"Hello comrade, you can call me Zhang He. We buy red snapper, but we only buy red snapper weighing over 50 catties. We don't buy the smaller ones."
Yu Yao was delighted: "That's perfect, Comrade Zhang. I have a red snapper weighing over 100 jin (50 kg), which has already been bled. I can sell it to you."
Zhang He had thought that getting several thousand catties of squid was already quite good, but he hadn't expected to get such a good catch. He immediately smiled and asked, "Comrade, what's your name?"
"My surname is Yu."
"Comrade Yu, where are your red amberjacks? Can you take me to see them?"
"Comrade Zhang, please come with me."
Yu Yao led Zhang He into the harbor.
The area inside is very spacious. The patrol boats are moored in a designated area, and outsiders are not allowed to enter. They can only wait for the soldiers to unload the fish and transport them to the dock.
A soldier saw Yu Yao bring someone over and recognized them as someone from the local specialty products company. He smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, the regimental commander has already moved the red amberjack over as you instructed."
"Thank you, Comrade Xiao Wu."
Zhang He noticed the soldiers' attitude towards Yu Yao and, recalling what the PLA comrade had just said, roughly guessed Yu Yao's identity.
He is a military dependent, and the man holds a high position; he is very likely the commander in charge this time.
Yu Yao led Zhang He to the place where the red amberjack were kept.
A crowd had already gathered in front of the red snapper, including fishermen who came to watch the spectacle and staff who came to buy it, but while they looked on, no one made any offers.
Such a large red amberjack, no one has offered a price to the import and export specialty products company.
The others didn't want to make a fool of themselves.
Indeed, this is the case. Because import and export companies mainly export local specialties to earn foreign exchange, they can sell good seafood at better prices, so when they buy them, they have an advantage over other food factories in terms of price.
"Comrade Zhang, this is the red amberjack I was talking about. How much do you think you can offer?"
Zhang He stepped forward to examine the fish closely. "The bleeding was timely, and the fish meat is fresh and has a good color. Comrade Yu, how about eight cents a pound?"
The price was similar to the reference price Lu Ze had given her, and Yu Yao nodded.
The red amberjack has been bled and then chilled, causing it to shrink significantly, so it needs to be weighed again.
There were special scales at the port for weighing large fish. Zhang He asked the local specialty company to cut away the ice around the red amberjack and put the fish on the scale to weigh it.
"It weighs 49.8 kilograms in total, let's round it up to 100 jin. That's 80 yuan."
Although Su Meihua and Sun Yu already knew that this fish was not cheap, they were still somewhat surprised that it actually sold for this price, and at the same time they were happy for Yu Yao.
The surrounding crowd erupted in noise again, some envious, some jealous, and some sharpening their knives, eager to try sea fishing next time.
Yu Yao took the money and put it in her pocket. Seeing Zhang He about to leave, she quickly chased after him.
Zhang He turned his head and asked in confusion, "Comrade Yu, is there anything else?"
Yu Yao smiled and said, "It's like this, Comrade Zhang, I'd like to ask what other local specialties your company accepts besides fish?"
Zhang He paused, considering Yu Yao's status, and decided against a direct refusal. He said tactfully, "Unless it's a rare specialty like red snapper, we have high requirements for both quantity and quality of other local specialties. Generally, we cooperate with state-owned farms or communes, and we rarely buy from individuals. If the quantity is too good, we would still recommend selling to purchasing stations."
Yu Yao understood what he meant.
Importing and exporting local specialties is a big business. Unless it's something rare and precious, people won't do this business if the quantity is too small.
Do you buy bird's nest?
Yu Yao couldn't bear to sell a single piece of the light-grade bird's nest she harvested last time.
The purchasing station wasn't offering high prices, and they couldn't absorb too much stock in a short time. What Sister Meihua and her group sold was enough for the purchasing station to use for a long time; if she went to sell more, the prices wouldn't be as good.
Anyway, she wasn't in a hurry to use the money, so she kept the rest of the bird's nests and picked out the feathers whenever she had time. Now she has quite a lot of bird's nests at home.
Zhang He instinctively wanted to refuse, but upon hearing the words "bird's nest," he swallowed the words he was about to say. "You have bird's nest? Where is it? Let me see."
Bird's nest has been considered a precious commodity since ancient times. It cannot be farmed and is entirely wild, so it is not easy to come across it.
He was worried about what to give as a gift when he visited his girlfriend's home. If the bird's nest that Yu Yao had was good, he would accept it.
"The bird's nests are all at home. If Comrade Zhang wants to receive them, we can arrange a time for me to bring them over."
“That works too.” Zhang He took out a pen and paper and left an address and phone number for Yu Yao. “This is our office’s phone number and address on the island. I’ll be there this afternoon. Comrade Yu can bring the bird’s nest to see me.”
"Comrade Zhang, there are still some bird's nests that haven't been cleaned yet. It will take a few more days. I'll come back to you after I've cleaned them all."
"It's okay, no rush. As long as you deliver it this month, it'll be fine." He and his partner had agreed on the delivery time at the beginning of next month, so there was plenty of time.
After agreeing with Zhang He, Yu Yao put away the note and boarded the patrol boat with Su Meihua and the others.
The cabin was bustling with activity. The families had all made a good haul from the voyage, selling their wares and earning money. Everyone was all smiles, chatting about interesting things that happened at the dock.
One military family member said with a face full of gratitude: "This time, thanks to the sea fishing method taught to me by Regiment Commander Lu's wife, I caught a lot of squid and sold them for five yuan."
Another person chimed in, "Me too. I followed Comrade Yu Yao's advice and hooked the fishhook onto the shrimp's cavity so the bait wouldn't fall off easily. In the end, I caught more than a dozen squid and a grouper with a honeycomb, which I sold for six yuan."
The people who were talking had all brought fishing rods with them this time, and thanks to Yu Yao's kindness, they all had a good catch.
Now, when talking about Yu Yao, he is full of praise.
Qin Lamei, Zhou Hong, and Wang Xiu also bought fish and rested in the cabin. Hearing everyone praising Yu Yao, they felt uneasy.
Zhou Hong changed the subject: "We just went to the seafood market at the dock, and all we saw were squid. Even if it's the end of the squid fishing season, it's still an exaggeration."
These words resonated with everyone, and they all nodded in agreement.
"Don't be surprised, it's the end of the squid fishing season now. Whether it's sea fishing or fishing trips, the production teams have caught mostly squid. They haven't seen any other catches."
Zhou Hong continued, "Who says no one catches anything good? I heard someone caught a red amberjack while sea fishing, weighing over 100 pounds. Over 100 pounds! I've never seen such a big fish before."
"I went over to take a look out of curiosity, and guess what? The person who caught the amberjack was actually a distant relative of mine. Because of this, I not only got to touch the amberjack myself, but I also learned some inside information."
Upon hearing this, everyone present wore somewhat strange expressions.
Qin Lamei and Wang Xiu knew the inside story. They had only heard about the red amberjack from others, but had never seen it, let alone that the person was a distant relative of Zhou Hong.
Both of them felt awkward after Zhou Hong said that.
The expressions of the other people were quite intriguing.
Unfortunately, Zhou Hong was lost in her own fantasy and didn't notice the strange expressions on everyone's faces. With a proud look on her face, she whispered to everyone, "Do you know how much money my distant relative sold for?"
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