Chapter 473: They're Not Needed
Chapter 473: They're Not Needed
As Jiang Xia hung up the phone, Zhou Chenglei arrived on his motorcycle to pick her up.
Jiang Xia proceeded to inform him of the phone call's content.
Zhou Chenglei replied, "I'll bring all the small fish fry home, and then I'll go and transfer 100,000 yuan to Xiaodong."
"Mhm, I won't go then." Jiang Xia had woken up early that day and felt a bit tired, yawning lazily.
Upon returning home, both the old residence and the new house's courtyards were filled with people processing and drying the small fish fry.
The seaside breeze was strong, so they took the fish to the beach to dry.
Jiang Xia looked at the bamboo mats used for drying fish and asked Zhou Chenglei, "Should we buy some fine metal wire mesh and make a rectangular drying net with wood? It'll be more convenient to put it in the drying room later."
The bamboo slat drying mats weren't bad, but they were prone to molding. Recently, during the rainy days, Zhou Mu was concerned about the mats molding, so she had to take them out and dry them in the drying room for a while.
However, the drawback of using fine metal wire mesh with a wooden frame for the drying net was the cost. The metal wire mesh and wood were both expensive. But if they used stainless steel wire mesh, it wouldn't mold easily after cleaning, and with more mesh holes, it would be easier to dry the fish.
Their family didn't just occasionally dry fish; they needed to dry fish regularly throughout the year. Investing some money in stainless steel wire mesh to make drying mats would be a long-term solution.
Zhou Chenglei glanced at the bamboo mats and also thought of the advantages of wire mesh, "Sure, I'll buy some on my way to transfer the money."
Jiang Xia added, "Buy some fine-meshed fishing nets too. We can use the wire mesh drying net in the drying room, and the fishing net can be used outside. If we use all wire mesh, it'll be too expensive."
"Mhm, we can replace them gradually. Let's make a batch first to test if it's convenient. The fishing net drying net might cause the fish to gather in the middle. I'll buy some and give it a try."
Jiang Xia nodded, "Okay."
After chatting for a while, Zhou Chenglei drove the tractor to transport the remaining fish fry from the wharf and then went to the post office to transfer the money.
Jiang Xia helped with drying the fish.
By the evening, Zhou Chensen and Zhou Ying returned.
Zhou Mu saw the father and daughter and glanced at the area behind them, asking, "Isn't Xiuxian coming back?"
"No, she has to prepare lessons," Zhou Chensen casually made up an excuse.
The couple was still in a cold war, and he didn't feel like facing Li Xiuxian at home. He found it more comfortable to stay at the old residence alone, so he brought his daughter back.
His daughter knew he was coming back and said she wanted to come with him.
Zhou Mu, who was preparing to cook, said, "Then you two can have dinner here! You don't need to cook for yourself either."
"Alright, I'll go check on the wharf." Zhou Chensen put his daughter down and rode his bicycle to the wharf to see if their boat had returned.
Zhou Chenglei, who was making the drying net in the courtyard, called out to him, "Second Brother, we can go light fishing for squid. Do you want to go out to sea tonight? We'll leave at 7 p.m. and return at midnight, so it won't affect your work tomorrow."
Zhou Chensen agreed, "Sure."
Zhou Chensen went to the wharf, and the Li brothers had just docked their boat.
Zhou Chensen walked up to his boat and looked at the fish baskets. There were several baskets of small tube squid, amounting to about thirty to forty pounds, which could sell for thirty to forty yuan. Together with the other fish, they could make around sixty to seventy yuan. He said, "Today's catch is not bad."
Li Qingmin and Li Qingjie exchanged glances and smiled, "Yes!"
The brothers felt embarrassed to mention that the basket of small tube squid was caught earlier when they went light fishing.
Zhou Chensen directly took a bucket and filled it with two pounds of small tube squid. He also picked out ten to twelve white croaker fish to take home for dinner.
Then, he lifted the basket of small tube squid and headed towards the purchase point.
The Li brothers' hearts sank.
Those were the small tube squids they had caught the entire night.
Li Qingmin couldn't help but whisper a complaint to Li Qingjie, "I told you we should go to the city wharf to sell the squids first, but you didn't listen!"
Li Qingjie replied, "I didn't expect our brother-in-law to suddenly return!"
Li Qingmin sighed, "We didn't make any money today."
Li Qingjie also felt the pain, "We miscalculated this time. Fortunately, the boon season for small tube squids has just begun, and we can lure and catch more in the next two months. Learning from this lesson, starting tomorrow, we'll sell the squids at the city wharf first, and then go back to fishing."
There was no way to keep the basket of small tube squids, so Li Qingmin nodded, "Let's quickly sell these fish and head home early for dinner and sleep. Tonight, we'll set out to sea early to make up for this loss!"
Li Qingjie agreed, "Alright!"
The brothers hurriedly unloaded the fish from the boat and carried it to the purchase point.
At the purchase point, Zhou Chensen was in line, waiting for the Li brothers to bring over all their fish.
Zhou Chensen asked, "Brother, how much was the fuel cost today?"
Li Qingmin immediately replied with a smile, "Twenty yuan. We went a bit further today to catch the squids."
Zhou Chensen didn't say anything and took out forty yuan to give to them, "You've worked hard all day. Go home and rest early! I'll take care of the selling."
Li Qingmin happily accepted the money and said, "It wasn't hard work! We'll head back first."
Zhou Chensen nodded, then added as if he just remembered, "By the way, tomorrow morning, you don't need to go out to sea so early. Starting tonight, I'll hire someone else to go fishing for squids. The boat will return around seven tomorrow morning, so you two can start going out at eight in the morning."
The Li brothers were speechless.
Li Qingjie asked, "Is our brother-in-law planning to fish for squids at night? We can do it too; there's no need to hire someone else!"
Li Qingmin nodded in agreement, "Yes! We can change to fishing at night! There's no need to hire someone else, or if you do, have them fish during the day."
These small tube squids were valuable, and the boon season had just begun. During the peak season, it was possible to catch a hundred or even two hundred pounds in one night.
If they hired someone else, wouldn't they be giving away their profits? He had been thinking of making a fortune during this boon season for small tube squids, which could be enough to buy a boat.
Zhou Chensen said, "No need. I'll go out to sea tonight with the person I hired, who is also my roommate. You two can continue fishing during the day."
The brothers were devastated, feeling like they had just missed out on a fortune.
Zhou Chensen noticed their expressions but didn't say anything.
It was his turn to sell the fish, so he carried the basket of small tube squids to the weighing scale.
The weight was thirty-eight and a half pounds.
Mr. Jin said, "I bought Ah Lei's squids this morning for one yuan and two cents per pound, but his squids were fresher than yours, so I'll buy these for one yuan per pound."
Zhou Chensen agreed, "Alright!"
Li Qingmin and Li Qingjie's hearts sank.
Those thirty-eight yuan should have been theirs! And they still had several more loads of fish to sell, which were also worth a considerable amount.
The brothers couldn't bear to watch any longer and left feeling dejected.
(End of Chapter)
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