Back to the small fishing village in 1982

Chapter 1235: Harvest of Ground Traps
"Can you give it to me? I can take it home to feed the chickens, ducks and pigs."

Ye Yaodong gave him a puzzled look and said, "It stinks. The chickens and ducks must be disgusted by it."

"Just dry it in the sun, crush it, and mix it with the rice bran. There are so many of them down there, it would be a shame to dump them all back into the sea. It won't take much effort to pull them back anyway, I can do it myself."

"Okay, then you can get a basket to put it in yourself."

"Thank you, Brother Dong. Hehe, I'll take it back and let my wife and mother take care of it slowly. It just so happens that we can hatch some extra chicks and ducklings this year."

Ye Yaodong laughed, "It's quite manageable."

"With more people in the family, we have to find ways to make life easier. Our least valuable thing is our strength, so what does it matter if we put in a little more effort?"

"That too."

He sighed in his heart, there are still more people who are down-to-earth and hardworking.

The two of them divided the work and cooperated with each other. Ye Yaodong pulled the pile of goods, picked out the fresh ones, and put the stale ones aside for Chen Guodong to put into the basket.

Among a pile of goods, only about 20% are fresh, 10% are just okay, and the other 70% are not fresh or smelly.

Ye Yaodong picked up all the ones that were still intact. This part could be pickled and made into salted fish, which was not a problem. Of course, fresh ones could be cooked in any way.

It was not easy to carry four or five hundred kilograms of goods quickly. Before they had finished carrying them, there was a splash on the water surface and two heads emerged from the water one after another.

They quickly put down the work they were doing and went to help pull the people up. They also took over the lines in their hands and started to collect the nets.

"Yes... 4... 4 nets."

"There are four nets, and it's like this under the water. It's amazing. There are so many abalones, and there are so many small blue dragons hiding in the gaps. It's so spectacular, so amazing. There are so many fish, one stupid one even bumped into my arms..."

"I told you, right? You'll be shocked when you see it. I don't know what it's like down there. Are there a lot of rare things? It's amazing..."

As soon as they came up, the two novices were amazed, chattering to each other about what they had seen and heard, and had even greater expectations for the situation underwater.

Ye Yaodong said: "If you want to go to the bottom, there are plenty of opportunities. You can familiarize yourself with the upper layer first and collect all the traps around the reef. Then we will go to the bottom for you. There will be a new world for you to see."

"Besides the little blue dragon and abalone and blue crab, what else can we have, Brother Dong?"

"You'll know when we get to the bottom in a few days."

"Brother Dong, do you know who threw the trap down? Is there anyone else who knows about this place? Is that why they threw the trap down to replenish the goods?"

"I know. I was the one who led them here last year, those two idiots."

Ye Yaodong pointed to the sesame-sized fishing boat in the distance, motioning them to look over there, "It's right there."

"So they also placed the branches around the island? I was wondering, why didn't they come and cause trouble when we came so late to occupy the territory?"

"They dare? Beat them to death. This Feng Shui treasure land originally belonged to me. I just shared it with them. Stop talking nonsense. The fishing nets are collected. Pull them quickly."

"Okay, let's get to work, pull it up quickly."

The four net ports are also full of fish. Because of the inertia of being pulled up, the fish falling to the bottom and the fish collecting bags are also full, and the upper meshes are still full of various fish and shrimps.

They all showed their joy at the good harvest and felt that their work was not in vain. When they poured out all the fish, there were more than just a few, and it was piled up like a small mountain, filling the deck.

"Too much……"

"It would be great if all these goods were fresh, then we would be rich..."

"That's good too..."

Ye Yaodong reached out and grabbed a large blue crab that was running sideways. He looked at it with a smile until only one big leg was left. He turned it over and looked at its belly. It was a male.

The fattest crabs are those that come after the Mid-Autumn Festival. This one with only one leg cannot be sold for much, so I can keep it and give it to my children as a supplement.

He threw the crabs into the basket separately and found another one at his feet, with both legs intact, waving its big claws to grab his rain boots.

He hurriedly grabbed it, and fortunately it was discovered in time. The hand was only aimed at his feet, and he didn't move forward. If he crawled a few more steps forward, he would have reached his crotch.

The claws of that big crab are so powerful that they can even break your fingers.

"Pick them out, keep the fresh ones, and put the unfresh ones in another basket. Guodong will take some back to dry and grind them to feed the chickens and ducks."

"What a good idea! It would be a waste if we dumped it into the sea."

