Chapter 937: The fishing is nearing its end

The sun slanted westward, casting its reflection upon the sea, creating a shimmering golden glow. Ye Yaodong was already satisfied with the earnings from this jellyfish expedition. Even if they couldn't catch much in the coming days and could only earn enough to cover labor costs, he wouldn't mind; the harvest was already substantial enough.

The sea urchins were an unexpected joy, the icing on the cake.

He hoped they would sell for a good price so he could give everyone a large red envelope—a celebration for all. Those who went into the water to help catch sea urchins would get two.

The crew members on the boat were also looking forward to the sea urchins fetching a good price. If that happened, they could continue to dive and catch more, earning an extra day's wages each day.

Originally, three yuan a day for following along was already a high wage. Adding two more yuan for a few dives made it five yuan a day, which was already excellent.

Even without the extra money, since they were hired to work and the employer asked them to salvage, they would still have to go into the water, though grumbling would be inevitable; everyone would likely complain.

Now that they could earn an extra two yuan, everyone was incredibly satisfied. They followed along precisely to earn a bit more money.

As they headed toward the town, more and more fishing boats gathered around, most likely belonging to their own people, all timing their return to the city.

By the time they reached the coast, many small wooden boats were still fishing there; it was unclear if they had already sold their goods or hadn't returned yet.

As soon as they docked, Ye Yaodong had people move Pei Fu's goods ashore first, followed by his own.

For Pei Fu's goods, A Guang just needed to keep the cargo list himself.

As for his own goods, he didn't have time to manage them today either, so he handed them over to A Guang to handle. When he was free later, he could just calculate the money based on the cargo list. He needed to prioritize that batch of nearly 500 jin of sea urchins.

After all the jellyfish were moved ashore, he told the others not to move anything else yet, leaving one person to watch, while the others went to watch the goods being sold and helped with the moving. He needed to go to the several purchasing points at the pier to ask about prices.

Those purchasing points were also quite makeshift, not much different from the small shed at their pier. With the jellyfish season recently underway, they were all there buying jellyfish, and no one was catching fish.

When he went to the purchasing points, the open space was piled high with jellyfish, and tractors were waiting at the entrance, everyone busy moving them onto the vehicles.

"Hey? Is the boss here?"

"What for? Do you have too many jellyfish and can't sell them?"

"No... I wanted to ask you, do you want sea urchins? How much per jin?"

The thin, short man looked him over suspiciously. "Are there many? If it's just a little, I don't want them. I don't have time to deal with those small things; everyone is busy buying jellyfish now."

"Several hundred jin. See if you want them; if not, I'll ask someone else."

The boss was surprised. "Several hundred jin? That's fine then. If it were just a few jin or ten-odd jin, I wouldn't waste the effort."

"How much are you buying them for?"

"Five cents."

Damn!

"Forget it." Ye Yaodong turned to leave; the man wasn't being sincere at all.

"Hey, wait. This is a one-off deal, and five cents isn't a small amount. Besides, now isn't the time to be buying these things. Everyone is busy with jellyfish and has no time for these scattered goods. If you go ask someone else, they'll give you about the same price, or maybe they won't even bother buying them."

"I just saw that your storefront is a bit bigger than the others and you have more goods, so I thought I'd come ask you first. Five cents... I'm not a fool, and it's not like I've never sold anything before."

"Hehe, well, seeing as you have a lot of goods, I'll make it six cents. Seven cents, seven cents it is. If you don't sell, I won't bother."

Ye Yaodong took out a fist-sized sea urchin. "Does this quality require a higher price? It's not like the small sea urchins we usually see. This one is worth two of those."

"Oh?" The boss took it, surprised. "This is a deep-sea variety. Where did you get it?"

"Caught it on the seabed."

"Hmm..."

"Just tell me if this kind requires a higher price. I'm a fisherman and I've sold plenty of goods; I know the value of things. Don't try to bully me just because I'm from out of town."

"I trust you. I heard from local fishermen that you're more fair here, so I didn't go ask anyone else and came straight to you."

The boss frowned. "Then... let's make it twenty cents. My prices are very fair. If you go ask elsewhere, they might just bully you for being an outsider."

"Add a bit more."

"No, that's the price. If you don't sell, go ask someone else."

"Twenty-two cents, just twenty-two cents. By this evening, I can bring you another few hundred jin, and there will be more tomorrow. It's a long-term business, do we have a deal?"

"More tonight, and more tomorrow? Really?"

