C9 The Way of the Crayfish to Make a Fortune

Dawei looked at Ruonan with some doubt, but under her serious gaze, he slowly released his grip. Sitting nearby, he let out a big sigh and said, "Sis, you almost scared me to death!"

"Hahaha, it's not that serious," Ruonan laughed heartily, hugging Dawei again. "Dawei, promise me you'll grow up to be a responsible man."

Dawei was taken aback and awkwardly wriggled out of her embrace, his face turning red. "Sis, what are you talking about!"

Seeing her brother's embarrassed look, Ruonan laughed again, but inside, she felt a deep sadness. Before everything changed, Dawei's wife had come to her with their two kids, complaining that Dawei was always gambling and had abandoned their family. They eventually divorced, each taking one child, and Ruonan, worried about Dawei, had taken care of one of the kids.

"Sis, do you think I can go back to school next semester?" Dawei asked, staring at the water with a forlorn expression. He didn't really want to go to school, but he missed his friends there. Seeing other kids go to school while he stayed behind made him feel left out.

Ruonan patted Dawei's head and said, "Of course you can. Trust your sister!"

Zhou Dawei couldn't understand where his sister got her confidence from. Putting aside her tuition fees, just his own school expenses last semester were $20. His family's daily earnings from labor barely amounted to 20 points, which translated to less than 50 cents a day. On top of that, they had to cover food and clothing, and their current situation was really dire. For Dawei, going to school was becoming a luxury.

"Ow!" Dawei suddenly turned red in the face and quickly stood up, shouting. Zhou Ruonan was startled by his reaction, not knowing what was happening. Then she noticed something seemed to be clinging to Dawei's backside.

"Dawei, there's a crayfish pinching you!" Ruonan shouted. Dawei hurriedly reached back and grabbed at his rear, yanking off the crayfish. In his haste, he pulled so hard that one of its claws snapped off.

"Geez, that hurt!" Dawei exclaimed, annoyed as he looked at the crayfish in his hand. Just as he was about to toss it back into the river, Ruonan suddenly remembered something and quickly asked, "Dawei, do people in the city like eating crayfish these days?"

"Will they eat this? Probably, since you don't need any ration tickets for it," David shook his head and said.

Ruonan started to form a plan in her mind and then said, "David, when we get back, let's find all the cages we have. Tonight, we can go catch some crayfish."

Ruonan remembered that her family had some nets for catching fish and crayfish, which could come in handy now. At this time, eating crayfish at barbecue stalls hadn't really caught on in their area, though it was popular down south. People had been farming freshwater crayfish since the '70s.

In Ruonan's area, crayfish were more of a wild catch. Folks in the countryside would often catch some at night to enjoy with their drinks.