Fugui, you'll have to wait a few more days for your Forest Ranger appointment procedures, but just keep doing what you're doing. In our Great Brigade, absolutely no one would dare gossip!
Zhao Kaishan said, "But you'll have to wait a bit longer for the rifle. I'll ask the armed forces department to pick out a good one for you later!"
"Thank you, Captain!" Zhou Cang could tell that Zhao Kaishan had completely accepted him as one of their own.
After dinner, several villagers left one after another to go home and sleep. Zhou Cang deliberately stayed until the end so he could talk to Zhao Kaishan alone.
"Captain, where is there a Paizi near our village?" Zhou Cang asked.
Zhao Kaishan's face was flushed. Today they had finished the tiger bone wine Zhou Cang brought, and then simply wiped out the two jars of sweet potato liquor in Captain Zhao's home. Although the taste was much worse, it was still alcohol, much better than cold water.
Zhou Cang, however, was not drunk at all. This was mainly because in his previous life, he drank at least 53-proof baijiu, and coupled with Fugui's young and strong physique, a few bowls of wine went down without any pressure.
"A Paizi, huh? There are only two small rivers next to our village, but if you go west out of the village and into the mountains for about ten kilometers, there's a big Paizi," Zhao Kaishan said, pointing towards the east.
"But it's all frozen now. There's at least half a meter of ice on the Paizi. What do you want to do?"
"I want to see if I can catch some fish!" Zhou Cang said, remembering what Old Sun had said during the day.
"Kid, you're quite capable, but no matter how much stuff you bring, this old man can handle it, hahaha!" Old Sun boasted.
Zhou Cang guessed some things without even asking. This old man indeed had some background.
Otherwise, engaging in Black Market transactions so openly, and the kind where he could get anything, he would have been reported and dealt with long ago.
Seeing that Zhou Cang didn't speak, Old Sun continued,
"The State-owned Restaurant and Steel Factory in the County are our big clients. Recently, the restaurant has been short on supplies and can't offer many substantial dishes,"
Speaking of which, he pointed to the wolf carcass and said, "The things you brought these two times were all taken by the State-owned Restaurant. Recently, the leaders at the Steel Factory have been preparing for the New Year. See if you can get more stuff! The price is negotiable!"
Big clients!
Zhou Cang had been thinking about this matter on the way back to the village, but there was no useful information in Fugui's memory.
In the end, he decided it would be simpler to just ask Zhao Kaishan.
"Hmm... Fugui, how about this? Come see me tomorrow. There should be some fishing nets and ice chisels in the Production Team's warehouse."
"Tomorrow, you can bring Quan Fu. He knows the way and has also fished with nets before!"
"However, someone drowned there last year, so you also need to be careful of wild animals nearby!"
Saying this, he turned around, took out a Type 53 carbine and a leather bullet pouch from the gap behind the cabinet, and handed them to Zhou Cang.
"Seeing that you're good with a gun, I'll lend you this one for now. There aren't many bullets, only nine left. You only get a few rounds of allocation each month, so use them sparingly."
Zhou Cang took the gun and gently stroked the barrel. A green strap hung on the slender rifle body.
This was China's imitation of the famous Soviet Mosin-Nagant rifle. It began being equipped in the army in 1954 and was also issued to the militia.
The rifle is 1.02 meters long, uses 7.62mm rifle rounds, has a magazine capacity of 5 rounds, an effective range of 500 meters, and a muzzle velocity of 820 m/s.
The right side of the rifle is equipped with a triangular bayonet, a tool for bleeding, one stab and they're dead!
This rifle could be used as a sniper rifle. For Zhou Cang, a master marksman, if his own hunting rifle could only perform at 30% of its capability, then with this rifle, he could perform at 90%.
The remaining 10% was in the muscle memory of his previous body and modern sights.
But this was enough, because the rifle itself had high shooting accuracy, so even with just a notch sight, he was a top marksman.
Early the next morning, Zhou Cang followed Zhao Kaishan to the Production Team's warehouse to get fishing nets and ice chisels, and then went to call Quan Fu.
Quan Fu's wife was drying wolf skins in the yard. She recognized Fugui. Seeing him drag a sled to the door, she immediately greeted him warmly,
"Fugui is here! Come in quickly!" After saying that, she called into the house, "Husband, Fugui is here!"
Zhang Quanfu pushed open the door. "Come, Fugui, hurry and get on the kang!"
"No thanks. Do you have anything to do today? If not, want to go into the mountains with me?" Zhou Cang asked.
"Let's go!" Zhang Quanfu got dressed, stuck a hunting knife into his back waist, put on his mittens, and walked out.
"Wife, I'm going into the mountains with Fugui for a bit, don't wait for me for dinner!"
"Go ahead, go ahead!" Quan Fu's wife was completely unlike before, not afraid of dangers in the mountains or anything. Seriously, what was there to be afraid of when going with Fugui?
Didn't you see Fugui carrying two guns!
Yesterday, Quan Fu had told her about Fugui's achievements: first, he single-handedly charged into the wolf den, stabbed the alpha wolf to death, then shot and chased away the Wolf Pack one by one, and finally, while running, shot and wounded a Tiger to save Quan Fu.
This was no longer a normal person. There were quite a few famous hunters in this area, but absolutely none were this fierce!
"Aren't you going to ask me what I'm going to do?" Zhou Cang asked with a smile.
"Why ask! Wherever you say to go, we go. Whatever you want to do, we do!" Zhang Quanfu was too lazy to think. Anyway, he had absolute trust in Fugui.
"We're going fishing! You know the way to the Paizi, right?" Zhou Cang asked.
"Yes, I do. It's not too far. Give me the sled!" Zhang Quanfu said, grabbing the tow rope of the sled.
Zhou Cang didn't refuse, to avoid making Quan Fu uncomfortable.
After crossing a few ridges, the two quickly reached the location of the Paizi. Thick snow covered the lake surface, making it completely flat.
After walking to the center, they pushed away the snow to reveal the ice surface. Zhang Quanfu, holding the ice chisel, began to chip a hole.
The ice chisel was heavy, and his hands would get sore quickly. Zhang Quanfu wasn't tall, so he had to work hard to lift it high every time before chiseling down.
Seeing this, Zhou Cang snatched it away. Ice chips flew everywhere, and soon he had chiseled through. A gush of water suddenly surged out, and the two quickly jumped aside.
They walked forward another ten steps and made another hole. In this way, they made a row of seven or eight ice holes in total.
Quan Fu, holding his knife, cut a long pole about the thickness of an forearm from the nearby woods. He tied the fishing line rope to one end of the pole and then inserted the pole into the first ice hole.
He then retrieved it from the second hole, threading it through each hole one by one like a needle and thread. This is how the fishing net was spread out under the ice.
This is what is called "ice-under-pole threading".
After setting the net, Zhang Quanfu found a stone and smashed the ice surface around to scare the fish. This was to drive the fish towards the fishing net using sound.
Finally, at the net's exit, Zhou Cang pulled the rope and began to haul the net. Both of them stared intently at the opening until the first fish, caught in the net, was brought out.
"Here it comes! What a big fish!" Zhang Quanfu laughed loudly.
Most were crucian carp and bream, with some willow root fish and boat nails. With one net, there were probably around thirty catties.
Zhou Cang was also very excited. Who could understand the joy of catching fish?