Chapter 1026

Everyone walked out of the cabin one after another, all wearing conical hats on their heads with the chin straps secured to keep them from being blown away by the wind. They also held straw rain capes in their hands, clumsily putting them on while looking out at the sea.

"So many? It's a whole patch..."

"Hurry, hurry, put on your rain capes quickly and get the nets out..."

"These cast nets are almost worn out after a few uses. Adong, you need to prepare a few more new ones to keep on the boat next time we go back..."

"Alright, I've noted it down. For now, just make do with these. The others, grab the dip nets and scoop up as much as you can. Let's see what kind of fish these are that are jumping out of the water."

He also took his own conical hat and rain cape from the cabin to put on. Although he would be returning to the pilothouse in a moment, he still had to come out and take a look.

The boat had been operating slowly, and he couldn't clearly see what kind of fish were constantly jumping. Regardless, they looked to be of various sizes; the small ones were only as long as a finger, while the large ones looked to be two or three jin.

It was a pity; the nets had only just been cast, otherwise, he would have just hauled them in and stopped the boat.

"Why did it start raining just like that... It looked perfectly fine during the day, and the weather forecast didn't say anything about rain..."

"Oh, don't even mention the weather forecast. That's all a lie. They broadcast the city's weather forecast, which is never accurate. Don't believe it next time; it's better to make our own judgments."

"Scoop first, scoop first. Once we're ready, just start scooping. It's rare to see so many fish jumping out of the water all at once; it's quite a novelty..."

"Dongzi, go steer the boat and slow the speed down a bit more..."

"Got it."

Ye Yaodong watched as the two cast nets were thrown into the water and then dragged along by the moving fishing boat. The small area covered by the fishing nets no longer had any fish jumping, so he returned to the pilothouse to slow the speed down further.

"Oh my, there's a sea bass... and it's quite a big one..."

Just as he finished adjusting the speed and walked out of the pilothouse, he saw them on the deck having just scooped up a net of jumping fish. From the net opening, which was fifty or sixty centimeters in diameter, they poured out a sea bass weighing about three or four jin and a small pile of anchovies.

"I've got a sea bass here too, and a grunt fish. The rest are all small miscellaneous fish..."

"Looks alright, at least there are a few good fish."

"Help me pull this net..."

The diameter of the dip net opening was only so large, and the catch was limited. They had made a large batch previously for scooping jellyfish, so it couldn't catch as much as a full cast net spread out.

The two cast nets were hauled in one after another, with only a few seconds between them, and then both were dumped onto the deck together.

The two small piles looked like they only had a few dozen jin of catch. The rain capes they were wearing significantly hindered their limb movement for casting, to the point where the nets they cast couldn't be spread to their maximum extent.

But one couldn't ask for too much; small amounts frequently would suffice.

The dumped catch contained both large and small fish, but there weren't many large ones; they were basically all kinds of small miscellaneous fish.

"That's fine, that's fine... at least there are a few large fish..."

"Spring is here, and the sea bass are becoming more numerous..."

"Sea bass are good; they're valuable."

After dumping the catch from the nets and seeing what was inside, everyone discussed it for a few moments before continuing to cast the nets into the sea. They weren't in a hurry to sort them; who knew when these jumping fish on the sea surface would disappear?

The light, drizzling rain was still falling, and Ye Yaodong stood above the pilothouse, looking through the curtain of rain at everyone busy working below.

Perhaps thanks to his generous and prompt red envelopes from the previous two times, everyone was working very actively and didn't slack off or treat the work perfunctorily just because it was raining.

The windshield was blurry from the light rain, and he found the view clearer when he stepped out of the pilothouse. In any case, the direction of travel didn't need to change, so he didn't necessarily have to stay at the steering wheel the whole time.

His face was wet with raindrops. He had the urge to take out a handkerchief to wipe his face, but the rain cape he was wearing made it difficult to reach, so he just let the raindrops fall slowly onto his face.

