Chapter 999: Fishing in Muddy Waters

"What are these round things, looking like black pearls..."

"Could it be that so-called sturgeon roe? So this canned fish isn't fish, but fish roe?"

"Isn't this hanging a sheep's head but selling dog meat?"

"It's a scam! So what's inside this canned fish isn't fish..."

Everyone chatted for a moment, then began to mock.

After Ye Yaodong's surprise, he thought to himself: Isn't this the legendary caviar?

He sniffed again; there was a slightly salty and savory scent. Although he had never eaten it, he had seen it—these black, round things were indeed caviar.

Even though the items were right before his eyes, he still found it hard to believe. He didn't ask for a spoon; instead, he directly reached out with his hand, scooped up a small pinch, and put it in his mouth to taste.

The legendary caviar is listed as a food one must eat before dying.

It is said its taste is slightly salty and savory, and after chewing, it has a bursting texture, bringing an unprecedented, exquisite sensation.

If he tries it to see if it tastes as delicious as the legends say, he will know whether this is the real thing.

As the round pearls entered his mouth, each grain rolled on his tongue. He used his tongue and upper palate to pop each black pearl. The salty and savory flavor instantly filled his mouth, carrying the taste of the ocean, while the aftertaste was slightly fresh and sweet.

Ye Yaodong chewed a few times, feeling it was quite crisp, round, and delicious, far more flavorful than the roe of some fish he had eaten a while ago.

However, it wasn't as exaggerated as the legends claimed. Perhaps he was just a commoner; he wasn't worthy of the taste of money.

Ye's father, seeing him grab it with his hand and eat it without saying a word, immediately spoke up: "Dongzi, why are you eating things randomly? You don't even know what this is, yet you just ate it?"

"It's actually quite delicious. This whole ship is full of cargo; it can't all be a pile of garbage, right? Since it can be made into canned goods, it must be good. Canned goods here are extremely expensive regardless of type. Since this roe can be made into cans, it must be fine."

"Is it really delicious?"

"Really? These black things look like rat droppings; how can they be delicious?"

He pushed the can toward them. "Why don't you try?"

Ye's father, still skeptical, reached out and grabbed a handful.

"Gently, don't crush them."

The three of them each took turns grabbing a small handful and sniffed it first.

"It feels like there's no smell, just a bit salty."

"This is pickled, but it won't be too salty."

Ye's father, still skeptical, put it in his mouth, chewed a couple of times, and then said: "The taste is actually okay."

The sailor also said: "These black, round things are edible after all. What kind of fish roe is this? It's so strange."

Ye Yaodong couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth; it was like an ox chewing on a peony.

Just like him.

These dark, sticky eggs didn't look flashy, but their price could reach fifty thousand yuan per jin. Among fish roe, only sturgeon roe can command such a high price.

The high price of caviar doesn't stem from the status of caviar itself; among all fish roe products, only sturgeon roe can be called caviar.

Others, such as salmon roe, flying fish roe, and mentaiko, are merely substitutes for sturgeon roe and are actually more popular abroad.

Caviar was first born in Russia, but it wasn't warmly embraced by the locals there. Until the 16th century, when caviar was exported to France, King Louis XIV of that time tasted it and loved it immensely. Later, many French nobles began eating caviar one after another.

Therefore, caviar was labeled "noble" in France, and its value skyrocketed instantly. It wasn't because its taste was so delicious, but more importantly, it could display a noble status.

It's like spending millions to buy a watch; it's not because the technology applied is so amazing, but because it symbolizes a person's prominent status and identity.

Furthermore, only sturgeon roe is called caviar, and sturgeon take a long time to produce roe, needing 8 to 20 years. It consumes tremendous strength, resources, manpower, and capital, so caviar is very expensive and unaffordable for those without money.

But how could there be caviar inside this canned grass carp?

Moreover, could the entire ship, piled high with boxes, be full of this caviar?

Caviar is known as "black gold." The higher its grade, the clearer its fullness. He couldn't distinguish it, only feeling the taste was okay, and he didn't know if these were sturgeon roe.

One must know that the Chinese sturgeon is now listed as a protected animal.

He seemed to smell something different, so he picked up the canned fish again to examine the outer packaging closely, only to discover unexpectedly that there was no brand logo on the outside.

When he first picked it up to look, he only saw the name on it was Fermented Black Bean Grass Carp and didn't pay attention to the brand. He searched around but couldn't find the manufacturer marked on it.

