Chapter 987: Night falls on the sea

Ye Yaodong went to call the crew members, preparing to haul the second net. Everyone immediately went to their respective positions. Those who pulled the cables earlier changed with others this time, all very conscious.

Everyone in the same village knew each other well, and their character was known. When Ye Fu looked for people, he had also thought about it, looking for reliable and diligent ones. Everyone also had a good eye, taking turns to work, and cooperating in division of labor.

Seeing that everyone was ready, he said again: "After this net is hauled, Chen Shi will go cook first. The rest of you will sort out the cargo, and then divide into two shifts. Two people will be on the first half of the night with my father, and two people will be on the second half of the night with me."

The second half of the night is a bit harder to endure. After all, after eating, you go to sleep, and it's quite hard to fall asleep. Then, you probably have to climb up immediately after dozing off for a while to guard the second half of the night.

It's better to keep your eyes open and hold on until the second half of the night, and then after the shift, have a deep sleep.

However, he is a son and a young man, strong and healthy, so of course, he will do the second half of the night.

"Alright, then after this net is hauled up, we four will distribute it."

"What time is the first half of the night?"

"Count it until twelve o'clock? Rest from seven o'clock to twelve o'clock, and the second half of the night is from twelve o'clock to five or six o'clock in the morning, just in time for dawn. If you feel more tired, you can also discuss it, and it's also okay to make up for sleep during the free time of casting the net."

Everyone nodded, discussing while watching the machine rotate.

Under the pulling force of the net-winding machine, the mouth of the net on the sea surface began to gradually tighten. Once it was fully tightened, the dragnet was slowly dragged out of the water.

As the pulling force became greater and greater, the net-winding machine also began to make a tight sound.

At this time, the sky had already become dim, and it was only a flash before it became completely dark, just enough time to haul a net.

The lights on the boat were also turned on, but the wattage was too low, and the light wasn't that good. Everyone still needed to bring their own headlamps, so it would be convenient for sorting in a while, to avoid poor light and misidentifying some fish cargo.

Some fish look particularly similar, such as small yellow croaker and yellow croaker, both are golden yellow, and their body shapes are similar. They are all identified by the shape of the head. In poor light, it is easy to recognize them wrongly.

The fishing net was dragged to the left side of the boat, and the crane on the front deck hoisted the fishing net above the deck. Everyone also opened the flashlights and headlamps they had prepared early at the same time and shone them over.

"Another big bag of toadfish!"

"Dry with toadfish... ah, there's a manta ray..."

"How many? Did you shine on it..."

"Seems like there are two?"

"This size is a bit big, wrapped in the fishing net, it looks like there are two. Let's see after dumping it out in a while."

"Burst the net, burst the net, this net burst, I saw a lot of red fish..."

"There are quite a few red fish, I saw a lot of horsehead fish and mantis shrimp, this net has a lot of valuable cargo..."

"Red and bright, it looks quite good, but it looks like there are still more toadfish..."

"Those red ones are valuable!"

"They are all good, toadfish are always better than trash fish. Trash fish have to be dumped into the sea. Don't worry about it being cheap, cargo that can be sold for money is good cargo."

Ye Yaodong really felt that toadfish were quite good, not just talking about it. This fish brought him his first wealth, opened up the sales of his dried fish, and then he had the scale of his workshop and shop today.

His brain after rebirth was also activated step by step like this.

"Yes, as long as it can be sold for money, it is good cargo. Toadfish account for the majority, and the number of small trash fish seems to be small."

Before long, the full net of catch was instantly dumped on the deck.

When the cargo was just pulled up, everyone shone with flashlights and could only see a little bit through the fishing net. They all relied on guessing what cargo was there. With such a big bag, what they could see was only the tip of the iceberg.

After it was all scattered on the deck, everyone saw clearly what was wrapped in the middle, and they were all very happy.

"Wow... another two manta rays, one shark..."

