[edited]

Huo Yishen rowed the motorboat and stopped about thirty meters from the surface of the water with Zhong Ping. 

The fish catching machine was turned on, emitting a faint buzzing sound. 

Coke was a little impatient, and it kept on nudging with its head. 

Zhang Chao looked through the binoculars, and after a few minutes exclaimed excitedly, “There are fish, there’s a lot of fish, jumping out!” 

Jiang Ning took the binoculars and indeed saw fish jumping out of the water one after another, flipping their white bellies after a few jumps. 

After stopping at a spot for about ten minutes, the motorboat rowed towards another location. 

Jiang Ning inflated the rubber boat and rowed over with a snakeskin bag. 

The dog was in front, and it also paddled with its paws. 

The fish, with their bellies flipped, scattered with the current. With four people and three rubber boats, they rowed towards the fish and used their paddles to pull them over and put them in bags. 

The fish were not small, mostly around three to five catties, with some as heavy as seven or eight catties. 

There were also many species of fish in the reservoir, such as grass carp, silver carp, common carp, crucian carp, catfish, and tilapia. 

It was raining heavily, and several people were fishing separately, so they couldn’t see each other clearly. 

While putting the fish into the bag, Jiang Ning took the opportunity to touch the fish in the water and put them into space. 

Seeing the fish in the hands of the poop scooper disappear instantly, Coke widened its dog eyes, she performed magic again! 

Under Jiang Ning’s guidance, the dog had developed a habit. Whenever she performed magic, it immediately became vigilant and began to stand guard around. 

While swimming and fishing, in less than an hour, they had already filled a snakeskin bag, with about eighty to ninety catties. 

Father and Mother Zhong were diligent and not lazy. They already fill two snakeskin bags. 

Zhang Chao shouted from afar, “You two, slow down, the fish are being washed away.” 

Huo Yishen and Zhong Ping were also fishing. There were eight bags piled under the tree and its about seven to eight hundred catties. 

It’s a worry if there are no fish to eat, and it’s a worry if there are a mountain of fish. How can they get them out? 

“Shouldn’t we catch a few hundred catties every day?” 

Zhong Ping got worried, “The battery of the fish machine won’t last long.” 

“Can it be recharged?” 

“It can, but where do we go to recharge?” 

Huo Yishen suggested, “Let’s exchange the fish first, and then ask them if they can recharge?” 

They are referring to the people from the sharp mouthed monkey gang. 

Jiang Ning had no objection, so they discussed carrying a bag of fish down the mountain and to exchanging them first before deciding. 

They couldn’t carry all the fish, so someone needed to stay behind. 

Regardless of age or physique, it had to be Jiang Ning. 

After Huo Yishen’s figure disappeared and it was confirmed that there was no one around, she moved the remaining four bags of fish onto the rubber boat, rowed to the center of the reservoir, and opened the fish catching device. 

A few minutes later, the fish floated up to the surface and flipped their white bellies. 

Jiang Ning took out a large net and scooped up the fish on the surface and put them into the space… 

There were many fish in the reservoir, and they were caught in a timely manner, with about two to three hundred fish each time. 

After using the fish catching device five times, there were about two thousand fish, weighing several thousand catties. 

The fish catching device ran out of power, so Jiang Ning took out a solar powered battery box from the space. 

After it was fully charged, she caught another wave of fish. The exact amount she stocked up on was unknown, but it was guaranteed that there were at least twenty thousand catties. 

She then recharged the fish catching device halfway and paddled along the edge of the reservoir, picking up many dead fish washed over by the water flow, filling up three more snakeskin bags. 

After about half an hour, the dog became alert, and shortly after, they heard Zhang Chao and the other voices. 

They quickly arrived at the gathering point and saw the three more snakeskin bags of fish. Zhang Chao exclaimed in surprise, “Anning, where did these fish come from?” 

“When you guys were away, I searched along the edge of the reservoir and picked up quite a lot of fish.” 

Jiang Ning asked, “Is the deal settled?” 

At the mention of this matter, Zhang Chao showed a mixture of joy and concern, “They want the fish, but they can’t eat so many. Moreover, 2 catties of fish can only be exchanged for 1 catty of rice, at most 200 catties of new rice, and the rest must be exchanged for other things.” 

