Ye Yaodong was also very happy. He was just fishing for fun when he was bored, but he didn't expect to get an unexpected reward.
He took the fish out of the net and it was still shaking.
Chen Jianian said with some regret: "It's only about one pound, not big, a little small."
"It's okay. I'm just playing for fun anyway. It doesn't matter how big or small it is." He said nonchalantly.
Ye Yaosheng smiled and agreed, "It's good to be lucky."
Ye Yaodong nodded. This fish was quite auspicious. It looked good and had a bright red color. Its scales were covered with water droplets under the sunlight, making it sparkling and beautiful.
Generally, people who fish at the seaside will regard it as a good omen if they catch a red sea bream.
As long as the meaning is good, that's enough.
Big or small is not important.
In fact, there is a story behind the origin of the name of the fish...
According to legend, Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, went on an eastern expedition and came to Dengzhou (now Penglai, Shandong).
One day, he chose an auspicious day to cross the sea and visit the Fairy Mountain on the Sea (now Changshan Island). After tasting the beautiful and delicious fish on the island, he asked the civil and military officials accompanying him, what is the name of this fish
The ministers did not dare to speak nonsense, so they bowed and replied: "It is the name bestowed by the emperor."
Taizong was delighted, thinking that it was an auspicious day to cross the sea, and tasting the fresh fish would add glory to the auspicious day, so he named it "Jia Ji Fish".
The black grouper is called black sea bream, also known as sea crucian carp. The red grouper is called true sea bream. The one with yellow fins is called yellow sea bream, or yellowfin sea bream.
Every fish in the sea that is slightly different has a different name.
There was nothing on hand to put the fish in, so Ye Yaodong had to go to the small cabin to find a bucket. He also took out a few ice cubes from the bucket outside that contained jellyfish brains to keep it fresh, otherwise it would go bad if left in the high temperature for a few hours.
After settling down, he continued to play. There was a hand-scooped net next to him, and his older cousin also took it and learned from him how to put it in the water to fish for fun. When they felt the resistance increasing, they picked it up, and from time to time they could bring up some small fish and shrimps.
It is difficult to catch bigger fish, after all, few fish swim on the surface. They are all several meters underwater, and only occasionally some will swim to the surface to breathe.
As time passed, the sun rose higher and higher, becoming hotter and hotter, and the temperature gradually increased, but the sea breeze brought by the boat was still cool.
Along the way, we encountered many fishing boats, big and small, but they were moving fast and disappeared in a short while.
Ye Yaodong looked into the distance. In the distance of the sea was a deep blue horizon. A little further away were the dotted islands that stretched to the extreme of his sight.
He looked down at his watch. It was already eleven o'clock. If his father's prediction was correct, they would arrive in another hour.
The boat journey was boring. Apart from playing with the hand-scooped net, I could only stand there and look at the scenery, feel the sea breeze, and daydream.
Fortunately, everyone on the boat was an experienced player and did not suffer from seasickness. If there was enough space on the boat, he could have brought a deck of cards and played cards together.
Just as everyone was looking around boredly, my eldest cousin, who was lying on the edge of the boat, suddenly exclaimed, "There are jellyfish, the net is so heavy..."
In an instant, Ye Yaodong also felt that his hand-held net was very heavy. The resistance in his hands became greater as the fishing boat moved forward. Everyone looked down at the sea at the same time.
At the same time, the speed of the fishing boat suddenly slowed down. Everyone looked around again and was extremely surprised.
I saw many colorful jellyfish floating on the sea around me, which was a breathtaking sight.
Before Ye Yaodong could shout, Ye's father had already stopped the boat.
He was steering the boat, how could he not know the situation of the surrounding sea? He just needed to slow down and stop the boat.
After the boat was moored and anchored, Ye's father came over excitedly.
"Dongzi, it's really jellyfish season here. There are a lot of jellyfish floating in the sea ahead, in all kinds of colors."
"I caught one in my net."
While the boat was stopped, Ye Yaodong quickly used both hands to scoop up the fish with the scoop net.
It was very heavy. He estimated that it weighed more than 30 kilograms, which was bigger than the one he caught from them two days ago.
If the boat hadn't stopped, he wouldn't have been able to pick up the jellyfish.
Father Ye also saw the jellyfish in his net and said happily, "This one is big and has good juiciness. One is worth several of the ones we caught before."
However, the one from my cousin's place was a little difficult to get out. He tried several times but still couldn't lift it up. He wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"This one I have here won't work. It's too big to fish out. I can only put it aside for now."
Everyone looked over and saw him tilt the net a bit, and a huge aqua blue jellyfish floated to the surface again.
"My goodness, the one you caught in your net weighs at least 50 to 60 kilograms."
"I think he weighs about 60 or 70 kilograms."
The eldest cousin nodded, "Almost, so it's hard to fish it out."
Ye Yaodong also took a look and said nonchalantly: "It's okay, I'll get one up first to see, there are still many on the sea surface, your one is not a big deal."