It's over; there's something fishy!

"Since it's edible, just keep it randomly; no need to throw it back into the sea to avoid waste." Ye's father said benevolently.

His father's words pulled him back to reality. He forced an awkward smile on his face and didn't dare tell his father the value of this thing; otherwise, his father's jaw would drop, and he would suspect how he knew, thinking he was talking nonsense.

"That's not right. The outside is marked with the grass carp logo, but the inside contains roe. No matter how you look at it, something is wrong. Hanging a sheep's head but selling dog meat isn't done like this. If it's roe, the outside should be pasted with a picture of roe."

"Exactly! Isn't this just chaos?"

"Go, go, go... smugglers' ship! For sure!"

The other two also echoed the sailor's words and nodded along.

Ever since he saw the roe inside the opened can, he had also suspected that ship.

Marked with the grass carp can logo, but containing caviar inside; the motives are impure. It's probably smuggling, and smuggling caviar at that, using grass carp cans as a shield.

Could it be that this ship isn't heading for shore, but for the high seas? That's why they are rushing so urgently?

"Open another one to see if it's still roe."

He acted immediately. After speaking, he grabbed a knife, ran back to the aisle where he was before, picked up a box, held it in his palm, and chopped down directly with the knife.

What came out was still black and looked no different. He held it to his nose and sniffed.

"Eh, fermented black bean flavor! This can is real Fermented Black Bean Grass Carp!"

"Let me see, let me see..." Ye's father, hearing this behind him, hurriedly said.

Ye Yaodong held the knife in one hand and the Fermented Black Bean Grass Carp can in the other, turned around, and tried to hand the raised knife to his father.

He instantly realized he handed the wrong thing over, so he handed the grass carp can from his other hand to him.

But this scared his father, who immediately stepped back a step, stepped on the foot of the person behind him, and began to curse loudly in anger.

"You rascal, why are you holding a knife? Do you want to kill Laozi?"

Ye Yaodong gave an awkward laugh. "I just didn't react in time and raised the wrong hand, didn't I? How would I dare? Even if I were silencing someone, I wouldn't silence Laozi."

Ye Fu was so angry his beard bristled and his eyes bulged. "Silencing someone—what secrets do you have that I don't know about? You nearly scared me to death."

Heh, although there were plenty of secrets others didn't know, his father knew them all. Still, there really was one secret his father didn't know.

"Heh heh, here, this time I didn't grab the wrong one—it's this one. Have a taste, it smells pretty good, fermented black bean flavor."

Ye Fu took it with a sour look, and shot him another resentful glare.

"Isn't this the same as the fermented black beans your wife's family makes? The fish is at the bottom?"

"So this tin is the real fermented black bean dace?"

"Mixed… mixed together and packed?"

"Probably mixed together when packing, to cover up the caviar."

Ye Yaodong, because his father had spoken up just now, hadn't carefully looked at the label on top of the second tin of fermented black bean dace he'd opened.

He took another tin out of the box and found that this one did have a brand label on it, and flipping it over, there was also a manufacturer's address.

In one box there were two slightly different private labels—clearly something was off.

"Dad, let me see yours first, here's the knife for you."

Ye Fu glanced at the knife in his hand with a wary little look, then shot him another glance, before swapping the tin in his hand for the knife. He immediately stepped back out of the aisle, asked the others to make way, and prepared to put the knife away first.

Meanwhile Ye Yaodong walked out holding a tin in each hand, and called out to the other two, "You guys help me carry that box up to the deck. No one saw us fish it up anyway—it's just one box, and at this distance they can't see."

"Okay."

He held the two tins under the light and found that the paper labels wrapped around them were identical, different from the caviar in the first one he'd opened.

So these two were both dace tins, while the caviar in the first tin was a special oddity.

He lined the three tins up side by side, wanting to verify, so he had his father bring the knife over and slash open the third tin.

Sure enough, it was another dace tin.

"Dongzi, why not just be upfront—caviar is caviar, dace tin is dace tin. Why mix the caviar in with the fish tins? Is there some reason? Is this caviar special in some way?"

"Right, right, I wanted to ask that too—why not just slap a caviar label on it directly? Why mix them together like this and even deliberately stick a dace label on?"

"Th-th-there's something fishy!"

"Fishy my ass—don't talk about that stuff in the middle of the night." Ye Fu glared at him unhappily.

