It's not easy to make a living on the sea, not just on their side, but here as well. And it seems that there are often many conflicts between the surrounding villages.
I don’t know if it’s because they are on the border, but there are different dialects and more conflicts. The surrounding villages on their side are quite peaceful.
Ye Yaodong suddenly became a little worried. As outsiders, it would be fine for them to stay for a day or two. But if they stayed for a long time and made a lot of money, the villagers would probably become jealous and make trouble for them, and they might not be able to leave.
As he tied ropes to the boat, he wondered if he should just fire one shot at a time or just live on the boat.
After taking out the ropes of the two boats, tying them up and connecting them, he returned to his own boat and asked Ye Yaosheng to drive the boat back.
He also shared his concerns with his two cousins to see what they had to say.
The two were also stunned for a moment, and thought about it. It would be fine if they, as outsiders, rented a house in the village normally, but the key point was that they were also catching jellyfish, and it was obvious for everyone to make money. There were people with bad intentions everywhere.
If they really arouse envy and some nosy people stir up conflict, the villagers will not let them leave easily, or if some bloody accident occurs, they will not be able to bear it.
"What should we do? Do we really have to live on the boat? But there is no fresh water! And we have to dry the jellyfish blood."
"Or else we can only sell the whole thing? Then we can just stop nearby and get a few buckets of water?"
Selling the whole thing would be a bit of a loss. Ye Yaodong rubbed his nose. This era is too unpeaceful. People would easily start fighting over a disagreement.
"Let's wait and see. After all, we just moved into the village yesterday, and today we saved a big family from the village. We can at least be friendly for a while. It should be fine in the short term. Let's stay for a few days and see how things go. If things don't go well, we'll just move out."
He also didn't know whether his elder and second brothers would come today. He left the names of the villagers and didn't know if they could find him. If they came to meet up, they would have more people and would be safer at sea.
"That's fine. We just saved someone, so the villagers should be friendly for a while. If we go to another village, I don't know if we can talk to them."
"That's what I mean. It's not safe for anyone to have a lot of money in their pocket. When I get the money, I'll go directly to the town post office to open an account and deposit the money in it. I don't have to keep it with me, and I'm afraid it will be lost."
He said the latter sentence intentionally. Human hearts cannot stand the test and he didn't know how much money he could make from this trip. It would be better to eliminate unnecessary risks in advance.
"Yes, it's better to save it. If you save it, you won't be afraid of losing it."
The two cousins nodded in agreement. Their eyes were clear and they didn't seem to have any extraneous thoughts. Ye Yaodong felt relieved.
He smiled and said, "It's hard for you to follow me on this adventure. When the time comes, see how much money you can make and I'll give you three big red envelopes."
The eldest cousin smiled innocently on his dark face, "Why are you being polite? We are all brothers and family members."
"Yeah, it doesn't matter who you follow to make money. At least we can help you. Following you is much better than working for others." The second cousin also agreed with a smile.
Ye Yaodong nodded, "Then let's stay in the village for a few days and fish for a few days without any worries."
"Well, let's cut up the remaining jellyfish first."
One boat was towing another boat and was slowly moving back, but the speed of the one-to-one tandem could not be as fast as a single boat, even though they were trying their best to go as fast as possible.
When Ye Yaodong was sailing, he would walk to the stern from time to time to check on the people on the boat. He would feel relieved only when he saw that they were all conscious. Some jellyfish are very poisonous, while others are not so poisonous. It all depends on luck.
It was a blessing in disguise that they met him today, and it didn't look like he was seriously poisoned. He would probably be fine after going back to a clinic and getting an injection.
The two boats were sailing on the road, and all the fishing boats they met along the way avoided them from a distance. No one dared to approach them for fear of getting into trouble.
At first, perhaps because their boat was sailing too far away, there were no many fishing boats. But after sailing for more than ten minutes, there were more small wooden boats on the sea.
