Chapter 165: Longline Fishing

Ye Mu had even opened one herself before, so it was no longer a novelty; she just watched with a smile.

Ye Dasao, Ye Ersao, and Lin Xiuqing were amazed, the three of them crowding around and leaning in close.

They saw a milky-white pearl on the edge of the plump oyster meat. Ye Yaodong didn't touch it, letting them take a look first.

He was also very happy; he hadn't expected to find one after opening only twenty or so. This one was about 8mm in diameter.

"There really is one!"

"Is this worth a lot of money?"

Ye Yaodong pried the pearl out and handed it to Lin Xiuqing before saying, "Not necessarily, it depends on the color and roundness. I can't tell either, but it's definitely better than the freshwater pearls on the market. Keep it for now!"

Seawater pearls are different from freshwater pearls. Most seawater pearls are perfectly round, bred in the vast ocean, and feel more delicate, cool, and moist to the touch.

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Freshwater pearls are generally irregular in shape—flat, oval, bumpy, all sorts—and feel a bit gritty when touched. Low-quality freshwater pearls can be ground into pearl powder, but seawater pearls cannot; seawater pearls have a nucleus.

Seawater pearls contain more organic matter, trace elements, and minerals, and they are more comprehensive. Furthermore, seawater pearls generated naturally are better suited to the human body's mechanisms and can absorb toxins from within the body.

Both sisters-in-law were incredibly envious, eyeing the pearl in Lin Xiuqing's hand greedily.

"If it can't be sold for money, you can at least wear it yourself, right? It's so nice."

"When the 15th comes, are you going to go to the deserted islands to forage again? Can we go with you?" Ye Ersao asked, looking at him with hopeful eyes.

Ye Dasao wanted to go too.

Ye Mu was also very tempted. "How about this, Dongzi? If you go next time, let us know. We'll go with you. Whether it's worth money or not, it's good to bring back a bit more stuff."

A headache!

It was one thing for him to go on adventures with friends, but taking the women of the family meant he could only look for small islands with exposed beaches, and even then, they would have to be very careful climbing the reefs.

Troublesome!

If he and the other men fell, it didn't matter; falling into the sea wouldn't hurt them. But now that they were asking him to take a group of women, it was a headache.

"Mom, you said it yourself before: the reefs are very slippery, and the wind on the sea is strong. If you're not careful, you can easily be swept into the sea by the waves. Even if the tide is out, there's no guarantee of safety. Don't look at how much cargo I bring back every time; it's quite risky. You all think it over yourselves. You can go if you want."

If they were going, he would just have to try his best to find small islands with higher terrain.

There were only so many small deserted islands around, and he had already been to most of the closer ones. He would have to find others and scout them out. If it really came down to it, he would just take them to the islands they had been to before. The islands they visited at the beginning were quite safe, and there was definitely cargo to be found.

The reefs at their village's pier were visited by people every few days, but they were still able to forage for things every time.

"We'll go take a look; we'll just be careful ourselves." Ye Mu hadn't originally thought about taking risks, but she couldn't resist the fact that Ye Huimei had returned with a full load this time, and she had even opened a pearl with her own hands.

The cargo Dongzi had brought back the previous few times had all been the worthless shelled kind. She hadn't asked how much the few that could be sold were worth, but nothing had been as direct a shock as this time.

"Alright then, I'll let you know when I'm going."

He couldn't take his friends but not his family.

Ye Dasao and Ye Ersao were happy too.

Lin Xiuqing touched her belly with some regret. Given her current situation, she figured he wouldn't take her even if she wanted to go.

"Do you want us to help you open them? Otherwise, who knows when you'll finish opening this whole bag?" Ye Ersao was eager to get her hands on them.

Lin Xiuqing said with a smile, "Wait a while. Let's have breakfast first. We all got up late today. Let's continue opening them after we eat, okay?"

"Alright, then we'll tidy up the house first."

Ye Mu stayed for a while longer, only leaving once they had finished talking.