"Really. Why would I lie to you? It does me no good. I'm still going to be catching jellyfish here, no need to lie to you."

The boss stared at him for a while, then hesitated. "Fine, I'll take them at a loss. At twenty-two cents, I'm not even making money; I'm just doing a good deed..."

"Good, good. I'll go call people to move them over now. It's just that the quantity is large; otherwise, I wouldn't bother taking them out to sell. We have plenty of people, we could just eat them ourselves."

"What a waste to eat them. If they can be sold for money, of course they should be sold for money..."

Ye Yaodong had already walked out, while the boss was still talking behind him.

The baskets of sea urchins moved ashore had sharp, needle-like spines that shone black, and the sizes were very uniform; there was no need to sort them at all.

The purchasing point boss lifted a basket, poured it out, and checked it. There was no fishy business or mixed sizes, and he was quite satisfied.

He poured out all the baskets, returned Ye Yaodong's baskets to him, and then weighed them directly.

They were all old hands, and their estimates of weight were very accurate. He said it was nearly 500 jin, and when weighed, it was indeed 490 jin, selling for a total of 107.8 yuan.

Ye Yaodong was very satisfied. Everyone had only taken turns diving twice at noon, and they already had this harvest, even though everyone was still unfamiliar with it during the first dive.

When they go back later and dive again, the evening harvest should be even larger.

However, one shouldn't dive too many times a day.

With longer intervals and more rest, it was fine; just don't dive continuously.

He decided not to dive in the early morning when the water was cold, but to dive twice at noon and twice in the afternoon. That would be just right, like swimming a few laps in the water, taking it easy.

They could earn an extra 200 yuan a day, and with over half a month left, they could earn an extra two or three thousand, which was the icing on the cake.

If they couldn't catch them all, they'd wait for next year; it would compensate for the loss of jellyfish catch next year.

After receiving the money, Ye Yaodong led his people away happily, while the boss was still shouting behind him, telling him to remember to bring more in the evening.

Ye Yaodong, with his back to the man, just waved his hand twice to indicate he understood.

A Guang was still busy over there. By the afternoon, all the fishing boats had docked, and calculating the harvest and accounts in batches wasn't that fast.

He greeted him, saying he would come back later in the evening to get the list and settle the money, leaving it with him for now, and then led his people away.

They had to hurry; otherwise, it would be too late, the sun would set, the temperature would drop, and it would be easy to catch a cold.

Ye Fu was also waiting eagerly there. Seeing them return, he immediately steered the boat over, climbed across, and asked. Knowing they sold for over 100, he was also extremely happy.

"That's pretty good, pretty good. To sell for over 100, and with three waves of diving a day, we can sell for over 300. This isn't much less than the jellyfish, and the daily jellyfish harvest might not even be this much from now on."

"I plan to let them dive only twice a day, once at noon and once in the afternoon. Don't dive in the early morning; the temperature is low, and it's easy to catch a cold."

"That works too. Since there are fewer jellyfish now, sea urchins can fill the gap, so the income can still keep up with before."

Ye Yaodong nodded.

While they were talking, the eldest cousin had already actively put on his mask and fins.

"Dongzi, should I go down now?"

"Oh, sure."

The eldest cousin plunged into the water with a splash.

Diving early meant finishing early, which allowed for earlier rest, avoiding the low visibility in the water after the sun set later.

Everyone was watching there. Ye Fu told the other boat to go catch jellyfish on their own, as he would watch here. Anyway, they didn't need that many people; five people on that boat were already too many.

Ye Yaodong leaned against the gunwale, smoking, pondering that if they went back tonight, they could arrange for more people to rest starting tomorrow, and also watch the house.

The people on his boat would remain the same, while on the other boat, he would arrange for three people to rest and three to fish, alternating day by day.

Anyway, jellyfish were only popping up here and there occasionally now, so they didn't need many people; three were enough to handle it.

Everyone was watching there, chatting while watching, guessing how many jin they could harvest this time.

"If there were more of these diving tools, it would be convenient, and we could catch more. I just don't know how much they cost."

"It must be hard to get; they say it was only obtained through connections."

"Mainly, we don't usually need them. When the weather gets cold, who would dive to the bottom of the water? It would freeze you to death."

"Anyway, can't we come back next year?"

"Next year is still a long way off. Why talk about next year? Better to guess how much more we can harvest this time?"

"Definitely can, should be able to harvest about 60 jin..."

"That purchasing point boss was too much of a bully to outsiders; he said five cents at first, too excessive..."

