Chapter 38: Encountering Mackerel Hunting

Ye Yaodong swam through the sea, gradually adapting to the pressure the seawater brought him.

Only at the very first instant when he jumped into the ocean had panic swallowed him. Luckily, he had warned these terrible friends in advance, so they hadn’t let him sink.

After finding the feeling of swimming freely in the sea again, the fear in his heart gradually faded a little, and his mind relaxed much more. He paddled with both hands and feet toward the shore.

Originally, they had been planning to race and see who could swim to the other side first, but Ye Yaodong’s actions had frightened them. Now nobody dared swim too far away from him.

They slowly swam toward the shore. Only after their feet touched ground did they wade through the water toward the reefs. The tide was still receding at this time.

A’Guang slowly drove the boat behind them. When they were almost there, he jumped into the water, tied the boat securely, and shouted toward Ye Yaodong,

“Dongzi, what the hell were you doing just now? You nearly scared me to death. Don’t you know how to swim?”

“I jumped too hard just then and my leg cramped, so I sank. It’s fine. I’m alright once I got over it. See? I’m perfectly fine.”

That jump had really yielded quite a lot. At least it had been dangerous but not disastrous.

A’Guang was somewhat speechless after hearing him.

“You think you’re still growing or something?”

“Aiya, I exercised too much the night before. There are always times when your legs go weak and your stamina runs out. You single men wouldn’t understand.”

Xiaoxiao laughed and echoed him,

“Makes sense!”

A’Guang rolled his eyes.

“Who are you bullying here? Having a wife is so great? Let’s go. Get the tools from the boat. Half the reefs here are already exposed. Let’s search first. We’ll dig whatever we find!”

The group had only just gone ashore and hadn’t even sat down to rest before they waded back into the water toward the boat.

But the moment they climbed aboard, Ye Yaodong’s eyes widened.

“There… over there! Spanish mackerel are leaping out to hunt!”

The others all turned their gazes.

In the distance, a school of Spanish mackerel was chasing prey in the shallow water along the eastern side of the shore. Their bodies were long, flat, and spindle-shaped. With streamlined forms, extremely fast swimming speed, and sharp teeth, they were like cheetahs chasing prey, while the frightened small fish scattered in every direction.

Everyone instantly grew excited.

“It’s a school of Spanish mackerel hunting!”

“It’s yanba!”

Spanish mackerel were also called ba fish. They were ferocious by nature and often prowled shallow waters near the shore from June to October while chasing food.

As the saying went: in the mountains, eat partridge and muntjac; in the sea, eat mackerel and pomfret.

In this era, marine resources were abundant. Within their field of vision, there were probably over a thousand Spanish mackerel hunting.

None of them had ever seen such a spectacular scene before, and for a moment, they were all stunned!

“Fishing net! Fishing net! Did any of you bring one?”

Ye Yaodong was incredibly excited.

Those were thousands of Spanish mackerel. Based on the prices of this era, even if they were only twenty cents a jin, catching half of them would still earn them a fortune.

One had to know that yanba were usually over forty to fifty centimeters long. Each one weighed six or seven jin or more. Thousands of them… what kind of concept was that?

“Fuck, we don’t have a fishing net!”

“We only brought shore-hunting tools!”

“How would we have thought to bring a net?”

Each of them spoke in turn, and their excitement was instantly doused like a bucket of cold water had been poured over them.

Without a net, what could they use to catch them?

Jump into the water and scoop them by hand?

However happy they had been earlier, they were now just as depressed. It was like watching shiny silver coins swaying right in front of them but being unable to scoop them up.

“Go search the cabin. See if there’s one. A’Guang’s uncle-in-law also does trawling. There should be fishing nets on the boat, right?”

His reminder made everyone snap back to their senses, and they hurried into the cabin to rummage around.

“Yes, yes, yes! There’s a net here! It’s inside here!”

A’Guang’s voice was full of excitement.

