Early the next morning, when Li Long and Tao Daqiang went to Little Haizi to retrieve the nets, no one else was there yet.
Li Long retrieved the basin first and brought it back to shore, then started hauling in the nets, working from the farthest to the nearest.
Tao Daqiang stood on shore, looking at the fish in the basin.
There were seven or eight kilograms of ditch fish and small crucian carp in it.
After setting the basin trap a few more times, Li Long and the others had gained some experience. To get more ditch fish into it, they had to let out more of the rope tied to the basin, keeping it as low in the water as possible without letting it touch bottom. That way, the ditch fish that liked to move along the bottom would follow the smell of the pork cracklings, squeeze through the opening in the sock cuff, and find themselves unable to get back out.
So most of the fish in this basin were ditch fish, of all sizes. The largest were as long as chopsticks, their bodies slippery and slick.
When Li Long was halfway through hauling in the nets, Tao Daqiang heard something. He turned and saw Wang the Miser and Meng Zhiqiang arriving at the edge of Little Haizi.
When they spotted Tao Daqiang, they exchanged a few quiet words, then walked over together.
"Daqiang, where's Xiao Long?"
"In there, hauling in the nets." Tao Daqiang pointed out into the lake.
"What have you got in that basin?" Wang the Miser had already noticed the movement in it, but asked anyway.
"Small ditch fish." Tao Daqiang scooped up a handful. "They're good fried."
Wang the Miser was doubtful and didn't quite believe him. He vaguely remembered Li Long