As soon as the night fell, Ye Yaodong got up on time, took a look, there was no wind and no rain, so he prepared to go out to sea as usual.
The waves on the sea were not strong, but the dock did not seem as lively tonight. Many ships were still docked on the shore. In the past, when they went out to sea at night, headlights were flashing everywhere outside the dock, but today the number was obviously much less.
He figured that they should all have finished their repairs, so they all went up the mountain to cut branches. After all, just a day's rest could bring huge profits.
When he went up the mountain to rest the day before yesterday, it happened to rain at night, and it cleared up in the morning, so it was not a loss.
He headed to the sea area as usual. He had discussed with his father that they would not go into the water today and would not drag the net first. They would go to the beach to pick up squids and then cast the nets in the afternoon. It would not matter if they collected the traps after a day or two.
Otherwise, no one would pick up the squids stranded on the deserted island, and they would all be given to the seabirds, which would be such a waste. The barnacles on the seabed can't escape anyway, so it would still be in time to go into the water to dig them up after half a month or a month.
It was pitch black at night and the light was not good, but it did not affect picking squids with a headlamp. It was just that it was not a high tide period, and although the tide was receding, it was not very low, so there was not much exposed beach.
The squids around were washed up by the sea water and then washed down in an instant, repeating this process over and over again. There were fewer squids stranded, and they were all swaying back and forth in the shallow water.
Ye Yaodong asked his father to pick up the fish on that small piece of beach, and he went into the water to fish. He was wearing rain boots and the handle of the hand net was long, so he didn't have to worry about it being difficult to fish. It could be more efficient, though it would probably require some effort from his waist.
The seabirds were probably full during the day and went to the woods to sleep at night. When they were busy on the beach, no seabirds showed up.
Otherwise, even at night there will be seagulls or gannets coming out to hunt, and white-fronted shearwaters will also appear on the sea at night. They often do not distinguish between day and night.
I guess they were all fed yesterday.
Ye Yaodong held a sack in one hand and a small hand-held net in the other and slowly fished in the water, working together with Ye's father.
You can just scoop up six or seven squids from the water. It’s so cool.
Just as he finished fishing, the floating sea water brought more fish up. He just stood still, and it took him a while to fish from all directions.
Feeling that there were fewer squids washed up by the sea water in front, he slowly moved.
The headlamp on his head turned and shone everywhere, attracting a small group of light-tending fish to come closer. The silver-white figure kept dancing under the halo of his headlamp, rolling like boiling water.
He picked it up in surprise, but was no longer surprised when he saw it was an anchovy.
Anchovies are also small fish that are attracted to light. They are actually called ji, or anchovies. They are not valuable, have many small bones, but are especially delicious when pan-fried or deep-fried.
It's just too extravagant. They had just fried sandworms a few days ago, and that was only because Ayuan had just stayed at their house to play, so Ye's mother did it reluctantly. If she was asked to do it again now, there would be no way.
The fish ran to the light by themselves, gathered around, and kept jumping on the water surface. He had no choice but to catch them reluctantly and sell them directly when the time comes.
He took out another sack from his pocket and packed the items separately to save him from having to spend a long time choosing when the time came.
I just took two sacks into the water, thinking that some fish and shrimp would be stranded when the tide receded, so I could catch a few fish, or find some conchs or shellfish and have a place to put them.
He casually scooped up a net and found both fish and squid. He picked out the squid and threw them into a sack, and then poured the anchovies into another sack.
With the interference of these small fish, his speed in catching squids slowed down, which made him depressed, because squids are much more valuable than small fish. But there was no way, he still needed light for illumination.
As the tide receded, he gradually moved forward, and he caught two mackerel and a big red seal, all of which he put in the anchovy sack.
When it was daybreak, he turned off his headlamp. The anchovies no longer gathered around him. The forest on the island became lively. There was no longer only the sound of waves, but also the chirping of insects and birds. Seabirds gradually flew out of the forest to hunt.
The anchovies have just disappeared, and now the seabirds are here. It’s really a headache.
With the interference of the birds stealing food, he couldn't work properly. From time to time, he would use a hand net to drive away the daring seabirds that were trying to snatch food from his mouth.
Moreover, as the sky gets brighter, the number of seabirds tends to increase gradually, which is very annoying.
Ye Yaodong waved away the seabirds that tried to snatch the squid from him for the nth time, cursing, "Fuck you, you guys are here again not long after we left the anchovies. I'll stew you all sooner or later."
"Dongzi, take a break and have a meal first!"
He responded casually, and when he saw that the sack was about 70% full of squids, he scooped out a couple more scoops before dragging the sack toward the shore, also dragging up the half sack of anchovies he had just scooped out.
"How much have you picked up?" Father Ye straightened his aching back, twisting his body.
"Let's make it about 70% to 80% full. It should be about 80 kilograms."
"Didn't you pack two bags?"
"Half of this bag is anchovies. It was dark ahead, so I turned on my headlamp and the fish were attracted and came over."
"My bag is about the same. I can't pick up as fast as you. Now that so many seabirds have flown out, it will be hard to pick up the fish later. Besides, the tide will rise again soon."
