The most important thing about seafood is its freshness. Once it's left overnight, it won't fetch a good price.

At this time, the island trading area of ​​Hongyang Fishing Port was bustling with people coming and going, with people and fishing boats coming to buy and sell fish.

This is the true essence of predatory fishing. Everyone knows what's in the sea after a storm, and everyone is robbing—not just fishermen, but also seafood merchants and fishmongers.

Many locals even flocked to the island's trading post to snatch the catch. At this time, fish, shrimp, and crabs were the freshest and cheapest.

Besides selling to seafood merchants and fishmongers, some of the catch is piled up at the island's trading post, and if the trading post can't hold it all, it's left on the beach.

Normally, swimming crabs sold in the market weigh four or five pounds, but now a small pile of ten or more pounds only sells for one hundred yuan: "You can't be picky, just take whatever you see. One hundred yuan, one hundred yuan, it's all a piece of cake." (Several hundred crabs.)

"Why are we selling these sardines? There are too many of them in one pile, so we can't separate them."

"No, you have to buy them together. Whoever is free can split them up for you at this time. A bunch of sardines costs 200 yuan, but you can fry them at home and they'll be delicious for your taste buds."

"Leave one behind, let me go, let me walk past numbly, don't touch me, I can't see that I'm holding a bowl of abalone."

"The owner of the sea bass. Whose saury is in the box? Come on, come on, help me move them all away..."

Lu Wuyai contacted Old Sun in advance, and Sun Yijin brought his neighbors to meet him. Before setting sail, he selected some high-quality fish, shrimp, and crabs to sell to Sun Yijin and the others.

Sun Yijin hesitated, "Um, why isn't Teacher Lu here?"

Lu Wuyai said, "Are you kidding me? This is fishing. What are you doing here, Mr. Lu? Go up to the boat and tell everyone."

Sun Yijin was greatly disappointed, and then committed another crime: "Why are you yelling at me? You're too powerful. Now I'm the customer and you're the boss. You're the boss."

Lu Wuyai said quickly, "Why are you so unconvinced?"

“I’m not convinced. Let me tell you, Yangzi, do you know how much you’ve fished at the island’s trading post today? I won’t buy from you, I’ll buy from others, and you can only stand there dumbfounded.”

"Okay, then don't ever buy from me again, and don't even think about buying anything I catch in the future."

Hearing this, Sun Yijin softened. He sneered and said, "Just kidding, Brother Yang. Why do you take this so seriously? This is your first time in my shop with Mr. Lu. You're serious. Tell me, I can't joke with you."

"Hey, who's the dog?" someone shouted.

Lu Wuyai peeked out and saw the little count (dog) baring its teeth at several children on the beach.

Seeing this, he quickly jumped down and grabbed the little count (dog) by the neck. A woman said disapprovingly, "Tie up your dog. What if it bites someone?"

It was Lu Wuyai's fault, he apologized with a smile: "I'm sorry."

The little count (dog) stared at the children still baring their teeth on the beach. Lu Wuyai slapped the dog's bottom and whispered, "Tell me the truth, what are you doing?"

The children playing were huddled together in fear of the little count (dog). Lu Wuyai wanted to comfort them, but when he looked around, he noticed a kitten in front of him.

The cat looked like it had been hit by rain; its fur was matted and covered in sand, and it was small, not as big as Omuyang's hand.

Seeing the dog caught, the children relaxed. One child kicked the kitten and said, "Was the dog lured here?"

"The dog wants to eat the cat."

"Don't let it eat it; it will eat whatever we play with."

Another child stepped forward, picked up the kitten, spun it around a few times, and shouted, "Big windmill, turn around!"

The kitten was about to be thrown to its death. In the child's hands, it rolled its eyes helplessly, its limbs drooping limply, showing none of the intelligence of a feline.

The other children giggled, and some went up to the cat and said, "I saw this cat, give it to me, let me play with it, let me play with it, I'll make it fly."

Lu Wuyai frowned. This was cat abuse. Seeing the kitten's pitiful state and the children's smiles, he found their smiles terrifying.

