Chapter 175: Xu Lao San is angry about losing
"Hey! How come you guys have time to come here today? Don't you have to go fishing at the Little River Bay?"

When Li Guoqiang saw Shang Xiuzhen and others coming over, he was slightly stunned, then he couldn't help but ask with some confusion.

"Harmful!"

Shang Xiuzhen immediately showed a depressed look when she heard this. "Stop talking. Ever since everyone went to Xiaohewan to fish, the fish we caught have been getting less and less every day. Yesterday, we didn't even catch a single small fish."

"Plus, today is New Year's Eve, so we decided not to go, so as not to waste the food."

"Ok!"

Li Guoqiang nodded and agreed softly, "You were right to stop the loss in time. I've told you a long time ago that you can't expect to get rich by fishing."

"If it were that simple, there wouldn't be so many poor people in the world."

"Humph!"

Shang Xiuzhen snorted when she heard this, and then said unhappily, "You're just smart, okay?"

After saying that, she twisted her slender waist and walked to the well to fetch water.

Seeing this, Xu Wanling, Zhang Chunyan, Wu Zhaodi and others all gave Li Guoqiang a polite smile, and then followed Shang Xiuzhen.

Shen Fengxia and Pan Qiaoyan spoke softly to Li Guoqiang to comfort him.

"Li Guoqiang, Team Leader Shang is in a bad mood. You must not take it too seriously."

"Yes! Come to think of it, we have to thank you for catching so many fish these days!"

"Ah!"

Li Guoqiang was happy, then waved his hand, and said with a laugh: "Okay, it's not the first day I've known Team Leader Shang, I know what her personality is like, you don't have to worry about it, just go and do your work!"

Hearing this, Shen Fengxia and Pan Qiaoyan rolled their eyes at Li Guoqiang at the same time, and then took the firewood they had brought into the bathhouse.

Ever since they came here to take a bath last time, these female educated youth would bring their own firewood to boil water for bathing from time to time. Especially the southerners like Pan Qiaoyan, Xu Wanling, and Wu Zhaodi, they could not wait to come here every two or three days.

However, since the firewood was shared, they could only follow the main group.

Soon, Shang Xiuzhen and others filled the bathhouse with water, and then left one person to light the fire in the bathhouse, while the others helped Qu Yinfeng and Xu Yuping to clean up.

Li Guoqiang, together with Xu Dani and Zhu Caixia, quickly pasted up the Spring Festival couplets on the gate of the courtyard and hung up a pair of big red lanterns, instantly creating a festive atmosphere for the New Year.

Next, they were busy cleaning the shack and piling up the sika deer dung in a corner outside the yard for fermentation, which they could use to fertilize the vegetables in their private plots later.

What’s more magical is that after Li Guoqiang cleaned up the feces, Jin Dad actually reminded him that he could receive an extra reward of ten times the feces, which made him feel both amused and helpless.

Fortunately, the storage space is an absolutely static space, so he doesn't have to worry about the smell. Besides, animal feces are a good thing these days, so he didn't refuse Jin Dad's kindness. He took the reward directly and then transferred them all to the small world for drying and burial to serve as fertilizer.

By the way, he also picked some tomatoes, cabbages, peppers, cucumbers, coriander, spinach, eggplants, bitter melons, winter melons, pumpkins, lettuce and other vegetables and fruits, and planned to find an excuse to take them out after Shang Xiuzhen left.

The portion is not much, and it can probably be eaten for two or three meals, which is just enough to get through New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

On the second day of the New Year, everyone can visit each other to wish each other a happy new year, and there is no need to worry about being discovered.

Soon after, the hot water was ready, and Shang Xiuzhen and others went into the bathhouse one after another to take a bath, making themselves white and rosy and smelling fragrant.

When the last person finished washing, he left with the other five people, chatting and laughing, and instantly became the most beautiful scenery in the village.

Fortunately, everyone is staying at home now, and not many people pay attention to them, so naturally they won’t attract too much gossip.

When Li Guoqiang saw Shang Xiuzhen and others leaving, he immediately greeted Xu Yuping, then stopped Xu Dani and Zhu Caixia who wanted to follow him, and walked out of the village alone.

