Chapter 17: Custom Water Sacks

After buying the umbrella, Chen Xiaobei went on to purchase a fishing net.

After thinking for a while, he also bought two pounds of bones from the butcher.

He was going to make a nice pot of bone soup, and the leftover bones would make excellent fish bait.

Once he had all of that, the most crucial problem remained: how to keep the fish alive for the journey to the county town.

In this era, there were no plastic bags, so the only way to keep the fish alive would be with the right container.

This was also why live fish were more expensive.

Chen Xiaobei wandered around the county town for half the day, visiting dozens of shops. At that time, pottery was bulky and inconvenient.

Not to mention putting fish in them—just carrying such a bulky item to the county town would be exhausting enough.

After some more searching, he finally saw something that caught his eye—there was a shop selling water sacks.

At that time, most water sacks were made from cowhide or sheepskin, and they were generally quite small, only holding about two pounds of water.

What if he could make a larger water sack and use it to transport the fish?

With this thought, he entered the workshop.

The shopkeeper looked at Chen Xiaobei's ragged clothes and furrowed his brow. He still managed to nod at him reluctantly.

"Boy, are you looking to buy a water sack?"

His tone was filled with disdain.

Chen Xiaobei initially thought of leaving, but then reconsidered. There were few workshops around in this time, and if he couldn't find another one, he would have to come back here, which would be even more awkward. It was better to endure for now.

Chen Xiaobei shook his head. "Well, I actually want to buy two water sacks, but your sacks are too small. Can you make me a bigger one?"

"This?" The shopkeeper looked at him with hesitation.

"How big do you want them?"

Chen Xiaobei gestured with his hands, "At least a foot and a half long, and about a foot wide. It would be best if you could make two."

The shopkeeper sized him up, then hesitated before replying, "Such large water sacks aren't cheap. You..."

Chen Xiaobei understood. With his ragged clothes, he wasn't worth a copper coin, so the shopkeeper had every reason to doubt that he was serious.

"Don't worry. My master is a big customer. Just tell me the price," Chen Xiaobei said confidently, patting his chest.

This explanation was convincing enough.

After all, not all masters were good people, and it was quite normal for the master to live comfortably while the servants barely got by.

The shopkeeper extended a finger.

"If you want them that big, one water sack will cost at least ten copper coins. You want two, that's twenty copper coins."

As he spoke, the shopkeeper extended another finger.

Chen Xiaobei smiled lightly and reached into his chest, pulling out ten large coins, placing them one by one on the counter.

"These ten are a deposit. I'll pay the remaining amount when I come to collect them."

The shopkeeper's eyes immediately widened, looking at Chen Xiaobei in disbelief.

After a moment of shock, a flattering smile appeared on his face. "Of course, young master. You don't need to worry, I'll have them ready in three days."

People's hearts are hard to read, huh? Money really is a wonderful thing.

With the ten large coins laid out, the shopkeeper's address changed from "boy" to "young master."

"Alright then, I'll come back in three days. Remember, if they leak, I'll be taking down your sign."

Using leather sacks to carry water for the fish seems a bit ridiculous, but at the moment, there's no other option.

A donkey costs four to five taels of silver, and adding a cart frame to that is no small expense.

With the fishing net, umbrella, and bones in hand, Chen Xiaobei returned home fully loaded.

When Chen Qiao'er saw the bones, she was thrilled. It was time for a feast again, but Cui Hongyu furrowed her brows.

When Chen Xiaobei left, he had fifty copper coins, but now he only had a little over ten. This trip had cost him quite a bit!

At this rate, even if he had brought a dowry of immense wealth, it would probably be spent all too quickly.

Chen Xiaobei had no idea what Cui Hongyu was thinking. He washed the bones, added water, and instructed Chen Qiao'er to light the fire, then started his work.

Chen Xiaobei took out the flower-patterned umbrella, tore it apart with a few quick pulls, and then spread out the fishing net to begin stitching.

This scene made Cui Hongyu's heart sink.

She knew the price of the umbrella—it was at least four or five copper coins.

But what surprised her was that Chen Xiaobei had torn the umbrella apart so easily.

She couldn't help but feel a little disheartened. Her fate was truly unfortunate. How did she end up with such a man? Not only was he reckless with money, but now he was destroying things for no reason—taking a perfectly good umbrella and tearing it apart without a second thought.

Sigh, it looks like I'll have to work hard from now on, or I won't be able to afford this man's recklessness.

Chen Xiaobei didn't care about any of that.

After more than an hour of work, he finally finished the umbrella-net.

Chen Qiao'er walked around the net, "Brother, what is this thing you've made?"

"I'm going to catch fish and make fish soup for you tonight."

As soon as she heard there would be fish to eat, Chen Qiao'er got excited and clapped her hands again in delight. She ran to Cui Hongyu, grabbed her hand, and said, "Sister-in-law, sister-in-law, we're going to have fish tonight!"

Cui Hongyu looked at Chen Xiaobei, wanting to say something but stopping herself.

She had seen people fish with nets before, where they cast a net on the surface of the river and then reel it back in.

Out of ten tries, you might catch fish once or twice, but she had never seen anyone use a net as big as an umbrella to catch fish.

From the way Cui Hongyu looked at him, Chen Xiaobei understood that she didn't believe he could catch fish with that thing.

"Hongyu, don't worry, tonight I'll definitely make you fish soup."

After saying that, he took two broken pieces of bone and the umbrella-net and left the house.

Seeing him go to catch fish, Chen Qiao'er became even more excited and followed behind, skipping and hopping.

Watching them leave, Cui Hongyu didn't stay idle. She grabbed a broom and cleaned the house, then went inside to display her embroidery work.

As for embroidery, Cui Hongyu was known far and wide as one of the best, and since she was getting married, she naturally brought her sewing supplies with her.

Meanwhile, Chen Xiaobei and his sister Chen Qiao'er had reached the riverbank. He quietly looked around and chose a spot where the water flowed gently. He slowly lowered the umbrella-net into the water.

Then he tied the fine thread to a nearby reed.

Tying it to the reed was his own idea because he had made the net opening quite large, and half-foot-long fish could easily get through.

However, such long fish had great strength, and if they hit the frame, it could easily break.

So, if a big fish was caught, he had to pull the net up as quickly as possible.

Chen Qiao'er noticed the net sank without any movement and blinked her eyes, "Brother, will the fish just swim into the net by themselves?"

Chen Xiaobei nodded, "Don't worry, tonight you'll definitely have fish soup."

He waited. Time passed slowly. After a while, Chen Qiao'er couldn't hold her curiosity.

"Brother, why don't you pull up the net and see if any fish got in?"

Chen Xiaobei glanced at the reed and remained still. He knew that even if there were fish, they would be small ones.

"Don't rush. If the net moves, any fish at the mouth of the net will just swim away."