Back To the Small Fishing Village In 1982
Chapter 82

Just as Ah Zheng was preparing to cast the net again, everyone saw sea wolf fish leaping out of the water in the distance near the lonely island, continuously jumping and bouncing on the surface of the sea.

“They’re over there!”

Ye Yaodong saw them too and immediately rowed over, telling Ah Zheng to be ready at any moment to cast the net when the opportunity arose.

Without a doubt, this cast was right on target, and of course, it couldn’t come up empty.

Everyone was extremely excited; this was all money.

However, Ah Zheng was afraid that if they caught too much in one net, they wouldn’t be able to pull it up with just their manpower, so he appropriately reduced the casting range.

After just five casts, there was nothing left to catch. Everyone looked at the boat full of sea wolf fish, with barely any room left to stand, all grinning from ear to ear.

Ye Yaodong’s eyes crinkled with laughter, “Now your little boat has a future. Selling this boatload of sea wolf fish and the few dozen jin of pomfrets should be enough.”

“Ah, I’d rather invest in your boat, Dongzi. What should I do?” Ah Guang squatted on the boat, looking at Ye Yaodong with hopeful eyes.

“Hey~ How come you got a boat in advance? Your brothers were all hoping to partner up with you.”

“If I didn’t have this small wooden boat, how would you have caught sea wolves and white pomfrets today?”

Xiao Xiao said with some regret, “We caught sea wolves, but it’s a pity we didn’t get any sea turtles.”

“Sea turtles are rare, it’s the will of heaven that we didn’t catch any. Let’s not commit any sins. If you want to eat soft-shelled turtles, in a few days we can have Ah Zheng bring his hand-cast net and we’ll try a few casts at the Yangping Village reservoir,” Ye Yaodong suggested.

Ah Zheng’s eyes lit up, “That sounds good, it’s great for yang and kidney!”

He couldn’t help but say, “How weak are your kidneys? You don’t even have a wife, are you okay?”

“Can’t I nourish in advance? Who knows, I might get married in a couple of months.”

“Hm? What’s the situation?”

Ah Guang’s eyes widened, “No way, if you get married, what about me?”

“What the hell, what’s going on with you two?”

Now Ye Yaodong and Xiao Xiao were wide-eyed too.

“Get lost, what kind of talk is that? Making it sound like you’re my lover or something. What do you mean ‘what about you’? I don’t care what happens to you! What does my getting married have to do with you? Just prepare a red envelope and come drink at the wedding, and help set off firecrackers while you’re at it.”

Ah Zheng was speechless.

“That’s not what I meant. Among our group, you’re the youngest, and now even you’re getting married. Doesn’t that leave me as the only single one?”

“So what if you’re single? Do I have to stick with you or something?”

“Even if you were willing, I wouldn’t be. My dad is still counting on me to continue the family line! Sigh, when did you start talking to a girl? How come you didn’t introduce one to me too?”

“My mom’s relative introduced her. Of course they’d prioritize me.”

Seeing that they were getting further off topic, Ye Yaodong quickly spoke up, “Forget about girls for now. There’s no place to stand on this boat anymore. I’ll row straight back. Let’s sell these fish while they’re fresh, so they don’t spoil in this hot sun.”

Xiao Xiao felt his still empty sack in his pocket, “Are we going back to the lonely island after we sell these? It’s rare that we brought sacks today, and they haven’t been put to use yet.”

Ah Guang quickly chimed in, “My bucket of sea turtle eggs is still on the lonely island, we didn’t bring it on board.”

“Are you stupid?”

“Who knew we’d catch so many fish at once? We’re not going back to the island!”

Ye Yaodong said with certainty, “Of course we’re going. It’s still early, only mid-morning. Today is the fifteenth, let’s not waste the opportunity to search the sea.”

“Then row faster.”

“It’s easy for you to say when you’re not the one doing it. Rowing is tiring too, you know?”

“I’ll give you a massage later. Wherever you want me to rub, I’ll rub.” As Ah Guang spoke, he deliberately winked at him.

He shuddered. Single for too long and people really do become perverts. He turned his back, choosing to ignore what he couldn’t unsee!

