Ye Yaodong swam through the sea, gradually adjusting to the pressure of the water.
Panic had overwhelmed him only in that first instant when he jumped in. Luckily, he had warned his good-for-nothing friends beforehand, so they hadn't let him sink.
As he rediscovered the feeling of swimming freely in the sea, his fear gradually faded. He relaxed considerably and paddled toward shore with his arms and legs.
Originally, they had wanted to race to the opposite shore, but Ye Yaodong's behavior had given them a fright. Now none of them dared stray too far from him.
They swam slowly toward shore. Only when their feet touched bottom did they start wading toward the rocks. The tide was still going out.
A-Guang followed slowly behind them in the boat. Once he was close enough, he jumped into the water, secured the boat, and called to Ye Yaodong, "Dongzi, what the hell happened back there? You nearly scared me to death! Don't you know how to swim?"
"I jumped in too hard and got a leg cramp. That's why I sank. It's fine-it passed, and I was all right. See? I'm perfectly fine."
That jump had actually done him a lot of good. A scare, but no harm done.
A-Guang was left rather speechless. "You think you're still a growing boy?"
"Come on, after overdoing it the night before, a man's bound to have weak legs and run out of steam sometimes. A bachelor like you wouldn't understand."
Xiao Xiao laughed and chimed in, "Makes sense!"
A-Guang rolled his eyes. "Who are you trying to show off to? So you've got a wife-big deal! Come on, let's get the tools from the boat. Half the rocks are exposed already. We'll look around and dig up whatever we find!"
They had only just reached shore and hadn't even sat down for a breather before they waded back toward the moored boat. But the moment Ye Yaodong climbed aboard, his eyes widened.
"Over there... over there! Spanish mackerel leaping out of the water to feed!"
Everyone turned to look. In the distance, a school of Spanish mackerel was chasing prey through the shallows along the shore to their east. Their long, laterally flattened bodies were spindle-shaped and streamlined. With tremendous speed and sharp teeth, they hunted like cheetahs pursuing their prey, sending terrified little fish scattering in every direction.
Everyone instantly grew excited. "A school of Spanish mackerel feeding!"
"They're Japanese Spanish mackerel!"
Spanish mackerel were fierce by nature and often patrolled the shallow coastal waters in pursuit of prey from June through October each year.
As the saying went, for mountain fare, eat partridge and water deer; for seafood, eat Spanish mackerel and pomfret.
Marine resources were abundant in those days. Within sight alone, there were probably over a thousand Spanish mackerel feeding.
They had never seen such a spectacular sight before. For a moment, they could only stare in amazement!
"Nets! Nets! Did any of you bring any?" Ye Yaodong was beside himself with excitement. There were thousands of Spanish mackerel out there. At the prices of the time, even at twenty cents a jin, catching half of them would earn him a tidy sum.
Japanese Spanish mackerel generally measured at least forty to fifty centimeters long, with each fish weighing six or seven jin or more. Thousands of them... just how much would that be?
"Fuck, we don't have any nets!"
"We only brought shore-foraging tools."
"How were we supposed to think of bringing fishing nets?"
They each blurted something out, their excitement doused as if by a bucket of cold water. Without nets, how were they supposed to catch the fish? Jump in and scoop them up?
They were now every bit as frustrated as they had been delighted a moment earlier. It was like watching gleaming silver dance right before their eyes without being able to get their hands on it.
"Search the cabin and see if there are any! A-Guang's uncle uses trawl nets too. There should be nets on the boat, right?"
His reminder snapped everyone out of their daze, and they hurried to rummage through the cabin.
"Yes, yes! The net's here! It's in here!" Excitement rang through A-Guang's voice.
Ye Yaodong was overjoyed. With a net, they could actually catch the fish.
"Quick, quick! Untie the rope! We'll cast the net as we go. Head straight for that school of Spanish mackerel!"
They all knew what to do without him telling them. Some untied the rope while others worked on the engine.
A-Guang steered the boat toward the Spanish mackerel. On their way in earlier, they had approached the shore from another direction and hadn't seen the school at all. They had nearly missed it.
All four kept watching the school, thrilled and excited. The closer they drew, the more eagerly Ye Yaodong stared. He had only intended to forage along the shore of the isolated island and see if he could gather a little more seafood. He hadn't expected to hit the jackpot.
Perhaps all his bad luck had gone with him when he died. Now his fortunes had turned, and good luck was pouring in!
As they approached the school, the startled Spanish mackerel scattered in every direction, but they still couldn't escape the net that had already been cast.
The boat kept moving. Only after traveling a little farther did they haul in the net. At the sight of all those Spanish mackerel thrashing and flopping, everyone broke into broad grins.
A-Zheng's eyes widened. "Holy shit, how many hundreds of jin are in this haul?"
"Fuck, fuck, fuck! That many?"
Every one of them stared wide-eyed!
"Holy shit, hurry up! Stop talking! Dump them into the livewell and cast again! They're still nearby-they haven't gone far. Keep casting! We don't get chances like this often. Let's get a few more hauls while we can!"
Birds of a feather flocked together. None of them had much education, so "holy shit" was all they could come up with to express their excitement.
Ye Yaodong shouted too. "Keep going, keep going! Quick, dump them into the livewell and set the net again!"
That single haul filled the livewell as soon as they tipped it in. Fish that spilled onto the deck flopped everywhere, but nobody stopped to deal with them. They immediately cast the net a second time.
This time, they didn't haul it back in right away. Instead, they circled the surrounding waters twice before retrieving it. The Spanish mackerel that had scattered earlier couldn't have gone far, and this haul was plentiful too.
A-Guang yelled excitedly, "Fucking hell, another few hundred jin! Quick, quick, give me a hand! The livewell's full. Throw them into the cabin! Who cares whether they're alive or dead? As long as they're fresh, they'll sell!"
With a few more casts and a few thousand jin of fish, why would he bother going to work tomorrow?
Spanish mackerel were warm-water migratory fish that lived in coastal waters. Their fishing season ran from April to June, and they mainly fed on fish, shrimp, and other aquatic creatures. This outing had brought the men right into their feeding time.
"Keep going, keep going..."
The excited shouts of the four men rang out constantly aboard the boat.
Bare-chested and wearing nothing but shorts, none of them minded the sun beating down on them. Their faces shone with joyous smiles.
They cast another five or six times in succession. Each time, the net stayed in the water longer, and each haul brought in fewer Spanish mackerel.
Still, everyone was more than satisfied. Good fortune like this was something you could only hope for, never count on.
Looking at the livewell and cabin packed full of Spanish mackerel, their eyes gleamed with excitement.
"Outside Yujing Wharf, I've never seen this many Spanish mackerel! Hahaha! Coming out with Dongzi was definitely the smart move. His luck's been pretty hot these past few days, and now we've gotten a share of it too. Good thing we agreed yesterday. Fatty and A-Wei really missed out by not coming," A-Guang said excitedly.
He knew himself very well: his own luck had always been rotten, whereas Dongzi seemed to have stepped in dog shit these past two days—his luck was off the charts!
"Yeah, yeah! Dongzi really does seem to be on a lucky streak lately."
"Thanks to Dongzi's luck, we've struck it rich today!"
"Did you pray to Mazu before coming out?"
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