Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Preliminary Work
Considering the fish pond was almost abandoned, the village offered a very low price.
However, since the Yue Family signed a ten-year contract all at once, it still amounted to a substantial expense.
Village Chief Zhang maintained a peculiar expression of wanting to say something but stopping himself throughout the entire discussion and eventually couldn’t hold back.
“Jiandong, although you have taken on the fish pond contract, you should still focus more on your own land. After all, this is the root of us farmers,” he finally managed to say.
This was to ensure the Yue Family had a safety net, lest the fish pond losses later leave them unable to afford even food.
Yue Jiandong solemnly thanked him and took his two brothers to see the pond the next day.
The fish pond was located south of the village, not too far from the Yue Family’s home.
It was the midst of winter, and thankfully, the smell was not too bad with a layer of ice on top, beneath which one could vaguely make out a variety of garbage that was also frozen.
Having been abandoned for too long, it had almost become a garbage dump.
Yue Jiannan shook his head upon seeing it, “It’s too dirty, how are we going to clean this up? The fish would get sick and die if we put them in here.”
While measuring the pond’s dimensions with his feet, Yue Jiandong reassured, “No worries, it’s already much better than I expected. This pond is large and deep enough to raise a good number of fish.”
Yue Jianxi rubbed his hands, which were red from the cold, “We can’t do much now, the ground around is frozen solid. Let’s wait for the spring thaw and then properly fix up the pond.”
“Yeah, let’s prepare in advance. We need to do a good job with the fish pond this year, and we still need to pay attention to the farmland,” Yue Jiandong calculated that there was much more work than in previous years.
But the people of the Yue Family were not afraid of hard work; sometimes, weariness also represented hope in life.
After listening to his older brothers, Yue Jiannan suddenly fell silent, kicked a small stone toward the pond’s edge, and watched it roll away with a murmuring sound.
He felt so useless, never able to win in fights, nor good at farming, and now he couldn’t even go to the back mountain.
He feared he might be less useful at home than his sisters-in-law.
Yue Jiandong and Yue Jianxi exchanged glances.
Yue Jiandong walked over to his younger brother and draped an arm around his neck.
“By the way, you’ll also have to put in some work when the time comes.”
Yue Jiannan’s eyes lit up, “What? Is there something I can do?”
“The most important task is yours, come feed the fish daily, twice a day, after we introduce the fry in early spring,” Yue Jiandong said.
Yue Jiannan got excited, “No problem, just leave it to me.”
Yue Jiandong intentionally tightened his arm, “I’ve heard that preparing the fine fish feed is troublesome, needing rice bran, wheat bran mixed together, and sometimes ground shrimp shells added. Make sure you don’t complain about the effort.”
These were things Yue Jiandong had heard from experienced fish farmers when he was a child, although recently the number of people raising fish in the village had been dwindling.
Yue Jiannan chuckled, “Not tiring at all, I promise to complete the task.”
“Then we’re leaving the fish pond in your charge,” his brothers declared.
Yue Jiandong spoke earnestly, and Yue Jianxi also patted his shoulder.
Feeling the entrustment of his brothers, Yue Jiannan felt a warm glow in his heart.
He wasn’t entirely useless after all.
This year’s spring arrived earlier than usual, bringing the chill of the thawing snow.
But for the Yue Family, this was a signal.
Once the ground thawed, the cleanup of the fish pond officially began.
On the day they were preparing to go out and work, Lin Chunju had them take Yue Qingqing with them to keep her beside them while they worked.
The small cart that Jin Aijun had made for the Yue Family was ready, evidently made with care, sturdy and beautiful.
Yue Jiandong was puzzled, “Qingqing is still too small; it could make her sick to be out in the cold.”
Yue Qingqing smacked the small cart, indicating her spirit was not afraid of the cold or fatigue.
Seeing this, Lin Chunju laughed, “She can’t stay still at home; besides, there aren’t many people around there, so it’s also good for her to go out and see the scenery.”
With no options left, they had to take Little Bean along as they headed out.