Chapter Thirty-Five: Wild Fish

“Is there anything I can help you with?” Shan Xiu looked at Zhang Xiu’e and suddenly asked.

Zhang Xiu’e was momentarily taken aback. Most tourists who came here would usually ask what attractions were worth seeing; few, like this woman, ever offered to help with chores.

“We’re putting together some sunshades right now. If you’re interested, you’re welcome to join us and give it a try!” Zhang Xiu’e quickly recovered and extended the invitation.

“All right!”

Shan Xiu did not refuse. She simply wanted to find something to do. Since the target of her mission was not here, she would have to stay in this remote mountain village for at least a few days.

On the bank of the Lian Gou Hollow, there was a smooth patch of land where you could see both the hollow and the distant mountain peaks. Zhang Xiu’e led her group, preparing to use wild grasses to build several shaded shelters. In the future, visitors could rest or even camp and eat here.

Besides that, according to the ideas she and Tang Long had discussed, the area around Lian Gou Hollow would be best served by adding a few more water-related recreational facilities.

After all, it wouldn’t do for tourists to come all this way just to take a quick stroll through the ‘King of Ghosts Cave.’ Once you’ve seen it, it’s enough; if they wanted to attract more visitors, there needed to be more places to hold people’s interest besides just the cave.

‘Lian Gou Hollow’ was the second best option after the ‘King of Ghosts Cave.’

For now, Yutou Village had very little to offer—there wasn’t even a single guesthouse. Currently, when tourists came and wanted to stay overnight, they had to pitch their own tents. But once the village was fully renovated, this situation would surely change.

“Are there fish in the water?” Shan Xiu looked out at the surface of Lian Gou Hollow, a faint smile on her face as she asked.

Zhang Xiu’e nodded. “Yes, not only are there fish, there are plenty of them.”

The fish in Lian Gou Hollow weren’t just from the Qiangyuan Company’s stock; there were also those that had grown up wild in the hollow. One end of the hollow connected to the sea, the other to a small creek flowing down from the mountains.

Zhang Xiu’e hadn’t let the villagers touch the area where Qiangyuan Company had been farming fish—there was no rush for that. If the company didn’t dismantle their facilities in the future, they could deal with it then. After all, the company had already paid compensation for occupying the hollow in the first place.

“Is it possible to fish here?”

Zhang Xiu’e looked at her, smiling. “Are you interested in fishing?”

Shan Xiu gazed at the water and said, “I think fishing is quite fun. In the city, plenty of people are willing to pay to fish. And wild fish that have grown up in natural waters are worth more than farmed ones.”

Zhang Xiu’e’s mind began to churn. “So you mean Yutou Village could develop something around wild fish and fishing?”

Shan Xiu nodded, smiling. “You could provide fishing gear for free, but the fish people catch would either need to be purchased or left behind. Once you have fish, villagers could sell them to tourists or cook them and sell prepared dishes.”

“That’s a great idea!” Zhang Xiu’e beamed, quickly pulling out a small notebook and jotting it down.

Ideas often come unexpectedly, and if you don’t write them down, you might forget them soon after. But if you do, you can always come back and think them over in detail.

If Yutou Village provided fishing rods and gear, fishing could become a recreational activity. Fishing would be free, but the fish caught would all belong to the village. It might sound a bit domineering, but it made perfect sense—the hollow belonged to the village, and while you could fish for free, there was no promise that the fish you caught would be yours.

Additionally, the suggestion to sell the fish was worth considering. People driving dozens or even hundreds of miles to Yutou Village might well want to take some ‘local specialties’ home. If they branded the wild fish from Lian Gou Hollow as the village’s specialty, once the crowds grew, it could become a source of income.

And ‘specialty products’ didn’t have to be limited to fish from Lian Gou Hollow. The fish, with their delicious flavor, could be one of the village’s specialties, but so could mountain mushrooms, wild vegetables, and other forest delicacies.

Even if Yutou Village didn’t have everything, the surrounding villages within a ten-mile radius surely could provide something.

In the future, once the tourism business in Yutou Village took off, it could lift the neighboring villages out of poverty as well. Wouldn’t that be ideal?

All in all, the proposal from Shan Xiu and Zhang Xiu’e could be summed up in one phrase: ‘a world of possibilities.’

Of course, all of this hinged on one crucial factor—attracting visitors. If Yutou Village couldn’t draw tourists, then all these plans would remain nothing but castles in the air.

“Leopard, go catch a few fish from the hollow. To thank your sister Shan Xiu for her suggestion, let’s have fish stew for lunch.” Zhang Xiu’e called out cheerfully to the half-grown boy, Xiao Bao.

“Got it!”

Xiao Bao put down his work and, with a few other village children, dashed toward the hollow.

“Be careful!” Zhang Xiu’e called after them with a bright smile.

She used to worry about letting the children play in the water, afraid something might happen. But now her perspective had changed. The village kids weren’t pampered like those in the city; most of them had learned to swim from their elders.

As the saying goes, if you live by the mountain, you live off the mountain; if you live by the water, you live off the water. With water right at their doorstep, how could they raise a generation of non-swimmers? How would the next generation live here?

So, in Yutou Village, nearly everyone, young and old, knew how to swim a little. Hunting in the mountains and fishing in the water were instincts ingrained in their very bones.

“I want to go in the water and catch fish too!” Shan Xiu’s eyes lit up as she watched Xiao Bao and the children splashing in the hollow.

Zhang Xiu’e was startled, then gave a nervous laugh. “Sister, once the villagers have cleared out the sharp stones and leveled the bottom a bit, and we’ve set aside a shallow area for playing, you can go in then, all right?”

She was worried that Shan Xiu didn’t know how to swim and might get into trouble.

Right now, apart from the villagers, they didn’t allow tourists to enter the hollow on their own. The fear of accidents was too great.

Even with Old Liu and the others keeping watch on the bank, this was still wild water, and some places at the bottom of the hollow were rumored to be very deep.

“But the kids go in and nothing happens, right?” Shan Xiu turned to Zhang Xiu’e. “I can pay you!”

Zhang Xiu’e was both amused and exasperated, shaking her head. “It’s not about money. Those are village kids; they’ve been in that water since they were little. I’m just worried something might happen to you and we wouldn’t be able to explain to your family…”

“I know how to swim!” Shan Xiu declared, then turned and strode to the open ground nearby, pulled her tent from her luggage, set it up, and crawled inside.

Moments later, Shan Xiu emerged from the tent in a swimsuit and headed straight for the water.

Seeing she could not stop her, Zhang Xiu’e had no choice but to tell someone to fetch Old Liu and have him keep a close eye on her—whatever happened, she must not be allowed to drown.