The father and son looked at each other.
"What's going on? Why can't the fishing net be pulled up? Is the net-lifting machine broken?"
Ye Yaodong also frowned, "Impossible? It's not running? Is it stuck? Either turn it off or try it manually?"
It keeps running like this, pulling the fishing net and unable to reel it in. If it is not turned off, the net will be broken no matter how thick the trawl line is.
Father Ye nodded, "Then turn it off and try manually."
Ye Yaodong turned off the net and said, "Slow down the boat as well."
He started to collect the net and tried to pull it, but he felt it was difficult, as if a thousand-pound weight was hanging on the fishing net, making it impossible for him to drag it.
"It's not the net-lifting machine's problem, Dad. The boat just suddenly slowed down. It's not the engine's problem, it's the fishing net's problem. It can't be pulled."
Father Ye slowed down to the lowest speed and quickly ran over. He also tried to pull it, but found that he couldn't pull it at all. "It must be the problem of the fishing net. Why did it suddenly become like this? Is it really stuck to the bottom?"
"Maybe. I'll go in and see."
Fortunately, there were diving equipment on the boat, so he could go down to the bottom of the sea to take a look. However, it would not be possible if it was too deep. In any case, he had to go down to take a look. Fortunately, it was not completely dark yet.
"Then be careful, don't go too deep, and come up quickly if you feel something is wrong."
"I know. This isn't my first time in the water. Don't worry."
Ye Yaodong took off his clothes and pants, took off his watch, put on his equipment, and jumped into the water following his father's repeated instructions.
The light at the bottom of the sea was a little dim, but it was still barely possible to see clearly. It was not a problem for Ye Yaodong to dive to a depth of more than ten or twenty meters.
It just so happened that this place was along the coast and there was a small island not far away. The seabed at this location was not very deep. As soon as he dived down, he saw the stretched fishing nets underneath, with fish and shrimps swimming and jumping inside.
Swimming a little further, he saw a reef on the seabed and immediately realized that he was really stuck.
When he swam to the reef where the fishing net was caught, he also alarmed the shrimps and crabs around the reef, and they scattered instantly. Ye Yaodong was about to look for the part where the fishing net was stuck, but at this moment, he found something wrong.
Why is there a grey, round thing in the fishing net
It was getting dark, and the view of the seabed was not clear, but it looked a bit like a washbasin to him. He swam over and touched it through the fishing net. It felt cold, like metal, and had patterns on it.
His heart skipped a beat. A metal tool with patterns? Could it be some treasure
It’s a pity that I don’t have a waterproof flashlight, otherwise I could have taken a look.
He walked a few steps around the fishing net, but found some scattered pieces a foot away from the side. It was dark and he couldn't see clearly what they were, so he could only see their general shape.
He swam over and picked up one, only to find that it had three corners. He let go and rubbed it, feeling that it was covered with patterns. With some guesses in his mind, he casually put it in the net bag, and then walked around it.
As a result, he saw a black box tangled in seaweed in the seaweed. He went over to pick it up with doubt, but found that it was very heavy and had a lock on it.
"What the hell, how many locks are there?"
After cursing inwardly, he thought about looking for the place where the fishing net was caught. It was too heavy and inconvenient to carry, so he didn't carry it with him and continued to look around the fishing net.
After walking around for a while, I finally found the place where I was stuck. It was the top of a low reef, covered by the fishing net. No wonder it couldn't be pulled up.
After Ye Yaodong rescued the fishing net, it was too late and he floated up directly. On the sea, it was already dark and there was only a little light. The lights on the boat were also turned on.
"How's it going, Dongzi? Are you dead?"
He wiped the seawater off his face and said, "Almost. There is a reef underneath. I have already untied it. Try to start the net-lifting machine and pull it again to see how it goes."
"Come up first."
"Well, we might have to go down a bit later." He said as he climbed up using his hands and feet.
"Why are you still going down there?" Ye's father's eyes lit up instantly. "Is there anything on the bottom of the sea? It's dark now, and we can't see the bottom of the sea. Come back tomorrow."
Ye Yaodong didn't say anything. After getting ashore, he immediately untied the net bag around his waist and took out the thing with three legs that he had just picked up from the bottom of the sea. Although he had some guesses in his mind, he was still stunned after seeing it clearly.
At this time, Ye's father also saw the object in his hand and was immediately surprised.
"What is this, a wine glass? What are you using this for?"
Although Ye's father was just an uneducated fisherman, he had seen this wine glass in the movies shown by the mobile film team in the countryside.
Its shape is pointed at the front and upturned at the back, with an outward-slanting mouth rim and a round bottom. There is a pair of umbrella-shaped columns between the mouth and the spout, a straight belly with many patterns on the belly, and three knife-shaped pointed feet.
This one looked yellowish and green, and the pattern on its abdomen was covered with mud from the seabed, so the lines couldn't be seen clearly. Ye Yaodong was also an amateur and didn't understand what shape it was. He just felt it looked crooked.
"What are you going to use it for? Have you ever heard of antiques in prosperous times and gold in troubled times? This should be a bronze wine cup."
"Is this valuable? Where did it come from? Did you just fish it out from the bottom of the water?"
Father Ye didn't understand what antiques from prosperous times and gold from troubled times meant. He just thought that these things looked useless.
Ye Yaodong nodded, and excitedly put the wine glass in his hand under the orange light again, saying, "I just found it underwater. The light is not good and I can't see it clearly, so I just picked one up to take a look. This is an antique. It is very valuable, but not now."
