Chapter 1278: One After Another

Anyway, he'd first put out some advertising for his fish-buying boat.

He knew that the profits from catching shrimp skin were also huge; the fishery resources here were truly abundant, not just the four major commercial fish—the other fishing seasons came and went all year round, and there were plenty of them too.

His fish-buying boat, apart from going out every other day to make a pickup run, was docked at the pier the rest of the time; if he could pick up some more business, that would be even better.

He'd treat this as a shot in the dark—after all, it cost him nothing, and he had nothing to lose, just a few words.

But these people had just arrived, so if there were no fish-buying boats inside, or if they couldn't handle the volume, wouldn't that be exactly his chance?

Best to have a chance to talk face-to-face; he'd just flash his certificate as Vice President of the Wenshi Fisheries Association in front of the other captains, and the credibility would shoot right up.

It just so happened they were also from Wenshi, so representing the official side naturally gave him trust.

Ordinary fishing boats didn't dare seek out unfamiliar fish-buying boats either, afraid of losing both the goods and the money; he had an official certificate, which was his proof—far better than picking someone random off the street.

Their boats during the Fishing season must have been the same as his—staying offshore as much as possible rather than coming in, since continuous fishing at sea brought higher returns.

After getting the exact information, that fleet of boats sped up and ran ahead again.

Ye Yaodong heard the VHF crackling, so he switched it off first and watched them sail away.

Then he walked out of the cabin and shouted down to the men below: "Get ready to cast the net."

"Boss, did they come closer to ask for directions?"

"Yeah, a fleet from a small town in Wenshi, came over to catch shrimp skin."

"Ah right, before the typhoon we saw plenty of fresh shrimp skin up at the pier."

"There'll be even more coming up—Arrive at the fishing season now."

"Money's so easy to make here... fishing boats coming from everywhere..."

"Once we dock, let's go buy some fresh shrimp skin too. Back home we only ever ate the dried stuff..."

Ye Yaodong didn't reply further; seeing the net was already lowered, he went back into the wheelhouse to continue the dull, tedious work.

In the days since they'd come out, the daily catch of hairtail had been increasing, and their earnings were growing more and more impressive.

Correspondingly, the risk had also dropped, because with hairtail numbers so high, other fish—since the weather was turning cooler—had either retreated to deeper waters or weren't as active, so their numbers had dwindled a bit.

When his father came to pick up the goods, he said the time spent manning the stall at the pier had also shortened; they could sell out and head home earlier, since the hairtail all went straight to the factory.

Recently, more boats had started catching hairtail, and the haul had grown; correspondingly, other miscellaneous fish and shrimp had become scarcer. With demand outstripping supply, they naturally sold even better.

After National Day the weather turned cooler, and they spent much longer at sea. Ye Yaodong stayed out a full twelve days on this trip before returning, during which time the fish-buying boat handled the pickups.

Half the crew on their boat were amateurs, some quite young; staying at sea too long was too much for them, and twelve days was pretty close to their limit.

It was the same on the other boats—everyone was pushing through. When the word went out that they were heading back, they all cheered.

Money had to be earned, but rest was needed too.

He was also thinking that, while they were at sea during this stretch, they should do plenty of long-term fishing—treat it as crew training.

Otherwise, once his cargo ship was finished being converted, going out to sea wouldn't be just a few days but long-term stints of months at sea.

Unless there was a typhoon or rough seas, they definitely wouldn't come back. A ship that big fishing at sea was a real killing machine—every single day's earnings were enormous.

(My cousin has a fishing boat this big; he specifically goes to fish around the waters near Diaoyu Islands. A couple of days ago at dinner, I heard him talk about it—his boat was bought secondhand, cost a little over 3 million, no partners or shareholders, solely owned by him.)

(He has 14 workers on board; every month, not counting anything else, just the workers' wages alone run over a hundred thousand. After the fishing moratorium ended, he went out on August 1st and only came back a few days before National Day because of typhoon weather.)

(In those two months, his boat's catch sold for over a million; after deducting expenses, he probably still made around a million...)

