Chapter 169 - 166: Taking the Girls to Experience Fishing for Crawfish
Xia Xiaoyue handed Mu Qingye’s clothes to Yu Wei.
Then, she tied up her own hair, also coiling it into a bun at the back of her head.
After that, she rolled up both of her sleeves.
The clothes she was wearing made it easy to roll up the sleeves.
Next, she walked to the crawfish hole and bent over as well.
As she bent over, her long legs looked even more alluring.
Li You didn’t stare.
After a moment’s hesitation, Xia Xiaoyue reached her hand into the hole.
She pushed her arm in deeper and deeper. When she felt the crawfish’s pincer, she was just as surprised and excited.
There really was another one inside. She had finally caught a crawfish from a hole for the very first time.
She felt a rush of excitement.
’Can I get a grip on its pincer and pull it out?’
After a brief struggle, Xia Xiaoyue finally managed to grab its pincer and drag it out.
Holding the crawfish in her hand, Xia Xiaoyue excitedly showed it to Li You.
Li You gave her a thumbs-up. "Nice one!"
Xia Xiaoyue said smugly, "Of course."
Seeing that both Mu Qingye and Xia Xiaoyue had successfully pulled crawfish from a hole, the other women, like Ling Xiaoru and Yu Wei, grew more and more eager to try it themselves.
"Boss, can you find a few more crawfish holes? We want to give it a try too," the women all said.
Li You nodded. "Alright, let’s keep looking for crawfish holes."
"Thank you, Boss."
Li You continued his search for crawfish holes.
Soon, he found another one in a great spot.
"Here’s another one. Who’s up?"
"I’ll go. Let me," Yu Wei said.
She was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, which was more convenient.
So, she also tied up her hair and rolled her sleeves all the way up to her shoulders.
She walked to the crawfish hole, bent over, and reached her hand inside.
She was excited and hopeful, but also a little scared and nervous.
But in the end, she successfully pulled a crawfish out.
It was a pretty big one, too—bigger than the ones Mu Qingye and Xia Xiaoyue had caught.
Yu Wei was thrilled.
Ling Xiaoru said, "There should be another one in there, right? Yu Wei, let me take a turn. Is that okay?"
Yu Wei nodded. "Okay, Sister Xiaoru, you’re up."
"Alright!"
Ling Xiaoru also tied up her hair first, then rolled up her sleeves. Then she bent over and reached into the hole.
In the end, she too successfully pulled the crawfish out of the hole.
Ling Xiaoru was incredibly excited.
Four people had all succeeded. It seemed like as long as you found a crawfish hole, you were guaranteed to catch something!
That’s what all the women thought.
But Li You shook his head. "You’re not guaranteed to catch something every time. Sometimes, the holes are empty. And even if there is a crawfish, you’re not guaranteed to pull it out. If the hole is too deep and you can’t reach the crawfish even with your arm fully extended, you have to give up. Also, if the passage inside is too narrow, it’s just as hard to reach it, and you have to give up then, too."
So that’s how it was.
All the women nodded.
They continued looking for more crawfish holes.
And so, Li You found one great crawfish hole after another.
The women took turns bending over and reaching into the holes to catch crawfish.
Most of the time, they succeeded in pulling a crawfish out.
Even if someone failed at one hole and couldn’t get the crawfish, they would succeed at the next one.
In the end, all twenty-three women had successfully caught a crawfish from a hole at least once.
Every single one of them had experienced it for themselves.
This left them all feeling incredibly excited and thrilled.
It was truly a lot of fun.
If it weren’t for the fact that they also wanted to try fishing for crawfish, the women would have kept on catching them by hand.
They were all getting a little addicted to it.
But the thought that fishing for crawfish would also be a lot of fun convinced them to go try that next.
Li You had no objections.
So, it was time to go fishing for crawfish.
The women washed their hands, and Mu Qingye put her clothes back on.
They set off!
Crawfish are generally fished for in ponds, deep paddy fields, or deep irrigation ditches.
There were many suitable spots for crawfish fishing around the village.
Li You decided to take the women to a nearby irrigation ditch.
A short while later, they arrived at the edge of the ditch.
The ditch was long and winding, with an average depth of about two meters.
It was about three meters wide at its widest point and less than a meter at its narrowest.
When Li You arrived with the women, they could see several villagers already there, fishing for crawfish.
Besides wading into the fields to catch crawfish by hand, many villagers also chose to fish for them.
Fishing for them was also more relaxing.
And with a bit of luck, you could catch more than you would by hand.
"Boss, are they all fishing for crawfish?" the women asked.
Li You nodded. "That’s right!"
Hearing this, the women all turned to watch the villagers with great interest.
It was the first time any of them had seen someone fish for crawfish.
In fact, aside from a few like Xia Xiaoyue, Yu Wei, and Ling Xiaoru, the rest of the women had only just learned today that you could even fish for crawfish.
So, they were all extremely curious and fascinated.
They saw that each villager had a row of rods stuck in the ground in front of them, at least a dozen or so.
The rods were of all different lengths and thicknesses; some were straight, while others were bent.
Some were just branches, while others were thin bamboo poles or even bamboo strips.
In short, the rods were very makeshift.
The women stared, realizing what they were. So *these* were crawfish fishing rods. No wonder the Boss had said they didn’t need to prepare any. Rods like these could be made on the spot; you didn’t even have to *make* them, just picking up a branch would suffice. As for the fishing line, it was clear any kind of string would do. They were surprised and intrigued by how incredibly casual the gear was.
Just then, the nearest villager crouched down, grabbed one of his rods, and began to pull it up slowly.
The line was pulled taut, forming an angled line with the water’s surface.
’Did a crawfish take the bait?’
The women’s eyes all widened in pleasant surprise.
At that moment, the villager pulled the rod with his right hand while using his left to slowly submerge a small hand net in the water.
Once the crawfish was pulled close enough to be seen, he swiftly scooped it up with the net.
The crawfish was caught in the hand net.
He had successfully caught one.
’So that’s how you fish for crawfish!’
Having witnessed the entire process of fishing for crawfish firsthand, the women grew excited all over again.
’It looks like so much fun.’
They were already dying to start fishing themselves.
"Boss, let’s get started. We need to prepare rods first, right?" the women asked.
Li You nodded. "Go ahead and prepare your own rods. Anything long and thin will work. Branches, bamboo poles, bamboo strips, and so on. As for how many, you can use one, two, three, or four."
"Okay!"
The women agreed and started looking for their own rods.
It was very easy.
There were plenty of ready-made options lying on the ground all around them.
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