"This caviar is very, very expensive—more expensive than you can imagine. And real caviar has to be made from sturgeon, and sturgeon are now a nationally protected animal. Catching sturgeon is illegal."

Ye Fu was shocked. "Catching a fish is illegal? Why? Are they sick in the head? Aren't fish meant to be caught? And it's illegal? For real?"

"Of course it's real—otherwise why hide it like this? It's sturgeon caviar. Abroad it can sell for an astronomical price. When the reward is great, there will always be brave men. With enough profit, of course it's worth the risk for some people."

"Then how much can one tin sell for?"

"Uh…"

This one actually stumped him a bit—he didn't know the prices from the eighties.

"A jin costs several thousand yuan."

He tossed out a casual lie, only to see everyone's eyes go wide.

"Nonsense, how could that be? Several thousand? I wouldn't even want it for a few mao. If you gave it to me to eat, I'd still have to think about whether I want to eat it."

"You're talking rubbish, right? How could that be? Several thousand yuan could buy a whole boat. Just this little jin of stuff is worth a boat—are foreigners that rich or are they blind?"

"Even gold isn't as expensive as this stuff—these little pellets look just like rat droppings."

"Exactly…"

Ye Yaodong snorted to himself—might be worth more than one boat, might even be worth two.

"Believe it or not, I don't need you to believe me. Just take it as me talking nonsense. Anyway, this stuff is definitely expensive—if it weren't, they wouldn't be hiding it like this."

Ye Fu also felt something was fishy—otherwise why muddle things like this? But having him believe that this fish roe cost several thousand yuan a jin was even harder for him to imagine; to him it was simply a fairy tale.

Even gold wasn't as expensive as this stuff.

"These people must be afraid of getting caught and thrown in jail, that's why they hide it like this. It definitely can't be as expensive as you say."

"Think what you want. Anyway, it's definitely illegal, and it's definitely expensive—otherwise why take the risk of jail…"

"Well, that's true too…" Ye Fu was half-believing, half-doubting again.

"D-d-d-Dong ge…"

"Spit it out if you've got something to say!"

He had no patience to listen to him talk right now—only when Laozi spoke did he patiently explain.

Looking at the box that had been carried out, he had already thrown himself on top of it, ready to take all the tins out and see what the ratio of the two kinds was.

"Th-th-there's… a box!"

"No kidding, of course I know there's a box— isn't this just…"

"N-n-n-no, it's… on the sea!"

Ye Yaodong immediately turned his head to look at the sea, and sure enough, another one had drifted over.

He looked, uneasy, at the two fishing boats stacked on top of each other, and found that in just a short while the cargo ship seemed to have tilted a little more. He didn't know if it was from the waves or from the weight of the fish-buying boat pressing on it—probably both.

If it kept pressing down, the tilt of the two boats would only get bigger. The plan to sink one boat and keep theirs was probably not going to work.

Judging by the cargo ship's tilt, it would only drag the fish-buying boat down with it as it tilted, and as time went on the angle would only grow larger, until they both tilted over and capsized into the sea.

"You guys go fish that one up. I'll take a look at the goods in this box first and sort them out."

He hadn't held the two different kinds of tins in his hands at the same time before. Now that he'd taken all the tins out of the box, he did hold the two different kinds in his hands to feel them—the weight was clearly different.

By the time the second box was fished up, he had already sorted through all the tins in the first box.

In the small box there were 45 dace tins, and only 5 caviar tins.

This ship was probably exporting dace tins on the surface while also slipping caviar in along with them—or you could say, smuggling it.

"Dongzi, this box has been fished up too. Open it?"

"Open it!"

When the cans were opened, the others noticed two different things and sensed something off, knowing there had to be something fishy going on.

Ye Fu moved quickly, briskly opening the second crate, then pulling out all the straw stuffed inside. Father and son together took out the cans inside to compare them.

Same as the first crate—45 dace cans, 5 caviar cans. You can tell them apart just by the outer packaging.

"The two crates are identical."

"The ratio is the same too."

"What do we do?"

Ye Yaodong's face was also blank. "I don't know, haven't figured it out yet."

"Then should we put them away for now?"

"Put the second crate we fished up away, hide it under my boat first. For this first crate, put the stuff back and stash it in a corner of the cabin. The three cans we've opened, just leave them out for now."

"Alright."

After Ye Fu finished all this, he looked at Ye Yaodong again. "If a rescue boat comes later, should we secretly report it?"

He was also hesitating, but worried about being caught if he snitched.

"We'll see how things go later."

