Chapter 238

At two in the morning, Ye Yaodong woke up on time, his mental state excellent and his spirits refreshed, without a shred of the fatigue that comes from insufficient sleep.

Lin Xiuqing also woke up, just preparing to get out of bed.

Ye Yaodong said in a low voice, "You don't need to get up; I'll just cook an egg to eat."

"How can that be enough to eat? You're going for the whole day."

"I'll have Dad bring the coal stove from the old house, and later I'll take a few sheets of rice noodles and some dried goods, then go to the backyard to cut a head of cabbage to cook on the boat. That way, even on such a cold day, I can have a hot bite."

"Oh, right, we can take the old house's coal stove to the boat. But you can't eat noodles all day long; anyway, I'm already awake..."

"It's fine, you go back to sleep. Eating it for two days occasionally isn't the same as eating it every day."

Having a coal stove to cook on the boat would also make things easier for her; she wouldn't have to get up in the middle of the night to cook for him anymore. In two months, when her belly got bigger, it would be even more inconvenient—it was killing many birds with one stone.

Seeing him insist, Lin Xiuqing went with the flow and lay back down; she was also feeling sleepy on such a cold day.

Ye Yaodong took a basket, packed four sheets of dried rice noodles, grabbed a handful of dried oysters, and went to the backyard to cut a large head of cabbage. He picked a few leaves, washed them, and put them all into the basket; as for other side dishes, he could just catch them in the sea.

Then he brought along bowls and chopsticks, packed some seasonings, and took the opportunity to wash the bucket and fill it with a bucket of fresh water. Once everything was fully prepared, he pushed the flatbed cart toward the wharf.

He didn't need to eat today, so his speed was faster than his father's. When he arrived, there weren't many people at the wharf. He went to start the boat first, and after moving everything onto the boat, Ye Fu arrived fashionably late.

"How come you're so fast?"

He glanced at his father, not even knowing how to ask a question.

Ye Fu didn't expect an answer from him either; after carrying the coal stove onto the boat, he planned to go cut fish bait.

"Dad, you go start the boat; I'll cook some noodles first."

"What? You haven't eaten yet?"

"No, I brought noodles, planning to make them on the boat. It's simpler, so A-Qing doesn't have to crawl out of bed in the middle of the night to cook."

A person on a nearby fishing boat teased, "Heh heh~ I couldn't tell that Adong dotes on his wife so much? Whose wife doesn't get up in the middle of the night to cook? Some even have to go out to sea..."

Ye Yaodong ignored what the person said, took out a match to light a small handful of straw, put it into the coal stove to burn the coal first, then filled the small pot with fresh water, and left it to cook slowly while he went to cut fish and hang bait.

After Ye Fu casually exchanged a few words, he steered the boat toward the distant sea surface.

With the pot cooking, Ye Yaodong busied himself with his own work, not wasting any time.

After the water boiled, he casually tore two cabbage leaves, put the dried rice noodles in, added a few dried oysters and a few small shrimp, sprinkled in some seasoning, and it was ready to be served once cooked.

He hadn't cast the net today, so he could only add a few small shrimp, but it was still quite fresh.

"Dad, do you want a little bit too?"

"You eat; I've already eaten."

It felt like playing house, but it was quite flavorful. Ye Yaodong slurped it down in big mouthfuls, drank all the soup, and then started working again.

Following his usual habits, Ye Fu steered to a sea area he was familiar with and then stopped to help. At this time, it was only a little past three, and the sky was still very dark.

After handing the bait-hanging work to his father, Ye Yaodong planned to put the longline hooks down. However, just as he turned around, he caught a glimpse of a figure leaping out of the sea surface from the corner of his eye. Immediately after, a white light appeared, and he heard a 'thud' sound.

He looked carefully at the sea surface but only saw a white figure, which then submerged again. The sea surface was empty once more, with only shimmering ripples remaining.

"Was there a fish leaping out of the water just now?" Ye Fu also heard the 'thud' sound, but when he turned his head to look, he saw nothing.

"Seems like it. It looked like a fish was catching a seabird just now? I didn't see clearly."

He felt that the white figure should have been a seabird.

"Keep an eye out. Many fish are active at night. As the weather cools, the schools of fish have also decreased. It's rare to have a big fish leap out of the water."

"Mm, Dad, you go start the boat; I'll handle the rest."

He organized the cast net and placed it beside him, ready to cast at any moment. Then he put the baited longline hooks into the water, watching the surrounding sea surface with eyes in all directions and ears listening to all sides, but he never saw any movement again. He was slightly disappointed.

Could it be that it was already full?

After the entire string of longline hooks was set, he dropped the sinker rope and prepared to fish for bottom-dwelling fish. Just as he threw the buoy, a large fish with beautiful lines suddenly cut through the calm sea surface with a 'whoosh', bit a seabird flying at low altitude in one gulp, and dragged it under the water.

"Dad, over there!"

Ye Fu was keeping an eye on the sea surface while steering the boat and saw it too. It was not far away, just over ten meters. Just as he turned the boat over, Ye Yaodong aimed and threw the cast net, planning to give it a try.

When he dragged it, he found that there really was a catch, so he hurriedly called his father to come and help.

This cast net was quite useful and very suitable for adapting to changing circumstances.

The father and son were overjoyed after feeling the weight in their hands. When they painstakingly dragged the fishing net to the side of the boat, they also saw the catch inside the net with the help of the headlamp.

