While sailing, the father and son frequently looked back and paid attention to the surrounding sea. Fortunately, no further problems occurred and the whale shark did not follow them again.
When the father and son were approaching the shore, they saw the fishing boat, which was less than 30 meters long, floating in the middle of the sea, swaying with the wind and waves.
There was no one on the fishing boat. According to what Lin Guangyuan said yesterday, those people had almost finished the salvage and were sorting out the follow-up work and would be leaving Baisha Village one after another.
Because the fishing boat was too big and the water level near the shore was too shallow, it could not dock and could only drift far away in the middle of the sea, using a small boat to pick up people and bring them ashore.
I guess I have to drive it back today. I heard that it costs hundreds of dollars to rent it for a month, but for those people, this amount of money is just a drop in the bucket. I don’t know how much treasure they have gotten or how much they can earn in the process.
At this time, there were not many boats on the shore, as they were all working outside. However, there were quite a few people on the dock, because the Mazu Temple was located about ten meters away from the dock. It was surrounded by villagers who were working on the temple, as well as outsiders, making the area around here particularly lively.
The donation shed is still there, and some people still sit there waiting every day. Donations can be made at any time. It is an easy job. All you have to do is sit there and enjoy the cool air. The village cadres are very happy to do so.
Even though the operation has been underway for more than half a month, occasionally one or two people do come to donate money. I heard about them from people who had just returned from sea voyages in the surrounding area.
There is a sunshade there, which makes it very convenient for workers to work. They also have a place to shelter from the sun when eating or taking a break, so they don’t have to be exposed to the sun all day.
It was a rare day that the father and son returned empty-handed, so they didn't even collect the longline fish, but put them directly into the sea, planning to collect them tomorrow. Anyway, the sea seemed calm in the past two days, so if they gave more time, they could catch more. Of course, some fish would inevitably escape the hook, so it was all a matter of luck anyway.
They thought that the whale shark attacking the fishing boat at sea was only seen by a few boats, and they returned quite early, so the news should not have spread yet.
Unexpectedly, as soon as they stepped ashore dragging the damaged fishing nets, the villagers on the shore were already talking about how ferocious whale sharks are.
They didn’t know it was a whale shark. They kept saying that whales or big fish were attacking fishing boats, and how scary it was. They heard that fishing boats were smashed to pieces, and how scary it was…
Ye Yaodong was puzzled. Could it be that, besides him and A Zheng, there were people from the village on the other two of the three boats on the sea
How come they came back before them? Otherwise, how come the villagers were so well-informed
Father Ye was also surprised, "How come everyone in the village knows about this?"
"Who knows? Maybe there were people from our village on the nearby boats at that time. Let's listen later..."
Both father and son pricked up their ears and listened as they carried the fishing net, which was dozens of meters long, onto the cart. The trawl net itself seemed particularly heavy because of the thick line, and there were many lead weights hanging on it, making it seem particularly heavy.
Only after all the fishing nets were moved onto the cart did they curiously squeeze into the crowd to find out.
It turned out that someone from the newspaper saw it, and I heard that they even took photos of it.
"Newspaper company? The people from the newspaper company haven't left yet? Are they still wandering around the sea?" Ye Yaodong asked curiously.
Because the news of building a temple for Mazu was reported in the newspaper, people from the newspaper also knew that there was a shipwreck to be salvaged here. During this period, people from the newspaper would come to the village from time to time to take pictures.
They would also go out to sea with the salvage team to take photos of the cultural relics that had just been salvaged, preparing to use them as material for publication in newspapers.
I didn’t expect that they actually went to the sea before leaving
"Not yet. I heard that they were curious about the fishermen's work at sea, so they wanted to experience it before leaving and take some photos. They asked our villagers to take them out to sea to haul a net, and they really hauled back a lot of goods... There were more than 30 kilograms of mantis shrimp in one net..."
He was someone from the newspaper. No wonder he came back before him. He had wasted a lot of time cleaning the fishing nets off the whale shark.
No wonder the news at the dock was already spreading like wildfire as soon as I got back.
Ye Yaodong quickly interrupted them to prevent them from going off topic, "Ah... So they just came back too?"
"Yeah, I heard they took a lot of photos. I heard the fish was super big, more than 10 meters long, I don't know if it's true or not..."
"Really? How could the people at the newspaper lie? If it's not that big, how could it possibly break the fishing boat apart? I heard they said they'll publish it in the newspaper, but I don't know when I'll see it... Hey... do you have a newspaper at home?"
"Who would spend that money to subscribe to a newspaper? You'll know when you go to the village committee..."
"It will take ten days or half a month to develop these photos, right?"
"No need? It takes ten days or half a month for a photo studio to develop photos because the film is not used up. The newspaper company takes so many photos a day, so they will definitely be able to develop them in a day or two."
"That makes sense... Tsk tsk tsk~ More than ten meters, equivalent to a boat, then... that fish must weigh several tons? I have never seen such a big fish in my life. I didn't expect these people to encounter one as soon as they went out to sea. They are really lucky..."
"What a joke! I heard they were so scared that they almost peed themselves, but they were also really curious, so they plucked up their courage and watched from a distance as the big fish smashed the boat into pieces. I heard the big fish behind them was even chasing them, but luckily they ran fast."
