Chapter 382: Stealing the Spotlight

Chapter 382: Stealing the Spotlight

Chapter 382: Stealing the Spotlight
Li Changle was sorting the fish when he suddenly remembered the fishing proverb "grab the head of the storm and catch the tail of the storm". He was glad that he did not miss the best opportunity and went out to sea just after the storm. He caught so many fish just after leaving home.

Brother Li poured the last bucket of yellow chicken fish into the live tank, wiped his sweat with excitement, and asked Li Changle who was sitting nearby to rest, "Ah Le, how many nets did you and A Wei catch in total?"

Li Changle thought for a moment, "Fifteen of the nets exploded, and the remaining ones are useless. If each net weighs 200 to 300 kilograms, there must be more than 3,000 kilograms."

Brother Li's smiling face glowed bronze under the light. "We've only been out for three or four hours and we've already caught more than 7,000 kilograms of fish. This trip may fill up the cabin early."

A yellow chicken fish weighing more than a pound can be sold for three yuan per pound without any problem. A big one can be sold for at least one dollar. Together with the catch from the trawl, the cost of this trip is enough.

No wonder old fishermen often say that when going fishing with the captain of a ship with good shipping skills, it is not he who looks for fish, but the fish that come to him for fishing.

"It would be better to fill the cabin in advance. We will sail back tomorrow, unload the cargo, turn the ship around and come out again right away." Chen Yongwei wiped his mouth and said while breathing heavily.

Wang Xincheng pushed the bamboo basket onto the deck and said, "Uncle A-Le, I think we should hurry up and sort the fish. The fish situation is so good. I think we will have to raise the net before the next one reaches Turtle Island!"

"Good boy, you got the hang of it quickly!" Li Changle waved his hand happily, "I'll give you two bonuses when I get back!"

"Thank you, Uncle Le!" Wang Xincheng responded loudly, and Wang Jie's hands moved faster and faster.

People are in high spirits when they are happy. The people on the boat moved so fast that they could almost follow the small electric motor.

After the fishing boat left Huzi Island, the vibrations became more severe. Wang Jie, who was somewhat unsteady on his feet, simply sat down on the deck and kept sorting fish and shrimps with his hands. He was so busy that he even forgot about seasickness.

Li Changle and the other three had fish knives on their waists. They cut the fish that needed to be bled and put them in a pile. The fishy smell on the deck became stronger and stronger.

The trawl net was generally good. There were twenty-three baskets of large and small two-banded trevally, each basket weighing a little over 50 kilograms, which is more than 1,000 kilograms.

There were four baskets of large hairtail fish weighing more than two hundred pounds, two baskets of silver pomfret... two baskets of prawns, four baskets of several kinds of crabs, five or six yellow croakers, only one of which weighed more than a pound, and the others all weighed several ounces.

"We have more than enough fresh food for Ah Hao's wedding banquet, except for more than twenty large yellow croakers."

"There are still two days left! We can use up all the time."

Li Erge and Chen Yongwei pushed the bamboo baskets towards the cargo hold, Li Changle and Wang Xincheng loaded crabs and conger eels into the live hold, and Wang Jie packed up the remaining bamboo baskets, swept the garbage on the deck and dumped them into the sea.

Just as a few people delivered the fish into the cargo hold and stacked them, the voice of Brother Li shouting to start netting came from the loudspeaker.

Brother Li checked the time and said, "Wow, this net has only been pulled for an hour and forty minutes!"

"Second brother, it's already past two o'clock. Let's ask eldest brother to find a place to stop. Let's finish sorting this net and go to sleep for a while."

Brother Li hesitated for a moment and said, "Okay, go tell him."

Li Changle went to the cab and said, "Brother, drive the boat to Turtle Island and dock, then go to sleep."

"It's okay. I've been resting at home for a few days. Now that the fish are in good condition..."

"Brother, you can never make enough money. As long as you are healthy, there will be plenty of good opportunities."

"Okay!" Brother Li started the fishing boat and headed towards Turtle Island.

When Li Changle went out, the net bag had been pulled onto the deck. Seeing the net bag bulging like a balloon, the few people did not find it strange at all.

This net takes the shortest time to fish, and the weight of the fish caught is almost the same as when encountering a school of fish. Now let's see how much the catch of this net is worth?
After the net bag was untied, the first things that came out were yellowtail fish and grouper, mixed in with a lot of black creatures with bodies like shoe soles, crooked mouths and slanted eyes.

"Shajia, why are there so many sole?"

It was the first time to see so many sole fish, and Chen Yongwei and his friends were a little surprised.

"This is good, the more the better!" Li Changle said, waving at Li Erge again, "Brother, don't pour out the contents of the net bag yet, quickly put the live fish in the bucket and deflate it!"

"Okay!" Brother Li turned off the machine, ran over, picked up the bucket and started working.

Chen Yongwei caught a red grouper weighing more than ten kilograms, picked up the deflation needle and stabbed it neatly. Wang Xincheng and Wang Jie handed the selected live fish to the three people respectively.

There were three red groupers, the largest one weighed fifteen or sixteen pounds, and the smallest one weighed five or six pounds. There were also a dozen spotted groupers and cloud groupers, and the rest were all yellow chicken fish, estimated to be more than a thousand pounds.

It seems that all the fish we encountered just now have dived. Fortunately, the trawl net was put out in time and another batch was caught.

The air is deflated for live fish and put into the live tank; the blood is drained from the dead fish and put into bamboo baskets.

Several people worked like spinning tops for more than twenty minutes and finally sorted the fish that were released first into the cabin.

Brother Li started the machine again, and the remaining half bag of fish poured onto the deck like a tide.

