1983 Small Island, Starting From a Large Farmer

 After dawn.

 Lao Zhuang cooked a pot of porridge for everyone. Everyone got an egg, and the only side dishes were pickled mustard and cooked dried fish.

 “This pickled mustard is delicious.”

 “Laozhuang, where did you buy it?”

 “Just over there at the pier.”

“How much does one bag cost? If it’s not expensive, bring a few bags for me next time you go to the pier to buy groceries.”

 “It’s not expensive, only two cents per pack.”

 “That’s okay, please bring ten bags for me.”

 “I’ll give you five packs, too.”

Li Duoyu, who was squatting beside the mast and having breakfast, immediately knew what brand of pickled mustard it was when he tasted the familiar taste.

 He glanced at the people on the boat, and his thoughts were suddenly pulled to another time and space.

 In that world, Li Duoyu often ate this brand of pickled mustard for breakfast.

Although he is a cook, his life is not refined at all. What he eats most for breakfast is this brand of mustard.

 Pork shredded mustard soup is probably the soup he has drunk the most since returning to China, even more than kelp and pork ribs soup.

I remember that at that time, his son would occasionally come home alone to see him. When he saw him eating mustard, he would lecture him with a dark face.

He said that eating too much pickled food was not good, and even confiscated the pickled mustard he bought.

But every time his son goes back to Rongcheng to work, Li Duoyu will go to the grocery store at the dock to buy two more packs.

 No other reason than convenience.

Li Duoyu took another bite of pickled mustard and chewed it carefully. He found that the taste was pretty much the same, but if it were to be delicious, it might be better than the ones from later generations.

 Perhaps there are more seasonings.

This pickled mustard is Xieqiao pickled mustard, and its place of origin, Xieqiao Town, seems to be in Hangzhou Bay, not far from the Zhoushan Islands.

 After breakfast.

Li Duoyu looked at the sea. A sunrise rose from the sea level, reflecting the sea and the morning glow red.

At the end of the line of sight, one or two fishing boats can be vaguely seen.

Li Duoyu took a long breath and stretched in the direction of the rising sun.

At this moment, third uncle Li Zhengfa came over. After breakfast, he had a cigarette in his mouth.

Li Zhengfa originally planned to pass a cigarette to Li Duoyu, but after thinking about it, he decided against it. If he gave him a cigarette, Duoyu would indeed accept it, but he rarely smoked it.

To be honest, he still admires Duoyu for being able to relieve his boredom without smoking in this endless sea.

 When he was young, he did not smoke, but after joining the fishing team, it was impossible not to smoke.

Even for old fishermen like them, there are three good things on the boat, which are radios, cigarettes and some colorful comic books.

“The weather is nice this morning, so it should be suitable for fishing.”

"Um."

“You probably didn’t get much sleep last night. Can you continue fishing? Do you want to take a rest?”

Li Duoyu smiled: "A strong man who can go in and out seven times a night, three hours of sleep is enough."

The third uncle said disgustedly: "If you are so interested, why don't you even have a second child? Your father will be worried."

Li Duoyuqie said: "Third uncle, are you still embarrassed to accuse me?"

Li Zhengfa’s old face turned red, and he said a little sadly and helplessly:

"I'm different from you. I really want it, but God doesn't want to give it to me. Otherwise, I wouldn't let your aunt spoil Yujun rotten."

 “Ahem.”

Li Duoyu quickly changed the subject: "Uncle Third, the weather is so nice, why don't we open another Internet cafe?"

"Can."

 Chen Liang, who had panda eyes, wanted to go back to the cabin to take a nap after breakfast, but when he heard another net coming, he couldn't help but muttered:

“I only slept for a short time last night, and I don’t have any strength at all. Why do I have to work again? Why don’t I let anyone else live?”

Chen Youquan on the side was about to slap him, but Chen Liang subconsciously dodged it: "Your uncle, you knew you were going to hit me again."

 “That’s okay, you still know how to hide!”

“Tch, you think your son is really a fool.”

 Chen Youquan was stunned for a moment. For a moment, he didn't know whether he should smile bitterly or be happy.

 After returning to his fishing boat.

 Li Duoyu started the fishing boat, then turned on the fish finder to find fish in the nearby waters.

 Actually, he didn’t need to look for it this time, because he was relatively familiar with the sea area they were in.

Different from the previous fishing places, this sea area is very close to the Qiantang River. The water looks very turbid, but there may be many large yellow croakers under this water color.

 Li Duoyu took the walkie-talkie and said:

  “Minrong 031”

“This sea area is entirely covered with mud and sand, with an average depth of fifty meters. There are fish at the bottom. It is recommended to drag directly to the bottom.”

  “Minrong 031 received.”

 Two tugboats, one large and one small, separated behind the fishing boat. As the fishing boat moved forward, the fishing nets were continuously pulled into the sea.