Just as he was daydreaming about how long these fish would keep jumping, he suddenly saw a flash of lightning appear on the horizon. It vanished in an instant, but it momentarily illuminated the deck.

At the same time, the boatmen on the deck cheered.

"Sea bream!"

"This net is red sea bream! We've struck it rich, it's all sea bream! I'll come help pull..."

"Lightning? Will it thunder later?"

"Haul it in first."

The fishing net had only just been pulled a little out of the water when Ye Fu, who was holding a dip net nearby, saw it. He immediately exclaimed, pulled up his dip net, and tossed it aside. Ignoring the fish jumping out of it, he happily reached out to help.

"Is it really red sea bream? Is that true sea bream? Hurry, haul it up and let's see..."

"Is it true sea bream or some other kind of bream?"

"Don't know, have to haul it up to see. It just looks red."

Others turned their heads to ask upon hearing the commotion. They had the urge to come over and take a look, but they had work in their hands and had to hurry to scoop while the fish were still jumping out of the water. They couldn't just drop everything to come over and watch the excitement.

The five people below were divided into two groups, standing on either side of the gunwales, each casting nets to fish, so as not to crowd one side and lack space to cast.

Although they couldn't directly drop their tools to come over and watch, everyone kept turning their heads to keep an eye on the nets being hauled in while they were netting their own catch.

In an instant, a large bag of catch was hauled up with the help of Ye Fu and another boatman working together. It was dumped directly onto the deck, and the fish inside were still jumping within the net.

Everyone's flashlights shone onto the fishing net below. Ye Yaodong's flashlight beam also moved from the sea surface to the deck. Another flash of lightning streaked across the horizon, making the net of catch on the deck even brighter and clearer.

"It's red snapper."

"Red snapper? This fish is valuable."

"Ah! It's red snapper? We've made a profit with this net; we've hit a school of fish. It looks like there's over 100 jin."

"Hurry, hurry, you guys keep casting the nets. It's a pity, the fishing boat is operating, and I don't know if we can still net any; the school of fish should be behind us."

"Keep casting the nets and try. The fish below have all floated up; taking advantage of this moment, it should be very easy to net them."

"There's lightning, I don't know if it will thunder... let's cast two more nets and see..."

While they were talking, Ye Yaodong walked onto the deck. The catch in the fishing net had been dumped out, and the net was put back to work.

He adjusted his rain cape to make it easier to squat down, holding a flashlight in one hand to shine on the red snapper on the deck.

This was the purple-red snapper, which everyone called red snapper.

He had fished for them many times, but he hadn't netted a whole net before. This fish was indeed not cheap; the wholesale price was five or six mao per jin. Looking at the weather, they probably wouldn't linger for many more days. They would likely haul all the catch back and wouldn't need to sell it to the fresh-fish collection boat at a discounted price.

There was over a hundred jin of catch here, with red snapper making up the majority, and the small miscellaneous fish probably only weighing a few dozen jin. It could probably sell for several dozen yuan.

"We're quite lucky to be able to net a school of fish. The probability is quite low, especially with the boat moving; to still be able to net them."

Ye Fu smiled and said, "Who's to say? The accuracy of the cast was quite good."

"Dad, you go up and keep an eye on the direction. Let me take over, you go and rest."

Ye Fu rubbed his arms, which were a bit sore from scooping several nets. "Alright then, I'll leave this to you, and I'll go up and keep watch."

Ye Yaodong took the dip net his father handed over. The ones his father had scooped up just now were all small miscellaneous fish, and the ones jumping on the sea surface were also mostly small miscellaneous fish. It wasn't easy to scoop a whole net of good fish.

This made the net of red snapper hauled up just now seem even more rare; they had really struck it lucky.

It was fortunate that the handle of this dip net was long enough to reach further; otherwise, it wouldn't have been easy to reach the ones nearby.

He also joined in the scooping on the side, and everyone didn't forget to chat while working.

"It's a good thing the rain isn't falling very heavily, we can still see..."

"Yeah, it's a good thing it didn't get heavy; it would be hard to handle if it did. But we saw lightning just now, I wonder if it will thunder?"

