Back To the Small Fishing Village In 1982

Chapter 3 Heartache, Ow!

In his previous life, he only cared about having fun with his friends and didn't pay attention to what was happening at home.

He would go out to hang out with his friends as soon as he woke up, and only come back after getting drunk at dinner time. He only remembered catching the large yellow croakers, but didn't hear clearly how much it was sold for before he went back to sleep in a daze.

These days, although large yellow croakers were rare, the living standards of the common people were limited, so it wasn't too expensive, just a few times more expensive than ordinary fish.

Unlike in the future, they have been raised to sky-high prices.

In 2022, the price of a wild large yellow croaker was around 600 yuan per jin.

A wild large yellow croaker weighing 1 jin and 3 liang is priced at around 800 yuan per jin, while one weighing 1 jin and 8 liang would cost over 1,000 yuan per jin.

If it weighs around 2 jin, the price would be around 1,500 to 1,600 yuan per jin.

For those weighing over 2 jin, the price is usually over 3,000 yuan per jin.

This is the price directly from the fresh seafood collecting boat at sea. When it enters the port, the price of 1-2 jin of large yellow croakers will be doubled.

If the quantity is large, the price will also fluctuate.

Although he was not ambitious and just got by, he was a born and bred fisherman who knew a thing or two about good quality and prices.

He couldn't help but slap his thigh at the thought, damn it, how good would it be if he could pull in such a catch a few decades later!

Blood loss of millions!

The entire Ye family frowned and looked at him strangely as he slapped his thigh in regret.

What is the third child up to again?

Mother Ye furrowed her brows and couldn't help but ask, "What are you doing, Third Child? Why are you slapping your thigh so hard? Did you take the wrong medicine?"

"Mom, how much did we sell that net of large yellow croakers for yesterday? I didn't hear clearly before I went back to sleep."

Mother Ye looked at Father Ye, but since the whole family already knew, if she didn't say it, the wife of the third son would mention it when she went back to the house anyway. So she simply said directly, “1,200 yuan! It was sold for 5 yuan per jin. There was a slight discrepancy in the weighing, but the boss generously rounded it up.'"

We’ve been taken advantage of, and you're even praising them for being generous!?

Ye Yaodong pounded his chest and stomped his feet. "Mom, do you know you sold it for a loss? We suffered a huge loss!"

Everyone in the room, regardless of age or gender, frowned and looked at each other. Eldest Brother couldn't help but ask anxiously, "How do you know that we sold at a loss, Third Brother?"

"I mingle outside all day, how could I not know how valuable the big yellow croaker is?"

That's true. Despite being a troublemaker, he's the most knowledgeable in the family.

Spending the whole day hanging out with a bunch of people in the city and getting to know all sorts of characters, how could he not have insights?

Mother Ye also felt a pang in her heart and asked, "What do you mean? What's the going price per jin outside? In our village, the fish are usually sold to the port for purchase. It's just that yesterday the quantity was too large, so the port directly contacted a buyer to come and collect them."

"If you pack the fish with ice and have a tractor deliver them to the county town, you can easily double the price!"

Yaodong felt a tremendous heartache. In fact, if it were doubled and put in the later generations, over two hundred jin would be worth several million!

After hearing him say that, everyone felt regretful and realized their hasty decision.

Doubled...

This is a direct loss of 1,200 yuan... heartache...

Even Father Ye's heart is bleeding. His hand holding the water pipe trembles. 1,200 yuan...

Nowadays, the average monthly wage for ordinary workers is only around forty to fifty yuan. It really makes one want to vomit blood!

Father Ye's chest heaved up and down, and he immediately scolded him, saying, "You good-for-nothing! Always wandering around all day, not doing any real work! If you had joined us in going out to sea, we wouldn't have ended up selling it for just five yuan per jin!"

"What's it got to do with me? I didn't know you could catch big yellow croakers. If I had known, I would have gone to the port in advance! No, I would have found a wealthy boss in advance to wait at the port!"

It's really infuriating, over 200 jin of wild big yellow croakers! If he had died a day earlier, would he have been able to be reborn a day earlier?

