Chapter 1154: Great Harvest

"Then I'll just drive past?"

"Drive past," Ye Yaodong said firmly.

"Oh... wait... give me two guns first. I'll go down to the deck to get ready. You wait; we'll approach once we're prepared."

"Okay."

Ye's father stood up and moved aside to let him take the guns.

Ye Yaodong took two Type-56 semi-automatic rifles and went down to the deck.

Everyone was surprised to see him holding two guns.

"What are you planning to do..."

"Don't be nervous. We're planning to catch that big fish. You all saw the big one ahead, right? Its snout is extremely long, like a saw, similar to the long beak of a swordfish or marlin. It certainly won't be easy to catch in a moment."

After calming them down, Ye Yaodong handed one of the guns in his hand to Chen Shi. "Hold this. Wait for my command before firing."

Then he said to the others, "The boat is moving forward now. Once we get close, you'll throw the two hand-thrown nets we used before at that sawfish. But those two hand-thrown nets definitely won't work; its saw-like teeth will cut through them in a few strokes. The nets aren't big either, so it can easily escape. It will probably run away before you even have a chance to haul them in."

"So, the moment those two hand-thrown nets are thrown, you'll pull hard on them immediately. We'll fire our guns at the same time. When the fishing boat gets even closer, another person will drop this trawl net to continue wrapping it up. This fishing net is over 300 meters long; once it's wrapped around, it's guaranteed not to escape or struggle."

If the trawl net weren't so large and heavy, making it impossible to throw out as lightly and nimbly as a hand-thrown net, he wouldn't have had to make the effort to use all several nets.

Everyone quickly agreed, rolling up their sleeves and eager to try.

"So, we'll catch the big fish first. As for the dead fish floating on the sea surface, we'll catch those after we've caught the big one. Anyway, they're dead and can't run away."

"Wait and see how these fish died. If they were poisoned by a red tide, we can't take them. Check first."

"Oh... we weren't so particular before. We just ate whatever... catching fish and having something to eat was already good enough."

"So there were many deaths back then. Anyway, once someone died, they were buried, and the family couldn't pursue it," Ye Yaodong said casually, then reminded them again, "Get ready; we're approaching."

"Hey! Here it comes!"

A large patch of dead fish floating on the sea surface nearby was already drifting close to them, while that large sawfish was right in the middle of the school.

Perhaps because that shark had been slain, it wasn't thrashing around there anymore, appearing very calm.

It was only during the few moments he spent with the telescope that he lost track of that shark's fate. He had seen crimson blood spreading across the sea surface just a second ago, but now it was calm again. Most likely, it had either fled or died.

Seeing the distance was now just right and the fishing boat had stopped, Ye Yaodong immediately shouted for them to get ready.

"Throw the fishing nets now. Chen Shi, get ready. When that fish struggles and exposes part of its body, we'll fire together."

"Understood!"

As he agreed, the hand-thrown nets were already thrown out, solidly covering the sawfish, and quite a few other fish were also caught within them.

These dead fish floating on the sea surface were of all kinds, big and small, with numerous species. Visually, the large patch seemed to weigh tens of thousands of jin, with a vast, dark expanse.

Just with the naked eye, he could see mullet, pomfret, small yellow croaker, sea bass, Bao Gong fish, Shui Gu, yellow croaker, and various others, valuable or not, all present.

The two hand-thrown nets, one after the other, both covered the sawfish together. Originally, when the first net just covered it, it immediately started struggling. When the second net covered it, the struggle became even more intense.

Furthermore, its snout began to thrash wildly, and its body slapped violently against the sea surface in its struggle.

"Fire!"

The moment the words fell, a burst of gunshots immediately rang out. Immediately after, a second gunshot sounded. The sawfish on the sea surface struggled even more fiercely due to the pain, and the splashing water from its thrashing could still spray onto their faces.

The body wrapped in the fishing net was directly cut open under the sawfish's struggling snout.

However, at the very beginning, it struggled too violently, and the fishing net was already tangled in a mess. Even though it used its snout to cut the net, its body, fins, and tail were already tightly entangled with the net, making it unable to break free; only its snout was liberated.

With its body restricted, it became exceptionally frantic, rolling continuously on the sea surface. Plus, due to the thrashing, the pain doubled, and its ferocious madness increased drastically.

