Chapter 321 The Honest Leader
Chapter 321 The Honest Leader
Li Changle looked at the remaining diesel and did not dare to continue chasing the fish. He prepared the last net, dropped anchor, collected the fish, and returned after dinner.
After starting the network machine, Brother Li checked the time and said, "It's already past four o'clock. Mother might have already gone to the dock and is waiting for us."
Li Changle nodded. "According to the original plan, we will be home at noon. I told An Nan before I left that if it's fast, it will take two or three days, but if it's slow, it may take one more day."
Chen Yongwei: "I also told my grandma this, so she wouldn't have to wait at the dock when the time came."
After the net bag was pulled up, the last net had little catch, with mackerels and sardines still making up the majority.
The rest were some hairtail, sea bass and some miscellaneous fish. The only valuable thing was a red snapper weighing about 30 kilograms. There were no other big deep-sea fish.
When the aroma of hairtail stewed with radish wafted from the kitchen, several people had already washed the deck and prepared to eat.
Father Li brought out a pot of greasy braised pork with soy sauce and placed it on the deck, followed by a pot of stewed hairtail and radish, and some seaweed salad. The frigate bird was still trapped under the bamboo basket and had not been cleaned up in time.
"It's time to eat, it's time to eat." Li Changle came out with the medicinal wine, poured two liang of it for Li's father and Li's second brother, and poured some for Chen Yongwei and the other two, "Drink it and have a good sleep."
"It still smells meaty." Chen Yongwei picked up a piece of greasy pork belly and said, "It's delicious, not greasy at all."
Father Li picked up a spoon and scooped a few pieces for him and Wang Xincheng. "You must be exhausted! I'll go home and buy some big pig's trotters to stew for you."
"Yeah! I don't have much strength left to hold the chopsticks." Wang Xincheng picked up the spoon and scooped two spoonfuls of broth into the rice. "I'm really craving for meat."
Li Changle knew that the two were exhausted. "Next time we sail, I'll buy more meat to bring with me."
Chen Amao held an enamel bowl that was bigger than his head and walked towards the side of the boat, "Boss Ah Le, what delicious food are you eating? The aroma is wafting over here."
Li Changle stood up and said with a smile: "My father cooked pork belly, hairtail and shredded radish. Come and have a couple of drinks."
"We have to sail again soon. I'll treat you guys to a drink when we get home." Chen Amao walked to the side of the boat. "Every time I'm really tired, I want to sleep after drinking a little. I don't even know where the boat is going."
Brother Li took it and said, "We brothers take turns to open it, I don't dare to drink it."
"My brother and I take turns driving. Today we went too far and he couldn't find the route, so I have to drive!"
"Just let him follow the Rising Sun."
"He was the one driving the boat in the early morning. He's been tired all day. Let him get some sleep before I take over."
When Chen Amao saw them put the food on the deck and start eating, he noticed that the deck of the Xusheng was swept clean and the fishing gear was neatly arranged.
I turned around and looked at my own house, and it seemed no different from a pigsty.
"Boss Ale, you guys are so fond of cleanliness? Tsk tsk, the deck is so clean that you can even see a person's reflection in it."
"It's better to wash yourself. It's hot and you don't want to sleep in the cabin. Take out the straw mat and spread it on the deck. It's much cooler to sleep outside."
Chen Amao thought about it and decided to start cleaning after dinner. After thinking about it, he said, "I think your cargo hold is full today, right?"
Li Changle smiled and shook his head, "It's mostly filled. Yours is full, right?"
"Mine is almost full," Chen Amao said happily. "The bamboo baskets we brought with us this time are not enough, so all the fish we caught are mixed together. We have to hire people to sort them out when we get to the dock."
"It's the same at my house. We have to bring more bamboo baskets next time." Li Changle wiped his sweat and said, "Did you notice that it's much hotter in the afternoon than in the morning? I think the weather is a bit strange. Let's eat and return home."
"Yes, sweat runs down my neck while I eat." Chen Amao hurriedly asked the boatman to fetch water to wash the deck, and then they packed up and set off quickly.
Father Li drank up the medicinal wine, picked up the rice bowl and started eating. "Let's leave quickly after dinner. I'm worried about a storm tonight."
"It's possible." Brother Li looked at the sky and said, "We'll speed up and rush back, and try to get back to the coast before the storm comes."
Three large hot pots of food and a large pot of rice were completely devoured by the six people. Wang Xincheng and Chen Yongwei cleaned up the dishes, while Li Changle and his son walked towards the cab.
Brother Li blew the whistle, and after hearing Chen Amao's response, he started the fishing boat back.
After turning off the intercom, Brother Li leaned back in his chair and looked at the others with a smile on his face, "Today we caught more than 10,000 catties of sardines, nearly 30,000 catties of mackerel, and 8,000 to 9,000 catties of big fish.
Pomfret, sea bass, hairtail... and shrimp and crabs together weigh about 1,000 to 2,000 kilograms. Adding the catch from yesterday and the day before yesterday, I estimate the total catch is over 70,000 kilograms."
Brother Li turned his head excitedly and said, "Big boats can catch more fish. Last time, the four of us worked hard for a whole day and only caught nearly 10,000 kilograms of fish."
Li Changle nodded and said, "So Boss Chen said that he would rather lend money with interest to buy a big ship."
Father Li: "I heard that he borrowed the money at an interest rate of 3.5%. He borrowed 3,000 yuan in total. The annual interest is more than 1,000 yuan, which doubled in three years."
