Chapter 1105: Longline fishing for ribbonfish

After he carried the thousand yuan and was escorted home by a crowd of deckhands, he happily took out 20 yuan at the first opportunity for the two deckhands on duty tomorrow.

"Add a meal tomorrow. Buy 10 jin of meat for the cook auntie to make braised pork."

"Ah, we get to eat meat."

"Haha, the fish harvested by their trawling today is also not bad. We can replenish some oil and water tomorrow."

"With oil in the stomach, the heart won't panic."

"Your sea urchin harvest is not bad, right?"

"It's okay. Eat well so you have more physical strength. The body is the capital..."

The entire rental area was full of joy. Those who didn't go into the water could also get a meal of meat, and everyone was very happy. 10 jin of meat could be cooked into a large basin even without side dishes. Although it was impossible to eat as much as they wanted, it was enough for so many strong men to replenish their oil and water.

They were full of joy on this side, and other villagers around also showed envy after hearing about it.

Not everyone's family conditions allowed them to eat meat every few days, and what they ate daily by the seaside was basically light boiled seafood. Everyone lacked oil and water in their stomachs.

Now fatty meat had risen to two or three yuan per jin, and even pork belly was two yuan per jin. One jin of meat could be worth a day's wage for an ordinary worker. No one was willing to squander it like this.

Anyway, they didn't need much money for their daily food and drink. Things from the sea were enough. Without oil and water, they could still fill their stomachs. Everyone's desires were very low.

Just like tonight's dinner, besides coarse grain rice, there were vegetables and fish and shrimp, all of which didn't cost money. There was no oil and water, but it was enough to fill their stomachs.

Ye Fu followed him into the house curiously and asked, "How much did you sell for today? And you took out 20 yuan to buy meat?"

"Sold for 980 yuan."

"So much..."

"So I also improved the food for everyone."

People nowadays work hard and toil just for a bite to eat. After all, no one has the pressure of buying a house or a car; they just do it to make a living.

He is making big money now, so he should let everyone eat better. Only then can they work harder, and the atmosphere of labor can be better. Who doesn't want to earn money happily?

Ye Fu was also full of smiles, "Good, good, good. A good start on the first day out, earning so much. Good, good."

"How was the harvest of the other boats trawling today?"

"So-so, just a little subsidy. After all, they haven't started earning big money yet, and they are all spending money there. I heard that the good ones sold for twenty or thirty, and the average ones sold for ten or so. Not to mention the money sold, what's left is enough to eat and drink. I just heard them discussing there, saying they don't know what the situation will be tomorrow, and they plan to go out trawling at night, and then wait for dawn to check the trench, killing two birds with one stone."

"Oh, that's fine too. Without jellyfish, at least they can trawl first, not a loss."

"Yes, but some people are in low spirits, complaining there about coming too early."

"Don't worry about them. People who talk about this and that are everywhere. It's not like we forced them to come. When they earn money, they smile and flatter; when they don't earn money, they curse. Normal."

Ye Yaodong didn't care. Human nature is just like that.

"Sigh, your eldest brother and second brother came back from trawling earlier, and those cousins of yours went to find him, cursing and making a scene. What is this? Once you get involved, you can't shake it off."

"How so?"

Always immersed in salvaging sea urchins, he almost forgot that Ye Yaoguo and his brothers didn't have a boat to take them today. They could only watch the main force run away while rowing their small wooden boats around the coast.

"What else can they say? They want your eldest brother and second brother to take them along when they go out to sea, just like other small boats. Your eldest brother and second brother wouldn't agree. They already agreed at home: no money collected, just taking people along the way. When they get here, they have to find their own way to salvage during the time they are here. How much they earn or don't earn has nothing to do with others."

"If it were just one or two boats, it would be easy to talk about. They have five boats there. Who has the energy to manage them? Not earning their own money, but helping others earn?"

