Chapter 305 White Dragon King
Chapter 305 White Dragon King
There are two baskets of rice fish weighing more than ten catties, five or six baskets of those weighing less than ten catties, one and a half baskets of silver pomfret weighing more than three catties, two baskets of those weighing more than two catties, and five or six baskets of those weighing less than two catties and more than six taels.
Father Li brought a basket of small pomfret weighing four or five taels to the side of the cargo hold and shouted to Second Brother Li who was stacking bamboo baskets below, "An, put these fish separately and unload them at the dock and send them back to be killed and dried in the sun."
The price of silver pomfret will double if it weighs over 6 taels. The ones below taels are only cents per catty. You can earn a few more cents per catty by drying them into bream heads.
"Got it!" Brother Li and Wang Xincheng were busy stacking baskets of fish in the cargo hold full of ice.
Half a basket of large hairtails that are four fingers wide, two baskets each of those larger than two fingers and larger than three fingers wide, and small hairtails that are smaller than two fingers wide. If they are picked up alive, they are thrown back into the sea and released, and the dead ones are kept as bait.
Small miscellaneous fish of little value were picked out for use as bait, along with various shrimps, water bream, collapsed fish skin, big-headed plum, millet fish weighing one or two kilograms, small yellow croaker and other miscellaneous fish, and pushed into the cargo hold with a rake to be frozen and preserved.
All five of them were efficient at work, but it still took them more than an hour to sort the fish on the deck. Some were sent to the live hold for keeping, while most were sent to the cargo hold for freezing and preservation.
After everything was cleaned up, I started cleaning.
The ocean has not been polluted these days, and you can't see any messy garbage such as plastic bags and lunch boxes.
There was only seaweed pulled up by the trawl and garbage generated by sorting the fish. After cleaning, they were shoveled up with a shovel and dumped back into the sea. The deck was rinsed clean with water. The first net after the formal operation was successfully completed.
Father Li rubbed his injured leg, and Li Changle stepped forward to help him up, "Dad, wait until Ah Cheng is familiar with the operation of the big ship, and then find a novice, or let you stay at home to help."
Father Li kicked his legs and said, "It's nothing, it's just a little numb from squatting for so long."
Li Changle looked at the stubborn father Li and said with a smile: "Dad, we are all gone. If anyone in the family needs dry goods, you can help deliver them at home."
Father Li thought for a moment and said, "I will not let go until you find the right person."
"Okay, let's find someone first."
"A Le!" Father Li pulled him aside and asked, "How much can those big fish sell for per pound?"
Li Changle thought about it and said, "Last time, 100-pound tuna was sold for 1.5 yuan per pound, dozens of pounds of mackerel was sold for 1 yuan, and silver pomfret over 3 pounds was sold for 2.5 yuan.
Silver pomfret weighing more than two kilograms costs 1.8 yuan, large fish weighing more than ten kilograms and large hairtail fish costs 1 yuan, and small square and hexagonal fish are also available. "
After hearing this, Father Li added up the large amounts of goods in his mind and grinned, "Okay, okay, now I feel relieved."
Li Changle smiled and said, "Are you worried that you'll lose money on this trip?"
"Why not? The diesel and the two truckloads of ice alone cost over 3,000 yuan. Add in other expenses, and it would be strange if I wasn't worried."
Li Changle didn't expect his old father to be really worried about these things. "Don't worry, I calculated it yesterday. We worked for seven hours and the fuel consumption was nearly three hundred yuan. Not counting the seafood left for drying, after paying the expenses, we still made a profit of more than five hundred yuan."
"That's good. I was just worried that if you switch to a bigger boat, you won't earn as much as the smaller boat."
"I prepared so much diesel just in case. We can't run the boat 24 hours a day!"
"I've never used a machine. I've always used my hands to row and pole the boat. How would I know how much fuel you consume?"
"This is called a disciple surpassing his master!" Li Changle put his arm around his shoulders with a playful smile, "It proves that you two elders know how to teach children. You have taught us to be so capable that we can buy a big steel ship for you to drive at such a young age."
"You're just eating firewood and trying to flatter yourself!" Father Li rolled his eyes at him, then couldn't help laughing again after thinking about it.
"Dad, are you hungry? Let me go see if Cheng has prepared the meal."
"Go! Let me go see your brother!"
Li Changle nodded, touched his rumbling stomach and walked towards the cabin. After he had taken a few steps, Wang Xincheng came out with a pot of rice cakes and invited everyone to eat.
Chen Yongwei came out carrying a basket filled with steamed square cakes and meat sauce made from bean paste, minced meat and onions.
Several people ate two square cakes with meat sauce, and then picked up the rice cake to eat. The rice cake with small eagle claw shrimps, clams, small pond vegetables and shredded meat tasted fresh and sticky.
This time I brought four or five pounds of pork belly. There was ice in the cabin, so I froze the pork in it and there was no need to worry about the pork going bad.
After Second Brother Li had eaten and drunk his fill, he went to have his turn with First Brother Li to eat. Wang Xincheng rushed to wash the pots and dishes. Li Changle and the others rested for half an hour, and then the horn for netting was blown.
Chen Yongwei rushed forward and tied the trawl net tightly and hung it on the hook. Everyone looked at the net bag that was bigger than before and cheered.
"The Dongsheng has a full hold of fish! The Dongsheng has a full hold of fish!"
It was the first time for Brother Li to participate in the net. He was so excited when he saw the bulging net bag, "Ah Le, let me try to untie the net."
"Okay, take a look before you do anything!"
