Chapter 597: Sea Pigs Surrounding a Black Mullet

Ye Yaodong had been busy hauling in the fishing net and hadn't really paid attention. Only when his father mentioned it did he look up and notice that boat really did seem to have been sitting still for quite a while.

Logically speaking, whether dragging the net or hauling it in, the boat should be moving at a steady speed; it only stops for a bit when the net has been hauled in but the new one hasn't been cast yet.

"Did their boat break down? But they haven't signaled for help either. We're right here—if something was wrong and they needed help, they'd have definitely raised the little red flag by now."

"True. Then maybe they're sorting things out after hauling in the net? Sorting the catch? That can't be right."

"Yeah, after hauling in the net they'd definitely sort things out and recast right away. One person drives the boat, the other sorts the net—that's enough. Forget it, let's not worry about other people. As long as it doesn't affect us, who cares how long they drift or sit out on the water."

"I'm just afraid something happened. Every year plenty of people die at sea. The day before yesterday, I heard two bodies drifted to the dock one after another. Folks living near the dock saw them, and a few households got together to drag the bodies up and haul them up the hill to bury them."

Ye Yaodong had also heard about it at home from Lin Lin Xiuqing—it was the neighbor's sister-in-law who told her.

"Forget it. Better not to get involved—who knows what kind of people are on that boat?"

Hopefully they're not some disgusting sort who'd bring trouble on themselves for no reason. His father was still too simple and honest.

"Alright then, let's keep dragging our net. If we happen to pass close by later, we'll take another look then."

"Mm, cast the net."

After exchanging a few words, father and son got back to work, though their attention stayed fixed on that distant boat.

That boat still hadn't moved, even as they cast their net and continued forward at a steady working speed.

Ye Yaodong couldn't help getting curious. Why was that boat just sitting there without moving?

Out at sea, everyone tried to haul in as much catch as possible—who would waste time just sitting still?

Even when taking a dump, with your backside sticking out, the boat kept on working.

After circling around the surrounding waters once, he couldn't help steering a bit closer to that boat. After all, he was just working normally—drifting a little closer while dragging the net was perfectly natural.

Because he realized that when they hit a school of fish, their boat also stopped there to haul in a big catch. The only difference was they never stayed that long, since fish schools moved—they'd haul in one or two nets and then have to chase after them.

There had been one time when a school of electric rays accidentally stunned the fish, and the surface suddenly became thick with small yellow croaker. Only then did they stay for a longer stretch to fish them up.

Thinking of this, he got a little excited. Hopefully they'd really stumbled on another school of fish, and that boat was hauling in a big catch—that's why it had been sitting there so long.

"Dad, that boat still hasn't moved. Should we head over and take a look?"

"Mm, let's go take a look. I told you ages ago to go over and check."

"I was afraid of stirring up unnecessary trouble. But it does feel a bit off. We'll just keep dragging the net and steer over, and take a peek while we're at it."

If they really had hit a school of fish, they could grab a share too.

"Mm."

Ye Yaodong adjusted his course slightly. The boat kept moving at a steady three or four nautical miles per hour—he didn't suddenly speed up, so as not to make the other side think they were up to something.

As the distance closed, that boat still hadn't moved. All it did was drift with the waves, rocking back and forth.

Gradually, they could see the people on board—two of them seemed to be leaning over the gunwale the whole time.

And there seemed to be something on the water's surface, popping up over and over?

Ye Yaodong couldn't help wondering—had they really hit a school of fish? Were they fishing right now?

Ye's father craned his neck to look and started muttering, "They didn't hit a school of fish, did they? Why else would they just sit there? What's that dark thing? A fish? That big? Are they stopped there trying to catch those few big ones?"

"There must be big fish—otherwise they wouldn't have stopped there."

As father and son talked, their hearts began to heat up with excitement.

"Get a little closer and we'll know."

"Haul the net while we move—otherwise we won't be able to stop later."

While hauling in the net, you can't stop—if you do, the net sinks to the bottom.

Luckily this net hadn't been down long, so there shouldn't be much in it. The net hauler was still pretty quick.

Father and son kept their eyes locked on the front, never looking away.

When they got a bit closer, they realized it was actually a boat belonging to someone they knew.

"Eh? That marking on the boat—doesn't it look like your Uncle Lin's?"

Ye Yaodong noticed it too, feeling a sense of familiarity. "It really is?! What a coincidence?"

They were acquaintances, so they had no hesitation about closing in.

As the distance shrank, they confirmed it—the things popping up at the surface every now and then were indeed big fish.

"Eh, even from this distance they look pretty big. Your Uncle Lin really struck it lucky. If only we'd come over earlier—I told you to go take a look and you didn't believe me!" Ye's father felt some regret at arriving late.

Hindsight!

Ye Yaodong grumbled to himself.

"How was I supposed to know? I was afraid of stirring up trouble. Did you forget that time last year when we hauled up ambergris?"