"Later, they couldn't keep talking, and after making a scene, they didn't pay attention. Everyone also helped speak up. In the end, they had to pinch their noses and swallow it. Later, they went to find Brother Brother Asheng again."

"Brother Brother Asheng also said he had no way. If it were just taking one boat along, he would admit it. Who told them to be brothers? But he really had no way with five boats. What's more, that boat of his is rented from you, and you have half of the money earned. How could he partner with others without authorization and help others without regard for himself?"

"Even if he agreed, you definitely wouldn't agree."

Ye Yaodong nodded, "Yes, that's right. Let them solve it themselves. Go eat first, I'm starving. Have you finished eating?"

"So afternoon, they were arguing there, and it was quite a scene. Later, they had to find another way themselves. If there's no way, they can only wait for the peak season to come, just like the local fishermen, and salvage around the coast."

"It's also because after we dragged the small boats back in the morning, they saw that the small boats also had no harvest and returned empty-handed, so they felt balanced in their hearts, and didn't make it too ugly. After arguing for a while, they calmed down later."

"Actually, salvaging around the coast is not bad. You can earn quite a lot in a day, which is better than being at home." He was telling the truth.

There are too many fishing boats over at the trench. He didn't even dare to think about how many days they could fish. There are more monks than gruel. At least jellyfish are constantly floating in around the coast, which can last for several months.

When they went back for the Mid-Autumn Festival two years ago, the locals were still salvaging.

After the cargo in the trench is salvaged, other boats will still have to be like the local fishermen, looking for it all over the sea and salvaging it. Really speaking, it won't be much better for many days.

Ye Fu shook his head, "That's also incomparable. Plus, the main force is all heading over there, and they can't keep up. They must feel uncomfortable in their hearts."

"Don't worry about them. They can solve it themselves. Go eat first, I'm starving. Have you finished eating?"

Ye Yaodong locked the money into the password box, and after hiding the password box, he also hurriedly wanted to go out to eat. He was starving.

"All finished. Your food has been set aside."

"How is the longline fishing going?"

"After eating lunch, everyone followed along to work. Basically, everyone finished a whole fishing line. Before going to sleep at night, they should be able to do a little more."

"The efficiency is quite high."

"With so many people working together, how could it be difficult to do one in half a day?"

Ye Yaodong counted in his heart, "Then do another batch at night. There must be thirty-something fishing lines, 3,000-plus hooks."

"After the materials were used up in the afternoon, I went to buy another batch back. By the way, I let them change it a bit. Anyway, it's aimed at the trench. On every branch line of a fishing line, I let them hang five or six hooks, making it a bit denser. One fishing line has about five or six hundred hooks."

"I'm worried that if there are too many fishing lines, the coastline will be too long when pulled out. By then, we'll have to steer the boat to go into the water and keep running back and forth to collect them. It's too much effort."

Ye Yaodong also imagined what his father said, and felt it made sense.

This time they are aiming at the ribbonfish in the trench, not putting longlines on the sea surface as usual. It is concentrated. The longline route being too long is a disadvantage. It's better to change it, make the hooks denser, and fish in a concentrated area. Anyway, they are also densely gathered at the bottom.

"Dad says it makes sense. It has to be changed like this. Only by being denser can we catch more, lest the coastline be too long, and we have to keep finding good positions to put them down frequently later. How much money did it cost? I'll give it to you later."

"No rush, see the situation tomorrow."

"Know it."

He has already started to look forward to it.

The deckhands stripped naked as soon as they returned, then drew a few buckets of well water from the surrounding wells, rinsed off casually, and all went to eat shirtless.

When Ye Yaodong arrived, everyone was scrambling to eat deliciously, and people from other fishing boats also ran over one after another to ask him how much money the sea urchins sold for today.

He just perfunctorily said he sold for a few hundred yuan, and emphasized that he hired so many people, and the daily expenses without eating or drinking were over 100 yuan. The pressure was also great, so he had to find a way to earn more money.