Not long after, he returned carrying a large hemp sack.

"Qiangzi, what are you carrying?"

Seeing this, Xu Yuping was slightly stunned, then hurried forward and wanted to help put down the sack.

"hey-hey!"

Li Guoqiang smiled smugly, then said softly: "You will know in a moment!"

After saying that, he carried the sack directly into the house, and then in front of Qu Yinfeng, Xu Yuping, Xu Dani and Zhu Caixia, he poured out a small pile of fresh vegetables and fruits on the ground.

Looking at these crispy and juicy vegetables, fruits and melons, Qu Yinfeng and the others widened their eyes instantly.

You know, in the dead of winter, there is not even a bit of green grass outside, let alone such fresh vegetables and fruits.

Therefore, no matter how they thought about it, they never expected that Li Guoqiang could actually bring back these good things.

It is no exaggeration to say that these vegetables, fruits and melons are even more precious than grains and meat, and are definitely not something that ordinary people can get.

Li Guoqiang looked at their shocked expressions and smiled, then quickly explained: "It's Chinese New Year! So I asked someone to get some fresh vegetables from Sijiu City so that our family can have a taste of them."

Hearing this, Qu Yinfeng and the others were suddenly speechless.

Looking around the entire Chang County, they had never heard of any family so generous that they would bring back so many fresh vegetables and fruits just to celebrate the New Year.

Even if they don't know the prices, they can guess that these fresh vegetables must be very expensive. Maybe a pound of pork is not as expensive as a pound of tomatoes!
"correct!"

Seeing that Qu Yinfeng and the others didn't say anything, Li Guoqiang hurriedly continued to remind them: "Don't let anyone see these vegetables, otherwise it will be difficult to explain to them."

After saying that, he turned around and went back to his own wooden house, leaving Qu Yinfeng and the other three people there staring at each other.

After a while, they finally reacted and hurriedly hid the vegetables, fruits and melons on the ground.

Moreover, during the hiding process, Xu Dani, the little greedy cat, couldn't help herself and secretly took a cucumber and put it in her mouth and took a big bite. She was instantly conquered by the refreshing and juicy taste.

While Qu Yinfeng and Xu Yuping were discussing what dishes to prepare for the New Year's Eve dinner, over at the creek bay, Xu Laosan was staring at the buoy in the ice cave with red eyes, fantasizing that he could catch a big fish weighing dozens of kilograms and earn back the food he had used up these days, just like a gambler who was desperate for money.

His wife Sun Yanhong and his children also stayed close to several ice holes nearby, fearing that they would miss the opportunity to catch the big fish.

Not long after, before the fish was hooked, they encountered the two brothers Sun Jinda and Sun Jinwang.

"Third brother, how's it going? Did you catch any fish?"

Hearing this, Xu Laosan turned his head to look at Sun Jinda and Sun Jinwang, then shook his head silently. "Alas!"

When the two brothers Sun Jinda and Sun Jinwang saw Xu Laosan's look, they first looked at each other, then couldn't help but sigh softly, and felt a little sad in their hearts.

Who would have thought that Xu Laosan, who had caught big fish for two consecutive days, didn't catch any fish for several days in a row!
To this end, Xu Laosan had already sprinkled two or three hundred kilograms of grain into the water.

This is enough food for their family of five for two or three months!
Although Xu Laosan earned more than ten yuan from selling fish, at most he could buy about one hundred kilograms of food from the black market, which meant that at least one hundred kilograms of food was thrown into the water in vain.

How could Xu Laosan accept this?

Moreover, let alone Xu Laosan, the two brothers have wasted at least dozens of kilograms of food until now. Even if they have not yet suffered serious injuries, it is enough to make them feel distressed.

Seeing that it was almost noon, they would miss the New Year's Eve dinner if they didn't go back, so the two brothers were in no mood to persist any longer and could only choose to accept the defeat and leave.

When Xu Laosan saw Sun Jinda and Sun Jinbao leaving, a slight hesitation appeared on his face, but it soon turned into a strong look of unwillingness.

So many people from the village came here to fish, and he was the first one to catch a big fish, and he was also the first one to make money. If he admitted defeat and went back now, wouldn't he be waiting to be laughed at?
Therefore, he had to catch a big fish no matter what!
Just as he was silently praying to God in his heart, two villagers not far away put away their fishing rods and walked towards him.