(Ahhhh, it really makes serious money.)

(But when it loses money, it loses big too. The one making money is my younger cousin; I also have an older cousin who lost over a million in two years.)

After the four boats decided to head back, they chatted over the VHF, timing things to haul the nets up. Ye Yaodong estimated they'd reach port right around dusk—it was still afternoon now.

With home so close, the crew all perked up and hurried to sort the catch.

But when the boats were about halfway back, Ye Yaodong spotted dolphin silhouettes, and intermittently heard bright, clear dolphin calls.

He quickly asked over the channel if the others had seen or heard anything.

He also grabbed the binoculars for a look and indeed saw several dolphins breaking the surface, with lots of small fish leaping out of the water ahead of them, and some seabirds wheeling over that stretch of sea.

At that moment, voices from the channel reached his ears.

Ye Ye Yaohua immediately said: "I see them on my side, very close—looks like a lot of fish are jumping out of the water..."

Zhou Da also said: "I hear the dolphins too, but I can't see clearly..."

Father Pei said: "Go take a look on Ah Hua's side—there might be a school of fish."

"Then let's all head over and check. Ye Ye Erge, you move in closer too. I've seen it through the binoculars—looks like a school of fish, plus a flock of seabirds."

"Got it..."

All four boats headed in one direction, with the Shunfeng in front and the other fishing boats behind.

It was only a few hundred meters; in no time the boats had converged and were running parallel.

Ye Yaodong stepped out, stood on the pilothouse, and through the binoculars saw the fish leaping out of the water ahead—barracuda, also called black mullet, a very common fish.

Every year in early winter, when the northeast monsoon first picks up, was when they were at their fattest and spawning.

The dolphins seemed to be herding them toward the island off to the side.

"Looks like a school of black mullet." Ye Ye Yaohua shouted from the other end.

The naked eye couldn't match his binoculars; Ye Yaodong added: "A group of dolphins, big and small, are driving the mullet school—the big ones are watching from the outside, the smaller ones are doing the herding."

"Not a good spot to fish here..."

"Yeah, there's an island right next to us. Get too close and a net that big would snag on the bottom."

"Forget the net—even if the boat gets closer, it'll run aground."

"So we just give up? That school of mullet looks pretty big to me, a dark, dense mass..."

"Even if we tried, it wouldn't be easy to scoop them up..."

Everyone discussed it back and forth.

Ye Yaodong thought it over and said: "I have an idea—everyone work together. Bring out one net, have the crewmen get into the water, spread the net as wide as possible, then swim from the outside toward the island. That way we can sweep the whole school up at once by hand."

He had calculated that there were about twenty boatmen in total; although the fishing net was heavy, with so many people, they could drag it.

This was equivalent to using a surrounding net for fishing by manpower.

"When surrounding them, don't trap the dolphins inside. They are large, strong, and numerous. If they struggle and flee, and everyone fails to hold the net, the whole effort will be in vain, and the school of fish will escape too."

"Moreover, one dolphin is fine, but a group is very aggressive. Tell the boatmen not to provoke that group of dolphins."

Ye Ye Yaohua agreed: "What Dongzi said works... at most it costs some manpower. That school of fish feels quite large anyway. Since we are returning to Huigang soon, everyone can rest once we get back."

Pei's father also said: "I think it's feasible too. Once caught, we'll sell them collectively and then divide the money from these fish."

Zhou Da immediately said: "I have no objection either."

"Alright, if there are no objections, let's move a bit closer and shift to the side. I'll also have someone bring the fishing net out of the cargo hold to get it ready."

Fortunately, it was only mid-October. Although the weather had turned cool, it wasn't yet time to wear padded jackets, so entering the water wasn't impossible; it was only in winter that the water was bone-chillingly cold.

After giving orders to the boatmen, Ye Yaodong also steered the fishing boat toward the edge with them.

The dolphins noticed the fishing boat but made no attempt to flee; they were not afraid at all. Their clicks grew even louder, as if trying to drive them away.

After docking the fishing boat, they called the boatmen over. Each grabbed the mouth of the fishing net, then one by one entered the water, spreading the net and swimming toward the school of fish.