"Ah! It really burst the net, a lot of horsehead fish and mantis shrimp."

"Not bad, the harvest of this net is better. This net can sell for several hundred yuan, and there are two big manta rays, made a big profit..."

"Tsk tsk tsk, the cargo of this net is quite valuable. Not only those red fish and shrimp, but also some squid and sword shrimp."

"This net is worth a month of work for those dragnet fishing boats in the village..."

"Yes, yes..."

"Put the net down first..."

Immediately, everyone neatly and quickly cast the net again.

This process of hauling and casting the net lasts about half an hour. Doing this work requires experience, strength, and quick hands and feet. The tight ropes, rotating machines, and slippery soles all hide crises.

It is even more dangerous in the dark night. If the waves are a bit big, it is easy to be rolled directly into the sea by the waves. The people beside can't help even if they want to.

After the fishing net was put down again, everyone looked at the sea cargo on the deck like a small hill.

"This bag of cargo seems to be higher than the one just now, like a small hill, almost as tall as me."

"How tall are you? One meter, hahaha..."

"You are not very tall either, don't laugh. Adong is the tallest, and I don't know how he grew. You can't find anyone taller than him in the whole village."

"Work quickly, it's already dark, hurry up and pick, those who should sleep go to sleep..."

"Work, work..."

"The harvest of these two nets today is very good. If a few more nets come, the fish hold will not be able to hold it..."

"This is a good thing, fish and shrimp fill the hold!"

Everyone picked toadfish there as usual. After all, the size of this fish is relatively large in this net, and the quantity is large. It is more convenient to pick toadfish first and then pick other cargo.

But Ye Yaodong took a fancy to those jumping mantis shrimp.

He was used to picking the expensive ones first. This was a habit left over from his previous life. After all, after the millennium in his previous life, marine resources were gradually scarce. When the cargo was hauled up, the crew members working on the boat picked the high-value ones first.

From expensive to cheap.

Moreover, he also felt that the number of mantis shrimp hauled up in this net was not small, much more than the previous net, feeling that there was half the number of toadfish.

It was just that after dark, the light was not enough. Everyone was attracted by the size of the manta ray. The size of the mantis shrimp was too small compared to other fish, a bit inconspicuous. Plus, there were quite a lot of red fish in this net.

"There are quite a lot of these mantis shrimp, right? Just picking them casually is already half a basket?"

"Yes, it seems so. Just looking at it when it was pulled up, it was red, especially conspicuous at night. Seeing that there are quite a lot of horsehead fish, I thought there would be more horsehead fish."

"There are quite a lot of red fish cargo in this net..."

"It shows that we have entered the deep water area. In deeper water areas, the color of fish cargo has become more, especially this kind of red fish, which are all in deeper sea areas."

"In a while, take a few mantis shrimp to boil. You guys pick a few of whatever you want to eat, throw them into the pot together, boil them in a pot and put them there. Whoever has time will eat a few bites. Pick the fat ones to eat. Crab legs, mantis shrimp heads, etc., don't need to be gnawed, just break them off and throw them into the sea. Anyway, there are plenty of shrimp and crabs," Ye Yaodong said while picking cargo.

"After picking the rest in a while, don't rush to sweep them all into the sea. Pick a few fat ones and throw them into the pot to boil a big pot. Those that can be sold for money must be sold for money. These that are not worth money are enough for us to eat."

"Yes, those that can be sold for money cannot be eaten. These that are not worth money, just pick a little and it will be enough for us to eat until our stomachs are rolling."

"Look at these crabs, they are all very hard. When broken open, they all have red paste, but the size is not that big. It's a pity to walk into the sea. In a while, pick a few and boil a pot. It's also good to specifically eat his crab paste..."

Someone picked up a swimming crab casually, took advantage of it still jumping, and brutally broke off the big feet, then peeled open the crab shell raw. The red crab paste flowed all over his hands, and he threw it aside at will.

"This crab paste is good. Collect it, and it will be very fragrant to make a big jar..."

