We didn't encounter them at first, maybe because they were in a relatively remote location. Anyway, the further we went, the more fishing boats we saw, and everyone kept to themselves.
But sometimes I didn’t see any jellyfish for a long time because they were not evenly distributed.
Along the way, Ye Yaodong saw so many fishing boats catching jellyfish on the sea, and he was completely relieved.
The presence of boats fishing means there is a market and people are buying the fish, so there is no need to worry about no one wanting them.
The other three men were also relieved. In fact, they were also worried that no one would want them and they would be working for nothing. Although they were only paid, it would not be good for them if the employer lost money.
Ye's father also breathed a sigh of relief.
At this moment, they saw many boats in the sea ahead heading east at the same time, and there were fishing nets dragging at the stern of the boats, which were filled with densely packed colorful jellyfish, and there seemed to be quite a lot of them.
Father Ye was also thinking that they should be almost there. Those boats were probably docking at a nearby village. The nets were too heavy to be pulled up by manpower, so they were towing them just like them.
He simply moved towards the nearest boat and asked for directions in his broken Mandarin with a Minnan accent.
But the old fisherman on that boat seemed to not speak Mandarin at all, and spoke in their local dialect that they couldn't understand. Later, the young man on the boat translated it for them in not very standard Mandarin.
Only then did they realize that the village ahead was theirs, Changfengjing Village, which belonged to Muhua Town, Yangping County.
After hearing that they had arrived at a small village within the jurisdiction of Yangping County, everyone felt relieved, as long as they had not taken the wrong path.
After Ye Yaodong expressed his gratitude, he said to Chen Jianian: "All roads lead to Yangping. Since there are villages nearby that also catch jellyfish, then we can just dock here. There shouldn't be any problem, right? After you get on board, you can ask how far the factory is located. Then we can contact each other and come directly to pick up the goods, okay?"
Chen Jianian nodded, "Okay, I've heard of Muhua Town. Let's stop at this village first. I'll go ashore and find a place to make a phone call."
After reaching an agreement, Ye's father also slowly followed the ship in front.
The green mountains in the distance were getting closer and closer, and the village gradually came into view. There were many large and small boats docked on the shore ahead.
Finally it's time to dock.
The fishing boat gradually approached the shore, and everyone could clearly see that the shore was densely packed with people coming and going.
The beach was covered with colorful transparent jellyfish, and people on the shallows were dragging fishing nets onto the beach.
It seemed that there were more than a dozen people dragging each net. The jellyfish inside were densely packed and crowded together, and there seemed to be quite a lot of them.
Everyone couldn't help but gasp, and the closer they got, the wider their mouths opened.
"Oh my goodness, the beach is full of jellyfish, there are so many of them!"
"So many people are busy on the beach, and many people are gathered on the shore. Are they dividing it? I guess all the men and women in the village are here?"
"There seem to be quite a few in the fishing nets behind us..."
Ye Yaodong and Ye's father looked at each other, they seemed to have underestimated the jellyfish season.
"We should have as many jellyfish in our nets as they do. The speed of our fishing boats has obviously slowed down a lot just now. But it seems that it is not easy to get them ashore?"
Ye Yaodong suddenly doubted whether they could drag the jellyfish at the stern...
Ye's father was also a little worried. They were not locals and had no relatives or friends to help, so they could only rely on themselves.
"Let's wait and see. If it doesn't work, we can just use a hand net to cover them and drag them to the shore one by one. This is the only stupid way."
Ye Yaodong was overwhelmed, "This is the only way for now."
The fishing boats in front stopped directly when they were a certain distance away from the beach. The people on the boats jumped off and went to the stern to untie the fishing nets. Relatives waiting on the shore also waded into the water to help drag the fishing nets.
Ye's father also docked the boat in the corner. After all, they were strangers and unfamiliar with the place, so it would be better to go to the corner and keep a distance first.
As soon as the boat stopped, Ye Yaodong went to the stern to reel in the towing line. When he reeled in the net board, he fixed the net board on the net board frame to separate it from the towing line.
The other three cousins and Chen Jianian also jumped into the water to pick up the nets that Ye Yaodong had untied. After Ye's father parked the boat, he also went down with two hand nets.
At this time, all the jellyfish that had been dragged in the fishing net and floated up and down finally floated to the surface. Before, the fishing boat was moving forward, and the jellyfish had been rolling in the sea, so it was not very clear.
Now everyone could see it clearly and they were a little excited. It was such a large piece and it must weigh several thousand kilograms. No wonder those people in front had to send out more than a dozen people to pull it.
When Ye Yaodong was collecting the trawler, he could see more clearly from the fishing boat.
These jellyfish were all very big, one was as big as several he had caught before. There were also some fish in the fishing net, but they had just been squeezed down by the floating jellyfish.