If he could catch them off guard and find a chance to speak privately, he wouldn't mind spilling the beans.

He also wondered if this was sturgeon caviar? In the country, the only sturgeon is the Chinese sturgeon, and that's a protected animal now. Pulling this off without backing would be impossible.

He thought perhaps the less trouble, the better?

Anyway, it had nothing to do with him—he'd stumbled on it by accident. Getting two crates for free could even pass as hush money.

If he reported them and they got caught, he wouldn't get any reward. Better to act like he knew nothing—then they'd even have to thank him for rushing over to help, and slip him a red envelope.

"What about these three cans? Eat them?"

He wavered. "Let's eat them. We've still got two crates left, right?"

"We can't eat all of it either. This stuff looks pitch-black, doesn't look like it'd taste good. And didn't you say that caviar costs thousands per jin? How could we bear to eat it?"

"Didn't you not believe it? If you can't bear to eat it, then leave it for me. You guys eat the fish cans, and save whatever's left."

Ye Fu glared at him. "Something worth thousands, and you're just going to eat it like that?"

"Just now you were saying you wouldn't want it even if I sold it to you for a few cents, and now you're throwing around thousands."

Ye Yaodong said irritably, then added: "We've already opened them, of course we have to eat them. Otherwise just let them go bad? If you're scared of thunder and won't eat it, then naturally give it to me. I'm not afraid of thunder."

The boatman laughed and cut off the father-son bickering. "Heh heh, put that fancy stuff aside for now, let's try the fish can."

"Then let's try this one fish can first. This one's expensive too, right? From what you were saying, this can is so great and all—let's taste it and see. That fish roe tasted so-so, yet you were going on about how expensive and mysterious it is. This dace one has fermented black beans in it, looks like it should be better…"

Ye Fu said this as he set that one can of caviar aside in a corner. Though he didn't believe it, he really couldn't bear to touch it.

Then with his rough, big palm he pried open wider the opening of the dace can he'd just hacked with a knife.

"This is all fermented black beans—also a scam. It says dace with fermented black beans, but there's more beans than fish."

"How else would they make money? At least there's fish underneath—it's not selling dog meat under a sheep's head."

Ye Fu went and got a pair of chopsticks, poked around in the can. "These tiny little fish can be made into cans—small fry, not even as long as my palm."

"Goes well with rice, and there's oil and juice in there too."

"That's true."

Ye Fu talked as he scooped the fermented black beans from inside into a bowl, and even poured a little of the oil in too, stirring it together.

"Let me have a taste too. I've never eaten canned food in my whole life. Didn't get to try fruit cans first, but at least I can have a bite of what fish cans taste like."

"Eat, eat, don't be polite. It's all picked up from the sea anyway, you all try it too…"

Ye Fu set the can on the small table, letting them help themselves.

Ye Yaodong also took a pair of chopsticks and picked up a piece of fish. The fish meat was hard and firm, all deep-fried, but tasted really fragrant—unlike ordinary fish meat, it was very chewy.

Ye Fu and the others gave the same verdict, all saying it was hard and chewy, but quite tasty to eat, different from the usual tenderness of fish.

"Even the bones are fried through, hard as anything—you can just chew them up and eat them? All oil and juice, no wonder you said this would be expensive and popular."

"Tastes good, right? I told you this fish can would be good, but you just wouldn't believe me. Sea fish has its sea-fish flavor, freshwater fish has its freshwater-fish flavor. Freshwater fish isn't necessarily bad—if it's made well, it's delicious. Sea fish can taste bad too."

"These fermented black beans mixed with rice smell pretty good too…"

Ye Fu didn't find the rice cold at all—in fact, he downed two big bowls, his mouth shiny with oil when he finished.

"Let's take those two crates back with us. Keep some for ourselves, and let your mother and the others have a taste too."

"I think that fish roe stuff isn't as good as this fish can. This one's fragrant, chewy. That roe is slippery and greasy, a bit fishy."

It really didn't suit a Chinese palate. Though he felt the caviar had its own unique flavor, the dace can suited his taste better in terms of texture.

"Put the lid back on what's left. This stuff is expensive. Save it for tomorrow and keep eating. Don't just fool around eating it—every bite is less left, so ration it."

Ye Fu set down his bowl and chopsticks, reluctantly putting the lid back on the can. He even put the fingers stained with oil into his mouth to suck them clean.

"Got proven wrong, Dad. You were turning your nose up at it earlier, and now you can't bear to stop eating."

