Ye Yaodong swam in the sea, gradually getting used to the pressure of the water.
At first, he had jumped into the sea with a rush of panic, but thankfully he had warned his friends beforehand, preventing him from sinking.
As he regained the feeling of swimming freely, his fear began to fade.
Relaxing his mind, he paddled with his hands and feet towards the shore.
Initially, they had thought about racing to see who could reach the opposite side first, but Ye Yaodong's unexpected dive startled them.
Now, none of them dared to swim too far from him.
They swam slowly toward the shore.
Once they touched land, they dipped into the water again, heading toward the rocks as the tide was still receding.
Ah Guang leisurely piloted the boat behind them.
When they got closer, he jumped into the water, secured the boat, and shouted to Ye Yaodong, "Dongzi, what was that just now? You nearly scared me to death! I thought you could swim!"
"I jumped too forcefully and cramped my leg. That’s why I sank, but it's fine now, I'm all right," Ye Yaodong replied.
It turned out that jump had yielded some surprises, and in retrospect, he felt it wasn’t too dangerous.
Ah Guang rolled his eyes, "What do you think, you're still growing?"
"Hey, I overdid it the night before. Sometimes my legs get weak when I'm tired. You single guy wouldn’t understand," Ye Yaodong retorted.
Little Xiao giggled, "That makes sense!"
Ah Guang scoffed, "Who are you picking on? Having a wife makes you special? Let’s go get the tools from the boat. The rocks are half exposed now; let’s see what we can dig up!"
The group had just reached the shore, barely had they a moment to rest before heading back into the water towards the boat.
As soon as they climbed aboard, Ye Yaodong's eyes widened.
"Over there… over there! Spanish mackerel are leaping to hunt!"
The others turned around in a hurry.
They saw a school of Spanish mackerel chasing prey in the shallow waters to their east.
These fish were long and flat, spindle-shaped, moving like arrows through the water.
With incredible speed and sharp teeth, they pursued the frightened small fish desperately trying to escape.
Excitement surged through everyone.
"It’s a school of Spanish mackerel hunting!"
"It’s the big ones!"
Spanish mackerel, known for their ferocity, usually swim in the shallow waters from June to October seeking food.
The saying goes: "In the mountains, one catches pheasants and deer; in the sea, it’s mackerel and pomfret."
In this era, the ocean's resources were abundant, and with their eyes they estimated there were thousands of mackerel hunting around them.
They had never seen such a grand scene; it left them momentarily in awe.
"Do we have fishing nets?!" Ye Yaodong shouted excitedly.
There were thousands of mackerel, and at the market price of two dimes a pound, he stood to make a good profit.
Each Spanish mackerel usually measured over 40 to 50 centimeters and weighed 6 to 7 pounds—what an astonishing calculation!
"Whoa, we don’t have fishing nets!" someone exclaimed.
"We only brought tools for scraping the sea."
"Who thought we’d need nets?"
Everyone voiced their disappointment, realizing they had nothing to catch the fish.
Just moments ago they had been overjoyed, and now they felt frustrated seeing the silver fish right in front of them but having no means to catch them.
"Let’s check in the boat's cabin... maybe there's a net? Ah Guang’s uncle is a trawler; surely there’s a net on board?" With this reminder, they sprang into action and searched the cabin feverishly.
"Yes! Yes! We found the fishing nets!" Ah Guang shouted, his voice brimming with excitement.
Ye Yaodong couldn’t contain his joy.
With fishing nets, they could finally catch the fish.
"Quick, let’s lower the nets! We can throw them while we’re moving the boat, head straight for that school of mackerel!"
Without needing to say much more, everyone got to work—some untied knots, while others handled the machinery.
Ah Guang expertly maneuvered the boat towards the school of mackerel.
They had approached from a different direction and had nearly missed the hunting fish.
As they drew closer, the mackerel scattered in fear.
However, they couldn’t escape the net that was thrown ahead of them.
The boat didn't stop; they continued a little further before lifting the net.
When they saw the wriggling mackerel, every face broke into broad smiles.
Ah Zheng's eyes widened, "Whoa, this net must weigh several hundred pounds!"
"What? So many?" each one of them was speechless, staring in disbelief.
"Quick, quick, don’t waste time—throw them into the live well! They’re still close by; let’s catch more while we can!" The excitement spread among the group, their emotions betraying their lack of sophistication in the situation.
Ye Yaodong shouted, "Keep going! Pour them into the live well and throw the net again!"
As soon as the net filled the live well, it was overflowing.
Fish were flopping everywhere on the boat, but they didn’t mind.
They quickly threw out the second net.
This time, they let the net stay a little longer in the water, circling twice before lifting it.
The recent escapees hadn’t gone far, and once again, they had a sizable catch.
Ah Guang yelled enthusiastically, "Damn it, we’ve got another few hundred pounds! Hurry up, help! The live well can’t hold anymore; toss them into the cabin—fresh fish sell just the same, alive or dead!"
With a few more nets, they could gather several thousand pounds.
Why would he need to work tomorrow?
Spanish mackerel are coastal fish, known for their migratory nature in warm shallow waters.
The season to catch them is between April and June, and their primary diet consists of smaller fish and shrimp.
They were lucky to find them hunting today.
"Keep going!" The boat echoed with their excited shouts.
The four of them, bare-chested in their shorts, didn’t care about the sun.
Their faces shone with joy.
They cast out net after net, the time spent in the water prolonged with each.
The number of mackerel decreased, but everyone felt satisfied.
Such luck was rare and precious.
Looking at the live well and cabin filled to the brim with Spanish mackerel, their eyes sparkled with thrill.
"I’ve never seen this many mackerel outside of the fish market! Hahaha! Following Dongzi out was a wise choice; his luck has been booming lately! We’ve benefited so much—thank goodness the fatty and Ah Wei didn’t come yesterday; they would have missed out!" Ah Guang cheerfully stated.
He knew well that he usually wasn't lucky, while Dongzi had been riding a wave of good fortune recently.
"That's right! Dongzi really has been lucky these days."
"Thanks to Dongzi, we're going to strike it rich today!"
"Did you go pray to the sea goddess before coming out?"
(End of this chapter)