"Can you, can you, share some..."

Chen Guodong nodded, "Okay, there are so many, if you want some too, then we can split it in half."

"Okay."

Ye Yaodong thought about it and reminded them, "These are already bad, some are rotten, and there may be bacteria and viruses. Take them back and boil them in a big pot first, then dry them in the sun. It will be better after killing the bacteria."

"Sterilization?"

"Just do as I say."

"Okay, then take it back and cook it before drying it."

"You guys pick them out, Guodong, come with me. Before it's afternoon, let's go down a few more times and fish up as many as possible. There will probably be some scattered squids by afternoon, and we'll take a look in the water then. If there are a lot, we'll collect them, and if there are few, we'll come back tomorrow."

The three men's eyes lit up, as they had never seen how squids laid eggs on tree branches.

"Great! I really learned a lot today!"

"So I still have to follow Brother Dong. I can't imagine how lucky those people are to follow Brother Dong out to sea every day."

"Yes, those people who followed us to go to sea last year were even commended and rewarded with 500 yuan. I'm so envious. When will it be my turn?"

Ye Yaodong smiled and said, "Isn't it your turn now? Don't just think about glory and gaining knowledge. The risks at sea are unimaginable. If you can make money safely on land, you'd better not take risks."

While Chen Shi and the others were in the water, Ye Yaodong took a break from sorting the fish. He felt wet and cold, and the wind made him even colder.

He thought that he should bring a torn blanket tomorrow so that he could wrap himself up in his free time.

The two warmed up again, put on their diving equipment one by one, and then jumped into the water.

Although there are many traps hanging on the bottom, they are brought up in a series, not just one by one, so the efficiency will be higher.

After Ye Yaodong went down, he and Chen Guodong found the nearest place to them. Then they swam carefully around the reef and untied the hooked trap.

He also saw Chen Guodong reaching out to the big abalone on the reef, but he couldn't get it down after trying for a long time.

Then, not giving up, he reached out for a smaller abalone nearby, but again failed.

At this time, he also remembered that he forgot to tell them not to be too hasty to pick the abalone.

It is impossible to pick the abalone off with your fingers. Moreover, there is water pressure in the water, so you can't use force as recklessly as on the shore.

Abalone has a very strong suction force. Once it is alert, you cannot remove it even if you smash the shell with human power. However, you can take it out by shovel when it is not prepared. You have to be quick, otherwise it will not work.

He swam towards Chen Guodong, gestured with his hand at the fishing net, and signaled him to get down to business first.

There are so many abalone on the reef, it's normal that no one would not be tempted and want to pick them up at the first moment.

But now was not the time for that, and they had no tools at hand.

Chen Guodong watched his gestures and followed him to get the trap. He felt very regretful, but he had to wait until he got up there before doing anything else.

This time, the collection of these traps was not smooth. They untied a large bunch of them on the reef and thought they had all escaped from the reef and could go up.

Who knew that when we got on the boat and asked the machine to pull in the net, it got stuck halfway through. Then the machine kept running, moved a bit, and then got stuck again.

Ye Yaodong was confused for a moment and paused.

I was originally teaching them how to pick abalone.

Under the clear water surface, you can vaguely see the shadow of the trap, which is about to surface.

"What's going on, Brother Dong?"

"The only explanation is that it might have gotten caught somewhere, so it can't be pulled up. Go down and take a look. If it's caught, cut the connecting wire between the two traps and pull up the one that can be pulled up first."

"it is good."

They waited on the shore for a while and saw signs of loosening. Then they tried to pull it manually and the trap emerged from the water.

"Ah, it's coming up."

Everyone stretched out their hands to help pull, and finally managed to pull the trap to the edge of the boat, and then worked together to pull up the first one and dropped it on the deck.

Ye Yaodong went to untie the fish bags first and pour out the fish, while the remaining two continued to pull the ropes to collect the traps.

At the same time, a head emerged from under the water and everyone pulled him up first.

"Brother Dong, there were so many traps in a row, like a long dragon. When I went down, some of the traps were still hanging on the reef, and the nets were broken. A lot of fish, shrimps and crabs floated out of the nets, and were swallowed by a big fish. I was scared. Fortunately, they were not as big as me, otherwise I would have worried that I would be eaten."

"What kind of fish?"

"I don't know him. Anyway, he looks just a little bit younger than me."

"If I had known this earlier, I would have gone."

