Chapter 1348: The Great Battle: Picking Up the Spoils

For the next several days in a row, everything was calm and uneventful.

Everyone had also gone from the initial excitement and curiosity to being calm about it—no more surprise, no more astonishment, at most a casual sigh.

With an ocean this big, it would be the surprise if they didn't haul up something good.

When they noticed sharks, dolphins, and other big fish trailing along behind the stern, they took it all in stride too.

They'd seen too much already; the novelty from the start was long gone, and they had no spare energy to spare.

Repeating the same work every day was both tedious and rest-depriving—how could anyone be happy? They were all numb and exhausted.

Their biggest expectation now was probably hoping this month would pass quickly, so they could nail down which day at the start of the month they'd head back.

When they first set out to sea, they'd only said they'd probably return around the start of the month; as for how long they'd actually stay out, that was hard to say.

In the past few days there'd only been one brief shower yesterday, which couldn't affect the fishing boat in the slightest. Apart from typhoon weather with big winds and waves when they had to return, the rest of the time it was entirely up to the skipper's decision.

When the other two boats contacted the fish-buying boats to come over, Ye Yaodong also took the chance to sell off the cheap goods he'd been keeping fresh all this time, and topped up on fresh water as well.

He couldn't sell for much anyway. The biggest haul by quantity, the big red squid, he wasn't selling—he was keeping it to take home. The pricier stuff, he also wanted to freeze and save to sell back home.

All the other cheap goods added up to only a bit more than the big squid, and the fish-buying boats discounted heavily, so he really couldn't fetch much of a price.

If he didn't need to replenish other supplies, he might even have ended up paying out of pocket.

His fishing boat was big, with plenty of storage space. When he'd set out, he'd already packed supplies to the brim—enough to last him nearly half a month.

Fresh water could actually be replenished a bit later. Everyone living on the boat knew they had to conserve water; some didn't even wash their faces or brush their teeth.

But supplies packed to the brim looked more reassuring. This stuff was a living necessity, the source of life—everyone was using it, everyone could see it being used up, and no amount ever felt like too much.

The diesel and ice were both still plentiful. If needed, they could top up a bit more the next time the fish-buying boats came around.

When the fish-buying boat saw him selling so little cargo, they curiously asked a few questions. Ye Yaodong told them straight—he was heading back at the end of the month, not staying out at sea long-term—and only then did they understand.

But that was just incidental; the two boats that actually needed it were nearby.

With all this going in and out, they'd sold over a hundred thousand catties of cargo, and he'd only turned it into a bit over two thousand yuan—not even three thousand yet.

Ye Yaodong flicked the money in his hand, then tucked it straight into his pocket. "Really not worth much—worked a whole week for just this little…"

"Heh, how about you go take a look at the freezer hold, Brother Dong?"

"The stuff in there is being saved to take home."

"Those squid alone look like a hundred thousand catties, already taking up nearly half the freezer… and there's other pricier cargo too…"

"No worries, it all fits, there's still room. After a few more days of fishing, when they get the fish-buying boat to come over, we'll sell off a bit more. My boat's got way more capacity than theirs. When we can't fit any more, we'll head home."

If they really couldn't fit it all in by then, they could temporarily put some in the cold storage or leave it outside—the weather was cold, leaving it for a day or two extra wouldn't spoil it. But once it got to the point they couldn't fit any more, they'd have to turn back immediately.

Only, these squid seemed to be a bit too many in number. Dragging them all home at once, he didn't know when he'd finish processing them—the workshop would need to hire a lot more workers.

Looking at how things were going, he couldn't keep storing them either; he'd have to sell off a portion. The haul was just too big…

But the cargo they dumped back into the sea was more than what they caught. Things like anchovies, sardines, whitebait, black carp, small red shrimp, and so on—thousands upon tens of thousands of catties went back into the sea. No less than the squid, only more.

In the 21st century, these big fishing boats would operate at a loss, entirely because fuel prices were too high. Just one refuel cost three or four hundred thousand yuan, and workers' wages were high too—wages alone ran to two hundred thousand-plus a month, plus all sorts of other boat maintenance costs.

