Before leaving, David Sullivan cast his net one last time, but it was off again, landing in the rapids.

Although the water level had dropped quite a bit, the current was still strong.

The fishing net was swept aside by the current, and David Sullivan pulled hard on the rope to drag it back.

When he hauled the net ashore, there were no fish inside, but there was a shallow dish about the size of an apple. David Sullivan wiped off the mud; the dish had a simple, old-fashioned design, made of white porcelain, with a flower pattern on the bottom.

He turned it over, and on the base were four traditional Chinese characters. Academic underachiever David Sullivan only recognized the first character as "王".

Well, that character is the same in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

"An antique?" Poverty dampens ambition, but David Sullivan couldn't help but fantasize.

Uncle Seven came over carrying a fishing net. "What did you get?"

David Sullivan shook it. "Caught a dish in the net."

Uncle Seven took it and examined it closely, then tossed it back to David Sullivan. "This kind of vinegar dish used to be common around here. I used it when I was a kid, but later they all got smashed. Your second uncle kept one, and a couple of years ago he sold it to someone from Shunshan who was collecting antiques in the countryside. I think he got 50 yuan for it."

David Sullivan was so broke he didn't even have half a cent. "50 yuan?"

Uncle Seven added, "They buy them to scam people! The Shunshan cultural market is full of junk. I've been there a few times. Those stall owners specialize in buying worthless old stuff and then sell it as something valuable to rip people off."

In recent years, there had been a lot of people going to the countryside to collect antiques.

David Sullivan knew about the Shunshan cultural market. Unlike the West Market, this one specialized in flowers and birds, old books, antiques, and rare stones.

Maybe he could take it there and see? Even if it wasn't 50, 10 yuan would still be a lot for him.

Besides, what if it was actually valuable?

David Sullivan still needed to borrow a net, and all the catfish had been given to Uncle Seven to make soup for Nate.

This fish was delicious, even better than snakehead.

The leeches were still being sun-dried on the bank; no one would pick up those things, not even to feed chickens.

The rest he took back to the orchard and kept in a basin for now—one to eat at home, and the other to bring to Elder Uncle's house after dinner.

When he went to Elder Uncle's house to deliver the fish, he learned that the army would be leaving soon. David Sullivan ran back to the orchard to get the fish, and the people of Sullivan Village spontaneously gathered on both sides of the road at the elementary school entrance to see them off, carrying steamed buns, eggs, fruit, vegetables, and so on.

The soldiers declined everything, not even taking the instant noodles and bottled water the village offered.

One after another, Liberation trucks headed south.

Watching the soldiers in their neat uniforms, and thinking of their bravery in blocking the water yesterday, David Sullivan heard Kevin Sullivan next to him begging his father in tears, "I want to join the army!"

For these youths corrupted by local gangsters, joining the army was actually a good path.

As the last Liberation truck drove by, David Sullivan seized the opportunity and tossed the bag of fish onto it.

Chapter 9 Thirteen Yuan

After seeing the soldiers off, David Sullivan went back to the orchard to get the net and showed the dish to Grace Howard.

Grace Howard looked at it for a while. "There used to be a lot of these vinegar dishes, but later they all got smashed. It's nothing special."

David Sullivan couldn't help feeling disappointed. "Uncle Seven said second uncle sold one for 50 yuan."

Grace Howard thought for a moment. "That's true, either last year or the year before."

Even if it was only worth fifty yuan, it was still the most valuable thing he had, so David Sullivan carefully put it away, planning to find time to check out the Shunshan cultural market.

It would be great if he could sell it for 50.

Working as a laborer on a construction site only earned a little over ten yuan a day.

Taking the fishing net and water bag, David Sullivan went back to the triangular dam to keep casting the net for fish, hoping for more luck. Even just catching fish would be good, since he could sell them.

All those leeches had dried up in the sun.

The water level had dropped again, and the river was only fifteen or sixteen meters wide now.

David Sullivan cast the net again, and before he could pull it up, a crackling song drifted up from below the embankment, followed by the familiar smell of chicken manure.

"Today we drink heartily to celebrate our victory, our ambitions unfulfilled we vow not to rest, the future is long and we will show our skills, gladly shedding hot blood to write our own history..."

Sure enough, Iron Rooster Chad Sullivan came up the embankment with a radio hanging from his wrist, put away two bamboo poles, and walked onto the triangular dam.

"What a big silver carp!"

The net had just come out of the water, and Iron Rooster's eyes widened. "There's more in there, hurry up and pull it in, don't let them get away. Dave, you're lucky today!"

David Sullivan lifted the net onto the dam. "There have been a lot of fish these past two days. Once they close the gates upstream, the good luck will be over."

He opened the net and tossed out the trash. David Sullivan first picked out a catfish, much bigger than the one he caught in the morning, heavy in his hand, probably close to three jin.

This was a local northern catfish.

"Catfish are easy to keep alive, they don't die easily." Iron Rooster sounded like an expert. "Last year I caught one, threw it in the chicken manure pit, and it lived for over half a year. When I finally took it out to eat, it weighed five jin."

David Sullivan couldn't help saying, "Uncle Tie, can we not talk about chicken manure? How do you expect people to eat catfish after that?"

Iron Rooster didn't care. "What's wrong with that? It eats chicken manure, but grows into meat! It's not poisonous! Look at me, your Uncle Tie, I ate it and I'm just fine."

There was no way to argue with that. David Sullivan picked out the two-jin silver carp and handed it over. "Take it home and make soup for my sister."

Iron Rooster didn't catch the meaning in David Sullivan's words. He pulled a vine from outside the embankment, came back and threaded it through the silver carp's gills, and his eyes happened to fall on the big pile of sandbags blocking the river below the embankment.

"Dave, the water's gone down." Iron Rooster was overcome with emotion. "When it drops a bit more, should we drag out the chicken coop?"

David Sullivan was helpless. "Even if we drag it out, we can't use it."