After the catch was weighed, he bought another hundred jin of cheap mixed small fish and twenty jin of little shrimp from A-Cai, all intended for bait. He still had a dozen or so jin of that day's catch from the Fishing Pots in his bucket.
He could probably trawl up a little more when he went out that night, which should just about be enough. He put these purchases on his account; they could simply be deducted when the time came.
After recording it, A-Cai handed him two cigarettes and chatted with him. "Hey, brother, I haven't seen you for days. The sea's been calm these past two days. Why haven't you been out? How come you've only got this little bit?"
"My father-in-law broke his leg in a fall, so I went back with my wife to visit him and helped him work for a couple of days. We only got back this morning. The Fishing Pots had been sitting out at sea for days without being checked. The fish had gone bad, so I threw them away. That's why there doesn't look to be much."
"Oh, I see. You certainly needed to visit him, then. Quite a few more people in the village have started Longline Fishing lately, so these little fish and shrimp of mine have been selling especially well. Good thing you came early today. Any later and they'd have been gone. Let me know ahead of time next time you need some, and I'll save them for you. Otherwise, getting your bait won't be easy."
"All right. Thanks for that."
His thanks were quite sincere this time, without his usual flippancy.
Having no bait would be a real problem. His thousand hooks needed a considerable amount, so letting A-Cai know and having him set