"Are you asking my dad to help move the goods?"
"I don't know. No one said anything. As soon as my father arrived at the door, Uncle Pei came running over. I didn't hear what they were talking about, and he left again."
Ye Yaodong was puzzled for a moment but didn't care. Anyway, his father would know the answer when he came back soon. Now he had to move all the sticky nets onto the cart.
If his father came back late, he could only go around the village to see if A Guang was at home. If not, he would have to ask someone else to go with him to set the nets. It would take two people to do the job, and one person alone could not do it.
The old lady was also there helping him to sort out the buckets and baskets, stacking them up on top of each other, muttering to herself, "You disappeared at the critical moment. I don't know what your in-laws asked you to do, or when you'll be back. I don't know what important matter it was. You left in such a hurry, without even eating."
"Is there something wrong? If there is nothing wrong, you won't come and call me daddy."
"Go have breakfast first. I'll tidy up for you. You can't put all this down."
"Okay, leave the heavy stuff there until I finish eating."
When he finished his meal and prepared the sticky net and was about to go out to find another person, his father came back excitedly. The two met at the gate of the yard and almost bumped into each other.
"Hey young~"
"father?"
"Why are you in such a hurry? You don't even look at the road before you go out."
Some dried shrimps were scattered in the basket in Ye's father's hand. Several dogs nearby ran up quickly, lowered their heads and licked them with their long tongues.
"You are the first to complain. It was you who was so excited that you bumped into me while turning the corner. I haven't even stepped out of the door yet." Ye Yaodong felt wronged. "Where did you get the dried shrimps? What else?"
"Go inside and talk. Go inside and talk."
"What have you done? Did Uncle Pei bring you some dried shrimps?" Ye Yaodong followed his father and walked into the yard.
"Your uncle Pei has a friend who fishes for shrimp in Zhejiang Province. It starts in autumn every year and ends in the spring of the following year. It's a good season for fishing shrimp..."
"So you want me to sell dried shrimps?"
"No, no, that's right..."
"What do you mean? One moment it's true, the next moment it's not..."
Father Ye was anxious for a moment, "Can you please let me finish what I have to say?"
"You say it, you say it."
"His friend came back at night with several sacks of dried shrimps and more than 30,000 kilograms of dragon head fish that he caught on the way. I heard that they encountered a large school of fish. They caught at least 2,000 to 3,000 kilograms with one net. The boat was so full that there was almost no room to pile the fish, so they had to kill them on the spot. Five or six people worked day and night and only killed a small amount..."
Ye Yaodong was surprised. There were so many of them. If it were any other fish, he would have made a fortune. The least valuable one was the dragon head fish.
However, with such a large quantity, if it were sold directly, it would be a considerable sum, and could be sold for a few hundred dollars.
"They killed the fish right after they were killed and hung them on the boat. Luckily we docked last night, otherwise the entire boat would have been full of fish and there would have been no place to dry them. Then, as soon as we docked last night, they called in a dozen people to kill the fish in the middle of the night, and they are still killing them now..."
Father Ye rummaged through the basket and showed him a few pieces of dried dragon head fish that they had hung on the boat to dry.
The wind was strong at sea, and the pieces he brought back were not completely dry and still felt soft, but they were about 50% to 60% dry. Ye Yaodong turned them over and touched them, and they looked quite beautiful.
"Are you going to sell me the dried dragon head fish?"
Otherwise, he couldn't figure it out, so why did he specifically ask his father to go
"Yes, yes, yes. These more than 30,000 kilograms of dragon head fish should be dried to about 3,000 to 4,000 kilograms. They are worried about how to sell them, as there are so many. When your uncle Pei heard about it, he went to see the fun and directly mentioned you, so he hurriedly dragged me to see it early in the morning."
So that's how it is. Ye Yaodong touched his chin. If his shop didn't sell large quantities of goods, he could sell two to three hundred kilograms a day, and seven to eight thousand kilograms a month. The existing goods were only enough for him to sell for one month. If he sold a few thousand kilograms of large quantities of goods, it would probably take him half a month to sell them, and he would have to close the shop for a break.
If we can collect all the dried dragon head fish, it would be fine. Who knows when the weather will be suitable for going out to sea? It's almost spring, and there will be more rain.
but…
"Why doesn't he just sell it to the buyer? That way he doesn't have to worry about killing and drying the fish himself, and then worrying about not being able to sell them. Although it's a bit cheaper, it won't break the bank, and he can cash it in directly."
"I can't sell it. No one wants it. The dragon head fish is so soft. More than 30,000 pounds are piled up there. The surface underneath is a little damaged. It's not that pretty. It doesn't matter if we kill it and dry it out. You can't see it. It doesn't affect it. We can't sell fresh ones. They are so cheap to begin with. I only get one cent for such a large quantity. Who wants it? It doesn't look good. I can only dry it out."
That’s right, tens of thousands of kilograms, there’s nothing to put them in, and the boat is full of them. It would be strange if they look good.
"Is it fresh?"
"They are quite fresh. They were caught the night before yesterday, or rather, early yesterday morning. The weather is cold now, and it's only been a day and a half. If we can kill them and dry them out in the sun today or tomorrow, that would be good."
"That's fine. I think the several thousand kilograms in our house are only enough for the store to sell for a month. If the boss or the army wants it again, there won't be enough to sell, and we will have to close for a few days."
"Yes, I was just thinking that your dried fish sells very quickly and is easy to sell. If you add a few thousand kilograms, you won't have any problems just storing it there. The fish is cheap, too."
These days, cheap = easy to sell.