"Yeah, I heard they were scared to death... But we have never seen such a big fish attacking fishing boats..."
Ye Yaodong thought of the people from Luzhou Island and quickly asked, "What about the people on the boat?"
"I heard that when the boatman Zhou and his son saw someone holding a piece of driftwood on the sea, they didn't dare to stop, for fear that they would be caught by a big fish and suffer."
"That's right, there's a big fish chasing behind, who dares to stop..."
Father Ye listened to the gossip for a while, and finally found a chance to speak. He said angrily: "Those people can't be rescued. Fortunately, they were not rescued. Those people are from Luzhou Island. If they were rescued, they might have robbed your boat."
"How do you know he's from Luzhou Island?"
"Oh, those pirates from Luzhou Island, well done, they deserved it, we can't save them, we can't save them..."
Father Ye told them with saliva flying about the encounter with pirates, saying that it was fortunate that the big fish blocked the wave and taught them a lesson, otherwise they would probably have been robbed.
At this time, someone in the crowd slapped his thigh and said, "Hey, young man... Old Zhou said that when they were getting rid of the big fish and preparing to return, they seemed to see the big fish floating on the sea again from a distance, and there were two boats next to it. Could it be you?"
"Ah? You guys encountered such a big fish, but you didn't run away? Aren't you afraid of being eaten directly?"
Ye Yaodong's mind moved. Could it be that he took a photo of him untying the fishing net for the whale shark
Father Ye also excitedly told them about his experience at sea. "Although the fish was more than ten meters long, it was quite docile. As for the fact that it smashed the boat on Luzhou Island, it was because the propeller of the boat hit it. Moreover, they were ignorant of the world and used fishing nets to catch the big fish. They caught it tightly and it even strangled their flesh..."
"Thanks to Dongzi, we saw it was following us. Dongzi said it was asking for help, so we wanted to help it untie the fishing net. It's true, the fish was really big, as long as our boat. He was as small as an ant when he climbed onto the fish. It took more than an hour to untie the fishing net..."
“Wow~”
The crowd was in uproar.
Is there anyone brave enough to climb onto such a big fish
"Is this true? Are you kidding me?"
"Yeah, such a big fish actually climbed up there? Aren't you afraid of being swallowed by it? Didn't I say it can destroy the boat..."
"That's right, Ye Lao San, don't brag without thinking..."
There were waves of disbelieving objections from the crowd. They found it too bizarre. Such a big fish, which had just attacked the fishing boat, actually asked them for help right after that
And you said that the multi-ton fish was docile
Why don't they believe it
It's almost like saying that fish eats people...
Father Ye said angrily with a straight face: "Why would I lie to you? Is it necessary to lie to you? Just call Old Zhou over and ask him, and you will know if there is anyone on the big fish?"
"Besides, we encountered this fish before we encountered the fishing boats from Luzhou Island. It ate the fish in our fishing nets underwater and tore through our fishing nets. We even brought our fishing nets back to repair them."
Father Ye pointed at the cart beside him and said, "Look... the fishing net. We returned empty-handed today because of that fish. Otherwise, who would come back so early?"
"Also, after the fish finished eating, it swam to our boat and begged for food. Dongzi even poured all the remaining bait in the bucket to it."
"Its mouth is about 1.5 meters wide when opened, which is really scary, but it doesn't have any sharp teeth. We saw it with our own eyes, the fish was right in front of us..."
Father Ye talked incessantly, describing what the fish looked like, the patterns on its body, and what the teeth in its mouth looked like.
"ah!"
Everyone looked at Ye's father in disbelief, as if he was talking in his sleep.
"Really? Did you feed the fish?"
"Its mouth is so wide open, you're not afraid, and you dare to go forward? Is this true? Why don't you believe it?"
"If you don't believe me, forget it. Is there any need to lie to you?"
Father Ye just spoke out of impulse and he didn't mean to show off, but he described the fish in detail, and these people didn't believe him
That's a bit depressing.
"Didn't you say that Old Zhou saw two fishing boats next to the big fish? The other boat belongs to Dongzi's friends. Their names seem to be Li Xiaozheng and Lin Jianyao. I almost forgot their real names because they call them by their nicknames every day..."
"Are you telling the truth?"
"Did Adong really climb onto the big fish to untie the fishing net for it?"
"Are you really going to feed it?"
"It's so powerful, aren't you afraid? What if it really eats people?"
"I can't even imagine how big it is. I can't even imagine what a fish that's over ten meters long looks like. How big is it?"
Seeing how confidently Mr. Ye spoke and how detailed his description was, everyone became skeptical and asked Ye Yaodong who was standing next to them.
"Adong, is that true? Everything you said is true!"
"So is that fish a whale or a shark?"
Ye Yaodong stood there with his hands in his pockets, listening to everyone talking, and inexplicably he looked like a pretentious person.
"It's a whale shark. I forgot who told me that it's the most docile of all sharks. It doesn't have fangs and won't eat people, so don't be afraid. Most fish won't eat people either. It may even think that humans are just ribs that hurt their teeth."