The next day, Li Long and Tao Daqiang went to collect the nets before dawn.
Li Long planned to sell fish in Stone City that day. It took nearly an hour to cycle there from Ma County, so he needed to leave early.
As usual, Li Long sat in the tire to collect the nets. Tao Daqiang had wanted to try it himself, but Li Long would not let him.
Although Tao Daqiang had proved he could dog-paddle when he went into the water to retrieve the cast net, the water where they had set the nets was deeper, and Li Long still felt uneasy.
He thought that when they had some free time, he should have Tao Daqiang practice paddling the tire himself first.
He could watch from the side then, which would at least provide some measure of safety.
Having learned from yesterday, Li Long brought three Urea Sacks that day. He put two nets in each sack, tied the opening shut, fastened a rope to it, and left it trailing behind the tire. At least that way, they would not use up the tire's buoyancy.
By the time he had collected all six nets, Li Long's tire had three "tails" trailing behind it, but paddling was not as hard as it had been yesterday.
As he collected the nets, Li Long felt that the mesh of the ones he had bought was still not large enough. Two common carp, each weighing three or four kilograms, had only barely snagged on them. When he startled them while hauling in the nets, they escaped-and not only did they escape, they also tore a hole in one of the nets with their thrashing.
Great. He had failed to catch the fish and ended up with a torn net.
Still, Li