On the boat, Ye Yaodong helped throw the rear section of the net into the water, along with the floats and sinkers, watching everyone spread the net apart.

With the group of dolphins present, those black mullets had no chance to escape. Yet these dolphins were not very afraid of humans; when the boatmen got extremely close, they hesitated on how to drive the dolphins away.

They whispered to one another, inching slowly toward that group of dolphins, and began shouting.

Those dolphins did eventually dodge; seeing humans getting closer and closer, they hurriedly swam to the side with their calves.

However, some dolphin calves did not leave; they remained within the school of fish, still excitedly continuing to drive the fish toward the shallow water.

The boatmen could only drive the dolphins on the outer perimeter away. The fishing net was already spread to its maximum, so they didn't give up; the opened net gradually covered the school of fish.

The dolphins on the outermost edge in the sea grew anxious, calling out with loud clicks. The calves inside seemed to hear them and started trying to swim outward, but the net was already spread; swimming outward meant walking straight into a trap.

Every boatman's arm veins bulged. A huge school of fish had already fallen into the net. They were now slowly dragging the net from the sea toward the shallow beach, pulling it upward.

Ye Yaodong and the few boats with him had temporarily grounded at the edge of the island. People had also gotten off the boats into the water, wading through the water and pulling a pile of bamboo baskets toward the shore.

"Wow, the whole net is completely full..."

"Damn, they got all of them in the net."

"It worked! It's a true net-catch-all..."

"This net is completely full; there must be tens of thousands of jin!"

"Hurry over; I think they are about to lose their grip."

After the fishing net was spread to its maximum, all the fish dove into it, swimming all the way to the middle section of the net, with some even continuing toward the fish collection bag.

These trawl nets themselves were over 300 meters long. Driven by the black mullets charging left and right, they were all stretched out; black mullets could be seen in every corner of each net.

The entire long fishing net swayed with the waves on the sea surface.

This was truly a net-catch-all.

At this moment, the boatmen had also gone ashore. Standing on the island, each held a corner of the net's edge, and they all looked extremely strained.

There were at least tens of thousands of jin inside the net. It was only because the net was long that it could cushion the fish's left and right collisions, providing a buffer and reducing the force needed.

"Come quickly! It's too strenuous. The net itself is heavy, and there are so many fish..."

"Did anyone bring a scoop net? We need to scoop them out bit by bit, otherwise we won't be able to haul it in..."

Pei's father laughed loudly: "They really got them all in one net! Wait, I'll go back to the boat to get the scoop nets."

"There are still several small dolphins inside. What do we do? They are still crashing around in there."

Ye Yaodong said: "Wait until we scoop them out and return them to the sea. That group of dolphins on the side is watching with predatory intent, waiting to attack."

"Then hurry up. Just scoop out this huge wave of fish, and return the dolphins to them," Ye Ye Yaohua said.

Ye Yaodong added: "We have hijacked their food supply and captured their cubs. This won't do. That group of dolphins will go crazy in a moment. Let's move faster."

"We can only hold this fishing net in our hands. What do we do?"

"Hold it for now?"

"Find a reef where we can tie it..."

"Here, this reef is low. Loop the rope around it, tie a circle, and it will be fixed."

The boatmen discussed among themselves and had already looped the rope around the reef, securing the fishing net.

Then, one by one, they eagerly walked back into the water. Seeing the endless stream of fish inside the net, they laughed until their eyes disappeared.

"This works too. Those dolphins are just unlucky."

"Yes, we intercepted all their food."

Ye Yaodong smiled and said: "They were probably training their cubs' fishing skills."

Seeing only the cubs leading the charge to surround the fish, while the adult dolphins merely watched from the surface, he knew.

The dolphin calves were too small, and the fish were too slippery. They would use their unique hunting method of beaching themselves: driving the school of fish to the shallow beach to catch them easily, then using the power of the tide to swim back into the sea.

"You guys take the baskets in and start scooping. I'll go back to the boat to get more scoop nets and bring down even more baskets." After saying this, Ye Yaodong waded back to the boat.

