Chapter 198: Weighing the Catch

Ye Ye Yaopeng and Ye Ye Yaohua came out and saw the boat full of fish, and their reaction was the same as everyone else's—they were stunned. They had been guessing how much cargo Ye Lao San had caught, but never imagined he'd be so busy he couldn't handle it alone and needed them to come help.

One look and they were immediately dumbfounded!

No wonder Lin Lin Xiuqing had only told them to come out and see for themselves when she called them earlier. If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, even if someone told them, they definitely wouldn't have believed it.

Did they poke a hole in a sardine nest or something?

And it wasn't just sardines either—stacked in the corner were over a dozen large fish one to two meters long. Ye Ye Yaopeng and Ye Ye Yaohua's eyes went even wider.

Several boats nearby were also fully loaded with fish, no less than theirs. They must have run into the same sardine school in the same area, right?

Why didn't they have that kind of luck?

Ye Ye Yaopeng and Ye Ye Yaohua were so envious they could barely speak.

Ye Mu saw them standing there in a daze and hurriedly called them over to help, excitedly telling them how his father and Ye Lao San had caught all these sardines, and asking them where they'd gone to trawl? Why hadn't they run into any?...

Their mouths filled with bitterness from envy—they just didn't have the fortune to get rich...

Many hands make light work. With Ye Ye Yaopeng and Ye Ye Yaohua helping, the speed picked up considerably, and it was much less of a headache.

Lin Lin Xiuqing saw everyone busy loading the fish while he and Father Ye still stood there motionless, and she sensed something was off. "What's wrong with you?"

"I'm completely drained, can't even lift my arms. All I can do is talk."

She stepped forward and squeezed his arm. He immediately grimaced, his whole face scrunching up. "Ow ow ow... easy..."

"Is it that serious? I didn't even use any force. Why were you pushing yourself so hard?"

"Well, I figured it'd be a shame to miss out, right? You don't often run into something like this. If we could catch a few more, of course we'd catch a few more."

Lin Lin Xiuqing looked at the several thousand jin of fish on the boat and suddenly realized it had all been hauled up by their own manpower. Her heart ached at once. She'd been so busy being happy earlier she hadn't thought about how much effort it took to pull up so much fish.

"Once we're done and get back, I'll rub some tea oil on you. Take a few days off at home after this, don't go out to sea."

Ye Yaodong agreed happily.

Actually, he still had to go out at night—the longline hadn't been hauled in yet, and he wasn't comfortable leaving it.

Acui looked at all those sardines and the top-quality big fish and grinned so wide his mouth couldn't close. It was worth it that he'd stayed open until now without shutting up shop.

In the past, big fish like those were hard to come by at their dock. Today they were showing up in bulk. Although only two boats were committed to selling to him, and the other boats were booked by other buying stations, it was still enough for him to make a killing.

Acai bustled in and out happily helping carry cargo, grinning so wide his mouth couldn't close. The other buying stations were the same.

People from the other boats also made dozens of trips back and forth hauling cargo, smiles on their faces brighter than during New Year.

The full boat of goods filled up dozens of plastic crates at Acui's buying station and still wasn't enough. Ye Yaodong told them to take the crates he used for his longline to temporarily hold the fish, but even those weren't enough. Acui had no choice but to urgently call for someone to bring more crates over, and to come receive the goods.

Each crate held fifty or sixty jin. They were weighed continuously, loaded onto trucks right after weighing, and hauled away as soon as a truck was full—then another truck would come to load up...

Once the sardines were weighed, it was the big fish's turn—that was the real highlight.

One large blue shark, 3 greater amberjacks, 4 triggerfish, one giant threadfin, 4 mahi-mahi, 2 longfin tuna, one yellowfin tuna, one marlin.

Acui looked at one top-quality big fish after another, his eyes practically glowing blue. And there were quite a few gannets too!

Ye Yaodong was a bit reluctant though. He didn't mind letting Acui take the small fish, but with so many big fish passing through his hands, Acui would skim off several jin of fat in the process.

