In the afternoon, Lianhai's wife and Shoucheng's wife came again, this time it was Lianhai's wife feeding little Shi Tou a meal of milk.
Sewing the pants was easier, and in no time, both the big and small pairs of pants were finished.
The auntie took out her precious old-style iron, heated a few pieces of charcoal, sprinkled some water, and a burst of steam rose, making the jackets and pants neat and tidy.
Lianhai's wife and Shoucheng's wife watched with glowing eyes, saying that this thing was amazing, and next time they went out as guests, they would definitely bring clothes over to iron them. Wearing such neat clothes when going out matched the city officials' style.
After finishing sewing the clothes, Lianhai's wife fed little Shi Tou some milk, and the two of them said their goodbyes and went home together. The auntie decided to give each of them some fabric scraps from the cut-off clothes to take home and use for making quilt covers.
The two women were quite pleased to receive these scraps, heading home joyfully.
Ling Chengyan was about to say goodbye when Hongbing from the elder sister-in-law's household came running in, saying, "Second Uncle borrowed the fishing net!"
The elder sister-in-law, Zhao Erni, slapped her youngest son, teasingly scolding, "Always shouting, disturbing your brother Shi Tou; watch out, or your dad will scold you."
Ling Chengyan stood up, smiling, "Shi Tou is quite sturdy, he isn't bothered by such noise."
With that, she greeted the auntie and sister-in-law, letting Hongbing lead the way.
Hongbing eagerly ran at the front, saying as he ran, "Auntie, Second Uncle went straight to the West River. The production team doesn't mind fishing there."
Ling Chengyan chuckled, "Good boy, you know quite a lot."
Hongbing grinned, showing a gap where his front tooth was missing, "I heard my dad and Second Uncle talking at noon."
Spending the day sewing and chatting with the women, Ling Chengyan learned that the land was owned by the state, and farmers didn't have their own land. They were members of the production team and worked together, farming, repairing water systems, and agricultural tools, all organized by the team. At the end of the year, after the autumn harvest, food and money were distributed based on accumulated work points.
Of course, how much food to distribute depended on the specific conditions of each team, the production team's circumstances, the annual harvest, etc.
Lianhai's wife had an aunt who married into the mountains to escape poverty; in good years, life on the large plains was barely manageable with enough farmland to be self-sufficient. However, in the mountains, where the farmland was small and poor, there were rumors that even teenage girls didn't have pants to wear and could only stay under blankets, unable to go out and see people.
However, the women mostly stayed in the village and had rarely been to the commune, knowing little about the outside. When they talked, it was often hearsay and gossip rather than actual facts.
Ling Chengyan followed Hongbing to the west of the village, and Xia Xing also happily tagged along.
Wang Lianfa borrowed a casting net, the most traditional net tool, but using it well required certain skills.
Wang Lianfa learned from his friends a few times, barely qualifying as capable of casting a net. The net didn't come out round, often tangled, and frequently entangled without opening.
The reservoir fish belonged to the collective, so occasionally catching a fish or two wouldn't anger anyone, but a full net was certainly not allowed, so Wang Lianfa chose the South River channel.
South River was a man-made irrigation canal, with ten meters of breadth during the abundant water period, but in spring, during low water, the flow was smaller, reducing the width to about seven or eight meters. Such a narrow water surface increased the difficulty of casting a net to catch fish.
Thus, Wang Lianfa's success rate in net casting remained at fifty percent; a half-round fishing net thrown out nevertheless brought him a few fish, but they were small, mostly small white fish and small crucian carp, the largest being a palm-sized crucian carp baby.
Even so, a bunch of excited children watching was unstoppable, especially Hongbing from Wang Lianqi's family, along with Wang Lianfa's two kids, Hong Ming and Hong Guang, full of pride and excitement. As soon as Wang Lianfa lifted the net, the three brothers cheered and rushed forward to pick fish, with no need for Wang Lianqi to intervene.
Ling Chengyan brought Xia Xing to the riverbank; not only children, but even ten to twenty adults came to watch the excitement.
The adults weren't as pure and adorable as the kids. Wang Lianfa cast down the net, which didn't open up, and two cheeky guys on the riverbank started laughing at it.
"Lianfa, can you even do this? You're throwing the net like you are making dumplings!"
"A skilled throw will open a flower; an unskilled throw will clump it up! Hahaha…"
"Hahaha…"
Regarding net casting, Wang Lianqi wasn't quite skilled, but when it came to banter, Wang's family's second son feared no one. As he untangled the net, he cheerfully snapped back, "How about you two try it, if you dare…? Don't just throw sarcastic words around here…"
The two cheeky lads shrank within the crowd, drawing laughter all around.
Ling Chengyan led Xia Xing and stood amidst the crowd, waiting for Wang Lianfa to fix the net, shaking it to ensure there were no tangles, and only then did he throw it again with full force, casting it wide out again…
"Nice!" Ling Chengyan shouted out.
Xia Xing quickly followed, clapping and jumping in praise. The surrounding people also cheered and applauded.
Wang Lianfa cast this net exceptionally well, landing it round and perfectly in the center of the river.
Wang Lianfa smugly glanced back at the two cheeky lads before leisurely lifting the net.
However—
"No fish? Hahaha, Lianfa, your net only looks good; it's a decorative pillow!"
"Horse dung, shiny on the outside! Hahaha…"
The two lads began bragging again, throwing off one comment after another, leaving Wang Lianfa too dispirited to even reply, shaking the net with a frustrated look, seemingly wanting another try.
"Second Brother!" Ling Chengyan stepped forward, taking the fishing net from Wang Lianfa's hands.
"Liansheng's wife, this fishing net isn't great…" While Wang Lianfa was stunned in surprise, Ling Chengyan already took the net away, as Wang Lianfa realized and wanted to say a few words of persuasion. Before he finished speaking, Ling Chengyan suddenly cast the net out.
This net wasn't quite round, but it happened to fall precisely in the middle of the river; also, the oval shape went with the river flow, appearing as if cast specially for the narrow river.
Wang Lianfa no longer bothered to speak, and with the crowd of adults and children following, all focused on the slowly rising fishing net.
The net rose, with the brothers Hongjun, Hong Ming, and Hong Guang sprinting earliest, rushing straight up to rummage the net, slightly behind were Xia Xing and Wang Lianqi's second daughter Hong Zhi also joining in.