Just then, Ah-chan's call came through.
"You've finally arrived. We've been delayed for over half an hour."
Feng Ye picked up the walkie-talkie and laughed, "There's nothing I can do. I didn't receive the message in time, which caused a delay. But I've caught up now, so it's not too late."
"Haha, that's true. These fish are silly, just swimming around so slowly, they're practically free food. It's just a pity that the fish are spread out too wide, so we can't catch them all in one net."
"Hey, you're really greedy."
"I was just thinking we could catch as many fish as possible. It's rare to come across such a large school of fish, it would be a shame not to catch as many as possible."
"Let's catch as many as we can. These fish swim so slowly, we have plenty of time to catch them slowly. Okay, I'm going to go and get them to set the nets now."
After ending the call, Feng Ye instructed Ye Chenliang to slow down before getting out of the driver's seat.
"Everyone get ready, we're about to cast our nets!"
Upon hearing this, the boatmen all rushed to the stern, raised their fishing nets, and waited for the boat to slow down.
As the boat gradually slowed down, layers of white foam rose from the waves at the stern.
Feng Ye stood outside the cockpit, staring intently at the sea, a hint of anticipation in his eyes.
The sea was calm, with no sign of any fish.
This is because the fish hide at a very deep depth, about 80 or 90 meters, so they cannot be seen from the surface of the sea.
When the boat slowed down to a suitable speed, he shouted, "Lower the net!"
The boatmen worked together to slowly lower the trawl net into the sea along the stern slide.
The fishing net spread out rapidly in the seawater, like a giant sack, enveloping the school of fish.
Next, all that's left is to wait.
Feng Ye returned to the driver's seat and continued to observe the results displayed by the fish probe.
If it were a normal trawling operation, this net would take three hours to trawle, by which time it would be almost dark.
But in reality, the assignment takes longer.
About two hours later, the Purple Aura satellite successfully launched its network, bringing great news.
Ah-Can chuckled and said, "Brother Ye, we've set up the net. Guess how much we'll catch this time?"
Feng Ye knew immediately that the gains would be substantial, but how could he possibly guess?
He laughed and said, "I can't guess that. Stop keeping me in suspense and tell me how much you've gained."
Ah-Can's voice trembled with excitement: "You might not believe it, but we pulled up 50,000 catties of fish in this one net, and they were mostly the same species. We didn't see many other fish."
"Fifty thousand catties?"
Feng Ye could hardly believe his ears. Fifty thousand catties of fish—that was an astonishing number.
The largest single haul to date was 150,000 jin of pufferfish, brought up by the Dong Sheng vessel.
Back then, we didn't have fish finders, so it was really a case of blind cat finding a dead mouse, we were incredibly lucky, and the whole net was full of pufferfish.
Although they encountered another huge school of bomb fish later, they didn't manage to pull up this many. The Donglai caught less than 50,000 catties.
Now, the Ziqi ship has actually hauled up 50,000 catties of fish.
The key point is that this is only the result of two and a half hours of homework.
But the school of fish had not dispersed and continued to swim slowly.
If they extend the operation time, perhaps they can recreate the legend of catching a net full of pufferfish.
Thinking of this, Feng Ye clenched his fist excitedly, his heart filled with joy and anticipation.
"Yes, 50,000 jin, no more, no less."
Ah-Can continued, "Brother Ye, you have no idea what it was like when we pulled up the net. The fish were so big they almost tore the net apart. It was all white fish."
Feng Ye listened to A-Can's description and was very happy, looking forward to their catch even more.
However, doubts also began to spread in his mind.
Ah-chan talked so much, but didn't mention a single species of fish.
Feng Ye had no choice but to take the initiative and ask, "Ah Can, you still haven't told us what kind of fish these 50,000 jin are?"
Ah-chan smiled awkwardly: "This... I've never seen this fish before, I don't recognize it."
"What?"
Feng Ye hadn't expected this reason and asked again, "Among so many boatmen, didn't you recognize a single one?"
"Yeah, I don't know any of them."
Ah-Can nodded subconsciously. "It looks a little like some kind of pomfret, but the color doesn't match. This fish has a silver-blue back and a silver-white belly."
Feng Ye was even more puzzled. He thought and thought, but couldn't think of any fish that fit these characteristics.
He didn't dwell on it any longer: "Once I get my internet up and running, I'll see if I recognize anyone."
"Yeah, I'm worried that these fish aren't worth much and nobody wants them, then all our work will have been for nothing."
As soon as A-Can said this, Feng Xuan and Xiao Guowen, who had been lying low, were brought to the surface.
Holy crap, no way?
"Damn it, it would be terrible if nobody wanted it. Wouldn't all that excitement have been for nothing, and all that effort to catch it would have been for nothing?"
Their concerns are not unfounded; unfamiliar fish have unknown market acceptance and may face the risk of unsold stock.
But Feng Ye doesn't think so.
Most people recognize the fish that no one wants in the sea, but those that are unfamiliar are likely species that are hard to find in coastal waters.
The price may not be high, but it shouldn't be to the point that nobody wants it.
"Stop worrying unnecessarily. Who cares if it's worth anything? Let's grab it first."
"Sigh, I hope I'm just overthinking it."
Ah-Can sighed, then asked, "Aren't you guys setting up the nets so quickly?"
"No rush, the fish haven't dispersed yet. Let's keep dragging it out until the net can't hold any more before we pull it up."
"Yes, yes, there must be a lot of fish in the net now. If we haul it in, it will take a long time just to get all those fish onto the boat. If we waste that time, the fish will have disappeared."
"Okay, let's continue trawl the fish with our three boats and try to catch as many as possible."
Hearing the three of them say that, Ah-Can slapped his forehead in frustration: "Damn it, I pulled the net in so quickly, wasn't that a stupid thing to do?"
"Haha, that's a bit silly."
Xiao Guowen teased, "The fish haven't even dispersed yet, why are you in such a hurry to pull in the net?"
Ah-chan explained with a wry smile, "How was I supposed to know that this net would catch so much? I thought it would only weigh a few kilograms at most, and I could finish it in a few seconds."
"It's alright, you've had quite a haul this time, 50,000 jin, that's already very impressive."
Feng Ye offered a word of comfort.
"Sigh, that's all I can think of. You guys keep stalling, it seems like I don't have a chance."
"Not necessarily. If you can lift the cargo faster, you might have another chance to haul it in."
"Okay, then I'll stop chatting with you guys. I need to go down and help out, and try to catch it again."
A glimmer of hope rekindled in Ah-Can's heart...
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