Ji Huai could not go to sea when there was a strong wind, so Ji Huai waited for a few days until the strong wind subsided before preparing to go to sea.
Sun Bin has gone to work as a security guard at the train station. It is said that the salary is good, and there are five insurances and one housing fund. He will not come back to fish in the future, so he gave him the fishing net and other miscellaneous tools.
Ji Huai was drying fishing nets at home two days ago. Yin Cai saw it and didn't ask anything. He just let him do whatever he liked and just ignored it. He didn't even bother asking for trouble.
This was the way the two of them got along in the past. He didn't have any money, no matter scolding or arguing, he was as stubborn as a rock and only did his own thing.
On this day, he got up early, bought a day's worth of dry food, and took water to the dock.
The boats at the pier were one after another, and they happened to meet a large fishing boat returning from a long voyage. There is a lot of cargo on the big fishing boat, and they are moved down one basket after another.
Many seafood vendors are already waiting to load the goods onto trucks.
Ji Huai came to his small broken boat, checked the engine, put on his waders and put on his straw hat.
"Goooooo~" The simple and rusty engine began to emit thick smoke, and the boat that unlocked the rope began to move forward. Ji Huai stood at the stern of the boat, grabbing the steering wheel and controlling the direction, like the sea was setting off!
After leaving the seaside breeding area, you can explore deeper into the sea.
The sea breeze is salty and the water is blue and clear. Looking from a distance, the water and sky are the same color. Several seabirds are hovering in the air, skimming the water from time to time to see if they can peck at the fish swimming in the water.
He looked back and saw that it was not advisable to travel too far. The net could be launched within a few nautical miles.
Stand up and prepare to cast the net. He placed a sticky net. As long as fish, shrimps and crabs hit it upward, they will be "sticked". There is a rectangular lead block below the sticky net, which will sink with the net. In the sea water, the net will go vertically downwards. Unfolded, there is a foam buoy above the net, suspended on the sea.
He hurriedly placed three rows of sticky nets in different places and had to wait several hours before closing them.
At this time, the sun was already high in the sky, emitting heat. He reached out and touched the sea water. The sea water was warmed by the irradiation. He washed his hands with the sea water, and then raised his hand to wipe the sweat.
There is no shed in the small broken boat. Since he gained a lot of weight, he is very afraid of heat. When the sun is shining, he will sweat a lot.
We couldn't wait in vain for several hours, so he brought a small bucket of dead shrimps. He picked up these shrimps from the big fishing boats that came back. The dead shrimps could no longer be sold, so they were thrown aside casually, so he went over and picked up two handfuls.
Fishing can also be done at sea. The hook is a simple hook. A thin wire is tied to the hook. A dead shrimp is placed on the hook. Grab one end of the silver wire and place the hook in the sea water.
While grabbing the silver wire, he took out the rice he bought this morning and placed it on the small wooden block in front of him.
Because there are many fishermen in the town, fishermen often go out to catch the sea, leaving early and returning late. Sometimes two meals have to be served on the boat. Many set meals are sold specifically to fishermen.
He bought a big rice ball today. The rice ball is made of sea vegetables and rice. It has a bit of salty taste. There is also a lot of dried shrimps in it. It tastes very good.
The rice balls alone can also be eaten, but usually there are side dishes. He also bought a lot of dried fish to go with the rice balls. The small fish are dried in the sun, stir-fried over high heat, and seasoned with a little chili sauce, which makes it chewy in the mouth.
In addition, he also bought a large chicken drumstick and a glass bottle of beer.
For alcoholics, beer of this concentration will not make you drunk at all, just like drinking plain water or soft drinks, and it will quench your thirst.
He had been drinking for several years and had a hard time quitting. Not only did his hands and mouth itch when he saw beer, he couldn't help but buy a few bottles, and his blood flowed all over his body.
Looking down at his beer belly, he sighed, "Forget it, just take two sips, just two sips today."
He picked up the wine, brought the bottle cap close to his teeth, and bit open the bottle cap with a light bite. Just as he was about to raise his head and enjoy it comfortably, the silver wire tied to his hand moved.
The fish are biting the bait.
He immediately put it on the wine glass and quietly moved to the side of the boat. He placed his hand on the silver wire and watched its changes.
