Chapter 62: Setting the Trap

The lake is not far away. On the Beishan side, people in the housing estate refer to it as Beihu.

Wen Jiajia walked for about five or six minutes before reaching the lake. The half of the lake nearest to the road was surrounded by a wooden fence.

This fence wasn’t the type seen in scenic areas decades later, but a makeshift barrier made from unsanded wood and nails.

Wen Jiajia thought it didn’t look very stable, so she gave it a push. It was even more unstable than she had imagined.

“Don’t lean against the fence,” Wen Jiajia told the two girls, who were playing and squabbling. “If you fall in, call your uncle-in-law to save you.”

“I know!” Wen Chun replied, adjusting her hair, which had become messy due to the wind.

Wen Xuan laughed. “Aunt, you’re not as good at swimming as my sister and I. If I fall in, I wouldn’t want you to save me.”

This was actually quite true.

The two girls were indeed excellent swimmers, able to hold their breath in the bathtub for a long time.

Wen Jiajia was annoyed and retorted, “After you climb out, do you want to change clothes and wash your hair?”

Bathing the two children every day was already a hassle, and washing their hair too would double the trouble.

Wei Dai selected a location and began to set up the traps.

Wen Jiajia observed carefully and asked, “Is there a specific way to choose the location?”

To her, every spot seemed the same, but Wei Dai took several minutes to choose.

Wei Dai explained, “Don’t place it in shallow water.”

Wen Jiajia nodded. Wei Dai had indeed avoided the shallow areas and walked several hundred meters to the other side of the lake, where there was lush vegetation, to set the trap.

In this area, there was almost no place to step. Before walking, you had to knock on the grass and bushes with a wooden stick to avoid snakes.

There are many insects and snakes in North Mountain.

Wen Jiajia had encountered snakes three times this year alone. Once, in early spring while picking bitter bamboo shoots on the mountain, she had a close encounter with a snake. Fortunately, the snake was slow-moving, and Wen Jiajia escaped quickly. She had since avoided that area.

The second and third encounters were both at the foot of Beishan Mountain. Fortunately, they weren’t near her home; otherwise, Wen Jiajia would have gone mad.

Wei Dai added, “The trap should be placed in an area with abundant aquatic plants because such places have more fish and shrimp. The fish in this lake are mainly herbivorous or omnivorous, so the density of fish here is likely higher than near the fence.”

Wen Jiajia said, “It would be great if we could catch grass carp. Carp and bream would also be good.”

Wei Dai smiled. “Those are the only types of fish here. If we don’t catch any more tomorrow, I’ll get a fishing rod, and we can catch some grass carp to braise for dinner.”

As they talked, Wei Dai finished setting up the trap.

The trap was placed in an area that wasn’t too shallow but not too deep, with plenty of aquatic plants and fast-flowing water. Wen Jiajia learned many tips about setting ground traps from Wei Dai.

After the fireworks, the sky gradually darkened.

Yet, a golden sunset still guided those returning home late. In winter, the sky is colder and more merciless, and a flashlight is necessary to walk outside.

The next day, Wei Dai got up early to check the traps, but Wen Jiajia was still asleep.

When she woke up, the traps had already been retrieved.

Wen Jiajia rubbed her eyes, still adjusting to the strong morning light, and stood by the window, a bit dazed from the noise outside.

“How much did you catch?” she asked.

Wei Dai looked up and replied, “You’re awake!”

He carried a bucket of water to the yard and poured the contents of the trap into it.

“We have a big catch!” he said. “No grass carp, but we do have carp.”

He estimated, “It’s probably more than three kilograms.” As he spoke, the carp slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.

In fact, this was considered a relatively small carp. Carp can grow one to two kilograms of meat every year. Wei Dai once caught an 18-kilogram carp in a river. He had heard that in the old days, someone in their village even caught a 42-kilogram king fish.

But that was during a time of exploitation and hardship, with corrupt officials and landlords taking advantage of the villagers. The fish king was taken away by the landlord’s servants, leaving behind only two worthless gold yuan notes. What use are gold yuan notes if they can’t even start a fire?

However, Wei Dai, with his years of experience, believed that the most delicious carp weighed about one and a half kilograms. Such carp were the most tender, with no fishy smell if you removed the white lines from the belly.

Wen Jiajia was extremely surprised. “It’s still alive! Put it in the water tank quickly. We’ll make braised carp for lunch.”

Wei Dai looked up at the sky and said, “Why don’t you check your watch? It’s already half past nine. How about killing him?”

“Oh! It’s already half past nine.”

Wen Jiajia raised her wrist and said, “Then kill him.”

She had slept too late last night and was still thinking about going with Wei Dai to check the trap this morning.

In addition to the carp, there were several small fish weighing less than a pound, four crabs, and more.

There were two large crabs and two small ones. The large ones were as big as her outstretched palm, while the small ones were about the size of her fist.

Wen Jiajia had also been craving crayfish, and there were quite a few. She ran to the yard in her slippers to count them—sixteen in total, but still not enough to stir-fry a whole dish, and certainly not worthy of her frying garlic as a side dish.

“How about we set up a few more traps today?” Wen Jiajia ran to the laundry sink and asked Wei Dai, “Catch some more crabs and crayfish.”

Wei Dai stretched out his wrist in front of her. “Help me roll up my sleeves. The cuffs are too big and keep falling off.”

Wen Jiajia helped him roll up his sleeves and squinted at him. “Why are you wearing long sleeves in this weather?”

