Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

209 Octopus catch weighing

She didn't say much, just nodded to the young man, then pushed her fully covered shopping cart, turned and left the still noisy ice surface, heading towards the official purchasing point.

The cold wind seeped in through the gaps in her thick clothes. Xu Xiaoyan pulled her scarf tighter, leaving only her eyes showing. The wheels of the shopping cart made an irregular rubbing sound on the ice. Occasionally, when it rolled over a crack in the ice, the cart would tilt slightly. She would immediately steady herself. Her old brown scarf covered the goods underneath completely, with only a few frozen fish scales peeking out at the edges, shimmering faintly in the dim light.

As I approached, a short queue of about seven or eight people had already formed at the entrance. Each person carried some or more of their purchases, and their faces were filled with exhaustion and anticipation.

The line stretched out along the side of the collection point's containers, avoiding the wind. At the front was an elderly man with gray hair, two red plastic buckets beside him, their rims covered with a thin layer of ice. He was hunched over, his hands tucked into his sleeves, coughing occasionally, each cough sounding as if strained from the depths of his chest. He stared at the metal door, his eyes cloudy yet resolute.

In the middle was a woman in her forties, wrapped in a faded pink down jacket and wearing woolen gloves with her fingers sticking out. Beside her was a bulging woven bag, its opening tied tightly with hemp rope. She squatted down next to the bag, took out half a crumpled cigarette from her pocket, lit it, and took a deep drag. The smoke was blown away by the wind as soon as she exhaled. Her gaze was unfocused, only staring at the scattered figures on the ice in the distance. The wrinkles on her face appeared even deeper in the smoke.

Behind her was a young man, probably in his early twenties, dressed in thin clothes, wearing an ill-fitting old jacket, his face blue from the cold. He stomped his feet from time to time, sending ice shards flying, his eyes fixed on the door of the collection point, muttering something as if he was calculating the time. His harvest was not much, a small bucket containing about a dozen palm-sized fish, frozen solid.

Further on, a middle-aged couple were carefully working together to transfer the frozen fish from the bucket to a larger woven bag. The man struggled to pry open the ice layer in the bucket, while the woman took out the fish one by one. Their fish were not large, but there were quite a few, filling half a bag.

The woman looked up at the sky and said softly, "It's getting dark. I don't know if we'll still have time to get some cornmeal." The man didn't say anything, just nodded and quickened his pace.

Xu Xiaoyan quietly parked her shopping cart at the very end of the line, slightly to the side. She didn't rush to squeeze to the front to look around; instead, she stood quietly beside her cart, pulled down her hat brim, and calmly observed what lay ahead.

Her shopping cart stood out conspicuously in the queue—most people carried buckets or bags, and the most particular ones used small trolleys, while hers was a large metal cart commonly found in supermarkets, with considerable capacity, and now covered by a scarf, its full outline was so alluring it sparked the imagination.

The woman smoking in front of him glanced back, her gaze lingering on the shopping cart for two seconds before shifting away to continue smoking. The young man stamping his feet also noticed, craning his neck to look, a hint of curiosity flashing in his eyes, but his lips, white with cold, pursed, and he ultimately remained silent.

The line moved slowly forward, and finally it was the first person's turn to go in. In the gap between the opening and closing of the iron gate, Xu Xiaoyan caught a glimpse of what was happening inside.

The inside of the collection point was brighter and warmer than the outside. An energy-saving lamp emitted a cool white light, illuminating the small space. The walls were made of simple plywood, and several empty buckets and miscellaneous items were piled up in the corner.

A huge electronic scale stands against the wall. The black scale pan has many dents and scratches on the edge, and a thin layer of ice has formed on the surface. The staff cleans it with a scraper from time to time. Next to the scale is a terminal machine.

Two staff members wearing the base's uniform dark blue were busy at work. One of them, a stocky middle-aged man, was mainly responsible for weighing the items. He was not tall, but he had broad shoulders and thick arms. The cuffs of his dark blue uniform were worn white.

His movements were so swift they were almost mechanical—his arm muscles bulged as he lifted the catch, poured the fish from the bag or bucket onto the scale, quickly read and announced the number in a hoarse, steady voice, and then poured the fish into the large chute behind him, which led to the storage area at the back of the container, where the dull thud of the fish falling in could be heard.