"Exactly. If we took them to our pier, the common kind would be worth seven or eight cents. I don't know how much these deep-sea large ones are worth, but definitely higher than the price here."

"When the last day comes, we'll take them straight home to A Cai. Don't sell to them; these outsiders are too bad."

"Normal. Outsiders get bullied everywhere they go..."

Everyone chatted, and after a good while, the eldest cousin surfaced.

This time, there was no need for Ye Fu to do anything; they spontaneously had one person turn the wheel to collect the goods, and the rest helped pull the eldest cousin up.

"How many jin this time?"

"Don't know. Estimating weight underwater isn't accurate. We'll know once we collect it. Who's next?"

"Me, me, me..."

"Then let it be Chen Shi."

"Okay."

"I think your stutter seems to have improved a bit..."

"S-s-still okay..."

From stuttering eight words to stuttering three, there was indeed progress, Ye Yaodong thought to himself.

The eldest cousin had indeed improved this time, and could harvest fifty or sixty jin. Once familiar, the harvest would definitely be larger each time.

Ye Yaodong also took his turn with them, but he went last.

This was his fourth time diving today, but now the sun was setting, and the light on the seabed wasn't as sufficient as at noon, even hazier than at noon, but still barely visible, so at most they could only dive twice this afternoon.

He pushed aside the nearby water plants and headed straight for the trench, his goal clear, aiming for a quick decision.

After both turns were finished, the sky had darkened a bit, and the horizon was filled with sunset glow. After Ye Yaodong climbed up, they hurried to steer the boat back.

For the other boat, his father had already arranged for it to return to the island first. There were still net bags they had placed, and every evening they would return to the island first, collect the net bags, and transport the jellyfish together after separating them.

The evening wave sold more than the afternoon, because everyone was familiar with the ropes and efficiency was higher, selling a full 135 yuan, an increase of one-third.

Ye Yaodong was incredibly satisfied. After putting away the money, he planned to tell the people staying to watch the house tomorrow to buy some meat and add a meal tomorrow to reward everyone.

As for the sea urchins pried off the seabed when they first dived at noon, he never took them out to pass them off as others, keeping them to add to the meal in the evening.

And today, the total price of jellyfish sold also shrank.

After returning home, A Guang gave him the money he hadn't settled in the afternoon.

For the whole day today, the amount for the two boats was less than 750; he wouldn't mention the small change. The bulk was still the money from selling jellyfish blood, which was caught in the previous two days, dried yesterday, and sold this morning.

Moreover, they received goods this morning as usual, and it only started shrinking in the afternoon. It is estimated that the money sold tomorrow and the day after will be even less, because the bulk of the jellyfish blood is less.

Originally, the price dropped because of the increase in goods, and now it's even worse.

People in the next room were already discussing settling the accounts today and starting to fish on their own tomorrow. Anyway, the trench had been fished almost empty by them, and there was no point in partnering up.

Fortunately, a large patch of sea urchins was still growing in the trench, which could allow him to make up for the loss.

When they returned in the evening, everyone had spread the word, knowing he had discovered a sea urchin nest at the bottom of the trench, and everyone was envious, but they also knew that tools were needed to get to the bottom of the water more than ten meters deep.

One by one, they instantly felt regretful and could only shake their heads.

In this situation, they had no ability to get a share, and could only watch eagerly.

But it was also fine; everyone had earned a lot during this time, and basically felt grateful. Those who came last year were able to share the place with them, allowing them to earn this money too.

Although A Zheng and Xiao Xiao had dived with Ye Yaodong to get those river clams before, in the current situation, Ye Yaodong didn't invite them to join, and of course, they were too embarrassed to take the initiative to speak up, so they could only hold it in.

After all, he had also hired long-term workers to dive, so there was no need to share profits with them, and calling them to partner up to dive didn't require that many people.

Ye Yaodong arranged for three people to rest the next day, and the rest continued to go to sea.

The villagers were somewhat unwilling to give up, not believing the trench had been dug empty by them, harboring fantasies that a large batch would pop up after one night.

So early in the morning, everyone didn't go fishing in different directions, but all headed toward the trench.

And after one night, the trench indeed had quite a few jellyfish popping up as everyone thought, and everyone's faces showed joy, but after a while, they pulled long faces again.

That little bit popping up, where was it enough for their twenty-five boats to catch?

It was just a few grabs, at most half an hour, before they were surrounded by the group and scraped clean.