"Go away, you can't even speak clearly. What's the point of going? How are you going to report when you get up there? Brother Dongdongdongdongdong, I I I I..."

Before Chen Guodong could finish learning his words, Ye Yaodong kicked him with a smile. Chen Shi's fist also came towards him. He quickly dodged and begged for mercy with a smile.

"Haha, no, no, I'm just learning, it's just a joke, I don't mean any harm."

"There are already two stutterers among those who imitate Chen Shi. If you continue to imitate him, there will be three. Keep learning, and keep learning."

Chen Shi also said: "I'll give it to you to learn. You learn it."

He slapped himself on the mouth and said, "I can't learn from you."

Ye Yaodong said: "Stop making trouble, close the net quickly."

"Okay, right away."

They all stopped laughing and got back to work.

We collected 6 traps in this wave, but it was a pity that the last trap was scratched by the reef, and it was empty inside, and all the cargo fell into the sea.

The four of them were divided into two groups, taking turns back and forth in an orderly manner. If they felt tired, they would rest for a while.

In one morning, they collected 29 traps, which was a considerable harvest. These traps brought them a whole boatload of goods, which was estimated to be about three to four thousand kilograms.

It's a pity that less than 20% of them are fresh.

The number of fish in each net varies, and the ratio of good to bad fish is also different, but even if it is only 20%, it is still a big harvest for them.

The stacked baskets probably weighed about 500 to 600 kilograms, and there were quite a few good products in them that could be sold at a good price.

The traps that were brought up were covered with a lot of seaweed and some mud and garbage, but you could vaguely see that the traps were very new, with traces of wear and tear from the reefs in some places.

After taking them back to be repaired and cleaned, they can be reused. These traps are also a treasure. It depends on whether A Zheng and Xiao Xiao still want them.

Just as they were resting there and picking out fish, two fishing boats in the distance were slowly approaching them.

Ye Yaodong also stood up and looked through his squinted eyes. The telescope was placed on the Dongsheng for his father to use, so he could only use his own 5.3-meter-wide eyes to see.

Sure enough, the two boats approaching from afar were A Zheng and Xiao Xiao.

The two of them were already waving at him from a distance.

"Are they here to collect the squids?"

"Definitely."

"What if they see the cargo on our ship? They were the ones who dropped the traps."

"Then who let them hang on..."

The people next to him were talking, but Ye Yaodong ignored them.

He thought that if they wanted the traps, he would return them to them, but the goods must belong to him, he couldn't do it in vain.

He thought that Ah Zheng's boat was approaching, and he used a bamboo pole to hook the two boats together and side by side.

"Dongzi, I said that this boat should be yours. I saw you here the other day. Did you put down the branches? I was thinking that if you didn't put it down today, I would go home and tell you."

"Hey, why are there so many fish on your boat? Damn the traps! Did you catch these traps when you went into the water?"

"Ah~ Oh my god, I thought you put the machine on the big ship. If I had known, I would have come here earlier..."

As soon as he came over, he started talking non-stop. Then he looked at the cargo on the ship with surprise and talked a lot.

"Dongzi, say something..."

Ye Yaodong said helplessly, "You asked a lot of questions? Which one do you want me to answer? I came out this morning to salvage these traps and put down the branches. I just had something to eat and decided to take a rest, so I went in to see if there were any squids."

Ah Zheng became even more excited. "Can I go down with you to take a look? I have never seen how squids lay eggs."

"also."

Seeing that he didn't mention the traps and his attention was drawn to the squids, Ye Yaodong took the initiative to ask, "From what you said just now, you knew about these traps? You put them down."

Knowing is one thing, but you still have to ask. You can't just play deaf and dumb and take it away. If they want it, just give it to them.

"You know, I put them down, and a small part was put down by Xiao Xiao. Damn it, except for the front part where I could collect a little bit intermittently, it was worth losing a few traps, and the ones thrown down later could only get stuck at the bottom. Fortunately, I made a lot of money in the front part, so I didn't lose money in the end."

"It's not a loss, that's good. Do you still want these traps? If you do, move over."

"Some of these are mine, and some are small. Without buoys, how can I tell which one belongs to whom? I don't remember how many I threw down. There were less than ten in the row at the back, so I just threw them down randomly. Forget it, I don't need them, so I'll give them all to you. Anyway, I made a profit, and you worked hard to get them up."

"I don't care, just give me the goods."

"When Xiaoxiao comes, I'll ask her. Can you let me wear that thing of yours and go into the water to take a look?"

