any fish, but instead I found a few snails.

I took it out and held it in my hand and looked at it in the moonlight. It turned out to be the rare mountain snail from Shiwan Village.

They are quite big, each one is as big as a thumb.

The meat of this snail is crispy and a little sweet, and it is much more delicious than the common sand snails that can often be found in Shiwan Village.

Seeing this, Fang Hongan simply started to eat the snails.

After a short while, I actually harvested a full handful.

After getting ashore, I put the snails on the rocks on the shore and went back into the water to continue searching.

the other side.

Lan Jianjun and several others touched it for a long time.

It should be that there is nothing gained, and one cannot help but feel a little disappointed.

The most frustrated person among them, of course, is Yang Huaping.

He kept regretting why he didn't react faster. After all, he had just carefully searched the crevice where he had found the big fish.

If you go in there, it's a dead hole.

If he had reacted faster and blocked the crack in the rock immediately, he would have had a good chance of catching the fish.

The more he said this, the more Lan Jianjun sighed.

If this really is more than five pounds of catfish, I'll have a pot of fish and a pot of clams tomorrow, which will taste much better than the birthday banquet we have today.

After Lan Guihai and Lan Jianhui sighed for a few words, they happened to see Fang Hongan who had already started to pick snails.

After smiling, he joined in.

Fang Hongan felt that arriving at Tangjiaokou tonight was like arriving at his own blessed land.

I have great luck with clams, and I can also catch snails with every touch.

When Lan Guihai and Lan Jianhui joined in, they only touched two after a while and couldn't help but lose interest.

In just a short while, he had already collected a small handful.

Just now, I touched a new crevice in the rock. When I stretched out my hand, I felt the snails sucking on the crevice and the stone wall. They were so densely packed that they looked like a swarm of bees.

Fang Hongan originally planned to take out a small handful first, put these together with the ones in his hands back on the shore, and then come back to continue.

The hand touched a little and was about to pull back.

A torrent of water suddenly surged out from the cracks in the rocks.

"fish?"

Just as Fang Hongan was surprised, a slippery feeling came from his hand.

"catfish!"

In a flash, Fang Hongan reacted quickly.

He suddenly retracted his right hand and reached back into the crevice, guarding it tightly.

With his left hand, he quickly and decisively threw a handful of mountain snails that he had collected into the water, took a breath, and dived directly down.

When his left hand reached out and covered the opening of the crevice, his right hand had already reached in, and he reached into the surging water and felt the slippery body of the fish again.

I even felt two whisker-like things.

“It’s the catfish!”

“Not small!”

"It's possible... it's the one Yang Huaping touched!"

While making a judgment in his mind, Fang Hongan simply reached in with his left hand.

The opening of the rock is not small, and is more than enough to accommodate two hands.

But the good thing is, according to Fang Hongan's experience, the space becomes narrower the further he goes inside.

Going further in, I could feel the catfish twisting its body in increasing fear. It was obvious that there was a dead end in the crevice.

Otherwise, the frightened catfish would have escaped through the other gaps long ago.

However, although this is most likely the case, Fang Hongan still does not dare to be careless.

Holding his breath, he continued to stretch his hands inward, and when he felt the twisting and slippery feeling on his left hand again, he tightened his fingers on both hands and suddenly grabbed the direction where the slippery feeling was sliding past.

With this grab, both hands have clamped the fish body that requires only a pair of hands to hold.

But because the fish was so big and too slippery, it twisted rapidly and managed to break free from Fang Hongan's hands.

It seemed like the treasure was about to be in our hands, but it suddenly escaped.

While Fang Hongan was slightly disappointed, he was actually even more excited.

Judging from the feeling of holding it, this catfish is definitely a bigmouth catfish.

But this weight is more than just five kilograms!
I’m afraid it will weigh more than ten kilograms.

Moreover, although the catfish broke free, the only direction it could go was inside.

Fang Hongan held his breath, pressed his brain tightly against the rocks on the shore, and reached in with both hands again.

This time, after Fang Hongan felt the head and tail clearly, he pressed hard on the fish body with one hand, and quickly moved his other hand along the fish body to the head.

After touching the slippery fish body and the gap between the side fins below the fish head, he used his index and middle fingers to dig into the gap fiercely.

As expected, the gap was the gills of this catfish.

After being gripped tightly, the catfish's entire body began to twist wildly.

