This time, the call was answered.
However, the voice that came through the radio was not Xiao Zhaojun's, but Xiao Guowen's.
"Ah Ye, instead of working on deck, you have time to come to the wheelhouse and chat?"
His voice carried a hint of teasing.
"You're in the driver's seat too, why aren't you doing any work?"
Feng Ye retorted.
“I’ve been working down there the whole time. I just ran out of cigarettes and came up to get a pack when I heard you calling me.”
"Really? That's quite a coincidence."
"Alright, spit it out. I've got my cigarettes and I need to get back to work. There's so much stuff, I don't know when I'll be done."
"How many pufferfish did you catch?"
"We've already harvested about 50,000 jin (25,000 kg), and we estimate there's still about that number left, so it'll be around 100,000 jin (50,000 kg) in total."
Xiao Guowen said excitedly, "I can't believe we caught so much cargo in one net. This trip overseas has really made us a fortune."
Upon hearing this number, Feng Ye couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
There's no need to contact the fish-collecting boat anymore.
100,000 jin, which is 50 tons.
Adding the cargo from the previous day, the cargo on the Harvest ship is estimated to be no more than 60 tons.
In that case, we can help them haul twenty or thirty tons.
It's worth noting that the Harvest is 6 meters longer and wider than the Surge, and its carrying capacity is correspondingly greater.
They can put all the extra Plum Blossom Fish on the Harvest.
But we can't let people help for free; we have to pay them.
The question is how much to give.
Giving too little makes it seem like we're being unfair; giving too much makes us feel bad.
After all, this is all real money.
I need to think about it carefully.
As he was calculating in his mind, he heard Xiao Guowen ask, "And you, how many plum blossoms did you catch in this net?"
"A little more than yours, maybe a few hundred thousand jin, but I don't know the exact amount yet."
Feng Ye spoke casually, but the smugness in his tone was impossible to hide.
"What? Over 100,000 jin?"
Xiao Guowen's voice rose several decibels as he exclaimed, "You caught over 100,000 catties of Pikemanichthys in one net? Really? You're not just bragging, are you?"
Why would I lie to you? It wouldn't do me any good.
I, Feng Ye, said irritably, "We've also collected about 50,000 jin, but the number of fish in the net doesn't seem to have decreased much. I estimate that collecting another two 50,000 jin shouldn't be a problem."
Xiao Guowen said enviously, "So you mean you caught 150,000 jin of plum blossoms?"
"Hmm, more or less."
Feng Ye nodded. "There might be more than that. We'll have to fish them all out and count them to know the approximate weight."
Xiao Guowen couldn't help but complain, "Damn it, I was quite happy that there were 100,000 catties of plum blossoms in one net."
I didn't expect you to have so many more.
Damn, comparing people is truly infuriating, comparing goods is enough to make you want to throw them away!
"We didn't expect it either; at first we thought it was only tens of thousands of kilograms."
Feng Ye laughed heartily, "But no matter how much we hauled in the nets, the number of fish didn't decrease, and we realized that there might be hundreds of thousands of catties of fish in the nets."
"150,000 jin, more than 70 tons, your ship's carrying capacity is probably not enough to hold that much, right?"
"Well, that's why I'm asking you for help."
“Sure, take as much as you can, and bring the rest on the Harvest ship. We’ll help you haul it back.”
However, they can only be placed on the deck; there's no room inside the fish hold.
"As long as we can get it back, it doesn't matter where we put it. As for the payment..."
Before he could finish speaking, Xiao Guowen interrupted him.
"Forget about payment, we're all brothers, why talk about money when we're helping each other out?"
"One thing at a time, even brothers need to keep clear accounts."
Feng Ye said seriously, "Helping is helping, but the due compensation still needs to be given."
Besides, last time I helped you haul a boatload of goods to shore to sell, your dad even insisted on paying for the shipping.
This time it's your turn to help us, so we can't let you work for nothing."
Xiao Guowen hesitated for a moment before saying, "Alright then, just give me whatever you think is best."
"Here's what we'll do: I'll give you two thousand catties of plum blossoms as a reward."
"Two thousand catties? That's over a thousand yuan! Why would you need so much?"
"This is not just the shipping cost, but also the reward for helping out."
Feng Ye explained, "Once you're done with your work, I'll need your help to collect the fish. We need to get them ashore as soon as possible so we can sell them."
"Alright then, I won't stand on ceremony. We'll come and collect it for you once we're done here."
After reaching an agreement, Feng Ye did not linger in the wheelhouse and returned to the deck.
They were busy until around 10 p.m. when the Harvest ship came over after collecting the fish.
Xiao Guowen led six boatmen aboard the Dongsheng to help.
As for Xiao Zhaojun, he had already gone to rest.
The boatmen can stay up all night and go to sleep after everything is finished, but the person who steers the boat cannot; they must get enough sleep.
On the Dong Sheng, Feng Xuan also went to sleep, while the others worked through the night.
Many hands make light work.
With the addition of Xiao Guowen and six others, the fish-collecting speed increased significantly.
However, it wasn't until after 1 a.m. that all the pufferfish were finally collected.
This is because the catch is of a single species, basically only pufferfish, so there is little need for sorting, which is why the process is so fast.
If things were like usual, they'd receive a bunch of random, worthless goods online, and even if they had two or three times the time, they still wouldn't be able to finish.
At this point, both ships were piled high with cargo, leaving only a narrow passageway.
There were even fish scattered all over the deck of the Dong Sheng ship that hadn't been cleaned up.
There were simply no more baskets left to hold them, so they had to be piled up directly on the deck.
No one could have predicted that such a large number of fish would be caught in one net, so it's normal that there weren't enough baskets.
Fortunately, it's nighttime, the middle of the night, so the temperature isn't high, and there's also ice on the ground.
Moreover, it will be returning to port soon and is expected to dock around 10:00 AM, so it shouldn't break down.
When the last cargo bag was hoisted up and unloaded onto the deck, everyone was exhausted and collapsed onto the deck, panting heavily.
"Damn, I'm exhausted!"
"Me too, I'm so tired I can't even straighten my back..."
"There's too much to do. I've been busy since this morning, almost 20 hours, and I haven't had a break at all."
"Yes, who would have thought there would be so many fish in one net? It's exhausting!"
"Hehe, I've made quite a bit of money..."
The boatmen complained, their faces showing exhaustion.
But at the same time, everyone's eyes were shining with excitement.
That was the joy of a bountiful harvest.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com