The place where the fish were sold was not far from the rocky beach. Bai Yu's fishing village had its own dock, but it was a small dock and most of the fishing boats docked there were small fishing boats from the village.
There's a fish collection point right here at the small pier. Although the prices might not be as high as those in the town or county, it's convenient.
Besides, people who act as middlemen are in it to make money, so that's understandable.
Soon, Bai Yu and his group arrived at the fish collection point.
"Is Uncle San here? We've come to sell fish. Is anyone home?"
The fish collection station was run by Bai Yu's family. According to seniority, he should call him Third Uncle, but in fact, the two families were already more than five degrees of kinship.
Upon hearing Bai Yu's shout, a middle-aged woman came out of the fish collection station. She looked at Bai Yu and the others.
"Oh, it's Xiaoyu. You've taken your buddies beachcombing again today? What good stuff did you find? Bring it over here and I'll weigh it for you."
"Hello, Auntie! I'm having a lucky day. I've caught a lot of crabs and a big fish. Auntie, what do you think of all these things? Aren't they all good stuff? You'll have to give me a good price!"
The middle-aged woman in front of me is my third uncle's wife. She is an honest businesswoman with a very good reputation in the village.
In the entire fishing village, only Uncle San's family buys fish. It is precisely because their fish collection point offers relatively fair prices that many villagers are willing to sell their catch to them to save themselves trouble.
"Wow, you guys are really lucky, especially this big blue-spotted animal. It must weigh about ten pounds, and it's still alive. You don't see such a big, live blue-spotted animal very often."
I can't just set a price for this big blue-spotted fish. I'll call your third uncle; he went to town to deliver goods. I'll have him ask what the price of blue-spotted fish is now.”
"Okay, I'll do whatever my third aunt says."
Bai Yu knew this big green grouper was no ordinary fish; its size of over half a meter was definitely not small, and naturally, the bigger the grouper, the more valuable it was.
While her aunt was on the phone, Bai Yu sorted out the crabs, conches, scallops, and other small fish from the bucket.
"Xiaoyu, you're not in a rush right now, are you? Your third uncle said he needs to come back to check the fish before he can give us a price. How about I weigh all of these things first, and put the big grouper in the aquarium with some oxygen to keep it afloat?"
“Okay, we’re not in a hurry, we have nothing to do later. Auntie, you can collect the rest of the fish first, I’ve already sorted them.”
Then, Auntie San weighed the crabs that Bai Yu had caught. These orchid crabs and mud crabs are two different varieties of crabs, and their prices are different, so they were naturally bought separately.
In addition to separating by species, crabs are also sorted by size. Generally, there are three standards for crabs collected at fish collection points: crabs weighing less than 5 taels each are in one category, crabs weighing between 5 taels and 1 jin each are in another category, and crabs weighing more than 1 jin each are in another category.
Each category has a different price; those under five ounces are the cheapest, and those over one pound are the most expensive.
Of course, it doesn't mean that we accept all crabs weighing less than five taels. Generally, we don't accept crabs weighing less than three taels each, and those weighing less than five taels are mostly over three taels.
Bai Yu found a total of 27 crabs this time, including 11 orchid crabs and 16 blue crabs.
The size of orchid crabs varies, but each one is generally over three ounces, with most weighing between five and six ounces. None of them weigh more than one pound.
The mud crabs are different. They are generally larger, and none of the sixteen mud crabs weigh less than half a pound, while three of them weigh more than a pound.
The only downside is that it's not crab season yet, so even the female crabs aren't fully grown and have lots of roe and crab fat, which is why the price isn't high.
The price for mud crabs weighing between half a pound and one pound is 60 yuan per pound, while those weighing over one pound are 80 yuan per pound. Orchid crabs are even cheaper, with those weighing less than half a pound at 35 yuan per pound and those weighing between half a pound and one pound at 45 yuan per pound.
Sixteen blue crabs sold for a total of 728 yuan, and eleven orchid crabs sold for 204 yuan, totaling 932 yuan from crabs alone.
When Bai Yu first heard the price, he was completely stunned. He had only been at school for a month and hadn't been able to go beachcombing, yet the price of crabs had already risen to such a high level.
Compared to a month ago, the price has already doubled.
Looking at the more than nine hundred yuan in his hand, Bai Yu immediately had a thought: he didn't want to go to school anymore and wanted to make a living by fishing.
He only spent two or three hours at the beach today, and he's already earned over nine hundred yuan. He still has a large grouper that he hasn't sold yet.
Aside from the crabs, Baiyu also sold some other small fish, conch, and scallops for over two hundred yuan. Among them, the conch made up the majority of the price, with the conch alone accounting for two hundred yuan. The other small fish were completely worthless.
Just as the others had sold their catch, Uncle San returned in a tricycle.
"Third Uncle is back. Your business is doing well. You're still delivering goods to town at this hour."
Bai Yu, true to his nature, could chat with anyone he met in the small fishing village, regardless of their seniority.
"Your uncle just caught a lot of lobsters at sea, and someone in town needs them, so I'm delivering them to him right now. I heard you found a big grouper, where is it? Let me see."
"Well, they're kept in an aquarium."
As soon as my third uncle came back, he went straight to the point and wanted to see the big blue-spotted fish. I pointed it out to him. After a period of oxygenation, the big blue-spotted fish was much more active than before.
"Not bad, not bad. This big blue-spotted slug is obviously wild. It's quite big and looks plump. The only drawback might be that it has some injuries, but that doesn't matter."
"Here's what we'll do, Xiao Yu. I'll offer you 110 yuan per jin for this green grouper. That's not a low price. What do you think?"
"That's high, okay, let's go with this price. Uncle, can I ask you a question?"
One hundred and ten yuan per catty? Bai Yu was shocked by this price. This price is too high. Even if his green grouper is wild and big, it would not cost more than eighty yuan at this time of year.
After all, he's selling to middlemen, not to customers in the market. Selling to middlemen already costs 110 yuan; if he were to sell it in the market, how much more expensive would it be?
"Go ahead and ask."
"Third Uncle, why are seafood prices so high this year? In previous years, they were much cheaper at this time. What's going on this year?"
Looking at his third uncle, Bai Yu asked the question that had been bothering him.
"It's very simple. This year, the fishing ban was brought forward and extended. It was banned just a few days after May Day. This year, the fishing ban is for three months, and now the prices of all wild seafood here have gone up."
Your big blue-spotted cat weighs 11.6 jin (approximately 6.8 kg), that's 1276 yuan in total. Here's the money, keep it safe and don't lose it.
While answering Bai Yu's questions, Uncle San paid the bill for Bai Yu.
After Bai Yu received the 1276 yuan, their trip to the beachcombing site came to a complete end.
Bai Yu had just returned from school today, and the prices he knew were from a month ago. He really didn't know the recent prices.
Although his academic performance is not good, he is now a senior in high school, and he should stay at school when he is supposed to. At most, as a student with special talents, he can stay in the classroom and play on the playground every day without any problem.
After learning that seafood prices would continue to rise, Bai Yu once again considered skipping school to go beachcombing and earn money.
.........
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