But Fang Hongan had finally found his sore spot, so he was not willing to let it go.

While holding the fish tightly with his right hand, he stretched out his left hand and touched upward along the place where his right hand was holding. He soon touched the two whiskers, and then went inwards to the huge mouth of the catfish. He also dug his fingers directly into it and held the corner of its mouth tightly.

With simultaneous efforts from both the left and right sides, the catfish struggled desperately but could not break free.

Feeling the chest tightness becoming more and more uncomfortable, Fang Hongan picked up the fish body and moved his hand outwards. After making sure that the twisting fish body in his hand could not be escaped, he moved it little by little to the mouth of the crevice.

At this point, it seemed like he was just one step away from success, but Fang Hongan didn't dare to be careless at all.

After making sure he had swung the fish's body and was able to pull it up in one breath, he took his last breath, gathered all his strength, and pushed hard on the rocks below with both feet.

As his body suddenly jumped up, his hands were like iron pliers, grabbing the big fish to death.

After he came out of the water, he used up almost all his strength, grabbed the fish with both hands and threw it towards the shore.

"Wow!"

"boom!"

The sound of Fang Hongan suddenly jumping out and the sound of the big fish being thrown onto the shore rang out almost at the same time.

This sudden and intense scene startled Lan Jianjun and others so much that they immediately looked over sideways.

"Hongan! What's wrong!"

The concerned voices of Lan Jianjun, Lan Guihai and Lan Jianhui rang out almost at the same time.

Suddenly, they didn't see clearly how Fang Hongan threw the fish.

Seeing Fang Hongan breathing heavily after emerging from the water, I thought something had happened.

He swam over quickly.

But Yang Huaping on the other side was completely different. He was right next to Fang Hongan.

Not only did you see Fang Hongan suddenly jumping out, but you could also see his movements of trying to shake the fish off clearly.

At this moment, you can still see the big fish twisting and jumping on the shore.

sluggish!

I was stunned for several seconds!

After Lan Jianjun and the other two swam over, he pointed at the still-twisting fish on the shore and shouted in horror: "Fish! Big catfish! Caught by Hong An!"

After hearing what he said, Lan Jianjun and others quickly looked over.

Upon seeing this, everyone was stunned instantly.

Then, one by one, they opened their mouths like the big catfish and looked at Fang Hongan with wooden expressions.

That face was filled with shock and question marks!

"What luck! I just happened to touch it!"

After breathing heavily for a while, Fang Hongan finally recovered.

After perfunctorily explaining to everyone, he saw that the catfish was still struggling desperately. Worried that it would jump off again if he ignored it, he quickly climbed onto the shore, found the net bag he had used to hold the clams, grabbed the fish on the ground, and put the catfish, which was now covered in mud and dead grass, into the net.

After putting it in the bamboo basket, he took the basket to the river and washed it for a while.

After washing off the mud and dirt, Fang Hongan lifted the net bag and took a look, confirming that it was undoubtedly a bigmouth catfish.

And the heavy feeling in his hand just happened to be in line with Fang Hongan's previous expectations.

The weight is at least ten kilograms.

At this time, Yang Huajun and several others had already reached the shore, and they all came over excitedly.

After Fang Hongan finished reading it, Lan Jianjun couldn't help but snatch it away immediately.

"Largemouth catfish! Twelve pounds! This is at least twelve pounds!"

"This is the biggest catfish I've ever seen in Lanxi! Hongan! Awesome! You're really awesome!"

In his excitement, he didn't care about his brother-in-law's airs, patted Fang Hongan on the shoulder and praised him vigorously.

"Twelve pounds?"

Upon hearing this, Lan Guihai couldn't help but snatch it away and pick it up.

He immediately became excited and pulled Fang Hongan: "Hongan! Lend me your fish tomorrow! The guy Jianhong who lives across from me caught a big catfish weighing more than five kilograms last year. He has been showing off in front of me for a year. Tomorrow I will throw this fish in his face and let him see it! Let's see how he shows off to me in the future!"

Fang Hongan: “…”

"This one... should be the one I caught!" At this time, Yang Huaping also came over and looked at the fish that Lan Guihai was holding with envy on his face.

"What about Hua Ping! It seems that even you can't compare to Hong An even if you try to fish in cracks in the rocks! What should we do? Your boast is exposed!" Lan Jianjun couldn't help laughing.

