Chapter 449: Boring Line Coiling

Duan Chunsheng, standing to the side, took two glances and then said,

It should be cod.

As for cod, Ye Cheng's deepest impression of it is the cod burgers from KFC and Mai Mai; although he himself doesn't like eating them, he has seen them so often, plus the ubiquitous advertising, it's hard not to remember.

Cod is also called bighead fish or 'bighead stink'; its most striking feature is the huge proportion of its head, with a short barbel on the lower jaw. The body surface often has patterns, the back is grayish-brown or brownish-gray, and the belly is whitish-gray.

In terms of texture, cod meat is snow-white and tender, with a flaky mouthfeel, a light yet delicious flavor, extremely low fat content, and rich protein, making it a highly praised healthy ingredient.

Moreover, it has few bones, making it very suitable for infant food and fitness meals; also, cod is not expensive, with fresh-frozen selling for only a few dozen yuan per catty.

The low bone count and low price are also why the two major fast-food chains dare to use it.

Generally speaking, besides cod burgers, cod can also be pan-fried, steamed, or made into soup; for example, cod stewed with tofu is quite delicious.

Cod is carnivorous and considerably larger than sea bream; these two cod are each over half a meter long, estimated at around ten catties, qualifying as a big catch.

After hauling in three sets of longlines, the three of them worked faster, and by noon they finally had all six sets hauled up.

The bottom-layer longlines were mainly for grouper and sea bream; besides the two red groupers at the start, they also caught a few Eastern star groupers and tiger groupers, while the mouse grouper amounted to only two.

There were also some eels, plus two dogfish; although it wasn't trawling, it still filled the boat to the brim.

At noon, the three ate something on the boat.

They set out relatively early today and didn't cook a separate meal, so the three old fellows directly ate instant noodles.

After working a morning, they were all tired; Xiao Hu and Ye Cheng each soaked two packets, while Duan Chunsheng, being older, couldn't eat that much and only soaked one packet.

While eating, Duan Chunsheng pointed at the tangled longline ropes on the deck and said,

"After we finish eating, we'll coil these lines into the buckets, then hang them on the hooks and drop them down; we should be able to head back around three in the afternoon."

Hearing that, Ye Cheng instantly felt his instant noodles lose their aroma.

These lines all over the ground—damn it—are countless, tangled mess, utterly without order.

Having him do this, he feels like he's about to break down.

When catching fish earlier, he felt pretty good, since he didn't have to hook them one by one; but now looking at this pile of lines, it's like a man entering a textile mill—damn, his head is about to explode.

Ye Cheng turned his head to look at Xiao Hu, who immediately turned his head away; this guy isn't the type for delicate work either.

"Damn, why are you turning your head? After we eat, let's learn together—damn it, if we're gonna die, we die together." Ye Cheng spat out a few curses.

Xiao Hu said with a thick-skinned face,

"Brother, look at my hands—they don't look like they belong to someone who does fine work."

"I do look like it—hurry up and finish eating then get to work." Ye Cheng said unhappily.

Watching the two snap at each other like dogs, Duan Chunsheng hehehed and laughed.

"What are you afraid of? This isn't hard; I'm a man too, I can do it, so can you."

Ye Cheng watched Duan Chunsheng give a crooked, lascivious smile,

"Uncle, you're an old man, willing but unable; naturally you can only stay up here, while we're young and different."

"Get lost! Who said I'm willing but unable? Back in the day I was famous as a 'seven-times-in-one-night' guy."

"Yeah, yeah, but you're old now—you can't even manage seven times a month, right?"

Duan Chunsheng was momentarily speechless—damn it, seven times a month, is that even a man?

That's Dalang.

With that old waist of his, even once a month would be enough to kill him.

Seeing Duan Chunsheng fall silent, Xiao Hu also started to show off,

"Uncle, you wouldn't even be able to do it once a month, would you?"

"Get lost! Wait until you reach my age before showing off! Hurry up and work—I originally wanted to help you, but later you'll do it all yourselves while I stand by and teach you; if you can't learn, I'll hit you with a stick!"

"Damn it, you two little brats are making fun of me."

Ye Cheng:...

Xiao Hu:...

"Damn, we went too far."

Now each person has to coil three bundles of line.

Seeing the two in a dilemma, Duan Chunsheng suddenly felt his noodles were truly fragrant.

After finishing the noodles, even if the two were unwilling, they could only sit down honestly to listen to Duan Chunsheng's lecture.

Duan Chunsheng brought over those few basins and then began to explain.

"Well, it's actually simple—just restoration."

"You first wash the main line, get rid of the dirt on it, then put it back as it originally was—isn't that simple?"

Duan Chunsheng looked at the two with a teasing expression.

Ye Cheng wore a speechless expression, recalling a joke: 'Ask how many steps to put an elephant into the fridge?'

The answer is three steps.

First step, open the fridge door.

Second step, put the elephant inside.

Third step, close the fridge door.

"Uncle Duan, isn't this just nonsense?" Xiao Hu said in a muffled voice.

"You know it's nonsense—who made you disrespect the old comrade just now?" Duan Chunsheng said proudly.

This old geezer still holds a grudge like that.

Fortunately, afterward Duan Chunsheng began to speak seriously.

Actually, it's quite simple: first rinse the lines clean with water, including any residue on the hooks, then take this basin and start coiling the lines.

Coiling the lines doesn't involve much skill, but the main line goes on the inner ring, the float on the outer ring, and the branch lines are to be hung in the special notch added to the outer ring of the basin; once the bait is ready later, pulling out the notch lets the line go straight down.

Duan Chunsheng said he wouldn't help, but seeing these two big lugs work, he couldn't resist, wandering over to Xiao Hu one moment, then to Ye Cheng the next, like a little bee.

Actually, these things aren't really difficult; the difficulty lies in patience.

After the two of them steadied themselves, things went smoothly; after all, they were young and nimble, and Duan Chunsheng gave a slight nod, remarking that there would be successors.

Ye Cheng gave him a white eye,

"Uncle Duan, you have a successor in your family Duan Yong, so we won't be taking over from you."

The line-winding took until 3 p. m., mainly because it was the first time; a mistake in the middle forced them to redo everything, otherwise Ye Cheng estimated they could have finished by 2:30.

After winding the lines, Duan Chunsheng took out his smelly bag of bait, and the three began to bait the hooks.

This was the second time, so they were much more practiced; by 3:30 they had finished baiting, and after setting the lines it was about 4 o'clock.

They set out early in the morning and didn't return until 4 p. m., really hard work.

However, Ye Cheng felt that some time was wasted here, mainly because the time spent organizing the lines was too long.

It would be best if this work were automated; lacking that, it could be done by someone else.

He didn't want to waste his time on this.