Chapter 902

There was still serious business to attend to in a while, so no one dared to urge drinking, and each person only poured a shallow bowl.

By the time they had finished most of their meal, the sound of the children outside the house boiling over with excitement also attracted their attention, and they all heard the rumbling sound of large vehicles approaching.

Everyone immediately put down their chopsticks and stood up in unison to walk outside.

A large group of children at the entrance had long been jumping and leaping with excitement as they rushed forward, with the adults behind them calling out, telling them to be careful and not to get run over by the vehicles.

The neighbors on the left and right, having heard the commotion at this time, also ran out of their houses, and everyone looked toward the not-so-distant distance.

A tall crane was driving toward the beach, followed by a large Jiefang truck with a spacious cargo bed.

It was fortunate that their beach was relatively remote and desolate, and the ground was wide, allowing large vehicles like the Jiefang truck and the crane to drive in; otherwise, there would have been no way.

"Ah, vehicles!"

"The vehicles are here..."

"Ah, my god, such a big vehicle, what kind of vehicle is that..."

"Wow... what kind of vehicle is that..."

"What kind of vehicle is that..."

The neighbors who were discussing it also hurriedly wanted to follow along to take a look.

Those who had just come out of their houses also hurriedly followed.

As soon as the crane and the Jiefang truck drove to the beach, they paused first. As soon as Chen Shuji and the others approached, someone immediately got off the vehicle and even gave a standard military salute, which made Ye Yaodong unable to help but stand up straight.

So it was sent over by the authorities recently; no wonder he was wondering how they could have arrived so quickly.

Ye Yaodong listened to them say a few words, and then Chen Juzhang climbed directly into the passenger seat of the Jiefang truck to lead the way in front.

The others were shouting for the fellow villagers to step back and not to get close to the large vehicles, letting the large vehicles pass first.

Once the vehicles started moving forward, the entire village of people followed behind, running with excitement all over their faces. At this moment, the number of people was even greater than in the afternoon, as basically everyone who had gone out to sea had returned.

After Ye Yaodong stood in place and watched for a moment, unexpectedly, he did not follow along, but instead gave Lin Xiuqing a word of instruction before turning back. He had to go home to get his camera!

When he returned from the sea after taking photos yesterday, he had brought the camera off the boat and taken it home together, just in case Aqing looked for it, so he could take it out directly to avoid being exposed.

Moreover, he didn't go out to sea every day, so there was no need to keep it fixed on the boat; it was too damp on the boat. Anyway, as long as he remembered to bring it when he went out to sea every day and brought it back when he returned, it basically wouldn't arouse suspicion.

Aqing wouldn't be willing to take it to take photos anyway.

He ran home in a hurry to get the camera, then instructed the old lady to lock the courtyard gate, and rode his bicycle toward the beach.

The old lady was sitting in the courtyard with Xiao Jiu, watching her play with a ball. The main room was a mess, and she didn't dare to clean it up, only daring to sweep the trash with shells on the tabletop, fearing that they would come back to continue eating after they were busy, and if she went to collect the bowls and chopsticks, it would be too awkward.

When Ye Yaodong went toward the beach, there were still people arriving late following behind, and the area outside the pier was already a sea of people.

He squeezed in bit by bit from the outer perimeter with great effort. The people on the side cursed angrily one after another, but after turning their heads and seeing it was him, they all took the initiative to make a spot for him.

Standing in the front row were the village cadres and Chen Shuji and those people, and the two people who had just driven the large vehicles over had already gone down to check. It just so happened that the tide had ebbed to the bottom at this time.

The basking shark stranded on the beach, following the two people's constant flipping of its fins, remained motionless. It would still move a couple of times before, but now it seemed to have lost its signs of life.

The others were also discussing whether it had been scorched to death?

"It should be dead, it's been scorched for a day, and it was stranded in the middle of the night. Although it's said there's a high tide, the water wasn't very deep. With such a large body, how much would it have to drink to be satisfied with water?"

"That's true, with such a large body, I don't even know how much it would have to eat just to eat."

"It must be dead, it's not moving at all, and how big and poisonous the sun is today..."

And Chen Juzhang and the others were discussing how to hoist this basking shark up?

After the people below checked and came up, they discussed and decided to simply and crudely use the crane to hook its mouth and lift it up.

Ye Yaodong fiddled with the camera in his hand. Anyway, the work ahead had nothing to do with him, so he prepared to find an excellent position. When the crane hoisted the basking shark up in a while, he just had to click away and take photos.

Fortunately, it wasn't dark yet; it was only past 6 o'clock and not yet 7 o'clock. It got dark late now, and it basically wouldn't be completely dark until 7:30. He would still be able to see in a while.

While Chen Juzhang was talking, he turned his head and happened to see him fiddling with the camera, and his eyes lit up.

"Oh, Comrade Ye Yaodong, you actually have a camera?"

"I do, I just bought it not long ago, just to make it convenient to take photos. Thinking that life is only a few decades long, shouldn't one leave behind more photos? Otherwise, it would be too regrettable. When I'm old and want to know what I looked like when I was young, I won't even know."

"Yes, yes, yes, it's good to have a camera. You take a few more photos in a while, and after they are developed, remember to mail me a copy."

"Okay, no problem. In a while, shall I take a group photo of Chen Juzhang and this big basking shark by the way?"

"Haha, this is good, then I'll trouble you. I'll pay for the money to develop the photos and the film."