"Well..." Yang Huaping's face flashed with embarrassment, and he spread his hands helplessly and said, "Hongan's luck is simply too good!"

"But..." He nodded again, and said with admiration, "Hongan was able to catch this fish! I admire his ability!"

"I accept! I accept! I accept! I have no choice but to accept!"

"He's caught more clams than all of us combined! Same with the snails, and this fish too!"

"Hongan! I am convinced by your family's prosperity! If you have any good ideas, you must take me with you in the future!"

Lan Guihai put his arm around Fang Hongan's shoulders with a flattering smile on his face.

"How about this!" Lan Jianjun also expressed his opinion, "Tomorrow, the four of us will cut open the river clams together! Hongan will be the one to cook them! I will get two bottles of good wine, and we will have a good drink with Hongan!"

"Like This……"

They saw that Lan Jianjun actually took the initiative to invite them to drink with Fang Hongan.

Everyone couldn't help but look a little stunned.

However, thinking back on Fang Hongan's various behaviors since today.

And soon they all felt relieved.

With this kind of performance, if he doesn't take the initiative to mend the relationship, then it's really unreasonable for this big brother to do so.

A sigh.

With the abundant harvest, several people started their return journey.

At the same time, at the door of the big red brick and tile house, Lan Wenxiu was lying on a recliner on the square.

If she were in Shiwan Village, she would probably be a little sleepy by now.

But this is at my mother's home, and today my man has brought one surprise after another to my mother's home.

To the extent that, even his elder brother, who had originally had a lot of dissatisfaction with Fang Hongan, changed his attitude visibly.

During this trip, she was prepared for her elder brother to continue to conflict with Fang Hongan.

But if there could be no conflict, that would naturally make her even happier.

"Don't worry, Wenxiu! They probably just touched me for a while because they were having fun! If we wait a little longer, they will definitely come back!"

Seeing Lan Wenxiu staring at the intersection, Xue Fen thought he was worried about Fang Hongan, so she walked over to him with a smile and tried to comfort him.

"I'm not worried!" Lan Wenxiu gave Xue Fen a firm look, "For this kind of thing! Hong An knows his limits!"

After saying that, she turned to look at Xue Fen and said calmly, "Let's just say that if big brother really wants to clash with Hong An, then he will most likely be the one who suffers!"

"This……"

Hearing and watching Wenxiu's words, Xue Fen was stunned for a moment in embarrassment.

But then, he touched his head and thought about it.

It seemed that I felt that what Lan Wenxiu said was indeed quite reasonable.

Regarding Fang Hongan’s performance today.

She almost completely suppressed her hot-tempered husband.

But what is more important is that from beginning to end, Fang Hongan was humble and courteous, and had no intention of going against her husband.

With such a skill, even his father-in-law just tore it off and carried it behind his back to show off to his old friends.

If there really was any conflict, I guess it was Lan Wenxiu who said it.

The one who suffers is her husband.

Thinking of this, she became a little worried.

Deep in my heart, I couldn't help but pray secretly.

This scene fell into the eyes of Lan Wenhui and Lan Wenjuan. The two looked at each other and couldn't help but sigh on their faces.

When the two of them were comparing each other, they had never taken the third brother seriously.

But now, on this birthday gift day, the one from the third brother's family turned everything upside down.

Look at it this way.

There's no point in them comparing themselves to each other...

They were silent for a while, each with their own thoughts.

There was soon movement at the intersection.

I pricked up my ears and heard the sound of people talking and laughing.

Xue Fen's heart, which had been hanging in the air, suddenly settled down.

As soon as Lan Jianhui and Lan Guihai unloaded the bamboo baskets they were carrying, they put the two baskets of clams and the catfish weighing more than ten kilograms on the ground.

The women who gathered around couldn't help but stare in shock.

"Look! Look! A great harvest! A great harvest!"

"This basket of clams was collected by four of us!"

"This basket of clams and this fish! They were all caught by Hong An alone!"

"Don't disbelieve me! I'm not joking at all!"

"Hongan alone is more than enough to defeat the four of us..."

“We are really convinced!”

When Lan Jianjun waved his hand and proudly said all the explosive news, Lan Zhenshan and Luo Dongqing, who came out to greet him, and everyone at the door of the house, except Lan Wenxiu, looked at Fang Hongan with shock...

(End of this chapter)