Everyone hurried into action. Every face wore a smile; they were extremely excited, pulling tens of thousands of jin by manpower for the first time.

When he returned, dozens of baskets filled to the brim were already piled on the beach. Everyone was working feverishly, shuttling back and forth to load and transport, talking over one another in great excitement.

"We can't finish loading! Oh my god, we can't finish loading at all..."

"This is way too much. When we netted them, we just felt a huge wave of fish rushing in. Now, scooping them out is what's truly overwhelming."

"It's hundreds of meters long, and it's all fish inside. Scoop them out quickly; once done, we'll head back."

Fortunately, they had calculated their return time correctly. Originally, they planned to dock right as it got dark to sell their goods. Now, finishing scooping out these fish before dark was already good enough.

Ye Yaodong distributed a scoop net to each of his own people from what he had brought down from the boat.

He also went down into the water to help.

"Ah, there's a small dolphin..."

The moment he heard the shout, he looked over. "First, scoop it out."

The pod of dolphins on the sea surface was still watching hungrily, because they hadn't yet seen the calf surface.

At that moment, someone had just scooped a small dolphin out of the fishing net and lifted it above the water, and the dolphins at the shore grew agitated, slapping the water surface nonstop.

"Should we keep the little dolphin?"

Ye Yaodong lifted the small dolphin out and set it down in the shallow water, saying as he did, "Throw it back into the sea. We've got plenty of fish already, and this is just a baby dolphin. If we keep it, those dolphins will attack."

"Alright then, let's release it."

He pushed the stranded little dolphin out to sea. The deeper it swam, the sooner it vanished from sight. He merely glanced at the dolphins still watching nearby, then went back to work.

After they had pulled out five or six baby dolphins from the net in fits and starts and released them all back into the water, the dolphins gradually drifted away.

He figured they were cursing in their hearts: Damn it, the little ones worked hard all morning to gather snacks, only to have them shamelessly snatched away by humans…

The fishing net was drawn in tighter and tighter, and the mullet inside were scooped out in great haul after great haul. Everyone's baskets were no longer enough.

They could only split off some people to carry the baskets of catch up onto the boat and dump them on the deck first, otherwise there'd be no containers left to hold anything.

Their fish holds had long been full; only when the holds were full did they plan to head back.

They could only pour the catch onto the deck for now. Once they got back, sold some of it, and freed up the baskets, they could repack everything basket by basket.

It was autumn, yet soaking in the water they had all worked up a sweat.

As time wore on, some couldn't straighten their backs anymore and had to prop their waists with their hands. Others laughed at them, saying their back strength was failing, that they were no good anymore.

"The tide's about to come in. Hang in there, just a little left. Once we haul in the last bit, we can get back on the boat and head home."

Ye Yaodong had been bending over nonstop, helping carry and lift things, and his back ached, his neck throbbed with pain. He looked left and right, found a patch of dry sand, and sat down to rest for a bit.

That dry sand shimmered with rainbow colors under the sunlight, fine and soft to the touch, mixed with bits of shells and coral fragments.

He clapped his palms to shake off the sand stuck to them, then glanced around.

The surrounding reef walls were densely packed with all kinds of shellfish. He'd noticed them the moment he first came ashore, but the real work came first—those fish were at least several tens of thousands of jin, worth several thousand yuan.

But now, sitting and resting, he felt his fingers itch unbearably. It'd be a shame not to dig some up. These were shellfish gifted by nature, naturally renewable. Leaving them untouched would be a crime against heaven.

But if he dug, he didn't have the time.

Everyone was hauling fish from the net at full steam; he couldn't very well slack off and pry at these things.

His gaze swept the surrounding reefs like a radar, estimating how many burlap sacks he could fill if he collected them.

These things were truly enormous, every one of them big. Probably no one had ever set foot on this island before, since it was a bit far from shore.

If shellfish growth weren't limited, who knows how big they'd get. Any random spicy sea snail was nearly the size of a baby's fist.

After watching for a while, he couldn't sit still any longer. He dragged a basket over and started picking off the sea snails on top first.