There are small wooden boats scattered everywhere, and fishermen are fishing for jellyfish with hand nets. There are usually two or three people on each boat, both men and women. The men catch the fish while the women cut them up on the spot.
Seeing that they were all looking over curiously, there were two fishing boats. I don’t know if they were familiar with each other, but when they saw them, they were brave enough to follow them.
After they docked at the shore, two boats also docked over and asked about the situation on the boat behind with concern.
Ye Yaodong walked to the stern to listen, and untied the ropes. He then realized that the two small wooden boats also belonged to his brothers.
The people on the two boats also climbed onto the big ship. They were filled with righteous indignation and cursed angrily. It seemed that they wanted to rush to the next village immediately.
It was only after Old Man Lu muttered something to them that they stopped cursing. However, they still looked angry, and one of them even came over to thank him.
"You should take them to the health center first. Jellyfish have different levels of toxicity. We have already been delayed for quite a while. Safety comes first."
"Okay, okay, thank you very much. We'll go first."
Lu Hongwei also thanked them again before getting off the boat.
When the women on the shore saw their condition, those who were familiar with them came forward to ask questions, and then they also started cursing loudly in agitated expressions.
It seems that the conflict between the two villages has a long history.
Ye Yaodong took a look and then looked away. He was not from this village anyway, so he didn't care about these things.
"Cousin, you two take two buckets of jellyfish blood back and let my dad cook it first. By the way, tell Brother Liang to ask him to send a car to collect it. We will watch from the boat first."
They went out this morning and estimated that they have caught fifty or sixty fish so far. Adding up the big and small ones, it should be about the same as yesterday afternoon, at least three thousand kilograms.
After this boat is taken away, they can go out again, but the sun is strong and there should be fewer people floating up in the afternoon.
While they were waiting, many fishing boats on the shore came back with boats full of jellyfish. Some of the small wooden boats had small space, so they fished the jellyfish back and then divided them up.
At this time, Ye Yaodong couldn't help but feel regretful. It would be great if this was in his own village. He could just unload the goods and let his family members look after them. They could go out immediately instead of waiting here and wasting time.
But there's nothing I can do.
Fortunately, the tractor arrived quickly this morning. When they took the jellyfish blood and jellyfish brains back in batches, the truck came to pick up the goods. Ye Yaodong also made an appointment with him to come and pick up another batch of goods at around four o'clock in the afternoon.
However, today all prices have been reduced by 5 cents. Although the jellyfish they caught this morning were heavier than yesterday, they were only sold for a little over 70 yuan.
The price will drop once the quantity increases, but the price is still very good. After all, due to the impact of the typhoon some time ago, large-scale fishing has only started recently, but it is certain that the price will drop as time goes by.
Now we can only hope for good weather so we can fish for a few more days.
After Ye Yaodong and his men loaded all the goods onto the tractor, they continued to go out to sea without stopping.
The coal stove on the boat is still there. Although it is neither morning nor noon yet, we have to prepare something to eat so that we won’t have time to eat when we get busy later.
When they went out to sea, many small wooden boats also rowed back one after another. These boats did not dare to go too far, and probably rowed for ten to twenty minutes away from the shore. They were close to the shore, and the surrounding fishing boats were all from the village, so it was safer.
Ye Yaodong saw that the coast was full of fishing boats and there were too many people and too little meat. He didn't want to stay here for long, for fear of being suspected of stealing goods from the villagers and making others hate him.
As soon as the boat sets out, it sails away. There are more fish in the distant sea, so you can catch them freely without having to compete with others.
But in the afternoon, the sun retreated into the clouds and the sky became cloudy, but fortunately it didn't rain, so they could continue fishing.
The eldest cousin looked at the cloudy sky with concern and said, "Dongzi, we can't catch fish now that it's raining, right?"
"Light rain should be fine, but heavy rain is definitely not a problem. The jellyfish will sink back into the sea and there will be nowhere to find them. Strong winds won't work either."
