Chapter 324

"Yes, yes, yes, I just saw the previous batch swim in that direction."

Ye Fu was also overjoyed. He threw the cast net in his hand to the side and also squatted down, "This net also caught more than thirty jin, and those ground cages also have more than 10 jin. Today we can sell a bit more money."

"Mm, let's sort it out later. Dad, you go steer the boat first; I'll go change into a set of clothes." Being wet and sticky on his body was very uncomfortable, and Ye Yaodong felt a bit uneasy.

"Alright, alright~"

Ye Fu threw down the squid in his hand and steered the boat toward the place where the egg-attachment branches were deployed. The two sides were not far apart, both around the small island.

When Ye Yaodong walked into the small cabin to prepare to take off his clothes, he noticed the net bag hanging at his waist. He patted his forehead, "I was so happy to see the school of squid that I forgot about this."

Today the net bag was empty, with no cargo, only two *Atrina pectinata*. He didn't feel the weight, so he almost forgot.

Putting it aside first, he took off his wet clothes and pants and changed into dry ones before carrying the net bag and walking out. His father had also just stopped the boat.

"Dongzi, hurry up~" Ye Fu shouted excitedly at him as soon as he stopped the boat, "Bring the fishing net over."

Ye Yaodong saw his excited appearance and knew that he must have seen a school of squid. He hurriedly put the net bag aside first and trotted over with the fishing net.

The father and son leaned against the boat side and looked at the sea surface. They saw that not far in front of them, one or two meters below the water surface, many squid had gathered.

That area was where they had deployed the egg-attachment branches, and the buoy was still floating not far away.

Sure enough, the effect was top-notch!

"So many squid!"

"Organize the fishing net..."

The father and son nimbly organized the fishing net and then cast it toward the sea surface. Afraid of netting the branches up together, they didn't dare to cast the net too wide.

After staying for less than 5 minutes, they quickly collected the net, hanging the rope of the cast net on the roller. With the rolling of the wheel, the fishing net was pulled onto the water surface bit by bit.

The two received the fishing net on the side and threw it onto the deck. A large amount of ink directly dyed the deck black, and the squid wrapped inside the fishing net were also pitch black.

Ye Fu smiled from ear to ear, "This net also has thirty jin."

"Using branches to lure squid to spawn, this method is useful!"

"Take advantage of the large quantity around here and hurry up to cast a few more nets."

The father and son immediately cast another net. Unexpectedly, this net caught a branch. These egg-attachment branches were all bundled and connected with ropes. One was pulled up, and the others moved along with it, bringing the school of squid to disperse a bit.

How could that be? Once dispersed, they weren't concentrated and were hard to catch.

When the fishing net was pulled to the side of the boat, it drove other branches on the rope to float to the water surface. They saw that those branches were also sparsely hung with strings of squid eggs, just like sea grapes, and some were even piled into piles, looking particularly pleasing.

When female squid spawn, the oviduct gland will simultaneously secrete a lot of glandular fluid, wrapping the eggs and binding them into strings, making the egg strings attach to the branches.

After seeing this, Ye Yaodong went to get a bucket, took out the branches caught by the fishing net first, and untied the squid eggs on them, placing them in the bucket. The quantity was not large, just a few strings.

After untying them, he threw the branches back into the sea to continue attracting squid. However, because the branches were pulled up, it drove a whole rope, and the school of squid was also dispersed a bit.

"Wait a while before catching; pour all these squid into the basket first."

"Mm, there is still a pile of fish cargo over there that hasn't been sorted yet; there's no time to do it."

This is truly a sweet burden.

Ye Yaodong said with a smile, "You go sort; I'll catch the squid."

"I'll catch the squid; you go sort."

"It won't take long; those fish are all quite large."

"Then you go."

Ye Yaodong rolled his eyes, "I'll go if I go; I'll let you have a turn."

At his age, he also wants to play.

He handed these squid to his father to handle and went to sort the fish cargo himself. He couldn't just throw them on the deck like that. Fortunately, there was no sun today. Next time he goes to sea, he must bring ice cubes.

Leatherjacket fish were scattered everywhere on the deck. The leatherjacket fish that had been cut by the propeller earlier had already been poured into the basket and piled in the corner. These were the ones pulled up by the second net.

But some of them also had slight traces of being cut on their bodies. It is estimated that the injuries were relatively light, they couldn't die, and they returned to the school of fish.

Ye Yaodong picked out all those with traces of being cut separately. These were to be kept for their own use. The rest were thrown directly into the basket according to the type of fish cargo.

There were four or five bamboo baskets placed around him. He swung both hands, shooting baskets one, two, three, four.

Just as he was picking enthusiastically, the boat actually moved. He stopped the work in his hands in confusion, turned his head, and shouted loudly at his father, "Why are you steering the boat?"

"Another school of squid has come. Move forward a bit and cast the net again."

He stood up happily and looked at the sea surface. Standing at the stern and looking into the distance was not very easy to see, but as the fishing boat moved forward, he saw quite a few squid figures underwater around the boat side.

He accelerated his movements and picked quickly.

After picking the cargo almost done, he loaded all the useless fish and shrimp at the bottom into a separate water bucket, which could be taken back to feed the chickens. For the next half month, he would specialize in catching squid and should have no time to set longlines. Recently, the harvest of trawling was better.

After dragging all these baskets of fish cargo to the corner and piling them up, he ran over to his father's side.

