Chapter 420: School of Fish
Chapter 420: School of Fish
Coral Island is an island primarily composed of coral reefs.
From a distance, the area is lined with coral reefs and beaches.
There is an isolated island farther from the shore, resembling a giant lying prone on the sea surface.
Jiang Xia only saw a bit of greenery at the island's peak, or the top of the coral reef. Everything else was just rocks.
Jiang Xia gently nudged the person beside her with her elbow and asked, "Doesn't that small island look like a giant wearing a green hat?"
Zhou Chenglei: "..."
With her imagination, Zhou Chenglei was even a little worried about her college entrance exam essay.
Zhou Chenglei circled the coral island, looking for a suitable place to dock.
He didn't dock the boat too close and stopped the boat.
Jiang Xia looked at the exposed coral reefs and the submerged ones, with many sea scallops attached to them.
He said to Jiang Xia, "I'll go into the water. If you're tired, you can take a nap on the boat."
Even if it wasn't the dead of winter, Jiang Xia's current physical condition wasn't suitable for going into the water.
Jiang Xia nodded. "Okay."
There was no way she could sleep. How could she possibly sleep soundly while he was in the sea alone? She had to keep an eye on his situation in the water.
She could rest on the recliner, eat some fruit and snacks, and pass the time by reading a book.
Zhou Chenglei warmed up, threw a bundle of grass rope onto the coral reef, then changed into his diving suit and jumped into the sea.
These grass ropes were used to collect sea scallop larvae.
Zhou Chenglei climbed onto the coral reef, picked up one end of the grass rope, and found a slightly protruding coral reef in the water. He tied the grass rope to it, then moved a stone to secure the grass rope.
Otherwise, the constant washing of seawater could easily loosen the grass rope, which would then be washed away by the waves.
After securing one end of the grass rope, he held the grass rope and swam around the coral reef, encircling the reef covered in sea scallops with the rope.
Every one or two meters, he found stones to secure the grass rope to prevent it from being washed away by the seawater.
After securing one grass rope, Zhou Chenglei continued with another.
This time, they had brought six grass ropes, and after securing all of them, more than an hour had passed. Then he started collecting the sea scallops.
Since they were already in the sea, they might as well collect some to take home to eat.
The sea scallops were tightly packed and attached to the outcome. The sea scallops here had never been harvested, and they were densely packed.
To save time, Zhou Chenglei used an iron spade to scoop them into the net bag one section at a time.
He didn't bother picking up the ones that fell into the water.
He scooped up the section with the largest scallops.
In no time, he had filled a large net bag.
He tied it to the rope Jiang Xia had thrown down, and in a while, he would be able to lift it directly onto the boat and continue scooping the next net bag.
The ebb tide was fast, and the rising tide was even faster. Being in the middle of the sea, the tide rose even faster.
Zhou Chenglei scooped two net bags, and the tide started to rise.
However, with Jiang Xia on the boat, Zhou Chenglei didn't have to worry.
He scooped one more net bag before climbing onto the boat.
After removing his diving equipment and putting on his clothes, he lifted the three net bags of sea scallops onto the boat.
Jiang Xia squatted and looked through the three large net bags of sea scallops, laughing. "So fat, we'll have a feast tonight."
Zhou Chenglei: "I don't know if they taste good."
He had never tried this.
Jiang Xia laughed. "They should taste good."
Of course, Jiang Xia felt that mussels weren't as tasty as oysters. She found the mussels to be a bit stronger in flavor, not as fresh as oysters, but the texture was different. Fresh mussels were still delicious.
Moreover, dried mussels became dried mussels, which could be used to make porridge or soup, enhancing the freshness and aroma.
Zhou Chenglei went to start the boat. "You take a nap, and I'll drive the boat."
Jiang Xia didn't sleep, and Zhou Chenglei could tell at a glance.
He knew what she looked like when she woke up.
When Jiang Xia woke up, her complexion would be rosier than before, with a subtle blush, a delicate pink.
She looked very pretty.
"I'll sleep a little more." Jiang Xia was indeed tired, but she planned to wait until Zhou Chenglei finished casting his net before going back to sleep.
Zhou Chenglei raised the anchor and started the boat, heading towards the direction where Zhou Fu and the others were beachcombing, wanting to see if his father and the others were on the boat.
The other three boats were beachcombing in that area today, so Zhou Chenglei didn't need to worry about Zhou Mu and Zhou Fu not having a boat.
Knowing that she was the type who could fall asleep as soon as she lay down, Jiang Xia didn't sit in the deck chair. Instead, she stood next to Zhou Chenglei, watching him steer the boat.
Zhou Chenglei embraced her and let her lean against him.
After the boat had traveled a certain distance, Zhou Chenglei was about to cast his net when Jiang Xia spotted countless seabirds circling in the distance.
Jiang Xia immediately pointed in that direction because she wasn't sure which way was north, south, east, or west, so pointing would be accurate!
"There's a school of fish!"
Wherever there are seabirds circling on the water, there must be a school of fish.
"I'll steer the boat, and you go cast the net."
Zhou Chenglei looked over, and it seemed like the school of fish would follow the tide to their side.
Zhou Chenglei handed the boat's control to Jiang Xia and went to cast the net.
Using a trawl net at this time wasn't a good choice; it would be better to use a surround net, but their boat didn't have the equipment for surround net fishing.
If the two boats were together, they could manage it.
Zhou Chenglei directly deployed the drift net and then went to steer the boat.
Jiang Xia, holding the telescope, watched the seabirds catching fish: "They should be yellowtail snapper or white croaker."
Zhou Chenglei took the telescope and confirmed that they were indeed yellowtail snapper or white croaker.
The distance was a bit far, giving Zhou Chenglei enough time to operate.
Jiang Xia watched as Zhou Chenglei steered the boat towards the flock of seabirds, circling them in a wide arc to enclose the area where the birds were flying.
Then he stopped the boat, giving the fish time to enter the net.
He only resumed the boat's course when he saw most of the seabirds gathering in one spot.
Zhou Chenglei said to Jiang Xia, "I'll operate the winch; you just keep steering forward at this speed. It takes time for the fish to enter the net."
"Okay."
Jiang Xia sat in the chair and took the helm.
Zhou Chenglei pulled up the fishing net, hung it on the winch, and started hauling in the catch.
Since it wasn't a trawl net, the fish weren't in a large bundle but were pulled up one by one, each yellowtail snapper hanging on the net.
This school of yellowtail snapper was plump, each weighing around eight liang.
It was still early, so Zhou Chenglei tried to take them down one by one, throwing them into the basket.
But there were too many fish on the net, and he couldn't manage to take them all, so he did his best, one fish at a time.
The seabirds were persistent, directly pecking at the fish on the net.
Some fearless birds even dared to steal fish from the basket.
If he had known they would encounter a school of yellowtail snapper, he would have called his parents over, as it would be faster with their help.
Soon, the boats from the eldest and second sons' families, as well as the family's fishing boat, were also attracted by the flock of seabirds.
The three boats approached Jiang Xia's fishing boat.
Tian Caihua saw Zhou Chenglei hauling in the net, with yellowtail snapper hanging on it, and her eyes widened: "You encountered a school of fish again?"
If she had known, she wouldn't have gone beachcombing! Most of the beach was filled with squid and conch, but there were few squid and many conch, which weren't valuable!
Li Qingmin's wife couldn't help but say to Li Qingmin, "Are those two trying to lure us to beachcomb while they catch the yellowtail snapper?"
(End of Chapter)
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