The silver wire moved twice, then stopped, and then moved twice more. The fish hasn't quite bitten the hook yet.
He was not in a hurry and continued to wait.
Suddenly, the silver wire in his hand suddenly became stretched and still trembling violently. He pulled hard forward. Just by looking at the strength, he knew that the big thing was coming. He quickly stood up and pulled the silver wire towards the side of the boat.
"You can't run away!"
He grinned and threw away the straw hat, grabbing it with both hands and pulling it back.
Not far away, a silver-white fish was forced to surface. It kept struggling, but was still pulled forward.
"Come up!"
He raised it again, and the fish was thrown onto the board of the boat and was tumbling violently.
Ji Huai squatted down and caught it. The fish had a big head and flat sides. The dorsal and tail fins were grayish yellow, the pelvic and anal fins were yellow, and the rest of the fish was silvery white. It was a yellow croaker.
He raised the corners of his mouth, somewhat satisfied. Weigh it in your hands and feel the weight. It should be about half a catty.
The price of yellow croaker is pretty good, 40 to 50 pounds, so one fish like this is worth 20 to 30 pounds.
Throwing the struggling fish into the bucket, he continued to put the dead shrimp on the hook. This time, as soon as he put it down, the other end moved and he picked it up effortlessly.
A small moray eel, I don’t know if there is one or two. He showed a look of disgust and unhooked the fishhook gently. There was still a hole in the mouth of the little moray eel. He threw it into the sea and said, "Go back and eat fatter next time!"
The little moray eel swam quickly on the surface of the sea and burrowed into the bottom of the sea.
He took two more small dead shrimps and continued fishing.
After struggling for so long, he no longer had the desire to drink. He caught another hairtail. He looked at the time and saw that it was almost time to close the net, otherwise it would be dark when he returned.
When it gets dark, there will be fewer people at the pier, and sea goods will become worthless.
"Goooooooo~" The engine kept sounding. He held the steering wheel, turned his head, and drove back to the place where the sticky net was placed.
Fishermen rely on the sea to make a living, and they also rely on luck. When you are lucky, you come back with a full load; when you are unlucky, you come back empty-handed.
Before the fishing net is pulled up, no one knows whether or how many fish there will be.
Ji Huai looked at the buoy, leaned over and stretched out his hand to pull it. Pulling the net became more and more strenuous. He used his strength to keep pulling the fishing net to the boat.
After pulling for a short while, I still didn’t see any trace of the fish, so I was still a little panicked.
When it was halfway through, several shadows of mullet appeared, as well as a prawn, which was not bad in size.
The first net, eight mullet and one prawn.
He hung the fishing net on a bamboo pole and continued to the next net.
The harvest from the second net was just average, a few mullets, two high-eye fish, and a few swimming crabs.
Driving so far requires a lot of gas money. When Ji Huai reached the third net, he still waited before closing the net. While closing the net, he shouted, "There are so many fish, there are so many fish~!" "
"Come fish, come fish, fish them all!"
I don’t know if the sea heard his prayer, but as soon as the net was pulled up, there was a fat salmon, followed by many mullet fish, a few tongue fish, and zebra shrimp. There are two of them, and some miscellaneous small seafood.
He looked at the fish on the fishing net and thought it was good. From the looks of it, there should be about forty or fifty kilograms, which is considered a good harvest.
Next, he has to rush back to the dock. Marine goods are best sold at three or four o'clock in the afternoon and can be sold at the best price. Depending on this time, he can rush back before four-thirty.
He started driving towards the dock at full throttle.
At this time, the sun was no longer so hot, the sea breeze was gentle, and the warm sunshine was shining on his body. Ji Huai raised his head and wiped the sweat on his face, then looked at the fish on the three fishing nets, showing a satisfied expression. Smile.
The seabird was still circling, sprinting down and grabbing a sea fish in its mouth.
Ji Huai had a free hand and gave it a thumbs up.
At half past three o'clock, the pier was bustling with activity. There were many vendors squatting on the roads on both sides. Old men and women wearing water shoes were sitting or squatting in front of the stalls.
The roads are full of water stains and look a bit dirty, but here you will find the freshest and cheapest seafood. Many people will drive here to buy seafood, and some outsiders will also come here to buy nearby seafood. Food stall processing.
"Do you want it? Twenty-five pounds."
