There weren't many hooks left. With practice, Ye Huimei had gotten the hang of it, following the line to the fish. Apart from the occasional empty hook, most of the remaining hooks held Toadfish, and she complained as she unhooked them.
"Why are there so many Toadfish? They're more than half the catch. There's no end to them."
"What else would there be so many of in the dead of winter? You certainly enjoyed eating them."
"Eating them is one thing. That doesn't stop me from thinking they're ugly!"
"Let's keep some more to dry tonight. We can prepare extra for the New Year. We won't go out to sea during the first lunar month. We'll stay home and enjoy the holiday."
Toadfish had no hard bones. Once dried, their bones became crisp. Their ugliness did nothing to affect their flavor.
Actually, he wanted to dry some Spanish Mackerel too, but at twenty or thirty cents a jin, he decided he might as well sell them. He wouldn't feel bad about drying these Toadfish worth only a few cents and keeping them to eat.
Mother Ye nodded. "All right. We're doing better this year, so we can keep more instead of scrimping so much. That two hundred jin we dried last time only came to thirty-odd jin afterward. Once we divided it up, there wasn't much."
"Then let's not sell any of today's Toadfish. We'll dry them all. There aren't that many anyway. We'll sell those baskets of more valuable fish."
Today, they had collected five baskets of Toadfish, two baskets of Spanish Mackerel, half a basket of Flounder, and a basket of mixed fish, including Sole Fish, Dai Fish, Black Seabream, Devil Rays, and so on. There were also a few other good fish, the most pleasing of which