Chapter 380: Fish That Can't Be Pulled Up (Extra Chapter as Compensation for Everyone)

At night, the waves had not yet subsided and were still quite large; the fishing boats near the shore had gone out for only a short while before returning together as a group.

One cannot gamble with life; this storm had already taken more than two lives, and they did not know if there were deaths elsewhere.

It had rained for about twenty days, the roads were poor, nothing major had happened, no one went out to visit randomly, and news remained blocked.

Everyone discussed that perhaps they could go out again tomorrow night.

Ye Yaodong thought the same; after returning home, he lay back in bed and took another nap.

When his mother came over early the next morning, he finally heard about the old lady's unreasonable fussing from the day before and immediately looked at the old lady with a mix of helplessness and amusement.

The old lady had come over with his mother too, saying that due to the continuous rain, she had not visited in over twenty days, had not seen him or the children, and missed them.

"My father is only in his fifties; how could he possibly retire? Even if he were willing, I wouldn't be. He is only in his fifties and has decades left to live; retiring this early would make his bones rust. But if you want to move over here to live, that's fine too; moving over would make things livelier."

The old lady quickly waved her hands with a smile, "No, no, no. You already have trouble sleeping; having me come over would just add chaos. I live in the old house, and having your father and mother take care of me is already very good."

"Add what chaos? It's just a matter of an extra pair of chopsticks, but it is true that there isn't enough room to sleep. However, that is easy to solve; just build another room. There is still empty space nearby anyway. Back then, the vegetable plot wasn't planted very close to the house. Build another room on the empty space nearby, knock a hole through the wall inside the house to connect them, and install a door."

"Don't make trouble and fuss about building a house. There are so many empty rooms in the old house; what a waste. It is enough for us to live in. Don't fuss..."

Ye's mother rolled her eyes and said in a bad mood, "Do you have so much money you don't know where to spend it, building another house? Sleeping space is enough. Your wife taking care of three children is already enough; how can she manage if there is another old lady to look after?"

Hearing this, the old lady became unhappy. "Where do I need looking after? I am very easy to take care of; I don't wander around blindly."

Ye's mother glanced at her sideways and said nothing further; at her age, no matter how easy she was to take care of, others still had to pay some attention to her.

Ye Yaodong, however, felt they must build a room to bring the old lady over. He was not at ease having her stay in the old house; after all, in his past life, she only lived to be eighty-five. In the spring of 1987, she fell in the old house and did not survive.

Bringing her to live here, away from the old house, might allow her to escape her destined fate and live longer, especially since her health had always been quite robust.

Moreover, since getting the radio, she had looked radiant during this period with good spirits. Previously, she had gone around showing off to the old ladies in the village. His mother had even said that just yesterday, she had scolded his father with full vigor. Living a few more years should not be a problem.

She also wanted to live over here; the younger generation was all here, and the noise and bustle made it lively.

When people get old, don't they just want their children and grandchildren around them, lively and noisy? A radio can only pass the time; it cannot replace children and grandchildren.

He pondered this; conveniently, the Zhou family next door had started building their house on May Day. Although rain had stopped work for over twenty days, the weather had cleared now, and they had resumed construction.

He could borrow some materials from them; the craftsmen and labor were also readily available. Spending a bit of money and borrowing them for a few days would suffice, or he could borrow some materials and find a few other people to work. It was just a small room, so it wouldn't cost much.

His thoughts turned a hundred times, but in reality, the decision was made in a single instant.

He smiled and said, "Yes, you are very easy to take care of and can even help watch the children. They say an old person in the family is like a treasure; you are that treasure."

The old lady's aged face bloomed with joy. "It is good that you do not think I am old and useless."

Ye Ye Yaopeng, standing nearby, smiled and said, "Building another room is no big deal. My room and Dongzi's room are on opposite sides; adding one in between is very convenient."

"No need to make trouble; I am fine living in the old house." The old lady smiled and refused, then sat on the chair by the door and continued fiddling with her radio.

Lan Ye Dasao, hanging laundry nearby, smiled and said, "The old lady is very fortunate; every grandson wants to bring you over to live."

"Yes, they are all very filial and thoughtful. I am now enjoying the blessings of my children and grandchildren; even if I close my eyes now, it would be worth it."

"Why say such things?" Ye Yaodong said displeased.

"Hmm, I won't say that, I won't say that... hehe... I will turn the volume up so we can all listen to the story together."

"Listening to stories is great! It has been raining for a while, and the old lady hasn't come over for some time; we wanted to listen but couldn't." Lan Ye Ersao was also at the door and shouted upon hearing this.

"Hehe~ The weather is nice today~ We can sit at the door and listen to stories."

Ye Yaodong accompanied them, sitting at the door and listening for a while. It was already late June; the morning sun was very strong, but blocked by a black mesh grid, so only a little bit of light shone down.

Fortunately, they had tied up this sunshade net overhead; everyone sitting at the door felt no heat at all, and the breeze blowing over felt quite cool.