No wonder the little count (dog) bared his teeth at them. The little count (dog) went to the capital when he was very young. He must have been bullied by the children. The kitten's situation resonated deeply with him.

Lu Wuyai patted the little count (dog) to calm him down, and said to the children, "What's wrong with this cat? Who told you to throw it away?"

The children were afraid of dogs but not people. A chubby boy spat at him and said, "It's not your cat, what's it to you? You stinking farmer."

“That’s right, mind your own business. We found this cat in the sea. We can do whatever we want with it.”

He was used to seeing hardworking and sensible children in fishing villages, and the behavior of these pampered city kids was an eye-opener for him. He realized that character and family background weren't so closely related.

He said with a grim face, "No matter whose cat it is, you can't mistreat it like this, your parents."

Two women who were picking through the seafood pile nearby turned around and asked, "What happened?"

The fat boy shouted, "Mom, this stinky farmer is bullying me!"

The woman walked over aggressively and shouted, "What are you doing? Bullying a child."

Lu Wuyai said, "Your child abuses cats. Do you know what that is? It's a mental illness, and your child needs to see a psychologist."

He's not disgusting, that's true. Children with a tendency to abuse animals are mentally ill.

The woman was furious: "You're mentally ill. You're mentally ill, your whole family is, where did this 'mentally ill and paralyzed' thing come from?"

Lu Wuyai didn't want to share the same knowledge as this shrew, so he shook his head in disgust.

At this moment, Sun Yijin rushed up, pointed at the woman and yelled, "You're paralyzed! Where did you come from? Why is my cat in your hands? Fuck you! Oh, my cat, how did you become like this?"

He pointed at her face and yelled at her, which made the woman even angrier: "Your cat. This is your cat. Try it and see if you agree."

Sun Yijin confidently roared, "This is my cat. If you ask my neighbors, we've all been running shops here for decades. They're all old neighbors, aren't they?"

As he spoke, he rushed over and snatched the cat from the child. The chubby child threw the cat away and ran behind his mother, hiding and making faces.

A group of restaurant owners behind him laughed and replied, "Yes, yes. This cat is very expensive, a foreign cat." "Make them pay up. This cat cost over 20,000 yuan."

Seeing so many people speaking up for Sun Yijin, the child and woman were terrified. The woman wasn't afraid of being scolded, but she was afraid of angering the locals and getting beaten up.

So she glared at Sun Yijin, grabbed the child's hand, and quickly walked away.

Sun Yijin roared, "Leaving won't be that easy. Draft it! I'm going to kill the cat I bought for 20,000 yuan. Coming back would be a loss."

The children were frightened and ran away.

When Sun Yijin returned, he said to Lu Wuyai, "Brother Yang, you're not very good at dealing with shrewish women. You're too gentle. You need to learn from me. When arguing, you must be confident and use the power of the crowd to defeat them."

Lu Wuyai smiled and said, "You're amazing."

Sun Yijin said smugly, "That's right. I don't even know how many times I've dealt with people like that. When my dad was in charge of the restaurant, every month there would be shrewish women coming to cause trouble and demand debts. Later, when I was in charge of the restaurant, no one dared to do that anymore."

When facing him, Lu Wuyai had no temper; this guy didn't seem to have such a clever mind.

The little count (dog) returned with the kitten, which had been tormented and was on the verge of death, in its mouth. Gu Yuxin said, "You're very capable, but you should take good care of the kitten from now on and not throw it away again."

Sun Yijin said, "I'm optimistic about its uses. I don't have a cat."

"This isn't your cat. Then what you just did..."

“I’m just showing you the proper fighting stance when arguing with a shrew. I want to tell you that I’m better than you in this regard.” Sun Yijin became increasingly smug.

Lu Wuyai was speechless.

Since Sun Yijin had helped him this time, he gave her some mantis shrimp when he sold seafood later. They were all good catches that he had caught while diving.

He didn't care about any other seafood except for the seafood he traded with Sun Yijin; the indigenous residents all came to buy it.

