Going to the Wharf to Sort the Catch

Ye Yaodong chatted with everyone until nearly four, then dusted off his backside and stood up.

"I'm going to the wharf to help sort the catch. You guys take care of the seafood here. I'll come back once I'm done."

A-Guang looked at him in surprise. "You really have grown responsible?"

"Get lost!"

He lengthened his stride and hurried toward the wharf. By now, the tide had risen along the shore, and the fishing boats should be getting back soon.

When he reached the wharf, quite a few villagers were already gathered along the shore. Their family members were out fishing, and they were waiting to help sort the catch when the boats returned.

Mother Ye was already waiting there too. Only when she saw Ye Yaodong coming did she look satisfied.

She had been waiting ages without seeing him and had thought the little brat had let her words go in one ear and out the other again. If he had actually listened, there was still hope for him. He did seem to have improved a little these past few days.

Ye Yaodong spotted his mother too and walked over, grinning. "Mom, what are you doing here?"

"Because I couldn't trust you to come! What if you didn't listen, or forgot? Wouldn't that leave your dad and eldest brother with no one to help?"

"Why don't you trust me?"

"Are you trustworthy?"

A villager beside them said with a laugh, "A-Dong, you've come to help today too?"

"That's how it should be. When things are busy at home, you ought to lend a hand wherever you can. Young people should be hardworking and know when to pitch in."

He answered with vague grunts of agreement, his eyes fixed on the boats out at sea. Not many families in their village owned boats. Apart from a few moored along the shore, most had gone out fishing. The one heading toward them up ahead should be his father's boat, right?

"Dong, isn't that your dad's boat?"

"Probably? Let's wait and see. It'll be docking soon."

The little boat gradually slowed as it approached. They could now make out the blue paint on its hull and confirm that it was theirs.

Ye Yaodong and Mother Ye hurried down the stone steps, ready to receive the catch.

Father Ye saw that his third son had actually come to the wharf to help for once, but he said nothing. After docking the boat, he and Ye Yaopeng passed the catch over for them to carry ashore first.

The first basket off the boat held swimming crabs, followed by a basket of mantis shrimp. Apart from those, there were only a few jin of assorted seafood.

There looked to be just two or three jin of large sword shrimp, a dozen or so jin of the less valuable small sword shrimp, and two jin of small squid. The shuigu fish came in various sizes and needed sorting; there seemed to be a dozen or so jin of those too. There were also four or five jin of small yellow croakers. The rest were assorted small fish that weren't worth much.

There was nothing particularly big today, but the catch still looked pretty good!

Once everything had been unloaded, Father Ye moved the boat aside to free up the docking spot for the other boats still coming in.

Meanwhile, Ye Yaodong and the others carried the catch into the buying station. Swimming crabs of different sizes fetched different prices, so they had to tip them out and sort them, then bind their legs together with rubber bands.

Father Ye and Ye Yaopeng had already tied up more than half during their spare moments aboard the boat, but some remained unbound.

As soon as the swimming crabs were tipped out, their legs flailed wildly. They were lively and kicking, looking wonderfully fresh.

He picked up a few at random. Their shells were all quite hard. "They're nice and plump. Even the little ones have hard shells. Plenty of meat in them."

"The crabs have been pretty plump lately, and so have the mantis shrimp. They're packed with meat, and some even have red roe."

The three of them deftly bound the crabs' legs, then sorted them by size.

Mother Ye and Ye Eldest Son were both astonished by Ye Yaodong's nimble movements.

When had he ever done this kind of work? Yet he tied them up so neatly and efficiently, working just as fast as they did!

"You're pretty quick, Third Brother! Who would've thought?"

"Pfft, what's so hard about this? Just because you've never seen me do it doesn't mean I can't!"

"You little rascal. You won't do any work at home, but you go out and help other people, is that it? Day after day, you're always so irresponsible..."

He didn't argue as his mother nagged him. Ah, he deserved all of it.

Once they finished sorting the crabs, they tipped out the small basket of mantis shrimp. Those were much easier to sort; they only had to separate them by size. The sword shrimp and shuigu fish also needed sorting into large and small.

The larger ones could fetch a decent price, while the little ones weren't worth much.

They put all the cheap little fish and shrimp into a separate bucket, along with some tiny conger eels and assorted fish, to take home and dry.

Once the whole catch had been weighed, Father Ye went over to settle the payment, while the others headed home first with the Fish Catch.

"Mom, how much can today's catch sell for? There are over thirty jin of crabs altogether, big and small, and over twenty jin of mantis shrimp. There are a few jin of shrimp too, plus the other Fish Catch. It looks pretty good."