Ah, bah… curse himself!

Father Ye's chest heaved with anger, but in the end, he could only sigh, "Forget it, it's already sold, there's no point in regretting it. Maybe our family's fortune is only limited to this for now. If we catch more in the future, we'll have the experience and won't sell them hastily like this again."

That's right, the fish has already been sold, there's no use regretting it now.

The good mood of the whole family was directly cut short in the hands of Ye Yaodong.

Originally, when Eldest Uncle Ye and Second Uncle Ye came to ask for a share, it only made them feel a little frustrated, but their mood was still good.

Now... sigh...

It's just a pity, they could have sold it for more money.

After a while, the entire family accepted the situation with resignation. After all, they had still made a fortune.

The most frustrated one was still Ye Yaodong. "Dad, do you think big yellow croakers are as common as cabbages? Saying that we'll have experience next time we catch them..."

"Don't you know that the population of big yellow croakers has drastically declined after being knocked by the gǔ, and it has become increasingly rare now?"

"In 1954, the method of Qiao Gu fishing was introduced from Guangdong Province to Fujian Province. Due to its high efficiency and large output, it quickly became popular. As a result, a large-scale fishing of big yellow croakers took place..."

"In 1974, there was a large-scale and intensive fishing operation in Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province, which nearly led to the direct extinction of the big yellow croaker. In recent years, it has become extremely difficult to find wild big yellow croaker in the market..."

"Dad, do you think you'll have this kind of luck again in your lifetime?"

It's harder than winning the lottery!

The small boat left by his grandfather is only about ten meters long, suitable for near-shore fishing and unable to go too far. Being able to catch this net of large yellow croakers is truly a stroke of luck given by their ancestors.

The family members were stunned and amazed by his words, as he spoke passionately and with great enthusiasm, his spit flying everywhere.

Third son... When did he become so knowledgeable...

Qiao Gu fishing method... Only Father Ye had heard of it among those present. After all, their family didn't have a large boat to go out to sea for work. They relied on fishing and manual labor on the shore to make a living, so they didn't pay much attention to it.

Nowadays, information doesn't circulate easily, and even the eldest and second son hadn't heard of it. Yet, the third son was talking about it so confidently. Suddenly, the parents and siblings present couldn't help but look at him with a new perspective.

Perhaps... the third son isn't as useless as they thought...

Lin Xiuqing was also taken aback. For the first time, she noticed that her husband looked quite... quite… what was the word again?

The radiance between his eyebrows, it was the confident glow that emanated when he spoke about something familiar?

Or perhaps her man is not entirely useless after all?

Even Father Ye, setting aside his contempt for his third son, earnestly asked, "How do you know about the Qiao Gu fishing method? How do you know about events that happened in 1954 and 1974?"

Father Ye had only heard about the Qiao Gu fishing method and was unaware of the significant fishing events that took place between 1954 and 1974. After all, with the limited development of the internet and the lack of information circulation, such events were not widely known.

Ye Yaodong actually learned about these events when he worked on larger ships in the future, where he heard other crew members discussing them.

Otherwise, based on his lazy and parasitic lifestyle in the first half of his life, he would never have paid attention to such things.

But he can't let anything slip.

Seeing everyone's expressions, he also knew that he had somewhat redeemed himself and salvaged his image. This was considered a good thing, and he couldn't help but straighten his posture a bit.

He had been drifting aimlessly for half of his life, but in the past decade or so, he finally matured and took on some responsibilities.

Starting over again, he doesn't want to be a useless person anymore. Although he still doesn't have many skills, at least he can work and go fishing. By being a little more hardworking, he should be able to support his wife and children.

He no longer wants to live off his wife.

But change also takes time, otherwise he's afraid he'll be treated like a ghost possessing someone's body.

***

1. 1 jin = 500 gram 

1 liang = 50 gram 

2. Fishing method “Qiao Gu” (hitting the interior of the boat hull with a club, sending sound waves through the water to stun the fish), gǔ is the team that performs this fishing method