So he took the little count (dog) back to the fishing boat at sea. The little count (dog) carried the poor little kitten in his mouth and refused to let it go no matter who wanted it.

After boarding the boat, Lu Wuyai took a dry towel and wiped the kitten's wet paws. Little Earl (the dog) squatted to the side watching, occasionally licking them with his tongue.

This is still a kitten. It was probably first battered by a storm, then abused by some bad boys. It was almost dead when we met it; it was barely breathing.

The little count (dog) paced anxiously back and forth. Seeing how pitiful it was, and how much the little count (dog) liked it, Lu Wuyai pondered for a moment, then took out a golden bead from his golden elixir and put it into the kitten's mouth.

He felt this thing could save lives because when he used to catch lobsters from the sea, those lobsters were almost dead, but they came back to life after absorbing the steam from the Golden Elixir.

He is now using gold droplets, which are more effective than water vapor.

Sure enough, the gold dripped into its body, and the kitten, which had been curled up and motionless, slowly regained some energy and was able to timidly open its eyes to observe its surroundings.

Lu Wuyai went to the supermarket at the island's trading post to buy milk to heat up. He also bought a needle, removed it, and sucked the milk into the kitten's mouth.

As the needle was pushed in a little, the kitten cooperated and drank some warm milk.

Adult felines lack lactase, making them unsuitable for drinking milk, but kittens can. Their guts still contain lactase that hasn't been broken down yet.

After drying the kitten's fur, Lu Wuyai found it quite interesting. Its head was broad and round, its nose wasn't as prominent as a certain island or domestic shorthair cat's, but slightly sunken, and its mouth tilted downwards. It always looked aggrieved and unhappy.

Its head has brownish-yellow fur, its tail is also brownish-yellow, and its body is snow-white. In addition, there is a tuft of black fur on its nose and mouth, which is short and straight, like a black strip of tape.

At first, Lu Wuyai thought it was something dirty on its mouth, but after wiping it clean, he realized it was something from the kitten itself.

All the seafood on board was sold out, and the fleet returned.

Gu Yuxin boarded his fishing boat and said happily, "Yangzi, do you know how much money we made today?"

Lu Wuyai asked, "How much?"

“If you plan your gas bill carefully, one person can at least share this amount.” Gu Yuxin slapped him twice.

"100,000?" Lu Wuyai was taken aback.

"Damn, ten thousand, ten thousand, are you crazy? 100,000!" Gu Yuxin was also startled by his words.

Lu Wuyai said angrily, "Why are you asking for ten thousand yuan when you hold up ten fingers? You can hold up just one finger."

Gu Yuxin sneered, "Isn't that arrogant?"

Ten thousand per person isn't a lot. After all, they didn't go to the distant sea; they only went to the nearby sea once, with more than 50 people from the whole village going to sea with them.

This is the result of the fishing operation. Unfortunately, the best opportunity only lasts one day. Starting tomorrow, the catch will drop significantly, and the fish, shrimp, and crabs that have already reacted will return to the deep sea.

Li Fugui saw the kitten curled up in the box, wrapped in a towel with only its head sticking out, and laughed, saying, "When did you get a cat on your boat?"

Lu Wuyai said, "I just adopted him, what do you think?"

Gu Yuxin smiled and said, "Very good. Look, this little thing has a beard and looks like Hitler. It's quite interesting."

Hearing his words, Lu Wuyai's heart stirred. He turned around and realized that what Gu Yuxin said made a lot of sense. The kitten's black, duct-like fur resembled Hitler's mustache.

So he said, "Yes, my cat is named Head of State. Look, a little count (dog) and a head of state from some island region, isn't that impressive?"

"If you want to be a big shot, why not name it ****?"

"Heh, if you want to jump into the sea and die, don't drag me down with you. I don't want to be on the shooting list for August."

The fishermen were overjoyed to receive money, and they sang and chanted fishing songs all the way.

Someone was annoyed and said, "I can understand singing, what's your name?"

