Chapter 426: Half in Doubt, Half Believing

The father and son kept looking back and watching the surrounding sea as they rowed, but thankfully no more trouble occurred, and that whale shark didn't follow them again.

As the father and son neared the shore, they saw that fishing boat of less than 30 meters drifting in the middle of the sea, swaying with the wind and waves.

There was no one on the fishing boat. Listening to Lin Lin Guangyuan talk about it when he came back yesterday, those people had almost finished the salvage, and after tidying up the follow-up work, they would gradually be pulling out of Bai Sha Village.

This fishing boat was too big, and the water near the shore was too shallow for it to dock, so it could only drift far out in the middle of the sea, with small boats ferrying people to shore.

It was estimated that it would be returned today. They heard renting one for a month cost several hundred, but for those people that amount was nothing, and no one knew how many treasures they had salvaged or how much they could earn in the middle.

At this time there weren't many boats at the shore—they were all out working—but there were plenty of people at the dock, because the Goddess Mazu Temple was situated just a dozen or so meters from the dock, and all around were villagers coming and going working on building the temple, plus those outsiders, making this whole area especially lively.

The donation shed was still set up there too, with someone sitting there every day as usual waiting, so donations could be made at any time. This job was also very easy—just sitting there in the shade—and the village cadres were all very willing to do it.

Even though construction had been going on for half a month, occasionally one or two people really did come by to donate money, all of them from the surrounding area who had only heard about it after returning from sea.

With a sunshade shed there, it was very convenient for the workers, and they had a place to shade from the sun when eating and resting, instead of being exposed to the sun all day.

It was rare for the father and son to come back empty-handed for a whole day. They didn't even retrieve their longlines, just left them in the sea, planning to collect them tomorrow. After all, the sea looked calm these past two days, so leaving them longer would yield more catch, though lost hooks were unavoidable—anyway, it was all a matter of luck.

They thought the scene of that whale shark attacking the fishing boat out at sea had only been seen by a few boats, and since they had come back quite early, word probably hadn't spread yet.

They didn't expect that the moment they stepped ashore dragging the damaged fishing net, the villagers on the shore were already there discussing how ferocious the whale shark was.

They didn't know it was a whale shark—what came out of their mouths was all about a whale or a big fish attacking the fishing boat, how terrifying it was, how the fishing boat had reportedly been smashed to smithereens, how scary it was...

Ye Yaodong was puzzled—could it be that among those three boats out at sea, besides his and A Zheng's small one, the other two boats also had villagers from this village?

And those people had gotten back even earlier than them? Otherwise how would the villagers know so quickly?

Ye's father was also surprised. "How does everyone in the village already know?"

"Who knows? Maybe there was one of our village's boats nearby at the time. We'll listen and find out later..."

The father and son both pricked up their ears as they listened, while hauling that fishing net, dozens of meters long, onto the cart. The trawl net itself looked especially heavy because of its thick twine, and with all the lead sinkers hanging on it, it looked especially heavy.

After they had hauled the whole net onto the cart, they curiously squeezed into the crowd to find out.

It turned out the newspaper people had seen it—and they heard those people had even taken photos.

"Newspaper? The newspaper people haven't left yet? They went out to sea for fun too?" Ye Yaodong asked curiously out loud.

Because the Goddess Mazu temple construction had been in the newspaper, the newspaper people also knew there was a shipwreck to salvage here, and during this period newspaper people would come to the village from time to time to take photos.

They would also go out to sea with the salvage team to photograph the artifacts just brought up, preparing material to publish in the newspaper.

Who would have thought that before leaving they actually went to the nearshore waters too?

"Not yet. I heard they were curious about fishermen working at sea, and wanted to go out to sea for the experience before leaving, and take a few photos along the way. They asked our villagers to take them out and they hauled one net, and they really hauled back quite a lot of catch... over 30 jin of mantis shrimp in one net..."

It was the newspaper people—no wonder they had gotten back before him. He had lost quite a bit of time clearing the fishing net off the whale shark back then.

No wonder the moment he got back the dock was already buzzing with the news.

Ye Yaodong quickly cut them off to keep them from going off topic. "Ah... so they just got back too?"

"Yeah, I heard they took a lot of photos. I heard that big fish was super huge, more than ten meters, don't know if it's true..."

"Really? How could newspaper people lie? If it weren't that big, how could it have smashed a fishing boat apart? I heard them say they want to publish it in the newspaper too, don't know when we'll get to see it... Sigh... does your family get the newspaper?"

"Who's going to spend money on a newspaper subscription? We'll just go check at the village committee when the time comes..."

"Developing those photos will take ten days to half a month too, right?"

"Not necessarily. Photo studios take ten days to half a month to develop photos because they haven't used up the roll yet. Newspaper people take so many photos in a day, they can definitely get them developed in a day or two."

"Makes sense... tsk tsk tsk~ more than ten meters, that's the size of a boat. That... that fish must weigh several tons, right? I've never in my life seen a fish that big. Who would've thought these people would run into one the moment they went out to sea, what luck..."

"Luck my ass. I heard they were almost scared out of their wits, but they were really curious, so they plucked up courage and watched from a distance as that big fish smashed that boat to pieces. I heard the big fish actually chased them afterwards too, good thing they ran fast."