This half bag of fish was a bit mixed. In the past, when everyone saw this, they all frowned in annoyance, but this time they all grinned brightly.

The main thing is that there are really a lot of good and large items, not to mention the common shrimps, crabs, eels, and hairtails.

Li Changle saw three red snappers weighing 20 to 30 kilograms, as well as cobia, bream, flounder, and flounder, as well as Li Changle's favorite large yellow croaker and small yellow croaker. "Ah Le, let's tie up the crabs first. Ah Cheng, you and Ah Jie turn out the big ones and put them aside so we can bleed them."

"Oh oh!" Several people acted quickly.

Li Changle separated two fighting blue crabs and said, "These guys are the most annoying. They are still pinching me even after I've fished them out!"

"Eels are annoying, too. They run around everywhere and bite people. Once they grab a hold of you, they won't let go."

Wang Xincheng grabbed a large blood-red fish and asked, "Uncle, is this also a red grouper?"

Brother Li looked back and said, "No! This fish is called long-tailed snapper, and the price is not bad."

Chen Yongwei laughed and said, "It looks similar to the red-eyed chicken fish!"

"The red-eyed fish are small, but the big ones can grow up to seventy or eighty centimeters." After saying this, Brother Li put the bled red snapper into a bamboo basket.

Wang Xincheng put the fish at his feet and picked up a big red snapper to bleed him. "This kind is better. It's almost like holding a piglet."

"Fishermen like this kind of fish. They hope that every catch is this kind of big and good stuff."

Wang Jie picked up a sole fish that was wider than a porcelain basin and nearly one meter long. He used his elbow to nudge Wang Xincheng who was catching fish nearby, and said, "Acheng, look!"

"Oh my goodness, such a big sole!" Wang Xincheng took it and excitedly called Li Changle and the others to look at it, "Uncle, look, this sole weighs at least more than 20 kilograms."

"This one of mine is pretty good too!" Chen Yongwei also picked up a big one, looked at it for a few seconds, and asked curiously, "Second brother, isn't it said that flounder is on the left and sole is on the right? Why is the sole's mouth tilted to the right?"

Brother Li smiled and said, "The one with the mouth and eyes tilted to the left is a flounder, and the one with the mouth and eyes tilted to the right is a flatfish. As for why its mouth tilts to the right, you have to ask its mother."

"We need to ask Mr. Wang next door!" Li Changle added, and everyone laughed after hearing it.

The scientific name of the tooth sole is Trout, also known as tooth fish, opium fish, flatfish, tooth sole, and left-mouth fish.

The large flounder can grow to more than two feet long, with tender and delicious meat. People in fishing villages like to braise or steam it. Larger flounder can also be made into sashimi, as its meat is soft and sweet.

The small ones weigh one or two kilograms, and the big ones are estimated to be over twenty kilograms. This is the first time I have caught such a big sole after going out to sea for so long.

The last batch of fish weighing more than 7 kilograms was sold at 2.5 yuan per kilogram. The price of this batch will at least double. I feel so happy just thinking about it.

After Brother Li docked the boat, he did not listen to Li Changle and go to the cabin to sleep. Instead, he put on gloves and sorted the fish with everyone.

Seeing so many large cargoes, they were extremely excited. The six people were busy until nearly four o'clock before they sorted out all the fish and started loading them into the hold.

There were eleven soles weighing between seven and eight pounds and more than twenty pounds, and eleven baskets of small soles, sole skins, and flounders.

There were nine baskets of sergeants, two baskets of dead yellowtail fish, one and a half baskets of grouper, one basket of red snappers weighing more than ten pounds, and three weighing more than twenty pounds.

There were two baskets of small yellow croakers and more than one basket of large yellow croakers. Thirty fish weighing one pound or twelve ounces were all collected. Li Changle also prepared two more and put them in a separate bamboo basket.

Then there were the common swordfish, cutlassfish, shrimps and crabs. He estimated that this net caught nearly 4,000 kilograms of fish.

After loading the last basket into the cargo hold, Li Changle and Chen Yongwei pulled the second and the first brothers Li onto the deck. After covering the cargo hold, they sat down on the deck.

"I'm so tired!" Brother Li patted Li Changle, "Ah Le, is there anything to eat? I need to eat something before I can sleep."

"Yes, I'll get you some brown sugar buns." Li Changle stood up weakly, looked at Chen Yongwei and the other two who were busy washing the deck, and sighed, "The young man is still in good spirits."

The weather was hot, and the brown sugar buns in the steel pot were still soft. Li Changle thought about it, boiled some water, made a pot of seaweed soup, put a few pieces of fermented bean curd made by Grandma Chen, and walked towards the deck.

The deck had been washed clean, and several men were sitting on oilcloth bags, leaning against the side of the ship, drowsy.

Except for the sea surface illuminated by the lights of the fishing boats, the nearby ocean surface was pitch black and not even a single operating ship could be seen.

"Brother, has Boss Chen gone out to sea?"

"Probably not. He called us just after we left the dock before. I turned on the intercom as soon as we left the dock last night, but there was no response."

"It's time to eat. Brown sugar buns and seaweed soup!"

Wang Xincheng and Wang Jie hurriedly stood up and took the pot and rice basket he was holding. Everyone sat around together, drinking the hot seaweed soup with salty and fragrant fermented bean curd, and the whole pot of steamed buns was eaten up.

Chen Yongwei burped and said to Li Changle and the others, "Brother, you guys go to sleep. I'll stay here to keep watch."

"I'm with...Uncle Awei..."

"Okay! Ajie and Awei will be on duty together. Call me, the second brother, and Acheng to get up in three hours. The eldest brother can continue to rest."

(End of this chapter)