On top of that, if luck was bad and they ran into too few fish schools, the catch wouldn't cover expenses—less than a year and they'd be left without a stitch on their backs.

The state did have subsidies, but when fortune turned against you and you were really losing money, subsidies were nowhere near enough to fill the gap.

When the workers heard they'd head home once the boat was full, they all perked up.

"Then it'll fill up fast too. In another week it'll definitely be full…"

Ye Yaodong grinned as he watched their expectant faces—some were already counting on their fingers which date another week would be.

"But in another week, when the fish-buying boat comes, I can sell off another batch of cheap goods, free up more space, and keep fishing for a few more days."

"True enough…"

"Stop overthinking it. It's those few days at the start of the month no matter what. Think about it—the workers on those other two boats have to drift at sea for over half a year. It's still winter now; by the time they make it back to shore it'll be summer, and that's only because of typhoon weather forcing them back."

An older fisherman laughed and said: "Ain't that right? You youngsters are still too green—it's only been a few days out."

"Back to work, get ready to cast the nets. Selling cargo takes up too much time—half the day just got wasted."

He called out once, and everyone hurried to tidy up the deck and get back to whatever they were doing.

Ye Yaodong patted the few thousand yuan in his pocket, then climbed up to the wheelhouse to stash it in his private rest room first.

His way of doing things was actually a bit better—most of the cargo was being saved to sell after returning to shore, so he didn't have much cash on hand.

Other fishing boats that stayed out at sea for half a year would have no idea how much cash was on board. It was only because they had multiple partners, and everyone who came aboard to work was either a shareholder, a blood brother, or a son or nephew.

In these times, as long as you had the guts, it was still relatively easy to make money.

After hiding the money, Ye Yaodong returned to the wheelhouse, first poured himself a mouthful of hot tea to warm his body, then cupped the cup to warm his hands, and picked up the dried squid strips sitting beside him to chew on.

He'd been chewing them for several days now—his jaw was getting sore. He didn't dare eat any yesterday, but now that he was free his mouth was itching, and since he didn't want to smoke, he'd chew a bit.

The more he chewed, the more fragrant it got, the tastier it got, the more addictive it got.

The workers' pockets were all stuffed with a handful each too; occasionally they'd toss a few strips in their mouths to chew while working, and that was pretty tasty too.

He didn't dare eat too much now either, afraid his jaw would hurt.

The workers had pretty much finished clearing the deck by now, and were currently hauling the fishing net, getting ready to send it down the slide at the stern.

He didn't need to operate anything—they were all well-practiced and could coordinate among themselves. It wasn't like those first few days when they'd come find him to confirm things before getting to work.

Now even when they saw good haul coming up, they were calm about it—they'd grown numb to it.

Let alone them—even Ye Yaodong had grown numb to it.

When you were poor, even seeing something a little valuable would make your eyes light up.

Now that he'd seen so many good things, his heart couldn't stir up any waves anymore.

He turned his head to look at the calendar—a big "21" with tiny characters below reading "twenty-four." Today counted as the 8th day out.

Still a long way from going back.

When he turned his eyes back to the display screen, a few raindrops had appeared on the windshield in front, pattering as they fell.

"It's raining again…"

The workers busy on the deck also noticed it had started raining, and there was still dried fish hanging out to dry, so each of them hurried to bring the dried fish in first, then took the opportunity to head back to the cabin and put on their rain capes.

When Ye Yaodong was at the boat market earlier, he had bought a few nylon raincoats to keep on the boats, but they were stored on the fresh-catch boat and the Dong Sheng.

This boat had only just come into his hands, so naturally there were no nylon raincoats on it, and the rain capes were all brought by the workers themselves.

He figured once he got back, he'd buy some to keep on the boat — after all, working in a raincoat was more convenient; rain capes were just too bulky and heavy.

The rain came down pattering, the rhythm growing more frequent; the windshield up front was all smeared, and the sound of the wind outside seemed even louder.