“Working chants are part of our traditional culture,” Li Zhijie said with a smile. “Our working chants can enhance the fishermen’s determination and confidence in fighting against the sea, and played a huge role in a certain field construction project on the island at that time.”

“That’s right, you still remember Xiamagou Bridge. Back then, 500 large wooden stakes, each 10 meters long, had to be driven into the riverbed, remember that?” Another old man began to recall the past.

“How could you not remember? I was there too,” Li Zhijie said hurriedly.

For these fishermen in their sixties, this was their youth, and they were all very excited when they recalled it, discussing it among themselves.

"This task was assigned to other companies, but they only brought in two wooden stakes in one day, and they didn't connect them well. They lacked both the will and the strength."

“After our Anzhou County company took over the task, we erected 40 wooden stakes in one day while shouting slogans.”

"That's right, good heavens, we completed the mission in just half a month, 45 days ahead of the time required by the command, making a huge contribution to eliminating the Haihe River. At that time, our fishermen's company was awarded an honorary title by the local party committee headquarters."

"In seven or five years, when I'll be eighteen, the navy wants to establish a secret base in Hongyang. Knowing that the sea monsters from Anzhou are capable, they'll come looking for us..."

"Oh, oh, I can't say, it's a state secret in a certain area of ​​the island..."

Under the stars and moon, the boatmen's chants echoed across the sea before heading straight for the island's trading port and entering Coconut Grove Village.

This is also an extremely important fisherman's song. For fishermen who have worked all day, returning home to Hong Kong with a full hold of catch is the happiest thing.

Compared to other work songs, the songs at this time were relaxed and easy, filled with the joy of harvest, and accompanied by some humorous banter.

Gu Yuxin's loud voice took the lead: "It's you. Homecoming Day is like an arrow."

"hello."

As soon as harmony was established, someone shouted, "Go home and hug your wife."

"Haha," the others immediately burst into laughter.

Amidst joyful laughter, fishing boats docked one after another at the island's trading post, and dogs barked and laughed at the children, prompting families waiting at the trading post to rush aboard to find their loved ones.

Although the typhoon has passed, the ocean is vast and mysterious, and no one knows when severe weather might suddenly return. Therefore, fishing on the tail end of a typhoon is still very dangerous, and family members will inevitably worry.

The little count (dog) jumped off the island's trading post, and a group of bitches came over, vying to sniff his ass.

Ao Fugui exclaimed enviously, "He's paralyzed, yet the emperor chose his concubine. The little count (dog) is truly majestic!"

Lu Wuyai said helplessly, "Brother, can you please stop swearing?"

As he spoke, he picked up the still curled-up head of state and carried him off the ship.

Gu Yuxin laughed and said, "If you don't swear, you're still a man."

Wang Ming was waiting for Lu Wuyai. As soon as he saw him, he immediately called out happily, "Uncle Yang, Uncle Yang, you had a good day at sea. Hey, why did you bring a cat with you?"

"We've had a great haul. Let's go home. This is Uncle's new pet."

When he got home, the light in his room was on, and Lu Wuyai was sitting in a rocking chair under a tree reading a book.

Seeing him return, Lu Wuyai put down his book and said with a smile, "Today was a peaceful day."

Lu Wuyai put the cat down and said, "Hmm, the sea is calm, and there's no wind at home."

Lu Wuyai smiled and said, "I wasn't talking about the weather. I was saying, wow, a kitten, um, it's Garfield. Where did you buy it?"

Wang Ming asked, "Mr. Lu, this is Garfield. Is that the cat from the cartoon?"

“Yes, that’s it.” Lu Zhizi reached out a finger to tease the kitten, and Lu Wuyai said, “Be careful, don’t be afraid—I’m coming right now.”

He was afraid that Lü Zhizi would scare the kitten, after all, it had almost been tortured to death by several children, but as soon as Lü Zhizi reached out, the kitten pounced on him and scratched wildly with its claws.

Fortunately, he reacted quickly and protected Lu Wuyai's hand.