Chapter 1585

It won't be long before they can go back, and everyone now has something to look forward to in the coming days.

After the fresh-catch collection boat arrived, Ye Yaodong felt relieved.

With the collection boat here, this trip could be considered a success; once their several boats were all fully loaded, they could just return together, and they would likely arrive home only about three or four days later than the collection boat.

Ye Yaodong also gave some instructions to the collection boat, asking them to report back to his father that his boat was right behind them, so as to reduce the pressure on his father.

It was said that his father hadn't had a good night's sleep since he left.

When the cargo from the first boat returned, his father was stunned and began to worry with a furrowed brow; when the cargo from the second boat returned, he collapsed to the ground, crying out that it was the end of the world and his life; by the time the third boat's cargo went back, his father was nearly on the verge of a breakdown, almost in tears...

And yet, the boats were only arriving two or three days apart, and there were still two 30-meter-plus collection boats at home taking turns transporting the cargo from the Dongsheng and the other boats.

With a collection boat docking every day, his father already had a headache dealing with the cargo at home; with his cargo being transported back on top of that, and each boatload consisting of hundreds of tons, his father was indeed under immense pressure.

Once the cargo on his side was mostly moved to the collection boat, he looked toward his few childhood friends.

They had all come over with the collection boat, and at this moment, they were still excitedly helping out inside and out, even fiddling with his binoculars.

He called out to them, beckoned them over, and said, "Why don't you guys go back with the collection boat?"

"Huh?"

"What?"

"We just got here, and you're telling us to go back? Didn't you say manpower was tight, and that you had your father call us back and send us over to help?"

Ye Yaodong explained that he had a new plan, was preparing to return in two days, and didn't need so many people anymore.

Ah Guang cursed, "What's wrong with you? You called us over from thousands of miles away, and now that we've just arrived, you're chasing us off."

Ah Zheng also cursed, "Damn you, you tell us to leave the moment we arrive, even though we rushed back from the sea and then rushed over here."

Ye Yaodong explained again, "Things have changed, and I don't plan on staying at sea forever. We'll be heading back in two days once the fish holds are full. Sorry for making you run here for nothing; I'll treat you to drinks and a massage when we get back."

Ah Zheng: "Since we're already here, and you're heading back in a few days anyway, we'll just go back with your boat then; we won't go back with the collection boat."

Xiao Xiao: "Yeah, since we're already here, a few days won't make a difference. We'll just help out on the boat for a few days and go back together."

Ah Guang: "I originally wanted to come to the deep sea to get a good look, to see how you fish and how much cargo one net can hold, so we can use it as a reference for whether we should get a boat this big when we get home."

Xiao Xiao: "Exactly!"

Ah Zheng: "You're heading back in two days anyway, which is fine. We'll just stay for two days, it's not a long time, and we'll go back together then."

Ah Guang: "We can just take a look at how much cargo one net can drag in the deep sea and learn from it."

Ye Yaodong said, "Since you've all said so, you can stay. Free labor is hard to turn down."

Ah Guang: "Isn't that right? Since we're already here, there's no reason to just go back like this. Anyway, we had everything arranged before we came out."

"Fine, then you guys can stay. It's quite late now, so go find a cabin to sleep in yourselves; if you don't want to sleep, go help them with their work."

Ah Guang waved his hand at him, "Alright, we'll find work to do ourselves, you go do your thing."

Ah Zheng leaned in close to him, "Are you going to cast the net? The cargo is all moved, can I go to the wheelhouse with you to take a look?"

"Then I want to go too."

"I'm going too, you can teach us, and we can even take shifts for you..."

Ye Yaodong replied helplessly, "Fine."

He had originally planned to be on duty at night, but since the collection boat hadn't left yet, he intended to wait until it finished collecting the cargo from the other two boats and gave the necessary instructions before going to rest.

Now that they were here, everyone could chat, which would help keep his spirits up through the night.

Driving while fatigued easily leads to going off course, and with one's brain feeling like mush, one might not even know what operations are being performed.

They had just arrived in the deep sea, having reached the destination after two or three days at sea, and were currently full of energy with nowhere to vent it; he had chased them out of the wheelhouse to go help cast the nets and learn instead.