"Tough conditions, huh…"

He calmly sipped his tea, munched on dried squid strips, and sighed with feeling.

Even on a rainy day they still had to drag the net. Today they'd only hauled in one net in the morning; later they had to sell the catch, and he was afraid of delays, so they hadn't set the net again.

Now the net was set, and he'd left two or three workers there to watch the net drag normally and the machinery run normally, while everyone else went back to the rest room to rest.

Once the rain started, the sky suddenly darkened too. It was clearly just past four in the afternoon — bright a moment ago — but now it had gone dark in an instant, as if night had fallen all at once, and the lights on the boat came on.

Only, with his 5.3 eyesight, he seemed to see something zip past beside him?

By the time he reacted and looked carefully, there was nothing there.

Although the sky had darkened, there was still a faint light; it wasn't as dark as night. He was sure he wasn't seeing things.

"What the hell? That fast?"

He rubbed his eyes and scanned the area around him, but didn't see any strange unidentified objects nearby either.

After watching for a while, he gave up and turned his attention back to the display screen, figuring it was probably some fish darting past.

Otherwise he couldn't think what else it would be — out at sea, there were plenty of fast fish.

Following the information detected by the sonar, he slowly adjusted the fishing boat's course and continued catching his fish.

The rain gradually grew heavier, and the sky darkened bit by bit. Just then, the workers on the deck let out cries of surprise.

Ye Yaodong couldn't hear their voices, but he could see them shouting and waving, then all leaning over the ship's rail to look.

He looked over as well and only saw the distant horizon where waves kept splashing in all directions, churning violently, forming sheets of white foam — much more conspicuous to look at.

"What the hell are those two fighting…" he muttered as he watched, splitting a bit of his attention over.

He hadn't taken it seriously at first, just assuming it was two fish fighting.

In weather like this — strong wind and heavy rain — he didn't want to make a fuss either. Safety first. He wasn't short of two fish now; he just wanted to watch the show.

Out at sea you can't watch human drama, only fish drama. Survival of the fittest — fish drama is actually pretty entertaining too.

But he hadn't expected that, as the boat slowly followed its set course working, the two fighting fish were left behind. Just as everyone was about to refocus, suddenly something black-and-white zipped from the stern deck all the way to the bow, startling everyone.

Ye Yaodong was so startled he jumped right up. "Holy shit!"

"Holy shit!"

He stared in disbelief and cursed again, "Dammit!"

He immediately grabbed the loudspeaker and went out, standing atop the wheelhouse, shouting down at the three workers on the deck: "You guys get out of the way and take cover, don't get close no matter what…"

After the workers below cried out in shock, they were still there thumping their chests, none of them had come back to their senses yet, still in shock.

After hearing his words, they hurried to stand by the door of the rest room, taking cover first.

Ye Yaodong stood in the rain atop the wheelhouse, looking down at the two big fellows still thrashing about below, both shocked and delighted, and couldn't help swallowing hard.

"That's just too badass…"

He saw two super huge fish tangled together below, taking up the entire bow and half the deck, blood from the fish flowing everywhere as they struggled.

One was actually a sailfish — a sailfish! Holy crap, the sailfish from The Old Man and the Sea!

The dorsal fin on its back was like a great banner flapping in the wind, jet-black, radiating an aura of majestic dominance the moment you looked at it.

This fish is known as the Flash of the water, a top predator of the ocean — its speed is so fast you could exaggeratingly say it teleports.

Massive in build, muscular, and fierce by nature, it's one of the fastest-swimming fish in the ocean.

Its pointed upper jaw takes up a quarter of its body length — it dominates the ocean with that rod alone.

No wonder earlier, right when it had just started raining, he was sitting in the wheelhouse and felt like something had zipped past.

If it was this fish, then it made sense — its speed in the ocean is top-tier, definitely ranks up there.

This one looked about three or four meters long, twice the size of the tuna he'd caught a while back.

The biggest bigeye tuna he'd ever caught was less than two meters.

And the other one was a great white shark, also looking about three or four meters — the two were evenly matched, one black one white, forming a stark contrast.

