Chapter 419: Coral Island
Chapter 419: Coral Island
Four boats sped off together towards the dark depths of the ocean.
Yesterday, Zhou Yongguo and Zhou Kangping had gone to feed the fish, but today, they didn't need to feed them and instead followed Zhou Chenglei to fish in the western waters.
The second wife's boat intentionally trailed behind, keeping a safe distance because they were going to fish. If they were too close, and the Zhou family saw what kind of fish they caught, it would be problematic.
After sailing for a while, the four boats began to maintain a safe distance and started casting their nets.
As they dragged the nets, they headed towards the western waters.
Since there was no fixed time for the ebb tide, they decided to go and check first.
Zhou Chenglei was at the helm, while Zhou Fu took the opportunity to catch up on some sleep.
He had been woken up by the village's beachcombing crowd at midnight the previous night and only managed to get three hours of sleep. Today, he wasn't in the mood for fishing, so he seized the chance to rest.
Jiang Xia, Zhou Mu, Tian Caixia, Great-Grandmother, and Zhou Kangping's mother (Second Uncle's Wife) were busy slaughtering squids.
With many hands, over a hundred squids were quickly dispatched, and the group chatted softly among themselves.
Before they knew it, the sky brightened, and the sun rose.
Zhou Chenglei steered the boat towards the area where they had gone beachcombing the day before.
As the tide had not yet started to ebb, they decided to haul in the net first. Zhou Chenglei woke up Zhou Fu, and the father and son worked together to pull in the net.
Jiang Xia took over the boat's controls.
Great-Grandmother watched Jiang Xia's skilled boat handling and couldn't help but walk over, observing her with a smile. "Xia has learned to pilot a boat so quickly?"
The others followed, moving away to avoid obstructing Zhou Fu and his son as they worked on the net.
Zhou Mu smiled and said, "Xia learns everything quickly. She's planning to take advantage of Chenglei's free time during the Lunar New Year to learn how to operate a large boat and then get her license."
Tian Caixia, surprised, asked, "Xia, do you intend to get a large boat license?"
Jiang Xia nodded. "Yes, I'm considering it."
Having already gone through the complex materials for the college entrance exam, she was now studying for the boat license.
Tian Caixia couldn't help but exclaim, "But fishing doesn't resume during the Lunar New Year. Why go out to sea just to learn how to operate a large boat? How much fuel would it consume in a day? And what's the point of getting a large boat license, Xia? It's not cheap to obtain a license, and it's not like you'll have much use for it anyway. After all, A-Lei has his license, so you can just let him drive."
Who in the village has a license to operate a boat? Zhou Chengxin got that license, but it's just sitting there unused since he obtained it!
Jiang Xia replied, "I'll see how it goes. I'm thinking of taking the exam during the Lunar New Year if it's easy. If it's challenging, I'll skip it. I initially planned to get a motorcycle license but figured I might as well get the boat license too."
Jiang Xia felt that since her family already had a large boat, getting a boat license would be a good backup plan. In case she and Zhou Chenglei ventured out to sea and encountered any issues, she could take over the helm if Zhou Chenglei was unable to drive.
No matter what license it was, the earlier you got it, the easier it was to obtain.
Tian Caixia thought getting a motorcycle license was more practical. "Getting a motorcycle license is more useful, even though it's not that useful either. Why don't you get a car license instead?"
Jiang Xia: "I already have a car license."
Tian Caixia: "..."
She already had a car license but not a motorcycle one?
No wonder she was the young mistress of the Jiang family.
Great-Grandmother smiled and said, "It's good to have a license! With a license, you won't be afraid of anything. Think about it; even when we stay in the city, we need to provide proof to stay in a hostel! A-Lei, you should also ask Yongguo to take the opportunity during the Lunar New Year to get a license. Get a tractor license too!"
Second Uncle's Wife agreed, "Yes, A-Lei, you should ask Kangping to get a license during the days he's not fishing in January."
When Tian Caixia heard this, she thought it would be a good idea for Zhou Chengxin to also get a license to captain a large ship. As for herself, she didn't want to waste money on a license, but learning to drive a large ship would be useful. She said to Jiang Xia, "Xia, when you learn to drive a large ship, call me, and I'll learn with you!"
Learning now with Jiang Xia could save her some fuel costs, and once their family had a large ship, she could drive it.
Zhou Chenglei also planned to have Zhou Chengxin learn to captain a large ship and get a license, so he agreed, "Alright!"
Seeing the two of them struggling a bit with the net, Zhou Mother went over to help.
Great-Grandmother and the others saw and also went over to see if they could assist.
Soon, a large bag of fish was dragged onto the ship.
Zhou Chenglei dumped out the fish, mainly small yellow croakers, yellow fin fish, seabass, and a big red snapper, along with some several-pound blue spot macker.
This area's blue spot macker was the best-tasting and most expensive of the macker, and that big red snapper alone was worth dozens of dollars.
Small yellow croakers, though not as pricey as the large yellow croakers, still fetched a decent price, selling for about seventy cents per pound by year-end.
Tian Caixia: "…"
Another net, and it earned what her family's ship would make in a day.
Tian Caixia looked at their ship, but didn't see much catch.
Great-Grandmother, smiling, "This net is really good, caught so many large fish, and plenty of small yellow croakers."
Second Uncle's Wife, "That big red snapper must weigh fifty pounds?"
The Great-Grandmother, moved a stool to sit and help sort the fish: "About right."
Second Uncle's Wife also sat down to help.
Sitting on someone else's ship for beach combing, helping with small tasks, was proper.
Tian Caixia also sat down to help.
Since today, their two ships should earn the same as Jiang Xia's, she wouldn't mind earning as much as hers, and being on par with what they earned would suffice.
Yesterday, the two ships together earned over a thousand five hundred!
Zhou Fu, driving the ship, Zhou Chenglei, putting the net, and Jiang Xia, helping to sort the fish.
With more people, sorting the fish went faster, half an hour to finish.
Zhou Chenglei, always heading further out to sea, several dozen miles away, remembered a reef island.
He wanted to check this reef island for sea scallops.
This telescope was a costly purchase.
Seawatch through the telescope, seeing the reef island, noting what was attached.
Jiang Xia held the telescope for a while, smiling, "It seems to be sea scallops indeed."
Zhou Chenglei, "Alright."
Two hours later, the net could be lifted.
This net was mainly slippery soles, not expensive, but could still fetch dozens of dollars.
Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Fu, heading to yesterday's beach, stopping the ship, and letting everyone else down.
Jiang Xia, with Zhou Chenglei, heading to the reef island.
(End of Chapter)
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