"Jinx! If it weren't raining, these fish probably wouldn't be jumping out of the water..."

Just as everyone was busy working and chatting, there was a sudden rumbling sound in the sky.

Ye Yaodong directly opened his mouth and cursed a couple of times, "Damn, damn it, jinx, who was just talking about thunder..."

"Asking for a scolding..."

Everyone was cursing and swearing when suddenly a flash of lightning streaked across the sky again, followed immediately by another one that struck directly toward the sea surface. The light brightened and then dimmed, dimmed and then brightened.

They all looked up. Just at this moment, they saw a super-large fish jump out of the sea surface, and immediately after, there was another flash of lightning in the sky. It actually struck that large fish directly?

Struck it?

"What just happened? Am I seeing things? Another lightning bolt struck the sea surface?"

"It seems like a fish jumped out, and the lightning just happened to strike it?"

"I saw it too. I just happened to see the lightning flash, looked up, and saw a fish jump out of the water, and then another lightning bolt came. It seems like it struck it?"

"It... it struck! It... it struck!"

Ye Yaodong also looked at the not-too-distant spot in amazement. The fish that had just jumped out of the water wasn't far from them, so he had seen it clearly; the lightning had indeed struck it directly.

"It really struck it. Holy crap, this is the first time I've seen a fish get struck by lightning! Even a scumbag might not get struck by lightning, but a fish actually got struck by lightning!?"

"What's a scumbag? That fish that jumped out of the water just now seemed quite big. It should be dead after being struck, right?"

"No, there's thunder and lightning now, should we go back?"

"Yeah, never mind the fish, it's starting to thunder and lightning now. Should we head straight back? If the rain gets heavy later and the wind and waves come along with it, that would be quite dangerous."

"It is quite dangerous. We've run quite far out, and we're in the middle of the sea now. It will take several hours to drive back..."

"Adong, do you want to discuss it with your father?"

Everyone felt a bit uneasy seeing the thunder and lightning, and they really wanted to head straight back. Drifting in the wind on the sea, the small boat seemed particularly lonely. A large fish had just been struck directly by lightning, and they were also worried about what would happen if the lightning struck the fishing boat directly.

Ye Yaodong nodded, also feeling that it would be better to head straight back. With thunder and lightning, this was no longer just a matter of light rain.

"Dongzi, Dongzi, on the sea surface, hurry and look at the sea surface..." Ye Fu shouted loudly from the pilothouse.

Everyone couldn't help but look up, and then turned their heads to look in the direction Ye Fu was pointing. Just then, a large fish was floating on the sea surface, brushing past the boat.

"Holy crap, it passed by... Dad..."

Ye Fu shouted, "I'm going to steer the boat and change direction to chase it..."

After the others reacted, they also hurriedly leaned over the gunwales, watching the large fish drifting in the wind on the sea surface.

"Such a big fish passed by..."

"We have to chase it... it just drifted past in a flash, and we haven't even seen clearly what kind of fish it is."

"What kind of fish is that? It looks white and gray... Oh my, it's drifting further and further away..."

"That fish should be the one that was just struck by lightning." Ye Yaodong said with some suspicion.

"It looks like it should be, otherwise why would such a big fish be floating on the sea surface for no reason? It looks dead."

"It died after being struck by lightning, I don't know what kind of fish it is... the distance has closed..."

"It's closed, we've caught up... give me the cast net..." Ye Yaodong snatched the cast net from the boatman's hand nearby.

Because of the thunder and lightning just now, and a large fish being struck directly, everyone had interrupted their fishing work and were discussing it there. Now, because this fish had drifted right in front of them, everyone had no heart to cast nets and were all gathered there watching.

Ye Yaodong told everyone nearby not to crowd him and to leave some space. He was worried that the rain cape he was wearing would be difficult to maneuver in, so he took it off first.

Fortunately, the rain was only a little heavier than it was at the beginning and didn't affect his vision. Getting rained on for a little while wasn't a big deal for a young, strong man like him.