These two fish had just charged straight onto the deck, and were still fighting down there — watching them, he couldn't help swallowing.

That's just too ferocious…

He saw the sailfish's bill had plunged hard into the great white shark's belly, and for some reason hadn't pulled out, still firmly stuck there. Both fish were thrashing and twisting violently, charging around the deck.

At this point, he didn't dare let any worker get close. If the sailfish's bill pulled out of the shark's belly at any moment and stabbed into someone, they'd be done for on the spot.

How on earth did they end up charging onto his boat…

He'd only just been thinking about watching the show — he hadn't had the slightest evil intention at all…

At this moment, the great banner on the sailfish's back was still waving constantly, as if cheering itself on. Its bill was stuck tight in the shark's belly, and it let the white shark roll and thrash, refusing to pull out no matter what.

"You guys absolutely must not get close — one is a sailfish, one is a great white shark. If the sailfish just happens to break free, that long mouth of its stabbing anywhere is a big hole…"

"Just stay hidden. Until I say something, no one comes out. Let them wear each other out first…"

"Both these fish can kill people, especially that black one. You absolutely must not come out to watch the show."

Ye Yaodong called out a few more times, uneasy, afraid some overly curious ones might run out to look.

He was also worried they'd want to know what was happening, so he gave them a few real-time updates first.

"Oh my god, they're still rolling around — blood is all over the deck…"

"Shit… pull it out… ah, it stabbed in again…"

"Oh lord, damn, this fish's rod is way too long — no wonder it's bled so much…"

"Don't come out! I'm going to get the gun and try to shoot them dead first. Once they're dead, you can come out and look. There's still time…"

His view was excellent—standing up high and looking down, he could see everything clearly, though the rain blurred his vision a little.

He'd been startled so badly just now that he hadn't even had time to put on a raincoat before running out; he'd only managed to pull the hood of his padded jacket over his head.

"Oh my god, I was just saying—how did these two fish suddenly charge onto our boat? That sailfish was going whoosh whoosh…"

Aim at the target and lunge once—that impact force could easily carry the prey right onto the boat with it, couldn't it?

What great aim—it went straight from their stern to the bow before stopping. That single impact at the bow was enough to give the great white shark a real problem.

It was probably that same impact that drove the rod at the tip of its snout in deeper, which was why the great white shark had struggled for so long without easily breaking free.

If this great white shark weren't so big, with such thick flesh, that snout could have pierced clean through it, and it could have been firmly pinned to the boat.

A sailfish's snout is said to be able to pierce the steel plate of an ocean liner.

Records show that during World War II, a British oil tanker called the "Barclay" was sailing across the Atlantic when it was suddenly attacked by an enormous sailfish. The sailfish's "sword-like" spear pierced straight through the ship's steel plate, and seawater poured into the cabin.

Because it happened so suddenly, the crew hadn't even realized what had occurred—they thought they were under torpedo attack.

After a while, the sailfish launched a second attack, piercing another section of steel plate. But this time the sailfish's "sword" also broke off, losing its powerful weapon, and the sailfish was ultimately captured by the crew.

Ye Yaodong was reluctant to look away again—the fight was so fierce that he watched a few more glances.

Watching the two fish rampage on his boat felt like transmigrating into a movie watching a blockbuster, and all of this in the rainy, pitch-black evening.

He said he watched a few more glances, but in reality it was only a few more seconds, before he went into his rest room to find the gun.

Such prey that had delivered itself to his door—he couldn't let it go to waste. He was also worried they'd struggle and fall back into the sea and escape.

Then all his effort would have been for nothing.

He came out carrying the long gun, and below the two were still tangled together inseparably, rolling all over the boat.

The great white shark's belly blood, washed by the rain, had stained the entire deck—it was a gruesome sight.

If it weren't so large, it would have kicked the bucket long ago. How could it possibly struggle all over the boat while bleeding so much?

The sailfish's only deadly weapon was the rod on its snout; once it stabbed into the great white shark's belly, it had no other attack power. The two fish could only remain locked together, waiting for the great white to die.