The couple talked excitedly while they ate.

"I didn't expect that in just that short while, you actually opened another one. It's my first time seeing it."

"Maybe you'll open another one in a bit too."

Lin Xiuqing smiled. "How could it be that simple? It's not like you just find them whenever you want."

"That's hard to say. These oysters have probably been growing for many years."

Ye Yaodong said as he opened one of the freshly steamed oysters, dipped it in soy sauce and vinegar, and popped it into his mouth in one go.

Although it wasn't as fragrant as with minced garlic, its inherent freshness was enough.

Oysters are a gas station for men and a beauty salon for women.

He ate three in a row before stopping. Seeing Lin Xiuqing pick one up to open, he reached out to help her, but she refused.

"I want to open it myself. What if there's another pearl?"

"Fine, fine, you open it then."

Without a doubt, this was just her wishful thinking; there was only plenty of oyster meat inside. She had actually just said it casually and hadn't expected to find one just like that. She dipped it in a bit of sauce and put it in her mouth.

"Take some to stir-fry with eggs this afternoon... ah?"

Lin Xiuqing had just taken two bites when she felt a foreign object in her mouth. She rolled it with her tongue and immediately knew what it was. She spat it out in surprise.

Ye Yaodong was also surprised. This could happen too?

"Ah, it was actually hidden inside the meat. I almost bit down on it."

Lin Xiuqing looked happily at the pearl in her palm, feeling lucky. Fortunately, she had only touched it with her tongue and stopped in time. Otherwise, if she had bitten a mark into it like Ye Ersao, it would be her turn to cry.

"Let me see."

Ye Yaodong took the pearl and examined it carefully. It was intact, flawless, and round and lustrous.

"Take out the one I gave you earlier and compare them."

"It seems this one is a tiny bit bigger?"

"It is a little..."

The couple looked at them excitedly, ignoring the two children. The two clever boys took advantage of their distraction to grab half an oil pancake each, not even eating their rice, just gnawing on the pancakes.

After Lin Xiuqing finished being happy and put the pearl away, she saw the two of them with hands and mouths full of oil, dropping crumbs all over the table.

She scolded them twice, unable to laugh or cry, and the two of them jumped off the table and ran away.

When they got up in the morning, they each took one to gnaw on. She was worried that if they ate a whole one, they wouldn't eat their porridge, so she only took one and cut it in half for them to share, leaving the remaining two cut in half to go with their meal.

She hadn't expected them to just grab them and run. Those two little brats—when she had some free time, she was going to catch them and give them a beating!

"Hey, let them eat if they want. If they don't eat their rice, they'll naturally eat when they're hungry at noon. They won't starve to death. It's just as well, you don't have to feed them; they can eat by themselves."

Lin Xiuqing rolled her eyes at him. "It's all because you tempted them. How will they grow tall if they don't eat their rice?"

"The nutrition is all in the dishes, it doesn't have much to do with the rice, right?"

"Who says? If you don't eat rice, your stomach won't be full no matter how many dishes you eat."

"Then they'll naturally eat when they're hungry. You hurry up and eat. Once we're done, we'll continue opening them. There are still plenty of pearls waiting for you."

The couple sped up their eating. As soon as they finished, they didn't even wash the bowls and impatiently went straight to opening oysters.

Seeing them start working, the two sisters-in-law also impatiently came over to help. Even Ye Erge, who had just returned from working in the fields, joined the oyster-opening team after hearing about it.

Not long after, Hearing Xiao Xiao and Azheng also ran over excitedly, saying they had each opened five, and Fatty had opened three. Adding the one from the island yesterday, Fatty had four.

Once this was said, it gave him great confidence. He already had four in his hand; how could he be worse than them?

The oyster-opening team grew even larger. All morning, amidst everyone's constant exclamations, they finally opened all the oysters, filling three large washbasins with oyster meat.

