"Enough, let's stop selling." Li Long told Tao Daqiang, "Let's take these fish home." His voice was rather loud. Tao Daqiang was still puzzled. What would they take dead fish home for?
At his words, the two people in the distance exchanged a look, then grew a little anxious.
Tao Daqiang wanted to speak, but Li Long patted him and stopped him. He simply gathered up the basins, poured the remaining dead fish and water into the Urea Sack, set it on the bicycle's rear rack, and said:
"Come on, let's get breakfast."
Tao Daqiang was a little bewildered. He held out the stack of small-denomination notes to Li Long.
"Brother Long, this money..."
"Keep it. I won't give you a share today," Li Long said as he walked. "That'll be your wages for this trip."
As they passed the two people, Li Long deliberately raised his voice again.
"Daqiang, remember this when you sell fish from now on. Some nasty people deliberately stir things up in the water when it's crowded and squeeze the fish to death. They kill your fish so you can't sell them. By noon, you have no choice but to dump them, and they wait to pick those fish up-"
"Brother Long, how did you know?" Tao Daqiang was beginning to understand now, and asked as he followed him:
"Have you run into that too?"
"I have," Li Long said. "That bastard tried to squeeze my fish, and I kicked him away. If you run into people like that again, you can't let them get away with it. You have to fight back. You have to let everyone else know that people like that are the reason they can't buy fresh fish... then they won't dare."
The two people had wanted to strike up a