Chapter 190: Full of Fish
Chapter 190: Full of Fish
The boat moved forward slowly. Li Changle and his two brothers rubbed their wrists and arms, cheered themselves up and picked up the knife to bleed the big fish. Only then did they realize that the rubber bucket was already full of big fish, and even the cargo hold and live hold were filled with fish.
The three men dumped the big fish, which had been bled, onto the deck at random.
Chen Yongwei wiped his hands on his pants and said, "Big fish are still the best. One fish weighs 80 to 90 kilograms. With so many big fish, we're going to make a fortune!"
"I'll let you taste it after I sell all the money. It'll feel like your hands are cramping from counting the money!" Li Changle looked at the fish on the boat as if he were looking at banknotes.
Brother Li laughed and said, “If you start to cramp now, you won’t even be able to hold on to the money later.”
Chen Yongwei looked at his hand, which could no longer be stretched straight, and nodded, "Brother, there are so many silver pomfret today, the purchase price of the seafood store will definitely drop."
Brother Li nodded and said, "There's nothing we can do about the price drop. The market is like that. As long as there are more varieties, the ones that are worth less will be worth less!"
"Brother, the typhoon has just passed, and the seafood in the seafood store has been almost sold out. Good and large quantities of seafood are still valuable." Li Changle added.
Brother Li thought it made sense and said, "We'll sort them out by grade when we get to the dock."
Li Changle looked at the small fish and said, "I think we should not sell the small pomfret weighing less than half a pound. How about we keep the heads of the pomfret and sell them after drying?"
"Okay, since we're going to ask my mother-in-law to sell us jellyfish skins, as well as the sea bass and eels at home, we'll just dry a few more varieties."
Chen Yongwei also nodded in agreement.
After the three men had bled all the big fish, they were so tired that they didn't even have the last bit of energy left. They slumped down on the deck, leaning against the side of the boat, breathing heavily while shaking their hands, looking at the boat full of fish with a satisfied grin on their faces.
Li Changle took a breath, fumbled with his hands, and took out a cigarette from his pocket with great effort. He gave one to each of them, "Brothers, have a cigarette, and some oil!"
"Come!"
Brother Li leaned over and held the cigarette in his mouth, and Chen Yongwei also turned his head and held the cigarette in his mouth.
Li Changle took out a match, but his hands were shaking like Parkinson's disease and he couldn't even hold the matchstick. He sighed inwardly, thinking that he was much weaker now than in his previous life.
"Young man, you obviously lack exercise. You need to exercise more in the future!"
Brother Li took the match and held it steadily. He touched the tinder to the fire and it lit with a "sizzle" sound.
Li Changle stepped forward and lit the cigarette, "The experienced big brother is still the best!"
"When your second brother and I first got on the big ship and went to the big fishing grounds to fish, our situation was pretty much the same as yours and Awei's." Thinking of the days on the big ship, Brother Li couldn't help but sigh.
"I used to think that fishing with my father in the coastal waters was hard, but later I followed a large ship, traveled to the wild ocean, and experienced the winter floods. Only then did I understand what real hardship was."
Li Changle had experienced this in his previous life, so of course he understood what it was like to fish during the hairtail season in winter. The cold was so intense that it felt like it chilled him to the bones. Every time he finished, he had to drink a big bowl of rice wine and ginger juice to warm himself up.
But the moment I get my salary, I forget all the hardship.
Chen Yongwei turned his head excitedly and said, "Brother, when the big fishing grounds are in flood season, is it like today, with fish everywhere?"
"If it were such hardship, I wouldn't be afraid. I'm afraid I'd suffer to death without making any money, and not only would I be looked down upon by the villagers, but my grandma would also have to suffer with me."
After hearing this, Li Changle raised his head and exhaled a puff of cigarette, knowing in his heart that what Awei said was right. This was the reality. Even a rich person's fart smelled good, but for a poor person, even speaking loudly was wrong.
Money is the dignity of the poor, the confidence of men, and the face of parents, women and children at home.
Brother Li took a long puff of his cigarette, was silent for a moment, and said, "Wangfa's big fishing grounds are even more spectacular than today, with endless schools of fish, and hundreds of fishing boats came upon hearing the news.
Fishing boats are packed tightly together on the ocean, like dumplings being dumped into a pile. The nets of the big boats are huge, and it takes seven or eight people to pull them together. If you are lucky, you can make a fortune of ten thousand yuan after one fishing trip.”
"No wonder the old saying goes, debts are as numerous as the hairs on a cow, and the sea is as high as the tide!" Chen Yongwei said with a longing look on his face.
After smoking a cigarette, Li Changle asked the other two to follow his example and massage their arm and leg muscles. Otherwise, the next day, the muscles in their arms and legs would be more sore, and severe cases might even cause muscle damage.
Brother Li and his friends always did muscle relaxation when they were on the big boat. He rubbed his arm and looked at him in confusion, "Ah Le, you have never fished like this before, how do you know it will hurt more the next day?"
"Last time when Awei and I encountered a school of fish and were pulling the trawl net, our arms hurt. I asked Old Man Xiang and he taught me."
"Oh!" Brother Li nodded and said, "I'm too tired today. Rubbing it will only make me feel better. I won't be able to hold chopsticks tomorrow."
"That's great!" Li Changle said with a smile, "We can just sit there and have everything we want."
"..." Brother Li was speechless for a moment, then rolled his eyes at him, "Lazy dogs have many reasons!"
When the boat arrived at the waters of Zhushan Island, Brother Li stopped to fill up the diesel. After resting for more than an hour, the three brothers had recovered some strength. They took their positions and pulled the last net onto the boat.