"Don't worry, I'm an experienced fisherman!" Brother Li went forward to check first, then untied the fishing rope, and countless fish, shrimps and crabs poured out of the net bag.
A red eel about two or three meters long and thicker than an adult's wrist jumped out of the net bag and swam quickly on the deck. Those who had never seen it would definitely think it was a red python. With its serrated fangs bared and its python-like body twisting, it rushed around on the deck, trying to escape back to the familiar sea.
If you get hit by it, its amazing bite force can easily chew up a person's fingers, and even through plastic boots, it can leave several rows of bloody holes on your legs.
Chen Yongwei was quick-witted and quick-handed. He picked up the scoop net and aimed it at the fish head net. The red eel twisted a few times in the net bag, raised its head and rushed out of the scoop net.
He hurriedly turned the scoop net upside down in the rubber bucket, and Li Changle, who was standing nearby, reached out and closed the bucket lid.
Father Li listened to the rubber bucket banging as the red eel hit it, and he couldn't stop laughing. "This guy is really fierce!"
Li Changle nodded happily, "We have caught red eels several times, and this one is the biggest."
After a while, the remaining half bag of fish was lifted up by the hook, and countless shiny, silvery white fish poured out.
The people present all stared with wide eyes at the pile of silver fish on the deck, "Why are there so many cutlassfish? Did we encounter a school of cutlassfish?"
Brother Li said: "These hairtails were the last to come out. They might have been caught in the area where the net was just cast."
"Tsk, tsk, what a pity!" Chen Yongwei said with a sigh, "If we had X-ray vision and saw the school of hairtail fish underwater, we could just haul them in that area and wouldn't have to go so far."
Li Changle glanced at him and said, "You have X-ray vision, but you're still fishing? There are so many gold and silver treasures in the seabed, let's go and get them!"
A large hairtail slid to Wang Xincheng's feet. He excitedly shouted to Brother Li, "Uncle, the hairtail king is here!"
A few people turned their heads and saw a large cutlassfish that was about 4 or 5 meters long, more than centimeters wide, with a red dorsal fin, a small head and a small mouth, and looked a bit strange.
"White Dragon King." Father Li walked forward with disdain and grabbed the still-twisting hairtail. "Why did you drag this thing up here? Ah Le, Ah Ping, come and put it back into the sea."
"Oh oh!" Li Changle also felt strange after seeing it. Why was this guy dragged up?
People here call it White Dragon King. The scientific name of this cutlassfish is Imperial oarfish, which generally lives in the sea at a depth of about 50 to 200 meters.
In the old days, it was believed that oarfish would swim to shallow waters just before an earthquake, so some people called it the earthquake fish.
The ancients believed it was a bad omen and would release it immediately after catching it.
Li Changle remembered that there had been no earthquakes in their area over the years, and even if there were any, they were small earthquakes that could not be felt.
"I'll do it!" Chen Yongwei stepped forward and grabbed the big hairtail, put it back into the sea, and then asked Li's father, "Uncle Tang, what kind of fish is this?"
Father Li said: "In the old days, people said that if you caught this kind of hairtail, there would be an earthquake. We caught it before, and some people cooked it and ate it. The meat was coarse and fishy, not tasty at all. After catching it, we usually put it back into the sea."
"Is there really going to be an earthquake?" Wang Xincheng was surprised.
"No, I caught it a few times when I was in the production team. I cooked and ate it and it didn't cause any earthquakes. Otherwise, how would I know that it grew so big in vain? The fish meat is not tasty at all."
Father Li was worried that they were thinking about this, so he consoled them, "I thought I would bring the boat back today, so I asked you to let them go quickly."
Brother Li came over with a bamboo basket and said to Li Changle, "Ah Le, we've been running for six or seven hours in one go. Let's stop here and rest for an hour or so, then drive the boat back to the sea where we just cast the net and start longline fishing."
Li Changle nodded, "I also want to go back there to fish."
After turning off the engine and dropping anchor, Brother Li also came to help sort the catch. Seeing so many cutlass fish, everyone was grinning from ear to ear.
"Look, it's Bao Gong fish." Father Li grabbed a fish weighing about two or three pounds with one hand. The fish had black spots on its tail and diagonal stripes and was plump and plump, and ran towards the live tank.
The scientific name of Baogong fish: Polyporus floridulus, it is named because there are many black dots of different sizes scattered on the dorsal and anal fins above its second oblique band, especially on the caudal fin where the dots are more dense, resembling scattered black pepper.
Baogong fish likes to live in rocky reefs with clear water and lush algae. Its meat is tender and delicious.
The Baogong fish in those days were all wild, and later generations had marine farmed varieties.
Then Chen Yongwei also caught a baogong fish and a grouper weighing four or five kilograms.
Li Changle, Big Brother Li and Wang Xincheng were busy catching crabs. What they hated most was these things. Not only did they like to run around everywhere, but they also had to work hard to tie them up.
"Haha, another yellow-yellow crab!" Li Changle held up a blue crab that looked transparent orange in the sun, with even its claws soaked with crab roe, and his mouth stretched to the back of his ears.
Brother Li turned his head and looked at him. "He's really fat. He must be more than a pound, right?"
"There's another big one!" Li Changle proudly grabbed the one in the bamboo basket. "These two weigh more than three pounds, eight yuan per pound, so two butter crabs are more than twenty yuan."
Wang Xincheng took out two crabs from the bamboo basket and asked, "Uncle A-Le, do you think they are butter crabs?"
"Yes! Hurry up and see if there are any more?" Li Changle happily took the two butter crabs and opened a private room for them.
(End of this chapter)