Understood, scarcity increases value, and besides, fish meat is already cheaper than pork. 

As food becomes increasingly scarce, the demand naturally rises, but it might not be easy to sell off 800 catties of fish all at once. 

Jiang Ning spoke up, “What do we do now?” 

Other items, including medicines, canned goods, salt, oil, clothes, and various miscellaneous items. 

Huo Yishen was willing to contribute, “For anyone urgently in need of food, I can give up my share in exchange for medicines, canned goods, or oil and salt.” 

Jiang Ning didn’t mind either. It was certain that 1803 needed grain, after all, all three of them were big eaters. 

The Zhong family was in even greater need, so they decided to evenly split their shares between 1803 and the Zhong family. 

The Zhong family wanted crushed rice, so they could have as much, after all, they had a family to feed. 

Jiang Ning got to the point, “Are we still going to catch fish?” 

“We are, how can we not.” 

Wasting food was like waiting to be struck by lightning. 

Mother Zhong already had an idea, “If they don’t want it, we’ll just take it and eat it ourselves. We can fry it, make it crispy, preserve it, or pickle it.” 

In short, there were a hundred ways to cook it. 

On their way back, Mother Zhong noticed a large patch of wild kudzu roots in the valley. They could dig them up later, grind them into powder, and extract kudzu the starch to stave off hunger. 

Jiang Ning thought to herself, “Human wisdom is indeed endless.” 

After the discussion, the fish device was activated once again. 

As they caught and scooped, Zhang Chao furrowed his brow, “Why does it feel like there are fewer fish?” 

Jiang Ning took a deep breath, “…”, I don’t have any! 

Huo Yishen spoke up, “Ultrasonic waves affect fish when they sense danger and flee with the water flow.” 

That made sense. After all, catching so many fish that couldn’t be finished would also cause worries on how to deal with them. 

After using the fish catching device several times, they caught over a thousand catties of fish and finally called it a day. 

Zhang Chao’s body was full of fishy smell, and he felt like vomiting from the smell. “Let’s finish these fish first, and then we will find a way to recharge the batteries.” 

Everyone agreed, so after filling their stomachs, they carried the fish down the mountain. 

Finding a shortcut made the journey much easier this time. 

After several trips back and forth, all the fish were piled up in the villa, with over a thousand catties left after deducting the exchanged fish. 

Bringing them back to the residential area was out of the question; the Zhong family would be targeted immediately. 

Jiang Ning and Zhang Chao exchanged glances, then proposed processing the fish in the villa. 

The Zhong family welcomed the idea. “That’s a good plan.” 

So, Jiang Ning and Mother Zhong stayed behind to prepare the fish, while the four men took the fish for trading. 

Mother Zhong was given a pig killing knife, while Jiang Ning squatted down to scale, gut, and chop the fish… 

Coke carried a plump fish and happily nibbled on it nearby. 

The gas left over from the last time they made the meat sauce was still stored in the villa. Although there wasn’t much left, it would be enough for frying fish. 

Using the excuse of searching for supplies, Jiang Ning dug out a gas stove, oil, salt, and other items from the fireplace pipe on the second floor. 

Mother Zhong was extremely surprised “Young people are really good at finding things.” 

There wasn’t much oil, but they could fry a few batches before the others returned. 

Mother Zhong was skilled at frying and baking, while Jiang Ning continued to process the fish. 

The fried fish had become too crispy; all the pieces in the pot were overcooked, but Mother Zhong showed no intention of taking them out. 

Jiang Ning hinted gently, “Won’t they be too dry to eat if they’re fried too much?” 

“We need to fry out all the moisture. This weather is prone to moisture, and we won’t be able to keep them for long otherwise.” 

Frying in oil wasn’t healthy, but survival was the most important thing. 

Indeed, storage was a major issue. 

Jiang Ning had her own preferences; naturally, she wouldn’t eat the overcooked ones. “Coke likes to eat fish, so I’ll fry some plain ones for my share.” 

Mother Zhong was amazed. How were they going to finish all these fish?