Everyone couldn't help but ask when the quantity of jellyfish would increase.

"Wait a few days. The quantity will always increase day by day. Be patient. Besides, the other batch of people in town hasn't come yet, and the factory hasn't started work yet, which means it's not time yet. No need to worry."

"It's just thinking about salvaging it one step ahead before others come. Who knew the quantity would be so small."

"If the quantity really increases, people would have come long ago, and the factory would definitely have started work long ago. This situation now means it's a normal phenomenon, and it's not time yet."

Since they asked him, he also patiently appeased them.

"Why are you doing longline fishing there in the afternoon? This can't catch jellyfish..."

"Yes, it has other uses."

"I heard that a school of ribbonfish was discovered in the water, but is it useful to do it temporarily? By the time it's taken to the sea tomorrow, the school of fish will have long since swum away..."

"Treating a dead horse as a living horse doctor? It's really tossing around when you have money..."

"Without a school of ribbonfish, you can also catch other fish. It's still okay..."

The news couldn't be hidden, but many people only knew one thing and not the other. After all, he had only told his father and Pei Fu, and the deckhands who salvaged it knew. The people who salvaged it had just returned, so many people only knew they were doing longline fishing to catch ribbonfish, and didn't know the rest.

Ye Yaodong definitely wouldn't talk too much, but after the meal, when Ah Zheng and Xiao Xiao came to ask, he didn't hide it and told them honestly.

Both of them were extremely regretful after hearing it, and sighed one after another, wishing they also had such a set of equipment, or had followed him into the water to discover it together, and could have shared the light just like Ah Guang.

Even if they wanted to ask Adong to take them now, they couldn't rush to make longlines.

There was no place to buy materials late at night. If they rushed to do it tomorrow, they wouldn't be able to make many fishing lines with few people. Even if they made them, they could only be used the day after tomorrow. Maybe jellyfish would increase by the day after tomorrow, and they wouldn't be able to use them.

"One step late, every step late."

"Can only say no such wealth, no such luck."

"Always feel that after Ah Guang became your brother-in-law, he follows behind you every day to pick up cheap things, and can share a piece of every good thing."

"Yes, this trip here to salvage jellyfish can also earn a large commission..."

"He has already earned so much money. You should ask him to share money with you..."

Ye Yaodong explained, "He also gave me a red envelope last year, but I didn't want it. He said this year he would take the initiative to share with me."

"If he shares this year, that's fine."

"Sigh, he caught up with all the good things."

The two of them complained one sentence after another. In fact, they were envious in their hearts.

After chatting for a while, seeing Ah Guang come, they didn't talk about this anymore. After all, they were all good friends. Although it was just complaining, it wouldn't be very good if he heard it.

They all chatted about other topics with tacit understanding.

"Adong, when do you think the quantity of jellyfish there will increase?"

"Don't know, hard to say. Anyway, the jellyfish factory starts work tomorrow. It probably won't be able to collect much cargo. Looking at the situation, it will take two days no matter what. Just wait."

He is not in a hurry at all now, hoping the peak season will be as late as possible, so he can salvage more sea urchins and ribbonfish. Otherwise, he won't be able to do it when the peak season arrives.

Other villagers also gathered here to chat about jellyfish and enjoy the cool air by the way. Who told their team to be the largest? Others were scattered. After everyone finished eating, they all wanted to gather here with the main force. At least there were many people here, they could know more things, and it was livelier.

There was nothing to do at night. Everyone chatted while enjoying the cool air, chatting about today's fishing situation, while Ye Yaodong's people were busy doing longline fishing.

The jellyfish blood brought back today had already been boiled and was being dried at the door.

Ah Guang's people were also sitting at their own doors doing longline fishing. They were not far away.

When the locals saw such a large group of people at their door, they could also stay away, trying to stay away as much as possible, trying not to get involved with them. After all, such a large group of men, if something really happened, they were not easy to provoke.

