Chapter 40: Everyone is Stunned

Ye Yaodong smiled at everyone and said, “I want to keep two or three mackerel to take home. Tomorrow, my house construction is starting, and I need to provide food and drinks for the workers. It’s perfect to save a few for mackerel meatballs. Also, we have so many odds and ends of seafood; we can’t finish it in one meal. I want to keep a bit to take home for tomorrow’s meal. Anyway, we’ll split everything evenly, and I’ll just deduct the cost of what I keep from the sale…”

“Hey, why talk about deducting money? We’re all good brothers. If you want to keep a few, just take them…”

“Yeah, yeah! If you want to keep a few, go ahead! Why are you even talking about deducting money? Isn’t that a bit too formal?”

“Exactly! We caught hundreds of mackerel; what’s a few more to you? Since your house is starting construction tomorrow, you might as well keep a few more. You could cut them into pieces and marinate them. It’s hot, and fresh fish doesn’t last long, but salted fish can be kept for a few more days. We caught it ourselves, so it didn’t cost anything. What’s the harm in keeping a few more?”

Their words were so heartwarming that Ye Yaodong felt grateful; these friends were worth having.

He shook his head with a smile. “These fish are worth something; it feels a bit extravagant to keep so many for ourselves. I’ll keep just two. My dad goes out to fish every day and always brings back some worthless fish. It’s fine to cook them up for the workers the next day.”

“We can share the two buckets of seafood too. Let’s save some for dinner together tonight, and everyone can take a bit home to add to their meals.”

“And for the mackerel, you should all take two home for your families to eat. Making mackerel dumplings or fish balls would be great.”

He wasn’t a fan of mackerel dumplings, but he loved fish balls.

Since everyone was unwilling to deduct money from him, it was better to split the catch evenly, so everyone could take something home for their families.

As everyone listened to his arrangements, they sensed something different about him.

He was actually thinking about his family and considering them too.

Aguang patted him on the shoulder. “Dongzi, you seem suddenly more mature. Is it because you’re about to move out?”

“Of course! I’m about to become the head of the family, and not living with my parents anymore will definitely make me more mature.”

“Is it because you’re getting less scolded? Hahaha~” Azheng teased him.

“Get out of here! You’re always trying to ruin the moment!”

“Then let’s do what A-Dong suggested. Each person can take two mackerel home. For the small fish and shrimp, just pick what you want. What you don’t want, we’ll take for dinner tonight.”

Aguang shook his head. “I don’t want any. It’s just me and my two younger sisters at home; we can’t eat much. I just need a few snacks for tonight.”

Azheng added, “My four older sisters have all married off; it’s just me and my parents. We can’t eat much either. I’ll take one mackerel and a bowl of shrimp.”

“Look for yourself. I’ll take whatever’s left,” Ye Yaodong said nonchalantly.

As they approached the dock, the four of them each picked out what they wanted to keep, taking one or two mackerel as needed.

At this point, the tide had not fully come in yet, and some people were still digging for clams.

The water was too shallow for the boat to come in, so they had to stop near the rocks and get off there.

They left one person on the boat while the others ran to the collection point to grab baskets. They hadn’t expected to catch so many fish and hadn’t prepared anything, not even baskets.

When they arrived at the collection point, Ah Cai saw them come in like a band of robbers, lifting the half-human-high stacks of bamboo baskets without even greeting him. He asked if there were any more.

“What are you doing? Where are you taking my baskets? There are so many!”

“What do you mean you caught thousands of pounds of mackerel? You’d better help us carry them,” Ye Yaodong said, pulling Ah Cai along as they hurriedly moved the remaining baskets.

“What thousands of pounds of mackerel? Where did you catch them? Is it true or are you messing with me?” Ah Cai stumbled as he was dragged, finally shaking off Ye Yaodong’s grip.

“Stop chitchatting and hurry up; you’ll see soon enough.”

Just as the tide was too shallow and no boats could come into the dock, Ah Cai, feeling skeptical but with nothing else to do, followed them onto the boat.

As soon as he stepped on board, he was greeted by a cabin packed full of live mackerel. Ah Cai’s eyes lit up. “Wow, it really is mackerel! Did you catch a whole net full of them?”

Aguang didn’t even look up as he replied, “Not just one net; there are even more in the hold. Hurry up and help load them.”

“How much are you selling the mackerel for?” Ye Yaodong asked, genuinely interested.

“Twenty cents.”

“Damn, can you give us a bit more?”

“That’s already a high price; I’ll only make a penny or two off of it.”

“Yeah right, just help carry them down first.”

“Wait, there are that many in the hold too? Where did you run into this school of mackerel?” Ah Cai was stunned, realizing that the cabin was filled to the brim with mackerel.

“Why are you asking so much? Just come and help!”

Baskets of mackerel were carried off the boat one after another, leaving the people around the dock dumbfounded.

This dock in their village was just a small one, usually receiving only small boats bringing in catches from drag nets or traps. A single boat wouldn’t have much cargo, let alone something as huge as basket after basket of mackerel. The onlookers began to chatter excitedly.

“Wow, so many mackerel! Whose boat caught this?”

“How did they catch so many? Did a big boat dock here?”

“Definitely not; there’s no sign of a big boat.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk! Someone’s struck gold again! A few days ago, Old Ye caught a net full of large yellow croaker, and now someone’s caught thousands of pounds of mackerel.”

“Who was it? I think I just saw it was that group with Ah Dong.”

“Ah Dong and Aguang’s group…”

“No way, can they really pull off something this serious?”

……

The baskets of mackerel piled high at the collection point, and those digging for clams on the sandy beach heard that someone had caught thousands of pounds of mackerel, and that Ye Yaodong was involved.

The Ye family was astonished. Dongzi caught thousands of pounds of mackerel?

Is that true? When did he go out to sea?

“Let’s go ashore and have a look; the tide is about to come in,” Ye’s mother said, impatiently standing up.

When did her third son ever become so reliable?

Lin Xiuqing, holding her son, was both surprised and delighted. She knew her husband had gone out to fish, but wasn’t he supposed to be out on a deserted island? How did he manage to catch thousands of pounds of mackerel?

The Ye family, full of doubts, walked to the collection point, where baskets of mackerel were piled high. As Ye Yaodong and Aguang carried another basket over, they were met with shocked faces.

Lin Xiuqing was the first to react. Once Ye Yaodong set the basket down, she tugged at his arm, “Ah Dong, did you catch all these mackerel?”

“Not just me; Aguang, Xiaoxiao, Azheng, and I all contributed.”

“You really did catch them?” Ye’s mother still couldn’t quite believe it. Her third son, who couldn’t even carry a load, had never done anything so serious before.