The price is already an advantage, not to mention that the fried dried dragon head fish tastes great, and it’s a perfect dish to go with wine!
Normally, it is not easy to get such a large quantity of dried dragon head fish. No one would think of catching such a cheap fish. They are all caught by dragging nets. There will be some scraps mixed in the large net, but it is rare to get such a large quantity.
Some people are too lazy to take them and just dump them back into the sea. They then have to be cleaned up and take up space on the boat, as well as baskets. The space and baskets can be freed up to load other fish.
"Let's go and see if it's far. Let's go by bike."
"It's not far. It's in a nearby village. It takes about ten minutes by bike."
"Then go and take a look. If they are suitable, wait until they are dried and collect them all. I have sorted out these sticky nets and put them on the cart. Come back later and go out to sea. It's two hours later, so at most we can finish the work a little later."
"It's okay if it's later. There's no rush to put out the net. Let's go check on the dragonhead fish first."
Father Ye got on his bicycle and talked to him about dried shrimps. "They also brought back five or six sacks of dried shrimps, about four or five hundred kilograms. You just ate some. Should we buy some and sell them in the store?"
"That's fine. It's just a side job. I need to ask the price. If I can earn some money for my work and transportation, that's fine. I saw someone setting up a stall there in the city. The dried shrimps are selling well."
This sells much better than dried fish. Every time someone comes here to sell dried shrimps, they will weigh out half a pound or a pound and take it back. They sprinkle a handful when cooking soup or stir-frying, and children can grab a handful when they are greedy. It is very good. This is one of the best-selling seafood and it can also be said to be the most popular one at present.
Ye Yaodong listened to his father's instructions along the way and realized that the cargo on the fishing boat had not been unloaded at all. They simply hired people to kill the fish at the dock, and after killing one basket, they would load another basket on the boat.
As soon as he arrived at the place, he saw that the scene was extremely violent.
The entire open space was filled with baskets of fish. More than a dozen women each occupied a small area, sitting on a stool placed horizontally. There was also a stool placed horizontally in front of them with a wooden board on top, making it convenient for them to sit and kill the fish. On the left hand side were the unkilled fish, and on the right hand side were the killed fish.
There were also many people coming and going carrying the killed fish, probably to take them back to dry in the sun.
The number of more than 30,000 kilograms sounds scary enough. If more than ten or twenty people are killing them at the same time, I don’t know if they can finish killing them by tomorrow.
As soon as he parked his bicycle in the open space next to him, Uncle Pei immediately came over with a strange, short and thin middle-aged man.
The man's face was even more weather-beaten than his father's. At least his father was influenced by him and would occasionally apply clam oil or wear a mask, so his face wasn't so flaky anymore. But this man didn't know if he just came back from the sea, his lips were so dry and purple, and his face was so flaky that it looked like it was falling off.
However, his eyes give people a feeling of being quite shrewd.
Yes, if he was a simple-minded and stupid person, how could he dare to sail north to Zhejiang Province? I heard that this man and Pei's father used to sail a big ship together, and he was bold because he had been to Zhejiang Province. Pei's father originally bought a boat and wanted to go to Zhejiang Province together, but the boat he bought was not as big as his father's.
Fortunately, A Guang dissuaded him. A Guang was fascinated by Ye Huimei's beauty and was unwilling to leave the village.
Everything is different now.
Everything is getting better.
Pei's friend was very straightforward. He just wanted to sell all the dried fish and offer a price that was comparable to that of fresh fish so that he could earn back his wages.
He had no choice. He had no capital to negotiate. Apart from Ye Yaodong, no one would buy so much dried fish. He also had to go fishing on the boat. It was impossible for him to spend time selling so many dried dragon head fish in retail.
What's more, they may not be able to sell many in their local area.
One wanted to sell, the other wanted to buy. One didn't ask for a high price, and the other agreed readily. It only took a few minutes to get the deal done.
"Uncle, I have to be frank with you. Your fish must be fresh. If you don't show it to me, I don't want it. It will ruin my reputation."
"Of course, of course, I'm hiring people again. They must be killed and hung up before tomorrow. It's just that it's hard to hire people at night, so I only hired a dozen or twenty. I just asked someone to go back to the village to get people to come and do the killing."
"Okay, I'll definitely take all of them if they're fresh, so you don't have to stock up."
"Okay, there's so much of it that I can't throw back into the sea. I'm almost turning my hair grey with worry. I'll make sure to pack it up for you when the time comes."
"That's fine. If there are too many and there's no place to store them, you can dry a batch and then notify me to come and collect them."
"Okay, okay, there really is nowhere to put it. You are a promising young man who can do great things. Your father has given birth to a good son. He has hope for the rest of his life and can enjoy a happy life in the future. I wish my four sons were as capable as you."
"Ahahahaha~ You're praising me so much that my dad's mouth is crooked with laughter."
Father Ye smiled and said, "This kid is also slow to catch on, but fortunately, he will catch on eventually. Not to mention the rest of his life, I'm already counting on him now."
"What a blessing, what a blessing."
While the three old men were chatting there, Ye Yaodong looked around and went to the boat to take a look. There were indeed a lot of fish in the warehouse.
But now it is considered a bargain for him. The dried dragon head fish we just discussed is 1.4 cents, which is one cent cheaper than the price of miscellaneous fish. Who can blame him for the large quantity
He didn't plan to keep this penny and was going to give it to Uncle Pei as an introduction fee.
The other party will not lose money either. After deducting the labor cost, they can still earn a hundred yuan more than the fresh ones.
It's good for you, for me, for everyone, and we can make money together.