"Is this a Giant Trevally?"

The light at night wasn't very good, Ye Fu said uncertainly.

Ye Yaodong used a little force to throw the fishing net onto the deck. After shining the headlamp back and forth, he confirmed with a face full of joy: "It's a Giant Trevally, a big one! There's even a tern in its mouth."

As he spoke, he quickly untied the fishing net and poured out the big catch inside. Under the drag of gravity and external pressure, it was already breathing more than it was exhaling, but its gills were still moving there.

Ye Yaodong shone the flashlight back and forth on this Giant Trevally. No wonder he could see the fish fly out of the water to catch birds; it turned out to be this guy.

It was a magical little flying fish that could fly to eat birds. It loved eating seabirds and even learned to "fly" to hunt. It also had a resounding title called the "War God that loves to eat seabirds."

This Giant Trevally, also called the Wanderer Trevally, is a near-shore migratory fish that mainly forages at night. Its abdomen is silvery-white, its back is blue-green, and its lower jaw is relatively prominent. Its appearance gives people a very fierce feeling.

He estimated that the length of this fish was about 1.5 meters, weighing about seventy or eighty jin.

Having harvested such a big fish just after going out to sea, Ye Fu couldn't close his mouth from happiness and hurriedly took out the tern that was held in its mouth.

He saw that the tern was already wrapped in a layer of membrane; the Giant Trevally hadn't had time to swallow it before they caught it.

He casually threw the tern that hadn't been swallowed yet into the sea, but unexpectedly, another Giant Trevally jumped out immediately after.

Ye Fu threw it without even lifting his head, seeing nothing, but Ye Yaodong saw a fish head emerge on the sea surface.

"There's another one, Dad..."

As he spoke, he excitedly and quickly organized the cast net on the side and then threw it toward the water surface.

Because of the hasty throw, the fishing net didn't fully open, and some parts were knotted, wasting some time. He didn't know if he could catch it.

"Did it fly out of the water again?"

"When you threw the tern just now, a big fish head emerged on the sea surface again."

While speaking, he started to pull up the fishing net again. Unexpectedly, the pulling force of the fish in the net this time was even greater, and he felt his arms were a bit exhausted.

Ye Fu had the same feeling.

"Damn, did this net catch several of them?" Ye Yaodong cursed and exerted force.

The father and son exerted force back and forth. When the fishing net was dragged to the water surface and was about to approach the side of the boat, the two also saw that there were actually two big fish in the fishing net, as well as quite a few mullet.

"No wonder it's so heavy, Dongzi, use some strength..."

The fishing net was dragged from the sea surface to the side of the boat bit by bit and then slowly pulled up.

Just at this moment, he didn't know if it was because the fishing net's load-bearing capacity wasn't enough, or if the Giant Trevally inside was struggling too violently.

Just as the fishing net was pulled one-third over the side of the boat and was about to fall onto the deck, the tail actually broke a hole and exploded. The fish at the bottom fell toward the water surface with a 'splash'...

At the same time, the fishing net was also pulled by them and fell onto the deck. The father and son were both dumbfounded.

"Holy crap..."

In just such a moment, half of them actually fell, and half remained?

"Fortunately, fortunately... the two Giant Trevally are relatively large and were pulled onto the boat before they could fall."

Ye Yaodong looked at the two big Giant Trevally left in the fishing net and the scattered mullet that hadn't had time to fall, and couldn't help but feel lucky.

Ye Fu also felt lucky. Fortunately, it was a hole at the bottom. Although most of the mullet leaked, it was already very good to be able to keep the Giant Trevally.

Ye Yaodong threw away the cast net in his hand and didn't care about the two Giant Trevally in the fishing net; anyway, they had already been pulled up.

He ran to the side of the boat, wanting to see how the mullet that fell into the sea were doing, but unexpectedly, he saw that these fish were actually floating on the water surface, and he was overjoyed.

"Dad, hurry and take the dip net over. These mullet were crushed to death by the Giant Trevally and floated to the water surface."

Ye Fu didn't have time to look and hurriedly went to take two dip nets.

The two caught two nets and pulled all the mullet on the sea surface onto the boat.

It might not necessarily be that they were crushed to death by the Giant Trevally. Marine fish live in seawater for a long time, where the salt content is high and the pressure is great. When dragged ashore, due to the sudden change in external pressure, the fish's swim bladder will expand and burst, or the small blood vessels in the body will rupture, and then they will die like this, which is not necessarily certain.

Although the fish died and the net broke, at least none of them leaked and they were all caught.

Ye Yaodong threw away the dip net in his hand, "Damn, it almost went to waste."

"It's good that they were all caught. Take the fishing net back to mend it, it can still be used." Ye Fu said happily while going to untie the fishing net.

"After going back, I'll ask someone to weave a new one to compensate A-Zheng. Let's keep this broken one, mend it, and keep it for our own use!"

At that time, he said he would take it back to return it, but A-Zheng said it wasn't needed and it had been left in his hands for a month or two, so let him use it and weave a new one to return.

"Although this cast net is a bit laborious, it is sometimes very practical."

"Mm, so it's better to weave a new one to return to him, and let's keep this one for ourselves."

Ye Yaodong also stepped forward to help drag the two Giant Trevally out of the fishing net and put them side by side with the first one.