"Who has that leisure, too lazy to eat, and still peel..."

"There are quite a lot of horsehead fish in this net, red..."

Everyone chatted happily while picking, talking about it.

With many people, the speed of sorting is also fast. After filling a basket, they pushed it to the corner first. Until all the cargo was sorted, Ye Yaodong straightened his waist and counted the quantity.

How much weight of cargo a bamboo basket holds, they lift it up, and they have a rough idea.

Toadfish filled 32 baskets. Toadfish are large, at least five or six jin each. A basket holds about seventy or eighty jin. There should be over two thousand jin here.

There are also mantis shrimp, ranging from five or six taels to seven or eight taels each. A basket is not full but has sixty or seventy jin. There are also 12 baskets, probably seven or eight hundred jin. Although this size is large, the price is about the same as sword shrimp. At the pier, it is three cents, and the fresh-collection boat is probably only one cent and five cents.

This variety is worth a hundred yuan, much more expensive than the two thousand jin of toadfish.

Think about the price compared to the market, it is indeed much lower. The fresh-collection boat collects it at 1 cent 5 cents, and the wholesale market price is at least 3 cents to 3 cents 5 cents. The pier collects it at 3 cents and gives it to people to wholesale, and it gets 4 cents.

Selling it to the common people again, it has to be six or seven cents. Layer upon layer of exploitation, the price difference of middlemen is constantly added up.

What the real fishermen earn, after deducting fuel money and labor costs, is at most only one or two out of ten of the market price.

Fishermen who catch it directly and set up stalls at the pier or market entrance, or sell it along the street, will be relatively cheaper.

However, for him, the harvest of this net of several thousand jin is also very rich, and this net is mixed with a lot of good cargo.

There are also horsehead fish, there are 6 baskets. This fish is red and festive. The fresh-collection boat collects it and it is worth one or two cents, and it can also sell for sixty or seventy yuan.

There are also one and a half baskets of Poli fish of equal value, one basket of sword shrimp, half a basket of squid, and five baskets of miscellaneous various fish that can be sold for money.

There are also twenty or thirty octopuses crawling around the boat. Everyone caught them separately after cleaning up.

It was just that when Ye Yaodong just caught one into the basket, before he could continue to catch the next one, it crawled out again, and it crawled into his rain boots nearby. He felt a foreign object in his rain boots and said "fuck."

"Soft, too disgusting..."

He immediately leaned against the ship's side, took off his rain boots, and the octopus wrapped around his instep. After his foot was pulled out, it continued to drill inside.

"Grass, won't you stink to death..."

Ye Yaodong caught it out of the rain boots, and then threw it into a bucket of seawater filled by others.

This is an octopus with a taste.

"This net, plus two manta rays, should be able to sell for three hundred yuan, right?"

"Feels about the same. Just these cargo are five thousand jin, and the useless miscellaneous goods left on the deck are a thousand jin."

"Pick out those with shells, boil the fat ones in a pot, and peel a few when your mouth is itchy. It's a pity to throw them into the sea."

"These shrimp are just a bit small in size, it's a pity, they taste quite good..." Everyone picked and picked, eating while picking.

"Rice... rice... is ready... uncle..."

"Oh, I know, I know, I know it's time to eat. Stop talking, it's hard to listen to."

"Hard... hard... hard... hard... hard to listen to... also... no way! You... you... have to... get used to it!"

Ye Yaodong couldn't help laughing. Didn't expect he had learned to choke people.

"Eat first. We've been busy for so long, and it's completely dark. Hurry up and eat. After eating, clean up the rest and dump them into the sea. Don't worry."

"Then lift these cargo into the fish hold and go eat. After eating, come out and cut the tails of those two manta rays. It should be about time after so long."

"Come and lift it..."

Ye Yaodong looked at the fish hold that was already one-third full. He felt that he couldn't wait until the day after tomorrow to contact the fresh-collection boat. He had to collect a wave of cargo tomorrow afternoon.