 After being pulled by two trawlers for more than an hour, Li Duoyu could already see the outline of the offshore mountains.

“Minrong 031, the terrain ahead has changed and there are a few reefs. It is recommended to set up the net directly.”

  “Minrong 031 received.”

As the third uncle’s trawler slowed down, the uncle’s trawler also received the signal, and the two boats slowly came closer.

 The trawl net was slowly pulled out of the water. The net bag did not look very big, and the catch was also very mixed.

 Most of them are half-sided fish, there are also a large number of rays, and some small yellow croakers.

 After seeing this network package.

Li Shuguang grinned, and suddenly felt balanced in his heart: "It seems that the person who entrusted you with your dream last night was not necessarily Mazu."

Li Duoyu frowned, that shouldn’t be the case. He had carefully observed the fish detector just now and indeed detected the activity of a big fish.

 But as the winch continued to pull upward, all the net bags leaked out, and underneath the net bags, there were all big fish.

 “Shocking to death.”

 Chen Liang was so excited when he saw the net bag that he could not speak coherently: "There are all big yellow croakers under the net bag. They are all so big."

Li Duoyu glanced at Li Shuguang and sighed: "When luck comes, you can't stop it."

Li Shuguang scratched his head in embarrassment.

He glanced at the net of large yellow croakers, but felt something was wrong. These large yellow croakers were too big.

Logically speaking, it is already morning, so the large yellow croaker should turn white, but these fish are still quite yellow and quite big, and they don’t look like large yellow croakers.

not…

Just when Li Shuguang wanted to confirm, the second uncle who was closest to the net bag excitedly shouted:

“Yao Shou, this net is not a big yellow croaker.”

 “It’s all yellow sweetness.”

 After hearing this, the crew members were all stunned for a while, put down their work, and all surrounded the net.

Even the boss of the ship, Li Zhengfa, walked out of the wheelhouse.

“The underside of the fins is black, and it’s really yellow.” “Mazu bless me.”

“This network is valuable, and we finally got some good stuff.”

Li Shuguang looked at Li Duoyu in disbelief. Has this guy's mouth really been opened?

 When Duoyu was in command, what he was watching the whole time was not very different from him, but why was there such a big difference in the fish catches that came up.

 “Why!”

To be honest, when the second uncle called out Huang Gan, Li Duoyu was also stunned.

 The yellow sweetness in the second uncle’s mouth.

 In fact, it is the yellow lip fish, but its name is different.

This thing is a cousin of the large yellow croaker. They both look the same, but it is easy to distinguish them. There are obvious black spots at the bottom of the fins.

 Actually, Li Duoyu has been thinking about this thing since he was reborn, and has also found many spots to catch them.

 The results were all in vain.

I didn’t expect to catch it here. I looked for it thousands of times in the crowd, but I didn’t think about it. Instead, I went to live in my net.

Is this because he was doing evil for the people last night and was doing some good deeds? He actually gave him such a net of yellow-lipped fish.

 After unpacking the network package.

Second uncle didn’t even smoke anymore. He pinned the pipe to his trousers, hugged a yellow-lipped fish, and couldn’t help but kiss it.

 “I haven’t seen this good thing for many years.”

“It’s a pity that it’s a bit small. We have also caught a net before. The largest one was more than one meter long and weighed over a hundred kilograms.”

 The uncle said with disdain: "There are very few fish now. It's great if you can catch them. You have to be picky."

Chen Liang couldn't help but ask: "Dad, is this yellow ganache more expensive than the big yellow croaker?"

Chen Youquan nodded: "Of course it is more expensive than large yellow croaker, but it is even rarer than large yellow croaker. This kind of fish can only be found in a few seaports along the coast."

“How much does a pound cost?”

 Chen Youquan frowned and thought for a while: "I'm not sure. The price of this fish is not very fixed. It mainly depends on the buyer's bid. However, in the two years after it was first opened, the price was already one yuan. It should be more expensive now."

 “It’s so expensive.”

Chen Liang couldn't believe that this fish was actually more expensive than pork. He pointed at the big yellow croaker in front of him: "Then this one is already more than 30 yuan."

Chen Youquan nodded: "It's almost the same price, but if it really sells, it might be a little more expensive, at least forty or fifty."

"That's quite an exaggeration." Chen Liang looked at Huang Gan on this deck and froze on the spot. How much was this net worth?

Li Duoyu looked at Hangzhou Bay in the distance, and suddenly understood why he caught the yellow-lip fish.

As a man of two generations, he has some understanding of the habitat of yellow-lipped fish, mainly in offshore estuaries.

 Generally, smaller yellow-lip fish can only be found on the shore and are often caught by people. People who don’t understand think they have caught a large yellow croaker.

