Chapter 126: The Fisheries Bureau is here?

Lin Xiangrong had been silently carrying an empty bucket, along with another containing only a few pounds of river shrimp and some fish. He felt quite unhappy. Originally, he had been afraid the Chinese sturgeon might die and wanted to take it back to raise it early, but now that he only had a few pounds of river shrimp and fish, was he just planning to go back?

Although this had been their goal from the beginning, if they hadn't caught it, there wouldn't be such a sense of disappointment. Dozens of yuan had gone down the drain, and they were going back with only this little bit of cargo—what kind of situation was this?

He kicked along behind, nudging the pebbles under his feet. He heard a 'plop' as a stone landed in the river, but suddenly, countless splashes erupted on the water's surface. Everyone looked over in surprise, and Ye Yaodong took the opportunity to shine his flashlight over.

Countless large fish were leaping out of the water. He raised his eyebrows in surprise and said to his delighted brother-in-law, "Have you caught enough fish? Do you still want to catch more?"

He was quite indifferent to these freshwater fish; as coastal people, they only liked eating sea fish. After releasing the Chinese sturgeon, he lacked enthusiasm and didn't have the high spirits he'd had at the start. Unexpectedly, Lin Xiang Hui took the flashlight from his hand and leaned in to take a closer look.

"It's military fish!"

Lin Xiangrong also stepped forward in surprise, "So many military fish? I just thought they were grass carp!"

"In the past few years, everyone had nothing to eat, and the military fish in the river were overfished. We hadn't seen many for a few years. I didn't expect them to be back now, and in such large numbers."

Ye Yaodong listened to their discussion, feeling a bit confused. What military fish?

"Isn't this just grass carp?"

Lin Xiang Hui smiled and said, "You're a coastal person, so you don't know. This is military fish, not grass carp. It just looks very similar to grass carp and seems plain, but its scales are particularly large—several times larger than those of a grass carp. The price is also several times higher than grass carp, and the meat is extremely tender and smooth, with absolutely no muddy taste."

He looked closely; the scales were indeed quite large, but without a comparison, he didn't think they were that big.

"And its scales can be eaten. We never scrape the scales off when we eat this kind of fish," Lin Xiangrong added in a good mood.

Ye Yaodong raised an eyebrow, "The scales can be eaten too?"

Forgive this coastal person for his ignorance!

"Yes, if you have burns or scalds, you can crush the scales and apply them directly to the wound. These military fish look quite numerous. My second brother and I will go down to catch them; you help us hold the flashlight on the bank." Lin Xiang Hui started taking off his clothes as he spoke.

"I'll go down, you guys rest for a while..."

"No need. If you catch a cold, my father will beat us to death. We'll just go down."

The brothers jumped into the water one after another, splashing a large amount of water. The river surface, which had just become calm, saw the military fish jumping again.

Ye Yaodong had no choice but to hold the flashlight on the bank and help carry the bucket to receive the catch. He saw his brother-in-law catch three military fish in one net, each looking to be about eight or nine jin—they were really not small.

Lin Xiangrong was more ruthless; he caught four in one net and placed them heavily into the bucket.

These military fish were all about the same size. After just a few, the bucket was almost full, but there were still many on the river surface. Without containers to hold them, these fish would die within a few moments of being on land. How could they keep them to sell tomorrow morning?

Ye Yaodong thought for a moment. Seeing a lot of rice straw by the roadside, he simply used the 'bow-fish technique' to tie the fish up, making it convenient to free up the bucket for more cargo.

This is a technique that helps fish breathe oxygen on land! It is a method for keeping fish fresh in the Jian'ou region of Fujian Province, passed down to this day.

A rope is passed through the fish's nose and knotted. The fish's body is bent to the right into a bow shape, and the other end of the rope is tied near the fish's anus. After tying, the rope is pulled tight.

This can reduce the fish's struggling and prevent them from consuming large amounts of energy.

It can also maintain airflow, because fish cannot open their gills on land. The gills, kept open, ensure the fish can breathe freely, allowing them to survive longer and thus stay fresh.

It is best to put the fish into water or a fish pond after tying, so the fish will spit out the mud. By tying them this way, the fish can survive much longer out of water—at least for a day or two.

If they are not put into water to spit out the mud, their survival time will decrease, but lasting until tomorrow morning is no problem. How long they survive after that depends on their fate.

He was very skilled at the task, but no matter how fast he tied them, he couldn't keep up with their catching speed. He could only let them squeeze together for now; fortunately, the bucket was large and tall enough.

He threw each one aside as soon as he tied it, saving the need for containers. He would just carry them by hand when it was time to go back.

However, the number of these military fish looked quite large. Both brothers-in-law were still there catching them desperately, and he didn't know if they would be able to carry them all later.

