Chapter 368: Daily Fortune
Chapter 368: Daily Fortune
As the fishing net was dragged up, mullets could be seen hanging on the white net.
Catching fish with this net was a tedious task, as each fish had to be removed individually.
Zhou Chenglei hoisted the net while simultaneously plucking the fish and tossing them into the basket.
However, there were too many fish on the net, and he couldn't pluck them all. Fearing that some fish might escape if the net stayed in the water too long, he decided to pull the entire net onto the boat and then remove the fish.
The deck was filled with fishing nets and fish.
Jiang Xia sailed for over an hour, and Zhou Chenglei spent an hour organizing.
There were too many to pluck; it was simply impossible to finish.
As they approached the dock, Zhou Chenglei went to guide Jiang Xia in docking the boat. After Jiang Xia successfully moored the boat, Zhou Chenglei went to make a phone call.
To sell the fish quickly, Zhou Chenglei hired four women from the dock to help sort the fish.
Upon seeing the boat full of fish, the women exclaimed, "You guys are so lucky to have caught so many fish!"
"Did you catch all these since last night?"
"You two are so young, and yet you're so diligent, going out to sea in the middle of the night?"
Jiang Xia smiled and replied to the women, "No, we went out to sea this morning."
"You caught all these fish this morning? You're so lucky!"
"These are all good fish, and they're expensive! You're so lucky!"
Jiang Xia added, "It's rare to have such good luck in a year."
Zhou Chenglei was about to call Xu Wen'an and the Marquis. He said to Jiang Xia, "You sit and rest. Don't sort the fish. I'll go call Manager Xu."
Jiang Xia nodded, "Go ahead!"
After Zhou Chenglei left to make the call, the women commented, "Your husband really cares about you! He doesn't want you to work hard."
"Are you pregnant?"
"Whose daughter-in-law doesn't have to work when she's pregnant? Men are better; they know how to care for their wives."
Jiang Xia sat there and smiled in response to their words.
The four women were efficient workers, and they finished sorting the entire boat of fish in about an hour.
Moreover, they thoughtfully separated the male and female mullets.
The price of mullets suitable for making black caviar is higher than those that are not.
The fish were neatly arranged in baskets on the boat, and even the fishing nets were organized and the deck was washed clean.
Jiang Xia paid each of the women one yuan as wages and gave them each a mullet and three jin of mud eel.
The standard wage at the dock was one yuan, so Jiang Xia followed the norm, but since the fish was theirs, they could give as much as they wanted, and no one could say anything about it.
The four women were delighted to receive their wages, a mullet, and several jin of mud eel.
A mullet could sell for four or five yuan, and although the mud eel was cheaper, it was delicious when cooked in a fish hot pot and could be taken home to eat.
Jiang Xia was generous, and they stayed on the boat without hurrying to leave. After Zhou Chenglei sold the fish, they even helped load the fish onto the car.
As the four women left, they warmly said to Jiang Xia, "Sister, remember to call us next time you have fish to sort!"
"We're almost always working at this dock, sorting fish, weaving nets, and mending fishing nets."
Jiang Xia smiled and agreed, "Okay."
After selling all the fish, Zhou Chenglei sailed away.
Jiang Xia sat in a recliner, counting and recording the money.
There were seven yellowfin tuna, one of which weighed over a hundred jin and was taken by Xu Wen'an for three yuan per jin.
The remaining tuna weighed over sixty jin each and were sold to the Marquis for two yuan and fifty cents per jin.
The total earnings from the tuna were one thousand two hundred and eighty-five yuan and sixty cents.
Zhou Chenglei separated the male and female mullets and kept over twenty of the largest female fish.
He planned to sell the rest.
There were 112 female fish and 536 male fish.
Jiang Xia exclaimed, "The gender ratio is way off!"
Zhou Chenglei explained, "A school of mullets usually has one female fish for every four male fish, so there are more males."
And a single female fish can lay 5 to 7 million eggs."