Of course, the harvest was also bountiful. Lin Xiuqing had specifically taken a small bowl halfway through to hold the pearls, and the round, lustrous pearls inside looked particularly delightful.

"Hurry up and count how many there are!"

Everyone gathered around, feeling particularly excited.

She picked up the small bowl excitedly and started counting. "One, two, three... eight, nine... there are nine here!"

"We opened two this morning, and two yesterday. That's 13!"

"Damn, so many? Why do you always get more than us!" Azheng said with an envious face.

Hearing Xiao Xiao was so envious he didn't know what to say. "Awesome!"

Ye Dasao and the others also looked on with envy.

Ye Yaodong smiled and ignored them, only saying to Lin Xiuqing, "Take them back to the room and put them away first. Leave the cleaning up here to me."

"Mm."

"Are you going to sell them for money? Dongzi?"

"Ah?" Ye Yaodong looked at Hearing Xiao Xiao in surprise. "Do you want to sell them for money?"

"That's what I'm thinking. If you don't sell them for money, what are you keeping them for? Are you going to wear them? Don't you think it's too wasteful? Trading them for money is more practical."

Azheng also nodded. "Yeah, let's go sell them, shall we? Money is the most practical thing."

Ye Yaodong thought for a moment before saying, "Forget it, you guys go sell yours. I'll wait until I'm short on cash."

He didn't need a large sum of money right now. These wild seawater pearls were still quite rare; in the future, even if they were on the market, they would only be farmed seawater pearls.

They were good things, and he still wanted to keep them for his wife. Once sold, they were gone. What woman didn't like jewelry? The ones they opened themselves were even more meaningful.

Besides, these things held their value. In a few years, as prices rose, high-quality ones would only become more valuable.

"You're really not selling?"

"I don't have any need for a large sum of money for the time being. How about you take them to the shop and ask how much they're worth? If it's not much, just keep them for now. It's only been a few years since the reform and opening up, and economic conditions are limited. In a few years, it will definitely be better than it is now."

Hearing Xiao Xiao spread his hands. "Alright then, we'll ask first. If it's cheap, we'll keep them; if it's worth a lot, we'll sell."

"Are you going to check the ground cages and fish this afternoon? Are you going?"

"Going. I just got a string of hooks from my father-in-law, and I'm planning to go longline fishing this afternoon."

"Longline fishing? Longline?" Ye Yaodong looked at Azheng in surprise.

Longline fishing operations were known as "setting the line" in their area, with the "line" referring to the specialized fishing rope.

This was a traditional fishing technique. A main line was released from the boat into the sea, with a certain number of branch lines tied to the main line at specific intervals. Each branch line had a hook baited with bait at the end. The head and tail of each basket of line were tied with sinkers and floats to control the main and branch lines at specific depths in the water, thereby luring and catching fish in specific water layers.

Longline fishing was selective. Generally, the hooks chosen were relatively large, so only large fish could be caught. Even if small fish could eat the bait, they wouldn't be able to swallow the hook.

This fishing method was a bit old, but in this era, it was quite common; it was a traditional fishing method.

It was just that their village mainly used ground cage nets, Korean nets, and trawling. Ye Yaodong had only seen this longline fishing, but he wasn't familiar with it.

Azheng nodded. "Right, longline fishing. Let's try it in the sea."

"Then you have to prepare in advance. I heard this is quite troublesome. Tying hooks, organizing fishing lines, baiting, and other steps all need to be completed before going out to sea."

"My wife is doing it at home right now. Once we finish eating and the tide comes in, we should be able to go out to sea."

"Alright, let's go together. I'll take the opportunity to see this longline fishing and observe it."

Hearing Xiao Xiao also chimed in, "I heard this kind of fishing method only catches big fish, not small ones."

"That's what they say. Nobody in our village uses this fishing method. Let's try it first. My father-in-law says it's very effective."

"You married a good wife!"

"Hahaha, a son-in-law is half a son, right? Doesn't your father-in-law send fruit over every few days too?"

"Give and take, I suppose."