The densely packed shellfish covering the rocks all had to be pried off with something sharp. Sea snails were relatively easier to pull off, but the big ones still required a hard twist to come loose.

He was sneaking around doing this here, and no one else noticed. By the time he'd dug a full basket and dragged it over, the others finally spotted him.

"Haha, why'd you go pick snails too?"

"Just sitting and resting, saw them and my hands itched, didn't they? Picked a basket to bring back for supper tonight."

"Sea snails this big can sell for quite a bit too."

"Keep them for ourselves to eat. It's a lot of effort to dig a whole basket and you can't sell them for much. Today's single net of fish alone can sell for several thousand yuan, and split among four boats, that's plenty. These sea snails we'll bring back so everyone can eat their fill."

"Haha, that works too."

"Only Ah Dong is willing to part with them. He's so flush he thinks it's not worth selling. These could still fetch ten or twenty yuan, after all."

"It's almost dark now. Whenever this island's free, everyone come over and dig some too. It'd be a shame not to—there's quite a haul here."

"Holy shit… look, look, look…"

Everyone heard someone's terrified voice, turned to look, and were instantly startled out of their wits, scalps going numb.

A vast swath of pink, fleshy worms crawled up out of the water, onto the beach, still wriggling nonstop. One glance was enough to make anyone's scalp crawl.

"Holy shit…"

"I've got goosebumps…"

"What is this thing? What kind of worm? How is it this scary, so terrifying…"

"Oh my god, where did all these worms come from? Ugh, my hairs are standing on end. What do we do…"

"No way, what is this thing? How can there be so many…"

"Is there something wrong with this island?"

Everyone was startled, and a little panicked, faces full of terror, eyes wide as they stared at the water.

There were too many. They crawled up in sheets from beneath the water. At first only a head poked out, but now a whole swath had crawled up onto the beach. Everyone's faces had gone pale with fright.

Ye Yaodong quickly said, "Hey, hey, hey, don't be scared. These are called sea cucumbers, you can eat them, they're a delicacy. They just look a bit gross, kind of like sand worms, you know?"

"No way, sand worms are caught one at a time. This isn't like that—a whole patch crawled up, and we don't even recognize them. This is way too terrifying."

"You know what they are? What are these? So gross."

"There are way too many, so gross, so scary. Oh my god, more than the maggots in a latrine…"

"These look even grosser than sand worms, sea centipedes, or shipworms."

"No way, right?"

Ye Yaodong squatted down, grabbed one, and placed it in his palm. The worm kept wriggling in his hand, all sticky and slimy. Everyone who looked felt their scalp go numb.

He even held it up for everyone to see. "Isn't this just as nasty as sand worms, sea centipedes, and shipworms? They're all equally disgusting."

"You know it's disgusting too…"

"What do we do now? The net isn't fully hauled in yet…"

"You guys, the baskets that need to go on the boat, get them on the boat. Those who need to keep collecting fish, keep collecting. If you're scared of these, then I'll catch them."

These were good stuff too, they just looked a bit too disgusting.

He actually had goosebumps all over too. A small patch was fine, wouldn't scare him, but a whole beach full of them surging up—who wouldn't get the creeps seeing that?

He figured that if he hadn't recognized what it was or couldn't explain it, everyone would start worrying the island was cursed and abandon their nets to run back to the boat.

Now that he had contracted it himself, his hands trembled a bit; he had just caught one, and they were still sticky and slimy—it was truly too disgusting.

If the numbers in this area were low, it would be fine, but with so many of them, still surging upward, no one knew how many there were...

His scalp went numb too.

But thinking about it, this thing was also a type of sea cucumber, called eggplant ginseng or sea eggplant; it just resembled sweet potatoes in shape and color, and like red fleshy worms, it constantly writhed and had mucus, which made it seem disgusting.

"Brother Dong, I brought you a basket... take your time filling it..."

Ye Yaodong glanced disdainfully at the ground. "Get me a pair of gloves."

With a pair of gloves to isolate the mucus, he actually thought it was acceptable.