Many hands make light work.
With the addition of Ye Chenliang and two other boatmen, the sorting speed increased significantly.
Moreover, Ah-chan got out of the driver's seat and joined in shortly afterward.
Therefore, the sorting of the second batch of goods was completed in just over an hour.
Only a large pile of unwanted miscellaneous fish, shrimp, and crabs were scattered haphazardly on the deck.
Feng Ye straightened up, clenched his fists and pounded his aching lower back a few times, then asked, "Go and bring out the coal stove and pot, we'll cook some midnight snacks."
Whatever you want to eat, just pack it up and put it in the pot to cook.
Don't be shy, there are plenty of fish, shrimp, and crabs in the sea, eat as much as you like.
"Keep the things that can be sold for money, these worthless things are enough for us to eat."
"Yes, we can sell it for money, but we can't eat it. It's such a waste. It's not like we have nothing to eat. There's plenty of it on the deck."
"Yeah, those cheap things are actually quite good. We can just pick up a few and throw them into the pot, and that'll be enough to fill our stomachs."
"Hehe, look at these swimming crabs. Don't be fooled by their small size; they're full of roe and crab fat. It's a shame to throw them back into the sea. Let's collect some and cook them..."
"And these shrimp, they're a bit small, but they taste pretty good..."
They chattered amongst themselves, picking out the unwanted but delicious seafood from the deck to cook and eat.
Seafood like shrimp is often simply rinsed with fresh water and eaten raw.
Seeing their attitude, Feng Ye stopped insisting and let them go.
He turned around and took stock of the spoils from the second net.
Having been at sea for so long, he knows exactly how much cargo can fit in a basket.
Small fish like yellow croaker and croaker weigh about 60 to 70 pounds when filled into a basket.
The larger bigeye carp, however, wastes more space, so a basket only contains about 50 kilograms.
At first, the bigeye carp filled less than eight baskets, but later some more were taken out, filling the last basket to the brim, adding about 20 kilograms of weight.
There were quite a few small yellow croakers, filling five baskets, weighing between 300 and 350 jin (150-125 catties).
The price of small yellow croaker has increased significantly compared to when they returned from Haizhongzhou a month ago; it can now sell for 70 cents.
The purchase price for fresh seafood is estimated to be around 35 cents.
This thing is cheap, and the discounts are significant.
Generally speaking, the discount for fish collected by boat is linked to the price of fish on shore.
The cheaper the fish, the greater the discount; while the more expensive the fish, the smaller the discount.
Even rare and expensive catches, which are scarce and difficult to catch, are offered by some fishing boats at 90% of the price they would pay on land.
For example, grouper, yellow croaker, etc.
In contrast, the small yellow croaker fared much worse, with its price halved.
Considering the price, it's really a huge loss.
But there's no other way. If the fish on the boat aren't valuable, it's too unprofitable to sell them ashore, and going back and forth would be too much of a waste of time.
It's better to sell directly to fish-collecting boats, saving time to do more fishing and earn more money.
However, their catch included a significant number of high-value bighead carp, making it a very successful haul.
In addition, Mei Tong also had two baskets, weighing 130 to 140 jin.
The price of this fish has always been relatively stable, and it is slightly higher than that of the small yellow croaker. I estimate that it can be worth about five or six cents when bought fresh by boat.
Other items included a basket each of swimming crabs and blue crabs, a basket and a half of sea bass, and two baskets of squid...
There were also quite a few other miscellaneous items that could be sold, taking up a lot of space in the baskets, but they weren't full.
There were quite a few octopuses, more than seventy of them.
But because they are small octopuses, each one doesn't weigh much, and they can be packed so tightly that not even half a basket is full.
"This catch, excluding the two stingrays, should fetch around 1300 yuan, right?"
Ah-Can did a rough calculation and gave an approximate number.
"That's about right, mainly because there are a lot of bigeye carp, making up about half of them."
Feng Ye nodded in agreement.
This item is definitely worth the price.
After carrying basket after basket of goods into the fish hold, covering them with ice, and stacking them together, he couldn't help but feel overjoyed.
The two nets are already nearly a quarter full of fish in the hold.
This achievement has far exceeded his expectations.
He felt that he should ship out a batch of goods during the day.
After I take a nap and wake up, I'll haul in two or three more nets. By the afternoon, I should contact the fish-collecting boat to come and collect the cargo.
Otherwise, if we delay for another night, the fish hold will really burst and won't be able to hold any more fish.
If they are piled up on the deck, they will easily spoil once the sun comes out, even if they are covered with something.
After baskets of goods were carried into the fish hold, the late-night snack was also prepared.
"Let's eat our supper first. We can clean up the remaining trash on the deck after we're done eating."
Feng Ye invited everyone to gather around and enjoy this simple yet sumptuous seafood supper.
In the steaming pot, various seafood tumbled and released an enticing aroma.
Everyone ate and chatted, laughing and talking, creating a lively and cheerful atmosphere.
Ye Chenliang gradually integrated into the group.
Although his face was still a little pale, his spirits had improved a lot, and he was talking more.
He remarked with emotion, "I never imagined that fishing at sea could be so interesting. Although it's a bit tiring, seeing these catches makes it all worthwhile."
"That's how it is when you go out to sea to fish. There are hardships and joys, but when you see a full hold of fish, all the hardships and fatigue are worth it."
"Yes, especially when the net is blasted, or when you catch a rare and good catch, the sense of satisfaction and accomplishment is indescribable."
"Tsk tsk, it's making me want to buy a boat and go out to sea, haha..."
"Who wouldn't want one? But you need money. Boats aren't cheap; even a small wooden rowboat costs several thousand dollars."
"So expensive?"
"That's right. I didn't have the money to buy a boat, so I came aboard to work."
"It's as if no one is immune to this. People living by the sea, apart from those whose families have suffered shipwrecks and are terrified, how many of them don't want to buy a boat?"
"Hehe, Xiao Ye, buying a boat is easy for you. As long as you ask, how could A Ye not lend you the money?"
“It’s no use buying it now. I don’t even know how many kinds of sea fish I can recognize, and I don’t have much experience. I need to work on the boat for a few more years and learn everything before I can consider buying it.”
"That's true. Right now, you're like a blank sheet of paper when it comes to going to sea. You don't know anything about it. You need to gain more experience..."
Feng Ye didn't participate in their conversation. After eating a little, he went to the driver's seat to let Feng Jialing get out and eat.
I'm going to sleep soon, so I can't eat too much.
"Okay, you stay here and keep an eye on things. I'm going to get something to eat; I'm actually a bit hungry."
After Feng Jialing left, Feng Ye took the helm and steered the boat steadily.
Driving a boat is actually quite simple, much easier than driving a car.
Especially on such an open sea, you only need to make sure there are no obstacles in front of you.
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