"Today's catch is quite good. They're buying the big crabs at thirty fen a jin and the smaller ones at twenty. Big mantis shrimp are thirty-five fen, and the small ones are twenty-six. Shrimp are a little more expensive, at fifty fen. With all the odds and ends, it should sell for thirty-odd yuan. But we still have to deduct two yuan for diesel. The engine costs money too, and it breaks down easily, so it needs frequent repairs."

"That's still pretty good. You could save quite a bit in a month!"

Mother Ye gave him a sidelong look. "You think we can go out every day and catch this much every time? We depend on the weather for our living. Who can say what'll happen at sea? Some of them only sold ten-odd yuan's worth yesterday."

"That's still better than doing odd jobs."

Ye Yaopeng earnestly invited him again. "Third Brother, why don't you take turns going out with us? We live by the sea, so we have to make our living from it. We ought to learn from Dad."

"Huh? You and Second Brother learn first. Once you've got the hang of it, I'll learn!"

Hearing him dodge the issue, Mother Ye opened her mouth to scold him, but forced herself to hold back. They were at the wharf, and since he had been reasonably hardworking today, she would let it go for now.

Once they split the household, she would have to make him go out fishing with them. For now, the money they earned could still go into the family pot to build the houses.

After the split, if the eldest and second sons went fishing with their father, wouldn't they have to get a share of the money? If the third son kept loafing around all day, he could only wait to starve or depend on his aging parents to support him. What kind of arrangement was that?

Other people raised sons to support them in old age. They had raised a lord and master!

Ye Yaodong had no idea what his mother was grumbling about inwardly. As soon as they reached the doorway, he slipped away, leaving only a remark that he wouldn't be home for dinner. In any case, he had helped with all the work he was supposed to do today.

Mother Ye felt helpless, but she also thought this was more like her third son. He had gone to the house plots, gathered seafood along the shore, and helped at the wharf today. He had been so hardworking that she had barely recognized him.

Ye Second Sister-in-Law curled her lip. "He only just started looking a little dependable, and now he's run off again!"

"Let him go. It's already good enough that he helped with the work. Each of you pick out a bowl of fish and shrimp to take to your parents. Clean the rest. Braise the bigger fish and dry the smaller ones. Do the same with the little shrimp: boil a bowlful, then shell and dry the rest. In this weather, they won't keep until tomorrow."

All three daughters-in-law agreed. Lin Xiuqing's parents lived farther away, so she had no chance to take them any Fish Catch. She could only watch her two sisters-in-law take fish back to their parents while she stayed behind to clean the rest.

Only after the other two had gone some distance did Mother Ye say to Lin Xiuqing, "Decide when you're going to visit your parents. I'll set aside some good seafood beforehand for you to take back."

"All right, Mom. There's no rush. I'll wait until I go back with the Mid-Autumn gifts."

With three sons, Mother Ye had always tried her best to treat them equally.

A note on prices:

Over the past few days, I specifically asked my dad about seafood prices in the eighties. My grandparents were seafood wholesalers back then. My dad was eighteen or nineteen and went with them to the nearby ports and wharves to buy seafood wholesale, so these prices shouldn't be far off.

The only exception is yellow croaker. It wasn't worth as much back then as it is now. My dad said wild yellow croakers weighing one or two jin sold for just sixty fen a jin.

Back then, a master craftsman earned a little over two yuan a day, while a laborer doing rough work earned only a little over one yuan. Even at that price, ordinary people generally couldn't bear to spend money on yellow croaker. Only the wealthy could afford to eat it.

Seafood generally cost a few dozen fen per jin back then, but ordinary people still hated to spend money on it. After all, daily wages were only one or two yuan. Bombay duck, also called tofu fish, cost just six fen a jin at the time.

The price I gave large yellow croaker at the beginning of this book was actually a little high, but that was to set up the plot. Just take it as part of the story rather than comparing it with prices back then. Only the yellow croaker price has been inflated.

This book will continue using that inflated yellow croaker price. I just wanted to make that clear.

I've also corrected the earlier mantis shrimp price. Next time, I'll make sure to ask about the price before writing.

This is a bit of an aside to let everyone know what things were really like. The other seafood prices are basically in line with prices at the time.

My family didn't know I was writing a novel. I was terribly embarrassed, but I thickened my skin and asked my dad anyway. Now everyone in the family keeps pestering me about my humble work. Awkward...

While I'm here, please bookmark the book and keep reading. Tips would be even better. After all, while a new book hasn't gone behind the paywall yet, there's no writing income. I'm doing this purely for the love of it!

Thank you all for your support! A bow to you!