As he spoke, he also scooped up the one he was holding, and the water under the net suddenly dripped into the sea.
Everyone said in unison: "It's really big!"
"The one just now was bigger..."
"We really encountered the jellyfish season, Dongzi, this trip is a good choice..."
Chen Jianian also said happily: "I said that this is the jellyfish season, and I was right."
"Although there are a lot of jellyfish on the sea, it's hard to say what the market will be like. We still have to sell the jellyfish that have been cut on the boat first. How long will it take us to reach the shore, Dad?" Ye Yaodong looked at his father and asked. He felt a little hot and anxious in his heart.
"This is the border between Fujian and Zhejiang. If we want to dock, we can always find a small pier in a village. But we probably have to drive a little further to Yangping County. I'm not sure how long it will take. Let's continue driving forward and see."
Chen Jianian mentioned that they wanted to go to Yangping County, which is a border county in Zhejiang Province close to Fujian Province, and is also the purpose of their trip.
"Don't worry, as long as there is no problem with the handling of these cut jellyfish, there will definitely be people who want them. I have already asked for you in advance. As long as we dock in Yangping County, I can contact the factory to ship the goods over." Chen Jianian promised affirmatively.
Ye Yaodong nodded.
"There is a fishing season here, so there should be fishing boats nearby. But why is the sea so empty with only floating jellyfish?" Ye Yaosheng asked puzzledly.
"Is it possible that at this point in time, the ships have already gone back to unload the cargo? After all, they have to be killed alive." The eldest cousin pondered.
The second cousin also agreed, "It's very likely. After all, it's noon. It's just the right time to pull a boat back and come out after lunch."
Ye Yaodong also tended to believe that the boat had already pulled back, or it was possible that this place was a bit far away and the sea was wide, so the boat could not be seen.
Ye Yaosheng asked hesitantly, "Uncle San, Dongzi, what should we do now? The boat is full of stuff, and we have nowhere to put it if we fish it out now."
The others also turned to look at the baskets stacked up on the boat, and they were instantly a little worried. Indeed, there was no room left on the boat to put all the things they had fished out, and there was only a path left for people to walk on.
It would be a shame if I couldn't catch them. There are so many of them, and I happened to pass by and saw them. I would feel like I would be missing out if I didn't catch some as well.
Father Ye thought for a moment and said, "Let's put the fishing net down the slideway. We can tow it while sailing, so it won't get caught. When we get there, we can tow it directly to the shore. The water level around the coast is shallow, so it won't matter if the boat sinks after we stop. We can pull it up with manpower then."
Ye Yaodong had just thought of this. Although the boat could not stop during trawling and would sink if it did, the water level near the shore was shallow, so it didn't matter if it sunk. They still had strong labor anyway.
Moreover, the load-bearing capacity of the net-lifting machine is one ton. If the weight exceeds this, the net-lifting machine will be overloaded.
Looking at the jellyfish floating on the sea from time to time, there are very few small ones, and most of them are large. The small ones weigh more than ten pounds, and the big ones weigh sixty or seventy pounds. On the other hand, if you catch 30 jellyfish of 30 pounds, the 900-pound net lifter cannot pull them up, because the fishing net itself is not light, and there are a lot of lead weights tied to it.
If there are many nets, they still have to be dragged to the shore slowly by manual labor.
After listening to what Ye's father said, the others also thought it was feasible.
"Then let's put the net down."
Ye Yaodong nodded and said, "I'll go to the cabin and drag the fishing net out."
Several people immediately became busy and helped to organize the fishing nets.
We have been out at sea for several hours, just standing there watching. Now we finally have a chance to use our skills, and the three men we invited are all very enthusiastic.
Ye's father also went to the front to pull up the anchor and prepare to set sail.
When the fishing boat moves forward slowly, they release the net from the tail slide, connect the net plate to the towing line and make it separate from the two net plate frames, and gradually release the two towing lines.
When the towline was released to the predetermined length, Ye's father moved forward in the direction indicated by the compass. The direction of their journey remained unchanged, but the speed of the boat slowed down because of the fishing.
With these jellyfish floating on the sea, Ye Yaodong was looking forward to this trip even more.
The same goes for Ye's father.
At this moment, he couldn't help but think of his eldest and second oldest brothers. It would be great if they could come along on this trip as well. With him leading them, they wouldn't have to worry about getting lost.
I didn't expect that the usually honest second brother would be so decisive. It's just that the eldest brother is more cautious and didn't agree, which is a pity.
But we can’t blame the boss. It’s right to be cautious when it comes to unknown things.
Father Ye made up his mind that he would sell the jellyfish on the boat after docking. If he could get a good price, he would ask Dongzi to call back immediately.
The fishing boat was moving forward at a constant speed. Watching the villages disappear behind it, Father Ye continued to drive forward at a leisurely pace.
Along the way, we could see jellyfish of various colors floating on the sea, and we also encountered many fishing boats working, all catching jellyfish.
The jellyfish in the fishing nets float on the sea and can be seen clearly by passing ships.