But seeing those wolfish glints in his eyes, if Ye Yaodong said he wouldn't sell, Acui would probably eat him alive. If it were just one or two fish he hadn't shown him and kept for himself, that would be fine, but holding back this many from this guy would really offend him.

After all, everyone else's boats had brought in so many big fish—if he deliberately withheld his from Acui, that would make Acui lose too much face, especially since they still needed to work together long-term.

Acui saw Ye Yaodong standing in front of those big fish, not letting anyone carry them off to be weighed, and staring at him with a brooding look. He understood.

He immediately smiled, tiptoed to try to sling an arm around Ye Yaodong's shoulder, but found he couldn't reach. He awkwardly laughed and pulled his hand back.

"Brother, we've been doing business this long and you still don't trust me? I might screw... other people, but never you... We're old friends, absolutely fair and square."

He also knew what he was saying wasn't quite appropriate. As he spoke, his eyes darted left and right, and he lowered his voice, then pulled Ye Yaodong aside to a corner.

Ye Yaodong said flatly, "You have a prior record," and shut him right up.

Regardless of whether he actually had that little scheme in mind, it never hurt to hammer the point home a few times.

"Sigh... saying that really hurts. I've always done business at fair prices. Whatever price I give others, I give you too. And because it's you, I've even added extra on certain goods..."

"Then will you add extra on these too?"

Acui's face immediately scrunched up, his mouth full of bitterness. Damn Ye Yaodong—money really isn't easy to make.

"Brother, I need to make money too, don't I? There are so many people here today. It's not just your one boat—others are queued up waiting to be weighed. If they found out I was giving you extra, they'd have complaints too..."

"No worries. Whatever price you charge others, charge me the same. When I come by in a couple days to settle the bill, just add a little extra per jin on each type of goods however you see fit."

Acui: Damn it, he really knows how to play the game!

Seeing that people over there were still waiting for him to weigh their goods, he said gloomily, "Let's weigh first. We'll discuss the prices for these fish later with the others. I won't let you take a loss anyway. If you feel shortchanged, come smash up my stall when the time comes."

At this point, people from the other buying stations also came over. Today, a lot of big fish that weren't usually seen at their dock had suddenly appeared, and they needed to ask about current market prices—after all, many fish prices fluctuated daily.

Then they also needed to discuss how much to pay for each type of fish. Otherwise, it wouldn't be fair if one station paid more or less than another.

Ye Yaodong got his assurance and reluctantly trusted him this once. Either way, he still had to sell to him. A little reminder to keep his profits in check would do.

The big fish they'd caught—the blue shark, the tuna, and the marlin—all weighed over a hundred jin. The marlin was the biggest, tipping the scales at 182 jin. No wonder it had been such a struggle at the time! He'd thought it was just because his strength was exhausted.

After all the goods were weighed, the sardines totaled 6,506 jin, bought at 8 fen per jin, selling for a total of 585 yuan and 5 mao.

16 gannets, 332 jin, no price set yet. The big fish on the list only had weights, no prices—they were still negotiating.

He also deliberately kept two, planning to take them home and butcher them tomorrow for a good meal. Today he and his father had worked themselves to the bone.

He also separately kept 300 jin of sardines, planning to give 100 jin to his father. This fish was so cheap, he figured he'd use it to make dried fish and eat it slowly.

Otherwise, with no small fish from the longline, if they wanted dried small fish in the future they'd have to spend money to buy and dry them. This fish was cheap, tasty, and decent-sized—perfect for taking advantage of the north wind weather to dry a lot now. He could give some to his father-in-law later, to send along with the sea snake wine.

Their coastal specialty was really just these dried seafood products.

Besides, he'd heard that eating lots of sardines makes people smarter. If his wife ate more, maybe next year she could give birth to a kid who'd be good at studying—bringing honor to the family!

Actually, sardines are rich in DHA, which can boost intelligence and enhance memory, so sardines are also called "smart food."

After they finished weighing, it was Ah Guang's turn. Ye Yaodong planned to head back to eat first. He wasn't worried about Acui running off—when he came in a couple days with the slip to settle up, he'd ask the others what prices they'd sold at, and he'd know.

