Chapter 533: The Trouble of Too Much Catch

Even if devil fish aren't that tasty, nobody can stop everyone from being starving.

Wu An usually just eats one bowl of rice, but today he actually ate two bowls, and he finished all the dishes cleanly; after eating, Fan Dali voluntarily took on the cleaning work.

Look.

That's having an eye for detail.

Wu An was very pleased with the Fan brothers' performance.

These two boat workers weren't hired in vain.

Whether someone can work or not is actually easy to tell.

For example, the Fan brothers' performance.

Now there aren't many people on the boat, so I won't mention A Qing and Mei Wu—one is a close younger brother, one is a relative; Lao Fu Tou is the captain, holding the highest position on board, followed by Fu Yongning.

Fan Dali and Fan Xiao Zhu only have a bit of strength; on the boat they have no core competitiveness, belonging to the kind of deckhand that can easily be replaced.

The two brothers are well aware of their status, so they are now willing to voluntarily take on more work to boost their competitiveness.

Why?

These two brothers have secretly done the math.

The two nets hauled today together definitely exceed five tons; even if it's exactly five tons, that's an income of 100,000.

Their commission is one percent.

That makes the commission wage one thousand!

From lowering the net to now, at most it's been five hours, which means nearly two hundred per hour; Fan Xiao Zhu, who usually speaks little, couldn't help but say excitedly: 'Brother, listening to you was definitely right—following Wu An to fish is our blessing.'

If other boat workers knew about this income, they'd surely envy us to death.

Fan Dali was humming a little tune while scrubbing bowls, laughing as he said: 'That's for sure.'

I estimate that for this trip out to sea, our income won't be less than two thousand.

If we go out to sea five or six times a month, we'll at least earn ten thousand or so each month.

If we worked on our own, we'd at most make ten thousand or so, and it wouldn't be as stable.

This calculation is actually quite simple.

Fan Xiao Zhu took the clean bowl, rinsed it, and put it away, saying: 'If we figure it like that, us two brothers saving up could definitely afford to build a house and buy a car.'

Fan Dali nodded: 'Quite promising.'

Our food and drink on the boat are all provided by A An.

At home we hardly spend any money.

If we brothers build a house and get wives sooner, we'll also give our father some face.

Fan Xiao Zhu kept nodding, feeling more energetic while working.

After tidying up the bowls and chopsticks, returning to the rest room, drinking half a pot of tea, Wu An got up and went to the control room: 'Old Fu, do you feel we can haul the net now?'

Lao Fu Tou checked the time; it was just past six in the evening, and he said: 'Three hours, logically we should be able to haul it.'

Having said that, he looked at Wu An.

Of course, we could also ignore reason.

This mainly depends on Wu An.

Wu An smiled: 'Then let's haul it; sailing at night probably isn't very safe, right?'

Lao Fu Tou nodded: 'That's only natural.'

After all, it's an unfamiliar sea area, but as long as we're careful, there shouldn't be big problems.

You mean we shouldn't work at night?

Wu An shook his head: 'I was just speaking offhand.'

Then let's haul the net.

From Lao Fu Tou's meaning, work can also be done at night; as the boat's owner, it's natural he wouldn't voluntarily say not to work, and the capitalist's 'ugly face' is beginning to show.

Haul the net.

With a command, everyone took their positions.

As the net bag was lifted out of the water, everyone's faces broke into smiles, wearing an expression of 'as expected.'

The net bag remained round and bulging.

Wu An went to untie it.

He pulled hard on the rope knot, and countless crabs intertwined as they poured out, gathering together like a trembling crab mountain.

'"Good heavens, it's all crabs." Mei Wu let out an excited wail.'

Fu Yongning, on the other hand, was very pleased: 'A bumper harvest, still a bumper harvest, and these meat crabs are far more valuable than devil fish.'

Wu An said: 'Still, devil fish offer better value for money.'

The Fan brothers both nodded and said: 'Now we've got work to do.'

Mei Wu shouted: 'This might have to be tied up until dawn.'

Lao Fu Tou shouted loudly: 'What's the fuss, still complaining?'

'"Don't just stand there—hurry up and clean up, prepare to lower the net."'

'"Move quickly, don't let the crabs run all over the place, or we'll have even more work."'

Nobody dared to delay.

Wu An casually poured all the remaining Luck Value into the trawl; actually, this sea area being poor also has an advantage: the trawl won't encounter any large catches, and as long as it doesn't snag the bottom, it can be used repeatedly.

The net was lowered quickly.

Lao Fu Tou asked: 'A An, should we continue north or go east next?'

Wu An thought for a moment: 'Let's go east.'

It's not that the northern catch is bad; it's just that there are so many crabs that for the few of us on board it's quite a test—tying, sorting, placing—all of which demand considerable time and effort.

This, too, is a trouble from having too much catch.

That's why he said devil fish give better value for money.

Moreover.

He also wants to quickly figure out the conditions of this sea area, so that if tomorrow's Luck Value spikes, he can cast his nets accordingly.

After confirming the course with Lao Fu Tou, he came onto the Deck to join the sorting work.

A Qing also came out.

At night there was wind, the temperature dropped, and tying and sorting the crabs only required sitting, not much movement; paying a little attention would avoid getting overheated and drenched in sweat.

After repeated requests, Wu An agreed to let him work.

Wu An called out: "Everyone, put in some effort; finish up early, and we'll use these meat crabs for a late-night snack and drinks."

Not just the meat crabs.

There are also other crabs, including Pipa Shrimp, which we'll soon spot several of, as well as Orchid Crab, Three-Eyed Crab, and several silvery ribbonfish over a meter long, quite beautiful.

Some of the shrimp and crabs had eggs; upon seeing them, we casually tossed them back into the sea.

There's nothing particular about it; it's just habit.

He also saw a pufferfish; Wu An wiped his rain boots with it, and you wouldn't believe it—it got them quite clean.

A Qing saw it and also came over to wipe.

Mei Wu followed suit.

The pufferfish puffed up, looking at these hateful humans with a look of utter despair; maybe we should just put it out of its misery.

After finishing with these shrimp and crabs, it was already just past nine at night, having taken over three hours; today's fourth trawl was also due to be hauled in.

Nobody complained of being tired.

Working on the boat is just like that: hauling nets, casting nets, processing the catch—as long as the catch keeps coming, we have to keep working.

The catch waits for no one.

Especially the catch from the trawl, which basically dies as soon as it's out of the water, must be processed quickly, or else leaving it on the Deck for a while could cause it to spoil and stink.

Wu An had originally intended to say let's rest a bit before continuing.

But everyone kept insisting on hauling the nets first, and only after finishing everything would we eat the late-night snack.

Wu An agreed: "All right."

"Hauling the nets."

"Once we're done, we'll eat the late-night snack."

Lao Fu Tou asked: "Not casting any more?"

Wu An shook his head: "No more casting."

Night work is ultimately unsafe, so everyone should get a good night's sleep and wait until dawn to really get back to work.