Chapter 3: Heartache!

In his previous life, he had spent all his time playing around with friends, barely paying attention to anything happening at home.

He’d sleep until noon, then go out to mess around with his buddies, only staggering back drunk by dinner. He vaguely remembered them hauling in a big catch of yellow croaker, but he’d never bothered to ask how much it sold for—he’d just stumbled off to bed.

Now, although yellow croaker was rare, the average person couldn’t afford much of it, so it wasn’t as pricey as it would be later. It was only a few times the cost of regular fish. In the future, however, it would skyrocket.

In 2022, wild yellow croaker weighing around one pound sold for 600 yuan per pound. At a pound and three ounces, the price was around 800 yuan per pound; at a pound and eight ounces, it exceeded 1,000 yuan per pound.

If it was closer to two pounds, the price would be roughly 1,500 to 1,600 yuan per pound. Anything over two pounds generally went for over 3,000 yuan per pound. This was the price directly offered by fresh catch ships; once it hit the docks, the price of one- to two-pound yellow croakers could double!

If sold in bulk, the price fluctuated as well.

Though he was aimless and lazy, he was born and raised by the sea and knew his fish.

Thinking about it, he couldn’t help but slap his thigh—damn it! If he had hauled in that catch decades later, he would have made a fortune!

A loss of millions!

Everyone in the Ye family frowned, watching him slap his thigh with a look of regret.

What strange nonsense was Old Third up to now?

Mother Ye couldn’t help but ask, frowning, “What’s wrong with you, Old Third? What’s with the thigh-slapping? Did you lose your mind?”

“Mom! How much did we sell that yellow croaker catch for yesterday? I didn’t hear clearly before going to bed.”

She looked over at Father Ye. Well, everyone already knew; even if she didn’t say, Old Third’s wife would spill the beans once they were alone. She replied directly, “1,200 yuan! It sold for 5 yuan a pound, and since it was a bit shy of the weight, the buyer rounded it up nicely.”

What a rip-off, calling that generous!

Ye Yaodong beat his chest. “Mom! Do you know how much we lost on that sale? A huge loss!”

The whole room, men and women alike, exchanged glances, and the eldest brother, growing anxious, couldn’t help but ask, “Old Third, how do you know we got a bad deal?”

“I’m out there every day; of course, I know what yellow croaker’s worth!”

He wasn’t wrong; though a bit of a scoundrel, Old Third was the most knowledgeable of them all. Spending his days wandering around town, hanging out with all sorts of people, he’d picked up quite a bit.

Mother Ye’s heart skipped a beat. “What do you mean? How much does it go for outside? Fish from our village usually go straight to the docks; yesterday’s catch was only handled directly by a buyer because of the large quantity.”

“If you packed it with some ice and hired a truck to take it to the county, you’d get twice as much!”

Ye Yaodong’s heart ached bitterly; doubling the price…in the future, a couple of hundred pounds would be worth millions!

Hearing this, everyone regretted it; they’d been too hasty…

Twice as much…

That was a whole extra 1,200 yuan, what a heartbreak…

Father Ye’s heart bled, his hands shaking around the water pipe. 1,200 yuan…

With the average worker earning only 40 to 50 yuan a month, this was a massive loss!

Chest heaving, Father Ye shouted at him angrily, “You scoundrel, wandering around all day without doing any honest work! If you’d been with us at sea, we wouldn’t have let it go for 5 yuan a pound!”

“What does that have to do with me? I didn’t know you’d catch yellow croaker! If I had, I would have been waiting at the docks! No, I’d have found a wealthy buyer and had them meet us at the dock!”

What a loss—over 200 pounds of wild yellow croaker! If he had died just a day sooner, would he have been reborn a day earlier?

Ugh, what’s he even thinking, cursing himself like that!

Father Ye’s chest rose and fell with anger, but in the end, he could only sigh. “Forget it, it’s already sold. There’s no point in regretting it now. Maybe this is all the fortune our family is meant to have for the time being. If we catch another batch in the future, we’ll know better than to sell it off so quickly.”

Yes, it was gone. Regretting it now wouldn’t bring it back.

Ye Yaodong had singlehandedly put an end to the family’s earlier cheer. Before, they’d only felt a little irritated about the uncles showing up to claim a share, but they had still been in a good mood. Now…well, it just felt like such a waste; they could have earned so much more.

After a moment of feeling heartsick, everyone gradually came to terms with it—after all, they’d still made a hefty sum.

But Ye Yaodong was still fuming. “Dad, do you think yellow croaker is as common as cabbage? ‘Next time’ we catch some? There won’t be a next time! Don’t you know the yellow croaker population has plummeted after repeated qiao gu netting and surrounding methods? They’re nearly extinct.”

“In 1954, the qiao gu method spread from Guangdong to Fujian. This method was super efficient and brought in huge catches, so it quickly gained popularity, and yellow croaker was harvested on a massive scale…”

“In 1974, Zhoushan in Zhejiang held a huge fishing event, nearly wiping out yellow croaker entirely. In recent years, you can barely find wild yellow croaker on the market.”

“Dad, do you really think we’ll get this lucky again in your lifetime?”

It’s harder than winning the lottery!

The boat his grandfather left them was only about ten meters long, enough for near-shore fishing but too small for deep-sea work. Catching that batch of yellow croaker was practically a miracle.

Everyone in the family gawked at him, stunned by his lengthy speech.

Since when did Old Third know so much…?

Father Ye was the only one familiar with the qiao gu method, but they didn’t have a big boat and had to rely on coastal fishing and side work to make ends meet, so they never paid attention to large-scale fishing trends. With news not circulating freely, even his older brothers hadn’t heard of it. But here was Old Third, talking about it as if he’d been studying it for years. Everyone—his parents, brothers, and sisters-in-law—couldn’t help but see him in a new light.

Maybe…Old Third wasn’t entirely useless…

Lin Xiuqing was equally shocked, realizing that when her husband spoke seriously, he could look…how should she put it? It was as if he radiated a confidence when discussing familiar things. Maybe her man wasn’t as hopeless as he seemed?

Father Ye put aside his usual disdain and, in rare seriousness, asked, “How do you know about the qiao gu method? And what happened in 1954 and 1974—how do you know about that?”

Father Ye had only heard of the method; he didn’t know about the major fishing events of 1954 or 1974. With no internet and limited information, few did.

Ye Yaodong had learned about it years later, while working on larger fishing vessels and listening to stories from fellow crew members. If it weren’t for that experience, he’d have been too lazy and unreliable to pay attention to any of it.

Seeing everyone’s reactions, he knew he’d somewhat salvaged his reputation. Straightening up, he thought, “I drifted through half my life, but I finally grew up in the last ten years and found some responsibility.”

With this second chance, he didn’t want to be a failure anymore. He may not have many skills, but he could work hard, fish, and support his wife and children through his own efforts.

He wouldn’t rely on his wife risking her life to hold the family together.

But change would take time; otherwise, they’d think he was possessed.