Rice Flower Marinated Fish could be prepared in larger quantities, stored in jars in the space or the yard to naturally ferment, but loaches are generally bought for stewing soup and must be fresh. The space couldn't store live creatures, and dead loaches wouldn't fetch a good price, so eventually, half of his rice paddy was devoted to Rice Flower Fish and half to raising loaches.
He no longer waited for them to grow before selling. Once the fish reached about half a pound, he'd start picking them to sell. When loaches grew to the length of a middle finger, that was about right. With this approach, he was able to sell both fresh and previously marinated Rice Flower Fish, creating a cycle.
Since fish and loaches could fetch a good price, sometimes he could make five yuan in a day, but usually, it was just one or two yuan.
The pickles he sold weren't expensive either, ten cents could last someone at least a week.