"can."

He rubbed his hands together and was happy.

Ah Zheng's father looked at the cargo on the deck curiously and asked, "Are these all dumped out from the traps?"

"Yes, but they are not fresh. Some are smelly and rotten to varying degrees. We can't accept them."

We brought too few baskets today and were not prepared enough. We had previously picked up the stale fish and put them in the baskets separately. Later we had to free up the baskets to hold the fresh fish.

These stale and rotten ones can only be thrown on the deck first, and then some baskets will be brought over to hold them when we return to the shore.

Ah Zheng's father had a look of regret on his face. "There are so many. It looks like there must be several thousand kilograms. If they were all fresh, we would make a lot of money. It looks like there are also some good sea bream and small blue dragon."

"Not only that, there is also a 3-jin tiger grouper, a 2-jin bluestone grouper, and a small mouse grouper. What a pity, they are all rotten now."

Ah Zheng glared at him, "Fuck, that's a pity, is there anywhere else you can buy this equipment? If I had a set, these things wouldn't be rotting in the sea."

"There is no place to buy them for now. A few days ago, I wanted to get two more sets and take them to Zhejiang Province after a while, but I couldn't do it. The way has been cut off."

"Well, it's a shame that so much of the stuff is stinking."

"Who said it wasn't? Fortunately, they thought of taking it back to dry and grind it into powder, and then feed it to the chickens and ducks, so it's not a waste."

As Ye Yaodong said this, he was also driving away the seabirds that were swooping down from all directions. The seabirds had been flying around his boat all morning.

"So when are you going to get in the water?"

"Let's wait for the other boat to come over first."

They both looked towards the boat that was approaching.

Xiaoxiao also took a bamboo pole, used the hook on it to hook their fishing boat, and moved closer.

"I was the one who moved first, how come you came here before me?"

"I was close by. Dongzi salvaged a small portion of the traps we had dropped down there intermittently last year. He asked me if I wanted them back, and I said I'd give them to him. They were worn out anyway, and we couldn't tell whose trap was whose, and there was no mark on them."

"Oh, that's fine. I didn't lose anything anyway. They're already broken. I can take them back and mend them. I can't use them now anyway. I've been trawling all the time. I originally set up the traps to get some sea cucumbers and small blue dragons from the bottom and make some money. But later they kept getting stuck at the bottom. I almost lost money."

"I think so too. We don't have the ability to get down to the bottom. If we throw it down, we will just get stuck at the bottom, which is a waste."

Ye Yaodong said: "Then let's wait until we get it out of the water and take it back."

"Why are you still standing here? Go check out the squid."

"Didn't I just come here to have a chat with Dongzi, and wait for you to come over as well?"

Xiao Xiao looked at Ye Yaodong again, "Are you going to stay at home from now on? And you specially trapped squids."

"Almost. I will probably stay at home during this flood season while my father goes out to sea on the boat."

"Have you sold out your kelp? When I came back from the sea yesterday, I saw that they hadn't weighed the goods. When I asked, they said they had sold out."

"They probably haven't been sold out yet. Anyway, the previous shipments have been sold out. The rest will be piled up there and sold slowly. I don't need to be there. I can just arrange for someone to deliver the goods."

They both looked at him with great envy.

"How come you are getting more and more powerful? You look so glorious now."

"Yeah, how come you became so powerful secretly without telling us?"

Ye Yaodong said angrily: "Psycho! I became powerful openly and honestly, but you didn't participate, so you don't know."

Ah Zheng: "Damn, it will take another half a year before we can get the boat and go far away with you."

Xiao Xiao: "When I have a boat, I can also make a living. Every day I will hear people in the village talking about what fish you have caught, what rewards you have received, and whether the city has commended you and awarded you another 500 yuan."

"It's 1000 yuan!" Ye Yaodong corrected.

Xiao Xiao: "My facial features are distorted by envy, and I haven't even touched the light."

"Don't worry, not only did you not get any benefit from it, but even my father didn't get any benefit from it."

Ah Zheng: "Your father is so miserable!"

"Fortunately my father is not on the boat, otherwise he would be so angry that he would vomit blood after hearing what you said, and it would take him half a month to recover."

Ah Zheng said to Xiao Xiao, "Dong Zi said he wanted to go into the water to see if there were any squids. I want to go with him. You..."

"I want to go too."

"You're going to do everything. Do you want to follow me to eat shit?"

"Yes, I'll go and watch you eat."