Brother Li: "Not only can we pay back the money this time, but we can also earn enough money to buy a boat." "Yes!" Father Li looked at Brother Li, "An, if you add up the sardines, bluefin bream and water bream we caught yesterday and the day before yesterday, it should be over 20,000. The total number of Spanish mackerel is 30,000 jin, no less."
Brother Li thought about it and said, "Yes, there were more mackerels and hairtail yesterday and the day before yesterday."
Li Changle smiled and said, "The market for Spanish mackerel is pretty good. Under two catties, they're worth two cents. Over two catties, they're worth three cents. Over three catties, they're worth four cents. There are quite a few large items this time. Even if they're worth three cents per catty, we can still sell them for nine thousand yuan."
Brother Li: "Qingzhan and Shuichan can still be sold for three cents a pound, while sardines are only two cents a pound. More than 20,000 pounds only make four or five hundred yuan, which is not enough to even make back the money for diesel."
"These are just for extra weight." Li Changle looked at them with a smile, "With those good goods, we can not only earn back the money from the Xusheng, but also some money from the big ship."
Next, there is the winter flood season. With the current fishery resources, if nothing unexpected happens, the four families will make a fortune. These days, the bold ones will die of overeating, while the timid ones will die of starvation.
"Good, good, good!" Father Li clapped his hands happily, "Go back and have a good rest for a few days. When the weather clears up, we will go out again. When the winter flood arrives, we will go to the fishery to catch hairtail."
Brother Li said, "Dad, Boss Chen is following behind, you all go and rest, I will drive the boat alone."
Father Li shook his head, "No! I have to watch over you here. You are all tired after a whole day. You may fall asleep while watching."
Li Changle looked at the time and said to Father Li, "It's five o'clock now. I'm going to sleep until ten o'clock, and then I'll come with Awei to replace you."
After hearing this, Brother Li thought that the boat was still in the open sea in the first half of the night, so he was not sure whether he could drive it or not. "A Le, let A Cheng and I take over in the first half of the night, and you can come and take over when we get to Turtle Island."
Father Li said, "Listen to your second brother. You will open it in the early morning, and your second brother will open it in the first half of the night."
"Okay!" Li Changle couldn't say that he could drive to Taiwan by himself, so he could only nod in agreement.
After discussing the shift rotations, several people left the cab and went back to rest. Exhausted, they didn't care whether the cabin was stuffy or not. They fell asleep as soon as their heads touched the pillows in a few breaths.
……
At the Shatou Village Pier, Zhou Ruonan and her mother-in-law took turns to come to the pier to watch the boats since the afternoon, but they waited anxiously but never saw their own boat return.
After get off work, Zhou Ruonan took Li Xiaoyang and Li Xiaohai to the dock. There were more ships returning in the afternoon. The three of them stared at the returning ships until it got dark, but they still didn't see any sign of the Xusheng.
Seeing Li Changshui approaching the shore with his boat, Zhou Ruonan hurriedly took Li Xiaoyang and Li Xiaohai to meet the boat, "Ah Shui, have you seen your brother and the others?"
"No!" Li Changshui took the fish caught in the traps and the octopus caught in the jars off the boat and put them on the tricycle. "Auntie, don't worry. There are a lot of fish in the open sea. My brother and his friends may have encountered a school of fish, so they didn't come back."
Zhou Ruonan thought of what Li Changle said before she left, and felt relieved. Seeing the fish in the bucket, she said gratefully, "Thank you for troubling me these past few days."
"No trouble!" Li Changshui smiled naively. "Today's trap harvest is not as good as yesterday's. The good ones are two sea cucumbers, a few conger eels, and several blue crabs. The tide watchers are not bad, with about 70 or 80 of them."
"Not bad!" Zhou Ruonan asked with a smile, "How was your catch today?"
"Good!" Li Changshui nodded happily. "My brother and his team have the most fish. I also caught two good ones today."
Li Xiaoyang immediately became interested after hearing this, "Uncle Shui, I want to see what good fish you caught?"
"Uncle Shui, I want to see it too." Li Xiaohai also followed Li Xiaoyang towards the boat.
Li Changshui smiled and lifted the lid of the bucket. "A big blue spot weighing twelve or thirteen pounds, and a black hair weighing more than four pounds!"
"It's so big!" Li Xiaoyang thought about it and pulled him, "Uncle Shui, don't be too honest when you sell good goods. My third uncle always haggles over the price with Adong's family."
Li Xiaohai nodded repeatedly, "Yes, my father is a great bargainer. The big blue crabs are 20 cents per pound more expensive than what we sell!"
Li Changshui looked at the two little guys with amusement, "Okay, I'll negotiate the price with Adong later."
The three days of working at Chuiyuan Island were the days when he made the most money during his time out at sea. From casting nets and longline fishing, he could make 70 or 80 yuan on a bad day, and more than 200 yuan on a good day.
Sister helped Ale sell a few of the watches that he had received from his brother. After saving some money, she installed the trawl net so that when Grandma Chen moved, she would have enough money to buy a house.
Li Xiaohai looked at him and wrinkled his nose. "Uncle Shui, I didn't lie to you. My dad is really good at selling fish. He sells better fish than you do."
"Humph, you still don't believe it!" Li Xiaoyang also felt that his kind reminder was ignored, and snorted in dissatisfaction, "Adong is very cunning, wait until my uncle comes back and takes you to sell it once, and you will know."
"Uncle Shui believes it. Uncle Dong saw that I delivered good goods and gave me extra money." Li Changshui walked towards the shore happily with the fish he caught.
Li Xiaoyang curled his lips and shook his head after hearing this, "What an honest guy!"
(End of this chapter)