Ye Yaodong held the long gun, already loaded, and aimed at the sailfish below.

His shooting wasn't great, but who could blame him—the sailfish's body was huge and the distance wasn't far. It was a perfect big target.

With a bang of the gunshot, the sailfish's body twitched, then thrashed violently, and its snout pulled out from the great white shark's belly.

He pressed on, continuing to aim and firing another shot straight at the target.

In its agony, the sailfish lost all sense of direction and rolled all over the boat. As a result, its snout stabbed deep into the iron wall of the crew's rest room, making the crew hiding at the rest room door scream in fright.

"Ah…"

"Holy…"

"Ah, it stabbed in… what do we do…"

"Ah…"

Ye Yaodong had no time to comfort them for the moment. Seeing the great white shark still struggling, he put another shot into it, then picked up the loudspeaker and said.

"Be careful, stay far away. This sailfish took two bullets—I'll finish it off with two more."

He leaned his body out of the wheelhouse and aimed downward.

This time the sailfish's snout was stuck in the rest room wall, its body pressed flat against the wall, suspended in midair—he could hit it with his eyes closed.

After two more consecutive shots, its body kept trembling. Its life wasn't so easily snuffed out, but there was no need to waste more bullets finishing it off now.

One was already hanging on the iron wall, having taken four bullets—practically good as dead.

The other, the great white shark, had several holes punched in its belly by the sailfish's snout. Blood had already flowed across the entire deck, and he'd also landed a shot on it. Now it was only struggling in its death throes.

Both super-sized fish were on the brink of death, but as the saying goes, a starved camel is still bigger than a horse—with their massive size, they'd take longer to die than other fish.

Ye Yaodong picked up the loudspeaker to ask them, "How are you? Is anyone hurt?"

The workers below shouted in unison, "No!"

Then they all started shouting over each other.

"Scared me to death…"

"Oh my, my heart skipped a beat. That fish was way too fierce…"

"So terrifying—a long, sharp thing actually pierced through the iron wall of the rest room."

Ye Yaodong couldn't see their situation and could only warn them, "Don't come out yet, don't run around, just stay where you are. The great white shark isn't dead yet—it's still thrashing and rolling all over the boat."

"You don't need to worry about the sailfish either—it's hanging on the wall, waiting to die. But it isn't dead yet, so it's still dangerous. Everyone take it easy, just stay quietly in your corners for now."

"Once they're completely dead, I'll let you know and let you come out. For now, take a moment to calm down."

Not only did they need to calm down—he needed to calm down too.

His heart was still pounding unevenly at this moment.

Both fish were right under his nose. That sailfish had gone crazy after being shot and had actually leapt up stabbing wildly, stabbing straight into the rest room. He'd panicked for a moment—right beneath him, and the workers were all inside the rest room.

If it had leapt a bit higher, would it have come straight at him?

When it stabbed straight into the rest room, his heart had skipped a beat too. Luckily, everyone was fine.

At this moment he was still holding the gun, aiming back and forth at the two fish below, watching one roll and the other, stuck in the wall, thrash its tail.

Rain kept washing over the deck, diluting the blood only for more to seep out.

Night had fallen, pitch black all around. The fishing boat was still proceeding on its set course. He had no time to go check the wheelhouse right now—he had to deal with this first.

If they drifted off course later, at most he'd contact Zhao Zhao Chengzhou again, then steer back.

Ye Yaodong reached up and wiped the rainwater from his face, picked up the loudspeaker and continued, "F*ck, that scared me to death too. Out of nowhere, two big fish come charging up and start fighting to the death."

"Just when it started raining earlier, I saw something black flash past—nearly killed me. Later we'll change direction and get farther from here. Sailfish are schooling fish—there might be more nearby."

"Lucky it's raining. These two fish have been bleeding nonstop and still aren't completely dead—no telling when they'll finally die. The rain washing things down should help the blood smell fade a bit…"

"Dong-ge, there are a lot of big fish behind…"