Chapter 40: Everyone Was Stunned

Ye Yaodong smiled at everyone and said,

“I want to keep two or three Spanish mackerel to bring home. My family’s house construction starts tomorrow, and we’ll need to provide food and drinks for the workers. A few fish would be perfect for making mackerel fish balls. Also, there’s all this miscellaneous seafood. We won’t finish it all in one meal anyway, so I’d like to keep some for tomorrow’s dishes too. Since we’re splitting all the catch evenly, whatever I keep can just be deducted from my share after we sell the fish…”

“Aiya, why talk about deducting money? We’re all good brothers here. If you want a few fish, just take them…”

“Yeah, yeah. Just take however many you want. Why even mention deducting money? Aren’t you being too formal?”

“Exactly. There are hundreds of Spanish mackerel here. Does it matter if you take a few? Since your family’s house starts construction tomorrow, why not keep a few extra? You could even cut them into pieces and salt them. Fresh fish won’t last in this heat, but salted fish can keep for several more days. Anyway, we caught them ourselves. It’s not like we spent money on them. What’s wrong with keeping a few more?”

Their words warmed his heart.

These friends truly weren’t wasted on him.

Smiling, he shook his head.

“This fish is still worth some money. Eating too much of it feels a little extravagant. Keeping two is enough. My father drags nets every day anyway and always brings back some cheaper fish. Cooking those for the workers tomorrow will be more than enough.”

“We should also split these two buckets of seafood. Keep some for drinking tonight, and everyone can bring some home too. It’ll add a couple extra dishes for the family.”

“And the Spanish mackerel too. You guys should each take two home for your families. Whether you make mackerel dumplings or fish balls, both are good.”

He personally didn’t like mackerel dumplings, but he loved fish balls.

Since nobody was willing to deduct money from his share, they might as well divide some among everyone. That way everyone could bring a little home and improve their family meals.

Listening to his arrangement, everyone suddenly felt there was something different about him.

He had actually thought about his family and even considered them too.

A’Guang patted his shoulder.

“Dongzi, it feels like you’ve suddenly matured a little. Is it because your family’s about to split up?”

“Of course. I’m about to become the head of my own household. Once I stop living with my parents, I’ll definitely become even more mature.”

“It’s because you’ll get scolded less, right? Hahaha~”

A’Zheng teased him.

“Go, go, go. Why do you always ruin the mood?”

“Then let’s do as Ah Dong said. Everyone keeps two Spanish mackerel to take home. As for the small fish and shrimp, just pick whatever you want. Anything left over we’ll use tonight for drinking snacks.”

A’Guang shook his head.

“I don’t need any. It’s just me and my two younger sisters at home. We can’t eat much. As long as there’s enough drinking food tonight, that’s fine.”

A’Zheng also said,

“My four older sisters are all married off already. It’s just me and my parents at home. We can’t eat much either. I’ll just take one Spanish mackerel and a bowl of small shrimp.”

“Do whatever you want. After you guys finish picking, I’ll take a little more.”

Ye Yaodong said indifferently.

Before reaching the dock, the four of them had already sorted out what each wanted to keep. The Spanish mackerel were also divided according to each person’s preference, one or two fish each.

At this time, the tide still hadn’t fully risen.

Some people were still digging for clams on the beach.

Since the water was too shallow, the boat couldn’t sail all the way in and could only stop near the reefs. They had to climb ashore from there.

Leaving one person on the boat, the others ran to the purchasing station to borrow baskets.

None of them had expected to catch this many fish, so they hadn’t prepared anything—not even baskets.

A’Cai at the purchasing station watched them rush in like bandits. Without even greeting him, they started carrying away the stack of bamboo baskets piled half a man high, and even asked whether he had more.

“What are you doing? Hey, what are you doing? Where are you taking all my baskets? That’s a lot of them!”

“We caught several thousand jin of Spanish mackerel. Hurry and come help us carry them too.”

After saying that, Ye Yaodong grabbed A’Cai and hurriedly hauled away the remaining baskets as well.

“What do you mean several thousand jin of Spanish mackerel? Where did you catch them? Are you serious? Don’t mess with me!”

Dragged forward, A’Cai stumbled before shaking off his hand.

“Aiya, stop talking nonsense and hurry up. You’ll know once you see it.”

The tide was too shallow for boats to dock anyway, and no boats were coming in at the moment, so he was idle regardless. Half-believing and half-doubting, he followed them toward the boat.

But the moment he stepped aboard and saw the live hold packed full of Spanish mackerel, A’Cai’s eyes lit up.

“They really are Spanish mackerel! So many! Did you hit an entire school of mackerel in one net?”

Without even lifting his head, A’Guang replied,

“One net? There are even more in the cabin. Hurry up and help load them.”

“How much are Spanish mackerel buying for?”

That was what Ye Yaodong cared about most.

“Twenty cents.”

“Fuck, can’t you raise it a little?”

“That’s already high enough. I only earn one or two cents per jin after reselling them.”

“Like hell I believe you. Hurry up and help carry them down first.”

“Damn… there are even more in the cabin? Where the hell did you guys run into such a huge school of Spanish mackerel?”

A’Cai was completely stunned.

Even the cabin was crammed full of fish.

“Why ask so many questions? Hurry up and help!”

Basket after basket of Spanish mackerel was carried off the boat, and everyone around the dock was stunned.

Their village dock was only a small dock. Usually it only handled catches from small trawlers or cage nets, and no boat ever carried that much cargo.

Who had ever seen basket after basket of Spanish mackerel like this before?

The crowd around the purchasing station burst into discussion.

“Holy heavens, so many Spanish mackerel! Which family’s boat caught these?”

“How can there be so many? Did some big fishing boat dock here?”

“Definitely not. We didn’t even see the shadow of a large ship.”

“Tsk tsk tsk… another fortune made! A few days ago Ye Lao San caught a whole net of large yellow croaker, and now someone’s caught several thousand jin of Spanish mackerel.”

“Whose catch is it? I think I just saw Ah Dong’s group?”

“Ah Dong, A’Guang, and the others…”

“No way? Those guys can actually do proper work?”

…

Even the people digging clams on the beach below heard the news that someone had netted several thousand jin of Spanish mackerel—and that Ye Yaodong was among them.

The entire Ye family was shocked.

Dongzi caught several thousand jin of Spanish mackerel?

真的假的？

When had he gone out to sea?

“Come on, let’s head ashore and take a look. The tide’s almost rising up anyway.”

Mother Ye stood up impatiently, unable to hold herself back.

Since when had her third son ever been this reliable?

Holding her son in her arms, Lin Xiuqing was both shocked and delighted.

She knew her husband had gone out to sea, but hadn’t he gone shore hunting on an island?

How had he ended up netting several thousand jin of Spanish mackerel?

The Ye family walked toward the purchasing station full of doubt. But when they saw basket after basket of Spanish mackerel piled all over the ground, and Ye Yaodong and A’Guang carrying over yet another basket, they were so shocked their mouths hung open.

Lin Xiuqing was the first to react.

As soon as he put down the basket, she tugged at his arm.

“Ah Dong, did you really catch all these Spanish mackerel?”

“Not just me. A’Guang, Xiaoxiao, and A’Zheng all have shares too.”

“So it really was you guys who caught them?”

Mother Ye still couldn’t quite believe it.

Her third son had never been able to carry with his hands or shoulder burdens properly. Since when had he ever done any real work?

(End of Chapter)