At night, he got up as usual, and today he specially brought some extra noodles and vegetables. He couldn't let his mother and sister starve.
After checking the fishing nets and hooks on the cart and making sure there were no missing ones, he hurriedly pushed it outside the dock, where his mother and sister were already waiting.
"Where's my dad?"
"He went down to start the boat first."
"Then you guys just watch here first, I'll go buy some diesel."
When he got everything ready, his family helped him carry the things much faster than he could before.
Ye Huimei had never been on this boat before, nor had she been out to sea at night. She wandered around curiously, "Third brother, your boat is so big."
"What do you mean by big? It's only a dozen meters long. When your third brother builds a ship of thirty or forty meters, that's a big ship. Then I'll take you to the high seas to see it for myself."
"You're just bragging. You don't even want me to get on this boat at night. How can you take me to the open sea? You're just trying to fool me."
"That's right, women are not allowed on the ship. I almost forgot about it."
“Why can’t women get on board?”
"It's not that you can't get on the ship, it's that you can't run far away. You're just a little girl, don't ask so many questions, and don't be curious. If you have any questions in the future, ask your brother Guangzi."
Taking a woman to the high seas... Is he tired of living and doesn't want to come back alive
Think about it, the ocean is vast, a group of men drifting on the sea for several months, if there is a woman on the boat...
Once we get off the boat, we won’t know whose child it is, which is considered a good thing. What’s more likely is that it will cause a bloody accident and the entire ship will be sunk.
Ye Huimei snorted twice and didn't ask any more questions.
Ye's mother was cooking noodles for everyone. She also brought noodles and vegetables. It took half a day to boil. Although it was a bit laborious, it was still very comfortable to have a mouthful of hot soup noodles in such a cold day. There was also a nice atmosphere with the whole family gathered around the stove.
"It feels like eating hotpot, haha~" Ye Huimei was a little excited.
Ye Yaodong also smiled and said, "Let's prepare some seafood at noon, and then we can have hot pot on the island."
"Haha, I forgot to go to the backyard to pick some Artemisia selengensis this morning. Artemisia selengensis is delicious in hot pot..."
"Did they ask you to come to the picnic?"
"It was my third brother who said we should cook hot pot..."
The family finished their first meal of the day chatting and laughing, and then started to work.
Ye's mother helped to chop the fish, Ye's father hung the fish bait, and Ye Huimei also helped to hang the shrimp bait when she was free.
By the time Ye Yaodong drove the boat to the waters around the small island they had visited last time, they had already filled ten baskets of hooks with bait. With more people, efficiency is guaranteed!
He was worried about leaving his mother and sister on the island for a long time, so he planned to use long lines, sticky nets and trawl nets in the deeper waters nearby before going out after he let them go.
When the time comes, we will cast the net and see what the harvest is. If the harvest is average, we will simply not drag the net and accompany them to search and dig on the island.
Ye Huimei watched with great interest as her third brother skillfully threw the hooks into the sea one by one. After throwing one basket, he connected the line of another basket and continued throwing...
"Third brother, how come you suddenly came to your senses?"
Ye Yaodong glanced at her sideways and said, "If you don't understand, you will have to support me!"
"Tsk, that's wishful thinking. How can a girl marry off her brother-in-law as a dowry?"
"There's a brother-supporting demon!"
"What's that?"
"The crazy demon who helped his brother, there are many people in the village named Zhaodi, Laidi, Pandi, Yingdi, Aidi, etc., maybe they have been brainwashed since childhood..."
"Shit..." Ye Huimei couldn't help but shudder, "Luckily I don't have a brother, otherwise it would be so uncomfortable to have such a name."
"Hahaha~ Then you have to thank our mother for her hard work!"
Ye's mother couldn't help but give him a look, but also couldn't help laughing, "What nonsense are you talking about? They really can't give birth to a son, so they have no choice but to give him these names."
"If you can't give birth to a son, what does it have to do with your daughter? You're giving them all these names, are you afraid that people won't know that your family is desperate for a son?"
"It's because the old man wants a son. More sons will help him do the work."
"Fortunately, the current policy allows only one child." Ye Huimei shuddered at the thought. There was a woman in their village who gave birth to seven daughters, all of whom were named Di, and only had a son at the eighth.
"Every policy has its own countermeasure. If you want a son, you can always find a way to have more." Ye Yaodong threw the last buoy down and clapped his hands. "Okay, Dad, we can hurry up and find another place to put the sticky net."
"It's good that Aguang's family doesn't have a mother-in-law. The father-in-law won't tell his daughter-in-law about having children." The more Ye's mother thought about it, the more she felt that this marriage was a good one.
Ye Huimei was a little shy and didn't dare to say anything more.
