"Also... brother, the weather is getting hotter, if we wait any longer, it’s almost noon."
In just a short while, sweat started pouring down Hua Jin’s face.
At tis like these, she envied those who don’t sweat easily, they seem more refreshed.
Looking at the scorching sun overhead, Hua felt his sister was right and stopped being finicky.
He took the coarse burlap from his sister’s hands, but barely had ti to rejoice before frowning.
Another issue arose, how could they turn this rag into a cloth pouch? They had never done such tasks!
Luo Song and a few others, including Zeng Li, all eagerly looked at Hua Jin; after all, she’s a girl, and supposedly girls are better at needlework.
Indeed, but this didn’t include Hua Jin. She might manage to weave sothing with so rope, but when it ca to needlework she always ended up poking herself.
"Brother, I really can’t do it, maybe you should try it yourself," she said, taking out the needle and thread from her backpack and gesturing for her brother to fend for himself.
The puzzle-like little bag Hua Yunao’s sister carried had long ceased to intrigue his brothers; they rely held the needle, not knowing how to proceed.
"Brother Yunao, should I give it a try?" A gentle voice suddenly offered, truly rescuing the three frustrated individuals, they were pleasantly surprised and turned towards the speaker.
"Da Ya, how could I trouble you... Well, I’ll leave it to you," Hua Yunao quickly passed the burlap to Da Ya, feeling relieved.
His hands could wield a pen or a knife, but using a needle was beyond him.
"No trouble at all," Da Ya shook her head, quickly glanced at Hua Yunao and lowered her head, her face blushing even redder.
Noticing the girl’s flushed face, the keen-eyed Luo Song raised an eyebrow, glancing aningfully at Hua Yunao, and chuckled.
The cloth Hua Jin took out also inspired the others quite a bit.
Two youths simply took off their outer garnts, carefully crafted them into a cloth pouch, much lighter and more flexible than bamboo baskets, marveling at how clever Hua Yunao’s sister was.
Da Ya worked rapidly, divided the cloth into two, and with swift needlework produced two large cloth pouches in no ti.
They fixed them onto the square wooden fras the brothers had made, attached long handles, turning them into fish scooping tools.
Hua Yunao tried it out and found it quite handy, smiling softly at Da Ya and thanking her, causing the tall girl to lower her head further.
Never before had Hua Yunao spoken so warmly to them, only with Hua Jin had she heard him speak this pleasantly.
Generally expressionless, his speech was mostly stiff; at this mont Da Ya felt her heart skip a beat, ears itching, quickly lifting her head to mutter "You’re welco," her face even redder.
Even if only for a mont, the blush on Da Ya’s face was noticed by Hua Yunao, who paused, his gaze stopping at ng Xile, realizing Da Ya was quite pretty.
This thought fleeting, he was eager to try the tool in his hand; once the water evaporated, the mud would be harder to catch.
Though Hua Yunao’s pause was brief, Hua Jin’s sharp eyes caught it, her gaze brightening.
Indeed, cloth pouches worked better than bamboo baskets, faster too; in a short ti, those with cloth pouches had caught a dozen fish, unlike bamboo baskets that grew heavy in water, causing many fish to jump out, though they did catch so, it was visibly fewer, still making them happy.
Hua Yunao’s strength and speed enabled him to catch the most fish whenever he felt the pouch growing heavy, followed by Luo Song.
In no ti, they had dozens of fish, ranging from palm-sized to four or five pounds, mostly two or three pounds, with even larger ones, Hua Jin saw a roughly six or seven-pound fish escape the pouch.
The two cousins took charge, determinedly keeping watch over their brother, seeing pouch after pouch of fish made them grin like cats that got the cream.
Even Hua Jin was thrilled, collecting any fish smaller than a palm into her space.
Da Ya and Xiao Mao, the other girls were equally delighted, not minding the splattered mud, busy stringing up the fish brought by Hua Daba and Wang Cong to prevent them from diving back into the mud.
When working, ti seems to rush by; seeing the lively fish, everyone noticed less the passing ti.
The sun had risen to its zenith, suddenly noticed by Hua Jin when her skin burned, she only realized when looking at the pile of fish behind her.
Quickly standing up: "Brother, let’s stop, we’ve caught too much."
Hua Yunao, so focused, only heard his sister’s voice when lifting a fish-filled pouch, finally realizing.
Hua Jin ford a gaphone with her hands: "Brother, we’ve caught too much, we can’t carry it all," she pointed to the pile of grass-strung fish, so still alive, so clearly gone.
Looking at Da Ya’s side, there were even more piles.
"...It’s noon, if we don’t go back, our parents will worry; these fish won’t escape, we can co back in the afternoon with more help," Hua Jin continued.
Focused only on catching, no clue how much they’d caught; Hua Yunao’s excitent finally cooled seeing the piles of fish, his mouth twitching involuntarily.
Indeed, they should stop, so fish were already dead; in this heat, any delay might make them spoil.
Quickly calling to halt, not stopping could an they’d beco worthless, they were fine to eat but waste was painful.
"Luo Song, Xiao Dan, Hua Zi, Xing Er all stop, it’s enough, let’s carry them back, otherwise it was all for nothing."
Despite this, the excited group still scooped one last pouch (basket) before finally halting, amazed at their day’s haul.
Couldn’t believe they’d caught this much, no wonder Yun Ao stopped them.
Gazing at the piles of fish, a slight headache crept in, worrying about carrying them all back in one go.
In this sweltering heat, leaving them might truly waste the effort.
After discussing, the decision was to carry them up the mountain in pairs, using a strong vine grass to thread the fish, making transport easier and less tiring, better than hand-carrying them uphill.
After much maneuvering, they barely got all the fish back.
Returning to the valley, everyone including Hua Jin was hot and tired, collapsing to the ground.
Their group of over a dozen brought back roughly two thousand pounds of fish at once, exhausting everyone.
Today it was Hua Qiang and Hua Annai on valley gate duty, they were stunned seeing the mud-covered children and the piles of fish on the ground.
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