Chapter 269: Bumped into a pomfret school

Plumchild fish are sometimes grayish white, sometimes golden yellow; mainly it can change color with the environment. Generally speaking, its dorsal side is grayish yellow, ventral side golden yellow.

In overall appearance, plumchild fish resemble yellow fish; sometimes they are mistaken for juvenile yellow fish. Actually, plumchild fish, yellow fish, and big yellow fish all belong to the stonehead fish family, so the resemblance is understandable.

Plumchild fish were tribute fish in both the Ming and Qing dynasties; the flesh is tender, the flavor delicious, it melts in the mouth, and both steaming and frying are delicious.

However, plumchild fish have two drawbacks: one is their small size—adults only reach about 20 centimeters, and anything over 2 taels is considered large.

The other is that they're expensive!

Of course they can't compare to the price of big yellow fish, but they are definitely more expensive than small yellow fish.

Moreover, plumchild fish have the characteristic that the bigger they are, the more expensive: a one‑tael specimen has one price, a two‑tael specimen is rare and its price doubles outright, and sometimes they are even priced by the piece, a large one costing several dozen.

"Xiao Hu, look, it's yellow again—Heaven is compensating you." Ye Cheng teased Xiao Hu, then honestly put the plumchild fish into the water tank; live ones are worth more than ice‑fresh ones.

Xiao Hu was sharp‑eyed and quick‑handed, he directly picked out a large plumchild fish and lifted it up, still jumping about,

"Brother, this one probably weighs over two taels."

Ye Cheng estimated with his eyes: it's over 20 centimeters long, so it should be over two taels, bigger than his own.

The two of them first sorted through the plumchild fish, ending up with a little under a hundred, then began to deal with the other fish.

Besides plumchild fish, the most numerous in this net were white maiden fish.

White maiden fish also belong to the stonehead fish family; they are in the same taxonomic group as plumchild fish, and are also called silver maiden fish, white mouth, yellow smooth, etc., commonly known as white maiden child or white rice child.

White maiden fish have an elongated oval body, a bluntly rounded head, a short and bluntly rounded snout, a large mouth opening slightly inclined, the back is silver‑gray to gray‑brown, the belly silver‑white.

White maiden fish are generally 30–50 centimeters long, considerably larger than plumchild fish; the biggest can exceed one meter, even larger than big yellow fish.

The flesh of white maiden fish is delicate; besides being tasty, it is also believed to have many health and beauty benefits.

However, white maiden fish are not particularly expensive; they usually cost a few dozen yuan per jin, about the same as small yellow fish.

This is mainly because its flesh is somewhat inferior, plus its silvery‑white color is not as attractive as the golden hue of others, and furthermore it reproduces strongly, is easy to catch, and transports well, so the price stays low.

Ye Cheng and company's net contained plenty of white maiden fish, most around 30+ centimeters long; the two picked out seventy or eighty, estimating about a hundred jin.

Besides these two kinds of fish, the rest were small miscellaneous fish, plus an octopus; the two found a water tank and casually tossed them in, and that was that.

After rinsing the remaining stones and worthless shells back into the sea with water, the two began to deploy the second net.

By the time this net went down it was already late; while driving the boat they ate lunch, but Xiao Hu had bought quite a lot, so after eating half they couldn't finish, mainly just drinking water.

Although the sea wind was strong, the sun was also considerable; knowing there were plumchild fish here, Ye Cheng deliberately pulled the net toward the seabed, hoping to catch more.

The second net was also planned for about an hour; when they had been underway for 40 minutes, Ye Cheng suddenly felt the boat speed slow and the hull begin to sway slightly.

Xiao Hu, sitting in the back, also felt it; he quickly held onto the rail and stood up,

"Brother, what's wrong? Is the boat having trouble?"

Ye Cheng frowned, not knowing what the problem was; the boat was still something he was new to.

"I don't know, come over and have a look."

Xiao Hu walked over; the two pretended to inspect the helm, but really saw nothing wrong.

Suddenly, Ye Cheng looked back and saw a flock of seabirds following behind the boat, right where he was trawling the net.

"Xiao Hu, look behind." Ye Cheng shouted.

Xiao Hu also looked over and immediately realized,

"Brother, we must have hit a fish school; I've heard that when there's a school, seabirds will fly above it."

"Damn, our luck is this good—we actually snagged a fish school." Ye Cheng muttered.

"Brother, hurry up and haul the net; these fish are strong, if we keep going we might tear the net, and the boat is shaking more and more violently."

Ye Cheng also felt it; at first the boat only rocked slightly, but now the sway was growing larger, and both of them had to hold onto the boat to stand.

"Alright, haul the net."

Although they hadn't reached the set time, Ye Cheng didn't dare wait; the two staggered to the rear.

The trawl net's rope was pulled tight and kept swaying left and right; there must be a big catch struggling in the net, dragging down the boat's speed and making it keep rocking.

Ye Cheng quickly reduced the boat speed further, then engaged the winch; this time he clearly felt the winch straining a lot, and the net‑hauling speed was very slow.

"Xiao Hu, watch your safety, don't get thrown overboard." Ye Cheng reminded him, adjusted his stance to stand more steadily.

The trawl net rose slowly, the force feeling ever greater; although the left‑right sway amplitude lessened, the boat's rocking force did not diminish at all.

As the net drew nearer, the seabirds followed, occasionally swooping low to try to snatch scraps, but they were all inside the net and couldn't get anything.

When the net was almost pulled to the stern, the whole trawl net shifted entirely to port; Xiao Hu's side couldn't pull the line at all.

No choice; Xiao Hu could only fetch a hook, latch onto the net and pull hard, finally moving the trawl net's position to the middle.

Inside the net the fish school jumped in panic, water splashed all over the sea surface mixed with the wake; Ye Cheng saw a sheet of white, unable to make out any fish.

One on each side, the two helped the winch together pull the fishing net out of the water.

As soon as it cleared the water, they felt the weight surge; the winch felt like it couldn't lift it.

"Damn! Brother, this is pretty heavy." Xiao Hu shouted through gritted teeth.

Ye Cheng's side was similar: "Damn, I estimate several hundred jin—we really got a fish school."

This weight was something neither of them had felt before; they had to admit the system‑provided trawl net quality was good—so many fish and it didn't tear.

Fortunately both were young and strong, and with all their strength they managed to haul the net up.

As soon as it came up, without even having to dump it, fish began to leap out—dark backs, slender bodies.

"Brother, it's horse pomfret; we've run into a horse pomfret school."

Ye Cheng looked and saw that the whole net was full of horse pomfret; indeed they had encountered a fish school.

Horse pomfret, which is what people generally call pomfret, is used for the pomfret dumplings that are especially popular in Shandong's Qingdao.

They usually travel in schools; at their largest they can number in the thousands; Ye Cheng and company's net held roughly a little under a hundred, making it a small school.