 When the yellow lip fish grows up, it will grow in deep water areas near the offshore mouth. The largest one can grow to more than one meter and weigh more than 200 kilograms.

  It’s a pity that this thing is even stupider than the giant yellow croaker. It is a domestic type of marine fish that can only survive in the same habitat and does not know how to migrate.

In the 1980s, it seemed that it was almost extinct. If I remember correctly, it seems that in a few years, the yellow-lipped fish will soon be classified as a second-level animal protection animal.

  It should be regarded as the earliest marine fish to be protected in the sea.

The half-net of yellow-lipped fish weighed at least two thousand kilograms. Li Duoyu suddenly had a problem, whether to sell it all or take out the fish bladder.

The most valuable part of this fish is the swim bladder. After the yellow lip fish swim bladder is dried, it is called small-bearded goldfish maw.

  It can be said that the most top-quality fish maws, and some relatively large money maws, can easily fetch sky-high seven-digit prices.

Li Duoyu would feel quite disadvantaged if these yellow-lipped fish were sold directly to the fishmongers at the dock.

 Li Duoyu weighed it up. Li Duoyu really can’t guarantee what the future will be like, but there is still a general direction, that is, there are really fewer and fewer of these fish.

 At that time, the top-quality fish maw made from its fish maw will only become more expensive the more it is fried.

 Just treat it as a financial management product.

 And the shelf life of this thing is very long, so just think of it as leaving yourself some fallback options.

 Speaking of which, there is already a lot of fish maw in his big glass jar.

“Third uncle, can you sell me the swim bladder of this yellow sweet carp?”

Third uncle Li Zhengfa was startled for a moment and said: "You originally caught the fish in this net. If you want it, just take it. Why don't you buy it?"

Uncle Li Niantian also said: "Zhengfa is right. Without you, we would never be able to capture Huang Gan."

Li Duoyu smiled.

 He ​​knew very well that what the third uncle and uncle said were probably polite words. If he really accepted them, he would not know how to behave.

 Li Duoyu glanced at the other crew members, and there was a subtle change in their expressions.

Although the crew members are all paid, there is an unwritten rule that when the boss of the ship makes a particularly large amount of money, he will appropriately distribute dividends to the crew members.

 As for yellow lip fish, once there is no swim bladder, the price will be much less.

Li Duoyu insisted: "That's not possible. This fish was caught by everyone together. How about this? I'll take the swim bladder at one-third of the market price of the fish. What do you think?"

Chen Liang was confused again: "The swim bladder of this fish is so expensive."

 Chen Youquan nodded: "Of course it's expensive. The most valuable thing about this fish is the swim bladder. It's very good for pregnant women with heavy bleeding."

“Your mother suffered from severe bleeding when she gave birth to you, and she became weak for a long time. This is what she ate.”

Seeing that Li Duoyu paid so much money to buy the fish maw, the second uncle and the first uncle said one after another:

“Duoyu, your third uncle and eldest uncle both said they would give it to you directly, so you don’t have to pay so much.”

 But with Li Duoyu’s insistence, he finally bought the fish bladder for half the price.

"Third uncle, when I return to the island in two days, you can pay my share of the money. If it's not enough, you can ask me for it again."

 “It must be enough.”

Although the remaining yellow-lipped fish has no swim bladder, it can still be sold for a lot of money, at least not cheaper than the large yellow croaker.

At first, everyone was unmotivated, but after seeing Li Duoyu spend money to buy a fish bladder, everyone started working efficiently.

 The yellow lipped fish was rinsed cleanly, and then the swim bladder was taken out. Everyone also carefully cleaned the blood on the swim bladder.

 The second uncle asked: "Duoyu, what are you doing with so many fish maws? This thing seems to be for pregnant women."

Li Duoyu said truthfully: "This stuff sells well on Hong Kong Island. I plan to stock up on it and sell it to them in the future."

"You know this as well?"

Li Duoyu smiled: "When I went to the next province before, I heard what the fishermen there said."

Li Shuguang didn’t bother to ask why Li Duoyu knew everything about Hong Kong Island.

 What he still cannot understand the most is what Li Duoyu said last night.

“Mazu said that we will definitely make a lot of money tomorrow.”

 He really got it right.

 Once or twice, maybe it’s luck.

 But I have cooperated with him for fishing so many times, and it seems that I have good luck every time. This is no longer luck.

　　　It is fate.

 In the past, when Li Duoyu was a streetwalker, he often went out to sea to sell goods in the middle of the night. His second aunt, Li Duoyu’s mother, would go to the Tianhou Temple to pray for blessings every day.

It can be said that the most sincere believer on the island is the second aunt.

Since Agui’s accident, Li Duoyu seemed to have been enlightened. He has become a completely different person, and even his luck has improved.

 It seems that after returning home, I have to let the mother-in-law at home pay her respects. (End of chapter)