Chapter 480: A Bountiful Harvest
Chapter 480: A Bountiful Harvest
As the morning sun had yet to rise, the returning fishing boats were filled with laughter, their smiles brighter than the sun itself.
The joy of a bountiful harvest shone on every face.
Each boat was filled with several baskets of small tube squid, with the least having four baskets. Additionally, there were other fish on the decks.
Jiang Xia and He Xinghuan walked along the beach, their faces bright with joy as they saw the happiness of the villagers.
He Xinghuan, with her 5.2 vision, recognized the type of fish from a distance and laughed, "It seems like many fishing boats caught tube squid today. Everyone is carrying a basket of squid towards the purchase point."
The more squid the villagers caught, the more they could process.
The more the villagers earned, the more they could make.
Jiang Xia smiled and replied, "Mhm."
With so many tube squid, if Hou Ye agreed, today would be another day of flowing wealth!
Jiang Xia headed towards the purchase point, and He Xinghuan saw Zhou Chenglei approaching. She smiled and said, "Ah Lei came over as soon as he saw you!"
Jiang Xia smiled.
Zhou Chenglei was talking with Mr. Jin at the purchase point, keeping an eye on Jiang Xia's direction. So, he noticed her arrival immediately.
Zhou Chenglei strode forward, supporting Jiang Xia's pregnant belly, and greeted He Xinghuan before saying, "Why are you here so early again today? Couldn't you sleep last night?"
The wharf bustled with people coming and going, and all the fishing boats had docked. Many carried baskets of fish, heading towards the purchase point.
Zhou Chenglei didn't want Jiang Xia to come over to this side, worried that she might get hit by a basket or knocked by one.
Jiang Xia laughed, "I slept well. I just came to ask Mr. Jin about his decision."
Zhou Chenglei, supporting Jiang Xia, walked towards the purchase point, "He agreed. Most of the tube squid caught today will be kept for us, and only a hundred pounds will be sent out. He promised earlier."
Jiang Xia smiled, "Then we should thank Mr. Jin properly."
"Mhm," Zhou Chenglei replied, guiding Jiang Xia to Mr. Jin.
Jiang Xia smiled, "Mr. Jin, Ah Lei told me. Thank you! Mr. Jin, you have the courage and vision. Let's get rich together!"
Mr. Jin laughed, "Let's get rich together! I'll follow you to wealth!"
Mr. Jin pointed to the tractor behind him, loaded with tube squid, "We've temporarily collected over a thousand pounds. You can take these back first."
Zhou Chenglei had parked the tractor next to the purchase point the day before, so today's catch was directly loaded onto it.
Jiang Xia took a look; the tractor wasn't full yet and could fit a few more baskets. "Let's fill it up! It won't take long."
So, the three of them waited on the side, watching everyone weigh their catch.
As they watched, Li Xiuxian and the Li brothers arrived.
Li Xiuxian's face was grim.
She had waited at the wharf all morning, seeing boat after boat with a bountiful harvest, each one luring and catching a good number of tube squid.
Each boat similar in size to hers had caught nearly a hundred pounds, and even the smaller fishing boats had forty to fifty pounds.
Aside from tube squid, the other boats had caught various fish.
After all, they could set their nets in the sea and then use lights to lure the tube squid, only needing to retrieve the nets before returning.
But her family? They had only one basket of tube squid, around forty pounds! They had no other fish, claiming they were focused on catching tube squid and didn't have time to set nets.
Today was almost another day of losses! Li Xiuxian was frustrated with her brother's foolishness.
However, they had no fishing experience and no other options.
The Li brothers felt a bit guilty. They had also caught quite a few tube squid but sold them at the city wharf and returned.
They earned over 150 yuan.
Seeing that many fishing boats hadn't caught tube squid the day before, they assumed today would be similar, so they sold all their tube squid to a reseller named Hou Ye, keeping only one basket.
I hadn't planned to sell this much, but that businessman was so persuasive, I ended up selling more.
I never expected that when we returned to the village's wharf, every fishing boat in the village had lured and caught quite a number of small tube squids the night before.
Fortunately, it was my younger sister who came to meet the boat today, not her brother-in-law.
It seemed like I couldn't sell as much tomorrow.
Zhou Chenglei saw Li Xiuxian and her two brothers and glanced at their basket of small tube squids, frowning. "Is this all you caught today? Each of our four fishing boats has at least over 200 jin of small tube squids. It's the boon season; it shouldn't be this little! Even with trawl nets, we wouldn't catch so few!"
Li Xiuxian: "..."
Li's brothers: "..."
After speaking, Zhou Chenglei didn't pay them any more attention.
He asked Jiang Xia, "Should we head back first?"
The tractor was already full, and Jiang Xia nodded, "Okay!"
He Xinghuan spoke up, "I'll go back with your tractor too."
With the small squids delivered, she had to start working immediately.
"Sure," Zhou Chenglei replied, then called out to Zhou Chengxin, who had just finished selling his fish, "Big Brother, let's head back first!"
Zhou Chengxin was counting a large stack of money and hurriedly replied, "Okay! Wait for me, I'll go back with your tractor too."
(Chapter 480)
After a tiring night, he didn't even feel like walking!
As Zhou Chengxin approached, Jiang Xia smiled and said, "Big Brother had a good catch today!"
Zhou Chengxin laughed, "Haha, it's not bad. We made over 700 yuan, but we had two fishing boats, and it's the boon season! Even blindfolded, we could make over a hundred yuan! Ah Lei's catch was even better! His one boat was worth two of ours! The fish all swam into his net!"
Jiang Xia smiled.
Li Qingmin's brothers: "..."
Li Xiuxian: "..."
Even blindfolded, they could make over a hundred yuan?
Her family's fishing boat only made thirty to forty yuan?!
Li Xiuxian couldn't help but think to herself.
But that's impossible, right?
Li Qingmin quickly laughed, "You're experienced fishermen; that's why you can do it. We can't; we're not familiar with the operations."
Li Xiuxian glanced at her older brother and shook her head inwardly. It was impossible!
She'd see how things went tomorrow.
At noon, after finishing work in town, Zhou Chensen asked Li Xiuxian, "How much did your older brother earn from squid fishing last night?"
Li Xiuxian felt a bit uneasy for some reason. "Just a few dozen yuan. They lack experience, and I don't think they caught much. Tomorrow should be better."
Zhou Chensen smiled without humor, "Is that so?"
Li Xiuxian changed the subject, "When are we going back to the village? Are you going out to sea tonight?"
It was Sunday tomorrow, so they didn't have to work.
Zhou Chensen replied, "No, I'm not going. I trust your older brother. Today, Yingying and I will stay in town and not go back."
Li Xiuxian: "..."
"I'll go back to the village later. It's the boon season for small tube squids. Aren't you going to check how much our fishing boat earned?"
Zhou Chensen: "I'm not going back. I trust your older brother."
Li Xiuxian: "..."
So sarcastic! Every word he said felt like a taunt.
She couldn't help but say, "Don't talk to me like that! Do you think my brother is secretly withholding our money? He's not that kind of person!"
"Think what you want! I didn't say that," Zhou Chensen didn't bother arguing and went straight to his room, shutting the door behind him.
Li Xiuxian: "..."
Forget it, I'll just go back to the village myself.
The next morning, Li Xiuxian waited at the wharf like the day before, and the fishing boats didn't return until after eight.
She ran over.
From a distance, Li Qingmin called out with a smile, "Little sister, we caught a lot of small squids today! Our catch is abundant."
(End of Chapter)
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