Li Long was a little surprised to see Tao Daqiang appear again, but on second thought, it was only natural.
He merely glanced at him before going over to Li Jianguo to help his older brother pick up the fish.
By then, Li Juan and Li Qiang had gathered a large pile of reeds. Li Qiang called out:
"Uncle, light the reeds!"
"Are you cold?" Li Long asked. "If not, let's leave them unlit for now. Oh, and move that pile farther away from the reed bed, or it could start a fire."
"Okay." Li Qiang obediently went to move the reeds. Meanwhile, Tao Daqiang had reached the old hole in the ice.
Splash! Li Jianguo hauled up another netful. This time, there were two large Slab Crucian Carp and seven or eight small crucian carp and ditch fish. It seemed there really weren't many fish left here.
There shouldn't have been many places in the whole reservoir where the fish could get air, and surely fish weren't that clever. Li Long couldn't quite understand it. Was it because they were making too much noise here?
Tao Daqiang bent down to pick up fish alongside Li Long, who asked:
"Is your brother all right?"
"He got beaten up and twisted his back a little." Tao Daqiang sounded rather downcast. "Lao Tian from the production team said he needs to rest for a few days."
Lao Tian was the production team's barefoot doctor. He had received training and knew a little about giving injections, dispensing Chinese herbal medicine, simple therapeutic massage, and cupping. Of course, he was bound to own a copy of the Barefoot Doctor Handbook.
"That's not too bad, then. There isn't much work lately anyway." Li Long nodded and said no more.
Li Jianguo glanced at Tao Daqiang,