Otherwise, if he waited for another day, the fish hold would not be able to hold it, and it would be piled on the deck. The temperature would not be low when the sun was shining during the day, and it would be easy to spoil.

Didn't expect the second net to be more explosive than the first. The useless defective miscellaneous goods were only a thousand jin. The remaining five thousand jin were all sellable, better than the Fengshou's harvest, doubling it.

When he went to change his father after eating, he also mentioned the harvest of the net just now to his father.

"I just walked out of the cockpit and watched for a while. Our harvest of these two nets is indeed a lot. I went to sea with Aguang twice before. These two nets of yours are worth a day's harvest for others. It's just that your fish hold will be two or three square meters smaller than his, but it doesn't matter. Contact the fresh-collection boat in advance tomorrow afternoon."

"Hmm, I have already agreed with those crew members just now. We will take turns on night duty in two shifts. You will do the first half of the night, and I will come to replace you after twelve o'clock."

"Alright, then I'll go eat first, you watch here for a while."

After Ye Fu walked out of the cabin, he took a look. On the sea surface behind and to the side, there were a few sparkling light spots, far away like stars. Actually, those were the headlamps and flashlights of the Fengshou.

Everyone wouldn't be affected like this, each catching their own, and looking after each other. He was extremely satisfied.

After the three brothers' boats are delivered next year, they can also be like this. As long as everyone keeps a distance and can see each other, it will be safer. Anyway, the sea area is vast, and there is no fear of having nothing to catch.

Ye Yaodong watched the boat sailing steadily, the direction didn't deviate, so he didn't keep staring at it, but walked out of the wheelhouse, watching the crew members below continue to clean the deck with brooms and dustpans, dumping all the baskets of fish, shrimp, and crabs into the sea.

It's also a pity. Dumping a thousand jin in a small net, dumping several thousand jin into the sea every day.

If this were a live broadcast, the live broadcast room would be full of scolding, wasting natural resources.

Even the smallest and most useless fish can be dried, or made into canned fish, such as clove fish, mackerel. At this moment, they are all dumped into the sea in large pieces. Dragon head fish are also dumped a lot, mainly because the quantity is too small and too fragmented, so there is no need to keep them.

If the quantity is large, of course, it's another matter.

When these miscellaneous goods are dumped into the sea, there are also many water splashes and fish heads tossing on the sea surface, all big fish and small fish swimming over smelling the bait.

Ye Yaodong also shone the flashlight towards the sea surface. The fishing boat was sailing forward, and the flashlight's light circle kept moving, but there were always fish jumping in his light circle. This is the phototaxis of individual sea fish.

After dumping a basket, he moved the flashlight's light circle to the inside of the boat, and when he continued to dump the cargo, he shone the flashlight towards the sea surface again.

Back and forth, tireless, who let those baskets of miscellaneous goods be so many.

It was just that when his flashlight's light circle kept shining on the sea surface, the ones floating up to grab the bait were suddenly not just fish.

Ye Fu, who had just helped dump a basket of miscellaneous goods, knocked on the ship's side with a bamboo basket twice, knocking down all the small fish and small shrimp stuck in the bamboo strips, and by the way, stretched his head out to take a look at the cargo just dumped on the sea surface.

He discovered that there were many small squid jumping in the light circle shone by the headlamp on the sea surface.

"Wait, you guys come and take a look..."

"What's wrong?"

Those holding brooms and baskets all walked over suspiciously to take a look.

"There are fish? It's normal for fish to swim over to eat after so much cargo is dumped."

"Seems to be small squid, look, look... your flashlights, a circle was attracted as soon as it shone on the sea surface. This light circle is moving, and these small squid are also running with the light circle."

"It really is... take the hand net over, let's catch it and see?"

"Do you have a hand net?"

"Yes, yes, yes, in the corner of the cabin, the ones made for catching jellyfish were all brought on the boat. You guys hurry up and find them."