It was only morning, but the sunlight was already piercing, reflecting off the sea surface in shimmering waves. Ye Yaodong felt full of energy.

Today was also the first day his small boat was officially being put to the test, and it had already started with an auspicious opening. Even split four ways, they should each get a decent amount of money.

The tide was receding now, and there were no boats along the shore. Only their small boat could barely dock not far off. They’d need to wade through a stretch of water; if they got too close, the boat would be stranded when the tide went out, and they wouldn’t be able to go to the lonely island today.

After the boat was properly docked, Ye Yaodong stayed on board watching as the others went to get baskets for loading. He estimated that there were at least 800 jin of sea wolf fish if not 1000 jin, plus the pomfrets, which were completely hidden under the sea wolves.

At this time, apart from some people searching the beach, there weren’t many people on the shore. Not many noticed as they carried the sea wolf fish ashore basket by basket.

Ah Cai’s eyes crinkled with laughter, “Where did you catch so many sea wolf fish? It’s been a long time since I’ve seen this fish. Didn’t expect to see them today.”

“Quickly help carry them. There are pomfrets too, several dozen jin.”

“Wow, where did you guys go playing today? You brought back such a big catch again. You never come back empty-handed when you go to sea, huh?”

“That’s right, now hurry and help. We’ll talk after everything’s unloaded.”

Ah Cai, with his round belly, also scurried off to help.

These sea wolf fish were all quite large, each over a meter long, estimated to weigh over 20 jin. Ah Cai’s mouth was about to split from smiling.

“As usual, let’s agree on the price per jin first.”

“Hey, there are so many of you, how could I dare to overcharge? One flat price: 4.5 mao per jin for sea wolf, 4 mao for pomfrets over 6 liang, 2.5 mao for those under 6 liang.”

Ye Yaodong nodded with satisfaction. This time he was being sensible and not trying to pull a fast one. “Alright then, everyone help carry them up to be weighed.”

Ah Guang also emptied out the sea wolf from his sack, “Put it in with the rest to be weighed. One fish won’t make much difference.”

Ye Yaodong patted his shoulder, “Good brother!”

“Nah~ Isn’t it all thanks to your luck? It’s good to count it all together.”

“Weigh them together then. This basket is 101 jin…”

“This basket is 96 jin…”

…

“Let me add it up. The total for sea wolf fish is 1010 jin and 6 liang. Large pomfrets are 40 jin and 3 liang, small ones are 28 jin and 6 liang. There’s also this small basket of mixed fish, shrimp, and crabs. Sort them out yourselves and weigh them later.”

The weight of the sea wolves exceeded their expectations, while the pomfrets were less than anticipated.

“We’re not selling these mixed fish, shrimp, and crabs. Leave them here for now, we’ll come back for them later.”

“Hm? You’re going back out to sea?”

“Yes, it’s rare to have the fifteenth today. Calculate the money and write up the receipt.”

Ah Guang reminded from the side, “We’ll come to your place tomorrow to get the fish money. Remember to have it ready.”

The money definitely needed to be in their own pockets to feel at ease!

“Got it. The sea wolves total 454 yuan, 7 jiao, and 7 fen. The pomfrets are 23 yuan, 2 jiao, and 7 fen. The total is 478 yuan and 4 fen.”

The four of them were confused by his calculations and looked at each other uncertainly, “Is that right?”

Ye Yaodong thought for a moment, “It should be correct. Take the receipt back and have my wife calculate it.”

Not having a calculator was really inconvenient. How could an illiterate who hadn’t even finished second grade calculate this?

He couldn’t even use an abacus!

He could barely write his own name.

Ah Cai patted his chest and guaranteed, “Don’t worry, it’s definitely correct. There are so many of you, I’m afraid you’d flip my table if it wasn’t.”

“That’s good then.”

Ye Yaodong waved his hand, “We’re off, thanks… Ah, wait, don’t tell anyone else that we caught so many sea wolf fish again!”

“Why?”

“Keep a low profile!”

Having just changed to a new house foundation and gotten a boat for free, shouldn’t they keep a low profile?

“Alright, I understand.”