As Li Long approached the Little Lake, he heard someone calling him. Turning, he saw that it was Tao Daqiang, a tall guy from his village. Tao Daqiang was younger by a year, a bit slow-witted, and usually left out by the other young men. When Li Long had first come to the village, they’d gotten along well, but after Li Long started hanging around with Gu Ermao, he drifted away from Tao Daqiang too. Still, Tao Daqiang always greeted him cheerfully whenever they met, as if they were close friends.

In his last life, after the household contract responsibility system was implemented, Tao’s father handed their land to Tao’s older brother, leaving Tao Daqiang with no land to farm. So, Tao Daqiang went to the mountains to join people gathering medicinal herbs like fritillary bulbs. At first, he came back once or twice a year, always bringing things for Li Long. But after a few years, he stopped coming back entirely. Later, Li Long heard from his family that Tao Daqiang had settled down in the mountains and had his leg broken by a wild boar. After that, there was no news.

Now, seeing Tao Daqiang again, Li Long felt a pang of guilt for not appreciating his friendship before.

“Daqiang, what are you doing here?”

“I heard you were back, so I went looking for you this morning. Your family said you’d gone to the lake to fish,” Daqiang replied, a bit out of breath as he reached Li Long and took the bag from him. “Give it to me—you’re a factory worker, but I’m better at this stuff.”

Li Long laughed and lightly punched him on the shoulder. “Alright, let’s split the fish fifty-fifty if we catch any.”

“Sounds good!” Daqiang replied with a grin.

With a friend along, the walk to the lake felt easier. Daqiang pointed to a spot where rabbit tracks crisscrossed through the red willows. “Look at all those rabbit tracks!”

“If we had some fine wire, we could set up a few traps—maybe catch one,” Li Long replied, eyeing the fresh tracks.

“Do you know how?” Daqiang looked at him, surprised.

“Yeah, one of my coworkers at the factory was from Qingshuihe,” Li Long said, lying smoothly. “There are a lot of hunters over there, and they taught me some tricks.”

With no pork at home, Li Long knew he’d have to get creative to bring home meat. At this time, the village folks didn’t know much about setting snares or hunting because there were no how-to videos. So, he figured there’d be plenty of opportunities to try his hand at it.

When they arrived at the lake, Li Long chose a smooth area near the reeds and began clearing the snow off the ice. Daqiang did most of the work, clearing the snow, then looked up and asked, “Why did you choose this spot?”

“Because our lake has mostly carp and crucian carp. They’re timid and like to stay near reeds to keep warm during winter,” Li Long explained.

Daqiang nodded, impressed. Li Long smiled and took out the iron bar he’d brought, driving it down into the ice. The ice was solid; the iron rod only made a small dent, and it stung his hands.

“Let me!” Daqiang said, grabbing a pickaxe and raising it overhead. He struck down on the ice with impressive strength, knocking out a chunk the size of a plate.

Li Long noticed Daqiang’s hand positioning, holding it just loose enough to avoid injury from the impact. Nodding in approval, he used his iron bar to clear more ice from the hole Daqiang made.

In less than ten minutes, they’d carved out a square hole nearly half a meter wide and twenty centimeters deep.

“Let’s test the size,” Li Long said, laying down his tool and reaching for the net. When he tried the net in the hole, he found it was still too small, so Daqiang picked up the pickaxe and widened the opening.

In just a short time, both of them were hot and sweaty. Li Long stepped over to the reeds and collected some leftover dry stalks to start a fire. Pulling out his lighter, he lit the reeds and began warming up.

In these times, reeds were a valuable resource used to make mats, roofing material, and even paper. Two nearby lakes and the Little Lake had abundant reeds, but they were usually harvested early in winter for extra village income.

As the reeds crackled, Li Long and Daqiang briefly warmed up, but it didn’t help much since only their front was warmed while their backs remained cold. So, they didn’t linger long and went back to work.

Within an hour, they’d carved out the fishing hole. Daqiang immediately dropped the pickaxe and reached for the net, eager to try his luck. However, when he lifted it out, he only found a netful of slushy ice.

Seeing Daqiang’s disappointed face, Li Long laughed. “Give it a little time. The fish need a moment to notice there’s an opening.”

Daqiang sighed, “Before winter, we could catch fish easily. Now, with the lake frozen over, it’s been so long since I’ve had any meat…”

Li Long found this odd. “Doesn’t your family have a pig?”

“Yes, but my dad sold half the meat, and the rest went to my brother. My dad says we’ll eat the leftovers at New Year.”

Everyone had their own challenges, Li Long thought sympathetically. Seeing Daqiang’s lowered spirits, he decided to change the subject.

“Let’s try another hole a little further away,” he said, pointing to a spot about ten meters off.

They’d gotten the hang of it now, so it only took forty minutes to make a second hole. Li Long grabbed the net and suggested they check the first hole to see if any fish had gathered.

When they reached it, they found a thin layer of ice had already formed over the surface. Li Long carefully climbed down to the ledge they’d chipped for footing, punched through the thin ice, and saw a flicker of fish swimming beneath.

Feeling a surge of excitement, he lowered the net into the water, positioned it carefully, and then made a swift, sweeping motion. When he felt a tug in the net, he pulled back, bracing himself against the edge as he hoisted it up.

“There’s fish! A big one—look at this huge carp!” Daqiang exclaimed, his voice trembling with excitement.