Chapter 6: Catching Fish to Sell

The scent of fish wafted over the entire residential complex. In these years of eating chaff and swallowing vegetables, and right at mealtime, it was enough to make everyone within a mile radius dizzy with hunger.

Many people followed the scent.

In the courtyard, the clever ones had long since locked the gate, refusing to open it no matter how hard those outside knocked.

Even those climbing the walls were driven away; they wouldn't let a single person catch a whiff of the smell.

Eating a meal of fish was more intense than a war, with cursing and swearing echoing everywhere.

Tu Shan, however, was unfazed. In the apocalypse, let alone fish, anything edible was enough to trigger a battle involving thousands.

Back then, the fighting wasn't always just for food; some joined in just to die.

Living was too hard, and not everyone had the courage to commit suicide.

The fish was ready, and Auntie Wang, as the landlady, saw her status highlighted at this moment.

Like stars surrounding the moon, she walked to the pot.

She cast a disdainful glance at Tu Shan, took a large bowl, and was the first to serve Tu Shan a portion with more meat and less vegetable.

Handing it to Tu Shan, she said coldly, "Don't think that just because you treated everyone to fish, I'll let you stay. Once the three days are up, you're still getting kicked out."

Tu Shan: "..."

So much for the saying "eat someone's food and you'll be soft-spoken."

Are you not afraid she'll smash your pot being this aggressive?

She silently carried the fish into her room, out of sight, out of mind.

As soon as she left, the courtyard became lively, filled with the sounds of people arguing over the distribution of the fish.

Tu Shan didn't care; they probably wouldn't actually fight, as once a fight started, no one would get to eat.

She began to wolf down the food. Although the cooking was mediocre, with the wild vegetables she had accelerated with her ability, it was quite delicious.

After finishing the fish, her hollow body finally felt a sense of satisfaction.

But this little bit of food was useless for recovering her abilities; it was too little. She needed a large amount of food to convert into energy.

Today, she was just aiming for satiety; she wasn't picky. Only after resting well could she consider other things.

Looking at the bare walls of the room, she thought about the future and slowly fell into a deep sleep.

Before dawn the next day, Tu Shan woke up. What woke her was poverty and hunger.

She had no clothes to change into; she was still wearing the same ones from yesterday, stained with the fishy smell.

People in the courtyard were already up, mostly those working early shifts.

The people living here didn't have decent jobs—sweeping streets, dumping night soil, carrying sacks, collecting trash, or hauling corpses at the crematorium.

They were all bitter, exhausting jobs.

The pay wasn't high, the hours were long, and their days and nights were flipped.

Yet, even these jobs were hard to come by.

Pushing open her door, the people in the courtyard collectively took a step back.

Tu Shan: "..."

She touched her messy hair, paused for a second, and walked toward the public well.

The people in the courtyard felt a bit awkward. They had just eaten her fish yesterday, and now they were acting disgusted—it was a bit much.

Lips twitching, after holding it in for a long time, someone squeezed out a scorching sentence: "Sanmei, up so early today?"

It was just past five in the morning; it was indeed early.

Tu Sanmei wouldn't usually get up until the sun was high in the sky.

Tu Shan nodded, cupped some water to wash her face, and headed out.

"Sanmei, are you going out?"

Tu Shan nodded again: "Going to see if there's any work to be done."

Everyone subconsciously looked at the horizon to see if the sun was rising from the west. The lazy woman wanted to work?

Hindered by the fact that they had eaten her fish, no one had the heart to say anything snide, so they squeezed out a dry bit of concern: "Go early and come back early."

Tu Shan left without committing to an answer.

Once she was gone, their mouths stopped hurting, and they spoke quite fluently.

They said Tu Sanmei was probably up to no good again, going out to look for work before dawn—was she playing? Work wasn't that easy to find.

They only hoped she would behave herself for these three days; they didn't want to be plagued by her again.

Tu Shan didn't hear this, nor did she care. She didn't really intend to find work anyway. Even if she did find some, she wouldn't get paid for a while, which wouldn't help her current situation at all.

So, she went to the river again.

She planned to catch a few fish and check out the black market.

She changed her spot to enter the water today. This area had more water grass and a slower current, so there were more fish.

Even in the height of July, the river water was still icy cold in the early morning.

Tu Sanmei's terrible body couldn't help but shiver the moment it touched the water. Tu Shan had to wrap herself in her ability to feel better.

It wasn't dawn yet, and visibility was poor, but since she used her ability to explore, she wasn't affected.

This time, she didn't plan to catch big fish. She would catch ones weighing two or three pounds, a few of each variety, to see which sold well. Developing this into a short-to-long-term business should be enough to support herself.

Diving to the bottom, Tu Shan spotted several large carp standing still among the water grass, huddled together. They averaged three pounds each and looked delightful.

She urged the water grass beside them to grow wildly, quickly forming a grass cage, ensuring not even a single scale could escape.

Even so, the fish didn't react; she didn't know if they were asleep or dead to the world.

Tu Shan left them there and continued to look for targets.

About three hundred meters away, there were four grass carp weighing over three pounds each. They weren't in a group, so she couldn't make a cage. Tu Shan urged the tough water grass to act as ropes, binding all four fish at once.

The grass carp were startled and thrashed wildly, but they couldn't break free.

They say fish only have a seven-second memory, and their fright only lasted seven seconds. After thrashing for a few moments, they calmed down and stood still, forgetting all about the water grass on their bodies.

Tu Shan clicked her tongue; this laid-back temperament was great.

She left these fish where they were and continued to look for more.

Two minutes later, she found a large soft-shelled turtle in a crevice between rocks. It must have weighed six or seven pounds—this was great for nourishing the body.

After pulling it out with her bare hands, she wrapped it in water grass and carried it in her hand.

She swam forward for a few minutes and saw a school of patrolling snakeheads.

They must have been a family of siblings; their uniform weight, size, and appearance were delightful no matter how you looked at them.

Tu Shan didn't let them go and caught them all in one net—seven in total.

Seven snakeheads, one turtle, four grass carp, and five carp—that was enough.

She made a simple grass bag, carried it to the shore, and fearing the fish might die on the way, she specifically channeled some of her ability into them to ensure they would be jumping and lively until they hit the knife.

When she broke the surface, the sky was just beginning to brighten, around six o'clock.

The sun hadn't risen, so it wasn't too hot. Even with her ability, she couldn't block the chill of just coming out of the water, and she couldn't help but shiver again.

Wringing the excess water from her clothes, she walked toward the black market.

The black market was in an area of abandoned old houses. It was accessible from all directions, making it easy to escape.

The area was large, but the black market only occupied a small corner, changing locations from time to time to avoid being caught in a trap, which increased the safety factor.

Tu Shan wandered for a long time with the fish before finding the entrance to today's black market.

There was someone guarding the entrance who looked at Tu Shan's grass bag: "Selling something?"

Tu Shan nodded.

"Two cents."

Tu Shan: "???"

She didn't have a single cent.

After thinking for a moment, she pulled out a carp: "I don't have money. Can I use this to pay?"

This fish could be exchanged for at least one yuan and eighty cents—a huge profit.

The guard at the entrance was a dark-skinned boy of twelve or thirteen. He looked at Tu Shan, who was skinny, covered in patches, and had most of her face hidden: "Fine, just this once." But inside, he was overjoyed.

"Good," Tu Shan handed over the fish and walked inside with her bag.

There were already many people coming and going, both buying and selling.

Tu Shan found a spot on the edge and squatted down; the people selling things next to her were all squatting like that.

There were people selling mountain goods, game, and homespun cloth—it was a motley collection of everything.