While waiting for Jiang Nanzhou, Grandpa Jiang had tried pulling all five crab cages one by one, but not a single one would budge. Just how many crabs must there be for them to be this heavy? Grandpa Jiang beamed with joy.
Seeing Jiang Nanzhou walking over, Grandpa Jiang warned him, "Little Zhou, these cages are all quite heavy. Be careful."
Jiang Nanzhou had already seen through the water that the crab cages were completely packed with crabs. It was a bumper harvest! He reached out and grabbed a rope. Yes, it did have some weight to it. Aside from the sheer number of crabs and the heavy resistance of the water, it was completely effortless for him now.
When he pulled the cage up to about a meter below the surface, Grandpa Jiang could finally see the situation inside. He was grinning so hard his eyes almost disappeared.
It looked like today was going to be another bumper harvest.
After hauling up the crab cages, they went to pull in the fishing nets. Today's catch in the nets consisted entirely of small yellow croakers, looking much more spectacular than yesterday's.
There were also a few scattered small fish and shrimp, which Jiang Nanzhou simply picked off and threw back into the sea.
When they reached the pier, they saw two twenty-meter-long fishing boats moored there. These were the largest boats in Jiangjia Village. The other two small boats hadn't returned yet, making a total of five boats including Grandpa Jiang's old beaten-up boat.
Jiangjia Village was quite remote, and almost no outsiders ever came by. Many families in the village had moved away en masse to the town or the city, leaving behind only elderly folks who didn't want to burden their children. There weren't many people left in the village who were as old as Jiang's father; most of the able-bodied had gone away to work as migrant laborers.
Jiang Tianfu worked on one of those large boats. That boat, the Xingfu, belonged to Jiang Min, the second son of Jiang Nanzhou's Great Uncle. According to their lineage, Jiang Nanzhou called him Second Uncle.
Jiang Min and the others were unloading their catch onto a truck when they saw Grandpa Jiang's boat returning. He told the others to keep loading the truck and walked over to Grandpa Jiang's boat to say hello.
Seeing Jiang Min approach, Grandpa Jiang asked, "Little Min, how was the catch today?"
"Not much. It's been no good for quite a while now. I asked a few boat captains in town, and they all said the catch hasn't been good lately."
Whenever this topic came up, it gave Jiang Min a headache. He had bought this boat last year for over 400,000 yuan. Although it was secondhand, it had completely cleaned out his family's savings. Crew wages and boat maintenance were also no small expenses, and he hadn't even recovered his capital yet. He was worried sick.
As Jiang Min casually glanced at the fish in Grandpa Jiang's boat, he froze.
"You guys have way too much catch! And these crabs are huge. Third Uncle, you really still got it."
"What do I have? It's all Little Zhou's luck. Little Zhou picked all the spots where we dropped the nets today."
Jiang Min patted Jiang Nanzhou on the shoulder.
"Good lad, your brain's been sharp since you were a kid. It's one thing that you were good at studying, but who would've thought you'd also be such an expert at fishing?"
"Second Uncle, stop flattering me. I can't hold a candle to my Haige. Is he coming home for the New Year this year? I heard he was really busy at the end of the year."
At the mention of Jiang Nanhai, pride washed over Jiang Min's face.
Jiang Nanhai was three years older than Jiang Nanzhou and the very first college student from their entire island. He had excelled in every aspect since childhood, was recommended for admission to Jingda, and now worked as a financial director at a large company in Kyoto. The only thing that worried the family, much like Jiang Nanzhou, was that he still didn't have a girlfriend.
"I heard he might be back around the twenty-seventh or eighth. When he gets back, you two brothers should hang out properly. If you know any suitable girls around, introduce them to your Haige."
Jiang Nanzhou rubbed his nose. Better change the subject.
Jiang Nanzhou was the last to carry down the aerated live-fish tank. Grandpa Jiang said with a hint of smugness, "Little Min, let me show you something good."
With that, Grandpa Jiang opened the lid of the live-fish tank. Jiang Min looked inside and saw large yellow croakers, golden all over, dazzling his eyes.
"Now that really is something good! Being this big, they must weigh over two pounds each. It's been ages since I've seen large yellow croakers of this quality. They're a rare sight indeed."
Jiang Min took out his phone, snapped a few photos, and posted them in the local fishermen's group to show off.
Immediately, his phone started buzzing incessantly as people frantically @'ed him.
Everyone was asking for coordinates, but he ignored them all.
After a quick meal at his grandfather's house, Jiang Nanzhou drove the catch to town by himself since there was so much of it, letting his grandfather rest at home.
His grandfather's aerated live-fish tank was a bit too small after all, and with a total of seven large yellow croakers, it was indeed a bit cramped in there. He had to sell them right away while they were still full of life and kicking, since the price difference between dead and live fish was quite substantial.
He went straight to Wu Mingdong's shop, having already sent Wu Mingdong photos of those large yellow croakers before coming.
Seeing Jiang Nanzhou arrive, Wu Mingdong broke into a wide, beaming smile.
After all, these were live wild large yellow croakers—hardly any seafood wholesale market had those.
Jiang Nanzhou's large yellow croakers mostly ranged from one and a half to one pound and seven or eight ounces. For those, Wu Mingdong offered Jiang Nanzhou 2,000 yuan per pound. There was one that weighed two pounds and three ounces, and anything over two pounds went for 2,500 yuan per pound. He bought the lot.
The small yellow croakers went for yesterday's price of 22 yuan a pound, totaling 140 pounds, which came to 3,080 yuan.
The orchid crabs were uniform in size, with bodies as big as a palm, priced at 65 yuan a pound. There were 260 pounds in total, amounting to...
The grand total came to...
Wu Mingdong was about to transfer the money to Jiang Nanzhou via WeChat when Jiang Nanzhou stopped him out loud.
"Uncle Wu, I'll send you my bank card number. Just transfer it directly to my bank card instead; the withdrawal fee on WeChat is a bit high."
"If we do bank transfers, I'll have to wait until your aunt comes back later. I'm no good with that stuff."
「Fine, no rush. Well, Uncle Wu, I'll be heading out first.」
Wu Mingdong walked Jiang Nanzhou out of the shop, watching until the back of the truck disappeared from sight before sighing with emotion.
This Jiang Nanzhou really seemed to have some genuine skills. Once might be luck, but nobody could be lucky every single day.
Hearing Old Master Jiang's hints yesterday, this kid was just back home for the New Year and would head back to Modu after the holiday.
He couldn't figure it out—with skills like that, why go back to Modu? If he had that kind of ability, he wouldn't run any shop; he'd just live right out on the ocean.
Leaving the seafood wholesale market, Jiang Nanzhou headed straight to his aunt's wholesale supermarket to drop off the crabs and small yellow croakers he had specifically set aside for them.
Jiang Nanzhou told his aunt and uncle that he had made over 40,000 yuan today, and the couple was genuinely happy for him, telling him to save all the money properly and not spend it recklessly.
"Little Zhou, it's not that your uncle is lecturing you, but since you have this kind of ability, you might as well get a boat on the island. Isn't that much better than working for someone else?"
Before Uncle-in-law could finish speaking, Aunt interrupted him.
"What's so good about staying on the island? Going out to sea to fish is so dangerous, all that wind and sun. He just happened to be lucky these past two days—do you think fishing is that easy? Look at how many boat owners are trying to sell their boats right now."