I See through Everything

Time flew by.

In the blink of an eye, it was the beginning of August.

The lychee season was over, and longans made their grand entrance.

Meanwhile, the various departments, factories, and farms of Hailufeng Company were all running smoothly.

Throughout July, the company’s revenue remained steady at around 158 million.

The Yandun Mountain Feed Factory, which had been undergoing trial production, completed its various tests and adjustments by the end of July. It also rectified the issues previously pointed out by Jiang Miao.

Starting August 1st, fish farmers began calling the Yandun Mountain Feed Factory’s procurement office to inquire about the purchase of Egyptian Catfish.

The Yandun Mountain Feed Factory seized the opportunity to issue a purchasing announcement.

Salt Town Village, perfectly positioned to benefit, was the first to hear that the Yandun Mountain Feed Factory had started buying Egyptian Catfish.

In a small fishpond north of Salt Town Village.

A small, weathered-looking old man, who appeared to be in his sixties or seventies, was gesturing animatedly. Across from him stood a young man who bore a slight resemblance to him.

"Dad, Second Uncle just called me. The Jiang Family’s feed factory has started buying. Let’s hurry up and harvest the fish!"

"AAA... AAA..." The old man could only make guttural sounds, gesturing with his hands. He was clearly mute.

Just then, a motorized three-wheeler came down the dirt path. A middle-aged man who bore some resemblance to the mute old man was driving. He shouted to the pair:

"Big Brother, Ah Qiang."

"AAA..." The mute old man gestured again. Only someone who knew him well could have a hope of guessing what he was trying to convey.

"Third Uncle." The young man, Ah Qiang, hurried over.

"I brought a net. We can get the fish out together. Otherwise, the two of you will be at it past sundown and still won’t be done."

Soon, Ah Qiang picked up the fishing net. His third uncle, Lin Tianing, wearing waterproof waders and tall rubber boots, waded right into the pond.

The mute Lin Taian, meanwhile, grabbed a waterproof tarp and spread it over the cargo bed of the three-wheeler. Then, using buckets and a shoulder pole, he hauled a few loads of water from the pond and poured them into the tarp-lined bed.

By now, the uncle-nephew duo of Lin Yongqiang and Lin Tianing were in the pond. They had already cast the net and were preparing to herd the Egyptian Catfish toward the side closest to the path.

Having filled the cargo bed with water, Lin Taian stood aside with his buckets, pole, and a long-handled scoop net, deftly catching the fish.

The four- or five-pound Egyptian Catfish were ferocious. A single scoop of two or three fish was almost too much to handle, but despite Lin Taian’s elderly appearance, he was only in his fifties and still in decent shape.

Even in a pond of just over a tenth of an acre, after more than an hour of work, plenty of Egyptian Catfish were still leaping on the surface. Seeing the cargo bed teeming with fish, he quickly gestured:

"AAA..."

"Dad! You guys keep going. I’ll take this load to the feed factory."

"Ah Qiang, the key’s on the three-wheeler! Don’t forget your ID and the registration tag."

"Got it."

Lin Yongqiang quickly drove the three-wheeler, hauling over five hundred pounds of fish to the Yandun Mountain Feed Factory.

Along the way, he saw many other three-wheelers also loaded with Egyptian Catfish. Some people were using buckets, while others, like his family, were using waterproof tarps.

When he arrived at the main gate of the Yandun Mountain Feed Factory, there was already a line.

Thankfully, the wait wasn’t too long. Plus, Egyptian Catfish are highly tolerant of low-oxygen environments, so they didn’t need aeration.

Soon it was Lin Yongqiang’s turn.

He drove the three-wheeler into the receiving bay.

A factory employee shouted, "ID and registration tag!"

Lin Yongqiang hopped off the three-wheeler and pulled his ID and registration tag from his fanny pack. A female clerk took the documents, inserted the ID into a scanner, and his information quickly popped up on the computer screen.

Meanwhile, a male worker in a hard hat opened the side panel of the three-wheeler. Several large plastic tubs had been placed alongside it. As he lowered the panel, the fish and water gushed out into the tubs.

The tubs were on a trolley. Once all the fish were out, a weigher in tall rubber boots pulled the trolley over to the scale.

「A few minutes later.」

"Comes to 273 kilograms."

"Look good?" the male clerk asked Lin Yongqiang.

"Looks good."

The female clerk looked up and asked, "That’s 819 yuan. Do you want cash now, or should we settle up after you’ve made all your deliveries?"

"Let’s settle up all at once at the end."

"Alright, I’ve recorded it. You can take a picture of this so there are no mix-ups," the female clerk said, printing a receipt from her computer.

Lin Yongqiang took out his phone, snapped a picture of the receipt, and hurried off.

Jiang Dafu from Xinxiang passed Lin Yongqiang on his way out.

Jiang Dafu’s face was prematurely aged. Though only in his forties, years of hardship had etched deep lines into his features, making him look closer to sixty.

With his wife paralyzed and bedridden and his two children struggling with their jobs, he had no choice but to work from dawn to dusk, tilling the fields and growing vegetables. Even so, the family was in dire financial straits.

A few months ago, Jiang Dahai had approached him with a proposal: plant Duckweed, contract a plot of barren land in the village, and start a fishpond to raise Egyptian Catfish.

Today, the harvest had finally come.

Filled with hope, Jiang Dafu had been up at the crack of dawn. He had borrowed a water pump and, working alone, drained one of his ponds into the other.

This was his eighth load of Egyptian Catfish.

"Dafu! Back again?" The weigher, also from Xinxiang, greeted him with a smile.

"Yep! After this load, I can take a lunch break. This afternoon I’ll clear out the bottom of the pond—I reckon I can get another one or two thousand pounds from it. I’ll get to the other pond tomorrow." Jiang Dafu was all smiles, his usual despondency completely gone.