Chapter 275: On the way back, we cast a net

As for that puddle just now, Xiao Hu caught over ten horse-face fish, over ten blue crabs, and some other small seafood; he earned back the fuel cost, but not much profit—today's main income still depends on this batch of Buddha's hand snails.

Load all the Buddha's hand snails onto the boat, and the few of them began heading back.

"Brother, how many catties do you think these Buddha's hand snails weigh?" On the way back, Ye Guowei was steering the boat, and Ye Cheng idly stared at the batch of Buddha's hand snails, estimating their weight.

"There's definitely over a hundred catties; any more would be pushing it."

Ye Cheng pursed his lips. Over a hundred catties—damn it, after a whole day's work that's all we got? Thousands of Buddha's hand snails, each pried off one by one—this is exhausting.

At dusk, the sunset spilled across the sea surface, golden light shimmering; the view was truly beautiful, no wonder poets love to write about it.

In the distance, a stretch of sea sparkled, silver flecks of light flashing on and off.

Ye Cheng suddenly realized, this isn't right.

He sprang up and ran to Ye Guowei's side, "Brother, look over there—is that a school of fish?"

Ye Guowei glanced, not entirely sure, "Kind of looks like it."

"Brother, why not try casting another net?" Ye Cheng, who had just hauled in a school of fish yesterday, felt fired up again upon seeing this.

Hearing there was a fish school, Jiang Yunxiang also rose to her feet,

"This is definitely a fish school—what kind of fish are they?"

"Sister-in-law, we don't know from this distance; let's just cast a net and see."

"Alright, let's cast a net—we've got the time anyway."

Ye Cheng and Xiao Hu immediately ran to the stern and dropped the trawl net.

Ye Guowei, meanwhile, turned the boat, made a loop, and headed toward the fish school.

Going straight at the school definitely wouldn't work; you need to time it so the boat passes by and then the net meets the school.

Ye Guowei adjusted the angle and speed, drove the boat past; the fish school was clearly startled, flopping on the surface before diving down. Whether we could catch any, and how many, was left to fate.

This time the target was clearer, so we didn't need to drag long—after just forty minutes, Ye Cheng began hauling the net in.

He engaged the winch, and the few of them crouched at the back, starting to anticipate.

As the net was gradually pulled up, the winch visibly began to strain.

"Brother, we're in luck—your skill is great!" Ye Cheng said happily.

Ye Guowei was also pleased, "Of course—I've been doing this by the sea for years, just like your brother."

"You're just hauling cargo, not actually fishing," Jiang Yunxiang gave her husband a sideways glance.

When the trawl net was halfway up, it noticeably grew heavier; Ye Cheng and Xiao Hu each took a side and began pulling—this they knew well.

"Wow, so many fish—we really caught a school!" As the fish broke the surface, Jiang Yunxiang exclaimed excitedly; the net teemed with fish, a delightful sight.

Ye Guowei also came over to help; the three of them hauled the net up together, and the fish spilled onto the deck with a splash.

"These are silver pomfret," Ye Guowei recognized at once—easy to tell by their flat bodies and silver coloring.

Silver pomfret aren't expensive, but they vary by size—larger ones over six taels fetch a higher price, smaller ones under three taels are cheaper; this batch includes all sizes, estimated at a little over two hundred catties.

Silver pomfret die easily out of water, and the facilities on Ye Cheng's current fishing boat can't guarantee they stay alive, so they just tossed them into the hold, dead or alive, without concern.

On the return trip, this unexpected windfall made all four happy; they quickly sorted the catch and headed back, arriving at the dock as darkness was falling.

This was peak hour for fishing boats returning; the dock was packed with various vessels selling their goods.

Still, as soon as Ye Cheng's boat tied up, several buyers came running over—after all, Ye Cheng always manages to snag some good stuff.

Silver pomfret are fairly common with transparent pricing; since Ye Cheng's lot is on the larger side, they command a bit more—sold at 25 per catty, totaling 240 catties for 6,000 yuan.

After selling the silver pomfret, Ye Cheng brought out the Buddha's hand snails, filling three water tanks halfway each.

"Holy cow—so many Buddha's hand snails!"

"Guowei, your younger brother really is something—every day a new trick, even managing to gather this many Buddha's hand snails."

"Exactly—ordinary folks would sell just a small bucket, but you lot use a whole water tank."

"Those who don't know might think you're selling field snails—damn, such expensive stuff piled up in heaps."

A crowd gathered, clucking in amazement; Jiang Yunxiang chimed in proudly, "We've been at this all day—our hands are dead tired."

"True enough—Buddha's hand snails aren't easy to get; hauling this many takes a full day's work."

Ye Cheng, seeing they'd said enough, raised his voice to cut them off: "Everyone, we have three crates of Buddha's hand snails—this one holds the large ones, 5–8 cm; the other two hold 3–5 cm. We released the tinier ones, guaranteeing quality—feel free to have a look."

Hearing there were 8‑cm big ones, the crowd surged forward to inspect them, picking one up and shaking it—sure enough, each was large.

Moreover, Ye Cheng wasn't bluffing; in this batch, the 5‑cm specimens are few, most are over 6 cm.

Seeing the lively Buddha's hand snails, the crowd felt tempted.

This commodity is scarce, so its price swings widely—meaning big profits, but one must keep the goods in hand to have pricing power; thus everyone came ready to buy the whole lot.

"How about 100 per catty for the large, 50 for the small?" someone opened bidding.

"I bid 120 and 60."

"I bid 125 and 65."

"I bid 130 and 65."

Several big bosses placed bids, but bidding stopped at 130 per catty—one reason being the price had risen, requiring substantial cash to buy outright; everyone had just spent on a batch of goods, and few could spare that much working capital.

Another reason was fear that the price was too high for any profit—after all, earning just a single unit would be pointless.

Still, Ye Cheng felt a bit unhappy with 130 per catty, given how hard he'd worked.

"Gentlemen, how about 140 for the large, 65 for the small, as a bundled take‑it‑or‑leave‑it price?" Ye Cheng raised his offer by ten, then looked around.

The bosses each glanced, then stayed silent.

"Lao Er, 130 isn't low enough—we need to leave ourselves something to live on."

Ye Cheng smiled, "Fine, I'll work a bit harder and make a trip to town tonight to sell them myself."

As soon as they heard Ye Cheng planned to go to town to sell, the group grew anxious; the boss who had bid 130 shot up his hand,

"Me, I'll take it—140 it is."

Congratulations, Boss Gao, this batch of goods will definitely make a profit, you can rest assured.