The bamboo basket beside Ye Fu had already piled up two more baskets of squid. At this moment, this net was about to be collected again.

Ye Yaodong pulled the basket containing the squid to the corner and piled it up to avoid taking up space. He wouldn't have a place to put it when the fishing net was dragged up later, and only then did he walk over again.

"How many nets have you cast?"

While speaking, his gaze looked at the sea surface again. Quite a few more squid had swum over underwater, crowded together.

He felt that the branches were not enough, and this hadn't reached the peak yet.

"Just two nets. Earlier I wanted to wait a while before casting the net, but seeing a school of fish here, I moved the position slightly and just cast two nets."

"Pull it up first."

The two received the fishing net that had just been pulled to the boat side and prepared to drag it onto the deck. Unexpectedly, at this moment, they were sprayed in the face by the squid through the holes in the fishing net.

"Pfft, pfft, pfft~ he... tui... it even sprayed into my mouth..."

After Ye Yaodong wiped his face, he spat wildly and stuck his tongue out long. His vision could barely see that his tongue had been dyed black by the ink.

Ye Fu was no better.

The two had collected two nets earlier, and their clothes had already been sprayed black, but it hadn't sprayed on their faces. This time, it took care of them.

It wasn't the first time; they were all somewhat accustomed to it and didn't care.

After wiping their faces casually with their hands, they lifted them to the corner and then immediately cast the net again. Taking advantage of the fact that all the squid had swum over to spawn, they hurriedly caught a lot.

The roller hadn't been returned yet, so they could still borrow it, which was still labor-saving.

After pulling three nets in a row, the squid in the surrounding sea looked much less. The father and son also felt a bit tired, so they planned to stop and rest for a while to see when the next wave of squid would surge over.

Anyway, it was only two o'clock, and the time was still early. Wait until the quantity is large before casting the net; it will be twice the result with half the effort. Otherwise, it will only be half the result with twice the effort.

Ye Fu was organizing the fishing net, and Ye Yaodong turned to count the bamboo baskets. Just the ones containing squid already had four. Counting one basket as about 50 jin, it had only been two hours, and there were already almost two hundred jin here, not counting those Spanish mackerel and leatherjacket fish.

"The harvest is good today; bring more bamboo baskets on the boat tomorrow."

"Go to the old house to get them tomorrow. Taking advantage of the free time a while ago, I wove quite a few. By the way, take a bit more for your eldest brother and second brother. I don't know where they deployed them and how the harvest is today?"

"Didn't you tell them how to do it when you bundled the branches yesterday? They should understand. We'll know when we go back tonight."

"Mm, there are quite a few squid today. Pull a few more nets later and go back a bit later. I hope it won't rain tomorrow," Ye Fu looked at the small island with a large number of seabirds flying nearby, "What a pity, your mother doesn't have time to go to sea with us. Otherwise, with so many seabirds, there must have been quite a few stranded on the small island today, which is a waste."

Ye Yaodong also looked into the distance, "No way, I don't have three heads and six arms. The younger sister is married, and Mother has to take care of the confinement. Otherwise, ask the eldest sister-in-law and second sister-in-law if they want to come? Let Mother take care of the few little ones? It's just coming back from school to cook for them."

Leaving it for the seabirds to eat like this is too extravagant. The quantity is not small. It's better to benefit one's own family; the fat water doesn't flow into outsiders' fields.

"Ask and see when we go back in the evening."

While the two were talking, the squid also slowly gathered, more and more. The father and son rolled up their sleeves again and started working.

Casting net after net.

Although it can be a bit labor-saving when pulling up, casting the net requires strength and skill so that the fishing net can be fully opened. After doing it a few more times, the arms will also be sore.

The sky gradually darkened. In order to net a bit more, Ye Fu couldn't bear to rest.

Ye Yaodong had the intention to rest halfway. Anyway, the quantity wouldn't be small every day from now on, but he couldn't just sit there and watch, letting his father be exhausted.

Cargo was pulled up net after net without stopping. The quantity couldn't compare to when the school of squid had just gathered, but the harvest was also very impressive. The bamboo baskets behind the two were already full.

It was too frequent, and the father and son taking turns was also somewhat unbearable.

When the sky was about to turn dark, the squid coming to spawn also decreased, and only then was Ye Fu willing to stop.

Both of them twisted their arms. They had been casting nets all along, and their arms and shoulders were sore.

Ye Yaodong twisted his neck again, looked at his father's pitch-black appearance, and said, "Can you be willing to go back now?"

"Go back, go back. I hope it won't rain at night, and we can continue catching tomorrow."

"Hard to say. If it rains, go to the mountain to cut branches and deploy a few more branches."

"If we can go to sea, of course we still go to sea. Not coming for a day is a day's loss. Look at how many squid we caught today; how many baskets? Count them? If we stop for a day, how big will the loss be?"

"Ten baskets?"

"That's about 5 dan. If the price drops, there's almost two hundred yuan, plus other cargo. If we didn't come for a day, the loss would be big."

"Mm-hmm, go back first; the sky is pitch black." Ye Yaodong responded casually and went to steer the boat.

Things at sea, who can say for sure? The weather by the sea is also easily repetitive.

If it doesn't rain, we must go to sea. The squid fishing season is only this month, and we must not miss it.

In the previous few months, because of the weather, it rained and was windy intermittently, and we didn't go for many days. At this moment, we must grasp the squid fishing season well to compensate for the losses of the previous few months.