In less than an hour, most of the fish had sold, and the sun had risen. The three basins reeked of fish, but Li Long no longer noticed.
"Dad, your fish brought in eight yuan sixty. The rest might not sell. Here!" Li Long handed Li Qingxia a stack of notes, mostly small-denomination bills with a few one-yuan notes mixed in.
Li Qingxia pushed Li Long's hand away, refusing the money.
"What are you giving it to me for? Keep it."
"Dad, don't stand on ceremony. You caught these fish, so the money's yours. Even my own brother and I keep our accounts straight. Besides, look, I've got more money than you."
Li Qingxia stopped refusing and accepted the stack of money with delight.
Over eight yuan for a day's haul, at the cost of nothing more than a basin, a piece of gauze, and a morning spent calling out to customers.
Wasn't this far too easy?
Holding the money, Li Qingxia could hardly believe it.
Then he looked at the other stack in Li Long's hand and felt reassured.
His son was much better at making money than he was!
Li Long hadn't brought as many fish as usual today, less than fifty kilograms. Only a few small crucian carp and one medium-sized silver carp remained unsold, and he now had over forty yuan in hand.
Less than usual, but still a lot.
There weren't many flower loaches left either, less than a kilogram. After being cooped up in the water too long, they had all died and floated belly-up.
One or two small crucian carp were still struggling to stay alive, occasionally splashing the water, but they looked half-dead too.
"Dad, let's dump them. I'll take you for breakfast." Seeing how much the crowds at the morning market