"Stop going off on tangents—get closer and take a proper look."

"Who doesn't know to get closer? Driving the boat takes time too—am I supposed to fly?"

Ye Yaodong talked back out loud, but in his heart he too was eager to close in. So much time had already passed—even if they couldn't get a bite of meat, a sip of soup would be good.

Both father and son were hoping that once they got closer, they'd see a big school of fish. But they didn't expect that as they approached, Uncle Lin's boat suddenly started moving too.

"Did they finish hauling, or did the school start moving off?"

Ye Yaodong said nothing, just kept steering forward. The net was still being hauled in—if the school had started moving, that was fine too; at least they wouldn't have to stop.

Ye's father didn't really expect an answer either. The two of them were stuck together—how could he possibly know what was going on?

Just to be prepared, he hurried into the cabin to grab the cast net, getting it ready so he wouldn't be fumbling later.

By the time only a little of their net was left to haul in, they could see a small patch of dark shadow on the water ahead.

Uncle Lin's boat, meanwhile, was chasing along and casting and hauling its net.

"There's more, there's more…"

Ye's father, gripping the cast net he'd just prepared, said excitedly.

Ye Yaodong sped up a little and followed. Once he reached the school of fish, he slowed down, and Ye's father took aim and quickly threw the net out.

They couldn't be bothered with greetings at this moment, planning to cast their nets first and talk later.

The two boats went one ahead and one behind, with a small patch of fish between them, each casting and hauling their nets.

Ye Fu's net had barely been cast when he hurriedly hauled it back in, then hung it on the roller and used the roller to pull it up.

Ye Yaodong steered the boat while keeping an eye on the trawl net behind them, watching whether it had been hauled up.

When Ye Fu's hand-cast net gradually closed and was pulled to the side of the boat, they could finally see that the dark, dense school of fish was a school of mullet.

"It's mullet—no wonder it looked like a small dark patch from here. And those big fish popping up ahead now and then, what are those? They look a bit like dolphins?"

"Wait till I get a good look, then we'll scoop a few up to see," Ye Yaodong kept watching all around. "Once this net is hauled in, let's first pull the trawl net at the stern up over the stern slide."

"Okay."

After the fishing boat opposite finished hauling one net, Lin Shu shouted over to them: "So that boat in the distance just now was you guys? I was wondering who it was. You're a step late."

Ye Fu shouted back while hauling his net: "We didn't know it was you either, or we'd have come over long ago. Good thing is, we can still scoop up some."

"It's almost all gone…"

Indeed, it was almost all gone—only a small patch remained.

While Ye Fu was casting his net, Ye Yaodong also saw basket after basket of mullet on Lin Shu's boat—a fair number of them. By his estimate, there must have been around a thousand jin, and he had no idea how many nets they had hauled in that short while.

Sigh~ all the fish had been scooped up by them! All the money had been earned by them too. He could only get a sip of the soup.

Mullet in their spawning season are especially sensitive to seawater temperature and salinity. When winter arrives, as the air and seawater temperatures drop, schools of mullet in the Northwest Pacific swim south in groups, seeking waters suitable for spawning.

Therefore, when the weather turns cold in December, mullet often migrate southward along the nearshore waters of the western coast of the bay and spawn in the surrounding seas.

It wasn't just mullet—Lin Shu's boat also had three big fish that looked like sea pigs.

He also shouted over to Lin Shu, "Uncle, are those on your boat sea pigs?"

"Yes, that's why I said you guys are late. A group of sea pigs was leading the mullet school and staying right there just now, a dark dense patch. My trawl just happened to drift over and ran right into them, so I quickly cast nets around to scoop them up."

"What luck!"

"You guys also drifted your trawl over nearby, right?"

"We've been trawling around this area all along, just didn't expect to run into you today."

"I also just happened to trawl over here. Feels like there are several more trawlers in the second half of the year. We ran into one before you, so that's why I came over here."

More and more fishing boats—that was inevitable.

Ye Yaodong saw Ye Fu haul up the hand-cast net and set it aside, then hurry to the stern to haul in the trawl net. He quickly stopped the boat and went to the stern to help.

That trawl net itself was very heavy—not easy for one person to pull up.

But just as he reached the stern, his father shouted: "Dongzi, come help! There are two sea pigs inside!"

"Huh? Coming, coming…"

He quickened his steps and ran over. His father was straining to pull the net, so he rolled up his sleeves and pitched in at once.

The two of them together hauled the trawl net onto the boat, and the two largest sea pigs inside were still twitching a few times.

"Didn't expect to still be able to pick up a bargain—two of them at once."

Ye Fu was overjoyed too. "Good, good, we made it in time, still able to drag up two of them. We can sell them for quite a bit of money."

"Leave them there for now. I'll go steer the boat and see if we can catch up with the mullet school again. You go pour out the fish from the hand-cast net and cast one or two more nets."

"Aye…"