Even the surrounding circle of dead fish, due to its more violent struggle, was pushed further away by the waves, leaving an empty circle around it. Only it remained there, twisting its body wildly, swishing its tail, and its snout hacking uselessly everywhere.

The two fishermen holding the other ends of the ropes dared not pull hard at all. Facing such a huge, frenzied fish, their strength was nowhere near enough.

"Put the rope on the winch and wind it up; let the winch see if it can haul this net in."

"It's pulled too tight. That good fish is thrashing and hacking everywhere; it might cut the rope. Then it would all be for nothing."

"True. Then you just hold the ropes tight for now without pulling hard. At least the fishing net has already wrapped it up; only a long snout is exposed outside, and its body still can't break free."

After Ye Yaodong finished speaking, looking at the sawfish still struggling so violently, he took the opportunity to fire another shot.

Chen Shi followed suit.

"After another round of struggling, it should be about done..."

"No, it's trying to run..." The ropes in the hands of the two long-term laborers were pulled taut, and the men themselves were dragged by the ropes in their hands until half their bodies were exposed outside the hull, their entire bellies pressed against the ship's edge.

"Ouch, it's using all its strength! Come help quickly! We can't catch it, we can't catch it! People are about to be dragged into the sea by it."

Ye Yaodong and Chen Shi also quickly put down the guns in their hands and helped, each holding a rope on one side, so they wouldn't be dragged into the sea by the fish.

"It can't run. Its body is covered by the fishing net; it can't even swim. Right now, it should be sinking to the bottom. It probably isn't dead yet."

Ye's father also noticed their situation. Fearing the rope would be cut by the saw-teeth due to being pulled taut, he started the boat and moved it slightly in the direction where the rope was stretched straight.

Due to the fishing boat's movement, the sawfish, which had lost its freedom and was bound, continued to sink downwards.

"Do we still want to deploy this big net?"

"Deploy it, deploy it, deploy it! But wait, go tell my father to stop the boat. Don't move. Right now, the fishing boat is moving, so if we drop the net, it will drift to the rear of the boat along with the boat's forward motion. Tell him to stop, then drop the big net to wrap around that fish."

Right now, this fish can only sink to the bottom, but with them pulling, it won't sink very far. However, don't think about pulling it up. Pulling it would only make it struggle even more. Such a huge fish won't die that easily.

It would only stimulate it, and then its snout would move wildly and cut the rope. Then he would probably have to dive to the bottom of the sea to fish it out. Who knows how many meters deep it is down there?

The boatmen did as instructed, while he and the others held the ropes in their hands, preventing that fish from sinking to the bottom.

The big net was lowered into the sea together with the ropes they were holding. This big net was too long, over 300 meters. They didn't intend to deploy the entire fishing net; they only let out a dozen meters before they felt from the pulling force of the net that the fish was entangled.

"Hit! As expected, it's not dead and still there. Such a huge fish indeed has strong vitality; it's not that easy to die."

"Good thing we didn't pull it. Pulling it would make it go crazy."

"So now that the fishing net is wrapped around it, what do we do?"

"Just use the net hauler to lift it up. It's wrapped in so many nets, and the thread of this big net is so thick. Right now, it's probably not far from death. It won't have enough strength to cut such a thick fishing net. It can't escape."

The thread of the hand-thrown net is too thin. Even if it could be reeled up by the net hauler, as long as that fish still has a breath, it can easily cut through and then sink to the bottom of the sea. The big net is different; its thread is very, very thick, incomparable to the hand-thrown net, and not easy to cut.

"So we can't let go of the line in our hands."

"Hold on for now."

"It's still strong, still moving, still trying to escape."

"I'll use the net hauler to hook it and pull it up…"

As the crew worked frantically, just as the net hauler began operating, one of the hand-thrown net ropes suddenly snapped.

"Ah, my rope broke."

"No problem, mine's still holding—means it hasn't gotten away."

Ye Yaodong stared at the sea, watching the net slowly rise; he could already see the shadow of the large fish beneath the water.

"There it is, there it is…"

"There it is—whose is it?"

"Yours, of course—this isn't your boat? Isn't the big fish yours?"

Ye Yaodong pursed his lips unimpressed and fell silent; sure enough, these people had zero sense of humor—if Guang Xiao or the others were here, they'd have understood right away and laughed, teasing him.

Splash!

