After Xiao Xiao and A-Zheng had eaten their fill, they said goodbye and left first.
Ye Yaodong watched the rapidly dwindling squid on the beach ahead and decided not to go down and compete with the seabirds again. There was still plenty of time to head out for another trawl.
It was afternoon by the time he finished hauling in the net and returned to the buoy marking the branches. Before the boat drew near, father and son saw schools of squid gathering beneath the surface, so they stopped short and began catching them.
One cast brought up a net filled to the brim.
There were clearly more squid today than yesterday. Hauling up one net reduced their numbers beneath the surface a little, but before long, they gathered again.
They immediately cast another net, then moved forward a short distance only after seeing that the numbers underwater had dropped considerably.
They spent the whole afternoon moving around the area and taking turns, stopping to rest only three times. The size of each haul varied.
Only when the sun sank toward the western hills did father and son stop, utterly exhausted, and lean against the gunwale to wipe away their blackened sweat.
Ye Yaodong rolled his aching arms. Casting the hand cast net so frequently was hard work. Luckily, there were two of them taking turns, and they only did it for half a day.
"The sun's setting. Shall we head back?"
Father Ye watched more squid swimming over nearby and was reluctant to leave. "How about another two casts? Looks like quite a few more squid are coming."
"We'll never catch them all. We've been working all day since we came out last night. This is enough. We've caught plenty today, several hundred jin. We can come again tonight.