Not waiting for the next day, those fishing boats went out to sea to trawl at night. None of them wanted to sit idly and wait.

Only a few small boats and the Dongsheng and Fengshou were still staying at the pier.

At dawn the next day, Ye Yaodong called everyone up. After a simple breakfast, he left two people to guard this side, and had people carry all the longlines made last night onto the boat basket by basket.

Only a dozen people did it during the day, but at night, all 30 of them worked together while enjoying the cool air. The efficiency was extremely high. They also managed to make 10 baskets of longlines. If it weren't for the limited materials Ye Fu bought, they could have done more.

Although the quantity was the same as what he put at home before, the hooks on each fishing line were five or six times more. The basket at home before had 100 hooks, and ten baskets had 10 fishing lines with 1,000 hooks. Now the total was five or six thousand hooks, which could not be mentioned in the same breath.

Fortunately, he had many people on hand, so he didn't worry about people to work at all. Now he only complained about too little work.

And those people on the small boats also got up early and arrived at the pier, but they could only watch them steer the boat out.

The peak season hadn't arrived yet. There were more monks than gruel. Even the trawlers could only go to the near sea to trawl for a living. Their small boats could only be like the local fishing boats, rowing oars out to the sea to try their luck.

The locals still had hand-thrown nets to cast and collect some cargo, while some of them hadn't prepared and hadn't brought them at all. They only brought salvage nets, kitchen knives, and other tools, preparing to salvage jellyfish to make a big fortune.

Now those who were blind could only go out to try their luck. Otherwise, sitting at home was also sitting.

It was also not good to beg people to take them out. Otherwise, taking them along would only be like yesterday, going out for a stroll, and still having to beg people to bring them back.

Although other brothers like Ye Yaoguo were a bit unwilling, thinking about the other small boats that were taken out yesterday and still returned empty-handed, and today they were all staying at the pier just like them, they felt a lot more balanced.

Ye Yaodong steered the Dongsheng, and his father also steered the other boat out to trawl at night.

And Ah Guang and Pei Fu only steered the trawler to follow behind them. The Fengshou was left at the pier today because it consumed a lot of oil, so they didn't plan to steer it first. They weren't Ye Yaodong, who could earn a thousand yuan a day, both sea urchins and ribbonfish. They were only for putting down longlines to catch ribbonfish, so steering a small boat was more than enough.

They arrived at the trench as usual. Also because only their two boats came out and didn't bring the main force, and the main force didn't have much harvest yesterday, it didn't attract the attention of the locals.

When arriving near the trench, besides the jellyfish floating scattered around, there was no shadow of other fishing boats.

Just arriving, they definitely couldn't let go of these jellyfish floating on the sea surface. The quantity was twice as much as what they saw when they came out yesterday. Visually, there were also one or two hundred. Although they were still sparse, it was still better than nothing.

"The quantity today is a bit more. It looks like it won't take two days, and there will be more and more floating up."

"I actually want the peak season to be pushed back now, so I can salvage as many sea urchins and ribbonfish as possible."

"That's true..."

"Salvage first. After salvaging, I'll find a good position to go into the water."

After their two boats, one big and one small, rushed into this area, they began to divide the jellyfish on the sea surface. After sweeping them all away, the small boat followed behind the big boat as usual.

After the Dongsheng stopped, Ah Guang also steered the boat over and climbed onto the Dongsheng.

Seeing that Ye Yaodong was already putting on equipment, he also took another set and put it on.

"I'll go into the water together later to help you salvage sea urchins, take turns with you, and put the longlines down by the way, giving you one more free laborer."

Ah Guang thought well, borrowing his equipment to go into the water to find a good position to put the longlines, and by the way, using the extra time to help him salvage sea urchins to repay the loan.

Ye Yaodong nodded, "Can."