Another was a young woman with a neat ponytail, sitting behind a simple desk with a terminal and a writing tablet in front of her. She was responsible for checking the weight, calculating the points, and making transfer operations on the visitor's identity chip or mobile phone.

She looked to be in her late twenties, with delicate features but little expression. Her fingers typed quickly and accurately on the keyboard, and she rarely looked up at people.

The air was filled with a complex mix of smells—the fishy smell, the damp chill of melting ice water, the body odor of a crowd, and a faint smell of diesel fuel, probably coming from a small heater in the corner. These smells blended together to create a unique ambiance. No one complained about it; everyone was used to it, or rather, they didn't have the energy to complain.

"Next!" The man weighing the person said in a flat voice. A man in an old military overcoat stepped forward carrying a heavy burlap sack. The sack was an old-fashioned jute woven bag, and the bottom was wet. The water that had seeped out quickly froze into ice crystals in the low temperature.

He dragged the sack to the edge of the scale, picked it up with difficulty, and poured out the fish. The fish were frozen solid and made a "thump" sound when they landed on the scale. A few fish slid to the edge, and he quickly pushed them back with his hands.

The man was around fifty years old, with deep wrinkles on his face from the sun and wind, rough and swollen hands with protruding knuckles. He handled the fish with great care, especially the larger ones, being particularly gentle.

"Total weight 17.8 kilograms," the weigher glanced at the display screen and announced on the spot.

The man in the military overcoat's face first lit up, revealing a mixture of pride and anticipation. This was quite a good result compared to what he had gained in the past few days. But then, his brows furrowed, his lips moved, and he finally couldn't help but speak, his voice dry and tinged with dissatisfaction:

"Comrade, look at these silver carp I have!" He reached out and picked up a large fish from the scale. The fish was frozen stiff, but you could tell it was plump. "Look how fat it is! And look at that head! In the past, silver carp would have been worth much more than grass carp or silver carp! Why does our base buy all kinds of fish at the same price? They buy them all by weight, that's not fair! My high-quality fish are being taken advantage of!"

His words caused a slight commotion in the group. The middle-aged couple behind him exchanged a glance. The woman sighed softly, and the woman who was smoking threw her cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it out, muttering under her breath, "Who says otherwise?" The young man chimed in, "That's right. Last time I caught a big grass carp, and I bought it at the price of a regular fish."

Whispers rippled through the ranks, clearly indicating that this discontent had been brewing for some time.

The uniformed man in charge of weighing the fish didn't stop moving his hands; he had already started shoving the fish from the scale into the chute. Without even raising his eyelids, he said in a flat tone, "Base regulations stipulate that all freshwater fish are purchased according to uniform specifications and priced by weight. Please understand."

"Understand? I..." The man in the military coat wanted to argue, his face flushed, and his hand holding the fish trembled slightly. "My fish is different! It's meaty, it..."

"Are you going to change or not?" a man behind him, wrapped in a tattered down jacket and carrying a large bucket, urged impatiently, his voice gruff. "If you're not going to change, get out of the way! Can't you see there are other people waiting behind us? It's almost dark, and it's freezing!"

The man was tall and burly, with a stubble-covered face and anxious eyes. His shout made the words that the man in the military coat was about to say choke. He looked at the people in the line behind him—some frowned, some shook their heads, and some simply turned their faces away—then looked at the expressionless staff, opened his mouth, his throat bobbed a few times, and finally his shoulders slumped as he dejectedly turned to the checkout window.

"Let's change... let's change," he said, his voice lowering like a deflated balloon.

The woman in uniform had already calculated the points based on the weight. She tapped a few times on the keyboard, looked up, and said, "Confirm weight. Total redemption: 42.72 points. Please show your ID card or mobile phone."

The man in the military overcoat sullenly took out his phone, aimed it at the scanner, and with a soft "beep," the transaction was complete. He stared at the balance number that popped up on the screen for two seconds, said nothing, picked up the empty sack, turned around, and walked out quickly. His back looked particularly desolate in the dim light.

The line continued to move slowly. Xu Xiaoyan watched this scene silently, her face expressionless, her eyes under the brim of her hat calm and still, but in her heart, she was secretly rejoicing.