Three hours later, dawn broke, and after the collection boat filled its last hold with cargo, Ye Yaodong sent them off and happily shouted through a megaphone.

"Comrades, hang in there for a few more days; once the fish holds are full, we'll set sail for home."

"Whoa~ oh~" the workers stood on the deck and responded with a few cheers.

He had already notified the other fishing boats, and they all knew they would head back once the holds were full, so everyone was in high spirits.

Although they had only been in the deep sea for a little over 10 days, the pressure was indeed greater than in the near-shore waters, mainly because they lacked experience, felt uncertain, and had been in a state of anxiety the whole time.

It was just as well that they were heading back in a few days, as everyone could digest the gains from this trip.

After the collection boat left, the horizon began to glow red, and the net he had cast after moving the cargo also needed to be hauled in.

The little buddies below shouted to him, "When are we hauling the net?"

He responded, "Now, hauling the net, hauling the net~"

The workers continued to respond, then orderly took their respective positions, working in cooperation.

There is no need to sound the whistle when hauling the net, as the operation has a relatively small impact on ship maneuvering, unless the gear is abnormally heavy, causing the ship's dynamics to be restricted.

The whistle is an external signal, while the net-hauling process relies more on the internal communication system, such as loudspeakers, to coordinate deck personnel.

There were no walkie-talkies, otherwise, it would be more convenient to communicate with them.

In case of an emergency during net hauling, such as the gear snagging the bottom or the ship tilting, it might be necessary to sound the whistle to warn the whole ship.

Or if the fishing boat is in conditions with limited visibility, such as casting nets in foggy weather, it might be necessary to sound the whistle to indicate its status, especially since they had three boats operating at sea simultaneously and not far from each other.

This was to prevent fishing net entanglement incidents that could easily occur if the boats were too close while operating in low visibility during foggy weather.

It is necessary to sound the whistle when casting nets, as this is to notify all personnel on the ship that "operations have begun" and to remind deck staff to pay attention to safety.

For instance, the operation of gear and cables can carry risks; sometimes, if operated improperly, one could be dragged into the sea along with the gear, which is very possible and a highly probable accident.

At the same time, sounding the whistle is also to warn nearby vessels that the ship is about to enter a state of restricted maneuverability.

Fishing boats normally display corresponding signal lights while fishing, and sounding the whistle can serve as a supplement.

While hauling the net, Old Xiao came up and said, "Go get some rest, Dongzi, you haven't slept all night, and now that the collection boat has headed back, we'll take over the command and arrangements."

Ye Yaodong yawned, "No rush, I'll go after this net of cargo is hauled up; it's not a matter of a moment or two."

"Alright then, we'll keep an eye on things here, and we'll go down to direct and help."

He nodded, his yawns didn't stop, and he had no mouth left to speak.

Looking at the strong tea on the table, he wanted to drink it but didn't dare; he was too sleepy, but he was afraid he wouldn't be able to sleep if he drank it. Ye Yaodong rubbed his bloodshot eyes and continued to sit there.

After more than half an hour, just as he was dozing off, Ah Zheng ran up and shouted, which scared him so much that his body, which had already slid under the chair, panicked and sat straight up again.

"What? What?" Ye Yaodong looked around in a panic, his eyes still bleary and red, looking completely bewildered and alarmed.

"I'm here, just now when the cargo was put down, there was a shark several meters long, a tiger shark, it wasn't quite dead and was jumping around on the deck..."

Ye Yaodong glared at him, wiped his face with his hand, and cursed, "Just kill it, why shout so loudly? Damn it, you scared the hell out of me, it's just a shark..."

"No, it's dead, but we cut a rusty piece of iron with letters on it out of its stomach. Didn't you say that as long as we fish up something we don't recognize in the sea, or something strange with letters on it, it's a treasure?"

"I heard them say it, so I rushed up to call you... hey, hey, wait for me..."

When Ah Zheng mentioned the rusty piece of iron with letters, Ye Yaodong was already moving; he stood up, fully awake, intending to go down and take a look.

The workers on the deck were doing their own work and were not affected in the slightest.

"Where is it?"

Ah Guang leaned in and pointed it out to him, "Over there, at the processing table, we just cut open its stomach, and the rusty piece of iron was stuck inside; we rinsed it clean with water and just put it there..."

