"Dad, Uncle Dong, why don't you grab a late-night snack before you switch shifts?"
Fu Laoda held on until the first net was hauled before preparing to switch shifts with Dong Haiyang. They had agreed to switch shifts at nine o'clock when they first boarded the ship, but it turned out to be past ten o'clock once the nets were hauled.
Now it's Fu Laoda's turn to catch up on his sleep, while Dong Haiyang's boat voyage will drag on until the wee hours of the morning.
Dong Haiyang had just taken a nap in the rest cabin, and he didn't come down until the bell rang quite a while ago.
"Oh, thank you so much, boss," Dong Haiyang hurriedly took the large bowl from Fu Wan's hand. He laughed and teased, "I just got up and haven't even started working yet, and I'm already eating. I feel a little embarrassed."
"What's there to be embarrassed about? You'll have more energy to sail the boat when you're full!"
Fu Wan smiled. Boss Fu didn't know what the first catch was. He looked closely at the bowl that Fu Wan brought over and found that it was full of crabs, mantis shrimp, and two steamed mandarin fish.
"Ah Wan, how's the catch? I think there are some pufferfish in the net."
"Yes, they are all pufferfish, and they're quite big."
Just now, Boss Fu was busy steering the ship and didn't have time to go to the deck. When Dong Haiyang came to relieve him, he wanted to go to the deck, but Fu Wan brought over some late-night snacks.
If my daughter says she's not small, then she must be.
"How big are the pufferfish, and how many are there?"
"The largest forearm, how much... well, the largest one is probably six or seven hundred pounds, and the others together should weigh more than three thousand pounds."
"What?! Long arms?!"
Dong Haiyang was so shocked that he almost dropped the bowl in his hand. Good heavens, a pufferfish as long as an arm? Is that still a pufferfish?
"It's not the length of the whole arm, but the length of the forearm, which is less than thirty centimeters."
Fu Wan gestured on her arm to explain, but Dong Haiyang was still quite shocked.
In his mind, the pufferfish should look like the one in the bowl now, no, it should be smaller than the one in the bowl, at most four or five centimeters.
Seeing that Dong Haiyang still looked incredulous, Boss Fu laughed heartily, knowing that the first net had yielded good results, and his drowsiness dissipated a little.
"Haha, brother, stop staring. With me at the helm, hauling the nets, and my daughter and son watching over the nets, the catch we haul up won't be bad!"
Just you wait and see, I have a feeling this trip will involve much more than this!
Looking at his smug expression, Dong Haiyang couldn't help but mutter to himself.
He was in charge last time too, and all the seafood that came up was cheap mackerel and sardines.
If they hadn't cast their nets several times, they wouldn't have been able to cover the fuel and labor costs for going out to sea.
But after thinking about it carefully, he realized that Fu Wan and Fu Ming had gone to another place last time and hadn't come by ship.
Although Dong Haiyang had only been in Fu Wan's fleet for a short time, he was not stupid. On the contrary, as the head of ship repair at the shipyard, he had very keen observation skills.
Could it be that the seafood on the ship is only particularly valuable when Fu Wan, Fu Ming, and Boss Fu go out to sea?
However, isn't this claim a bit too far-fetched?
But there have been many mysterious things throughout history. Thinking of this, Dong Haiyang shook his head. Who cares? As long as he sails the ship well, that's all that matters. If there's a lot of valuable cargo on board, he can take his wages with a clear conscience.
And we should be able to get some decent seafood when we get back!
After delivering the late-night snack to the ship's cabin, Fu Wan returned to the kitchen.
Strangely, the kitchen, which she had expected to be noisy, was completely silent. Fu Wan thought that Fu Ming and the others hadn't arrived yet, but when she got closer to the door, she found that everyone was staring at the late-night snack on the table and swallowing their saliva!
"Ah Wan, come quick, come quick, we've been waiting for you!"
When Fu Ming saw Fu Wan coming over, he couldn't wait to greet her.
Fu Wan was also helpless, "Didn't I tell you to eat first? Why are you waiting for me?"
"What are you talking about? How could we not wait for you to come and eat the midnight snack you made!"
"Yes, come quickly, the crabs are still warm!"
Ye Lin chimed in, and Fu Wan, upon hearing this, simply said, "No need to wait, hurry up and eat! Try the late-night snacks made by us ladies!"
"No need to taste it, it must be absolutely delicious!"
Fu Haishun praised earnestly. He wasn't flattering him; he had smelled the delicious aroma wafting from the kitchen while he was washing the deck.
"Yes, I could smell it a long time ago, Awan. I'm not kidding, even the chefs at state-run restaurants can't cook it as well as you!"
Fu Mancang couldn't help but praise her, making Fu Wan feel quite flattered.
Jack and his two companions remained silent, their mouths busy as they were already gnawing on the crabs.
Steamed crabs are sweet and delicious, but they can get cloying if you eat too much. Fu Ming poured some vinegar into his bowl, dipped the crab meat in it, and took a bite, but it still wasn't quite right.
So he thought for a moment and then got some more chili sauce made by Ye Xiaocui. He then tried it with crab meat that had been broken in half. Tsk tsk, the taste was indeed much better instantly.
This scene was witnessed by Boss Fu, who had just come from the headquarters, and he couldn't help but frown.
Why would you use sauce on such a fat crab? This kid must have eaten too much!
"Dad, come quick, I saved this for you!"
After saying that, Fu Ming hurriedly brought a stool for Boss Fu, who sat down without being polite and picked up a swimming crab.
"The crabs are really plump today, Ah Lin. When you get back, bring some for your mother, Ah Jun, and the kids to try!"
"Okay, thank you, Uncle!"
Ye Lin thanked them profusely. Boss Fu waved his hand, and Fu Wan nodded in agreement. She looked at Fu Mancang and the others and said, "You guys are the same. Crabs aren't particularly expensive seafood. Take some with you when you come ashore. We catch our own fish, so we can't go without fresh seafood!"
Fu Haishun and the other three, including Fu Mancang, didn't hesitate and immediately agreed.
Crabs are indeed not expensive. A basket of eighty catties of crabs can probably only be sold for five or six yuan now.
Jack and his two companions couldn't understand what they were saying, or rather, they didn't have time to listen. The three of them especially loved the bowl of salt and pepper mantis shrimp, and with the soda that Fu Wan had bought on her way yesterday, they ate with eyes wide with delight.
It was Robert and Tom's first time eating salt and pepper mantis shrimp. Thinking that the whole mantis shrimp would be flavorful, they picked up a mantis shrimp and stuffed it into their mouths as soon as it was served.
However, the mantis shrimp's tail has barbs, and the two of them cried out in pain from the barbs, while Fu Ming, Ye Lin, and the others laughed so hard their mouths almost reached the back of their heads.
Fu Wan couldn't stand it anymore, so she specially taught them how to eat mantis shrimp step by step.
It's actually quite simple. Use chopsticks to pierce the shrimp tail, grab the shrimp meat, and then hold the shell on the back and pull hard. The shrimp shell and meat will instantly separate in two.
This is the conventional way to eat it, but Fu Ming and Ye Lin don't follow the usual path. They both like to break off the shell with barbs on both sides and then pull out the meat inside.
Jack learned this from Fu Ming. This way of eating makes your hands dirty, but Jack isn't afraid because he also learned a key move: licking your fingers after eating the shrimp.
Robert and Tom were dumbfounded by what they did, but they quickly followed suit, sucking their fingers one by one, leaving Fu Wan speechless!
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