More than an hour later, Xiao Yunhu and Du Minhui, each with a cigarette in their mouths, were closing in the net.
Although it was only the first day I learned to do this job, I was already doing it quite well.
"Working at sea is much easier than doing manual labor."
Xiao Yunhu said as he placed the mesh board on the mesh board rack.
"The key is that it's not difficult. Take this net-hauling, for example. With the net-hauling machine, you don't need to do much; you can just watch."
Du Minhui exhaled a smoke ring and responded with a smile.
"Haha, luckily we're on this ship. If we were with my uncle, we would be in big trouble."
"Yes, my father-in-law's side is definitely much more tired, since there's no net-lifting machine on that ship, they have to pull it by hand..."
Not far away, Feng Ye and Xiao Guowen were also smoking, watching the operation as they puffed out smoke.
He's a novice, so I'm not entirely reassured.
However, his worries were unnecessary.
The trawl net was successfully hoisted up and dumped onto the deck.
"Ah Ye, there are five sea turtles dangling in the fishing net. Should we release them?"
Xiao Yunhu turned his head and asked.
"Of course, we didn't catch any of the sea turtles, let alone these few. Let's release them all back into the sea."
Feng Ye said without hesitation.
They even got into a fight over sea turtles, so these turtles definitely need to be released back into the wild!
"You should release them yourself."
Xiao Yunhu shook his head.
He knew this would be the outcome.
This net of goods is estimated to weigh over 800 jin (approximately 400 kg), making it the largest net ever caught.
The five sea turtles were all Pacific olive ridley sea turtles, and they should be from that group of sea turtles.
Moreover, they are not very big, only twenty or thirty centimeters in size.
Feng Ye called out, "Brother Wen, let's help release the animals."
"You do it yourself, I don't have the time."
Xiao Guowen shook his head, moved a low stool over, sat down, and began sorting the fish that had been hauled up.
"Tch, releasing animals is a virtuous act, if you don't want to do it, then forget it."
The practice of releasing animals has existed since ancient times.
Releasing animals is considered a great act of merit in Buddhism, believed to accumulate good karma and bring blessings.
However, the practice of releasing animals did not actually begin with Buddhism. Before the introduction of Buddhism, there was a custom of releasing animals on the first day of the Lunar New Year among the people during the pre-Qin period.
The Liezi (a classic Chinese text) records: "Releasing animals on New Year's Day is a way of showing kindness."
The Buddhist practice of releasing captive animals originated with Master Zhiyi of the Tiantai school and gradually evolved into a Buddhist custom, forming a complete set of fixed rituals.
The commonly used ritual for releasing animals is compiled based on the main points of the "Chapter on the Son of the Elder Flowing Water" in the Golden Light Sutra.
Of course, Feng Ye is not a Buddhist.
He only believes in Mazu.
He didn't believe in any other Taoist immortals or Buddhist Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
However, if he comes across a temple or Taoist monastery and has enough time, he will go in to offer his prayers.
Feng Ye walked over, picked one up, and weighed it in his hand; it only weighed about thirty pounds.
He placed it on the gunwale and gave it a push, and the turtle fell into the sea, swimming away and disappearing into the shimmering surface.
The first four were fine, their shells were clean, but the last one had a lot of barnacles on it.
So he went to the cabin and took out a small knife, intending to clean it.
"You're lucky to have met me. Not only will I release you, but I'll also clean out the barnacles for you, lightening your burden..."
"Don't move. Knives have no eyes; you might accidentally stab yourself."
"Be quiet, it'll be over soon..."
As Feng Ye muttered to himself, he used a small knife to remove the barnacles one by one from the turtle's back.
Xiao Guowen, Xiao Yunhu, and Du Minhui watched his actions and wanted to say something, but they didn't know where to begin.
Well, what can you do when he's the boss?
Feng quickly removed all the barnacles from the turtle's back.
"Mission accomplished."
He threw the knife aside, patted the turtle's head, picked it up, placed it on the gunwale, and shoved it hard: "Go!"
After falling into the water, the sea turtle used its limbs to paddle quickly and actually resurfaced. It turned back and gave Feng Ye a deep look, as if expressing its gratitude.
Then, it slowly and deliberately dived into the water and disappeared.
Feng Ye was stunned for a moment, then exclaimed in delight, "What a sentient being..."
...
They then hauled in two more nets, and the harvest was pretty good, yielding another 1,000 jin (500 kg).
I checked the time; it was already past four o'clock. Time to go back and sell the fish.
By this time, the sea was much emptier, with some fishing boats already gone or in the process of leaving.
Feng Ye stretched and said, "Brothers, stop tidying up the trawl nets, it's time to go back."
"Oh, going back so early?"
Xiao Yunhu seemed very surprised.
"It's getting late, it's already past four o'clock. It will take more than three hours to get back to Changgu Island, and it will be dark by the time we get back."
They had been finishing work around 3 PM for the past few days.
I was in a fight today, which caused some delays, so I'm a little late.
"No, it's not too late to haul another net back. Aren't there fish collectors tonight too?"
As soon as Xiao Yunhu finished speaking, Du Minhui chimed in, "Yeah, let's drag it out one more time. It's already late, so a little longer won't make a difference."
A single net can yield at least five or six hundred catties of fish, worth two or three hundred yuan or more. They can earn a 1% commission, which is more than half a day's wages.
With such a great opportunity to make money, they naturally weren't in a hurry to go back.
Just as Feng Ye was about to refuse, Xiao Guowen said, "I also think we can drag one more net."
He was a little dumbfounded.
Damn, the employees are more enthusiastic than he, the boss, which makes him both amused and exasperated.
He thought for a moment, then called out to the driver's seat, "Ah Can, Wen Ge and the others say they want to haul in another net. What's your opinion?"
"I don't care, either way is fine."
Ah-Can naturally had no reason to object to making more money.
Seeing that everyone agreed, Feng Ye stopped insisting and agreed to the suggestion of dragging the net one more time.
After tidying up the trawl net, it was put back into the sea.
Not long after, Feng Jialing arrived in his boat.
"Why haven't you taken your nets in yet? Hurry up and take them in and go home."
"It's only been a few minutes since it was put down..."
Feng Ye briefly explained the situation.
"Oh, I see."
Feng Jialing nodded, then turned to discuss it with Feng Jiaqing and the others.
"Then let's go and dredge another net."
As he spoke, he steered the boat back to the previous course and resumed trawling operations.
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