By his estimate, over a thousand was likely, meaning the boat's cost was almost recovered. And with only his father as labor on board, fuel costs weren't much either—essentially pure profit. When settling the bill, he could directly take out a share for his father separately, without waiting for the monthly settlement.

Lin Lin Xiuqing happily tucked away the slip, walking and smiling as she said to Ye Mu, "Mom, Dad, why don't you come eat at our place tonight? I cooked extra, and it's still warm."

Ye Mu said with a smile, "No need, no need, Ye Huimei should have already cooked, we'll be able to eat as soon as we get back. When you go back, remember to get the tea oil and rub it on Dongzi, otherwise his arm will ache even worse tomorrow, and his back needs rubbing too."

She smiled and nodded, "I know."

"Why don't we have Big Brother deliver the fish to you first?" Ye Yaodong said, looking at the several baskets of sardines on the cart.

"No need, you push them back first. I'll come over after eating to help clean them. While they're fresh, we'll clean them all tonight and leave them out to dry, then just take some after they're dried."

He nodded. Having his mother help clean them was fine too, it would be faster, otherwise his wife would be working until midnight.

As soon as he got home, Ye Yaodong planned to take a bath first. After rescuing people in the afternoon, his clothes and pants were all wet, clinging to his body all afternoon. Although he was young now and could barely be considered strong, the weather was cool with the changing of seasons, and it was easy to catch a cold. He didn't need to suffer that.

If he caught a cold, it would easily spread to his wife and children.

However, he was willing but unable. He couldn't lift his arms, couldn't even take off his clothes.

"Ah Qing…"

Lin Lin Xiuqing was putting away the list inside the house. Hearing him call, she immediately came out, "What's wrong?"

"Help me bathe…"

"Huh?"

"I can't lift my arms."

"Can't lift them at all?"

"Can't lift them at all!"

Seeing he didn't seem to be faking it to tease her, she nodded, "Then you go inside and wait first, I'll pour you some hot water."

Fortunately, the two children were playing next door. After she carried the water in, she locked the bedroom door first.

Taking off pants didn't require raising his arms, which was still convenient. As soon as Ye Yaodong went inside, he took off his pants, waiting there in just his shorts. The buttons on his shirt would have to wait for Lin Lin Xiuqing to undo them one by one.

"How did you get all wet? You didn't even bother to be careful. This kind of weather is the easiest to catch a cold. Drink more boiled water later…"

Listening to her nagging, he smiled and looked down at her fluttering eyelashes, and suddenly got the urge to tease. He grabbed her hand and placed it at the waistband of his shorts.

"The shorts have to come off too!"

Lin Lin Xiuqing glared at him, "Wash the upper body first!"

"After the upper body is washed, wash the lower body!"

She pressed her lips shut and said nothing, going directly to wring out the towel. First she wiped his face once…

Then she wrung it out again, rubbed some soap on the towel, and went to scrub his neck… chest… armpits… arms…

"Hiss~ ohh~ gently… gently… it hurts… ah…"

"No yelling!"

"You're allowed to yell!"

"Shut up!"

"Ow~ pain pain… you're getting embarrassed and angry, taking revenge for personal grudges…"

Lin Lin Xiuqing glared at him and stopped scrubbing his arm, telling him to turn around so she could scrub his back. With her back to him, she couldn't help the corners of her mouth turning up.

"Wife, my back is all scrubbed red, right? That's enough, time to wash the lower body, right…"

She could hear the anticipation in his tone even with her eyes closed.

When she took the towel back to the basin to scrub, wash, and wring it out, he had already impatiently stood up, waiting for her to help him take off his shorts.

"Take them off yourself."

"My hand…"

"You could take off your outer pants yourself."

"Fine."

Ye Yaodong directly took off his shorts. There was nothing to be shy about in front of his own wife, and besides, he didn't think he was lacking anywhere! Or too short anywhere!

Every man wishes the whole world knew his own… endowment!