Ye Yaodong was delighted too. He had only been scooping idly for fun, never expecting an unexpected catch.
When he took the fish out of the net, it still gave a couple of twitches.
Chen Jiannian said with some regret, "Only about a jin. Not very big-a little on the small side."
"It's fine. I'm only scooping for fun anyway. Size doesn't matter," he said casually.
Ye Yaosheng smiled and agreed. "As long as it brings good luck."
Ye Yaodong nodded. This fish certainly was auspicious, and pretty too, with its vivid, brilliant red coloring. Beaded with water, its scales gleamed beautifully in the sunlight.
People fishing by the sea generally considered catching a red seabream a lucky omen.
A good omen was enough.
Its size didn't matter.
Actually, there was a story behind the name "Red Seabream"...
Legend had it that Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, arrived in Dengzhou, now Penglai in Shandong, during his eastern campaign.
One day, he chose an auspicious date to cross the sea and visit the immortal mountains offshore, now Changshan Island. After tasting a beautiful, delicious fish on the island, he asked the civil and military officials accompanying him what it was called.
The officials dared not make something up, so they bowed with clasped hands and replied, "Your Majesty should bestow a name upon it."
Taizong was pleased. Thinking that he had chosen an auspicious day to cross the sea, and that tasting this fresh fish had added to the day's good fortune, he named it "Red Seabream."
Black jiaji fish were called black seabream, also known as sea bream. Red ones were called red seabream, while those with yellow fins were called yellow seabream or yellowfin seabream.
Fish in the sea had different names for even the slightest differences.
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