She wasn't really familiar with different types of fish, but she recognized bighead carp. She had eaten fish head soup before, and it was very delicious. So when she took fish from her space to exchange for fish, she intentionally kept some bighead carp.

In retrospect, this unintentional decision was the right one. The base sets prices uniformly by weight, regardless of fish species, so the shad she kept had better meat quality and were more cost-effective for her to eat herself. As for exchanging them, as long as she could get enough points, that was fine.

The line slowly shortened. When the old man came out carrying two empty buckets, there was a slight smile on his face, probably because he was satisfied with his points. The middle-aged couple went in and came out again. The woman was holding her phone and whispering to the man about what to buy at the redemption point. When the young man came out, his face was even more pale. He had exchanged his small bucket of fish for less than ten points. He walked away cursing.

Finally, it was Xu Xiaoyan's turn.

The weigher glanced up at her, then looked at the conspicuous shopping cart next to her, covered by a scarf.

"Yours?" He raised his chin, his voice still indifferent.

Xu Xiaoyan nodded, stepped forward, and revealed the neatly arranged fish in the shopping cart. The bottom layer was large fish, the sides were lined with small fish, the middle was filled with fish, and the top layer was laid flat.

Although most of them were frozen solid, their eyes were covered with a white film, and their gills were dark red, the quantity and scale of the catch were clearly much more substantial than the previous people's catch. In particular, several large fish stood out, their bodies thick and plump, and even though they were frozen, you could still see how robust they were when they were alive.

"My God, so many?"

"How long must that have taken...?"

"Look at that one, it probably weighs five or six pounds!"

"Who is this woman...?"

A few low gasps and whispers came from the back of the line. Several people who were about to leave stopped and peered inside. Even the weigher, who had been expressionless, twitched her brow almost imperceptibly. The woman behind the checkout window also looked up and her gaze fell on Xu Xiaoyan's catch, lingering for a moment.

"Wow, not bad," the weigher simply complimented. "Pour it all out and weigh it."

Xu Xiaoyan followed instructions and began to move the fish. The frozen fish landed on the scale with a dull thud. One, two, three... the scale gradually filled up, and the numbers on the display screen kept changing.

The gazes around her were like needles pricking her—there was envy, curiosity, suspicion, and undisguised jealousy. The woman who was smoking lit another cigarette and squinted at Xu Xiaoyan. The young man had already walked away, otherwise his expression would have been quite interesting.

Xu Xiaoyan ignored all of this, focusing only on moving her fish, occasionally adjusting the arrangement to make the fish on the scale more stable. Her face was mostly hidden under her scarf and hat brim, so her expression was not visible. Only her calm eyes and methodical movements could be seen. Finally, the last fish was placed on the scale.

The weigher stared at the display screen, remaining silent for two seconds—a slight pause that was particularly noticeable in the quiet space. Then he spoke, his voice slightly higher than before: "Total weight: 343.2 kilograms."

Another suppressed gasp rose from the back of the line.

Xu Xiaoyan's expression didn't change much; she simply nodded slightly.

The weigher began to push the fish into the chute. This time, he was a little slower, especially when dealing with the larger fish. He glanced at them a few more times, but didn't say anything.

The woman behind the checkout window typed rapidly on the keyboard, the numbers on the screen flashing. After a moment, she looked up and said, "Confirm weight. Total redemption: 823.68 points. Please present your ID card or mobile phone."

Xu Xiaoyan raised her arm and aimed it at the scanner. With a "beep," the transaction was completed.

She picked up the brown scarf again. The weigher had already emptied the scale and was calling the next number. Xu Xiaoyan didn't leave immediately. She looked at the empty shopping cart, thought for a moment, and then placed the rented ice fishing rod horizontally on top of the goods in the cart—actually, the cart was empty, but she covered the bottom with the scarf to make it look like there was still something there. Then she used a corner of the scarf to weigh down the fishing rod, so that overall, she looked like an ordinary angler packing up her things and preparing to go home.

She pushed her cart and calmly walked out of the collection point's container; the sky outside had darkened a bit more.

The number of people on the ice was not decreasing; on the contrary, as it got darker, some people began to pack up their equipment and prepare to leave, and there were even more people moving around.

Xu Xiaoyan pulled up her scarf and pushed the shopping cart back the way she came. The wheels left shallow tracks on the ice, which were quickly covered by ice chips blown away by the wind.