Cannon Fodder Group Ch.184

Chapter 184 – Fish King

“Alright, if you want to try, go ahead!” After all, whatever the outcome, he would protect his little sister.

Xu Jinning took the bucket Xu Xiangdong handed her without much hesitation and scooped it into the river.

Would she catch fish this time?

Xu Jinning’s heart raced.

But as soon as this thought crossed her mind, Xu Jinning clearly felt something stirring under her feet.

The commotion was greater than the previous two times.

Even through her rain boots, Xu Jinning could feel it.

It wasn’t just Xu Jinning; even Xu Xiangdong and Xu Xiangbei beside her felt it.

Xu Jinning didn’t know how to describe that feeling.

It was as if her bucket had some kind of magnetism, attracting fish from all directions into her bucket.

As this idea crossed her mind, Xu Jinning was stunned.

No, it couldn’t be!

It couldn’t really be like this.

“I don’t believe you’ll catch a full bucket this time…”

Aunt Hua on the side was a bit impatient, perhaps afraid that Xu Jinning would catch fish again.

So, not long after Xu Jinning’s bucket went down, Aunt Hua quickly stepped forward, bent over, and lifted Xu Jinning’s bucket while saying so.

Surprisingly, Aunt Hua, who usually earned eight work points daily, had quite a bit of strength.

Sure enough, with a little effort, she lifted the bucket.

As she lifted it, Aunt Hua did feel the weight, but she thought it was just a bucket of water.

“…Fish.”

As she finished her last word, the bucket surfaced.

Not only Xu Jinning, but also Xu Xiangdong and the others, everyone around looked over in surprise.

And when everyone saw what was in the bucket clearly, they were all speechless.

Under the sunlight, the bucket was packed full of fish, squished together, almost overflowing.

But strangely, they were very well-behaved. Although they could easily leap out of the bucket with a gentle jump, they didn’t, not even one of them jumped out.

“Is it really a bucket of fish?”

In fact, Xu Xiangdong and Xu Xiangbei were also puzzled. Were they really all fish inside?

It looked like it, but it seemed unlikely.

So, Xu Xiangbei brought over another bucket, and Xu Xiangdong started grabbing the fish one by one and throwing them into the other bucket.

One.

Two.

Three.

…

“Fifteen!”

As people counted aloud, the fish in the bucket were also counted, packed full, indeed 15 fish!

The last one was particularly big, about three times the size of the others, and it was a black fish!

Yes, it was a black fish weighing around six pounds.

If it weren’t for this six-pound black fish taking up a large portion of the bucket, maybe the bucket could have held more than just these 15 fish.

Of course, the other fish weren’t small either, at least over a pound or two.

“This fish is definitely our fish king.”

“Captain, the fish king has appeared, the fish king has appeared!”

…

The crowd called out to the captain.

Fish king?! Xu Jinning had not yet realized that she had caught so many and such big fish from her bucket, such large fish, and she heard people around her talking about the fish king and calling out to the captain.

Xu Jinning was a little flustered. What’s going on here?

“Ningning, it’s okay, don’t be afraid.”

Xu Xiangdong quickly explained to Xu Jinning what a fish king was.

It turns out that in previous years’ fishing activities, over three days, although everyone caught fish of varying sizes, the captain would choose the largest fish among them and call it the fish king.

The captain would exchange this fish king for certain goods.

Then, on the second day at noon after the fish market ended, it would be made into fish soup and distributed to every household.

In the past, when the fishing activity in the Qinghe Production Brigade started in the spring, there was a saying going around.

That is, households that could catch the fish king were blessed households.

And this big fish, called the fish king, was also known as the blessing fish.

The captain’s practice was meant to bless everyone, and those who drank the fish soup this year would be healthy, peaceful, and everything would go smoothly.

As for the family that caught the fish king, it also meant they would have meat, clothes, health, peace, and blessings throughout the year!

Of course, this was a saying passed down from the past, belonging to some feudal superstitions.

Nowadays, it’s definitely not openly discussed.

Some even say that anyone who is sick, as long as they drink a sip of this blessed fish soup, their illness would immediately improve.

This saying not only circulated in Qinghe Production Brigade but also in nearby production brigades.

So, some people used to secretly bring various things just to exchange for some fish soup from the captain, even if it was just a sip.

Whether anyone succeeded in exchanging is unknown.

But this saying, both the older and younger generations know about it.

And although it can’t be openly discussed, the practice of selecting the fish king, making fish soup, and distributing fish soup has always been passed down and done every year.

It was there last year too, but the fish king selected last year was only a little over four pounds.

So, when everyone saw Xu Xiangdong take out this black fish of about six pounds from Xu Jinning’s bucket, they immediately recognized that this fish was definitely this year’s fish king with just one look.

After hearing her brother’s explanation, Xu Jinning understood what was going on and felt reassured.

At this moment, the captain also arrived.

His eyes lit up when he saw this black fish.

He reached out to grab it.

However, the well-behaved black fish in Xu Jinning’s bucket and in Xu Xiangdong’s arms started struggling as soon as it came into the hands of the captain. It was very agile, and if the captain hadn’t been experienced, that slippery black fish might have jumped away.

Everyone watching couldn’t help but marvel.

This was clearly favoritism.

It was so obvious.

“Good, this fish is good!” The captain didn’t seem to mind; on the contrary, the more agile and lively the fish, the more he liked it.

“If there isn’t a bigger one coming up next, then this one is this year’s fish king.”

The captain hadn’t expected that soon after he gave the order, someone would catch the fish king.

Indeed, although the captain said so, he was already convinced in his heart that there wouldn’t be a bigger fish than this black one coming up.

“Xiangdong, you caught this black fish, impressive.” Since it was just handed over from Xu Xiangdong’s arms, the captain naturally assumed it was caught by him.

“Captain, you’re mistaken. That was caught by Xiangdong’s little sister, Ningning.” Before Xu Xiangdong could reply, people around were quick to clarify.

“What do you mean caught? It was scooped up, scooped up with a bucket of water.”

“Captain, you didn’t see just now. Xu’s little girl Ningning is amazing, really talented. One scoop with the basket, and it’s a basket full of fish. One scoop with the water bucket, and it’s also a bucket full of fish!”

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