A Zheng and Xiao Xiao took turns to go down once each, which was equivalent to each person going down three times.
Xiaoxiao didn't catch anything the first time, but Ah Zheng caught two sea cucumbers. The next two times, they both had good catches, with their nets full, and of course, abalone accounted for the majority.
After Ye Yaodong waited for them to come up, he went down again. Of course, the goods he bought belonged to him.
Ah Zheng looked at the goods in their baskets and said happily, "These look like they should weigh about 30 kilograms, and there are also a few sea cucumbers and small blue dragons."
"I didn't expect there were so many abalones down there. This is truly a treasure trove."
Ah Zheng also rubbed his hands back and forth excitedly. Both of them were wet, but it didn't matter. He didn't pay any attention and was just happy.
“I wonder if there are a lot of goods under the sea in other places?”
"Who knows? If there is no need, who would dive to the bottom of the sea? Abalone and sea cucumber are expensive for a reason. As for Jiang Yao, it's easier to say. They don't necessarily grow on the bottom of the sea. They may grow at the low tide line."
"Dongzi, tell me the truth, are you doing something stupid?"
"What do you mean by burning incense? There is smoke coming out of my ancestral graves. I am so lucky. Everything will go smoothly for me in the future. I will have great luck, a successful career, a high position, and a lot of money..."
"Okay, okay, shut up and stop showing off the results of your few days of literacy classes." Ye's father now feels a headache whenever he hears him talking. He really thinks of himself as an educated person. After bragging, he starts showing off again.
Xiaoxiao smiled and said, "Why do you care whether he is lucky or not? We are lucky enough to have some luck. Let's take a break. I will go down later. Anyway, it seems to be early."
"We can go into the water more often. It doesn't mean that if the harvest today is not good, we will not come to this sea area tomorrow. Then we can't go into the water, and we may not be able to go into the water in the next few days."
"Yes, yes, yes. We need to go into the water more often today and catch more fish."
"Take a break. I'll go first."
The two of them talked it over and happily made the decision.
Seeing that they were all in high spirits, Ye Yaodong did not stop them. Young people have good physical strength and they will not be here for the next few days anyway and have no plans to go into the water, so he let them go into the water two more times today.
He was not planning to go down again. He had already gone down three times today. He decided to take it easy. Anyway, he had already harvested much more than he had ever done alone.
It's a pity that his eldest brother and second brother's boats did not join his, otherwise he could have asked his eldest brother and second brother to take turns to go in and share a piece of the pie.
There is no need to specify who must be involved. With more people, he can earn money without doing anything, which is more convenient. Anyway, they are all his own people, so he can just ask again after a few days to see the situation.
You can make some extra money by fishing there, which is better than trawling, so it's a win-win situation.
After they took turns going into the water twice more, they collapsed on the boat and gasped for breath.
Xiaoxiao shook off the water stains on her hair and wiped the seawater off her face, "Diving is really exhausting."
"The main thing is that you didn't rest for long. Well, don't go into the water today. We've caught enough. It's almost noon, and the noodles in the pot will be ready. After eating, go fishing for squids." Ye Yaodong put away the equipment directly so that they would not be reluctant to leave.
Ah Zheng looked up at the sky and said, "It's noon so soon?"
They had been in the water the whole time and had no idea what time it was on the shore. Only when they looked at the sun hanging high in the sky did they realize how quickly time passed in the water.
"Then let's divide the harvest. If we don't get many squids later, we can come back and continue digging for abalone."
Ye Yaodong raised his eyebrows. Just because there is money to be made, everyone is willing to risk their lives
"Don't do this recklessly, or you'll have all kinds of health problems when you get old."
"That's still several decades away. I might not live to see that time." Ah Zheng said nonchalantly.
Xiaoxiao patted him and said, "Why are you talking so much? Hurry up and divide the things. I don't think you have weighed them..."
"Whatever, there's no rush. We can split up after we get back." They were all friends, so he had nothing to worry about.
Today's harvest seemed to be quite a lot, filling up one and a half baskets. Ye Yaodong estimated that each person could get about 20 kilograms of abalone, and there were also small blue dragons and sea cucumbers, each person could get a few.
Xiaoxiao and Azheng were so happy that their mouths were stretched to the back of their heads. To them, what they caught today was as good as free stuff. It was exciting and fun, and the harvest was good, maybe even better than that of squids.
"Then divide the small blue dragon and sea cucumber according to quantity first, and divide the abalone into three equal parts after we weigh them."
"Oh, no problem, it's easy to talk about. We are all brothers, not outsiders."
"Okay then, let's divide them after we get back. They won't be lost anyway."
After a simple bowl of noodles to fill their stomachs, they returned to their respective buoys where they had placed branches.
It was just noon now, and there were only a few squids scattered around the branches. Ye Yaodong simply caught the squids and the branches together with the net, and collected the squid eggs at the same time.
He hadn't been here for two days. There were clusters of eggs hanging on the branches, densely packed. He collected them one by one and put them in the bucket.
Squid eggs are pickled with salt and can be preserved for a long time.
When eating, wash them, place them in a bowl, add a little cooking wine and ginger slices, and steam them. Take one and take a bite. It is smooth, salty, fresh, and chewy, and is a perfect dish to go with rice.
During this period, they harvested half a bucket every few days, and the family had pickled a lot of them. When Lin's father and mother left, Ye's mother packed a lot for them and asked them to take it home and eat slowly. She put the rest in bottles and jars and stored them.
Father Ye also lent a hand and said, "I guess it's almost gone. What a pity that I didn't have time in the past two days. Otherwise, I could have gotten some more."
"There's nothing to regret. Not many people received the goods in the past two days. It's just so-so."
"Why did you only charge your friends 1/3? They all said they would give you half."
"That's about it. How can you get away with so much conscience? They are also in danger underwater. I'm just on the shore. I didn't do anything. I just provided equipment. Besides, they are not the boatmen I hired. I'll just consider it as helping a friend."
"Then why don't you ask your elder and second brothers to step in and help them?" Ye's father wanted to ask this earlier, but was embarrassed to say it because Dongzi's two friends were there.
"They are not here!" Ye Yaodong said as a matter of course.
Their boats usually don't go with his. They are used to staying in the sea area where Ye's father took them before. No one is with him, so how can he teach them
Father Ye thought about it and agreed.
"Let's go fishing tomorrow in the waters where your eldest brother and second brother are staying. The brothers can take care of each other. After a while, let them come back here together. If several people take turns to go into the water, we can catch more fish."
"Um."
He knew what his father was thinking.
They are all sons, and we are all flesh and blood. When good things happen, of course we want to give them to our sons first.