"How many days can I make in this month? I'll have to pray to God for help."
"Isn't it? You can't tell for sure if you rely on the weather for your livelihood? It's just like the ancient people planting rice. Whether it's a good harvest, a poor yield, or even a total loss, you can only wait for God to bless you. There are top talents in all 360 professions, but they all have risks. It's not easy to do anything."
"However, my luck shouldn't be that bad. Anyway, I've made enough money, and everything I do next will be earned."
Ye Yaodong had just fished up a large jellyfish when he saw another one floating up next to it. It looked very small, so he covered it with a net bag and tried to lift it, and found it was very easy.
He went to the side of the boat and took a look. He found that the jellyfish weighed only about seven or eight kilograms and was a baby jellyfish. After thinking about it, he decided to let it go.
This one is too small compared to what he caught these two days. He should put it back and let it grow longer. This is sustainable development. Anyway, any one he catches weighs more than 20 or 30 kilograms, and some weigh 50 or 60 kilograms. This one is not a big deal.
"Cousin, if the fish you catch later are too small, just let them go. If they are too small, they will be useless. Keep the big ones and discard the small ones."
"Okay, but there aren't many small ones. The jellyfish we see in this area are all huge."
"Well, it's better to catch the big ones, because they have weight. But they are too damn hard to catch. One person can't lift them all. They are heavier than anything else and they are full of water. I have been fishing for most of the day, but I haven't caught many. My hands are almost exhausted."
He wiped the sweat from his cheeks and continued, "It's not that I feel tired, but it's so hot today. I sweat a lot every day. It was quite cool in the morning, but now it's so stuffy."
The eldest cousin smiled and said, "You may feel cooler if you take off your sun hat."
They often saw him wearing a sun hat in the village and were used to it.
"No, that won't work. You don't have to wear it in the morning, but you have to wear it at noon. It's easy to get tanned in the middle of the day without the sun."
The second cousin joked, "You are whiter than most girls, do you still need sunscreen? When I entered the village yesterday, I saw many young girls and wives staring at you without blinking."
Ye Yaodong felt somewhat proud that he had done a pretty good job of sun protection over the past six months.
"Who made me handsome? I can't help it. I make a living with this face, so of course I have to pay attention to sun protection."
"Why do you rely on this face to make a living? Haven't you earned a lot in the past year or two? Is your wife obedient at home? I saw you don't have a sad face before, and you smile when you meet people."
"Of course not, not to mention that I'm making money now. When I didn't make money, she was very obedient in front of me. She even made footbath water for me and squeezed toothpaste for me every day, and she never said no."
Lin Xiuqing: “?”
"You are living a good life now. The feng shui of the house is really good. Your family is getting more and more prosperous."
"Okay."
…
They spent the whole afternoon fishing and chatting, and it was not boring at all. Moreover, having learned the lesson from Lu Hongwei's home in the morning, they did not dare to run too far.
But when they were fishing, they saw a huge jellyfish moving in front of them. Ye Yaodong's eyes lit up when he saw it. It happened that they had caught several jellyfish around them and they were also moving forward. He quickly asked Ye Yaosheng to drive the boat to catch up.
"That one is big! It's bigger than any of the previous ones. I can just follow it to see what's going on and fish it out."
Ye Yaodong leaned against the side of the boat and looked ahead. Just as they were catching up, he saw that behind the white jellyfish, there was a black shell
shell
Turtle shell
"Huh? Is the turtle attacking and eating the jellyfish?"
"Where? Ah, such a big turtle?"
Behind the jellyfish was a turtle with a shell as big as the bottom of a washbasin. It looked like the turtle had just bitten off a piece of the jellyfish's tentacle from the bottom.
When they saw it, there were white jellyfish tentacles on its mouth, and it swallowed them instantly. Then they saw it persistently following the jellyfish's drift, chasing behind it and occasionally biting off a piece of the tentacle.