Even those with a diameter of about ten centimeters were not spared; it was simply a total kill.

After it was completely empty again, everyone dispersed and went to search on the sea surface again.

The trench was left with only their two boats again. Ye Yaodong thought about it; there was no need for both their boats to be here for the occasional one or two popping up. Anyway, they didn't dive early in the morning.

He let his father's boat stay in the trench to fish sporadically, while he steered his boat out to the sea surface to turn around, catching as many as he could, maximizing efficiency and saving everyone from just staring blankly there.

Ye Fu also agreed very much. "That works too. My boat is enough here. Remember to watch the time and come back early when the time is up."

"Got it."

"Don't worry about sending goods back to the pier later; I'll go. You take your brothers and dive early to see if you can dive one or two more times and get more sea urchins up."

Ye Fu felt heartbroken yesterday when he knew the jellyfish were fished out and the income shrank by nearly a quarter. This was all money, and it would be even less tomorrow and the day after.

He also hoped to catch more sea urchins to compensate. Anyway, after he finished sending the goods and returned, he could still catch all the jellyfish that floated up and hadn't drifted away.

"That works too. Then I'll go wander around the surrounding sea surface first to find them."

"Go, go, and don't run too far."

"Got it."

Ye Yaodong steered the boat aimlessly around the sea. Occasionally, when he saw jellyfish drifting by, he would have people poke them, and if they were close, he would use a hand net to scoop them up.

Sometimes he would just turn off the engine, let the fishing boat drift with the wind and water, and find them by fate. Anyway, since he already had sea urchins as a fallback, he would catch as many jellyfish as he could now, leaving it to fate.

Sometimes, only when he saw them would he steer the boat over with purpose.

It was probably not the end yet, as there were quite a few jellyfish drifting nearby. In one morning, they caught two or three thousand jin just by fishing sporadically like this, not worse than waiting for a rabbit in the trench.

It could be said to be better than nothing, but not as good as before.

The near-shore sea area was wide and large, so there would be more targets to find, and they didn't need to compete with a bunch of small wooden boats like they did along the coast.

These areas further away could only be fished by their trawlers; small wooden boats couldn't reach here.

Ye Yaodong watched the time and returned, moving all the separated goods to his father's boat. While they were moving, Uncle Pei also timed it and steered back.

However, after Ye Fu steered the boat away, Uncle Pei didn't leave immediately, but asked curiously.

"Are you planning to dive now?"

Just now while moving, Uncle Pei saw their boat was empty, without sea urchins, and had already asked suspiciously, and he had explained it.

"A bit later. It's only eight o'clock now, let's relax a bit, no rush."

"Oh, I thought you were going to dive now and wanted to take a look. Since you're not diving now, is it convenient to let me take a look at your diving equipment and let me try it?"

Everyone has curiosity, and Ye Yaodong shrugged indifferently.

"Sure, then climb over."

This wasn't his own father, and he didn't want to be annoying by persuading him not to dive or anything, lest he be thought of as stingy. Men of this age were all somewhat unwilling to admit defeat, so letting him try it was nothing.

Uncle Pei hooked his boat with a hook, brought the two boats together, and climbed over nimbly, seeing the tools they had already taken out and prepared in the corner.

He looked curious, flipped through them with great interest, and asked Ye Yaodong to teach him how to wear them.

Ye Yaodong also put them on him one by one, and tirelessly explained the precautions again, along with some other things.

Actually, he felt quite annoyed inside. Who likes to explain things over and over? He could only pretend to be patient and willing to share everything on the surface. Since this was an elder, and also a friend's father and an in-law, he had to be polite.

Uncle Pei also went into the water as he said.

But after only five minutes, Uncle Pei came up immediately.

"Why so fast?" Ye Yaodong was surprised.

Everyone also helped pull Uncle Pei up.

"Sigh, I'm old, can't do it. I went to the bottom and saw that trench, and it was just as you said. Actually, I didn't feel uncomfortable anywhere, but when I lowered my head and saw that long trench like a black hole, I couldn't help but panic, always worried about what strange things might crawl out of that black hole-like place at the bottom."

Ye Yaodong's expression was understanding.

"Oh, I see. That's very normal. Two cousins also dived before, and they also felt scared after going down and came up. It should be thalassophobia, feeling that the bottom is unfathomable, and panicking when looking down, let alone falling to the bottom."

Uncle Pei nodded. "That's probably it. But I also felt a bit panicked when descending to the seabed, not knowing how deep the bottom could be, but it wasn't as bad as the moment I saw the trench."

