After the corn kernels touched by the Spiritual Spring Water entered the water, schools of fish quickly swam over.
Li Weidong was secretly delighted, his eyes fixed on the float.
Before long, the float suddenly dipped, and he quickly reeled in the rod, pulling a heavy, large fish out of the water, which arced through the air.
Looking at the approximately 3-jin carp, Li Weidong smiled happily. He reached his hand inside his clothes, and under the cover of his clothes, he took out a thin string from his spatial dimension, threaded it through the fish's mouth, and tied the fish to the riverbank.
Li Weidong re-baited the hook with corn kernels, cast the hook into the water, and immediately the float showed movement again. Li Weidong quickly reeled in the rod, and another large fish was pulled out of the water.
He was extremely excited and strung the fish onto the rope using the same method.
The surrounding fishermen cast envious glances, and Li Weidong's mood became even more pleasant.
As time passed, more and more fish were caught, and more and more people gathered around him.
Seeing that it was noon, Li Weidong's string was full of fish.
Then an old man spoke up, saying, "Little Comrade, do you exchange these fish? I have some grain coupons here."
Li Weidong looked up at the old man, thought for a moment, and replied, "Elder, how do you plan to exchange them?" Buying things now requires coupons, and he couldn't get coupons in the countryside, so he could use these fish to exchange for some.
The old man smiled, holding up a few fingers, gesturing, "How about I exchange five jin of grain coupons for one of your fish?"
Li Weidong thought to himself, one jin of fish is about thirty-five cents, so one fish is about one yuan, and five jin of grain coupons are roughly the same price. (The author wrote this, no need to be particular.)
Li Weidong thought about it, found it to be a fair deal, and nodded in agreement, "Alright, Elder, let's exchange."
After the transaction was completed, the old man left contentedly, carrying his fish.
Another old man came over and said, "Little Comrade, how about I exchange three sugar coupons for two of your fish?"
Li Weidong thought about it, realizing he could buy some candy for his younger sister.
He happily took the old man's sugar coupons and handed him the two fish.
Subsequently, people came one after another with cloth coupons, liquor coupons, cigarette coupons, oil coupons, and so on, to exchange for fish with him.
Before long, all the fish Li Weidong had brought were exchanged, and he held various coupons in his hand, his heart filled with excitement.
Although he had countless riches in his spatial dimension, they were difficult to spend in this era. He couldn't explain where these things came from, and besides, buying things required coupons; without them, the salesperson wouldn't even acknowledge him.
Just then, a middle-aged man walked over and said, "Little Comrade, I am a purchasing agent from the Rolling Mill. Will you be fishing this afternoon? If you are, I will buy all of them from you at thirty-five cents per jin."
Li Weidong's heart stirred upon hearing this, and after a moment of thought, he said, "Uncle, I might not be able to catch so many this afternoon."
The middle-aged man smiled and said, "It's alright, just try your best. I'll take as many as you catch."
Li Weidong nodded, "Alright, then, Uncle, it's a deal."
The middle-aged man patted Li Weidong's shoulder, "Good, then I'll come find you later this afternoon. Don't sell the fish to anyone else." With that, he turned and left.
Li Weidong watched the middle-aged man's retreating figure, calculating that he should catch more fish this afternoon. After all, the money he earned from selling fish was legitimate and could be used openly.
Thinking of this, he no longer delayed, put away his fishing gear, bought a few steamed buns from a small shop outside the park, and quickly returned to his original spot to start fishing.
Because it was noon, many people had gone home for lunch, so there was no one else beside him.
Li Weidong looked left and right, seeing no one else around, and then he used his spatial ability to start filling his spatial dimension with water. Along with the water, many fish and shrimp were also taken in.
After collecting lake water for ten minutes, Li Weidong saw that there was already a good amount of water in his spatial dimension. Plus, it was daytime, and he didn't want to attract attention, so Li Weidong quickly stopped collecting water and refocused his attention on the fishing rod, pretending to be engrossed in fishing.
Li Weidong sensed the situation inside his spatial dimension. Along with the lake water, many large fish were also collected. He began to use his spatial ability to put fish onto his fishing hook. When stringing fish onto the rope, he would always secretly add one or two extra when no one was looking.
Before long, the string he used for the fish was already full. There was no other way, he had to take out another string.
As the old men who had gone home for lunch returned, Li Weidong was once again surrounded, all marveling at Li Weidong's good luck and his skill in fishing, being able to catch so many fish.
Li Weidong just smiled and didn't explain much, his hands not stopping as he continued to organize the fish he caught.
Li Weidong focused his perception near his fishing hook, taking all the fish there into his spatial dimension.
Then he released a tiny bit of Spiritual Spring Water near the hook, and immediately more fish swam over. He also collected these fish into his spatial dimension.
Occasionally, he would use his spatial ability to put a fish on his hook.
Time passed quickly, and in a blink of an eye, the sun was setting in the west. Li Weidong looked at the abundant catch in his spatial dimension, his heart filled with joy.
Just then, the middle-aged purchasing agent squeezed through the crowd and said, "Little Comrade, you've caught so many!"
Li Weidong smiled and nodded, "Yes, Uncle. Do you think you can take all these? If not, I'll find someone else to exchange things with."
The middle-aged purchasing agent quickly said, "I'll take all of them."
With that, he began to weigh the fish, and after weighing them, he put them into the baskets he had brought. When the surrounding people saw this, there was another round of exclamations and discussions.
"Little Comrade, you've really struck it rich today!"
"This purchasing agent is also lucky to encounter so many fish."
Li Weidong helped him, and soon all the fish were packed.
The middle-aged man said to Li Weidong, "These fish weigh a total of 283 jin, at thirty-five cents per jin, that's 99.05 yuan. I'll give you 100 yuan, no need for change."
Li Weidong quickly said, "Thank you, Uncle, then I won't be polite."
The middle-aged man smiled and nodded, saying, "Little Brother, my name is Wang Fei. In the future, if you have so many fish again, just send them to the Third Rolling Mill. When you get to the main gate, just tell the guard you're looking for Team Leader Wang of the Procurement Section."
Li Weidong quickly agreed, "Alright, Team Leader Wang, I've got it."
After Team Leader Wang left, Li Weidong sat by the river again, preparing to fish.
At this moment, someone asked, "Little Comrade, are you going to continue fishing?"
Li Weidong shook his head and said, "I came here today to find my Third Uncle. I can't go empty-handed, can I? I'll catch two fish to take with me."
The person listened and smiled, saying, "Oh, you're quite polite, young man."
Li Weidong smiled and said nothing more. In just a few minutes, he caught two more large fish, weighing seven or eight jin each. This again drew exclamations from the surrounding people.
One of them said, "Little Comrade, how about you exchange one with me?"
Li Weidong shook his head and said, "Uncle, these two fish are for Third Uncle's family. If you want fish, wait until I come here to fish again, then I'll exchange with you."
The person listened, nodded somewhat disappointedly, "Alright, then you should come and fish more often in the future."
Li Weidong replied, "Alright, Uncle, I'll come whenever I have time."
After saying that, Li Weidong packed up his fishing gear, carrying two large fish, and prepared to go to Third Uncle's family.