"This is it. The rope is tied to the tree."
"Let me do it, I'll retrieve the trap. This is the trap I set myself."
"Alright, you do it. Be careful, pull it back slowly, don't use too much force."
"Got it, just watch me."
With that, Sun Chaoshu untied the rope from the tree and slowly pulled the trap back.
When the trap reached the shallow water, they could see dark shadows moving inside.
"See? There are fish in there. We can eat fish tonight."
"I see them. Be careful. If the fish escape, I'll kick you in, and you can catch them with your bare hands," Ye Hao said when he saw Sun Chaoshu shouting excitedly.
"How could that happen? My hands are very steady."
Finally, Sun Chaoshu dragged the trap to the shore. Ye Hao, with quick eyes and hands, immediately lifted the trap onto the bank. Fish are most panicked when leaving the water; if you're not careful, they might escape.
"Quick, see how many fish there are."
With that, Sun Chaoshu was about to reach his hand into the trap.
"Wait, your hand will get hurt. This trap of mine is conical; it's easy to get in, but hard to get out. If you're not careful, your hand will get injured. Let me widen this conical opening a bit, then you can reach in and grab the fish," Lu Bingsheng quickly interjected, seeing Sun Chaoshu about to reach directly into the trap to grab the fish.
The two of them worked together to pull all the fish out of the trap. There were a total of four fish, each weighing about three to four catties.
"This trap is too amazing! It caught four such large fish in such a short time, more than all my previous catches in the Hucheng River combined."
"It's not just that the trap is good; it's mainly because there are many fish in this lake. Otherwise, it would be impossible to catch so many. I tried this kind of trap in the City before, and I only caught one fish overnight." Lu Bingsheng still had a good understanding of the capabilities of the traps he made.
"Not bad, you guys. You caught so many fish in one afternoon, enough for us to eat for two days. The trap is set, so if you want to eat fish in the future, you can keep coming to catch them."
"Captain Xu, with this trap, we can eat fish every day from now on, haha."
"Good. Since you want to eat fish every day, the task of setting and retrieving traps will be yours from now on. As long as you bring the fish back, I'll have Zhang Shan cook them for you."
Leaving the trap in its original spot, the group carried the fish back to the camp.
"Zhang Shan, let's cook two fish today. For the remaining two, find a basin and keep them alive for now."
Zhang Shan took the fish and went to cook.
As soon as Sun Chaoshu sat down in the house, he asked, "Captain Xu, our houses down the mountain are also repaired, and it's been over ten days. When do you think you can apply for guns for us?"
"You want guns? Didn't I say before that you need to undergo some simple training? You haven't trained yet. Once your training is complete, I'll apply for guns for you."
"What kind of training is it, and how long will it take?"
"It's just simple Minuteman training, about half a month."
"That long? Can it be faster? We've already been delayed for ten days helping build houses."
"It can be faster, but the daily training volume will have to double."
"Double it then. I just want to get my gun as soon as possible."
"Alright, then you three will start training tomorrow after we finish patrolling the mountain."
With the arrangements for the next few days decided, dinner was also ready.
For the next week, Ye Hao and the other two spent their mornings patrolling the mountain and their afternoons training. They learned some basic military knowledge and acquired basic military literacy, making them ready to serve as cannon fodder on the battlefield.
For a week, they ate meat every day. Every morning, they would set snare traps and fishing traps. If the snare traps yielded a catch, they would eat what was caught; if not, they would eat fish. Because they didn't use the bait Ye Hao had prepared later, only ordinary steamed buns, the catch sharply decreased. Sometimes, they would set traps in the morning and find no fish when they retrieved them in the afternoon. However, fortunately, when they later used the internal organs of pheasants and rabbits as bait, the catch increased, with basically four or five fish caught every day.
There were too many fish to eat, so Er Gouzi and Niu Dazhu dug a small pond in the camp. They transferred water from the stream into the small pond, turning it into the camp's fish pond. Now, there were already over ten fish, each weighing three to four catties, in the pond.
After a week of training, the few of them, who frequently practiced shooting actions with Captain Xu's guns, gained a preliminary understanding of firearms, which further intensified Sun Chaoshu's interest in guns.
"Captain Xu, how much longer do we have to practice? We've already mastered everything you've taught us."
"Go to bed early tonight. Tomorrow, the three of you will come with me to the City to pick up your guns."
"That's great! We're finally getting our own guns!" Sun Chaoshu was incredibly excited.
Excited, Sun Chaoshu couldn't sleep after dinner, tossing and turning. Lu Bingsheng, who had just fallen asleep, was woken up by Sun Chaoshu. It wasn't until the latter half of the night that Sun Chaoshu finally quieted down.
Ye Hao, on the other hand, wasn't like Sun Chaoshu. He was a man with a gun, and it was a 98k. Although he couldn't openly play with it, Ye Hao had practiced his marksmanship in the space for a long time. His current marksmanship was spot-on within a hundred meters. He could even hit a moving target steadily.
Early in the morning, Ye Hao was woken up by his biological clock. Seeing the two still sound asleep, Ye Hao placed two cups of diluted space spring water on the table. These two had gone to bed so late last night and still had to walk such a long mountain road today. If they didn't have some space spring water, they might not be able to make it back.
Ye Hao got ready and woke up Sun Chaoshu and the other. Sun Chaoshu was incredibly reluctant.
"If you don't get up, Captain Xu and I will go get the guns, and you won't have one." These words indeed worked. When Sun Chaoshu heard this, he flipped over and got up.
He put on his clothes, picked up the water on the table, took a sip, and walked out.
"I'm energized now. How could I not go get the gun I've been longing for for so long? If I don't get the gun, wouldn't all the suffering I've endured during this time be for nothing?"
When Lu Bingsheng got up, he felt like he was still sleepwalking, putting on his clothes with his eyes closed, groggy. Ye Hao was even worried he might put his clothes on backward.
After Lu Bingsheng got ready, Ye Hao handed him the water cup. Lu Bingsheng took a sip and immediately sobered up significantly.
"Brother Hao, where did this water come from? I feel much more awake after drinking it."
"This is space spring water I got from the stream this morning. It's ice-cold, so of course, it'll wake you right up."
"Are you two ready? If so, we'll head down the mountain. Today, Da Zhu and Zhang Shan, you two will stay on the mountain. We need to buy some things when we go down. If you're ready, let's go."
Captain Xu caught two fish from the camp's small fish pond, strung them with a rope, and carried them in his hand.
"Xiao Hao, you catch two as well. Take them down to the educated youths who came with you. They work hard farming down there and are very tired. There's also a shortage of food down the mountain, and since we have plenty of fish, give them two."
Upon hearing this, Ye Hao didn't hesitate and also caught two fish from the pond.