"That's a definite polyandrous system! Are the 7 million fish fry from the same father or different ones?" Jiang Xia couldn't help but ask.
Zhou Chenglei: "..."
"Speaking of which, are there usually more male fish? Is it all polyandry?"
Zhou Chenglei: "..."
He shouldn't have brought this up with her.
What nonsense is polyandry!
Generally, when fishermen catch mullet, they sell the male fish directly, while the female fish are gutted to extract the roe, which is sold separately from the meat. The roe is purchased by specialized factories that process black caviar.
Zhou Chenglei didn't want to deal with the complexity, so he sold the female fish at 1.2 yuan per jin and the male fish at 0.6 yuan per jin, selling them all directly to the Marquis.
There were 160 jin of female fish and 3,752 jin of male fish in total.
With this encounter of a large mullet, they earned a total of 35.23 yuan and 2 cents.
They kept a blue-spotted mackerel, selling the rest for a total of 3.97 yuan and 6 cents.
Zhou Chenglei didn't sell the black tiger shrimp; he took them home to eat, and any leftovers were dried.
Then he kept some squid, octopus, mud eels, and a large basket of small miscellaneous fish.
The rest were all sold, adding up to about 20 jin, earning 0.86 yuan and 37 cents.
In total, they sold for 71.34 yuan and 33 cents.
They still had to deduct the cost of two barrels of oil, a total of 0.4 yuan, labor costs of 0.04 yuan, and didn't count the damaged fishing net.
A few days ago, Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Chengxin went out to sea. Due to the cold weather, there weren't many fish, and they each earned around 200 to 300 yuan.
He hoped for warmer weather to earn back the furniture money before the New Year.
Zhou Chenglei also wanted to claim the Shipyard's welfare housing after it was completed, so he could immediately start renovations. Otherwise, after the New Year, when spring arrives and the weather becomes humid, it won't be ideal for renovations, and by summer, the baby will be almost due.
Renovations would require a significant sum, and after the New Year, in April, the custom-ordered fish cages would also arrive, requiring another substantial expense.
Currently, they truly didn't have much money left, with only over 5,000 yuan remaining.
Fortunately, today was another day of earning a fortune.
Finally, they became ten-thousand yuan households again!
Jiang Xia smiled, her eyes curving.
Zhou Chenglei watched as Jiang Xia counted the money, stacking each bill neatly with the same orientation, a smile on her face.
Her expression as she counted the money was like the setting sun's glow at the horizon.
Upon returning to the village dock, it was already 5:30 pm.
The Eldest Son's Family's fishing boat had also just docked not long ago.
They were still in line to sell their catch.
Tian Caixia saw Jiang Xia and eagerly asked, "Xiao Xia, how was your catch today? We had a good harvest today and can sell for over 200 yuan!"
Jiang Xia smiled, "Our harvest was good too."
Tian Caixia didn't ask how much Jiang Xia earned; after all, it wouldn't be a small amount, and asking wouldn't benefit her!
She asked Jiang Xia, "Did your Second Younger Sister go to your side? How much did they earn today?"
Jiang Xia shook her head, "I don't know. We encountered mullet, so Second Older Brother went to chase after them, and we went to the city dock to sell."
Tian Caixia widened her eyes, "You encountered mullet?"
"Mhm."
Tian Caixia turned and gave Zhou Chengxin a fierce glare.
It was all his fault, only good at increasing the family but not wealth!
Even when there's money to be made, he doesn't know to follow and seize the opportunity!
The outcome of following his lead is worse than squandering the family fortune!
Even the Wealthy Boy is no match for him!
If he had listened to her in the morning and followed Jiang Xia to feed the fish at Abalone Island, and then returned to Pearl Island to feed them, they wouldn't have missed the fish school!
This time, Li Xiuxian got the better deal!
It's all because Zhou Chengxin is stupid.
Zhou Chengxin, who was inexplicably hit by an eye-blade: "..."
What now?
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