He couldn't help but ask, "How much is this fish per jin? You're catching so many? Is it easy to sell?"

"This fish is expensive. It's 2 mao per jin now, while grass carp is only 5 fen per jin. Catch more; it's rare to see them."

"Holy crap, this freshwater fish is also 2 mao?"

No wonder. One of these was easily worth 1 to 2 yuan. If they caught 100, couldn't they sell them for one or two hundred? Anyone who didn't catch them would be a fool.

"Yeah, some freshwater fish aren't cheaper than sea fish. We haven't seen this fish for a few years. We thought it was because there were too many factories built in the last two years and the water quality wasn't good enough. Looking at it now, the water quality around here is still okay."

"Catch them quickly, many are swimming away."

They couldn't care about talking anymore; every extra fish caught was extra money.

Ye Yaodong just sat on the bank, busy tying them up, until they had swum a large circle up and down the river and saw no more military fish. Only then did they stop.

Looking at the ground covered in tied-up fish, they were very satisfied. It finally compensated for the loss of that Chinese sturgeon.

"How many are there?"

Ye Yaodong said without stopping his hands, "Look for yourselves, the ground is covered. There must be dozens, right?"

The two couldn't wait and started counting.

He shook the bucket again, and the military fish were still jumping a couple of times, "There are probably ten in the bucket!"

At this moment, Ye Yaodong suddenly thought: is there anyone in the countryside who specializes in buying freshwater fish?

How long would it take to sell them retail by himself?

It wasn't that he looked down on the purchasing power of rural people, but people nowadays generally couldn't bear to spend on food and drink, and earning money wasn't easy. With so many, one fish wasn't cheap. Dual-income families might be more willing to spend money.

The brothers didn't think of this and were still excitedly counting. They had never caught so many military fish at once; in the past, at best, they could catch a few when they came to fish.

Ye Yaodong couldn't bear to discourage them, "With so many, can you find a fishmonger to buy them?"

The two instantly frowned and couldn't continue counting. It seemed it wasn't easy to sell them individually, but a fishmonger...

They didn't know any. They were just ordinary farmers. In the past, they only caught a few and sold them at the market by mid-morning.

Now with so many fish, they also felt it was tricky. At the time, they were only focused on the joy of catching fish.

"We don't know any," Lin Xiang Hui said after hesitating for a moment. "There's a vegetable market in the township, and there's also a farmers' market in the town. Let's take them to a few markets tomorrow and see. We'll sell as many as we can."

They hadn't expected to catch so many at once. They were excited while catching them and hadn't thought that much. These fish could last at most until tomorrow; they might not be alive the day after. If they didn't sell them and they were stuck in their hands, that would be a pity.

Lin Xiangrong's originally happy face instantly drooped again.

Ye Yaodong comforted them, "Take them to the restaurants and hotels in town tomorrow and ask. Restaurants and hotels have higher consumption. If you sell them a bit cheaper, you should be able to sell quite a few."

"Right, right, we can take them to the hotels and ask."

The two's expressions instantly looked a bit better.

"Put your clothes on first, let's go back. We'll sell as many as we can tomorrow."

With so many fish, it wasn't easy to carry them by hand, and there were other shrimp cages and hand nets to take. They simply put all the fish into the collection bags of the shrimp cages.

The two brothers carried the net of military fish. Their mood had fluctuated a bit too much tonight, and they didn't have the heart to joke anymore. They were all worrying about how to sell these fish tomorrow.

Ye Yaodong was also pondering, but apart from selling to restaurants and hotels, he had no better ideas. He could only wait and see tomorrow.

Lin Xiang Hui pondered as he walked. It wasn't until they were almost home that he said, "Adong, get up early tomorrow and help us sell them in the township. Arong and I will push the cart to town tomorrow. He'll sell them at the entrance of the farmers' market, and I'll run to the restaurants and hotels in town to see. After we sell them for money, we'll split it together."

"Helping you sell them in the township is fine. As for the money, forget it. I didn't really put in any effort; you guys were the ones who went into the river to catch them. I was just on the bank tying the fish."

Releasing the Chinese sturgeon had already made them suffer a loss; he would just forget about this bit of money.

Lin Xiangrong said calmly, "Let's talk after we sell them. We don't know how much we can sell yet. It's a bit early to talk about money now."

"Right, let's go back first. It's getting a bit late, and we have to get up early tomorrow."

Ye Yaodong knew his brother-in-law was a bit unhappy, but there was no help for it. The policy banning the capture of Chinese sturgeon would be issued next year, and it was likely very sensitive now. It was better not to go against the wind; they were just ordinary commoners.

After returning to the village, the surroundings were pitch black, without even a light. To save electricity, there was nothing to do in the countryside at night, so everyone went to bed early. The Lin family was also quiet.