After Ye Yaodong had put down all the sticky nets, they drove the boat to the nearby island. It was still dark before daybreak, but Ye's father felt something was wrong with the help of the flashlight.
"Dongzi, did we drive to the wrong location? Why do I see two islands nearby?" He shone the flashlight back and forth.
Upon hearing this, Ye Yaodong also stood up, holding the headlamp and carefully shining the light on the surrounding sea. He found that there seemed to be two islands not far away, one higher and one lower. The scenery was somewhat different from what they saw when they came here last time.
"Look at the compass. It seems that we are heading in the right direction, right?"
“It looks right!”
"Let's go to a larger island and stop to take a look. Don't go ashore. It looks like the sky will soon be bright. When it gets bright, let's take a look at the situation. It's night time now and the flashlight can't illuminate clearly."
"Okay, then let's stop and wait until daybreak to take a look. It won't take a while."
Mother Ye was a little confused. "You have been sailing for such a long time, how could you make a mistake?"
"You're usually right. Have some hot tea and wait for about ten minutes. It'll be dawn soon. Take a look at the terrain when it's daybreak. If there's no problem, go to the island."
It is almost five in the morning, when the water level is at its highest. The lowest tides are at 12 noon and 12 midnight.
The tide starts to ebb around 6 o'clock in the morning, reaches the bottom at 12 o'clock, and then slowly starts to rise again at 1-2 o'clock. At 6 o'clock in the afternoon, the tide is at its peak.
After Ye's father docked the boat, he took a special look at the island and found that the surrounding reefs were indeed a little different. It felt like the reefs were a little higher? Could it be that he docked in a different direction than last time
Forget it, let’s wait and see when the day breaks.
The family had nothing to do on the boat except chopping fish and organizing tools. Ye Yaodong told Ye Huimei to wear gloves, otherwise they would get scratched easily.
"Don't climb up and down, just stand down and dig where you can reach, okay?"
"I know. I have experience. Don't worry."
"You have no experience. Once you go there, you are considered experienced. Wear your hat well."
Ye Huimei nodded playfully.
At this time, the sky in the distance was already slightly brighter, and then suddenly a few exclamations were heard!
"Ah~ Hey young?"
"What the hell~ What is that?"
"Ah~ So beautiful~"
"young?"
The first two sentences are from Ye’s father and Ye Yaodong, and the last two sentences are from Ye Huimei and Ye’s mother.
"Look, it's so beautiful! The sunrise over the sea is so beautiful~"
After just a short while, the sun jumped out of the water, shining with golden light, illuminating the sparkling sea and dispelling the darkness.
Mother Ye nodded, "It's quite beautiful."
Ye Yaodong ignored them and said to his father, "Fuck, Dad, look at that dark island. It looks a bit weird to me. Is it a reef that has been pushed up?"
"You think so, too?"
"You think so too?"
The father and son had the same idea!
"Shit, could it really be that the underwater reef has been pushed up?"
"Drive the boat over and take a look!"
Ye Yaodong was a little excited, "Right away!"
If it is an underwater reef that has been pushed up, who knows what good stuff may be there.
"Dad, Third Brother, what will happen if this underwater reef is pushed up?"
"It's not a big deal, but it can reduce the chances of fishing boats running aground on the seabed. Let's go over and take a look first."
No one could see what was around, but it was true that the reef was pushed up to prevent fishing boats from running aground.
Ye Yaodong pushed the fishing boat away from the shore, started the engine and headed towards the black unidentified reef island that was protruding not far away.
At this time, the sun had completely jumped out from the horizon, and the rising sun looked particularly golden and beautiful.
The fishing boat headed towards the right side where the sun was rising, and soon approached the small reef island.
"Fuck! It really is the reef on the sea floor that has been pushed up. It's pitch black, and there's no vegetation except seaweed."
"Drive closer and take a look. It looks like there's something swimming under the water."
Although Mr. Ye is a bit old, he has very good eyesight. He can see the small splashes of water under the water from a long distance away.
Ye Yaodong's eyesight was not bad either, he also saw the small splashes of water around him, and there seemed to be quite a few shells on the reef. He was immediately delighted, and it was a good decision to bring his mother out today, otherwise they would have missed this reef that was pushed up.
Don’t know what’s on it
As the fishing boat got closer, the four people on the boat widened their eyes and looked at the reef in disbelief.
"Wow, there are so many big conchs!" Ye Huimei opened her eyes wide and opened her mouth.
"It's not just the big conch, take a closer look at what's fluttering under the sea water?"
"lobster?"
"It's the little blue dragon!" Ye Yaodong's face was full of surprise, "Also, look at the densely packed... "
"abalone!"