"Twenty-five for the big octopus and thirteen for the little octopus."
"You can't choose. You can't choose from eight pieces of small crabs."
…
The shouts came and went one after another, continuously.
"This is the tongue fish, do you want this one? Two pounds and sixty taels." The aunt said while pulling the bag, took out the fish, raised and lowered the knife, removed the internal organs in a few strokes, and then cut it and put it in the bag inside.
…
Ji Huai followed other small fishing boats to the shore, where many people were waiting.
They browsed everything on the coast but failed to sell the seafood they wanted, and the small fishing boats that came back one after another did not know what they would bring back.
Just like opening a blind box, there may be surprises.
Ji Huai untied the fish and put it in the frame, ready to carry it ashore.
He held three shrimps in his hand. He stood on the fishing boat and said to the people on the shore, "Forty-one shrimps, do you want them? Only these three are alive."
One prawn and two zebra shrimp, as big as two fingers.
"Thirty-five." The person who came over counter-offered.
"Forty-forty, one hundred and fifteen-three." Ji Huai didn't make too many concessions.
Real wild shrimps are so expensive. They can't catch a few at a time. The quantity is small, so they have to sell them by the piece. Besides, wild shrimps are not farmed, and they don’t cost tens of dollars per pound. To take a step back, a farmed shrimp of this size would cost dozens of pounds per pound, and a wild shrimp would cost over a hundred yuan per pound, close to 200 yuan per pound.
Calculating the weight, it's not expensive for dozens of dollars each.
"One hundred yuan and three, I bought it." The woman was still bargaining.
"Not for sale." Ji Huai shook his head.
Don’t worry about selling this thing, people will buy it if you can.
Sure enough, as soon as he landed, many people came around to see what seafood there was, and the three shrimps were quickly bought for 120 yuan.
He also sat on the roadside and started selling seafood. Because it was freshly landed, there were a lot of people coming to see it at first, and they had to rush to buy the good stuff.
"I want this croaker."
“How to sell yellow box fish?”
"People sell high-eye fish for only thirty-eight, why do you want forty?"
…
"Sell it, sell it, it's cheap."
"Pack it up for you? How could I sell it so expensively? I'll give you a small conger eel and take it home and braise it."
"Mullets are cheap. I'll sell them for twenty-five pounds. Do you want one?"
…
Ji Huai is good at drinking and bragging. When it comes to doing business, he is naturally not too stingy, and the business is still successful.
In just a short while, the hairtail fish, yellow croaker and high-eye fish were bought.
Almost all the delicious fish were sold, leaving only mediocre fish. There were also many other stalls, so the sales were slow.
People at the beach are very picky, and they all know exactly what fish is delicious and what fish is not, and the price ranges accordingly. Business people don’t dare to ask too high prices.
at the same time.
Yin Cai took Ji Ziqing's hand and walked slowly towards the dock.
"Be careful, don't step in puddles." She lowered her head and told her daughter.
This afternoon the proprietress had to wait for a friend in the store, and she happened to be able to look at the store, so she asked her to get off work early. She went to pick up Ji Ziqing from school and wanted to bring her daughter to buy some seafood when her wages were paid.
She used to come here to go shopping after work. The seafood in the evening was cheap, so she would buy a little bit, but they were all very common and cheap seafood. No matter how cheap the delicious seafood was, it still cost 20 to 31 pounds, or... Dead.
For a while, she bought cheap freshly-dead crabs for Ji Ziqing to eat. As a result, Ji Ziqing suffered from acute gastroenteritis, vomiting and diarrhea, which shocked her so much that she didn't dare to buy any more.
Freshly dead seafood can be eaten, and many people will buy it, but Ji Ziqing has a bad stomach, so she has to buy fresh seafood.
Remembering that the other party likes to eat crabs, they walk in and ask about the stalls where they buy crabs.
"Orchid crabs are forty-eight, stone crabs are ninety, and swimming crabs are thirty-nine." The aunt answered, and pointed to the small swimming crab beside her, "This kind of twelve."
The small crabs have little meat and are sold cheaply, but you can't pick and choose, as there are many dead crabs among them.
Ji Ziqing took her mother's hand and whispered, "Mom, let's take a look and don't buy too expensive."
Yin Cai looked at her daughter and nodded again.