But the jellyfish couldn't do anything to it because its body was covered with turtle shells, which blocked the jellyfish's tentacles, leaving it helpless.
This is too much, now that he has seen it, it is his.
Ye Yaodong stopped the boat in advance, and when they were about to sink into the water to kill each other, he directly covered the jellyfish with a hand net, leaving the sea turtles nowhere to attack.
I don’t know if his actions angered the turtle, leaving it with nowhere to bite, but the turtle actually bit the fishing net directly and was dragged to the side of the boat by him.
When he got closer, he also saw the mysterious barnacles growing on the turtle's back and wondered if it was uncomfortable.
He pulled the handle in his hand, trying to lift it up slowly, but found that he couldn't lift it at all. The cousin next to him quickly reached out to help.
After struggling to lift it up slowly, I found that the turtle was still biting the tip of the jellyfish's umbrella that had come out of the net at the bottom.
"Fuck you, you're risking your life for a bite of food. Help me get a stick to poke it down. If this isn't a turtle but some other fish, I'll just catch them all in one net."
"Why not just catch this turtle?"
"Forget it. Such a big turtle is also a lucky charm. Haven't you heard that in the past, when temples did good deeds, they always released turtles? Turtles are the same species as turtles, so let them go. This can protect humans from danger and bring them safety, but it can also bring retribution to people."
Although this turtle is not very sick now, he has realized over the past year that he has good luck. He may not have realized it at first, but even a fool can see that he has extraordinary luck, and he believes more in luck.
"That's right. Turtles are auspicious. I'll poke it and let it return to the sea."
My second cousin took a stick and poked the turtle's shell. It seemed to be frightened and simply retracted its head. Then it fell back into the sea, paddling with its four legs and quickly sinking into the water.
When Ye Yaodong saw it sinking, he asked two people to help pull it up. This huge jellyfish really weighed hundreds of pounds, and it was very heavy with the weight of water. It might not be possible for two people to pull it up.
The three men gnashed their teeth, their arm veins bulging, and slowly moved the hand net up along the side of the boat.
Once they were pulled over the edge of the boat, they leaned their hands over the boat, and a huge jellyfish fell onto the boat with a snap.
"so big!"
"It's really huge. There are jellyfish this big. One is as big as several of the ones next to it."
"It's hard to cut up a big one like this. There are so many tentacles underneath that you can get stung if you're not careful. I was not skilled yesterday and got stung a little when I was cutting it up. It hurt for a long time."
"It's okay, I'll do it later. Most of its tentacles have been eaten by turtles."
It's not easy to cut something this big. If it gets pricked, it will probably die. He has to do it.
Ye Yaodong kicked it as he spoke, and lifted up the end of its umbrella with his foot. He took a look at the foot and found that half of it had been eaten.
"You guys take your boats and take what you want, and I'll divide it up."
"OK."
Everything went smoothly on the sea afterwards, because they were rather cautious. After all, they were in someone else's territory, so when they saw a ship that was nearly as big as theirs, they would stay away from it.
When it was almost afternoon, they set off back. They had to be at the shore before four o'clock to wait for the goods.
What surprised them was that when they were sailing towards the shore, there were no small wooden boats catching jellyfish around the coast.
This is simply unbelievable. When they were approaching the shore yesterday, the surrounding sea was full of fish caught diligently. It’s not very late at this time today, right
Normally, not all fishing boats would return to the port together so early.
"Could it be that the whole village went to fight?"
"Are you really that united? Instead of making a lot of money, you all go to fight?"
"It's hard to say. When the villagers are united against the outside world, they are usually very united, not to mention a village with the same surname like theirs. Besides, there are so many brothers in that family, not to mention cousins?"
"Don't worry about it. The most important thing is to sell today's goods. I don't know if my eldest brother and second brother have arrived by boat? Where are they? Can they find this village? This town is so big, it's hard to find a village."