"Ah! It's up!"

"Caught it!"

"So big—look at that mouth… so long, like a saw…"

"Wow, this one's got to be over three meters from head to tail? Really huge…"

"I wonder how much this fish will sell for? Looks so weird—wonder if anyone will even buy it?"

"Oh come on, we were so focused on catching a big one we didn't think about whether anyone'd want it. A fish this big can't go unsold—it just looks odd, but it's kind of like a manta ray."

"Even if this fish won't bring money, catching it's still an honor."

A sawfish several meters long was tangled in the net like a bound pig, its rostrum exposed at the very front—its elongated rostrum nearly as long as its body, broad and edged with tooth-like spines; no wonder it was called a sawfish.

Seeing the crew move to fetch ropes, Ye Yaodong called out, "Wait a moment."

"Is it still alive?" Everyone instantly stepped back, eyes wide with caution, staring at the giant fish.

"No, I need to take photos first."

"Huh? I thought you meant the fish wasn't dead and you were warning us not to get close."

"Dead and gone—eyes closed, that big saw's completely still."

"You're taking pictures again? Your camera's only used on fish—you've taken more photos of fish than of people!"

"You wouldn't understand."

It'll be hard to see a fish like this again—it's my glorious achievement, so I must photograph it as proof.

Any photo I pull from my ocean collection in the future will be legendary—who else has my experience, my bragging rights, and actual evidence?

These are all parts of my glorious history—my bragging capital.

Ye Yaodong quickly snapped two photos, then told them to lower it; but after lowering it, he didn't take more pictures—bound up like that, there's nothing to capture. He waited until the net was fully untangled, then took one more shot.

"First untie the main net—this time we can only head back to shore. It's already torn; we'll need to repair it. The transparent lines of the hand-thrown nets can just be cut with scissors later. Be careful with the main net—don't damage it too badly; we'll need to reuse it after repairs."

"Understood."

Ye's father had already rushed down excitedly, "So big! Good thing we caught it."

"Why'd you come down? Go quickly and steer the boat after those dead fish floating on the surface!"

Ye's father turned to look at the sea—the dead fish had drifted far away; he could only see dark shapes. "Alright, alright—I'll set off right away."

He pulled a fish from the net to check it—fresh, not poisoned—then headed back to the cabin.

When the net was cast, it didn't just trap the giant fish—it also caught many smaller fish. "Smaller" was relative to the sawfish's size; in truth, they weren't small at all. The net now held nothing but valuable catches.

Ye Yaodong also crouched down, pulling out a few fish to inspect them, checking if they'd been killed by red tide—after all, the red tide's color density had been high at night, but he didn't know if it was toxic.

Red tides form from different algae—some toxic, some harmless.

Fish contaminated by red tide have cloudy eyes, losing their normal luster; some even bulge outward.

Severely polluted fish show abnormal shapes—some with large heads and tiny tails, some with curved or deformed spines, others with yellowed skin or bluish tails.

These are completely inedible—they cause human poisoning.

If the fish simply died from severe oxygen depletion in the water, they're still safe to eat.

He checked several fish in his hands—all died normally, still fresh, still edible.

Other fishermen, while untying the net and pulling out small fish to relieve space, also saw these fish were all edible.

"Good thing we still have new hand-thrown nets in the cabin—we can take them out. Otherwise, all those dead fish floating up there…"

"When you're out at sea, always prepare extra—no worries, we've still got hand-cast nets. You who are supposed to cast nets, cast them; those who need to scoop, use hand-cast nets—try to get it all. It's not often a surge this big comes up. Go get them now—this net won't be untangled anytime soon, leave it for now."

"Got it."

Ye Yaodong dropped the fish he was examining, stood up, and raised his binoculars to scan the distant sea—the dead fish were drifting with the waves. Originally scattered by the sawfish's violent struggles, they had now reclustered due to the current.

Mainly because there were so many, and the current and wind direction were aligned—waves hadn't scattered them; instead, they'd gathered again.

If we can collect all of this patch, the income will be excellent—equivalent to days of hard work at sea. Returning now with this haul isn't a loss at all.

In the past, seeing such a massive cluster of dead fish would've thrilled everyone—they were free money, gifts from Goddess Mazu.

But over the past two years, following Ye Yaodong, their horizons had widened, their expectations raised—these fish no longer excited them.