My daughter may feel more distressed than she does. Firstly, she is afraid that the purchase will be expensive. Secondly, she also worries about money.
A big crab costs dozens of pieces and can only be eaten once.
At a young age, the most common thing I said to her was: Mom, is it too expensive? Shall we go somewhere else
Yin Cai put away her sadness and thought about walking around again to buy a cheaper and fresh big crab for her daughter to eat.
“Would you like shrimp?”
"Buy a fish?"
"Would you like sardines? Five yuan a pound, freshly landed!"
…
Yin Cai was walking forward to see how much the crabs in front of him were selling for. Seeing Ji Ziqing stop, she looked at her daughter in confusion, "What's wrong?"
"Mom, buy that one." She pointed at the small sardines and looked at her with her head raised. "I want to eat fried ones, crispy and golden on both sides."
Yin Cai's eyes flashed and he smiled, "We won't buy sardines today. Mom will buy you crabs and squid."
"But I want to eat that." She insisted.
"If your child wants to eat, just buy a few kilograms. Five yuan a kilogram is the cheapest. It usually sells for eight or nine yuan. Want some?" the vendor persuaded. He had already taken out the bag and was waiting for them to come over.
"I want to eat." Ji Ziqing continued.
"Then buy some, and then go and see if there are any delicious fish." Yin Cai walked over and no matter what the other party said, she bought two catties for only ten yuan.
What she usually buys most often for Ji Ziqing is sardines. There are a lot of these fish on big boats. Five yuan is really cheap. She usually spends six or seven yuan to buy a pound.
Among sea fish, it is very cheap and it is the fish they like to eat.
"Can I buy some squid and fry it for you?" Yin Cai stopped at a stall and looked at the fresh and big squid.
The big squid is still moving and only sells for twenty-two pounds.
"I don't want to eat this fish." Ji Ziqing shook her head and pulled her away.
Yin Cai looked at her and was pulled away by her. He wanted to buy her crabs again, but Ji Ziqing still didn't want them. He also said, "Dad brought back big crabs for me to eat a few days ago. I don't want to eat them anymore." I’m tired of it.”
"There's nothing good to eat, mom, let's go home?"
Ji Ziqing is always so sensible that it makes people feel distressed, and she can compare prices at a young age. Yin Cai was most afraid that she would live like him, being more sensitive than him, so he coaxed her, "Mom got paid today. I'll save the sardines for a few days. If you don't want to eat crabs, we'll go sell some other fish and try them out." .”
"But I just want to eat sardines. They are fried crispy and taste better than any other fish." Ji Ziqing lowered her head and spoke a little softly.
She heard the voices of various vendors, with prices ranging from dozens to more than a hundred. She thought it was so expensive. Why was it so expensive? Her mother's salary is so small, so much money is spent on one meal, and her mother also has to support her in school.
Looking at her daughter, a sense of powerlessness spread from the soles of Yin Cai's feet and quickly penetrated her limbs. Ji Ziqing held her small hand and continued walking in, "Go home."
The pier is not too big. After crossing it, you can go back around and return to where you came from.
"Mom has been very busy during this period, and she comes home late. I don't know when she will come out next time. Let's buy more and put it in the refrigerator. We can't go back so early." Yin Cai blamed herself in her heart. Perhaps she was too thrifty. It had a big impact on my daughter.
It shouldn't matter if I just have some extravagance today and spend one or two hundred on some delicious and expensive fish.
When she said this, Ji Ziqing couldn't find a reason to refute.
The mother and daughter continued shopping. Yin Cai asked Ji Ziqing several times. When the other party heard the price, she said she didn't want to eat it and didn't like it. She decided not to ask and just bought it.
"Boss, how do you sell the high-eye fish?" Yin Cai asked. The high-eye fish on the stall is still alive and is still receiving oxygen inside.
"forty three."
"Sold at thirty-eight?" Yin Cai returned the price.
"That won't work. I'll give you forty-one." The boss counter-offered.
"Thirty-eight." Yin Cai insisted.
"You said you won't raise the price? If you don't sell it at thirty-eight, it's only two yuan short. You let me make two yuan, otherwise I will lose money. Forty is the lowest." The boss shook his head, picked up the fish, and sent it to He came to her and showed it to her, "I'll give it to you at forty. This one weighs more than a pound."