Ye Yaodong felt his way into the room by moonlight. When he lay down, he woke up the soundly sleeping Lin Xiuqing.

She said groggily, "You're back," and then fell back asleep.

Perhaps she was tired from carrying the child and walking a long way today. Ye Yaodong had originally wanted to talk to her, but he could only give up and close his eyes to sleep.

However, it wasn't easy to sleep soundly with something on his mind. It was still very dark when he heard faint voices outside the house and immediately woke up.

After carefully identifying them, they seemed to be his brother-in-law's voices. Was it time to go to the farmers' market?

He quickly put on his clothes and pants and went out, only to see him talking to Lin Fu.

He was a bit puzzled; he had thought it was the two brothers-in-law talking.

"Adong, up so early?"

"I woke up when I heard movement. Father, why are you up so early too?"

Lin Fu frowned and said, "Arong is gone. I just asked his wife, and she said he went out an hour ago."

"Ah? Where did he go? Didn't we agree that he and the eldest brother would go to town to sell fish, and I would sell them at our township's vegetable market? I thought it was the eldest and second brother talking, thinking we had to catch the morning market and set off."

Lin Xiang Hui was also very puzzled, "I don't know either. He changed his mind at the last minute without saying a word. I don't know where he ran off to before dawn."

"Is he unwilling to give up and ran to net that Chinese sturgeon?"

"Ah? That can't be, right?"

Lin Fu hurriedly asked, "What Chinese sturgeon? What happened when you went out last night?"

Lin Xiang Hui told Lin Fu about what happened last night, while Ye Yaodong went to their small woodshed to look for fishing gear and found that everything was there; nothing was missing.

"It should be released. Better safe than sorry. You can't implicate yourself because of a fish." Old people were very afraid of trouble.

Ye Yaodong heard this as soon as he came out of the woodshed. Actually, if the policy banning the capture was issued late, then catching it would be fine. If he didn't catch it, naturally there would be a large number of people catching it. The key was that it would be banned next year, which meant the number of those fish was really very small now.

"Is the fishing gear all there?"

"It's there. He shouldn't have gone to catch that Chinese sturgeon."

"Then where did he go running off to before dawn?" Lin Xiang Hui's brows were so furrowed they could crush a fly. He actually dropped the ball at a critical moment; it really infuriated him.

"Never mind him. I'll go to town with you to sell fish. If we don't leave now, it'll be too late. It takes half an hour to walk to town. By the time we get there, it'll be dawn. The morning market opens at four."

Lin Fu was very anxious. With so many fish, he didn't know how many could be sold.

"Good, let's set off."

Lin Xiang Hui divided 10 fish for Ye Yaodong. Based on the purchasing power of the villagers in their township, it would be very good if half of these could be sold. He loaded the rest onto the cart; he would sell as many as he could. If they couldn't be sold, there was no help for it. He also put the bucket of live fish on the cart.

Ye Yaodong followed the cart. They would pass by the township's vegetable market on the way to town, so they could go together, and he would be saved from carrying them.

It was just past four o'clock, and it was pitch black outside, requiring a flashlight. However, the township's vegetable market was already bustling with noise, and the clamor could be heard from far away.

Each stall in the vegetable market had a dim orange light bulb lit. Ye Yaodong carried two buckets of fish and tucked a tattered straw mat under his arm, casually finding a corner to squat down.

After spreading the mat on the ground, he laid the fish out one by one on the mat while looking left and right, hawking his wares with a thick skin, following the local customs.

In two lifetimes, he had never sold fish at a market; it felt quite novel.

The morning market was quite lively, and there were quite a few people coming to buy and sell things early in the morning. It wasn't dawn yet, but there was already a faint light on the horizon.

He was still hawking and looking around enthusiastically, but after the sun rose high, he couldn't laugh anymore.

Several hours had passed, and he had only sold 3 fish. Was it not selling anymore?

This was truly maddening.

He threw the fish back into the bucket, intending to roll up the mat and go straight back.

They hadn't sold during the busiest time of the morning market; could he count on selling them when it was about to close? There weren't many people left.

Just as he was rolling up the mat, he heard a commotion not far away and felt there were many people talking. Filled with curiosity, he nimbly tucked the mat under his arm, carried the bucket, and followed them directly, asking others as he walked: "What's the commotion? What happened in the township?"

"Don't know! Haven't heard anything, and the broadcast didn't say anything either."

"Let's go take a look."

As soon as Ye Yaodong approached the crowd, he heard the villagers discussing something about the Ocean Bureau, and also saying they were coming to catch some fish?

He was surprised. Could it be that they were coming to catch the Chinese sturgeon? ===== CHAPTER 127 =====