"Okay, coming!"
Fu Wan responded, then she and Ye Lin tacitly ended their previous conversation and quickly walked towards the trawling net.
叶振兴这会儿正把刚才丢在一边的手套捡起来戴上，因为怕挨揍，他还一脸警惕地躲在叶小翠边上。
Everyone was carrying a fish basket, waiting for Fu Wan to untie the ropes of the net so they could start sorting the fish.
Seeing that everyone was waiting, Fu Wan didn't stand on ceremony. She stepped forward, grabbed the net hook at the bottom of the trawl net, and untied the hemp rope in a few quick movements.
Then, with a loud bang, the fish in the trawl net poured down like a torrential downpour, scattering all over the deck.
"My goodness, so many fish and crabs!"
This was the first time Ye Zhenxing had ever seen such a scene, and he couldn't help but shout excitedly.
"My God, this is a giant pomfret!"
"It's a pomfret! And a white-whiskered bream and quite a few spring bream! Ah Wan, you really have good luck!"
Ye Xiaocui and Jiang Chunlan had already carried their fish baskets to the front of the fish pile. Seeing the fish all over the ground, they were overjoyed.
Jiang Chunlan gave Fu Wan a thumbs up, and Fu Wan raised her eyebrows without any modesty, then pulled over a fish basket from the side and joined the line of picking out fish.
The first fish they picked up was a large pomfret. Just as Fu Wan picked up a large pomfret and was about to admire it, an unusual movement suddenly occurred in the middle of the pile of fish in front of her, which looked like a small mountain. This startled Fu Wan and the others, who took several steps back.
"What is this?!"
It's important to know that fish caught in trawls usually don't make much noise when they're brought ashore. This is because they spend a long time in the trawls and then leave the seawater, so they're usually half-dead.
Of course, apart from crabs and shrimp, these kinds of animals are picked out of the trawl net and kept alive in the seawater until they return to the dock.
However, the commotion in the middle of the pile of fish in front of them was clearly not something that crabs and shrimp could have caused. Not only were the sea fish in the very center pushed aside by the things inside, but the entire mountain of fish was even pushed down.
It's as if there's something inside ready to come out and attack everyone at any moment.
Fu Ming and Fu Liang, along with a few other grown men, reacted the fastest, quickly putting down their fish and picking up some handy tools from the side.
Fu Wan pulled Ye Xiaocui and Jiang Chunlan back to the side of the cabin, then tightly protected Fu Ling, Qin Mingzhu and the other children behind her.
Among Fu Ming's group, the boldest was none other than the oldest hunter, Ye Lin.
He took a long fishhook and tentatively poked at the middle of the pile of fish. Just as he was pulling the fishhook back, there was a sudden, big reaction in the middle of the pile of fish.
Not only did all the fish fall down, but a long tentacle also emerged from the pile of fish and immediately and accurately wrapped around Ye Lin's fishing hook.
"It's an octopus!"
Upon seeing the appearance of these tentacles, Fu Ming exclaimed in surprise.
After finding out what it was, Fu Wan was no longer nervous.
Judging by the size of these tentacles, this thing is probably not even half the size of the giant octopus I encountered in the sea before.
As Ye Lin and the octopus tugged at each other several times, most of the octopus's body emerged from the pile of fish.
Fu Wan roughly estimated that the octopus weighed at most about ten pounds.
Of course, compared to this octopus, the ones caught with bamboo tubes before were all small carambs. (Octopus image from a web, please delete if infringing.) Although not as big as the one in the main text, I think its gaze perfectly captures the sentiment, "This octopus is really big; it could probably fetch a lot of money!"
Fu Ming was a little excited and wanted to give the octopus a good whack with his net.
However, the octopus was no pushover either; several tentacles immediately rushed forward to block it, and it managed to dodge Fu Ming's net.
At the same time, it did not loosen its grip on the tentacle that was entangled with Ye Lin's hook. As for Fu Liang, who was trying to attack it with a stick, the giant octopus also sprayed ink at him. Even though Fu Liang took several steps back, his shoes were splashed with ink.
Everyone was stunned by the octopus's aggressive nature.
