This net must have yielded at least 10,000 catties of fish, and that's just an estimate. Nobody knows the exact number. Uncle Yu used to be able to estimate the approximate number after each net was hauled in, and it wasn't too far off. But this net really exceeded his expectations. The most successful haul he had ever made was about ten years ago, during the peak season. That time, he made four nets and the catch reached almost 25,000 catties.
But now it looks like the fish in the net are similar to that time, right? I'm not sure, because that was after it was already loaded, while this one is just piled up on the deck. It's probably not much different when loaded, but with such a huge pile, it's definitely over 10,000 jin (5,000 kg).
Uncle Yu was overjoyed and quickly called everyone to prepare for the fish-loading operation and get to work, completely forgetting about Zhou Xuan's matter.
Seeing Uncle Yu's excited and busy expression, Zhou Xuan reminded him, "Uncle Yu, be careful when setting the net. There seem to be sharks in there. Don't hurt anyone!"
Uncle Yu was taken aback, then suddenly realized that this net was cast by the newcomer, Hu Yun! He had just been angrily berating him, but now he saw the results. It seemed he had misjudged Hu Yun; this Hu Yun was a true fishing expert.
Being able to detect the movements of large schools of fish from the slightest changes on the sea surface is a skill that all fishermen in the world crave. He is a well-known old fisherman on the East China Sea, but when it comes to the skill that Hu Yun just demonstrated, he is far behind.
However, it's also possible that Hu Yun just happened to be lucky and stumbled upon a good catch. But in any case, Uncle Yu had forgiven Zhou Xuan for his unauthorized net-casting operation. If it weren't for the reckless mistake, how could such a large net of fish have been caught?
Seeing Uncle Yu's stunned expression, and with Fu Bao, Fu Gui, Fu Shan, and the others excitedly preparing to open the net and catch the fish, they quickly reminded him, "Uncle, there are vicious fish in the net. Be careful and don't hurt anyone."
Uncle Yu then realized that while one couldn't see the fish inside the net from the outside—all one could see were fish—hearing Zhou Xuan say this several times made him somewhat believe in his experience. He quickly reached out to stop him, instructing, "Wait, be careful. Bring the big fork over here, don't get hurt by the big fish in the net."
In his past experience, Uncle Yu had caught sharks before, but in his decades-long fishing career, he had only caught them twice. The first time he caught a porpoise shark that was more than four meters long, and the second time he caught a flat shark that was more than three meters long. Sharks are valuable from head to toe.
One of the most famous dishes in Chinese cuisine is "shark fin," which is actually made from the fins of sharks. Because sharks are difficult to catch and their numbers have decreased dramatically in recent years, they are considered even more precious.
The two sharks that were caught each sold for nearly 100,000 yuan. That was a long time ago. In recent years, sharks have been rarely encountered, let alone caught. Sharks have become infamous because of the exaggerated portrayals in some movies. In fact, the reason why the number of sharks has decreased so drastically is because of humans.
By this time, it was completely dark. Uncle Yu asked Fu Bao and the others to turn on all the lights on the ship to make the deck brightly lit. Then, except for Guan Lin, who was guarding the cockpit, everyone else came up to the deck to collect the fish.
Apart from Zhou Xuan, everyone else was extremely excited. In the off-season, they had caught over 10,000 catties of fish in one net. This not only broke the previous record, but they were also stimulated by the money brought by the bountiful harvest.
Because of the abundance of fish, the crew's bonuses increase. Generally, once they catch over 10,000 jin (5,000 kg), each crew member can earn around 3,000 yuan. If they have this kind of income on four voyages a month, they can earn over 10,000 yuan a month.
For people like Fu Bao, earning over 10,000 yuan a month is extremely rare, and can be counted on one hand. There was one such month during the peak season two years ago, but it hasn't happened since. If they can have a big harvest once out of four sea trips in a month, that's considered pretty good.
After making an opening in the net, Fu Bao and Fu Shan used plastic scrapers and forks to scoop out the fish. Once they had filled two baskets, the pile of fish suddenly tumbled, and a large fish leaped out, startling everyone.
Fu Bao and Fu Shan were so frightened that they took several steps back. The big fish had a flat head, a pointed mouth, and sharp teeth in its mouth below its head. Its mouth was full of blood, and there were also the remains of several sea fish in its mouth.
Uncle Yu paused, then exclaimed, "Tiger shark! It's a tiger shark!"
The people behind them paused for a moment, then cheered again.
This shark is nearly three meters long. A tiger shark like this, caught alive, could fetch at least 100,000 yuan – this is quite an unexpected windfall!
Without Uncle Yu giving any instructions, Fu Gui and Lao Jiang quickly dragged out a large basket more than three meters long, which was specially used to hold the more ferocious fish. The basket had a thick fence cover to prevent the fish from hurting people.
Fu Bao and the others used forks to restrain the tiger shark, but the tiger shark was extremely strong and easily twisted the forks with a slight movement. It was only with great difficulty that they managed to get it caught and dragged into the basket.
Fu Bao and Fu Gui used all their strength to drag the tiger shark to the fish tank on the side of the stern of the boat. It was actually a seawater channel at the stern of the boat that connected to the seawater. The connection between the boat and the seawater was separated by thick steel bars with gaps less than ten centimeters wide. Fish weighing more than a few kilograms could not possibly pass through, let alone a tiger shark.
This fishpond is about 20 square meters wide and more than 3 meters deep. It is used specifically to feed the rare and large fish that are caught. Live fish are more valuable than dead fish.