"Brother San, did you catch any fish?"

"."

"That means you didn't catch anything!"

"."

"Okay, then you take your time fishing, we'll go back first!"

"."

Xu Laosan stared at the two villagers who were obviously gloating over their misfortune with a grim face. He held the fishing rod tightly with both hands and almost couldn't help raising the fishing rod to hit them.

Fortunately, he had not completely lost his mind, and in the end he did not take any action. He just watched the two villagers leave silently.

"Dad, are you okay?"

At this time, Sun Yanhong had walked over without knowing when, with a hint of anger and worry on her face.

"I'm fine!"

Xu Laosan glanced at Sun Yanhong, then shook his head and spoke in a deep voice.

"Really!"

Sun Yanhong felt relieved when she heard that. She glared at the two villagers who had already gone far away and started to curse: "Before, they saw us catching big fish and making money, so they all said good things to us and wanted us to teach them how to catch big fish."

"Now that you see we can't catch any fish, you're just making sarcastic remarks. Your conscience has been eaten by dogs."

"okay!"

When Xu Laosan heard Sun Yanhong cursing, he could no longer hold back his temper and shouted angrily, "If you want to curse, go somewhere else and don't scare my big fish here!"

"Hey!"

Sun Yanhong was slightly stunned, and then kicked him directly, "Xu Laosan, I'm giving you face, right? Did I give you face? If you have the ability, then catch the fish and show it to me? If you don't have the ability, then don't whine to me here!"

"Do you think I am willing to suffer and freeze with you here? I just don't want everyone to laugh at our family."

"At this time, other families are already preparing to eat New Year's Eve dinner at home, what about us?"

"If you hadn't been so greedy and didn't listen to Qiangzi, would we have ended up like this?"

"I was really blind to marry a loser like you!"

"I can't live like this anymore!"

After saying that, she wiped her tears and turned to run towards the village.

Xu Laosan looked at Sun Yanhong's back, his face turned pale and blue, and he almost vomited blood in anger.

When his three children saw this situation, they didn't know whether they should follow Sun Yanhong back or stay and continue fishing.

Suddenly, the buoy in the water plunged down, and the fishing rod also sank slightly.

When Xu Laosan noticed this, he pulled his body upwards reflexively, his eyes fixed on the water surface in the ice cave, and his heartbeat began to accelerate so much that his face turned red.

Based on his experience, he knew that this must be a big fish, and perhaps even bigger than the ones he had caught before.

As long as he could catch this big fish, he could avenge his previous shame and prove in front of the villagers and Sun Yanhong that he was not a coward.

Soon, the fishing line was stretched taut and the fishing rod was bent to a huge angle.

The next moment, a large blue-black fish emerged half of its head from the water. It looked about as big as a child's head, which instantly made him feel pleasantly surprised.

However, before he could pull the big fish out of the water, the big fish swung its tail violently, breaking the fishing rod, then dived back into the water and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Seeing this, he felt as if he was struck by lightning. His heart skipped a beat and he slowly collapsed to the ground.

I clearly gave him hope, why do you want to take it away?
why?
After a while, he came to his senses, holding the half fishing rod, and slapping the ice wildly, his face full of pain.

In the end, if his three children had not seen that the situation was not right and rushed forward to hold down his body, he might have jumped directly into the ice cave in despair.

It was not until he was dragged home by the children that he reluctantly accepted the reality that the big fish had escaped. He became dispirited, as if he had lost eighteen million dollars.

When Sun Yanhong saw Xu Laosan become like this, she was angry and anxious, and she couldn't help but blame it all on Li Guoqiang.

If Li Guoqiang hadn't taught Xu Laosan how to fish, their family wouldn't have ended up in this situation.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. She slammed the door and walked out, planning to go find Li Guoqiang to ask for an explanation.

Upon seeing this, Xu Laosan suddenly came to his senses and quickly got up and chased after him.

He is already embarrassed enough now. If the villagers knew that his wife went to Li Guoqiang to settle the score, how would he face people in the future?
(End of this chapter)