Ye Yaodong in the wheelhouse watched them running in and out, and hurriedly asked loudly: "What are you doing?"

"There are small squid!"

There are small squid?

No wonder he saw many white things jumping in the light circle under the sea when he shone the flashlight on the sea surface just now. He thought they were small fish, didn't expect them to be small squid.

This thing also has strong phototaxis.

A major feature of Dongshan Island is catching small squid by light at night every year. Relying on this, they can catch a boat full of cargo.

It is also because of the geographical location of Dongshan Island, the production of small squid in the surrounding sea area is extremely rich.

Dongshan Island is also the sea area with the highest quality of small squid in the world.

He also shone with a flashlight, watching them take the hand net, and when the fishing boat kept moving forward, he caught it along the direction of moving forward, and then lifted it up with both hands with effort.

"There really is!"

"There really is..."

"Try again..."

Excited voices in bursts.

Ye Yaodong also saw the small pile of transparent small squid caught in the hand net between the flashes of their headlamps, looking like jelly, crystal clear and not yet discolored, but when dumped into the basket, it turned into a white and purple color.

Dumping a small net of small squid into the basket, everyone was excited again, continuing to devote themselves to the activity of catching small squid.

Some people helped shine flashlights, some people were specifically responsible for catching.

He didn't go down either, just watched everyone's excited expressions from above. There was a lot of discussion below, but the sound of the machine was exceptionally loud, and he couldn't hear what everyone was saying, just watching them catch one net after another.

The quantity was not much, catching a net up was only two or three jin.

But it couldn't stand that there were many people. Several people below took turns shining lights, took turns catching, which was considered taking turns to rest. This work was also quite arm-consuming.

Watching him, he felt a bit itchy.

Until they were all rubbing their arms and panting there, he called his father to come up and watch, and ran down himself to take a look.

"Ah, the quantity is quite a lot. You guys caught it like this, didn't expect to catch a basket."

"It's just that the fishing boat is working. When we catch it, the resistance of water and wind is also large, which is quite strenuous. Just reached down and couldn't catch a few jin, and the hand shook so much that it could only be lifted up."

"It's very good, this little bit of light, didn't expect to be able to attract small squid."

He also took a hand net to catch it. Under the light circle of the headlamp, the hand net hadn't been pulled back, and many transparent small squid were already lying inside. Transparent and crystal clear, it looked quite good.

"Catch a few more times and the arm will be sore to death."

"There is no brighter light, can't attract much, otherwise we can also specifically catch this, this thing is valuable."

"Take advantage of the time to catch a few more times..."

Everyone stopped for a while, feeling that their arms were not so sore, and continued to catch a little.

Ye Yaodong also stopped after his hands were sore.

After a few minutes, with the forward movement of the fishing boat, the jumping in the light circle on the water surface became a group of silvery white small fish. Everyone caught a few times, and what they saw were all flat anchovies and white-scaled fish, so they turned their hands and dumped them back into the sea.

"Should be gone, they are all small trash fish."

"Don't catch, take a break, if it's gone, it's gone."

Everyone supported their hands on the ship's side panting, and the headlamps on their heads were still looking at the sea surface.

"It's gone so fast."

"The boat is moving, and the fish are also fluid. Of course, it's not necessarily that every area has it. People are also swimming in waves and groups there."

"It's also strenuous enough."

Ye Yaodong took a look, the two baskets by his feet were seven or eight points full, "A hundred jin, earned back your wages for today."

"Hahaha~"

"Take a few and boil them in a pot together. Did you boil those with shells just now?"

"Not yet, just finished eating and came to clean the deck."

Ye Yaodong went to get an enamel basin, filled half a basin, "Boil them in a pot in a while, take advantage of the freshness, just changed color after coming up, throw them into the pot directly, fresh enough to swallow the tongue."

