Chapter 43: Casting the Net

Zhao Mu tried a few times and made sure that, based on his current craftsmanship, weaving an all-capturing net would be completely unproblematic.

He breathed a slight sigh of relief. As long as they could weave this all-capturing net, they would no longer have to worry about failing to catch fish.

The aquatic resources in the Bountiful River were extremely abundant. Once the net was cast in, it would not take long to haul up a full net of fish.

Wen Zhi was slightly taken aback when he saw the way Zhao Mu was weaving the fishing net, and asked doubtfully, "Brother Mu, how are you making this net?"

Zhao Mu explained, "This kind of fishing net is slightly more complicated than ordinary fishing nets, but once a fish swims inside, it will never find its way back out. Besides, the opening of the net I am weaving is larger; if the opening were made too small, even tiny fish fry wouldn't be able to escape, which is why it is also called an all-capturing net."

"An all-capturing net?"

Wen Zhi and the others looked at the fishing net in Zhao Mu's hands with surprise, showing eager expressions as if they wanted to try it out themselves.

Zhao Mu put down the fishing net and said, "Don't rush, Brother Wen. After we finish eating, I will teach you all how to weave this kind of fishing net together. Whether we can have enough food and clothing from now on depends entirely on these fishing nets."

Wen Zhi widened his eyes and asked, "Is this fishing net really that powerful?"

Zhao Mu smiled and said, "If I didn't know about this kind of fishing net, I wouldn't dare to guarantee taking you out of the city, nor would I dare to seek cooperation with Shopkeeper Qin."

Wen Zhi nodded, immediately feeling even more eager to try.

However, he also understood that this was not the time for play.

Only after they had finished weaving all the fishing nets could they put the effectiveness of this net to the test.

Before long, Wang Wu's wife and Huang Wan had finished preparing the meal.

To call it cooking was actually just boiling a pot of wheat porridge.

Putting unhulled wheat grains into the pot and boiling them for a longer time allowed them to be cooked just like rice.

In his past life, many people trying to lose weight would boil a bowl of something like milk and oats to serve as breakfast.

Ancient times, however, lacked such conditions, leaving them with only individual grains of wheat.

Even though it had been boiled for a long time, when Zhao Mu swallowed it, he still felt a burning sensation in his throat, as if it had been scraped by something.

Yet when he looked at the others, apart from himself, everyone else was eating with great relish, and even little Xing'er was holding a large bowl with an expression as if she were cradling a treasured artifact.

Even Huang Wan, whom he felt must have an extraordinary background, showed no trace of disdain at the moment.

For a moment, Zhao Mu did not know how to evaluate himself.

Clearly, he had endured countless hardships along this journey, yet now he could not even stomach a single bowl of wheat porridge.

Although he felt an overwhelming nostalgia for his past life, he would likely never be able to return there in this lifetime.

Therefore, he could only force himself to quietly get used to it.

Seeing the sigh on Zhao Mu's face, Wang Wu's wife thought that her cooking was not to his liking.

She quickly said, "If Young Master Zhao dislikes it, I noticed there seems to be a stone mill at the entrance of the village. Tomorrow, I will grind the wheat into flour so that Young Master Zhao can eat white flour bread, while we can just eat the wheat bran."

Zhao Mu was taken aback, not expecting that a mere sigh from him would prompt such a reaction from Wang Wu's wife.

He immediately waved his hand and said, "Sister Wang, please do not misunderstand. I don't dislike the wheat porridge; I just feel that perhaps my previous life was too comfortable, to the point where I can no longer endure even this little bit of hardship, which made me feel a bit sentimental."

Hearing his explanation, everyone wore looks of sudden realization.

When Wang Wu first met Zhao Mu, he had addressed him as Young Master Zhao because many of Zhao Mu's speech patterns and manners were unlike those of ordinary people, hence the respectful title.

Hearing Zhao Mu speak this way now only served to confirm their previous guess.

Zhao Mu must have originally come from a wealthy and prominent family!

It was only because his family suffered a disaster that, just like them, he was forced out into the world as a refugee.

Zhao Mu was unaware of what the others were thinking, and even if he had known, he would not have cared.

Although his past life was not like that of the young masters of the current era who had servants waiting on them wherever they went, during that era, the lives of most ordinary people far surpassed those of the young masters of today.

Even feudal lords and nobles back then might not have enjoyed life as much as an ordinary person from his past life.

"Brother Mu shouldn't be so modest. The hardships you've endured along this road are surely no less than anyone else's."

Wang Wu put down his bowl and said with considerable admiration, "I think Brother Mu simply hasn't eaten wheat porridge before and isn't used to it yet."

Zhao Mu smiled and offered no further explanation, simply pouring the remaining wheat porridge in his bowl into his mouth and chewing it bite by bite.

Though difficult to swallow, after careful tasting, one could detect a hint of sweet fragrance.

Seeing Zhao Mu like this, the others smiled and finished the wheat porridge in their bowls.

Having eaten and drank to their fill, Zhao Mu gathered everyone together to teach them the art of net weaving.

The others were fine, but Wen Zhi and Wang Hu genuinely struggled to master such meticulous work.

Even after Zhao Mu taught them individually several times, the two of them still stared at each other blankly.

In the end, with a wave of his hand, Zhao Mu simply sent the two of them outside to stand guard.

Although XiaoWang Village, where they had taken temporary shelter, had long since become a deserted village, the memory of encountering bandits in a deserted village last time made Zhao Mu unwilling to let down his guard.

Even when they went out to sell fish in the future, someone had to stay behind in the village to provide protection.

By the middle of the night, Zhao Mu, together with Huang Wan, Wang Wu, and Wang Wu's wife, had finally finished weaving the all-capturing net he needed.

This type of all-capturing net he made was also known as a custom net, and in some places called a fish trap or fyke net.

As long as a fish swam into it, it would enter a maze from which it could only go forward and never return.

Though Zhao Mu was eager to immediately place the all-capturing net into the Bountiful River to test its effectiveness, he managed to restrain the impulse within his heart.

The current of the Bountiful River was strong, and it was pitch black outside; the slightest carelessness could easily cost lives.

Afterward, they assigned rooms and began to rest.

Since Wang Hu and Wen Zhi were both on night watch duty, there were only a few people left.

Rather than splitting into two separate courtyards, everyone slept in the same small courtyard: Zhao Mu and Wang Wu shared one room, while Huang Wan and Wang Wu's wife shared the other room with little Xing'er.

In the latter half of the night, Wang Hu was sent back to rest by Wen Zhi and slept in the same room with Wang Wu and Zhao Mu.

The next day, Zhao Mu woke up exceptionally early, hoping to put the all-capturing net into the water while the surroundings were still deserted.

There were two ways to operate the all-capturing net. One was to drive stakes into the riverbed, deploy it at a fixed location, scatter bait, and wait for the fish to swim in on their own.

Of course, he could also choose not to use bait, though how many fish would swim in then was uncertain.

The other method was to drag the net forward from a boat, leaving virtually no fish alive in their wake.

However, Zhao Mu currently had no boat, and such a method drew too much attention, leaving him with no choice but to opt for the first method.

Autumn had already arrived, and a thin layer of mist hovered over the Bountiful River.

Viewed from a distance, it looked somewhat eerie.

Yet Zhao Mu could not afford to care about that. Having chosen a suitable spot, he and Wang Wu cast the fishing net into the water and secured it firmly in place.