"Oh, you say that and it makes it seem like we are strangers. There shouldn't be much film left in this, and after I take photos for you, I can take it to be developed tomorrow."

The village cadres on the side who were originally eager to move suddenly lost their spirit again. There's not much left...

Ye Yaodong also watched their actions, thinking that perhaps he could be merciful in a while and let them also take a group photo. You can't offend anyone, but you especially can't offend the village cadres; a county official is not as good as the person currently in charge.

After they discussed how to hoist it up, several village cadres took the initiative to start dispersing the villagers, telling them to step back and not to surround the large vehicles anymore, with everyone touching here and there.

And there were naughty children who, taking advantage of the adults not paying attention, boldly climbed onto the back of the Jiefang truck to jump and play.

They hurriedly called the children down and told them all to step back and not to crowd around.

However, although some retreated, there were also some who were stubborn and just wanted to get close to look. Later, they borrowed a broken fishing net nearby and pulled it open like a warning line to prevent people from getting close.

Then the crane started to operate, and the fellow villagers were in an uproar. Some of them had lived for half their lives and hadn't even been to the county town, so where had they ever seen a crane? Their expressions were no less than those of the children.

The children were even more unscrupulous, shouting with excitement. After all, who could refuse an engineering vehicle?

Ye Yaodong also deliberately stood a little further away, intending to take photos of the crane as well. But just as the basking shark was being hoisted up, the people below exclaimed, but the person operating it didn't hear, and the machine didn't stop.

He was stunned for a moment, but didn't care, and tried hard to focus and snap a photo.

It wasn't until a basking shark several meters long was hoisted to the open space on the shore that he knew why the people below had exclaimed just now.

When the basking shark was hoisted up, the skin on its belly kept moving, and the tails of several lampreys were still outside its belly, looking somewhat terrifying.

"Ah! What is this? Is that on the belly an eel?"

"It's a lamprey..."

"Oh, no wonder it died so quickly... I was saying how could such a big one die so easily..."

"So it turns out there was something inside the belly messing around. I said so, although it was stranded for a day and the sun was so scorching, there should have been water under the belly, so it shouldn't have died so quickly."

Ye Yaodong was also disgusted by the things wriggling inside the belly. Damn, they had already burrowed in. No wonder he was saying how he had only caught a dozen or so out.

That morning, it kept swaying its tail non-stop; presumably, it was struggling because of the pain, and it only became more and more on the verge of death later on.

Oh, what a pity, it was destined to be a death.

It can't be eaten after being slaughtered, so it can only be taken for research or made into a specimen. However, the fins are good...

He visually estimated that the length of the relatively large pectoral fin below was probably over one meter, and the width was also seventy or eighty centimeters.

Just the fins alone made this basking shark worth a lot. This is the legendary Tianjiu fin. However, most fellow villagers definitely didn't know the value of the basking shark's fins and definitely felt they were about the same as other shark fins, at most a little bigger.

It just depends on how these people handle it. The inland areas have just been lifted out of poverty, and this Tianjiu fin thing shouldn't have been hyped up yet; it should be more famous in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

If this is carried back, it is probably more likely to be taken for research. The basking shark is the second largest fish species only after the whale shark, and it is also something that can be met but not sought; it is rare to be able to encounter one that is stranded and injured.

If several fins are really taken and cut off to be made into Tianjiu fins, I'll see if I have money in a few years. If I have money, I'll buy them while the price is low.

Chen Juzhang also curiously squatted beside this basking shark and watched at close range. "Can the lampreys in its belly be caught out?"

"This is not easy to catch; they are all inside, so it has to be gutted."

Ye Yaodong said a sentence and kept retreating, and let Chen Juzhang turn his head to look at him, and he took the opportunity to snap a photo.

"Perfect, got it."

Chen Juzhang was happy and didn't say anything, continuing to lower his head to watch. After watching for a while, he also stood up and walked around this basking shark.

"Comrade Ye Yaodong, have you taken a photo of this whole one?"

"I only took photos of it in the sea."

"Then let's take a photo of this whole one, it's clearer to see on land."

"Okay." After Ye Yaodong finished taking the photo, he thought about it, "Chen Juzhang, shall we hoist it up and stand it high before taking another photo? If it stands up, it's estimated to be comparable to a building, and it will look more intuitive and shocking."

"Good, good, that's possible."

Chen Juzhang looked at such a big fish and was indeed very excited, agreeing in one breath and ordering people to hoist it up again.

"Wow~"

"Wow~"

"So big!"

The masses were in an uproar!

The shock of a basking shark seven or eight meters long being hoisted up, no one could imagine. Only by seeing it with their own eyes could they truly feel what is called huge.

When it was just hoisted up, it was equivalent to being dragged up, and it wasn't standing straight like this.

Everyone in their lives had never seen a fish taller than a house. Perhaps they had seen it in the sea, but how could the ones in the sea compare to being pulled up like this for comparison? Today can be considered an eye-opener.

If it weren't for the warning line pulled by the fishing net, the fellow villagers would have definitely rushed up to touch it.

And Ye Yaodong was also very sensible. After taking a photo of the standing basking shark, he took a separate photo for Chen Juzhang and also took a group photo for their group of people.

By the way, he also called out for the village leaders to come and take a group photo together, and by the way, let Chen Juzhang also help him take a group photo.

At such a high-light moment, how could there be no photo of him!