"Sigh... I originally wanted to try it and take a look. If it was very useful, I would grit my teeth and see if I could ask you to buy one. Now it seems I'm not cut out for this..."

Ye Yaodong: "..."

Uncle Pei really knew how to think.

Before, they didn't have much contact, and he only thought he was an elder who was easy to talk to, running to their house to drink every day. Occasionally, when they bumped into each other at home, he didn't say anything and could laugh and drink with them.

Now it seems that people are all thinking for themselves.

Still, one's own father is the best. No matter how good others are, they all have selfish motives and ideas.

"Alright, then I'll go over first."

"Oh, okay."

After watching his boat sail away, others also asked him.

"Dongzi, is this thing hard to get?"

"Who said that? It's hard to get. Where can you say you can get it just because you want to?"

"Then Uncle Pei just wanted to ask you to get one."

"He was just taking it for granted. It's good he gave up the idea," Ye Yaodong pursed his lips and changed the subject. "Alright, there are jellyfish popping up over there. Go catch them, don't let them drift away or sink into the water again."

"Oh, right away."

After everyone's focus shifted, they chatted about other things.

Until 9 o'clock, Ye Yaodong let them finish catching the jellyfish on the sea surface before calling them to start taking turns diving.

If there were more popping up later that could be reached, he would let others poke them with bamboo poles, and if they couldn't be reached, he would wait for his father to return to catch them.

This wave was like this, and the afternoon wave was also like this.

The sea urchins were also sent back by his father in the afternoon to be sold. This time the efficiency was higher, selling for 150, and everyone was even more skilled.

By evening, the difference wasn't big, and it still sold for over 150.

Equivalent to today, the income from sea urchins alone reached 300 yuan.

But correspondingly, the number of jellyfish was less. After all, today's morning couldn't be compared with yesterday's morning, and the jellyfish blood couldn't be compared either.

In the next few days, the income from sea urchins remained stable at 300 or a little over 300 per day, depending on everyone's state that day.

The daily selling price of jellyfish also tended to be stable, belonging to a stable decrease. Without the natural trench, the daily income was cut by one-third to one-half, and at the best time, the two boats could sell for over 600.

But as time went on, the selling price kept dropping. In just a few days, it had already dropped to 500, which meant the number of jellyfish was also gradually decreasing, and it was estimated that the peak season was almost over.

They had been fishing peacefully, and as the quantity of their goods decreased significantly, the locals looked at them more favorably, and everyone was the same.

They kept fishing until the end of the month, during which there was a torrential rain that lasted for three days and two nights before clearing up.

These two months could be considered as the weather being kind, with the weather being very good most of the time. In the middle of summer, there were few cloudy days, basically either big sun or heavy rain affected by typhoons. This month was at most swept by the tail of a typhoon, affecting it for a few days.

Fishing for jellyfish didn't require fishing nets, and they didn't need to fish for three days and dry nets for two days. Only on rainy and cloudy days, which were not suitable for fishing, did they rest.

Actually, those workers who fished for jellyfish were quite relaxed. In the second half of the month, they took turns every day, with half resting and half fishing.

It was just the four people who dived for sea urchins and him, the boat boss, who would be a bit harder.

Without comparison, there is no harm. Pay should be proportional to income.

There was no reason for them to have to take turns diving while others were taking turns resting. Subsidies were deserved.

He was so diligent, so he deserved to make money.

By the end of the month, their daily income from sea urchins remained fixed at around 300, but the jellyfish income had plummeted and couldn't be compared with sea urchins.

Although so, it was better than nothing, so everyone decided to continue fishing for two more days. Although it dropped significantly, it was still better than trawling. One boat could earn over 100 a day, and after deducting labor and fuel expenses, it was enough to earn.

If they were trawling at home, they would only earn tens of yuan a day, seventy or eighty when the harvest was good, and thirty when it was bad.

Anyway, there were still a few days until the Mid-Autumn Festival at the end of the month. If it dropped to the point where it was on par with trawling at home after deducting labor, fuel, and other expenses, it wouldn't be too late to return.

Everyone thought well, but found that the next day, some people's income was halved again, while others could maintain the current income, all depending on luck.

Now some people couldn't sit still. Staying for one more day meant they had to pay more than ten yuan for the workers on the boat, and twenty or thirty for fuel.

After deducting expenses, they didn't earn much at all, and some people couldn't wait to go back. ===== CHAPTER 938 =====