Ye Yaodong was also troubled when he saw the surrounding beaches full of seabirds. "Pick up as many as you can. If there's not much to pick up when the tide comes in, you can go out and drag a net and come back at noon. They're all nearby anyway."
"We'll see later! Let's get something to eat first. My legs are numb from squatting there, and my back and waist are sore. Let's take a rest for a while."
"Well, carry these to the boat and pour them into the baskets first."
As the father and son were wading through the water, each carrying a sack, towards the fishing boat, they discovered that there was a fishing boat heading towards this direction on the sea not far away.
The two walked and looked into the distance, keeping watch.
When they put the sacks on the boat, the fishing boat was getting closer and closer. The father and son climbed onto the boat. When they saw that the boat was not much bigger than theirs, they did not run away immediately, but stood there watching.
As they got closer, Ye Yaodong also recognized it and breathed a sigh of relief, "It's Xiaoxiao and Zheng's boat."
The other boat also recognized them and was slowing down, and then the two boats stopped side by side.
"Dongzi, it's you. Why aren't you hauling the net? I thought it was someone else's boat, why was it docked here?"
"I placed branches around to catch squids, so I didn't drag the net. It just so happened that there were a lot of squids stranded on the beach, so I picked them up here until dawn."
"Ah? Is that so?" Xiao Xiao said with some regret. "I wanted to scout the spot in advance today. I also plan to put branches to catch squid tomorrow. I remembered the first time you brought us to the surrounding sea area to trawl the net. I remembered there was an island here. So after trawled the net just now, I came to take a look at it at daybreak."
"What a coincidence! The branch I put down yesterday was caught in this area yesterday afternoon."
"Forget it, let's look for it again." Ah Zheng said with some regret.
"It's okay. The sea area around this island is so vast. You can release yours and I'll release mine. I'll release it on the east side of the island and you can release it on the west side. It won't have much of an impact."
The number of squids will only increase day by day, and it is impossible for him to catch all of them. Moreover, the more branches he places around, the more squids will be attracted to stay.
Xiao Xiao said happily, "That's fine. That saves us from looking everywhere. We also heard from my father that placing branches around the island would have a better effect. I remembered that I had noticed this island before, so I came here early today to take a look and check out the location."
"What about your branches? Who will trim them for you?"
"Let my father and mother go up the mountain to cut the trees, and we will come out to haul the nets as usual without delay. Otherwise, one day of not coming out is a day of loss."
"Okay, our brother Yao has become very diligent and hardworking."
"What nonsense are you talking about? How did you get after collecting squids all night?"
"It's OK, about 100 pounds, but the seabirds around are too annoying. You can see for yourself."
Xiaoxiao and A Zheng both looked towards the beach not far away, and saw flocks of seabirds walking and pecking at food there, with new seabirds flying over the sea from time to time.
"There are so many seabirds. All the stranded ones will be eaten by them."
"Who said it wasn't? So I've been able to pick up these, and I'm about to take a break, cook some noodles, eat them, and then continue working. I've been busy for several hours, and I'm exhausted."
"That's great, you can cook more, we are hungry too." Ah Zheng said with a giggle.
"Fuck, you're really rude."
"It's a rare opportunity to meet you at sea, so of course I have to eat with you."
"Okay, then I'll let you taste my father's cooking. Most people can't have it."
Father Ye had just put the noodles in and was about to add salt to the pot when his hand shook. After thinking for a while, he added another small bowl of water.
Then he put in the clams and shrimps that he had just picked up on the beach.
"It's quite convenient to have a coal stove on the boat. We'll get one when we get back so we don't have to eat cold dishes and cold meals every day."
"It's just a bit troublesome to cook. When it's hot, we can just throw together a quick meal. It was autumn and winter then, so we wanted to get a coal stove on the boat. How's your harvest recently?"
"It's not bad. It just rains and blows every other day, so I don't go out to sea as often, but I still make some money. When this squid fishing season is over, I'll pay you back after I get the money from Ah Cai."
Ye Yaodong said nonchalantly, "It's okay. I'm not in a hurry to use the money. If you're short on money, just put it aside and settle your family first. I'm just asking out of concern."
"I've earned a little bit in the past two months, and it's enough for the family to spend. I've also saved a little, so we're not short of money."
Ah Zheng also nodded. "It's not comfortable to be in debt. We want to pay it back as soon as possible. It's easier to be debt-free."
"There will be good money to be made from squid fishing next."
“We thought so too.”
The three of them were chatting, and the noodles in Ye's father's pot were cooked. "You crawl over here and eat first. This pot is too small. I have to cook another pot."
"Okay~"
They both ran over without hesitation and filled a bowl each.
"Mmm~ delicious, uncle's cooking skills are good~"
"Hmm... very fresh, you guys brought quite a complete set..."
Ye Yaodong was a little skeptical. How could it be delicious
He saw that there was still some food left in the pot, so he scooped some for himself and emptied the pot so that his father could cook another pot.
After tasting it...
"Dad, did you do this on purpose before? This is not cooked well?"
Father Ye rolled his eyes at him and said as a matter of course: "I tasted it today and tried..."