"what does it mean?"
"It means it will be more valuable later."
"Do you know now that it will be valuable in the future? Who would use this thing for no reason?"
"You do not understand!"
Father Ye looked at him fiddling with it and wanted to scold him, but then he thought that this son seemed to be more knowledgeable than him.
"Is there anything else underneath?"
"Also, there seems to be something like a wash basin in the net. Let's pull the net up later. There are many fishing boats right now, so hide it."
This is a bronze artifact, an antique! In ancient times, bronze represented politics and power! I didn't expect that there are such treasures on the seabed around the coast
It's its fate that it wasn't towed up. Normally, no one would trawl around the coast. There are few cargoes around the coast, so fishing boats only go to the near sea to tow.
At this time, there were many more fishing boats returning from the surrounding areas. Everyone was greedy and wanted to take advantage of the abundant catch today to catch more fish, so they were reluctant to return until dark.
When they reached the coast, everyone was trying to get to the shore as soon as possible. When they saw Ye Yaodong and his boat was stuck, everyone thought there was something wrong with his boat, so they all came over curiously to say hello and ask if he needed help.
We are from the same village. Whose boat is it and what is its logo? Everyone knows it. If you are from the same village, generally everyone will help you if you are in trouble.
Ye Yaodong also greeted everyone with a smile, and declined politely, saying only that the boat was fine and they were planning to dock after collecting the nets.
On the sea, fishing boats kept coming ashore at this time, which made him impatient. Every time a boat came back, everyone he knew would come to him and ask questions.
Everyone meant well, so he could only greet them with a smile.
After seeing a fishing boat with no lights on in the distance, Ye Yaodong quickly started the net-lifting machine to pull up the net.
The speed at which the net-lifting machine pulls up the net depends on the weight of the cargo on the seabed, usually about 10 to 20 minutes. However, this net took more than 20 minutes to pull, and two more fishing boats with lights on appeared in the distance.
This made him anxious. He just wanted to sneakily pull it up and take a look at what the round object was. If he could keep it, he would definitely keep it first. If he couldn't keep it, he would have to hand it over. After all, it was a bronze artifact.
The father and son, one with anticipation and the other indifferent, stood on the deck looking at the sea. When the fishing net was about to be pulled onto the slide, they reached out to help pull it, but they couldn't pull the net at all.
In the past, they could pull one or two hundred kilograms of cargo onto the slide little by little, but this time, they had difficulty pulling the net even if they tried their best.
"Fuck, what is so heavy?" Ye Yaodong cursed and let go, planning to wait for the net machine to be pulled up a little bit so as to drag the bottom and put it onto the slide.
However, when the fishing net touched the hull, a winter sound was heard, and at the same time, the father and son could see clearly what was inside the fishing net.
"tripod?"
"Big Ding?"
"Ah? Ding?"
The two of them almost dropped their jaws and kept exclaiming frequently.
No matter how uneducated Mr. Ye was, he knew that the "ding" was something special. He had no idea about other things, but the ding was the one that was placed in the lobby for burning incense in the temple.
"Is it a tripod? Not a washbasin???"
Ye Yaodong was also confused. He looked in the water and it seemed to be in the shape of a basin, but he didn't see any feet.
That damn group of fish was probably blocked by those shrimp soldiers and crab generals, and only a round hole could be seen.
The tripod is not an ordinary thing. It was originally just a cooking utensil and was also used for sacrifices. However, it was later regarded by later generations as the most representative of supreme power among all bronze ware, such as the idiom "asking for the great treasure of the tripod".
"Help to lift it up first." Father Ye said positively without any more nonsense.
The father and son struggled to get the fishing net onto the deck, only to see the cauldron in the net tilted and lying there, with all the fish and shrimps next to it crushed to death. Sea water continued to flow out of the round opening of the cauldron, and suddenly a blue grouper swam out of it.
Under normal circumstances they would have been very happy, but now with such a precious gem in front of them, this blue grouper could not arouse their interest at all.
Father Ye stood aside and muttered, "What should we do? We have to move such a big thing back home, but we can't hide it."
"Hide? Bronze wares are divided into different grades. This tripod can be said to be the top grade. I am a conscious person, so of course I have to hand it over. Otherwise, should I put it at the door as an incense burner? My place is not a big temple."
As soon as this thing is pulled ashore, it will be seen. Within two days, it will be spread throughout the county as a rare thing, and people from the county cultural center will have to come to visit. This is not the time to destroy the four olds, not to mention that there were people who knew the value of it even during the time of destroying the four olds.
He had heard that any bronze ware, no matter which period it was from or when it was unearthed, was considered a cultural relic and was prohibited from being traded or privately collected.
However, the collection of cultural relics at that time should not be so standardized. But no matter how uneducated he is, he knows from the popular science of short videos that the "ding" among bronze ware is a national treasure.
National treasures must be turned in. Keeping them at home would be a source of trouble. Ordinary people cannot collect them. It is better to turn them in and feel at ease, so as to avoid trouble. At least you can get some honor and recognition.
He touched the wine glass in his pocket, which he could no longer keep.
Father Ye nodded and said, "It has to be handed over. This thing is not ordinary at first glance."
"First untie the fishing net and stand it up, and all the fish and shrimp underneath will be crushed by it."
The father and son worked together to straighten the tripod.
This tripod is covered with red spots and green rust from the outside to the bottom. You can tell at a glance that it is quite old. It exudes an ancient and vicissitudes of life atmosphere from the inside out, but it is well preserved.