After all, they'd once hauled in a single net of 110,000 jin of Meitong fish—these floating fish probably totaled only a few ten thousand jin; how could they compare?

Still, they were happy—after all, it was a bountiful catch. No need to drag net after net; the catch lay right before them, just needing effort to scoop up—no luck required.

Their enthusiasm remained high; everyone immediately rushed to prepare.

Ye's father steered the boat toward the cluster of dark, dead fish on the surface. They were lifeless, drifting helplessly, moving slowly—easy to catch within moments.

The crew pulled out the new hand-thrown nets; as soon as the boat stopped, they cast them to gather the fish on the surface. The other two men used hand-cast nets to scoop up fish near the boat.

It was meant for catching jellyfish, but now it's being used to scoop up dead fish.

"All kinds of fish, so many..."

"Talk less, save your strength. With this many, we won't finish in a moment; we'll be busy for several hours."

"It looks like the red tide is spreading over there; from afar it's a patch of brown, not the usual blue sky and blue water." Ye Yaodong said, holding a telescope.

"This red tide looks quite serious."

"The spread was already quite wide; we just happened to run into it. It's fine. You scoop slowly; these fish died from suffocation, no big problem. Once we're done, we'll head back."

"Good, good, good. Scoop them all up; the fish hold is probably full."

Ye Yaodong also took a hand net and joined everyone in scooping, while Ye's father, after the fishing boat stopped, also picked up a hand net.

Everyone on the boat was scooping; all the fish brought up were dumped onto the deck. No one had time to sort or organize; they just wanted to get the fish out of the sea as quickly as possible.

The morning sun had already fully risen while they were scooping. Under the bright sun, everyone's faces were sunburned red, sweat dripping straight onto the sea surface. The entire sea surface still showed only their single fishing boat floating in the middle, laboriously scooping.

No one had time to run to the cabin to grab a towel to wipe the sweat from their heads; everyone just took off their clothes, hung them around their necks, and used the clothes to wipe.

During this period, Ye Yaodong had been intermittently exposed to the sun back and forth; his face had become several shades darker than in previous years, but compared to the dark faces of those around him, he was considered fair.

When out away from home, he couldn't be like at home, acting like a ghost with sun protection; he just paid a bit more attention on the sea, since the sun on the sea is the most poisonous.

"If you're tired from casting nets, or if you've been up all night, rest first and help cook. Everyone hasn't eaten since early morning; you probably have no strength. Rest first, recover."

Ye's father wiped the sweat from his face and said to him, "You didn't sleep all night either; you rest first."

"Then let's all rest first. We won't finish scooping that quickly in a moment. Man is iron, rice is steel; skip a meal and you're starving. Eat full to have strength to work. Rest a bit; those who cook, cook; those who rest, rest."

Everyone quickly put down the nets in hand. Some were drenched in sweat, others looked exhausted. They worked in shifts: those who hadn't slept all night leaned against something to rest first, while the two who had slept went to cook first.

Only Ye's father took the fishing nets everyone had set aside and continued casting.

"Aren't you going to rest a while, Dad?"

"I'm not tired. I slept, woke up, and have been driving the boat ever since; I haven't done much work. You rest; I'll scoop a bit more."

"Then it's up to you."

Ye Yaodong leaned tiredly against the ship's rail, daring not to close his eyes at all. He was afraid that if he closed them, he'd fall asleep immediately and wouldn't be able to get up later.

After resting for a good while and feeling his arms less sore, he stood up, took the telescope again, and checked the surrounding sea surface. As before, only their single boat stood alone.

In these days, fishing boats that could run so far were too few; near-shore resources were abundant, and most had a trawler fishing boat, which was enough to earn a living fishing near shore.

And during their scooping, the red tide had already spread over, reaching around their fishing boat, looking like a patch of brown, covering the fish.

Originally, the school of fish looked black and white; black was the back, white was the belly. Now, at a glance, it was all brown.

If it had been covered by the red tide before, they probably wouldn't have noticed the school of dead fish floating on the sea surface.

Seeing the fishing boat's waves cause it to drift slightly away from the school of fish, Ye Yaodong climbed up to the bridge again and moved the fishing boat closer to the dead fish school, making it easier for his father to continue casting nets.

He also sat in the bridge to rest and, incidentally, to dodge the sun.