Damn it, so what if you have a lot of claws? So what if you have an ink sac?
Indeed, it was quite remarkable. Seeing that the group of two-legged creatures stopped moving, the octopus slowly crawled to the side of the boat while still entangled in Ye Lin's fishing hook.
"Oh no, it's trying to escape!"
Ye Xiaocui exclaimed in surprise, but before she could finish speaking, the octopus seemed to understand, and it sped up to climb to the edge of the boat. Then it stretched out its tentacles and with a splash, escaped back into the sea.
After watching the giant octopus escape, Fu Wan couldn't help but sigh inwardly. This creature truly deserves to be called the most intelligent species in the sea; it probably figured out this escape route long ago.
It appeared to be dealing with Fu Ming and his group's attack, but in reality, it was moving towards the ship while defending itself, all in order to escape back to the sea.
"Oh dear, this is a huge loss! Such a big octopus got away!"
Fu Ming was somewhat annoyed. If he had acted faster, he might have been able to catch it.
Fu Wan picked up the large pomfret from the ground while comforting him.
"Don't even think about it, bro. This guy is smarter than you or me. Even if we manage to catch it, it'll escape before we get back to the dock."
Fu Ming couldn't help but ask in surprise, "Why do you say that?"
Fu Wan could only explain to him, "Octopuses have three hearts in their bodies, and their brains are different from those of other fish in the sea. They are really smart."
And think about the octopus's eyes just now, aren't they almost indistinguishable from human eyes?
Upon hearing this, Fu Ming couldn't help but shudder, recalling the way the octopus had glanced at him earlier.
"Oh my god, does that mean the octopus has become a spirit?!"
Fu Wan shook her head and joked, "They can't become spirits after the founding of the People's Republic of China. They're just very intelligent, even more so than human brains."
According to records, octopuses have two memory systems and more than 500 million neurons in their brains, so bringing such a large octopus back home is indeed not a simple task.
Moreover, there are many children on the boat. If the octopus escapes and attacks the children, wouldn't that be a greater loss than a gain?
Fu Ming thought about it and understood the reasoning. Besides, the octopus had already run away, so he could only console himself.
"Never mind, if we don't have octopus, we still have giant pomfret and Chunzi. Hey, look, this giant pomfret is so beautiful!"
This point was agreed upon by everyone, and Ye Lin couldn't help but ask, "This is the first time I've seen these kinds of fish. Are they valuable?"
Fu Wan was closest to him, so she naturally started explaining things to him.
Like the silver pomfret, the large pomfret belongs to the pomfret family. Although it looks somewhat similar to the silver pomfret, you can still see the differences if you look closely.
The fighting pomfret is large, with a thick, muscular belly and relatively blunt lateral fins. The silver pomfret, on the other hand, has a thinner belly and sharper lateral fins. (Image of a large fighting pomfret from the internet, please delete if infringing copyright. This particular fighting pomfret has lost many scales, so it doesn't look very good; please don't mind.) This type of pomfret is generally larger than the silver pomfret, but like other pomfret, it dies immediately after being taken out of the water and must be kept fresh with ice as soon as possible.
It's worth mentioning that fighting pomfret have a long growth cycle and are difficult to breed. Therefore, fighting pomfret are naturally much more expensive than silver pomfret. In addition, fighting pomfret are also known as the king of pomfret, which shows its status.
Moreover, Fu Wan estimated that this place could hold at least six or seven baskets of pomfret, and she should be able to earn over a thousand yuan!
The pomfret are big, so everyone picks them out first. Fu Ming is an exception; he is responsible for picking up the crabs from the pile of fish and tying them up to prevent them from crawling all over the deck.
They're also prone to breaking the pliers in fights.
Ye Zhenxing also enthusiastically joined the team picking out fish, but he only lasted for half an hour. After picking out most of the pomfret, he exaggeratedly stood up, supporting his back.
"Ouch, my back!"
Ye Lin couldn't help but roll her eyes at him, "What kind of waist does a kid have? Now you know how hard it is to go out to sea to fish!"
He's always clamoring to go out to sea, but he behaves himself when you let him collect the catch from the net!
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