He looked at the boat next to him, and the old fisherman on that boat seemed to be the one his father had asked for directions on just now.
There were quite a lot of fish in their fishing nets, and there were quite a few young men dragging them. The old fisherman and a few young men also noticed them, but they just glanced at them and ignored them, busying themselves with their own work.
Ye Yaodong thought that everyone was busy there and had no time to talk, so he just smiled at them friendly and went about his own business.
He jumped into the water and tried to help everyone pull the fishing net, but found that he could not move it much.
"No, Dad. Let's drag them ashore one by one. It will be easier to pull them when there are fewer of them."
"good."
He and his father each took a hand-held net and reached into the fishing net to pull out a jellyfish. Both of them tried their best to avoid skin contact. Although some of them looked beautiful, they were all poisonous.
"Be careful not to get your hands or skin stung."
"They are so heavy. It's not easy to drag them to the shore one by one."
"This is because of the buoyancy of the water. As the water gets shallower, it will sink and become more difficult to tow."
At this time, Chen Jianian said, "The fishing net can't be dragged up now, so we can only pull them out one by one. Then I will go ashore and call my friends first, so that the goods on the boat won't be left there to dry."
"Yes, yes, yes, you should make a phone call first and deliver the goods on the ship first." Ye's father said quickly.
"Okay, I'll go to the village and see if there's a phone and ask first."
Ye Yaodong also urged, "Then go quickly."
“I don’t know how much these jellyfish on the boat can be sold for.”
"You'll know after it's sold." Ye Yaodong held a scoop net in his hand and dragged the jellyfish inside with great effort all the way to the corner of the beach.
After finding an open space, he poured it out directly.
"It's really big. It's not easy to drag it all. Dad, you should watch it here first, in case someone steals it when no one is watching. It's not easy for us, a foreigner, to say anything."
"Okay, then we'll take turns watching it later, just take a break."
"Um."
Ye Yaodong took his father's hand-held net and returned to the sea. The four brothers formed groups of two and took turns dragging the net. This was convenient and not very tiring, but it was a bit strenuous.
After dragging the net back and forth 4-5 times, he saw that the people on the next boat had already dragged the goods ashore, so he hurriedly handed the scoop net to others and climbed onto the boat to get cigarettes.
He planned to have a chat with the old fisherman or young man next door, try to get closer to them, and ask about the market of jellyfish. He didn't know how many days they had been fishing.
Thanks to his previous life, although the Mandarin he spoke still had a strong Minnan accent, at least he could speak it, and quite fluently, unlike his father who spoke dialect all his life and could not speak Mandarin but only understood it.
He walked over with a smile, and lighted two cigarettes for the old fisherman, and then lighted two cigarettes for the young man he had just talked to.
"Hello, comrades. My name is Ye Yaodong. I just asked you for directions on the boat. Your family is really prosperous, and you are all strong laborers. You will definitely make a lot of money from this wave of jellyfish. You can get rich."
The old fisherman smiled and muttered a lot, which made him a little confused.
It was the young man who explained: "My father doesn't speak Mandarin. He was asking where you are from? Are you from the area around Shatou Town?"
Shatou Town is also located at the junction of Fujian and Zhejiang, but it is under the jurisdiction of Fujian Province. The language spoken there is very similar to Minnan dialect, and the speech also has a strong Fujian accent.
Ye Yaodong did not directly or indirectly admit or deny it, but changed the subject and asked: "Do fishing boats in that area often dock nearby?"
"That's right. Who made us so close? It's only been in the past one or two years. In the past, they would just bring the fish back home, but now they just dock in the towns around us and sell the fish right after they've hauled them ashore. They don't divide the fish. It may be that the fishing team hasn't been disbanded yet, and it's still a collective economy, so the fish have to be brought back."
Can you sell the whole one
It would be much easier if I could sell the whole thing. But here, in an unfamiliar place, I have to ask someone to boil water and dry them in the sun. There is no one there to watch over them, so they were all stolen in no time, and I still haven't been able to complain.
He then asked, "How many fishing boats are there in your village that go out to catch jellyfish? I see quite a few boats by the beach. This must be a big village, right? I see that you seem to have a lot of brothers. You must have made a lot of money during this period."
"There are about 60 boats, most of them are small wooden boats. There are only four boats as big as yours." When he said this, the young man felt very proud because his boat was also very big.
"We have seven brothers and several nephews in our family. We could have done well, but the typhoon some time ago delayed us. It has been raining intermittently for almost half a month, or it is windy and we cannot go out to sea."
"It's only because the weather has been clear in the past two days that we have been able to catch a lot. Fortunately, this flood season can last another month or two, otherwise our family of dozens of people would have nothing to eat."
Jellyfish are most afraid of wind when fishing. If there is a north wind of level 6 to 7, the jellyfish will sink to the bottom.