When night fell, Ye Yaodong got up as usual. Whether the waves were big or small, and whether the boats could go out, he had to get up, sail the boat out a bit, and check the wave size along the coast to know for sure.

No waves at the shore did not mean there were no waves in the open sea.

That was exactly what happened yesterday; by dusk, there were hardly any waves at the shore, but when they went out at night, the waves along the coast were still quite large, forcing everyone to return empty-handed.

Tonight, the sea spray was smaller, and the wind force was bearable, so the fishing boats boldly sailed toward the near-shore waters.

Ye Yaodong planned to check his old spot today. During the day, he had invited his eldest and second brothers, but they refused to move, feeling they were more familiar with their own "responsibility fields." They believed big fish would definitely appear after the big waves and did not intend to follow him.

If they didn't want to go with him, that was fine; he didn't mind either.

After dropping the longline, Ye Yaodong planned to check around the dark reefs to see if the branches he had placed were still there. Although so much time had passed, even if cuttlefish eggs remained on them, they would have hatched long ago; perhaps even the branches and buoys had been washed away by the waves.

But at least he should go take a look. If they were still there, he could retrieve them to dry and use as firewood. He had deployed quite a large number before; wasting them was not an option. Taking them back to burn as firewood could last for a month or so.

The imagination was good, but when he sailed over, he could not even find the buoys. He had deployed two batches back then, tying several buoys, but now not a single one remained.

"Forget it; if they are gone, they are gone. Let's go drag the net!"

"Is it possible that the father and his two sons brought people over here and took all our branches?" Ye's father couldn't help but guess.

"Very likely. After all, we caught cuttlefish and mullet for several days at my eldest brother's place. Maybe after I made them jump with anger, they came here the next day to block me. Never mind them; no one is idle enough to run around with them all day. Besides, the heavy rain just passed, and everyone is thinking of making a good catch."

"Hmm, you are right."

"Let's go; you steer the boat, and I will organize the fishing net."

He just didn't know which sea area the father and his two sons were fishing in; otherwise, he could easily call a few people and a few boats to block them.

The fishing net was slowly lowered into the sea, and the fishing boat began to move slowly. The sunshade net overhead rustled in the wind.

This sunshade net was a mesh that let wind through, so it would not affect the boat's movement due to the sea breeze.

Although it could block the sun, Ye Yaodong still wore his sun hat for double protection. In this big summer, with the bright sun shining high and the sea wind blowing hard, even a big white pig couldn't withstand it.

After hauling in one net, they caught about a hundred jin in fish, shrimp, and crab. The catch was twice the usual amount, including three small bluefin tunas. It was a pity they were only ten to twenty jin in weight, but even so, Ye's father was so happy his eyes squinted shut.

"Sure enough, there are good goods. Three small bluefin tunas can sell for a good price. It would be better if they were a bit bigger."

Ye Yaodong was also very satisfied. He first picked out the three bluefin tunas to bleed them, then placed them separately in a basket and sprinkled ice cubes over them.

There was no rush to sort the remaining fish, shrimp, and crab. The sun had just risen, and it was still cool; sorting them after the net was lowered again would not be too late.

They dragged three more nets in succession. He didn't know why, but today in this sea area, all his catches were tunas, all of the ten to twenty jin variety.

"Did the whole school of fish get driven here by the waves? Hey... wait, these few in this net are bombfish. Good heavens, they are taking advantage of the muddy water to fish, pretending to be tunas just because they look alike?"

While speaking, Ye Yaodong pulled four bombfish out of the pile of fresh catch. "The disguise was very good; even their body shape and weight were maintained to be almost the same."

Ye's father smiled and said, "These two types of fish are naturally similar; bombfish often mix in with tunas. It is normal. You go bleed them first; I will sprinkle ice cubes over these fish and shrimp, cover them, and store them in the cabin. We will sort them after docking so they don't spoil in the sun."

"Mm, since there's plenty of catch today, let's cast one more net. It's been over twenty days since we last went out to sea, so if we head back late today, so be it. Let's cruise around the nearby waters a few times, and once we've worked enough, we'll head back. Then when we're almost at the coast, we'll haul in the net — that way we can save a bit of time on the return trip."

"Alright."

After the father and son finished their work and cast one last net, the joy of a bountiful catch lingered on their faces.

When dusk was falling and they were nearly back to the coast, the father and son planned to haul in the net, but just then they noticed the boat was suddenly moving extremely slowly, as if it were stuck, swaying back and forth with the current.

"What's going on?"

"No idea? Did the engine have a problem?"

"Let's haul in the net first, we'll check it in a bit."

But when they tried to haul it in, the father and son were stunned again — the net hauler couldn't pull up the fishing net below!

"What's going on?"

The net hauler kept running, but after quite a while, the fishing net hadn't moved at all — not the slightest sign of being pulled up. This had never happened before.

What kind of catch is down there? So heavy that even the net hauler can't pull it up?