"Suzuki Chicken!"

"Lin Bei is sleeping in!"

The two of them started glaring at each other and arguing across the boat, and their father quickly followed suit and scolded them.

The sound was not loud, but with the sound of waves and wind, Ye Yaodong could not hear it clearly.

He said, "Have you eaten yet? Take your time if you have just finished eating. If you have eaten for a while, come down with me. If you haven't eaten yet, come later."

"We've eaten." They said in unison.

"One of you will come with me, and the other one will go with Chen Shi. We'll take turns. And help me collect the traps down there."

"You never miss any opportunity to exploit us. If you follow us, we will have to untie the trap for you."

"Of course, it's good to use your free labor. We're going to go down anyway, so why don't you unlock the trap for me? I'll also let you see what you've done."

Ye Yaodong added righteously: "It is because of people like you who casually throw traps down to the bottom and fail to deal with them that there is so much marine garbage."

"You have to take responsibility for your actions. It is your obligation and duty to go down and remove the traps... The Party and the people have taught us that everyone has to take responsibility for their own actions..."

The two were dumbfounded by what he said.

"I heard you went to the Party School? How come you learned a lot?"

"Of course! You should also ask the village committee to report to you, and go to the party school. It will be very useful."

"What's the use? Can you speak in such a coherent way?"

Xiao Xiao saw the truth, "Is it possible to have a companion with you?"

Ye Yaodong laughed, "You can go and ask the village cadres for some popular science. Party members are very useful. Now I won't waste any more time talking nonsense. Come over here!"

"Oh my god! Are you speaking human language?"

"That's right. Is it wrong to let you crawl over here?"

"It doesn't feel like a good word coming out of your mouth. Can't you just say it?"

"Oh, then crawl over here."

A little bit angry, in order to go into the water and take a look, he decided not to bother with this foul-mouthed person.

While he was talking, Ah Zheng didn't care and crawled over.

"Dongzi, let's go down first and ignore him."

"Okay, you better listen."

Ah Zheng's eyes widened and he pointed his fist at the back of his head.

"You're getting more and more mean."

"I didn't say any bad words, unlike you guys."

"Okay, okay, hurry up. I'm uneducated, I have no manners, I just love to swear."

Everybody started laughing.

Ye Yaodong was so happy that he continued to have fun with them and make jokes.

The two put on masks, fins and air tubes, checked themselves and did some warm-up before jumping into the water.

He did not move the boat to the area around the island where he had dropped the branches. It looked the same from here, not that far away.

If there are squids laying eggs below, you can see them by going into the water. Then the three boats can move separately to their respective locations to drop branches.

At this moment, the other two ships were waiting by the side, while the sailors on Ye Yaodong's ship continued to sort the goods on the deck.

Xiaoxiao took a look around and exclaimed at their harvest, then squatted down to help.

After Ye Yaodong brought A Zheng into the water, A Zheng looked at the trap hanging on the reef and already knew what it was, so he was not surprised.

Only when I got closer did I open my eyes wide when I saw the black abalone shell on it.

He only knew that there were sea cucumbers, small blue dragons and river clams underneath, but he had no idea that there were also abalone, and quite a lot of them.

Damn! Dongzi got rich again!
I could see it when I followed him, but I couldn't pick it up. It made me so angry.

Ye Yaodong watched him rushing towards the reef, so he swam over and pulled him, motioning for him to look around first to see if there were any squids laying eggs.

It’s not too late to come back and work on these traps later.

However, when they turned around to circle along the reef, they saw that the trap in front of them was surrounded by many transparent squids.

Moreover, many squids were swimming towards them from a distance. The number was not large, but a small group was visible to the naked eye.

Then, with their wide eyes, they rushed directly towards the traps surrounding the reef, attached themselves to the traps and remained motionless.

Ye Yaodong was shocked.

Do these squids treat the traps below as branches to lay their eggs?
In theory, it is not necessary to use branches. Artificial egg holders can be made with iron wire, bamboo wire, branches, plastic branches, etc.

The ovipositor is used to attach the eggs to the hard-branched seaweeds of the squid for spawning.

In order to avoid falling directly to the bottom of the sea and being eaten by other marine life, they can also immediately eat floating diatoms, various algae, and some insects such as Noctiluca.

The two men looked at each other and moved closer to the trap, watching the transparent squids entangled in the fishing net with their tentacles.

After a while, some of the fishing nets were hung with small bunches of squid eggs that looked like small grapes.