Ye Yaodong was overjoyed. Only with a fishing net could they cast and catch them.

“Quick, quick. Untie the rope. We’ll cast the net while driving the boat and head straight toward that school of Spanish mackerel.”

Even without him saying it, everyone knew what to do. Some untied the ropes while others handled the engine.

A’Guang controlled the boat and steered toward the Spanish mackerel.

When they had arrived earlier, they had landed from another direction and hadn’t seen the school of mackerel at all. They had nearly missed them.

The four of them stared excitedly at the fish school. The closer they got, the hotter Ye Yaodong’s gaze became.

Originally, he had only planned to come to the island to shore-hunt and see if they could gather more seafood. He hadn’t expected to stumble upon such incredible luck.

It seemed all his bad luck had already been taken away when he died. Now, after reaching the lowest point, fortune had turned around, and good luck was shining on him!

As they neared the fish school, the startled Spanish mackerel scattered like birds and beasts, but they still couldn’t escape the net that had been cast in advance.

The boat didn’t stop. It continued forward for a stretch before they hauled up the net.

Seeing the group of lively Spanish mackerel thrashing inside, everyone’s faces bloomed with smiles.

A’Zheng’s eyes widened.

“Fuck, this net has a few hundred jin, doesn’t it?”

“Damn, damn, damn, there are so many?”

Each of them stared until their eyes went straight.

“Fuck, hurry, hurry. Stop wasting words. Throw them into the live hold and keep casting. They’re still nearby and haven’t gone far. Keep going. This chance is rare. Let’s haul up a few more nets while we can!”

Birds of a feather flock together. None of them were especially cultured, so they could only use “fuck” to express their excitement.

Ye Yaodong also shouted,

“Keep going, keep going! Quick, dump them into the live hold and cast the net again.”

Once this net of fish was dumped into the live hold, it was instantly full. Fish also fell onto the deck and flopped everywhere, but no one cared about those. They immediately began casting the second net.

This time, they didn’t haul it in right away. Instead, they circled the surrounding waters twice before pulling it up. The fleeing Spanish mackerel couldn’t have gone too far, and this net also brought in a plentiful harvest.

A’Guang shouted excitedly,

“Damn it, another few hundred jin! Hurry, hurry, hurry, help out! The live hold can’t fit anymore. Throw them into the cabin. Who cares whether they’re alive or dead? As long as they’re fresh, they’ll sell!”

If they cast a few more nets and hauled in several thousand jin, why would he still work tomorrow?

Spanish mackerel were coastal fish, warm-water migratory fish found near shore. April to June was mackerel season, and they mainly fed on fish, shrimp, and other aquatic animals. Their trip happened to coincide perfectly with them hunting.

“Keep going, keep going…”

Their excited shouts kept ringing across the boat.

Each of them was bare-chested, wearing only shorts, standing half-naked on the boat without caring about the sun. Their faces were filled with joyful smiles.

They cast five or six more nets in succession. Each time, the net stayed in the sea longer than the last, and each haul caught fewer Spanish mackerel than before.

But everyone was already more than satisfied.

This kind of good luck was something one could only hope for but not demand.

Looking at the live hold and cabin packed full of Spanish mackerel, their eyes shone with excitement.

“Other than at Yu Jing Harbor, I’ve never seen this many Spanish mackerel before. Hahaha~ Sure enough, coming out with Dongzi was the right choice. His luck has been a little too strong these past few days. We really got to share in it this time. Good thing we agreed yesterday. Fatty and A’Wei are going to lose out big time by not coming.”

A’Guang spoke excitedly.

He was very self-aware. His own luck had always been terrible, while Dongzi’s luck these past two days had been like he stepped in dog shit—absolutely explosive.

“Right, right. Dongzi’s luck really does seem amazing these days.”

“Today we made a fortune thanks to Dongzi!”

“Did you worship Mazu before coming out or something?”

(End of Chapter)