Page 122

Shi Wen led the dogs back a little, using his height advantage to watch the first net of fish being caught through the gaps in the crowd.

I wonder if any of the fish caught in this net are protected species?

Just as he was thinking this, Yan Kexing's voice rang in his ear. "No."

Shi Wen turned around in surprise. "How do you always know what I'm thinking?"

Yan Kexing the Langwa back to him to warm his hands, glancing at him and saying, "It's written all over your face."

The Langwa had a new owner. Its wet little nose gently sniffed at Shi Wen's chest, making a soft, whimpering sound.

The first net yielded only so-so results. Everyone kept the big fish and threw the small fish back into the water, preparing for the second net soon.

Shi Wen was about to go up and pull the net, Yan Kexing took his place. "I'll do the second net."

Almost every household in the village sent one person to work, and Yan Kexing replaced Shi Wen that role.

Shi Wen watched the battle from behind, holding the Langwa, and directed Heiwa and the others to go up and continue helping to pull the net.

It was the first time Heiwa and the others had played the net-pulling game. They rushed up with their tails wagging like fire wheels, barking happily as they worked alongside the humans.

The second net yielded only so-so results.

The returns from the third network were also mediocre.

Some people wondered, "Why are there so few fish this year? Have they been eaten by something?"

"No way? The pond is so deep, even wild animals couldn't jump in."

"There aren't many fish here, let's dig a hole somewhere else."

"Yes, let's try somewhere else, and change our luck."

The group carried the ice drill over and quickly created a second ice pit.

Unexpectedly, the second ice pit yielded only mediocre results.

Someone remembered Shi Wen and turned to call him, "Shi Wen, can you point out a spot? You're in luck."

"Me?" Shi Wen, clutching the Langwa. "Don't I know where the fish are?"

"Just point to any spot and give it a try," Fu Meng called out with a smile. "Come on, don't be shy."

People around him chimed in, "That's right, don't be shy!"

Hesitation Shi Wen.

Yan Kexing whispered with a smile in his ear, "It's alright, the Qilin is Auspicious Beasts, you can point to it however you like."

Shi Wen gritted his teeth and said, "Then I'll just point randomly."

The people around him swarmed forward, saying, "What are you afraid of? Point anywhere."

Shi Wen turned to look at the vast ice surface, and finally pointed to a spot based on his intuition. "This will do."

So they carried the ice drill over, dug another hole, and put the fishing net in.

When the fishing net was pulled up again this time, everyone could feel that it was much heavier.

As soon as the fishing net was pulled out of the ice, the person at the front couldn't help but exclaim, "What fat fish!"

"Where?" Everyone crowded around to look again.

The first fish was pulled up belly up; its belly wasn't pure white, but rather a pale yellow, characteristic of fish that have lived for many years.

Just look at the thickness of his belly; you can tell at a glance that he's very plump.

Everyone was concerned about the fish. The first person felt the net sag and was about to fall back into the water when he shouted, "Oh no! Everyone, don't let go!"

The people behind him laughed and pulled the net tighter again.

In a short while, the entire fishing net was pulled up with force.

The net was teeming with large fish, the largest of which was over 1.5 meters long.

"Pike!" someone shouted, "A white-spotted pike! There's such a big white-spotted pike down there!"

Shi Wen whispered to Yan Kexing, "This isn't supposed to be protecting fish, is it?"

Yan Kexing: "Where would we find so many protected fish? It's not like it's our ranch."

Shi Wen was amazed by the variety of protected fish species in the pasture ditches when he first dredged them, and he always felt that there were a lot of protected fish species here.

Shi Wen, "That's a bit of a pity, such a big pike."

Yan Kexing: "No. Pike are carnivorous fish; if you don't catch them, they'll eat many other fish."

As they whispered among themselves, others began to discuss the matter as well:

"I haven't seen this big pike in so many years."

"There are still pike down there; I thought they'd all been caught."

"How can we possibly scoop up everything from such a large pond?"

Everyone opened the fishing net and pulled the fish out.

In clear, cold weather, fish usually freeze very quickly after being taken out of the water.

Perhaps because of its exceptionally large size, that big pike was incredibly tenacious. When someone tried to pull it away, it swung its powerful tail and "thud!" jumped off their hand.

"Ouch--"

"Why!"

Seeing this, everyone worried that the fish would jump back into the pit, so they quickly bent down to catch them.

The dogs squeezed through the crowd, barking and rushing forward.

This big pike was exceptionally fierce, and it slapped several people.

An Wa, who was at the front, was also hit on the head. She let out a mournful woof, turned around, rushed to Shi Wen's feet, and whimpered pitifully, "Eek!"

Shi Wen quickly bent down to comfort it.

The other dogs, emboldened by their setbacks, barked. "Woof woof woof!"

For a moment, the sounds of people arguing, dogs barking, and fish splashing on the ice mingled together, creating a noisy scene on the ice.

Everyone scrambled to try and scoop the big pike out of the water, and the dog even tried to carry it away.

Shi Wen that this wouldn't work, Shi Wen quickly stuffed the Langwa into Yan Kexing's arms, stepped forward, and tried to grab the big dogfish.

The giant pike was much stronger than any other animal of the same weight. Shi Wen grabbed the giant pike and was pulled along by it, his hand slamming into the ice with a "thud," drawing blood from his fist.

He firmly grasped the pike's gills and tail, and even then, he didn't let it slip from his grasp.

Fu Meng shouted, "Throw it over there where there are no ice holes!"

Shi Wen then raised his hand high and threw the big pike over there.

The giant pike jumped a few times, then froze and quickly lay motionless on the ice.