Everyone sat by the door bundling firewood. They twisted straw ropes as they worked, snapped the thin branches into shorter lengths, tied them into small bundles, and set them aside.
Father Ye and Mother Ye then lashed fishing nets onto frames made of three fixed bamboo poles, leaving only one cone-shaped opening in each net and suspending a bundle of branches in the center to collect the eggs.
Both cage-shaped and branch-shaped devices worked well for egg attachment.
The cage design effectively prevented large numbers of squid eggs from piling together without interfering with spawning. It also effectively protected the eggs from damage by other marine creatures.
Actually, if anyone wanted to farm squid, now was the best time.
After catching the squid, they could retrieve the egg-covered branches for hatching and rearing, maximizing their profits.
But people at the time had no concept of farming them, nor did anyone know how. Ye Yaodong did not know either. He planned to retrieve the branches with eggs attached once the spawning period was over.
They also called squid roe squid eggs, and those were good stuff too.
Several children helped carry the bundled branches over and stack them on the handcart, while others helped snap branches.
Bored, Lin Guangyuan dragged a bundle of branches over and joined in snapping them. "Why do we have to tie up so many branches to catch squid?"
Ye Chengyang asked innocently, "Do squid eat branches?"
"They'll hang the rice in their bellies on the branches, and we'll catch them while they're doing it. That way, we can catch more squid."
They commonly called the roe inside squid and small squid "rice" because it looked very much like cooked rice.
The children only half understood, but Ye Yaodong did not explain further.
Before long, Mother Ye