After Chen Yongwei untied the rope of the net bag, fish of all sizes were spread out on the pile of fish like grains being dried in the sun.
Mantis shrimp, crab, red-eye...then there are tuna, barracuda, swordfish, and the most common one is silver pomfret.
The three brothers Li Changle picked up knives and drained the blood of the fish that needed to be bled. At this time, several boats caught up with them, three of which were from other villages, and several boats from Shatou Village were moving forward side by side. Uncle Li was hunched over, standing alone in the driving seat, and was not as conspicuous as the fish on the deck.
Jin Hui stood at the bow, waving at them with a smile on his face, and shouted at the top of his voice, "A Le, did your family catch tens of thousands of kilograms of fish today?"
Lai Laoer took over and said, "Ah Hui and Ah Le went there first. The four brothers are all strong laborers. With the trawler, today's catch is at least 10,000 kilograms!"
Li Changle took a look at the fish on his boat and said, "Brother Lai, your fish is not bad either!"
"This is indeed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Everyone is casting their nets with all their might."
Lai Lao Er said as he looked at Li Ah Si, "Why didn't your Ah Shui come? If he had come, he would have caught at least another 1,000 kilograms. What a pity."
"That rebellious son, what did he say?"
Li Ah Si looked at the fish on the fishing boats of the same village, then turned his head to look at his own. Thinking of Ah Shui who had separated from the family, and thinking of how he had worked so hard to catch only such a small amount, he suddenly felt resentful.
He blamed his three brothers for meddling in his affairs and Xu Xianmei for being ungrateful, forcing Ah Shui to split up the family and causing them to miss such a good opportunity.
Seeing that he had a gloomy face, Brother Li smiled at him and said, "Uncle Si, you have caught so much by yourself. Go back and ask Aunt Si to cook some delicious dishes and get a pot of good wine."
"Ah Si!" The captain of a nearby boat laughed and said, "What's the point of eating the food at home? The food in the town's restaurant is better. Pick two good fish and pay two dollars to hire someone to process them.
Order two meat dishes and a pot of good wine, and when you are full, go to the hair salon and find a girl for a massage. That would be a heavenly day. "
As soon as Li Changle heard this, he knew that this person was a frequent visitor. He gave the captain a thumbs up and said, "This captain really knows how to enjoy himself!"
"Hahaha!" The man laughed proudly. "Young man, your family is the luckiest. We suffered from the small size of our boat, so we didn't catch as many fish as the iron boat and the big boat, but we still have to rank third."
Lai Lao Er said with a smile: "Ah Le, no one here is as familiar with the town as you are. If there is anything interesting, take us to see it."
"Brother Lai, please stop teasing me. I'm a poor guy, where do I get the money to have fun?"
"Ah Le, you and your brothers have earned at least a thousand dollars today, are you still worried about not having enough money to play with?"
"More than a thousand. Look at the huge cargo on the ship. There are probably tens of thousands of them."
Several other companies also came to join in the fun and boasted that their income of thousands was directly increased to tens of thousands.
Although the brothers knew that everyone was bragging, they were still happy in their hearts because today's fish catch set a new record, and it might be difficult to break this record in the future!
Brother Li knew that Li Changle was joking and that he had changed a lot, but when he thought of his erratic temper, he couldn't help but warn him.
"Ah Le, you know how hard it is to make money. If you were to be like them, and go to a restaurant or ask a girl for a massage when you have some money, Dad would definitely chase you with a stick and beat you!"
"Brother, do you think I'm that kind of person?" Li Changle looked at him with a playful smile, "There are three big mountains pressing down on me at home. If I dare to go, I will be beaten by three people!"
"If Dad and Mom were willing to beat you, you would have become a great man long ago!" Brother Li said and rolled his eyes at him, "You're fighting with three people. My sister-in-law is not as unreasonable as you say!"
"Yes, my brother just needs to be taught a lesson. If my uncle, aunt, and sister-in-law had been willing to beat him earlier, the new house for our family would have been built long ago."
"Hey, hey, hey!" Li Changle glared and put his arm around his neck, "Which country are you from?"
"Haha!" Chen Yongwei laughed innocently, "I stand on the side of truth, I will help whoever is right!"
"Awei is right, we should help the right side instead of the relatives!"
Uncle Li looked at his brothers who were chatting and laughing, and suddenly thought, why would he have to suffer so much if he went to sea with Ah Shui?
Feeling a little uncomfortable suddenly, he stepped on the accelerator and the diesel engine made a "clattering" sound, emitting black smoke. He quickly overtook their ship and ran away.
Seeing this, the other ships also quickly increased their speed and rushed out like arrows.
Everyone wants to rush back to the dock as soon as possible to sell the goods. With so many silver pomfret, it will definitely cause a sensation at the entire dock. We don’t know if the price of fish will drop, so we have to rush back early to sell them at a good price.
"Brother, do you think Uncle Li has a problem with his brain?" Chen Yongwei suddenly asked as he watched the boat sailing away.
Li Changle smiled and said, "It's not that there is a problem, it's a big problem!"
The Jin family's fishing boat caught up with Li Changle's and sailed side by side with him. "Ah Le, the price of silver pomfret must be lower today. Where are you going to sell it?"
"Adong's at the dock." Li Changle looked at his house and asked, "How many pounds do you have?"
"We came late, and only had three or four thousand pounds."
"The fishing boats in this area today weigh at least a thousand kilograms."
Thanks to my friends, it’s Ah Yu, not Ah Yu. Who still remembers my nickname from a few years ago? Please support me with rewards! Thank you!
(End of this chapter)