Chapter 240

Ye Fu was a person born and raised by the sea, and he was over 50 years old. He had heard of some local legends. Although he had never seen it, he could match it to the situation.

This damn oarfish is known as the earthquake fish!

It's not a hairtail!

Ordinary people seeing it might mistakenly think that the oarfish is a kind of huge hairtail. In fact, although the oarfish and hairtail look similar, they are actually completely unrelated.

The official statement is that the oarfish belongs to the Lampriformes, while the hairtail belongs to the Perciformes.

In addition to the difference in body shape, their appearance is also different.

The hairtail is "wrapped in silver," looking quite plain.

The oarfish is much more beautiful. Besides being "wrapped in silver," it also has a beautiful "lace" — that is, those red fin rays that are both stylish and beautiful.

The long fin rays located on the head are like a dazzling red crown, hence the name "oarfish."

"Rely on the mountains to eat the mountains, rely on the water to eat the water." Fishermen living by the sea naturally rely on fishing for a living.

For fishermen, finding a big fish is a happy thing, because it means their labor has had a rich return.

But what they found was an oarfish...

At this moment, a thought of fear inexplicably emerged in Ye Fu's heart.

Because according to folklore, the oarfish is a "devil messenger" that brings earthquakes.

Ye Yaodong saw his father's expression changing unpredictably, and couldn't help but pat his shoulder to comfort him: "I've always heard that there are earthquakes in Wanwan. We only occasionally get affected by aftershocks here. This fish might have been shaken out of the Wanwan Strait and fled here in a panic. It's also possible that the legend is fake."

Although he felt it was very likely true, because he had seen news in his previous life that oarfish were found on the beach, and earthquakes often occurred not long after.

It was really because he hadn't encountered it, so when he saw the "white ribbon" on the sea surface just now, he didn't associate it with the oarfish.

Ye Fu's tightly frowned eyebrows relaxed slightly. It was indeed true that there were more earthquakes in Wanwan, and they were only occasionally affected here.

"Then move this fish back?"

"Definitely! Such a big oarfish is too damn rare. It's not like we don't catch it, and there won't be an earthquake. It ran to the beach and stranded itself."

This isn't a sunfish, what's there to avoid? It's just heard that it has a legendary early warning function.

"Then lift it to the boat first."

The father and son held the head and tail, but found it didn't work. Its body was too long. When lifting it like this, the middle section was still hanging on the beach.

The two had to hold the head and the middle section a bit lower, let the tail hang on the beach, and then lift it toward the boat.

"Holy crap... this one is several meters long, weighing over a hundred jin. Don't sell it to A-Cai, send it to the town wharf and see if there are any discerning bosses who will offer a high price."

"Mm, can do. Take the opportunity to warn everyone that an earthquake might be coming."

After lifting this giant oarfish onto the boat, it directly occupied half of the boat.

"This one is four or five meters long..." Ye Fu looked at the oarfish and couldn't help but show a smile on his face again.

"We haven't had this fish here, right?"

"No, your father has lived for so many years, and I've only heard of this legend. I thought it was really just a legend. I didn't expect there to be a real oarfish. Not everyone in the village has heard of an oarfish."

Speaking of this, he couldn't help but be suspicious. How did the third son know about the oarfish? This fish is so rare that ordinary people haven't even heard of it.

"How do you know about the oarfish?"

He hadn't reacted at first, thinking it was a super-sized hairtail. It was only after he pointed it out that he flipped the memory of the oarfish from his brain.

Ye Yaodong was happily gesturing with his palm on the oarfish's head. Its eye socket was almost as big as his fist. Hearing his father's question, he said nonchalantly: "Saw a piece of news in an old newspaper and knew about it."

"Old newspaper? Who are you bluffing?" Ye Fu glanced at him angrily, "You only went to the second grade in total, and you skipped class every three days. You had a headache and stomachache whenever there was an exam. You don't even know a few words, and you can still read the newspaper? I could go to heaven..."

"Don't~ Dad, you're not old, why curse yourself..."

Ye Fu immediately stared, "How are you talking?"

Ye Yaodong said with a cheeky face: "I've been possessed by the Wenchang Star recently, diligent and studious and hardworking. I'm attending a literacy class, preparing to go to Tsinghua or Peking University for a few days in the future to bring honor to my ancestors..."

Ye Fu felt surprised and sudden when he heard the first half, but didn't expect there to be a second half. He just wanted to spit~

Ye Yaodong said while taking the large bowl from her hand, grabbing one and stuffing it into his mouth. As a result, the hot sea cicada rolled around in his mouth. After a good while, when it wasn't so hot, he chewed and swallowed it.

"Heard there are classes specifically for bosses, no, that's called advanced studies..."

"Can, I'll wait. When the time comes, I'll set off firecrackers for you, from the village entrance to the house, and then hold an ancestral ceremony for you, with eighteen tables of banquet."

"Hey, keep a low profile. It's enough for us to know. Eighteen tables of banquet is unnecessary, it's quite a waste of money. It's not easy for us to earn some money..."

Ye Fu looked at him with disgust and shook his head. He actually felt that the third son had grown up before. This guy is full of nonsense, and you can't find a second one in the whole village.

Ye Yaodong chatted and bragged with his father for a while before going to untie the rope, planning to collect the longline fishing. However, while untying the rope, he saw dense various shellfish on the reef on the shore, and his hands felt a little itchy.

