As for that puddle, Xiao Hu caught a dozen or so filefish, a dozen or so blue crabs, and some other small seafood. He made up for the fuel costs, but not much money. Today's main income still depends on this batch of gargoyles.
After loading all the cowrie shells onto the boat, the group began their return journey.
"Brother, how many kilograms do you think these basil snails weigh?" Ye Cheng was looking at the batch of basil snails with boredom as he estimated their weight, Ye Guowei was driving the boat back.
"It must weigh over a hundred pounds, but any more than that and it'll be gone."
Ye Cheng pursed his lips. Over a hundred pounds, damn it, he only got this little bit after working all day. Thousands of snails, all peeled off one by one. This is exhausting!
As evening falls, the setting sun casts its golden rays upon the sea, creating a truly beautiful scene. No wonder poets love to write about it.
In the distance, the sea shimmered, with silvery lights occasionally flashing by.
Ye Cheng suddenly realized that something was wrong.
He jumped up and ran to Ye Guowei's side. "Brother, look over there, isn't that a school of fish?"
Ye Guowei glanced at it, unsure, "It does look a bit like it."
"Brother, why don't we try casting a net?" Ye Cheng had just caught a school of fish yesterday, and now that he saw them, he was excited again.
Upon hearing the sound of a school of fish, Jiang Yunxiang also stood up.
"These are fish! What kind of fish are they?"
"Sister-in-law, we didn't know this far away. Let's try casting a net."
"Alright, let's do a sweep. We have time anyway."
Ye Cheng and Xiao Hu immediately ran to the back and lowered the trawl net.
Ye Guowei then turned the boat around, circled it, and headed towards the school of fish.
Going directly towards the school of fish is definitely not an option; you need to time it right, get the boat there, and then position the net around the school of fish.
Ye Guowei adjusted the angle and speed, and steered the boat over. The fish were clearly startled, thrashing about on the surface before falling back into the water. Whether or not they could be caught, and how many they could catch, was up to fate.
This time the target was clearer, so it didn't take as long to set up the net. It only took Ye Cheng about 40 minutes to start setting up the net.
They pressed the rope winch, and several people squatted behind it, eagerly anticipating what would happen.
As the net was gradually pulled up, the winch clearly began to struggle.
"Brother, this looks promising! Your skills are amazing!" Ye Cheng said happily.
Ye Guowei was also very proud, "That's right, how come your brother has been working by the sea for so many years?"
“You’re carrying cargo, not fishing,” Jiang Yunxiang said, rolling her eyes at her husband.
When the trawl net was halfway pulled in, it became noticeably heavier. Ye Cheng and Xiao Hu each took one side and started pulling the net in, as they were familiar with this process.
"Wow! So many fish! We really caught a school of fish!" Jiang Yunxiang exclaimed excitedly as soon as the fish surfaced. The trawl net was teeming with fish, a delightful sight.
Ye Guowei also came up to lend a hand, and the three of them worked together to pull the trawl net up, and all the fish were dumped onto the deck.
“This is a silver pomfret.” Ye Guowei recognized it at a glance. It was so easy to spot: a flat body and a silvery fish body.
Silver pomfret is not expensive, but it varies in size. The larger ones weighing over 6 taels are more expensive, while those under 3 taels are cheaper. This batch of silver pomfret comes in various sizes, and I estimate it weighs around 200 jin.
Silver pomfret die very easily after being taken out of the water, and with the current facilities on Ye Cheng's fishing boat, it's hard to guarantee their survival. So he simply threw them into the water tank, leaving their fate to chance.
On the way back, this unexpected surprise made all four of them very happy. They quickly cleaned the fish and started their return journey. By the time they got back to the dock, it was already getting dark.
This is the peak season for fishing boats to return, and the docks are full of various fishing boats selling their catch.
However, as soon as Ye Cheng's ship docked, several buyers came over, since Ye Cheng always managed to get a lot of good stuff.
Silver pomfret is relatively common and its price is quite transparent. Because the batch that Ye Cheng and his group obtained was relatively large, the price was a bit higher. They sold it at 25 yuan per jin (0.5 kg), and a total of 240 jin (120 catties) cost 6,000 yuan.
After selling this batch of silver pomfret, Ye Cheng brought out the Buddha's Hand snails, filling each of the three tanks halfway.
"Wow! So many bergamot snails?"
"Guowei, your second son is really something. He comes up with something new every day, and he can even get so many of these basil snails."
"That's right. Most people would only sell a small bucket of it, but you just use a water tank to store it."
"Anyone who didn't know better would think they were selling snails. Good heavens, such expensive stuff, and they're piled up like this."
A group of people watched in amazement, and Jiang Yunxiang proudly interjected, "We've been working on this all day, our hands are exhausted."
"That's true. Buddha's hand snails are not easy to get. There are so many. It would take a whole day to get them all."
Seeing that everyone had said enough, Ye Cheng interrupted them loudly, "Everyone, there are three boxes of Buddha's Hand snails in total. Take a look. This box contains large ones that are 5-8 centimeters long, and the other two boxes contain 3-5 centimeters long. We released the smaller ones to ensure quality. You can take a look first."
I heard there were some that were 8 centimeters tall, so a bunch of people crowded around to see the big ones. They picked one up and shook it, and sure enough, they were all big.
Moreover, Ye Cheng didn't lie to them; in this batch, 5 centimeters was the least common, and most of them were over 6 centimeters.
Seeing the fresh basil, the group was tempted.
This stuff is scarce, so the price fluctuates a lot, which means they can make a lot of money. They also need to control the entire stock to have pricing power, so everyone is willing to buy it all when negotiating prices.
"How about 100 yuan per jin for the large ones and 50 yuan per jin for the small ones?" someone started quoting prices.
"I'll bet 120 and 60."
"I'll bet 125 and 65."
"I'll bet 130 and 65."
Several big bosses made offers, but stopped at 130 yuan per kilogram. One reason was that the price had gone up, and it would take a lot of money to buy it all at once. Everyone had just bought a batch of goods, and not many people had that much money to keep on hand.
Another concern is that the price might be too high and there would be no profit, since making only one dollar isn't very meaningful.
However, Ye Cheng was still a little unwilling to accept the price of 130, as he had worked so hard for so long.
"Bosses, the large one is 140, the small one is 65, we'll pack them together, one price, anyone interested?" Ye Cheng raised the price by ten yuan and then looked at everyone.
The bosses looked at each other but remained silent.
"Second brother, 130 is not low, you have to leave us some food to eat."
Ye Cheng smiled and said, "Alright, then I'll just have to work a little harder and go to the city tonight to sell them myself."
Upon hearing that Ye Cheng wanted to go into town to sell, the group panicked, and the shopkeeper who had just called 130 immediately raised his hand.
"I, I'll take it, 140 it is."
"Congratulations, Boss Gao. You can rest assured that this batch of goods will definitely be profitable."
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