Chapter 421: You're Different
Chapter 421: You're Different
Li Father replied, "Nonsense! They're not fortune-tellers, and they can't possibly know in advance about the arrival of yellowtail snapper schools. It's just good luck, that's all!"
"You never know! They might have a way to lure fish schools, but they don't want us to know, so they avoid us on purpose."
Li Qingmin's heart inclined towards agreeing with his wife's words. He always felt that Zhou Chenglei had a way to lure fish schools; otherwise, why would his daily fishing trips yield more catch than others?
Li Mother said, "I suspect there's a secret. Remember how he wasn't willing to take you out to sea in the beginning, not even for a short while. Now he's always late, and he lets you go out to sea on your own without waiting for him. I estimate he's afraid you'll learn his fishing methods."
Li Father didn't know about this.
But he was aware that different fish required different fishing techniques, and even though Zhou Chenglei was well-traveled and knowledgeable, he might not know them all.
"Even if others have their methods, it's their business. It's normal not to want outsiders to know."
Li Qingmin's wife pursed her lips, her face filled with disdain. "Isn't it said that Ah Xian, this little brother-in-law, is the most capable and the most considerate? Hasn't he helped his brothers a lot over the years? We're outsiders, so it's fine if he doesn't tell us! But what about Zhou Chengxin? And what about my brother-in-law? They're both his elder brothers, yet he hasn't shared his fishing methods with them either! He only cares about his family getting rich, and they're already dripping with wealth!"
Li Mother said, "The eldest son's family is doing well. They got a share of the fishing boat, go out to sea together, and split the earnings fifty-fifty. They're making a good living. Now, only your sister is the poorest, no wonder she's anxious."
Li Qingmin's wife said, "When they divided the family assets, Ah Sen shouldn't have said he didn't want anything in the future! And Ah Xian shouldn't have agreed. They should have insisted on getting a share of the boat!"
Li Qingmin said, "Not getting a share of the boat was a loss."
Li Father sighed, "Enough! Your in-laws gave them a large sum of money to buy a house in town, and both Ah Sen and Ah Xian have good, stable jobs. Ah Xin and Ah Lei don't have jobs, so they rely on fishing for income. Ah Sen and his wife have respectable and stable jobs, which is already good enough."
"Besides, if the boat was divided between Ah Sen, he wouldn't have time to go fishing. Don't talk too much about this in front of Ah Xian; it might affect their marital relationship."
With Li Father's words, the three of them fell silent.
Li Qingmin's wife thought to herself, 'What marital relationship? Poverty affects marital relationships! Haven't you heard that poverty brings a hundred worries?'
Zhou Father was delighted to see his younger son and daughter-in-law encounter another fish school.
See! See!
It's only where Lucky Wealth is that there's prosperity!
Today, on the beach, he only collected a bucket of conch, half a bag of sea cucumbers, and a dozen squids, and then nothing more! He didn't want to stay on a ship without Lucky Wealth.
He said to Zhou Chengxin, "Go over to Ah Lei's ship. I'll help with sorting the fish."
Then he said to Jiang Xia, "Little Xia, stop the ship. We're going over!"
Jiang Xia stopped the ship.
Zhou Chengxin steered the ship closer.
Zhou Father used a long-handled iron hook to connect the two ships. Zhou Mother supported Tian Caixia, Great-Grandmother, and Second Uncle's Wife as they climbed and jumped onto Jiang Xia's ship.
Finally, Zhou Father helped Zhou Mother jump over, then he retracted the long rod and jumped over himself.
As soon as they crossed, they started working, removing the fish one by one from the fishing net and placing them into the basket.
With more people, the seagulls became less daring, except for a few exceptionally bold ones.
Zhou Father noticed a particularly bold seagull stealing fish right under his nose. He reached out to catch it, "Steal again, and I'll catch you and stew you!"
Of course, the seagull was too agile, and Zhou Father didn't catch it.
It's already past 3 p.m., and four fishing boats begin their fleet returning journey.
The other three boats are trawling as they head back.
Jiang Xia and his crew's boat is piled high with fishing nets, so they don't trawl. By the time they reach the dock, it's already a feat to have sorted out all the fish.
At around 5 p.m., the four boats return to the village dock, one after the other.
Tomorrow is Sunday again, and Li Xiuxian and Zhou Chensen return from town.
Zhou Chensen waits at the dock to receive the fish catch.
Li Xiuxian is not there; Zhou Chensen has called her back to cook.
Zhou Chensen returns home, knowing that Zhou Mu and Jiang Xia are out at sea. He buys some seafood at the dock and asks her to cook at the old residence.
Li Xiuxian is reluctant, but there's nothing she can do, so she lets Zhou Chensen call her father and brother to come home for a meal.
As the fishing boat docks, Zhou Chensen approaches the boat where Zhou Fu and Zhou Mu are and greets them. He then goes to Zhou Chengxin's boat to greet him and finally returns to his own boat to greet his father-in-law's family.
Their boat is the last to dock.
Li Fu laughs and says, "Today is an ebb tide, so your mother and your elder sister followed to go beachcombing. Since everyone was beachcombing today, no one trawled, so today's catch is smaller. We only trawled twice in the morning and once on the way back."
As he speaks, he unloads the fish from the boat.
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Li Mu also says, "Yes, in the afternoon, your family's two boats didn't trawl. Only Ah Lei's boat trawled."
Zhou Chensen doesn't care about these things and laughs, "Did Mom and Elder Sister find any good stuff today?"
Li Qingmin's wife points to the bucket with the conch, "We only picked up a small bag of sea cucumbers, half a bucket of conch, and a few squids. It's not even worth selling; if we use it for cooking, it's not enough for a meal. It's better to go fishing. By the way, this bucket is the fish that Dad and Qingmin caught."
This impatient tone.
Zhou Chensen lowers his head to take a look.
One bucket has half a bucket of conch and a few squids, and the other bucket of fish contains two seabass, one mackerel, two mud eels, and two yellowfin fish.
The larger mackerel weighs over ten jin and is worth eight or nine yuan.
This bucket of fish can sell for around ten yuan.
He takes a look at the baskets of fish on the boat.
Mostly, there are many mixed fish that aren't very valuable. The valuable mackerel are only a few, each weighing two or three jin, not very big. There are also a few red snapper and yellowfin fish.
They can sell for about thirty yuan in total. After deducting the labor and fuel costs for two people, they should make about seven or eight yuan in profit, which is still less than what they earn from fishing.
He smiles, "Big Brother has good luck to catch such a big mackerel."
Li Qingmin quickly says, "Today, Mom and my sister-in-law are fishing together. Usually, it's just me fishing, and I don't have such good luck."
Zhou Chensen nods, "That's normal. Fishing and trawling are the same; it's all about luck, sometimes good, sometimes bad."
Li Qingmin laughs, "That's right! It's all about luck! Yesterday's trawl was better; we made over twenty yuan! Today, because we didn't trawl in the afternoon, and Ah Lei was late for over half an hour when he went out to sea, we waited for him, so we were late!"
Zhou Chensen smiles, "Is that so? Next time, Big Brother, don't wait. Let's go out to sea punctually at 5 p.m. every day! You and my fourth brother are different. My fourth brother operates his own boat, so he can go out to sea whenever he wants, and his schedule is more flexible than yours."
Li Qingmin: "..."
Is this sarcasm directed at him, a mere wage laborer?
(End of Chapter)
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