Yesterday they went into the water together to discover it. Although it was borrowing his equipment, he also thought about taking him into the water for a stroll to satisfy his curiosity. But no matter what, it could be considered discovered together. He definitely couldn't salvage so many ribbonfish, so letting Ah Guang share the light was nothing. He wasn't an outsider.

Now having one more laborer to help him salvage was also fine.

He reminded again, "I have a relatively large quantity, so we have to put them more scattered, lest they get tangled."

"I know. That trench is also quite wide, and you can't tell how long it is. When putting them down later, you also have to go into the water to find a good position. The fishing boat might also have to move. Otherwise, that air pipe is too short, and the distance you can swim underwater is limited."

"Yes, put one fishing line down first to see. I'll follow into the water and align the hooks neatly with the trench. You hurry up, I'm ready."

After waiting for Ah Guang for a while, after he was ready, both of them followed into the water.

And the longlines had already been put down one step ahead of them. After they went into the water, they just had to follow their respective longlines to dive to the bottom, then find the position of the trench, and pull the longlines into the trench.

Also because there were not a few branch lines, they swam and pulled underwater.

It was also fortunate that they made fewer fishing lines and put the hooks on the branch lines more densely, so the battle line pulled would be slightly shorter. Only after going ashore halfway to let the fishing boat shift outward, and then going into the water for another trip, was it all done.

And the fishing boat didn't move again after they came up. Ye Yaodong had inspected it. In the position where the fishing lines were put, that trench was densely growing many sea urchins. It was a bit further away from the position they emptied yesterday, and they could salvage a lot again today.

That trench at the bottom didn't know how many meters long it was. He went up and down the water for two trips and moved along the trench. The cliffs on both sides were crowded with sea urchins, and as usual, he couldn't see the end at a glance.

And the silver-white ribbon at the bottom was also glowing all the way there. He didn't know how many meters it was densely covered. Except for the black holes that could be seen when jellyfish floated up, they were gathered together and glowing at other times, like a flat white road.

After he finished work and came up, he was already tired and panting. The two trips of going up and down were too exhausting.

Ah Guang had fewer fishing lines, so he came up one step ahead of him and lay on the deck.

After the longline fishing was done, the rest was the deckhands' business. After the two took off their equipment, they handed it to others to continue going into the water to salvage sea urchins.

"Going to the seabed is quite exhausting."

"Definitely. There is pressure and pressure intensity underwater. Rest for a while. The ribbonfish school is in the trench, and it should be easy to bite the hook. After resting for half a day, try to collect one line at noon to see."

"Good."

Ye Yaodong also stripped off his wet top and pants, and sat there resting in only his shorts.

Other people on the boat who hadn't taken turns going into the water were also sitting there chatting. Ah Guang's boat on the side was also idle there. A boat full of people stood there bored and blowing the wind. Only when they saw jellyfish popping up did they move.

To be honest, it didn't need so many people. Two or three people came out to put down longlines and collect longlines. However, both father and son planned to come out to see if it was feasible, so besides those who stayed behind, they brought everyone else along. Anyway, whether they worked or not, wages had to be calculated.

After resting enough, Ye Yaodong also stood up to observe the sea surface. He felt that the peak season was coming soon. The number of jellyfish floating up today was much more than yesterday.

After Ah Guang rested enough, he also took turns going into the water. Missing one person, he also joined the team to go down together.

12 people took turns for two trips and it was noon. Besides the first trip where they had to spend time putting down longlines, they also salvaged sea urchins for 11 trips in total. The deck was piled full.

Everyone's performance also tended to be stable. After they were all skilled, every time they went into the water and came up, two people could harvest about 200 jin. Just in these two rounds, they harvested over 2,000 jin.

And their longlines had also been put down for half a day. Pei Fu and the others had been waiting there to collect them.

Ye Yaodong also wanted to see the effect of dense hook placement. After calculating half a day, he called Ah Guang to collect one to see. ===== CHAPTER 1106 =====