Chapter 289: Ran into a top‑level big shot

Both sides of the river belong to Baiyun Village, though I don't know whose land it is.

"Do you know whose land these two banks are?" Ye Cheng looked at Xiao Hu.

Xiao Hu shook his head. "Brother, this isn't any good land; it's probably all communal, not allocated to individuals."

Communal land is fine—easier to rent—but it might be more expensive than tidal flats.

Here, as long as someone digs the land down about a meter and sets up the barrier net, we can start farming—but before farming, there's one more thing: raising seedlings.

Nowadays it's not like later times when many people farm and sell crayfish seedlings.

Now we can only rely on our own research, feeling our way across the river by touching stones; we'll likely lose money at first.

For raising seedlings, we need a separate nursery pond of 1–3 mu, with relatively high water quality and temperature requirements, plus high‑protein feed; after spawning, we move them to the nursery pond and grow them to 3 cm before they can be released as seedlings.

All this needs advance planning—the nursery pond, seedling pond, and farming pond all have to be built. With so much to handle, Ye Cheng feels a bit overwhelmed and lacks experience, so he can only take it step by step.

In the afternoon, Ye Cheng went to help Ye Guowei for a while; the clams were growing well, and Ye Guowei was overjoyed.

The next day, today is Saturday; following the class monitor's plan to eat in town tonight, Ye Cheng first checked the system.

Luck Value: 50+20

Points: 5900

Savings: 134,000; external debt: 30,000; mortgage: 300,000 (including interest)

This Luck Value is still worth going out to sea—leave early, return early, and we'll still make it to dinner.

Seeing the time, it was just before 7 a. m.; Ye Cheng got up, took Xiao Hu, and headed to the dock.

The new winch has been installed,

"Brother, I've tried it—this winch is powerful; the boss said even if the net bursts, it can still haul it up."

"Alright, we'll talk about the winch later; first, did you bring lunch?"

Ye Cheng recalled last time he went out to sea and ate instant noodles; although seafood is tasty, he still wanted something substantial.

"Brother, I've got it handled—don't worry, I bought it." Xiao Hu produced a bag of meat and alcohol; this time he'd learned his lesson and also brought some rice.

Seeing the alcohol, meat, and rice, Ye Cheng also felt reassured, and the two prepared to weigh anchor.

"Yo, Lao Er, out to sea again? We'll be waiting for good news." He Lao Ban had just finished a haul of fish; seeing Ye Cheng approach, he came over to greet him.

"Thanks for the good omen—we'll be back early today, at 4. He Lao Ban, you'd better get an early start."

"That early? Sure, I'll come over early to wait."

After greeting He Lao Ban, Ye Cheng set out to sea; Duan Chunsheng's boat wasn't there either—he's more diligent than Ye Cheng, the type who goes out early and returns late.

Actually, most fishermen are like that—who wouldn't want to cast a few more nets and earn a bit more?

"Brother, do we really have to come back this early?" Xiao Hu still didn't know Ye Cheng had to attend a class reunion.

"Yeah, tonight's our high‑school class reunion; I've been invited several times and can't get out of it."

"Your class reunion?" Xiao Hu raised his voice. "I remember your class had a campus belle named Yang Liu—brother, isn't this your chance to shine?"

"Come on, really? You still remember the beauty from our class?" Ye Cheng gave that guy a glance.

"Brother, look at what you're saying." Xiao Hu fidgeted. "Pretty girls—everyone likes to look."

"You're an LSP—I thought you didn't like women."

"Brother, if I had to say, you're the one who doesn't like women—look at Xiao Rou, so rich and pretty; why haven't you chased her?"

Xiao Rou?

Damn, Ye Cheng hadn't thought of her in ages.

"Xiao Rou's a rich girl, man—these days I'm focused on my career."

"Tch! She's probably not into you." Xiao Hu said disdainfully. "Brother, you should go for Yang Liu instead—I remember she's easygoing."

"Saying she's easygoing makes me sound like a john; her being easygoing has nothing to do with me. Back in class I was at the bottom, while she studied hard and was gorgeous."

As for Yang Liu, to be honest Ye Cheng still has an impression—classic melon‑seed face, flowing long hair, a cool demeanor; she's the icy‑beauty type.

In later times it's called a "first‑love face"; in high school it was quite the draw, with many outsiders coming to see her.

After the college entrance exam, Ye Cheng truly doesn't know where she went—rumor has it she got into a good university.

A beauty with grades like that isn't on the same track as a village layabout like me—we have nothing in common—but it's not bad to have a pretty girl to look at in the evening.

The two chatted for a while, then kept going; soon they reached Fishing Ground No. 1, the place Duan Chunsheng first brought Ye Cheng to.

But that spot was crowded, and Ye Cheng didn't like it, so he headed straight to Fishing Ground No. 2—the place Duan Chunsheng brought him the second time. Since Ye Cheng doesn't know its official name, he just uses his own numbering, One and Two, like calling a technician.

Here there are few people; occasionally a ship can be seen in the distance. Ye Cheng had Xiao Hu lower the trawl net and start dragging.

Today there's not much time, so Ye Cheng didn't think much—just dragged whatever, mid‑water or bottom; the sea surface showed no fish schools.

This net was supposed to be dragged for an hour, but after only half an hour Xiao Hu sensed something was off.

"Brother, it looks like we've hit a fish school—the trawl is swaying violently."

Ye Cheng heard that and could hardly believe it—himself today so fierce, a casual pull and we snag a fish school?

But looking at the trawl's condition behind us, the load is huge; it really might be a fish school.

"Then let's haul it up—if we get another net of big yellow fish, we'll strike it rich."

"You're dreaming—there aren't that many big yellow fish." Xiao Hu didn't believe it.

The new winch is truly powerful; even with the trawl thrashing like that, it still rises steadily without rushing.

Just as it broke the surface, the trawl suddenly stirred, and a huge splash erupted from below, over a meter high.

The two exchanged a glance, both eyes wide with surprise.

"Holy shit, whatever's in there is pretty big—could we have snagged a two‑meter‑long big haul?"

When the thing came out of the water, both were completely dumbfounded.

"Big haul is big haul."

"But this big haul—you can't touch it."

This is a dolphin; the white dolphin is a first-class protected animal, other dolphins are second-class protected animals; the one right in front of us is a Chinese white dolphin, definitely a top big shot.

The Chinese white dolphin has a body length of 2-3 meters, weight after adulthood around 250-280 kilograms, dark gray at birth, turning white or pink after adulthood.

This big treasure belongs to an endangered species; there aren't many left worldwide, and moreover, to fishermen, the white dolphin is a symbol of good fortune.

The white dolphin in front of us is over 2 meters long, its body entirely white, but more than half of its skin is covered in barnacles.

Moreover, its head had at some point been tightly bound by a rope, deeply embedded into the flesh.