He gauged the distance of the fishing boat approaching the large fish, turned his body sideways, tilted a bit, and used a bit of skill with his elbow to spread the fishing net fully and cast it toward the large fish.

Until the fishing net covered the large fish, and incidentally covered the fish that were still flipping on the sea surface, he immediately hauled in the net and pulled the line.

"We got it!"

"We netted it!"

"I'll come help pull..."

With the buoyancy of the seawater, and the fish already dead and floating, it wasn't strenuous to haul in the net. Ye Yaodong even felt that it was very easy to pull this large fish close.

If this fish were still alive, it wouldn't have been so easy to pull close. For such a large fish, the struggle would have been quite intense.

Everyone was holding flashlights, and the flashlight beams kept the fish covered, getting closer and closer. Until the fish was pulled to the side of the boat, everyone changed their discussion and speculation into exclamations.

"Holy crap! It's a Mao fish!"

"It's a Mao fish! My goodness, this is a Mao snapper! Such a big Mao snapper!"

"My god, damn it, it really is a Mao fish. We've really struck it rich this time~"

"Struck it rich, struck it rich~"

"Ah ah ah~ God~ Mao fish~"

The fish hadn't even been hauled up yet, and everyone had already started exclaiming. They all widened their eyes, leaning half their bodies over the gunwales, just to take a careful look at whether this fish was a Mao snapper.

Ye Yaodong had been hauling the fishing net with effort. The light at night was blurry, and he didn't know what kind of fish had been hauled up. He couldn't lean over the gunwales to look down like the others; he had to haul the net.

After hearing everyone's successive exclamations, he was also extremely surprised. After the surprise, a feeling of excitement like a pie falling from the sky immediately rose in his heart.

"Mao fish? Mao snapper? Is it really a Mao snapper? You guys didn't see wrong?"

"It's definitely a Mao snapper, everyone saw it. Hurry up and haul it up; you'll know once you haul it up."

Ye Fu saw that the fishing net had already netted the large fish from the pilothouse, so he slowed the boat speed again, adjusted the direction, and then walked out of the cabin.

As soon as he walked out, he heard everyone's exclamations and heard "Mao snapper." He was instantly surprised and happy, immediately quickening his pace, walking down to the deck, shouting as he walked, "Mao snapper? Where?"

Just right, everyone also helped Ye Yaodong haul the fish up together, and with a thud, it landed directly on the deck.

The deck was also piled with quite a few large and small fish, but this fish falling directly onto the deck seemed particularly conspicuous, not just because of its size, but also because of its charred black fish head.

It had been struck by lightning, so it was charred, and that was also why it had kicked the bucket.

It was also because the head was already charred that everyone hadn't recognized it when they first saw it. It wasn't until it was pulled close that the boatmen dared to call it out with certainty.

"It really is a Mao fish!" Ye Fu smiled exceptionally excitedly, his mouth wide open, "It's a good thing we chased it and didn't let it just drift away."

Ye Yaodong was also extremely pleasantly surprised. Looking at everyone's reactions, he also knew that this fish was also a very expensive existence now.

"It actually really is a Mao snapper. We kept calling it a big fish just now, and we didn't call it wrong. We've really struck it rich. This fish looks to be 1.6 or 1.7 meters, 1.7 or 1.8 meters long, and it's over a hundred jin. We've made a huge profit, we've really made a huge profit this time!"

He hurriedly untied the fishing net. He no longer cared about the fish that were still jumping on the sea surface.

The Mao snapper is also known as the "big fish," and also known as the stone-head fish. For convenience, everyone in the local dialect also calls it the Mao fish.

It is a close relative of the large yellow croaker and the yellow-lip croaker. It has stone ears on its head and their "sin" - fish maw - in its abdomen. In Zhoushan, it has a common name called "big fish," simple and crude. Its most obvious characteristic is that it is big; the smallest Mao fish caught by fishermen basically weighs 40 kilograms.