"Yeah, I heard they were scared out of their souls... but being able to see a fish that big, and one that attacks fishing boats too, none of us have ever seen that..."

Ye Yaodong thought of those people from Luzhoudao and hurriedly asked again: "What about the people on the boat?"

"I heard Old Zhou and his son who were driving the boat saw someone in the sea clinging to driftwood, but they didn't dare stop, afraid the big fish would catch up and they'd be in trouble too."

"That's right, with a big fish chasing behind, who would dare stop..."

Ye's father listened to the gossip for a while, and only now found a chance to speak. He said indignantly: "Those people couldn't be saved, good thing they weren't saved. Those people were from Luzhoudao. If they'd pulled them aboard, they'd probably have robbed you of your whole boat."

"How do you know they were people from Luzhoudao?"

"Oh, those Luzhoudao pirates, that was a fine beating, serves them right, couldn't save them, couldn't save them..."

Ye's father, spitting as he talked, told them about the encounter with the pirates, saying it was a good thing that big fish had taken the first hit and taught them a lesson, otherwise they might well have been robbed.

At this point someone in the crowd slapped his thigh. "Oh... Old Zhou said that when they were shaking off the big fish and getting ready to come back, they seemed to see in the distance that big fish floating on the sea surface again, with two boats beside it—could that have been you guys?"

"What? You ran into a fish that big and didn't run? Weren't you afraid of being eaten outright?"

Ye Yaodong's heart stirred—could they have taken photos of him removing the fishing net from the whale shark?

Going with the flow of conversation, Ye's father also excitedly told them about his experience at sea. "Don't be fooled by that fish being more than ten meters long, it was actually quite gentle. As for smashing that Luzhoudao boat to pieces, it was because that boat's propeller hit it, and on top of that they had the nerve to try catching that big fish with a net, wrapped it up tight, and the net even cut into its flesh..."

"Thanks to Dongzi. Seeing it following us the whole time, Dongzi said it was asking for help, so he thought about helping it get the net off. Believe it or not, that fish was really huge, as long as our boat. When he climbed onto the fish he looked as small as an ant, and it took him over an hour just to untangle the net..."

"Wow~"

The crowd immediately erupted~

There was actually someone bold enough to climb onto a fish that big?

"For real? You're bullshitting, right?"

"Yeah, a fish that big and you actually climbed on top? Weren't you afraid it'd swallow you in one bite? Didn't they say it could destroy a boat..."

"Exactly, Ye Lao San, don't spout nonsense without thinking..."

Waves of disbelieving rebuttals came from the crowd. They thought it was too bizarre—a fish that big had just attacked a fishing boat, and now it was supposedly asking them for help?

And they were saying that fish weighing several tons was gentle?

Why couldn't they believe it?

Saying that fish ate people would be more like it...

Ye's father, face stern, said angrily: "Why would I lie to you? Is there any need to lie to you? Call Old Zhou over and ask him, was there someone on that big fish or not?"

"Besides, before we ran into that Luzhoudao boat, we had already run into this fish. It was underwater stealing the catch from our net, bit through our fishing net, and we even brought the net back specially to mend it."

Ye Fu finished speaking and pointed at the cart beside him. "Look... see that fishing net? Because of that fish, we all came back empty-handed today. Otherwise, who would come back this early?"

"And after we ate that fish, it swam right up to our boat and begged us for food. Dongzi even dumped all the leftover bait from the bucket and gave it to the fish."

"Its mouth was almost a meter and a half wide when it opened — it really did look scary — but it didn't have any sharp teeth. We saw it with our own eyes, the fish was right in front of us..."

Ye Fu rambled on without pause, describing in full detail what the fish looked like, the pattern on its body, and the shape of the teeth in its mouth.

"Ah!"

Everyone looked at Ye Fu in disbelief, feeling as if he were talking in his sleep.

"For real? You even fed that fish?"

"Its mouth opened that wide, and you weren't scared? You still dared to go up to it? Really? Why does nobody believe me?"

"Believe it or not, why would I bother lying to you?"

Ye Fu had simply spoken as the words came to him — he hadn't meant to show off. But he'd described the fish in such detail, and these people still didn't believe him?

That was a bit frustrating.

"Didn't you guys say Old Zhou saw two fishing boats next to the big fish? The other boat belonged to Dongzi's friends — one seems to be called Li Li Xiaozheng and Lin Jianyao. They go by their nicknames all the time, I almost forgot what their real names were..."

"Are you serious?"

"Adong really climbed onto the big fish to untangle the net?"

"And he really fed it?"

"That awesome? Not scared? What if it really eats people?"

"I can't even imagine it — something that huge. I can't picture what a fish over ten meters long even looks like. How big would that be?"

Seeing how earnestly and confidently Ye Fu spoke, and how detailed his description was, everyone was half-convinced, half-doubting, and turned to ask Ye Yaodong beside him.

"Adong, is it true? Everything you said — is it all true?"

"So was that fish a whale or a shark?"

Ye Yaodong stood there with his hands in his pockets, listening to everyone talk, and an inexplicable air of showing off came over him.

"It's a whale shark. I forget who told me, but they said it's the gentlest kind of shark — no sharp teeth, it won't eat people, no need to be afraid. Most fish won't eat people either; they probably think humans are all just ribs and would hurt their teeth."