He said stubbornly: "Before is before. Who knew this fish was deep-fried? Anything fried in oil—how could it not taste good? Even fried shit would smell good, let alone this. Haven't you always said this stuff is expensive? How could we just fool around eating it like that, wasting it?"

"You say that as if you've eaten fried shit before."

"What nonsense are you spouting?" Ye Fu shot him a glance, set the can in the corner of the table, and stacked it neatly with the caviar.

The boatman also put his chopsticks in his mouth to lick them before setting them down. "Never knew there was such a thing as fish cans before. Sure enough, only rich folks get to eat them—so much oil and juice inside. Back in our countryside, we'd never even heard of it."

"This is from Guangdong province, all made for export. During the war they apparently supplied it to the troops too. It's so far from us, not knowing is normal. Even if there were some, who could bear to buy it to eat?"

"Can't afford it, can't afford it. Let's get back to work. There's still some cargo here that hasn't been sorted. Hurry and tidy up—maybe we can still get a bit of sleep…"

Ye Fu patted his pocket, only to realize his watch was left on the console in the wheelhouse—he couldn't check the time.

"What time is it?"

"8 o'clock. Only about an hour has passed."

"Just one hour has passed? Then we have a wait ahead, no idea when the rescue team will get here."

"Just wait. Either way, we have to stay here."

"Works out perfectly — once they finish handling their ship's accident tonight, we can cast a few nets tomorrow and head back."

Hopefully so.

Ye's father watched the deckhand and Chen Shi squat down again to sort through the cargo left on the deck, then sidled up beside Ye Yaodong.

"You think, when the rescue team gets here, will they notice something off about that cargo ship?"

"No idea. Who knows if they'll do a check along with the rescue."

"Probably will, right? Those crates are scattered all over the deck — they'd be curious what's inside, right?"

"Probably."

You ask me, who am I supposed to ask? Things that haven't happened — even if you ask him, he wouldn't know.

"Then let's just keep watching. Who knows, if they're late, the ship might just sink — hard to say…"

Ye Yaodong slapped his thigh and said: "Right! If it sinks, we'll have to help pull people out. Hurry and stash those three leftover cans on the table, hide them. If we end up bringing people aboard and they see it, that won't look good."

"Right, right, right. I'll go hide them, and wash the bowls and chopsticks while I'm at it."

Ye's father immediately busied himself off.

Every one of them is a lazy bum who hates washing dishes — the bowls and chopsticks won't get washed until the next mealtime.

The first two days they were still diligent, washing right after eating, but later they just left them. On a boat there's no point being fussy, and Ye Yaodong isn't the type to boss people around — as long as the real work doesn't get held up, that's fine.

After shooing his father off, Ye Yaodong stood there thinking about the caviar.

The two hidden crates — once he gets them back, he'll probably have to keep them for himself to eat. Something that expensive going straight into his mouth, he really does feel a pang; the key thing is it doesn't suit his taste.

Selling it is definitely out of the question. If those people don't get caught and he ends up the one caught, there'd be nowhere to even cry.

Honestly though, this stuff really is something only the rich can afford. Looks like he's being forced to give it a try after all.

The cargo on the deck was cleared in no time — some carried inside, some dumped back into the sea. Once the two of them finished, they went back to bed to sleep.

Ye Yaodong also told his father to go sleep. No telling when the rescue ship would come, no need for that many people waiting around. He was wide awake anyway, one person keeping watch was enough.

But as time wore on, three whole hours passed and still nothing came. The people on the fishing boat up ahead were probably even more anxious, and the boat was listing even more severely.

On top of that, after the tide ebbed all the way out, it started coming back in, and the waves crashing against the hull seemed to make it list even worse.

If the rescue ship arrives in time, they could take advantage of the rising tide — tie a rope to the fish-receiving boat, open the throttle, and pull it backward off the cargo ship.

And since the cargo ship had run aground and listed, the rising tide might ease the list somewhat — they just might pull off a successful rescue.

Just as he was bored out of his mind, eating mantis shrimp until his mouth was almost sore, a light suddenly appeared on the sea surface, and he snapped to attention at once.

The two boats not far off were also cheering.

"The rescue ship is here?"

The boat in the distance drew closer. He kept flashing his flashlight at it and saw the Chinese flag flying on the vessel, with the words "Haishi Bureau" painted on the hull — and he was immediately relieved.

As long as it's here, that's good.