Wei Dai didn’t want to say anything, and his eyes were full of resentment as he looked at Wen Jiajia. Why was he wearing long sleeves? It was because the short sleeves carried a strong floral scent. Which real man could stand this?

Wen Jiajia understood the meaning of his eyes and coughed twice to ease the embarrassment.

This was an accident. She hadn’t thought about it at the time and had smeared essential oil on the paper and put the paper in the closet to fumigate the clothes. Her clothes were indeed fragrant, and Wei Dai’s clothes were also fragrant, with the same rose scent.

Fortunately, she had only put the paper coated with essential oil into the wardrobe containing summer clothes, thus saving Wei Dai’s other clothes.

With a “pop,” Wen Jiajia gently patted Wei Dai’s arm. “You haven’t said anything yet. Do you want to set some more traps?”

Wei Dai thought to himself: Do I still have a choice?

He nodded. “Put down three, four, or five more, and I’ll weave them later.” There was only one trap at home, but fortunately, there were plenty of bamboo strips.

Wen Jiajia was satisfied, so she left to have breakfast.

Breakfast was millet porridge with fried dough sticks and salted duck eggs.

As the weather got hotter, Wen Jiajia became afraid of greasy food and drank porridge almost every morning.

Goat milk… oh no, now it’s cow milk. On weekdays, she would put the milk into a kettle and bring it to the pharmaceutical factory to drink, and on weekends, she would drink it as afternoon tea.

On a pleasant afternoon, she used the newly roasted tea leaves after the Qingming Festival to make milk tea. She would pour the cooked milk tea into a kettle and throw it into the cold spring water. After half an hour, the milk tea would reach the same temperature as the spring water. It was icy cold and very refreshing to drink.

She drank a lot of porridge, mostly multi-grain porridge. After the millet was sent to her from home, she basically drank millet porridge.

Salted duck eggs were also sent from home, but they had arrived the day before yesterday. They tasted better than the ones pickled by Wen Jiajia. As soon as you tasted them, you could tell they were pickled by Wei Dai’s father. The duck eggs pickled by him had a stronger wine flavor but a lighter salty taste.

According to the letter, the duck eggs were bought from Fuyang. Wen Jiajia felt particularly at home when she ate them. After all, she had taken care of the ducks for a while, so how could she not feel at home when she could eat their eggs from thousands of miles away?

The letter also said that Fuyang’s duck farming business had expanded and was in full swing. Now, several supply and marketing cooperatives in the county used Fuyang duck eggs.

Wen Jiajia was very happy for her hometown. After all, she had spent a good time in Fuyang. When she first came here, her heart was like floating duckweed, and it was Fuyang that gave her a sense of security and stability.

Needless to say, the fried dough sticks were bought in the cafeteria.

The fried dough sticks by the cafeteria chef were really good. This time they were small fennel dough sticks, only as thick as two fingers, not crispy but soft, and very fragrant. Wen Jiajia didn’t know how they adjusted the flavor.

She chewed it, and it became more fragrant the more she chewed it. It was also quite chewy.

“I’ll buy this fried dough stick next time,” Wen Jiajia said to Wei Dai, who came in with the fish. “It’s not oily and doesn’t taste as greasy as the big fried dough sticks.”

“Yeah, I also think this kind of small fried dough sticks are delicious. Old Zhao doesn’t like to make them very much. He said that he also adds fennel and peppercorns, so it’s not as cost-effective as the big fried dough sticks.” Wei Dai put the fish in the kitchen, placed it on a plate, and cut a few slits on both sides of the fish with a knife. He then sprinkled salt on it and poured some rice wine to marinate it.

Wen Jiajia frowned. “Big fried dough sticks consume a lot of oil!” Actually, when you really count it, small fried dough sticks are more cost-effective.

“That’s what I said.” Wei Dai smiled. “But don’t worry, Old Zhao will probably make more of these fried dough sticks in the future.”

“Why?”

“Because the leader also said they were good after eating them.” Wei Dai said with a brighter smile. “The division commander also ate in the cafeteria today. He is from Hebei Province. He praised it while eating and said it would be even better if there was a bowl of spicy soup. However, there is no spicy soup, so the small fried dough sticks must be kept in the cafeteria no matter what.”

Wen Jiajia thought, it’s better to be a leader.

The leader certainly didn’t mean that, but others would naturally guess what he meant based on his reaction.

Wen Jiajia ate the fried dough sticks with great relish. Wei Dai bought half a pound of them, but he and the two girls only ate half of them. The rest was eaten by Wen Jiajia.

After eating the fried dough sticks, she watched Wei Dai weave a trap.

He wove things very quickly, and the bamboo strips seemed to have life in his hands, able to independently weave into the places Wei Dai wanted them to go into.

Soon, the framework was ready. He did not continue weaving but made two more frameworks before moving on to the next step.

This step took a lot of time. Wen Jiajia wanted to help, but she couldn’t learn Wei Dai’s weaving method after watching for a long time. So she could only help pass the bamboo strips and pour water for him to drink.

By noon, the three traps were finally woven, and Wei Dai put them all into the lake, together with the old trap.

“Let’s go!” He patted the dust off his hands. “Don’t worry, we have to wait until night to collect them.”

We had braised carp for lunch.

Braised carp is a staple dish. You fry the fish skin in oil until it turns yellow and wrinkled, then pour in the seasonings, add water, cover, and simmer.