Chapter 25: Fishing at Sea (Please Read)
When Tong Yuanhang returned home, he told his parents about Ergouzi's situation.
Tong's father was furious after hearing this, and Tong's mother even scolded Zhang the matchmaker for being unreliable.
Naturally, the daughter's marriage was shelved. When Mrs. Wang came to discuss the engagement next time, she would definitely be rejected by them.
But Zhang Cuifen, knowing that this marriage could not be successful, should have informed the other side in advance and then looked for other people.
Tong Yuanhang also took the opportunity to mention Zhang Ze, but Tong's father and mother were somewhat hesitant now and planned to inquire about it privately before making any decision.
Being able to raise their daughter so well, it is obvious that they are not the kind of parents who would sell their daughter.
They were fooled by the matchmaker before and did not think of getting to know the man's personality and character in the village. Now they will naturally not make this mistake again.
Tong Yuanhang had a simple lunch at noon, then took his fishing lines, hooks, two fish baskets, a bamboo basket and a beam scale, and hurried to the dock.
Small fishing boats do not have live water tanks, so when they really want to catch lobsters, groupers, etc., they keep them in homemade fish baskets.
As soon as he arrived at the dock, he saw Zhang Ze squatting on the side with two small piles of unknown things in front of him.
When I got closer, I saw that it was a bunch of small squids and shrimps.
"Aze, I'm here. Where did these things come from?"
"You need bait to fish. I wanted to pick up some conches and crack some oysters, and then a small fishing boat happened to come back, so I bought some from them."
"But the people on your island are really polite. I gave them money, but they refused to take it."
When Zhang Ze saw him coming, he stood up and explained.
Tong Yuanhang smiled and said, "These things are not valuable. I will give some to anyone who asks for them."
"Is that so!" Zhang Ze nodded in understanding. These small squids and shrimps were indeed not very valuable, and their prices were not high even in later generations.
Tong Yuanhang happened to bring a bamboo basket with him, and the two of them put all the baits into the basket.
After loading the things onto the small fishing boat, he rowed towards the fishing spot.
Although the fishing boats at the dock are collectively owned, villagers can use them individually.
In the past, several families would share a small fishing boat and they would have to agree on the time of use.
Although the island is still very poor, these small fishing boats can be built in the village, so their numbers are increasing. Unless people go out to sea together to collect the nets, people on the island can basically use the boats at will.
The location Tong Yuanhang mentioned was not too far away. After leaving the pier and turning a corner, you can see the destination on the southeast side of the island.
A group of reefs exposed above the water, which is not small in size.
"This place is nice. How do you usually fish for grouper and other fish?" Zhang Ze was naturally very familiar with this group of reefs. He had come here to fish many times in his later years.
The resources here are indeed good. Even in later generations, he can catch a few big fish from time to time. It is the fish's favorite habitat.
"Who would fish for us normally?" Tong Yuanhang said with a wry smile, "Grouper lobsters are worthless after they die, and it's hard to survive if you want to sell them on the black market."
"Everything is collected at the collection station. Selling it privately is called speculation. So after collecting the nets at night, everyone goes home to sleep during the day. When they wake up, they bully the women. When it's their turn to go out to sea, they eat and gather at the dock."
"If you didn't have a connection, I would have gone back to sleep in the afternoon."
"Alas, it's not easy for everyone!" Zhang Ze sighed, thinking of his experience of selling mandarin fish. It was indeed difficult! He also had peers with whom he had good relationships in the village, but why did they fish for mandarin fish secretly? It was because the fish in the river were actually public property.
If there is a little meat at home, you have to share it with others to keep them quiet, and you have to find all kinds of excuses. In this era without formal jobs, it is really not easy to make some money.
The reefs looked close, but it actually took more than half an hour to get here.
After finding a good position, Tong Yuanhang tied the rope to a raised rock and prepared to fish.
But before that, he took out some fishing lines and hooks and gave them to Zhang Ze: "Aze, since you help me make money, I can't cheat you. Take these fishing lines and hooks. I charged you a little more money last time, please don't mind."
"That's a legitimate business. There's no way I would cheat someone. But since you're giving it to me for free, I won't be polite." Of course, Zhang Ze knew he made a lot of money when he bought the fishing line last time.
But that's how the market works, it's normal to buy hard-to-buy things at high prices.
Seeing that he had collected these things, Tong Yuanhang felt a little relieved, so he threw some shrimps into the water with him to make a nest, and began to sort out the fishing lines.
"Aze, if you really marry my sister, you won't have to spend money to buy crab cages and shrimp cages in the future. My sister can make them."
"Oh, it seems your sister has a pair of skillful hands!" Zhang Ze was indeed interested when talking about Tong Shuyao. "Have you told your family about Er Gouzi?"
"I have to say, they are quite angry. But then again, since you like my sister, don't you have to tell me about your family situation?"
"My family" Zhang Ze wanted to marry someone else's daughter, so of course he had to tell the other party about his family background.
So as he spoke, he sorted out the fishing lines and tied them to the boat.
In theory, fishing for grouper using a raft hook is the most efficient way, and you will definitely get a good harvest of carnivorous fish like grouper.
But the small fishermen here have no extra opportunities to make money, so they usually just live a carefree life. When the fishing nets are up, they just collect them. No one would bother with these troublesome hooks.
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This also resulted in Tong Yuanhang's family not having a row of hooks, so Zhang Ze could only tie three fishing lines to the side of the boat, so that he could put down three hooks at once to increase the hit rate.
Wait and pull whichever fishing line responds.
Any more won’t do, as the fishing line will get tangled easily if it’s too close.
Seeing him do this, Tong Yuanhang imitated him on the other side of the boat and also set several hooks.
After that, he had a general understanding of Zhang Ze's identity and background.
Knowing that he had lost his father ten years ago, Tong Yuanhang felt a little sympathetic. He knew very well how difficult life was for the family without a father.
But because of this, now seeing Zhang Ze working hard to give his family a good life, he feels a little admiration in his heart and thinks that such a person is a real man.
If he can really make money in the afternoon, then the girl’s life won’t be hard if she marries him.
Of course, if he can't make money, Tong Yuanhang's attitude towards him will naturally change.
It was hot in the afternoon, and the two of them used shrimps and small squids as bait. They sat in the boat for most of the day but didn't see any movement on the fishing line.
Just when Tong Yuanhang was getting a little impatient, Zhang Ze suddenly moved.
He quickly grabbed the rightmost line, which was taut and moving back and forth.
Zhang Ze naturally would not let the fish run around, especially to the left, as that would get entangled with the fishing line in the middle.
Fortunately, the water near the reef was not deep and there were no particularly large fish, so he pulled the fish up easily.
"Parrotfish, what a pity!" The fish he picked up was a parrotfish weighing about two kilograms. He felt a little regretful that it was not the target fish, but he still unhooked the fish and put the fish into the fish basket on his side.
"Aze, isn't this just a small fish? Do you want one too?"
"This fish tastes good. I'll take it back for my family to try."
Of course, letting family members taste it is just an excuse. Family members may not like it. But if it is Qingyi, that would be the opposite.
He didn't release the fish because he wanted to increase his experience points in the fishing space when he got to the shore.
The fishing space can still hold a lot of fish, so it might as well be empty.
(End of this chapter)
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