Until everyone called him for the meal, he realized he had dozed off at some point. Woken now, he felt exhausted all over, his eyes barely able to open.

But he still forced himself, relying on willpower to become alert again, and went down to eat.

Fishermen truly suffer; eating poorly and sleeping poorly on a fishing boat is common. If you encounter a school of fish, forget about sleeping.

Everyone simply ate some thin porridge, filled their stomachs, rested enough, and quickly went back to scooping.

After that sawfish was scooped up, no further incidents occurred; at most, the fishing boat drifted away from the school, and they just moved it back.

After several hours of sun exposure, everyone finally successfully scooped up all the dead fish schools on the sea surface. The entire deck was piled like a small hill, higher than a person, referring to the shorter stature of Ye's father and the older generation.

"Finally finished scooping. Just scooping is tiring..."

"My hands are almost numb..."

"This little mountain, at least thirty to fifty thousand jin, right? I wonder if other places have any..."

"You're too greedy."

Ye Yaodong smiled, listening to their discussion. "If you find another pile nearby, what will you do?"

"Ah? Then rest first, rest. My hands can't even lift."

"Heh, good that we finished. We'll set sail back immediately after."

Ye's father still held the hand net, reluctantly preparing to scoop up the few scattered fish remaining on the sea surface. Not scooping them all would be too wasteful.

In the past, seeing a single fish on the sea surface, everyone would immediately go scoop it. Now, the quantity scooped was simply too large, arms too sore and aching. The few scattered ones left were untouched by everyone, left only for the boss-father to handle as cleanup.

Ye Yaodong also clapped his hands. "Those who stayed up all night, come sleep with me. The rest of you: those who drive, drive; those who sort, sort. When we wake up, we'll come help. We've been up all night and worked so long; the three of us can't take it anymore."

"Okay, you rest first; we'll handle this here." Ye's father poured out four or five small fish from inside the fishing net, then tossed the hand net aside. "I'll go drive the boat back now."

"We'll just rest a while; hands can't lift. We'll sort after resting a bit."

"First go to the fish hold, lift a bucket of ice out, and pour it on top. Otherwise, sun exposure will make it go bad. Pour some ice down, then you rest." Ye Yaodong added.

"Okay."

Anyway, a lot of ice was added when they set out. Last night, because of the red tide, some was exchanged; no catch was towed, so the small amount of cargo from yesterday daytime didn't need that much ice.

Just take some of that ice out now to cover the top, so it doesn't get sun-damaged. The rest is enough for these fish.

Ye Yaodong was also exhausted. Checking the time, it was already past ten. Back in the cabin, he lay down and fell asleep immediately.

They all slept very deeply that nap, until they were called awake when docking in the afternoon.

He looked dazed. "Why is it so noisy outside?"

"We've docked; we're at the pier."

"So fast?"

Ye's father said, "We didn't actually go out very far. Last night you were driving back the whole time. It's only past two now. The cargo on deck isn't sorted yet. That pile has all kinds of fish; unlike before, when encountering a school, we'd scoop up only one type. Here, there are too many varieties, so sorting is slow."

Ye Yaodong shook his head, sat up a bit more alertly. "Let's go. Sort the cargo first. After we return, we'll sleep properly. Anyway, we've docked, the nets are torn, and we can't go to sea tomorrow."

"Oh, right, we've docked. Did the red tide spread to the shore?"

"No. A bunch of people are standing outside watching the cargo on our boat. From what they're saying, it seems no one else encountered the red tide; it seems only we did."

"Isn't it still before evening? Most fishing boats haven't returned yet, right?"

"That's possible. Anyway, a huge crowd is outside surrounding our boat, all envious to death, hehe..."

"Is there food?"

"A little of the noon meal will be left over; you can eat first before working."

Ye Yaodong nodded.

Stepping out of the cabin, he saw a crowd on the shore surrounding their fishing boat and talking there; he couldn't even find a direction to pee.

Less than half the cargo on the deck had been sorted, with a huge amount remaining; after all, only two people were working, his father still had to steer the boat, and they were all exhausted, their arms so sore from the salvage work they couldn't lift them, so low efficiency was normal.

However, with their joining, the efficiency had increased somewhat.

By the time the sun set, they finally finished sorting all the cargo on the deck, leaving only the sawfish wrapped like a zongzi in the fishing net.