On the other side, Uncle Yu was also overjoyed. This trip hadn't been a waste at all. Even without the tens of thousands of kilograms of fish, just that tiger shark alone would have been profitable. The value of that tiger shark alone was greater than the harvest from any other trip this year, not to mention the tens of thousands of kilograms of fish.
He immediately waved his hand, ready for Fushan and Yuqiang to start loading the fish again, but Zhou Xuan stopped him, saying, "Uncle Yu, wait, there are tiger sharks inside, be careful."
As he spoke, he pointed to the pile of fish. However, in this pile of tons of sea fish, the fish were all alive, jumping around, making it difficult to see clearly. Uncle Yu and Lao Jiang stared wide-eyed, not quite believing it. Finding a tiger shark was already an unexpected surprise, could there really be more?
However, Zhou Xuan's words now carried weight in their hearts, especially Uncle Yu. Regardless of whether Zhou Xuan's catch was due to luck, they should thank him. Moreover, his expression was not excited just now, which showed that he was used to this kind of scene. Yu Jinshan was even more puzzled as to whether Zhou Xuan was really an experienced fishing expert. If it were an ordinary person, seeing such a big catch, they would have been overjoyed. How could they be so calm and composed?
However, since Zhou Xuan had already spoken, Uncle Yu still told Fushan and the others to be careful and to use forks slowly.
As soon as the fork went in, before it could even stir the pile of fish, they scattered again. Fukuyama, who was standing at the front, exclaimed in surprise, "Tiger sharks... tiger sharks... there are tiger sharks..."
Three more tiger sharks suddenly leaped out of the pile of fish, their ferocious, bared teeth startling everyone. Their cold, lifeless eyes were terrifying.
Although there were many fish in the pile, and the tiger sharks were hidden inside, they couldn't escape Zhou Xuan's notice. His ability detection system detected eight more tiger sharks hidden among the fish. Thanks to his timely casting, the net caught twelve tiger sharks.
The three tiger sharks that suddenly appeared started moving and biting wildly, which triggered the other tiger sharks in the pile of fish. The crowded and water-deprived situation caused the other tiger sharks to become ferocious and start darting and biting wildly in the pile of fish.
Fukuyama quickly used a fork to surround the tiger shark with the net.
"One, two, three... three, four, five..."
The group of people were extremely surprised and started counting, but with the tiger shark moving and biting wildly, and the fish piled up in the net, it was impossible to count them accurately.
However, Uncle Yu had become somewhat numb to the excitement. After the surprise of finding one tiger shark, the sudden appearance of at least five more tiger sharks was a joy that he and his crew could not adapt to.
Judging by the value of these tiger sharks, this fishing trip has already surpassed any of his previous voyages over the years. Based on the selling price of these tiger sharks, each of the crew members can receive a bonus of over ten thousand yuan. This income is enough to equal their best month's earnings during the peak season.
And this is still the off-season; to earn this much income is something even praying to Buddha wouldn't guarantee. Ultimately, besides luck, it can only be attributed to the newcomer, Hu Yun.
Thinking of Hu Yun, Uncle Yu couldn't help but glance at him again, just as Zhou Xuan was dragging a basket over to help.
Uncle Yu couldn't help but take a closer look at this new young man.
After several busy hours, apart from Guan Lin in the cockpit, the other six people were loading fish on the deck. They filled more than 240 baskets with sea fish. Each basket weighed 100 jin (50 kg), so more than 240 baskets weighed 24,000 jin (12,000 kg), which far exceeded the estimates of Uncle Yu and the others.
More importantly, they caught a staggering twelve tiger sharks from the pile of fish. These twelve tiger sharks are worth at least a million yuan, while the more than 20,000 kilograms of other sea fish alone are worth two hundred thousand yuan. The income from this trip could even equal a whole month's earnings during the peak season in the past.
After cleaning the fish and putting the nets away, it took more than four hours, more than twice as long as usual. This was considered fast, because everyone was motivated by the prospect of a big harvest and a big bonus, so they worked hard. The Fu Bao brothers were also unusually diligent, with none of them slacking off. All six of them worked to the best of their ability, and everyone was drenched in sweat.
It was almost ten o'clock, and everyone was exhausted. Of course, only Zhou Xuan was in much better shape. With the protection of his superpower, his fatigue disappeared as soon as he activated his superpower. This was much less than the loss he incurred when using his superpower, and could almost be ignored.
Seeing that everything was ready and the harvest was plentiful, Uncle Yu's smile never faded. He immediately said with a grin, "Fushan, go open the warehouse, take out the canned goods, and cook something good. Everyone's tired; let's treat them."
After saying that, he reached out and took Zhou Xuan's hand, his face beaming with smiles, and said, "Come on, come on, Xiao Hu, let's go inside and sit down. Let's celebrate, have some drinks and eat something. Today is a very special day."
After walking a few steps, he turned back to Fu Bao and the others and said, "This time, I've made the decision. Everyone will receive a bonus of 15,000 yuan, and Xiao Hu will get 20,000 yuan. This whole operation is all thanks to Xiao Hu!"
Apart from Yu Qiang, no one else knew that the net was actually cast by Zhou Xuan. They only knew that it was ordered by Uncle Yu. In the past, the time and place for casting the net were all things that Uncle Yu could decide. So, whether there would be a bumper harvest or not depended on Uncle Yu's experience and insight. However, they had to admit that no one else had Uncle Yu's ability.