Ah Zheng walked beside him, leading him to see that piece of iron, his mouth not stopping for a second.

"This piece isn't small, it's forty or fifty centimeters long and over ten centimeters wide, and it's all rusted; who knows when it swallowed it..."

"When it was being hoisted, everyone saw that bag of cargo swaying, but we didn't expect it to be such a big guy."

"When it landed on the deck, everyone was scared to death; that open mouth could have swallowed us whole, it would be terrible if it took a bite."

Ah Guang immediately chimed in, "It was hard to kill just now; we measured it with a tape measure, and it's 4.5 meters long. This is my first time seeing a tiger shark from such a close distance."

Ah Zheng: "Once the net was untied, this fish kept jumping around; we thought it was because it was out of water, but now that I think about it, it might be because it had that piece of iron in its stomach and was uncomfortable."

"It wasn't easy to kill when we gutted it; it took forever to die. We killed it right on the deck, and watching it bare its teeth and move around, everyone was terrified of having an arm bitten off. Did you see the commotion just now?"

Ye Yaodong didn't even lift his head as he replied, "I was dozing off, how could I see?"

He held a long, strip-shaped piece of iron in his hand; the edges were already rusted to the point of ruin, and only one English letter in the middle was relatively clear.

If this tiger shark hadn't been big enough and its stomach capacity sufficient, it might not have been able to swallow such a long piece of iron.

And only tiger sharks would swallow this; other sharks don't eat trash, but tiger sharks sometimes eat trash indiscriminately while feeding.

It can bite through and grind up very hard objects; sometimes it can even chew up trash thrown into the sea by people, or even wooden boards from ships. If a person were bitten by it, it would be terrible and life-threatening.

It probably wasn't easy for everyone to subdue it just now.

Xiao Xiao watched them gathered together and also walked over, saying, "A whole bunch of people were chasing this shark to beat it, just afraid that it would be caught for nothing and slide back into the sea. It was so big, and we didn't dare get close, and it wasn't easy to kill with a knife..."

Several people took turns speaking, one after another.

"Everyone could only use sticks to beat it, and we had to prevent it from sliding into the sea. It took a huge effort, and it took over half an hour to wear it to death; everyone was exhausted."

"The fishing nets in the sea were all delayed, and we didn't have time to hoist the cargo inside. It's a good thing we killed it, otherwise, if it had run away, that would have been really depressing..."

"The fishing net was torn, and fish kept leaking out. It's not easy to mend right now, and it's a waste of time, so we can only make do with it and mend it when we get back..."

Ye Yaodong flipped it back and forth, even flicking it with his finger; the secrets of this sea area were far heavier than the catch.

Old Xiao felt that he was very seasoned, very experienced, and very knowledgeable, so he asked cautiously and doubtfully.

"Did you figure anything out?"

"No, it's corroded so badly; it looks like it should be a piece of artillery shell left on the seabed during the war."

"That's right, if it wasn't from the war era, where would these missile and artillery shell fragments come from?"

"Keep it, and later, hand it over to Lin Guangyuan to report to his superiors along with the frilled shark we caught a few days ago."

"Is it useful?"

"I don't know, how would I know if it's useful? Anyway, since we've fished it up, just hand it over with that frilled shark; it's useless to us anyway."

Old Xiao looked regretful, "If this were a whole artillery shell, it would be a great achievement; this one fragment is still useless."

"Keep it," Ye Yaodong patted the artillery shell fragment in his palm, then looked around, "Where's the tiger shark?"

Ah Guang replied, "It's already been moved to the freezer."

"I'll go take a look, you guys go do your work, no need to follow me."

That pile of cargo hadn't been sorted yet; just now everyone was busy with this tiger shark, mainly because it was big and fierce, and they were afraid it wasn't quite dead and would jump up and bite back.

Ah Guang waved his hand to shoo them away, "You guys go help elsewhere, we wasted a lot of time just now, and someone needs to keep an eye on the wheelhouse. I'll lead Dongzi to take a look."

"Alright then."

This tiger shark was too big, so it could only be placed on the floor in the freezer. As soon as he walked in, he saw this big guy.

Its whole body was covered with rough scales, with a slightly greenish-gray metallic luster; there were quite a few barnacles parasitic on its body, along with white scars from barnacles, and its body also bore many traces of wounds.

