I See through Everything

He was now counting on a good harvest from his three mu of Egyptian Catfish ponds.

Just as Wang Baorui was about to call the other children to wash their hands for dinner,

two electric scooters pulled up to the gate.

"What’s going on?"

Jiang Hongmei, who was comforting her second grandson at the front gate, turned to see a village troublemaker and an unfamiliar young man. "Xia Gu, what are you doing here?"

The troublemaker nicknamed Xia Gu put on a fawning smile. "Auntie, I’m looking for Brother Rui."

"Who is it?" Wang Baorui walked out from inside the house. When he saw Xia Gu and a stranger, his brow furrowed slightly. "Xia Gu, you’re looking for me?"

"Brother Rui, you’re raising three mu of Egyptian Fish, right? I’ll buy out one mu. How about fifteen thousand?"

Wang Baorui gave a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. "Xia Gu, do I look like an idiot? Fifteen thousand for one mu?"

Xia Gu wouldn’t give up. "Brother Rui, several ponds in our village were harvested today. They only got a little over ten thousand jin per mu. I’m just trying to make a little something for my trouble."

"Go find someone else!" Wang Baorui rejected him without a second thought. He knew the situation in his own ponds like the back of his hand. For the past three months, his mom had been hauling leftovers from nearby seafood restaurants and food stalls every single day. He had raised his Egyptian Catfish to be enormous; he estimated a minimum yield of fifteen thousand jin per mu.

’How could he possibly hand over his ponds to someone else at a time like this?’

"Brother Rui, is there really no room for negotiation?"

"Negotiate my ass. When are you planning to pay back the two hundred bucks you owe me?"

"Uh... I’ve got to go."

Xia Gu grabbed the other young man, and they sped off on their electric scooters, disappearing in a flash.

As Wang Baorui watched their retreating figures and was about to go back inside, his mother, Jiang Hongmei, grabbed his arm. "Baorui, I’d better go keep an eye on the ponds. Come and relieve me after you’ve finished dinner."

"Mom, are you worried Xia Gu might try something?"

Jiang Hongmei knew the village mentality all too well. People getting red-eyed with jealousy over others’ success was one thing; she was more afraid someone might secretly dump pesticides into the ponds. "You can never be too careful. That boy is full of bad intentions. Everything our family has worked for these past few months comes down to tomorrow. It’s better to be safe than sorry."

Hearing his mother’s words, Wang Baorui realized he had been too complacent. "Okay, Mom. You go watch for now. Lijuan and I will take turns on watch tonight."

After leaving Wang Baorui’s house, Xia Gu and the other young man stopped their electric scooters at the entrance to the village.

"Xia Gu, that idea of yours was a long shot!"

"Iron Head, don’t lose hope! Why don’t we check out some farms farther away?"

"Farms farther out rarely raise Egyptian Fish! I say we just forget it." Iron Head was already starting to back out.

But Xia Gu wouldn’t give up. "This is a golden opportunity to make some money. In a few days, word will get out to other areas, and our chance will be gone."

"Nah, I’m going home to help out. If you actually manage to source some cheap Egyptian Fish, you can use my family’s license. I’ll just take a one-percent cut. See ya." Iron Head twisted the throttle, and his scooter shot forward.

Clearly, no one was a fool.

As for sourcing fish from other areas, Xia Gu thought it over and decided against it. He didn’t know the people there and could easily get ripped off.

Riding his electric scooter home, Iron Head entered Changsha Village.

Before he even reached his front door, he could hear angry shouting in the distance. Iron Head approached with a sheepish grin.

"Where have you been?"

"Dad, a classmate from Jinting was looking for me."

Lin Songjiang’s face was stern. "Jinting? Was it that Xia Gu again? Haven’t I told you not to associate with people like him? What can an idle good-for-nothing like that ever amount to?"

"I know..."

"’I know, I know!’ All you ever say is ’I know’! Are you trying to kill me? Don’t follow in the footsteps of your worthless older brother, who got scammed and shipped off to Southeast Asia." Lin Songjiang vented, full of exasperation for his son’s lack of promise.

At the mention of his older brother, Iron Head didn’t dare act so tough. If he talked back, he was sure his father would actually break his legs.

After chewing him out for a while, Lin Songjiang finally remembered the task at hand. "This afternoon, you’re getting in those fish ponds. If you dare run off before all the fish are harvested, I’ll break your legs."

The Lin family scarfed down a quick lunch.

A little after one o’clock, the whole family trooped out to the four mu of ponds they had under contract.

They had already drained one pond that morning, but plenty of Egyptian Catfish were still left in the mud at the bottom, so the family split up the work.

Iron Head and his younger brother were tasked with clearing the fish out of the mud.

Meanwhile, Lin Songjiang and his wife took scoop nets and bait to the other two ponds, catching the Egyptian Catfish that were drawn to the lure.

Wearing ill-fitting waders and straw hats, and armed with a blunt-tined rake and a bucket, the two brothers waded into the sludge. They struggled to rake through the muck, searching for the Egyptian Catfish hidden within.

"Bro, by your foot..."

"Damn it, this stupid fish is too slippery!"

After half an hour of digging, they had only caught a little over a hundred jin of fish.

"It’s too hot, let’s take a break."

The two brothers carried the bucket up onto the dike and stood under a longan tree to cool off.

Iron Head casually picked a cluster of longans.

His younger brother drank from a water bottle, fanning himself with his straw hat. "Whew... Bro, we should be able to get a few hundred bucks for these fish, right?"

"In your dreams. A hundred-odd jin will only get you a hundred-odd bucks." Iron Head peeled a longan and popped it into his mouth.

"That cheap? Then we can’t be making much money, can we?"

Looking at his naive younger brother, Iron Head remembered that the boy was in a boarding program at Huashi Middle School and didn’t know the details. He explained, "One-point-five yuan per jin is cheap, for sure, but Egyptian Fish grow fast. As long as there’s a buyer, we can make a profit."

"So how much can our family make from these four mu of ponds?"

"Sixty or seventy thousand, I guess!"

"Is that all?"

"’Is that all?’ When you’re out in the real world working, you won’t be saying that. Just focus on your studies. Try to land a stable job in the city."

"Uh..."

"Enough with the ’uh.’ Have a longan."

Meanwhile, Lin Songjiang and his wife had already netted seven or eight hundred jin of fish, so they called Iron Head and his brother over to help carry the load.

Soon, Lin Songjiang was driving off on his motorized tricycle, hauling away a full load of Egyptian Fish.

This same scene was playing out in five or six other villages around Magong Town, with many fish farmers mobilizing their entire families, from the youngest to the oldest.

The first batch of farmers, who had been raising their stock for three months, were finally getting their first taste of profit.