I pulled up several in a row, and there was almost no space left. They were filled with grouper and conch. Although there weren't many large ones, each cage was worth several tens of yuan.
On the deck, Xie Jun'an squatted down sorting goods; there were more and more, and he was almost overwhelmed.
The yacht slowly loaded the fish traps around the island. Crabs were the most abundant, followed by conch shells. There weren't many fish, but they caught about half of them, which should have brought in several hundred dollars.
Mingjing specifically marked the fish traps from the fishing tackle shop and the ones she bought from takeout, as it was obvious that the catch from the fishing tackle shop was more valuable.
"Mingjing, you're so lucky! You've only got five or six and you've already made so much. That's three or four hundred yuan. The ones that come later will definitely be even more valuable."
Mingjing pursed her lips and remained silent; she was extremely annoyed.
Carrying up the octagonal cage, Xie Jun'an, looking like he'd never seen anything like it before, exclaimed, "What a huge red octopus!"
"Take it out slowly. This thing is very clever. If you get entangled with it, it'll be a fatal mistake," Ming Dahai warned.
Mingjing put on gloves and carefully took out the red octopus and threw it into the tank.
The octopus's tentacles were thick and long, trying to suck onto Mingjing's gloves, but it couldn't get a grip. Instead, it seemed to be pricked by needles, making it shrink back timidly.
The octopuses in this sea area are divided into red octopuses and white octopuses. White octopuses are small and are commonly known as eight-armed octopuses, while red octopuses are large and can usually grow to several meters in length.
Its tentacles are thick and long, its body is red, and it has many suckers on its tentacles, which are used to hunt. Once a person is sucked on, the consequences range from peeling and swelling to amputation and disfigurement.
Octopuses are said to be very intelligent, comparable to human intelligence, which is why they are often portrayed as cunning and evil in some movies.
The red octopus in front of me looks like it's just reached adulthood, weighing about ten pounds. It's enough to make seven or eight plates of octopus on a hot plate.
"Mingjing, sell this to me, and I'll get you some octopus tentacles to eat later."
Mingjing gave a wry smile. "Fine, I won't give you the money. This tastes good."
"What do you mean by giving money as a gift? It's not a wedding, so we don't charge money."
Ming Dahai scolded, "Don't listen to Mingjing's nonsense. I was just joking with you. This stuff is free. We're going to have a drink later, so don't be so formal."
"Alright, this thing weighs at least 21 jin now, so it's not exactly a valuable item."
Mingjing didn't reply. He picked up the fish trap in his hand, which contained a yellow sea bream weighing about two or three pounds, a few stone crabs, and a bunch of whelks.
The other cage contained several octopuses, palm-sized lobsters, and a few swimming crabs, each weighing about four ounces, all very plump.
After emptying the cage and removing the weeds, there were still three pounds of mussels.
Mingjing rolled his eyes, broke off a crab leg, threw it onto the cabin, and revealed a sly smile.
Just as she was about to pull out the next cage, Mingjing paused, unsure whether it was because it got caught or because there were too many things to pull it up. The cage was very heavy, and she couldn't pull it up with one hand at all.
"Strange, why can't this cage be pulled up?" Mingjing muttered.
"I'll give it a try."
Xie Junan reached out and grabbed the cage, giving it a strong tug.
With a thud, the cage was pulled out of the water, revealing a hole in the bottom. The cage was made of woven wood and was clearly bought from the market.
Ming Dahai vaguely saw a tiger stripe running away, and he felt so sorry for it.
The fish trap is broken and the net is rotten, so it's definitely unusable. But there are still some seaweed and sea slugs left inside, which can be used to make a dish when we get back.
"Never mind, let's move on to the next one."
The boat continued forward, and the bright mirror hooked up the fishing net.
Um?
Is it stuck on the bottom?
Mingjing strained and pulled, gritting her teeth as she tried to lift it up. She could clearly feel something moving inside the cage, but it was so heavy that she couldn't lift it at all.
