He turned the Rolling Wheel, hauling in the net while his father removed the fish behind him. The Parrotfish was pulled up in front of Father Ye too.
Father Ye said delightedly, "This one looks pretty big. It must weigh over three jin."
"I just found a piece of red coral in its mouth, a little bigger than a fingernail."
"What would you want that for? It's useless. Just throw it back into the sea."
"Why throw it away? That bright red looks so festive. I'll take it home and keep it. It might be worth something someday."
"What could that stuff be worth? People wouldn't want it even if you gave it away..." Father Ye said dismissively. "Your eldest aunt brought a basket of red, pink, white, and black ones a few years ago. Your mother threw them all into the sea as rubbish..."
"Holy shit!"
Ye Yaodong's eyes widened in shock. He stopped hauling the net and turned to his father. "Seriously? How come I never knew?"
Father Ye rolled his eyes at him. "Why such a big reaction? Get back to work. Once we finish hauling this in, we need to head ashore and get home before sunset. Aren't you going to town to sell the Oarfish? What are you dawdling for? There's only a little left. Let's finish and head back."
"Ah... no, did Mom really throw away a whole basket of coral?"
Father Ye found his reaction rather baffling. It was just some worthless stuff. He ignored the question, bled the Parrotfish, then stepped forward to turn the Rolling Wheel himself.
There wasn't much of the Gill Net left. It was only a hundred-meter, three-layer net with three-finger mesh to begin with.
"No, Dad, did Mom really throw away a basket of coral?"
He couldn't