The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 359: Chapter 359: Rivals of the Same Trade

Sorting the fish would take a long time, so Han Xiaorui didn’t wait. ”Uncle Yang, please keep an eye on things for me here. I’m going to head home first.”

Yang Zhigang nodded repeatedly. ”You must have been terrified after the earthquake. And you’re pregnant, so you should head home early.”

Ye Feng smiled. ”Then we’ll leave it in your hands, Uncle Yang.”

Watching Ye Feng and Han Xiaorui leave together, Yang Zhigang beamed. ”Boss Zhang, I’ll have to ask you to wait here. The fish in the hold have only been sorted by species, not by size, so it’s going to take some time.”

Zhang Guangnan was very polite. ”As long as there’s good fish, I’d be happy to wait here all day.”

Just as he spoke, Boss Wang from the seafood wholesale market walked over, looking a little displeased. His gaze turned even more unfriendly when he saw Zhang Guangnan.

Competitors are natural rivals, and Boss Wang felt that Zhang Guangnan was poaching his supplier.

”Old Yang, why aren’t you selling us your Bahabas and Golden Bahabas anymore? Did Zhang Guangnan offer you a higher price? Do you think the price I’m offering is too low?”

Hearing this, Yang Zhigang just smiled, his temper gentle. ”Old Wang, you’ve misunderstood me. If I’d wanted to work with Boss Zhang, I would have started selling my fish to him long ago instead of continuing to work with the seafood wholesale market.”

”It’s not that I don’t want to sell you the Bahabas and Golden Bahabas. It’s that I need to harvest the fish maws. If I gave you the remaining fish meat to wholesale, could you even sell it? What merchant wants a Bahaba or Golden Bahaba with its belly cut open?”

Boss Wang was taken aback. ”So you’re harvesting the maws from all of them? Over twenty Bahabas and seven or eight Golden Bahabas?”

Yang Zhigang nodded. ”That’s right. One of the younger generation in my family is pregnant. Since I can harvest the maws myself, there’s no need to spend a fortune buying them from someone else. The ones we prepare ourselves are the real deal.”

”That...” Boss Wang was at a loss for words. ”But isn’t that a lot?”

Yang Zhigang smiled. ”Good things are rare and hard to come by. Why do you think we have a fishing moratorium now? It’s because marine resources are dwindling, isn’t it? Especially these precious sea fish—they’re getting scarcer. Since we need them right now, we’re keeping them.”

”I have four granddaughters now. They’re still young, but they’ll grow up eventually. We all know about fish maw. If you store it properly, you can still use it twenty years from now. But in twenty years, you might not be able to catch such fine sea fish anymore.”

Anyone who had lived by the sea for a long time knew that marine resources were becoming increasingly scarce, not like in the old days.

Take the Big Yellow Fish, for example; you couldn’t just catch them at will like you used to.

Valuable sea fish were becoming fewer and more expensive.

”Old Yang, you’re right. You should keep the good stuff for yourself. And it’s true, fish that have been cut open are hard for me to sell. I was out of line today. I’ll treat everyone to drinks tonight. Boss Zhang, you come too. In the future, if you need to source anything, just let me know. If I have it, I’ll send it straight over.”

Boss Wang was very forthright and didn’t dwell on the matter. After all, no amount of money was more important than a family member’s health.

Zhang Guangnan chuckled. ”Sounds good! And I’d like to thank Boss Wang for his patronage and for supporting my little restaurant.”

Although Zhang Guangnan currently sourced most of his seafood from Han Xiaorui, his demand was growing, and he needed to procure from other places as well.

The wholesale market had the most complete selection and was the most convenient—a single phone call was all it took to get a delivery.

They hired an old master from the village to extract the fish maws. The remaining fish were then weighed and sold together.

This catch was a mixed bag and varied in size, but over ninety percent of it consisted of expensive fish. Especially since the economy had opened up, the prices for high-quality goods had risen significantly, and they were never hard to sell.

With the fishing moratorium about to start, both Zhang Guangnan and the seafood wholesale market were stocking up to use and sell later.

Because of this, the prices were quite high. The catch from Han Xiaorui’s boat actually sold for 410,000; the boat captained by Wu Guangfu sold for 350,000; and the fish from Qi Heng’s boat sold for 370,000.

The total from the three boats was over a million, a sum that was unimaginable to many, yet it had just happened in Jinshan Bay.

Yang Zhigang smiled at the crew and said, ”Everyone, clean up the boats, then head home early to rest. Get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow, I’m treating you all at Boss Zhang’s seafood restaurant. Everyone come! I’ll hand out your wages and commissions then.”

Everyone was overjoyed. This trip had been exhausting and dangerous, but they had really earned a lot of money. And it had only taken two days and one night—a very short time.

The fishing moratorium was about to start. While everyone felt they could use the rest, a break of nearly five months was a bit much to handle.

But during the moratorium, large trawlers and even regular fishing nets were strictly forbidden. They heard enforcement would be strict, with coast guard patrols.

Even on a small boat, just having a fishing net on board was considered illegal.

You could only fish with a line, and there were rules for the lines and hooks, too. A single rod with a single line and a single hook was allowed, but longline fishing was illegal.

”We got it, boss! We promise to get the boats cleaned up,” the crew replied.

Later, the fishing boats would also have to be sent to the shipyard for maintenance. After all, leaving them unused for five months could lead to problems.

Back home, Han Xiaorui took a hot bath.

While bathing, she clearly saw that her lower abdomen was beginning to swell. ’I’m starting to show,’ she thought. ’I need to find time for a prenatal check-up.’

Even though she was in good health, a check-up was still necessary.

When Han Xiaorui didn’t come out of the bathroom for a long time, Ye Feng called out, ”Xiao Rui, are you done?”

Han Xiaorui got out of the tub, drying herself off as she spoke. ”I’m fine. The bath felt so good, I just soaked a little longer.”

Wearing her loungewear, Han Xiaorui came out of the bathroom.

Ye Feng went in and tidied up the bathroom. It was, after all, their private en-suite.

Wu Jiao was at the kindergarten, in charge of security over there.

There were some sweet rice cakes at home. Han Xiaorui nibbled on one while asking Ye Feng, ”Were Pingping and An’an okay last night?”

”They were fine. Ate well, slept well. Wu Jiao was with them,” Ye Feng replied. ”Uncle Yang took them to buy some spicy malt candy, but he made them rinse their mouths out right after, so they won’t get cavities.”

Han Xiaorui didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ”Looks like I’ll have to cut back on the amount of candy I give Pingping and An’an. Uncle Yang buys it for them, you buy it for them, and when they go to their grandma and grandpa’s house, they get even more tasty sweets.”

”Pingping and An’an aren’t overweight, so a little bit is fine,” Ye Feng said with a smile. ”Speaking of which, I made an appointment at the hospital. I’ll take you for a prenatal check-up the day after tomorrow. Is that okay?”

”That’s perfect. I was just thinking about that, and you’ve already scheduled it for me,” Han Xiaorui said with a smile.

Just then, a car pulled up at the gate.

Ye Feng went to open it and saw that Kuno Hiroo had arrived.

”Kuno, what brings you here again?” Ye Feng asked with a slight laugh. The man was spending most of his time in Hua Country these days.

Kuno Hiroo smiled. ”I have a good business proposition to discuss with Ms. Han.”

”I heard about the police dog matter; that will be arranged in due time,” Ye Feng said. ”Besides that, what other ’good business’ could you have?”