Li Long, Li Qingxia, and Tao Daqiang all walked back carrying urea sacks-eight sacks in all!
By the time they got home, dawn had broken, though sunrise was still a little way off. Plastic sheeting had already been spread in the yard, and the large basin was ready.
Even so, Du Chunfang was still a little surprised to see the three of them carrying so many sacks.
"How did you get so much?"
"It's not all fish. There are waterweeds, ducklings, and little grebes too." Li Long set down the inner tube and the net bags, then began dumping them onto the plastic sheeting.
The nets and fish formed a towering heap. Without being told, the three of them began picking out the fish while straightening the nets.
After all, they would have to come back and sort the nets after selling the fish. Tangling them now would only make trouble for themselves.
Everyone had grown used to this since the start of spring. When picking out the fish, they tried not to squeeze them hard or scrape off their scales, so the fish would remain uninjured and live a little longer.
They ended up with four sacks more than half full of fish. There were not particularly many ditch fish, so those went into a separate small bag. They added some water to each sack, then tied them to either side of the two bicycles.
Li Long felt that his bicycle tires were a little low, and he also had to carry Tao Daqiang. He fetched the pump from the spare room, unscrewed the cap from the rear tire valve, clamped the pump head onto it, and began pumping.
After seven or eight strokes, he pushed down on the rear rack to test it, then gave it another five