Li Long led the horse and cart to the market, looked around, and was surprised to find three stalls selling frozen fish.
One belonged to the man who had once collected fish with him at Big Haizi Reservoir. The man had not noticed Li Long and was bargaining with someone.
The other two frozen-fish sellers had less stock than he did and were not as enterprising. Both were squatting in front of their stalls, hands tucked into their sleeves, waiting for customers to approach.
None of the fish sellers were from the production team. Li Long guessed Meng Zhiqiang and the others probably could not catch any fish now.
Little Haizi had only recently frozen over. Although the ice could bear a person's weight, breaking a hole would not bring many fish anytime soon. After all, the oxygen in the water would not run out that quickly. It would take some time before breaking holes in the ice could draw large numbers of fish.
Most people on the team had now settled in for the winter. Those with time on their hands might go east to Red Willow Flats to chase rabbits and set snares to burn off some energy. Everyone else mostly stayed home. This was when the women began making paste and gluing layers of cloth together to make cloth shoes. Making a year's worth of shoes for the whole family over one winter kept them very busy.
Someone had a stall selling padded cotton shoes that looked handmade. They were essentially corduroy uppers lined with cotton padding and fitted with thicker soles. They looked a little clumsy, but should have been warmer.
Li Long browsed from one end to the other. On his way back, he saw Yang Xiulan pulling her cart into the market, with Han