The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 32: Chapter 32: Small Yellow Croaker Overload! Big Lobster Overload

Liang Xiaoyu quickly handed another fishing net to Han Xiaorui. ”The school of fish hasn’t scattered yet, Xiao Rui! You cast the net, and I’ll handle the fish.”

With that, Liang Xiaoyu took the net off the net hauler and dumped the small yellow croakers out of it.

Small yellow croakers are the type of fish that basically die as soon as they’re out of the water due to the change in pressure. They need to be kept cold.

She sorted the small yellow croakers by size and placed them into different fish holds, which were filled with ice to keep the temperature low.

Liang Xiaoyu was very diligent. With swift and nimble hands, she quickly sorted them. Several hundred jin of small yellow croakers were processed in just a few minutes.

Some of the particularly small ones were placed in a bucket to the side instead of in the fish holds.

These tiny little croakers, once cleaned and gutted, could be coated in flour and deep-fried to make delicious, crispy fried fish.

There were also other miscellaneous fish and some octopuses, which were all sorted into different containers.

Liang Xiaoyu also tidied up the fishing net.

With someone to help, Han Xiaorui could focus completely on casting and then hauling in the net.

Liang Xiaoyu began another round of sorting, her movements incredibly fast.

Seeing how capable Liang Xiaoyu was, Han Xiaorui thought, ’Asking her for help was the absolute right decision.’

Net after net, Han Xiaorui and Liang Xiaoyu worked together in perfect sync.

Joy shone in their eyes, and they were so busy they didn’t even have time to talk!

Each haul brought in anywhere from several dozen to over a hundred jin. Most of the fish were surprisingly around one jin each, with another portion around half a jin. They only kept a few that were three liang.

After a full hour, the school of fish finally dispersed.

All the fish holds were full, and even the buckets on deck were filled to the brim.

Liang Xiaoyu’s back ached from exhaustion, but she was thrilled. ”Oh my goodness, Mazu be praised! We’ve caught so many small yellow croakers.”

Han Xiaorui smiled and looked up at the sky. ”Sister-in-law Xiao Yu, you sort out the nets while I start the boat. Let’s go pull up the shrimp traps and head back early.”

”You got it!” Liang Xiaoyu sat on a small stool, the corners of her mouth turned up in a smile as she organized and cleaned the fishing nets.

A short while later, they reached the spot where they had left the shrimp traps.

When Liang Xiaoyu saw the shrimp traps, her eyes nearly popped out of her head. ”Mazu be praised! Xiao Rui, did you stumble upon a lobster den?”

The traps were packed with lobsters, twenty to thirty in each one.

On previous trips out to sea, Liang Xiaoyu had seen other people’s traps. Getting seven or eight in a single trap was considered a good haul.

’There were a hundred and twenty traps in total. How many jin is that going to be?’

”Xiao Rui, should I just take the big lobsters out and sort them by size into the large buckets?” Liang Xiaoyu asked. ”I’m worried they’ll fight.”

Han Xiaorui nodded. ”Once the buckets are full, just stack the traps directly on the boat. We can deal with them at the pier. Otherwise, we’ll pull them out and have nowhere to put them!”

”Okay!” Liang Xiaoyu agreed. She put on her gloves and started sorting, her movements practiced and skillful.

When she saw the second trap, Liang Xiaoyu was stunned all over again. It held even more than the first one.

After pulling up several more traps in a row, Liang Xiaoyu was numb to the shock. She just assumed Han Xiaorui had found the dens for both lobsters and crabs.

The two large buckets were filled with the lobsters and crabs from just twenty traps.

The remaining hundred-plus traps all had to be stacked on the boat’s deck.

Liang Xiaoyu stared at the teeming masses of large lobsters in disbelief. ”Xiao Rui, you said before that you were good at fishing, but I just thought you were lucky. Now I see that fishing isn’t just about luck. Your skills are truly incredible.”

”Even a veteran fisherman might not be able to find a lobster den this good. Look at these lobsters! Most of them are over a jin, and some are even bigger.”

