But the newbie protection period has a time limit too; after one hour, the fishing rod won’t catch any more fish.
Now it’s time to bait the area.
Chen Mo emptied out all the bait, using the wooden bucket originally for bait to hold the fish.
He kneaded the bait and evenly sprinkled it into the ice hole.
The current catch is quite bountiful: he and Zhang River caught two bighead carps, three black carps, one grass carp, two crucian carps, and a few finger-sized small fish.
Occasional exclamations arose nearby; someone caught a carp, drawing a crowd of fishing enthusiasts to watch.
"This carp weighs at least two pounds."
"Old Li has hit the jackpot; this carp looks pretty good, could fetch at least sixty cents."
"Old Li, congratulations, you must treat us tonight."
The surrounding eyes were full of envy.
Fishing is a relatively dull activity, especially in such cold weather, when you haven’t caught fish for a while.
Zhang River was getting restless, pacing back and forth from the cold, blowing on his hands.
Chen Mo told him to go out more and gather some useful information in the meantime.
At present, it was still manageable for him despite not catching fish for a while.
Soon, Zhang River brought back some useful news.
The elder who was beaten to death by the Qinghe Gang earlier was called Old Tree Head by others. He was from the neighboring Wang Family Manor, and the Qinghe Gang found him because a familiar person reported him.
Old Tree Head had two daughters married off elsewhere, who hadn’t returned in years, making him relatively alone.
The informant doesn’t need to worry about retaliation.
The Qinghe Gang had previously announced that anyone who reports poachers and illegal fishers would be rewarded with one hundred cents per person.
One hundred cents; if you’re unlucky, it would take several days of fishing to earn that much money...
Reporting someone is basically easy money.
"The Qinghe Gang really has some smart tactics..."
Chen Mo sighed in his heart.
If you come to Dadong Lake to fish, you can’t escape the Qinghe Gang’s schemes.
They have ways to keep you tightly under control.
Soon, three hours passed.
Except for the first hour and catching some fish after baiting the area, they hardly caught anything for more than an hour afterward.
Chen Mo glanced at the bucket of fish, around a dozen of various sizes, weighing about forty pounds.
But they didn’t catch any high-value fish like carp or bass.
Just as Chen Mo called Zhang River to pack up, there was a "snap" sound nearby; someone broke their rod.
The person who broke their rod was a squat young man in patched and bulky clothing; his rod snapped into two pieces, and he hurriedly grabbed the piece with the fishing line to prevent it from being pulled into the ice hole.
Judging by the young man’s expression, it seemed he caught a big one.
It was a good show, and all the surrounding anglers gathered to watch.
About a minute later, a cyan-backed turtle with a splash was pulled out of the water by the young man and landed on the ice, spinning around.
This cyan-backed turtle was the size of a washbasin, with two red vertical stripes on its shell, and the shell between the stripes was purple.
"It’s actually a big tortoise."
"A tortoise is a great tonic; this one is at least twenty pounds."
"Nonsense, this is not a tortoise, it’s clearly a turtle."
"Aren’t they the same?"
To them, whether it was a softshell turtle or a regular turtle, they called it a tortoise. (In some places, they can distinguish between the two, but they’re habitually both called tortoises.)
"This kid’s luck is in; it’s a Purple Sun Turtle. Did you see that shell in the middle? Every sunny day, the Purple Sun Turtle comes out to sunbathe. It’s said to be a great tonic, even used as a martial artist’s dietary supplement for training."
A middle-aged man who looked well-traveled and knowledgeable said in surprise.
As soon as he spoke, everyone around was in an uproar.
Even though they didn’t recognize the Purple Sun Turtle, once they heard it could be used as a martial artist’s training supplement, they knew this tortoise could fetch a high price.
Immediately, looks of envy, jealousy, and even greed were directed at the squat young man.
The squat young man was aware that this was drawing too much attention, so he immediately lunged forward, hugging the Purple Sun Turtle tightly, and shouted, "Master Hu, I want to sell the fish."
The Qinghe Gang’s lackeys, who were chatting idly, heard the shout, spat on the ground, and came over with a disdainful expression, saying, "Who’s selling fish?"
"It’s me, it’s me." The squat young man stood up, pointing at the "Purple Sun Turtle" at his feet, and said, "Boss, I want to sell this tortoise... no, it’s a Purple Sun Turtle. They said it can be used as a martial artist’s training supplement."
The squat young man rubbed his hands excitedly.
The Qinghe Gang lackeys exchanged glances, and one said, "Let Brother Hu take a look."
Then one lackey gestured to the squat young man, saying, "Follow me."
The squat young man, grinning from ear to ear, followed with the "Purple Sun Turtle" in his arms.
Chen Mo, since he was about to leave, went to have a look as well.
"Brother Mo, that kid hit the jackpot; a martial artist’s training item, it’s worth at least two to three taels," Zhang River whispered into Chen Mo’s ear.
"Worth it it may be, but he might not get the money."
From the current behavior of the Qinghe Gang, they’re like a ravenous tiger that devours people; they wouldn’t give away so much silver lightly.
Inside the wooden shed, Brother Hu scrutinized the Purple Sun Turtle for a while before slamming his hand on the table: "You damned rascal, how dare you try to deceive me? This is clearly just a regular Cyan Turtle, and you dare to sell it as a Purple Sun Turtle? Such a precious creature can’t possibly be caught by someone as simple as you."
Startled by Brother Hu’s shout, the squat young man immediately knelt, trembling, "Brother Hu, I wouldn’t dare. I didn’t... didn’t say it was a Purple Sun Turtle; it was others who said it, not me."
"Hmph, I figured you wouldn’t dare." Brother Hu snorted coldly and said to his subordinate, "Weigh it."
After weighing, a moment later, the subordinate said, "Brother Hu, ten pounds."
"How could it be only ten pounds? Could there be a mistake..." Upon hearing only ten pounds, the squat young man looked up in surprise, sure that when he held it earlier, it was definitely more than ten pounds.
"Hmm." Brother Hu glared, and the squat young man quickly lowered his head.
"Record it, Cyan Turtle, ten pounds, price... two hundred cents." Brother Hu mused for a while and said.
That mouth is like a Dragon-Slaying Saber, cutting right at the main artery.
As Chen Mo understands, even a regular Cyan Turtle of that size would sell for at least one thousand coins, and it couldn’t possibly weigh only ten pounds.
At half price, it should be worth at least Half a String of Coins.
Now offering only two hundred cents, how much are they skimming?
The squat young man also knew this price was a huge rip-off.
But looking at Master Hu and his crew, the squat young man didn’t have the courage to raise the price, so he could only accept it and still had to thank Master Hu with a smile.
After receiving the two hundred cents, the squat young man quickly left Dadong Lake, not daring to linger. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵·𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖·𝙣𝙚𝙩