At this moment, red blood was still seeping from under its abdomen, and its sharp, serrated teeth were each shaped like a laterally flattened triangle, still bared fiercely. Just looking at it, one could tell how fierce it was; no wonder it was called the tiger of the sea.

Just by looking at this mouthful of teeth, one could tell it had extremely strong aggression and predatory ability; they could even eat sea turtles with thick shells, so these teeth were quite good.

Ye Yaodong touched its back, and it was so rough he felt his hand was going to be cut and bleed.

"Such a big one."

"Yeah, it was really hard to kill it. If you get bitten by it, your whole arm would be gone. I don't know if we can sell it for a good price if we drag it back."

"Probably can't sell it; it'll probably be dragged away with that fragment. Whatever, forget it, let's just drag it back and see."

As he spoke, he squatted down and touched the tiger shark's teeth, gesturing with his finger; one tooth was as big as the first joint of his thumb.

Ah Guang also squatted down with him and said, "This mouth is bigger than my head when it's open."

"I'll open its mouth, you stick your head in and compare it, let me see if it's bigger than your head?"

"Hehe... then you pry it open, see if you can pry it open, and take a photo for me while you're at it."

"In your dreams."

After taking a look, Ye Yaodong stood up and also intended to go out.

Ah Guang followed closely by his side and said, "I'm serious, you can call someone over to drag it out, then pry the mouth open, I'll stick my head in, and you take a photo for me... just take one..."

"Are you full and have nothing to do? Do you think I'm full and have nothing to do? Don't we have work to do?"

"Hehe, didn't you bring it up?"

"I was just saying it casually, and you took it seriously. You try prying its teeth open first, talk is cheap." Ye Yaodong glared at him and said unhappily.

"Can't pry it open?"

"It's already dead, and you still want to pry it open? Why didn't you stick your head in when it was still alive and its mouth was open?"

"I'm not stupid."

"Alright, you go do your work, you guys coordinate well, I'm going to sleep, ha~"

Ye Yaodong yawned a big yawn again, stretched, and thought to himself that it was good to go back early; he was exhausted from this trip, more tired than anyone else.

Others could still think that with him around, they didn't need to worry and could sleep peacefully, while he had to keep one eye open even when sleeping, afraid of something going wrong, especially during those few days of heavy rain; he hadn't slept well at all, and his nerves had been on edge the whole time.

Ah Guang also stretched with him, "We're going to sleep too, we stayed up all night and are sleepy too."

"You guys do what you want."

For the next few days, the weather was kind, and it remained sunny; no accidents occurred, and no one called him, so they were able to handle things quite well.

Once his fish holds were about to be full, he called out to the other fishing boats and gave a few shouts.

"Can you hear me? Each boat report on the status of your full holds."

"Boat No. 2 will be full after one more net."

"Boat No. 3 will be about there after this net is hauled up."

Ye Yaodong said again, "My side is already full, so Boat No. 2 don't drag anymore, just leave it at that, do the finishing work and call it a day. Boat No. 3 report when you're done, and we'll set sail for home immediately."

"Received."

The net on Ye Yaodong's side had also just been hauled up, and they were still sorting while hoisting; a large net was still floating in the sea, and they couldn't haul it up until all the cargo was hoisted. It was just as well to do the finishing work while the other boats weren't ready yet.

Ah Guang ran up and asked, "Dongzi, we're heading back after this net is hauled up, right?"

"Right."

"Awesome, you're taking this boatload of cargo back to sell, it must be at least 100,000 yuan, right?"

"More or less."

He felt it might be more; the price of fish cargo had risen this year, and some of these deep-sea goods weren't cheap either.

"Damn, you're rich, and it's only been three days?"

"Otherwise why would I go to the trouble of getting such a big boat? Isn't it because there's profit to be made and money to be earned? Otherwise, why would I take such a big risk to come to the deep sea?"

"You've made a fortune. If you do this for a month, won't the cost of this boat be earned back?"

"Not quite, the fuel cost for coming so far is also expensive, but it's true that it's profitable."

?? Typed this while kneeling during the mid-session worship, my legs are already numb from kneeling, and I have to go kneel again as soon as I finish writing; I guess I'll have to kneel until eight or nine in the evening.

? (End of chapter)