Han Xiaorui smiled. ”You can rest assured now, right? You won’t be losing out by coming to sea with me. I’ll pay you ten yuan a day as a wage, and I’ll also give you a monthly bonus.”

Liang Xiaoyu nodded repeatedly, smiling. ”Xiao Rui, thank you so much. But to everyone else, I’m just going to say you pay me five yuan a day with no bonus. I’ll save up the other five yuan and the bonus as my own private money.”

While steering the boat, Han Xiaorui gave Liang Xiaoyu a thumbs-up. ”Sister-in-law Xiao Yu, that’s the right way to do it. Save up and buy a house in the city later. With the Reform and Opening-Up, the housing prices in a place like Shencheng are bound to go up.”

Liang Xiaoyu nodded. ”Right. I heard the schools in the city are better than ours in the countryside. If I buy a house, I can send my child to school there.”

The two mothers looked toward the future, all for the sake of their children.

They arrived at the pier, and it was only twelve o’clock.

With so many lobsters on the deck, anyone who wasn’t blind could see them, and a crowd gathered to watch the spectacle.

Normally, the catch is kept in the fish holds. Only when the holds are overflowing do people put the extra fish and shrimp on deck.

Han Xiaorui paid two aunties from the pier to start sorting the lobsters and crabs.

She used a phone at a nearby shop to call Boss Zhang from the seafood restaurant, telling him to bring people over to haul the seafood away.

As soon as Boss Zhang heard there were lots of small yellow croakers, large lobsters, and swimming crabs, he got extremely excited.

He didn’t even bother with lunch and rushed over with his men.

In the past, Han Xiaorui had caught an incredible number of groupers, Luo Duan, and Big Yellow Fish, but seeing this many small yellow croakers and large lobsters still left Zhang Fa Cai stunned all over again.

Boss Zhang was grinning from ear to ear and spoke with even more politeness and enthusiasm. ”Xiao Han, congratulations on the haul!”

”Right back at you, Boss Zhang!” Han Xiaorui laughed. ”The small yellow croakers are sorted. Let’s weigh these first.”

Seeing the fresh small yellow croakers, Zhang Fa Cai’s face lit up with a smile. He called his young workers over. ”Small yellow croakers over one jin are 6 yuan/jin; those over half a jin but under one jin are 4 yuan/jin.”

Han Xiaorui gave Zhang Fa Cai a thumbs-up. ”You’re a generous man, Boss Zhang!”

The two strong young men worked quickly, sorting through all the small yellow croakers in just ten minutes.

The larger small yellow croakers: 530 jin at 6 yuan/jin, for a total of 3,180 yuan.

The smaller ones: 420 jin at 4 yuan/jin, for a total of 1,680 yuan.

In total, the small yellow croakers sold for 4,860 yuan.

Liang Xiaoyu, along with the two women, finished sorting the crabs and lobsters.

Large lobsters, over one jin: 620 jin at 4 yuan/jin, for a total of 2,480 yuan.

Large lobsters, between half a jin and one jin: 293 jin at 2 yuan/jin, for a total of 586 yuan.

Han Xiaorui didn’t sell the ones under half a jin. She threw them all back into the sea to let them grow bigger for a future catch.

The swimming crabs were mostly around one jin each. There were 215 jin in total, and at a cheaper price of 1 yuan/jin, they sold for 215 yuan.

From this one trip, she sold a grand total of 8,141 yuan.

Boss Zhang paid her 8,150 yuan directly.

”Thanks, Boss Zhang.” Han Xiaorui accepted the money and counted it herself.

Zhang Fa Cai smiled. ”It’s a pleasure doing business with you. I have to get this shipment out, so I won’t keep you, Xiao Han.”

”Don’t mention it, Boss Zhang. I should be heading home too.” Han Xiaorui paid the temp workers one yuan each and called for Liang Xiaoyu to leave with her.

As the boat moved at a slow pace, Liang Xiaoyu hauled water up from the sea and washed the fish holds and deck until they were spotless.

Liang Xiaoyu felt dizzy. ’They earned eight thousand yuan in a single morning?’

’My god!’

’Yang Jianming must have been blind to divorce such a good wife!’