She couldn't help but feel hopeful; it seemed like something big had been planted inside.
Fish traps are generally only suitable for valuable shrimp and crabs; larger fish cannot enter unless it is a large iron cage.
Mingjing pulled up the fishing net and could see a swarm of lobsters splashing around in it from a distance.
"Holy crap, so many lobsters!"
Even though Ming Dahai was far away, he was deeply moved.
After pouring out the lobsters, Xie Junan carefully counted them. There were fifteen in total, each weighing about three pounds, large and plump.
"Uncle Dahai, there are 81 lobsters now, these lobsters must be worth about a thousand yuan."
Small lobsters aren't particularly expensive, but they can be quite pricey during the off-season, sometimes costing over a hundred yuan each.
"Okay, okay, put it in the water tank, don't let it die," Ming Dahai quickly ordered.
Mingjing ignored it and simply pulled up a fish trap. The moment it was up, she was so frightened that she threw it onto the boat and screamed.
"ah!"
"Eel?" Xie Jun'an was in a daze and thought it was an eel, so he reached out to pick up the fish trap.
Ming Dahai peeked out and quickly stopped him, "Don't move! This is a long-nosed sea snake, it's highly venomous. Put it in the sack, and make sure you don't get bitten."
Mingjing calmed down and carefully observed the sea serpent.
Its back is black and its belly is yellow. It is about 1.5 meters long and resembles a swamp eel or eel. Its venom can mainly attack the internal organs of its prey.
The onset is slow, and timely treatment will not pose a life-threatening risk.
Locals often call it a sea snake or a mud dragon. It is used to make snake wine and snake soup. The more venomous it is, the more expensive it is. This sea snake is not too expensive, but it is quite big and costs several hundred yuan.
"Here are the gloves."
Mingjing hid far away, took off her gloves and threw them to Xie Jun'an. She wasn't afraid of anything except snakes.
Putting on gloves, Xie Junan threw the cage directly into the sack, neatly tied the sack shut, and breathed a sigh of relief.
Mingjing put away her gloves, calmed herself down, and picked up a cage containing a soft-bodied animal with spots all over its body, which looked like a snake.
"Is it a snake again?" Xie Junan craned his neck to look.
"No, it's a flower eel."
The flower eel curled up in the cage, looking like a flower bun from a distance. There are many kinds of sea eels, but the thick and big ones like this are the most valuable.
There was nothing in the cage except for the eel; even the bait had been eaten clean by the creature.
This spotted eel was covered in purplish-black spots, short yet large, about two meters long. Even its thinnest tail was thicker than her wrist. The spotted eels caught by the hook were far inferior to this one.
Because it was a large eel, it was more vigorous and couldn't be kept in a wooden barrel, so Mingjing poured it directly into another water tank specifically for eels.
"This eel is quite good, Mingjing. If you want to eat it, I'll buy it and cook it for you at the banquet."
Mingjing chuckled, "Whatever you want, just pay up."
Upon hearing this, Ming Dahai couldn't bring himself to suggest giving it away anymore, since it was quite expensive and giving it all away would mean he'd worked for nothing.
"Of course."
Mingjing continued to tighten her net, avoiding Xie Junan's burning gaze.
After opening more than a dozen cages, all kinds of eels burst out of the nets. Mingjing was thinking of keeping a few cheap eels to make eel rice.
With only a dozen or so cages left to collect, Mingjing was full of confidence. She glanced at the progress bar and saw that it was already halfway done; it was almost over.
Collecting fish traps is actually hard work. Mingjing always has to bend over to retrieve them, which makes her back ache. She calls Mingdahai to retrieve the fish traps so she can pick them out.
At first, Ming Dahai was unwilling because Ming Jing was too lucky, and he was afraid that all he would get his hands on would be worthless stuff. But he couldn't resist Ming Jing's insistence.
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