He had seen it before, but his attention had always been on the oarfish.

Speaking of which, he hadn't come to forage in the sea for a long time. Starfish were rampant some time ago. For a long time to come, the small islands around the coast would have no shellfish. If you want to forage in the sea, you have to go to a more distant sea area to find it.

Today's island is quite suitable. The terrain is high. Even without a high tide, there is still a small piece of beach exposed. The side where the water level is high can also dock the boat.

But they still have work to do today. The longline fishing hasn't been collected, and they still have to trawl to make money. There is no time to pry these shellfish. He can only regretfully untie the rope and steer the boat.

"Dad, wait for a few days, on the 15th, bring Mom and the little sister over to forage in the sea. Just this island. The terrain is high. After the high tide, the beach will definitely be more exposed."

"Mm, can do. Go back and tell your mother. She has always wanted to come. It's just right to be idle at home. Making nets doesn't earn much money." Ye Fu had also seen it long ago.

Now that the boat is given to the eldest and second son, although the third son often leaves fish cargo back for them to share, there are fewer dried shrimp and other dried goods, all of which are used as fish bait. If you can get some shellfish to dry and keep them to eat slowly, it's not bad.

After Ye Yaodong remembered the general direction of this isolated island, he steered the boat away from the isolated island and drove toward the sea area where the longline fishing was set.

Now the sky is clear and the sea is calm. It is impossible for them to return immediately.

Ye Fu kept squatting beside the oarfish with great interest, watching. He also learned to gesture the length with his hands, and occasionally touched its tassels, muttering something in his mouth. He couldn't hear it from too far away, only seeing his father's expression of amazement as his mouth opened and closed.

He thought while steering the boat. There was no tsunami in his previous life. There were a few times when earthquakes were affected by Wanwan, but he didn't remember if there was one this year. The interval was too long.

There was definitely no major impact, otherwise he would definitely remember.

It is November in the Gregorian calendar now. It is possible that an earthquake will really occur in Wanwan or the Wanwan Strait recently.

When going back, just be more alert when sleeping at night these days.

His brain kept turning until the boat drove to the fishing spot where the longline hooks were set, and he took back his thoughts.

Ye Fu also stood up to help, no longer staring at this oarfish.

The father and son are now very proficient in longline fishing. A whole basin of fish bait has been cut early and placed there. You can hang the bait directly while collecting the fish.

There will be relatively few fish cargo in autumn and winter, and some cargo is relatively seasonal.

Recently, it is really the spawning season for mullet. He almost plucked all 1000 longline hooks. Unexpectedly, half of them were mullet, and half were toadfish, and half a basket was black sea bream and bass, as well as flatfish and rays.

Mm... toadfish are also rampant in autumn and winter.

Five or six Giant Trevally were also caught, but the size shrank by half, not as big as the few caught at night, and the weight was about ten jin. Small fish like this are not very valuable.

With only the last few hooks left, Ye Yaodong collected the line in an orderly manner. Ye Fu went to continue cutting fish bait. 100 jin of small fish and 20 jin of small shrimp were only enough to barely hang bait twice, maybe not enough. This was because Ye Fu cut the fish into small pieces to be enough.

Just at this moment, he felt that the line in his hand was a bit heavy, and he was immediately happy. Today, he hadn't received any particularly big fish in this wave. Although it wasn't a loss, it could only be said to be better than nothing.

In fact, it was also the reason for his hooks. If you want to catch big fish, the hooks and lines must be equipped to keep up. He is now completely relying on luck, because when some fish eat bait, the hooks will be swallowed relatively deep, and some fish can run away after eating the bait.

Exerting force in his hands, he slowly pulled the rope up bit by bit. The fish on the hook also floated to the water surface, but it was struggling particularly violently.

It was still a Giant Trevally. Fish still like to gather in groups.

He actually guessed it was a Giant Trevally in his heart. After all, he had caught several here, and this fish is a large fish, and the heavy weight in his hand could completely match it.

The fishing line was constantly pulled by the fish, and he could see that the hook was swallowed relatively deep, having passed through the fish's lower jaw, revealing the sharp part, but it was still stubbornly resisting and struggling, and also making a "gua gua" sound.

Some fish will make sounds. This Giant Trevally is also nicknamed the "gua gua fish" by fishermen because of its special sound.

This fish didn't look very big, but it wasn't small either. Seeing it struggling on the water surface, he estimated it should be about one meter long.

After the man and fish fought for nearly 2 minutes, he felt that the pulling force on the other end of the fishing line gradually became smaller, which meant that the big fish was already tired. He slowly dragged the fish to the side of the boat, and then Ye Fu aimed at the gap and scooped it up with a dip net.

"Damn, this fish is really hard to pull."

Ye Fu untied it with a face full of joy, "It's good that it didn't run away."

Ye Yaodong continued to collect the line. With only a few hooks left, they could continue to drag another net after collecting them.

After pulling, he found that it was an empty hook, and the fish bait had been stolen. He casually hung a bait, put it back into the sea, and then collected it again.

When the last hook was collected and finished, he found that this hook was particularly heavy, the heaviest one in the longline fishing today.

He thought it was a Giant Trevally again, but there was no struggling force during the pulling, just purely heavy. He was a bit puzzled.

As the fishing line became shorter and shorter, the big cargo under the water gradually floated toward the water surface, but he saw something wrong.

Why is it a ball?