It is often mistaken for the big-head fish. Although they are close relatives, there are still differences.

The skin of the Mao snapper has various colors, appearing golden yellow, grayish-brown, brownish, and silvery, with a blunt tip on the head.

Ye Yaodong separated the gill covers and found that its gill openings were particularly large. The most obvious thing was that its tail fin was double-concave, confirming without a doubt that it was a Mao snapper.

The nutritional value of the Mao snapper is very high. Of course, the most valuable part of its whole body is its fish maw!

The price of one fish maw is even more expensive than the meat of a 100-jin Mao snapper.

Also because of the fish maw, this fish is becoming increasingly rare and increasingly scarce. By the 21st century, it was almost invisible.

Old people say that if a child in the family is not in good health, as long as they eat a piece of Mao snapper maw, they will grow significantly taller within a year, and their body will become sturdy.

Moreover, the longer the fish maw is stored, the more valuable it becomes. Its storage method has continued for hundreds of years. Before the 1970s, people by the sea usually put it at the bottom of the rice jar and stored it for a few years. It wouldn't rot, and the older it got, the more valuable it became, or the older it got, the more nourishing it became. Although it lacks scientific basis, it has been regarded as a treasure among the people and passed down from generation to generation.

Then, when it's time to eat, take it out, knock it flat with a hammer, soak it in rice-washing water for a night, then wash it clean, chop it up, put it in a large clay pot, pour in a little old wine, cover the pot, and steam it to eat.

Or chopping it up and cooking it into porridge to eat is also a good choice.

However, this was only something the previous generation could afford to eat. His generation can no longer afford it, and the next generation hasn't even seen it. Every time a Mao snapper over 100 jin appears, it is worth hundreds of thousands or even millions.

Although the Mao snapper is not as famous as the yellow-lip croaker, it is also very rare. In the future, one fish will be equal to a house; this is absolutely unimaginable.

It also has a beautiful name in the East China Sea.

Large yellow croaker, small yellow croaker, yellow drum fish, Mei Tong fish, Mi fish, yellow-lip croaker, Mao snapper are known in the world as the "Seven Yellow Croaker Brothers," but their prices are vastly different.

The reason why the seven types of fish are called the "Seven Yellow Croaker Brothers" is because they either have a golden body color, or are commonly known to have the word "yellow," or look very similar, and all belong to the Sciaenidae family of the Actinopterygii class.

The large yellow croaker can be said to be the "number one fish of the sea" in the 21st century, named for its golden body.

"Struck it rich, struck it rich. Such a big fish, the fish maw inside might weigh a jin after being taken out and dried." Ye Fu was overjoyed, not expecting such a harvest on this trip.

"Definitely, this one is over a hundred jin..."

"It's a good thing it's this fish. If it were another fish, if it were struck by lightning like this, it might not be very valuable. The most expensive thing about this fish is the fish maw. The body outside being charred by lightning doesn't affect it, not to mention that now only the head is charred."

"Yeah, it's a good thing it's this fish that was struck. Adong has made a huge profit on this trip again!"

"How much can such a big fish sell for?"

"That's hard to say. For such a big fish, it also depends on the boss's offer."

"For such a big fish, you can't calculate the price according to common sense. It's hard to say, but it won't be cheap. Hundreds of yuan is definitely needed."

"Maybe it can sell for even more."

"It's also possible."

Ye Yaodong also squatted down, measured the abdomen of the fish with his palm, and grinned. Based on the long body shape of this fish, the fish maw inside is probably 50 centimeters long. After taking it out and drying it, it might really weigh a jin.

Really struck it rich!

"God struck this lightning well, struck it accurately."

Ye Fu smiled and said, "It's your good sea luck."

Others also echoed repeatedly, "Yeah, Adong's sea luck is really good. Old people often say sea luck, sea luck, and it's really true. It's passed down from generation to generation and can't be wrong. There really is this kind of luck called sea luck."

"That's for sure. Those who make a living by the sea naturally have this thing called sea luck. What the ancestors passed down can't be wrong. Adong's sea luck is really good."

