Chapter 50 (continued)

Shi Wen Wenxiao said, "I don't know yet, let's wait until it grows up."

There were few interesting things happening in the village, so everyone had heard about Shi Wen's Langwa and gathered around to see it.

My grandfather once tried to take wolf cubs, but they didn't survive.

"My family used to raise wolfhounds, and they even had puppies. But by a certain generation, they no longer resembled wolves."

"Putting everything else aside, the wolf even knew to send you a cub; it's really intelligent."

"Hey, let me see too. Xiao Wen, are all your dogs for breeding? If they have puppies, could you sell me one?"

"How long will that be? Lao Gen, you're already thinking about it now?"

"Maybe she'll give birth next year. How long will it take? Let me ask first and get on the waiting list."

The Langwa was passed around among everyone, and it began to get restless, whimpering and scratching at the hands of those holding it.

The person holding it quickly handed it back to Shi Wen: "Such a little one, and it's already learned to recognize people."

Shi Wen took it and put it back in his arms. "It's probably because it's so small that it's so attached to people."

He smiled and added, "Too small, I don't feel safe."

The person next to him said, "Indeed, it hasn't been easy for Langwa either."

Now that most of the people have arrived, it's time to get to work.

Fu Meng called on people to unload the tools from the pickup truck.

Several men immediately ran off to get to work.

Shi Wen that a large family was unfamiliar with the tools, so they stood in the crowd and waited for others to move them.

As the dogs saw people coming and going, they crouched close to Shi Wen and Yan Kexing's feet, looking around alertly, their big, furry ears standing straight up.

Shi Wen looked at the water in front of him; its widest point was definitely over fifty meters, and its narrowest point was still twenty or thirty meters.

Fu Meng said it was the village pond, but Shi Wen thought it looked more like a small lake or reservoir.

Ordinary ponds are neither that big nor that deep.

Through the thick layer of ice, one Shi Wen see so far that it seemed impossible to reach the bottom – indicating that the pond was definitely more than ten meters deep.

As expected of a vast and resource-rich frontier region, even the ponds are different from those in the inland areas.

Birch trees grow on the opposite bank of the pond.

In this season, the birch trees have lost all their leaves, leaving only bare branches.

Many birds were hopping around on the branches. Shi Wen I wasn't familiar with birds and couldn't recognize what kind of birds they were, but there were at least six or seven kinds.

It's unclear whether this birch forest is their habitat or if they were attracted by the popularity of people and gathered here.

The team quickly dragged the diesel-powered ice drill and the long net onto the ice.

The ice is frozen solid enough for this season.

Everyone stepped onto the ice, but the ice didn't react.

Shi Wen was unfamiliar with winter fishing, so he and Yan Kexing behind the crowd with their dog.

Fu Meng and his team have already started discussing where to break through the ice and lower the net.

Fu Yangrong, the village's most skilled fisherman, circled the pond twice before stopping a little north of the center. He waved his hand and said, "Here. Let's cast the first net here and see what we catch."

Fu Meng and the others then dragged the ice drill and went down into the spot designated by Fu Yangrong.

The ice drill sputtered to life, sending ice shards flying and shattering into pieces, one of which landed at Shi Wen's feet.

Shi Wen squatted down, picked up a piece of crystal-clear ice, weighed it in his hand, and then turned to show it to Yan Kexing: "Look, this ice is five or six centimeters long."

Yan Kexing noticed that his nose was red from the cold. "Aren't you cold?"

Shi Wen laughed, "It's not cold, and it's quite fun."

As the water surface emerged, the fish below began to gather in this direction.

Before long, you can see the black fish spines beneath the water's surface.

It's time to disconnect.

Fu Meng turned to Shi Wen and called out, "Shi Wen, come help!"

"Here you are." Shi Wen took the Langwa out of his arms and put it in Yan Kexing's arms. "You take care of the cub, I'll go help pull the net."

As he spoke, Shi Wen ran happily forward, ready to pull in the net.

Seeing him run, Heiwa and the others immediately followed behind him, barking and woofing.

The heavy net was slowly lowered into the water until it sank to the bottom.

Fu Yangrong assessed the situation and called out, "You can start now."

So the able-bodied men in the village pulled the net up rhythmically.

Everyone was shouting as they worked, steam rising from their foreheads. This steam gathered together, forming a thin mist that looked quite spectacular in the sunlight.

Shi Wen was helping to pull the net from behind the crowd, and beads of sweat were forming on his face.

Heiwa and the others saw it and barked anxiously, jumping around and running in circles.

Suddenly, Heiwa barked, grabbed Shi Wen's pants, and pulled them back with him.

The three little creatures, Le Wa, An Wa, and Fu Wa, followed suit, rushing over and grabbing Shi Wen's pants, pulling them back.

Shi Wen off guard, Shi Wen nearly had his pants pulled down. "Hey, my pants!"

People turned around and saw Shi Wen holding a fishing net in one hand and his own pants in the other, and burst into laughter.

Yan Kexing, holding the Langwa, watched from the side and smiled as well.

Shi Wen anxiously turned and called to Yan Kexing, "Come and help!"

Yan Kexing forward, smiled, and gently patted Heiwa's neck. He then picked up the small section of the fishing net that remained at the back of the net from the ground and handed it to Heiwa to hold in his mouth.

Heiwa immediately understood, and with the fishing net in his mouth, he and Shi Wen strained together.

The other dogs also realized what was happening and wagged their tails to retrieve the remaining section of the net.

When the village children saw that the puppy had already pulled up the net, they ran up and followed behind the puppy, pulling back with "Heave-ho!" "Heave-ho!"

After a brief hiatus, everyone continued pulling in the net, and soon they had it up.

The fish, freshly caught, bounced on the ice. Everyone rushed over, excited to see the catch.