Fresh seafood, boiled in clear water is the freshest in the world. A small squid in the mouth, tender and delicate, seems to concentrate the freshness of the whole sea.

"I... I... I... go... go... boil!" Chen Shi actively took over the enamel basin to boil after he finished filling it.

Ye Yaodong also wiped his hands with a broken cloth at will, "Uncles, you guys should go to rest if you should rest, wait until twelve o'clock or so to replace."

"Alright, then we will go to sleep in advance, and we will have spirit at night."

"Swap again tomorrow, one day in the first half of the night, one day in the second half of the night."

Everyone nodded without objection, then those who should go to sleep went to sleep, and those who continued to clean the deck continued to clean.

The two baskets of small squid were also lifted into the cabin together, and dumped together with the small squid caught in the previous net, saving baskets.

Ye Yaodong washed his hands and had a post-meal fruit, white sweet potato.

A few days ago, Lin Xiuqing's second brother sent it over. She filled a basket for him and brought it to the boat, letting everyone tear the skin and eat it when they were free.

However, in the cold winter and twelfth lunar month, on the sea where the cold wind blows, no one likes to eat this kind of cold thing, not to mention having to peel it. For everyone, this is more troublesome than eating seafood.

No one reached out all day, and no one went to peel it.

Ye Yaodong likes to eat it, typically lazy and greedy, but now it seems that he is not lazy, and the greed cannot be changed.

However, for him, if his mouth is itchy and he doesn't want to smoke, of course he has to eat something. What does it have to do with greed?

Not to mention how delicious the fruits produced by his own family are, just like the local pigs raised by his own family.

The skin of this white sweet potato is also quite easy to tear. One sheet after another is torn off intact. Actually, it's not that strenuous. After tearing it, he cut it into two halves and shared half with Chen Shi.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you..."

"Stop! Look at what you said during the day, didn't you already not stutter so much?"

"Hehe, maybe... maybe... maybe... now... say... say... say... say... more...!"

"Say more, if people dislike you, let them dislike you. Anyway, if you don't open your mouth to speak, people will also dislike you. It's better to say more, and you can choke people to death, making people angry and jumping, and they can't do anything to you."

"I... I... I... I... also... think... think... think... so!"

"Not uncomfortable now?"

He shook his head, "Will... sea... everywhere is sea..."

"Then you adapt more. If you don't want to go to sea with people, if you go back in two days, you just stay in the workshop, and I will take others out."

He shook his head again, "I... I... I... I... will... overcome it."

"Then you see for yourself."

Watching the whole pot bubbling, pushing the pot lid up, Ye Yaodong lifted the pot lid at will, took chopsticks and clamped a small squid out, and caught it directly with his mouth, not caring about the heat.

"Fresh!"

After chewing one, he didn't forget to fill a bowl for his father.

"How many jin did you catch?"

"A hundred jin, it's okay, earned back the wages."

"Hahaha, when you are free in a while, just use a flashlight to shine on the sea surface and look for it again. Anyway, it's idle."

"Sorting has to be found for a long time, where is there free time? In a while, we will all go to the cabin to sleep, just you three people, sorting cargo is afraid of being too late."

"Also, then you go to sleep early."

"Hmm."

This nightlife hasn't started yet, and he is going to sleep. Fishermen are bitter.

The roar of the machine is in bursts, and it hasn't stopped all day. It won't weaken because of the existence of the wooden cabin door.

The place adjacent to the machine cabin is the upper and lower bunks. When he entered the cabin, the snoring of others had already sounded.

Can sleep as soon as they sleep, the roar of the machine has no effect on their older generation.

Ye Yaodong also lay on his bed, with his suitcase at the end of the bed. He touched it before his feet were straight, and the whole person curled up on the small bed like a shrimp.

The newly made quilt on the tip of the nose still exuded the smell of sunshine during the day, and now it has permeated some sea flavor.

He tossed and turned for a while, but couldn't sleep. I don't know if it's because he hasn't stayed overnight on the boat for a long time.