"It's been rumored in the village for a long time that your sea luck is good, so you strike it rich every year. It's true. Seeing it with my own eyes by your side, I really have to believe it."

"Yeah, people with good sea luck can have fish delivered to their door when they go out to sea."

"This is like people with good luck picking up money when they go out. Adong is picking up money on the sea..."

After the boatmen marveled, they all smiled and complimented him on the side.

"Dong, Dong, Dong brother, amaz... ing!"

"Hurry and bleed this fish, don't just keep looking, Dongzi."

"Oh, alright."

Ye Yaodong was just busy being happy and forgot for a moment. He hurriedly turned around to get a knife, and at this time, he also discovered that the sea surface had returned to calm.

"Eh, no more fish?"

"The fish on the sea surface aren't jumping anymore?"

"Not jumping anymore? Gone?"

"Gone, have they all hidden in the water?"

He muttered again, "It only jumped for half an hour, right? Did it rest so quickly?"

They were just busy being happy and busy talking about this Mao snapper just now, and no one paid attention to the sea surface, and no one knew when they were gone.

With this Mao fish as a pearl in front, everyone didn't care about those goods at all.

"If they're gone, they're gone. I see that the rain seems to have gotten a little smaller?"

"Seems like it's gotten smaller?"

"Then are we going back or continuing to operate on the sea?"

Everyone looked at Ye Fu.

Ye Fu also hesitated for a moment. After all, there was thunder and lightning just now, and the rain also got heavier. It was big for a while and small for a while, and he couldn't grasp it well.

Hesitating, he also threw the question to Ye Yaodong.

For him, Ye Yaodong had gradually become his backbone, and he gradually took his opinions as the main thing. Not to mention that Dongzi's sea luck was so good, listening to him shouldn't be wrong.

"Let's take a look first. It stopped after two rumbles of thunder just now, and the rain seems to have gotten smaller. Let's watch first, and we'll go back when the rain gets heavy."

"That's fine. There are no fish on the sea now. I'll go back to the pilothouse and chat with my in-law for a bit and see."

"Ask Uncle Pei and see. The fish on the surrounding sea surface were jumping like that just now. Did he scoop up any good fish?"

"Hmm, then you handle this side. Once it's done, lift it to the cabin."

Ye Yaodong continued to skillfully bleed the fish. Just cut open the gill part and the tail part and drain the blood clean. He didn't directly open its belly and take out the fish maw.

He planned to lift it back directly, give it a shock, sell the fish and the fish maw together, and it might sell for a better price.

That Hong Wenle from Hongsheng had previously told him to send the good goods he caught over. This is definitely a good product. The other person's words were quite nice before, wanting to treat him as a friend. This person also looks quite good. He will keep the whole fish and take it back to the town to see.

It just so happens that the weather doesn't look very good. If it keeps raining like this, when the fish hold is full, he will go back early and won't linger.

That devil fish gill before was really a coincidence. I don't know if it's still quite expensive now. However, that expensive is expensive, but it's not that rare. It's still easy to buy if you have money, and it wasn't convenient to return at that time.

He also has to consider his own factors. He can send it back directly to cater to his preferences this time.

While bleeding the fish, others also sorted out the goods on the deck. He also specifically instructed that the small miscellaneous fish should be kept and not dumped.

Just now, he was lucky, and the number of red snapper netted was really not small. Two baskets were filled. Sending them to the shore directly should be able to sell for several dozen.

Other sea bass, grunt fish, black sea bream, Ding Gong fish, etc., were also packed into a basket. The harvest was also okay. These good fish could also sell for 10 yuan or so.

"Forgot, Chen Shi, you go up and tell my dad... forget it, change to someone else..."

"Uncle, you go up and tell my dad to let him tell Uncle Pei to remember to keep all the miscellaneous goods now. This weather doesn't look very good, and I don't know what will happen next. We should stay for at most two days, and we will go back after the cabin is full."

For the sake of this fish of his, it's about the same.