Yin Cai felt that there was still room for bargaining, so she wanted to insist on thirty-eight. A few dollars was nothing to others, so she might have relented, but she went to the store to have breakfast every day just to save a few dollars. .
"three… "
"Is it dad?" Ji Ziqing interrupted her reply.
Yin Cai looked not far away. At first, like his daughter, he thought he had seen it wrong.
Ji Huai was sitting on the roadside with two frames in front of him and a plastic bag spread on the ground next to it. There were several fish on the plastic bag.
He rolled up his trousers, had a cigarette in his mouth, and was fanning himself with his worn and faded straw hat.
Yin Cai was very confused and led her daughter towards that end.
The boss next to me was anxious, "Sold Thirty-Eight, come back! Thirty-Eight is for you."
Yin Cai ignored it and kept walking forward. She became more anxious and shouted, "Thirty-seven, thirty-six is the lowest, thirty-six."
…
“How to sell mullet?”
A man walked up to Ji Huai. He immediately squatted down and gestured with his fingers, "Twenty-three! I just sold it for twenty-five, so I'll give you the twenty-three."
"Twenty." The other party counter-offered.
"No, no, no." Ji Huai waved his hand and picked up a few small mullet fish next to him, "Do you want these little twenty?"
The other party refused and pointed to the setting sun, "The sun is setting. If you don't sell it, you won't be able to sell it. Hurry up and go home for dinner. Twenty-twenty, twenty-twenty, just pack it up for me."
When the sun sets, it becomes dark. When it gets dark, there is no one at the dock, and the price will drop.
"Okay, okay, okay." Ji Huai bit the cigarette butt, put the three pieces the other party asked for, put them on the electronic scale and weighed them, "Exactly two pounds, forty."
Seeing the other party take out his mobile phone to pay, he picked up the payment code hanging on his body and said, "Scan here."
With his broken mobile phone, it took him a long time to open the payment code. I can only print out a payment code, spend two yuan to buy a rope, and hang the payment code on my chest.
Just after sending the man away, he took out a few more fish from the box and placed them on the surface of the plastic bag. Feeling that someone was coming, he continued to say, "Do you want fish? They are sold cheaply. Take a look, take a look..."
As he spoke, he held the cigarette between his index and middle fingers, raised his head, and saw Yin Cai and Ji Ziqing at a glance.
Yin Cai didn't know what he was doing, and thought he would feel guilty or uncomfortable because they bumped into him. However, he looked very natural and grinned, "Why are you here?"
After saying that, he sat back and fanned himself slowly with his straw hat.
"Where did the fish come from? Who are you selling fish for?" Yin Cai asked.
Which kind of friend is he
What he is best at is doing work for so-called friends, and it is for free. He does not do any work for his own family, which is really amazing.
"I caught it." Ji Huai looked at her and pointed at the fishing boat behind him, "Didn't I go out to sea this morning? I set out three rows of fishing nets and caught them."
"Where did the boat come from?" Yin Cai was even more confused.
"Sun Bin doesn't want it. I went fishing a few days ago and made some money. I bought it from him for seven hundred and repaired the engine. Isn't that enough?" Ji Huai said, and someone came up to buy fish. He lowered his Price, "Do you want the mullet for 18 yuan?"
"Two of them."
…
Ji Huai sold two more mullet, this time to an old man. The old man didn't know how to pay online and gave him twenty-six yuan in cash.
He took it and stuffed it into the upper left pocket of his shirt. There were a lot of banknotes stuffed inside, which was a little bulging.
Yin Cai thought of him drying fishing nets at home a few days ago, and thought he was going to do some tricks again, but he still felt that he was unreliable. Whether he was catching the sea or making money, he spent three days fishing and two days drying the nets.
She didn't block the way, holding her daughter and standing on the edge. Judging from his posture, today's harvest should be good.
Ji Huai played with his fish again, looked sideways at them, and then at the bag in Yin Cai's hand, "What did you buy?"
"I bought sardines." Ji Ziqing answered first.
"Oh, don't buy it then." Ji Huai took out the bag from the bucket on the side and moved the bucket in front of them. "I left two crabs and a salmon, which is enough for tonight."
In the blue bucket, two orchid crabs weighing nearly a pound were crawling around, and the salmon was flapping its fins.