Chapter 8

Someone asked, "The iron hooks in the Song Dynasty weren't that sturdy, and the ropes weren't that strong. Would the big fish break free and escape?" The answer is no! Because the rolling hooks are supported by a large number of floats on the sea surface. After the fish bites the hook, it can't exert enough force to break the rope or the hook. When it struggles, the entire rolling hook and the floats move with it. It's possible that other hooks will also catch it, ultimately entangling it to death. Therefore, these hooks must be large, specifically for catching fish weighing hundreds of pounds. Smaller hooks are meaningless; if small fish keep biting, it would be more trouble to unhook them than to catch the fish. The fish wouldn't be exhausted, but the people would be.

There was a solution, but it still needed the approval of the Bo Fu and Chen Ming'en families. Now, it should be three families. As the sky just began to brighten, three wooden boats of about the same size approached. These boats, known as "lian pai chuan" by the Tanka people, generally do not venture into the open sea and are used as homes. The three boats that came this time were all from one family. The head of the family was an old man about the same age as Bo Fu, surnamed Huang and named Hai, who was Bo Fu's brother-in-law. Accompanying him were his eldest son Huang Lang, second son Huang Tao, and youngest daughter Huang Sha, who was also Chen Ming'en's future daughter-in-law. These three families were closely related.

"This method is similar to the bamboo traps used for catching squid. You educated kids are indeed clever. We can give it a try; it's just a few fishing nets!" Huang Hai was more talkative than Bo Fu and spoke more fluently in Chinese. After hearing Hong Tao's idea, he was the first to show support.

"Let the Li family on the mountain help us make bamboo cages, and we'll trade fish for them!" Bo Zhu had been staring at Hong Tao with her big eyes ever since he arrived. Her support was probably more for Hong Tao himself than for his idea.

"Let's not rush. We should first make a ground cage to try it out. If it works, we can then ask others to make bamboo cages. This way, we won't waste resources." Although Hong Tao was confident in these three methods, he had nothing but the clothes on his back. The resources and money would have to come from Bo Fu, Huang Hai, and Chen Ming'en. He didn't want to start too big. If something went wrong, a ground cage wouldn't cost much, but a large number of bamboo cages, especially if they were on credit, would be a significant burden for these poor Tanka people.

"Hong Tao is right. Let's not rush. This isn't Australia; the land and its people are different. His method might not work. Let's try it out first to be safe." Chen Ming'en agreed with Hong Tao. Now that Hong Tao was his godson, he would be held responsible if anything went wrong.

"My family will provide one net!" Huang Hai was more decisive and got straight to work.

"My family will also provide one net! Grandpa..." Before Bo Fu could speak, Bo Zhu chimed in again, giving Bo Fu a glare. Bo Fu could only nod, accepting his fate.

"My family only has one net, but we'll provide it!" Chen Ming'en looked at his son, gritted his teeth, and decided to go all in. Fortunately, Chen Qihong was talking to his fiancée Huang Sha at a distance and didn't know that his grandfather had donated his fishing net.

"It's not early anymore, let's go to sea!" Bo Fu was more stubborn. He didn't think much of Hong Tao's idea; his ancestors had always fished with nets, and he hadn't heard of anyone using a ground cage to catch fish from home. However, with Chen Ming'en and Huang Hai supporting Hong Tao, he had to endure the pain of giving up his net, even though he was unhappy about it.

"I'll stay and make the net!" Bo Zhu chimed in again, causing more trouble.

"..." Bo Fu grumbled in Tanka, probably scolding his daughter, but he seemed unable to control her. He just jumped onto the small boat with a frown.

"Brother, don't be angry. Whether this kid's idea works or not doesn't matter. Your daughter has taken a liking to him. Using a few fishing nets to get a son-in-law is a good thing, hehehe?" Huang Hai and his two sons also jumped onto the small boat, then whispered to Bo Fu in Tanka, nodding toward Bo Zhu on the big boat. He then laughed and pulled up the old sail.

"Uncle, you're right. My sister has found someone!" Bo Xiao'er immediately understood what his uncle meant and grinned.

"Grandpa is getting senile, but your uncle is sharp. Xiao San, let's go!" Bo Fu, hearing Huang Hai's words, turned to look at his daughter on the big boat and finally understood. He immediately smiled, quickly pulled up the old sail, and shouted.

"Rain is heavy, water floods the street,

Brother carries firewood to sell on the street.

Sister goes out wearing flower shoes,

Flower shoes, flower socks, flower waistband."

Bo Xiao San stood at the stern, rowing the boat with his brother and singing in Tanka. The song carried far on the sea breeze, and influenced by him, the other Tanka small wooden boats out at sea also started singing various songs.

"What are they singing?" Hong Tao couldn't understand a word and had to ask someone. Who was around? Looking around, Chen Ming'en had slipped away, Chen Qihong and Huang Sha had rowed out to sea, and the women were busy washing and taking care of the children. The only person around was Bo Zhu with her big eyes.

"Brother is singing a saltwater song, our Tanka boat song. Do you like it? I can sing too!" Bo Zhu was very outgoing and couldn't hide her feelings, which were all on her face and in her words.

"Let's sing when we catch a lot of fish. For now, let's make the fishing net." Hong Tao understood her thoughts. For such a simple and honest fishing girl, he didn't even have the courage to lie and found a somewhat reasonable excuse.

The Tanka people could go ashore, but the government didn't allow them to buy land and build houses. They could cut firewood, trade goods, and go to the city to buy things. Bo Zhu was very capable. She and Hong Tao threw the three fishing nets onto a small wooden boat and called her two sisters-in-law and two cousins to row to the beach. They left Hong Tao to watch the boat while they, barefoot and wielding machetes, entered the nearby forest. They quickly cut down two large piles of firewood and built a bonfire on the beach.

Next, the women used machetes to split bamboo and cut it into strips. After scraping off the nodes and splinters, they followed Hong Tao's instructions, roasting the bamboo strips over the fire and weaving them together. They eventually made thick, 5-6 meter long bamboo braids. This exceeded Hong Tao's expectations. He originally planned to use bamboo strips as supports, but Bo Zhu said that bamboo strips were not sturdy enough. The woven bamboo strips were more useful, and once soaked in seawater, they were hard to cut even with a knife. By roasting the parts that needed to be bent, they wouldn't deform. Hong Tao tried a roasted bamboo braid and found it very flexible. This was truly the wisdom of life.