109: Return

The biting continued until 3 AM, then mostly stopped. Yang Qi reeled in his line and said to Bai Xue,

"Xiao Xue, that's enough. There are no more bites. Let's rest now and wake up at 9 to collect the longline and traps. Then we'll head back home!"

"Okay, Yang Qi Ge, why don't you sleep on the big bed in the rest cabin? I'll sleep in the cockpit," Bai Xue said.

"No, you go sleep on the big bed! I'm fine." Yang Qi felt he could still manage. If he were truly too tired, he wouldn't refuse.

Setting his alarm, Yang Qi lay on the small bed in the cockpit, lit a cigarette, and after some wild thoughts, slowly drifted off to sleep.

The sound of the alarm startled Yang Qi, who was busy chatting with the Duke of Zhou.

He pushed open the cockpit door and found Bai Xue had already prepared breakfast, smiling at him.

"You're up, Yang Qi Ge! Wash up and get ready to eat!"

Yang Qi's heart fluttered, and he shivered, secretly reminding himself:

"Old pal, spring is over!"

He quickly rushed to wash up, and the two sat down to eat breakfast together.

Breakfast was simple: fish porridge with three steamed buns specially prepared for Yang Qi.

After breakfast, the two immediately set sail, heading to where they had set the longline and traps yesterday.

First, they used a pole hook to retrieve the buoy on the longline, then pulled the rope by hand.

This time, his setting sail only carried two basins of 200-meter longlines, but these 400 meters of longlines, with just under 200 hooks, made him dizzy and exhausted just from baiting them.

Yang Qi had also heard that some large fishing boats had longlines as long as 10 to 8 miles, which was considered normal.

You can imagine, on such a long line, setting it, reeling it in, baiting, and removing fish.

Oh my~ just thinking about it makes one's scalp tingle.

Fortunately, the longline harvest today was not bad; just under 200 hooks yielded over 80 fish.

There were over thirty Groupers of various sizes. However, a dozen or so that were less than a catty were thrown back into the sea by Yang Qi.

The other 50 or so fish were also good, including Black Seabream, Striped Beakfish, Red Snapper, Sea Bass, and other species.

Yang Qi decided that if the longline harvest declined in the future, he would try to avoid it.

Without a winch, doing it entirely by hand was indeed very tiring; his hands were raw and sore, and organizing the longline was simply too troublesome.

After re-baiting with Shrimp, the two put the longline back into the sea.

The two then went to where they had set the traps. Yang Qi liked to place traps in areas with rock piles, as these places were easy for fish to hide. However, this structure had a major drawback: it was prone to getting snagged.

Yang Qi reduced the number of traps in a string to 4 or 5. This ensured that the traps were placed in the open spaces between the rock piles, making them less likely to get caught on the rocks.

Yang Qi pulled up the first string of traps and found that almost every cage had five or six crabs, along with some octopuses and a few large lobsters.

The crabs included mud crabs and swimming crabs, among others. The harvest was quite good!

Unfortunately, one octopus was clutching and gnawing on a swimming crab.

It was the first time Yang Qi had known that octopuses could eat crabs; in his impression, it should have been the other way around!

He spent a lot of effort to pull the octopus off the crab.

This thing was a bit difficult to handle; it definitely couldn't be put with the crabs, nor in the live well, as it would be even worse if it started bothering the fish inside.

The octopuses ended up in single rooms; Yang Qi put them all in a live fish tank.

The crabs certainly couldn't be left alone; they had to be tied up. Otherwise, their aggressive nature would surely lead to them losing limbs from fighting each other or biting other fish.

The second string of traps had conger eels in them, with several cages containing them. Crabs and small lobsters were also present.

Crabs and lobsters weighing less than two liang were thrown back into the sea by Yang Qi.

Small lobsters, also known as Chinese lobsters, local lobsters, or large lobsters, are decapod crustaceans of the genus Homarus.

They are a unique species in China, very nutritious, with a sweet, salty, and warm nature. They have the effects of tonifying the kidneys and strengthening yang, and nourishing yin and calming the mind.

Market price: Four liang to one catty is 100 to 150 yuan per catty.

One catty to one and a half catties is 150 to 280 yuan per catty.

The larger the individual, the more expensive it is, and wild ones are even more expensive.

The two continued to collect the traps. Due to the unique geographical reasons of the area, the 100 traps were separated into strings of four or five, making collection seem so troublesome.

However, the trap harvest was still very good. By the time they finished collecting all the traps, it was already one or two in the afternoon.

Hungry, the two put the traps back in their original places. One continued to organize the catch, and the other went to cook.

After a hurried lunch, Yang Qi piloted the setting sail back.

On the way, Yang Qi also discovered a school of Sea Bass, but since he didn't have a trawl net, he didn't go to catch them. After all, they weren't a very expensive fish species, and besides, the setting sail was almost full.

However, if he had encountered a school of Large Yellow Croaker, that would certainly be another matter; even taking out some of the fish in the freezer would be worth it.

The speed of the fully loaded setting sail was completely different from when it went out to sea empty.

Along the way, if Yang Qi found any good spots, he marked them one by one. These places would be for his father's harvest in the future.

Just as they were nearing the harbor, Bai Xue suddenly pointed into the distance and shouted,

"Yang Qi Ge, it looks like a boat over there is in distress!"

Yang Qi looked closely and saw a small fishing boat swaying precariously in the wind and waves.

He didn't hesitate for a moment, immediately turning the setting sail towards the distressed vessel.

Upon getting closer, he saw three people on board, their faces filled with panic.

Yang Qi and Bai Xue quickly helped them onto the setting sail.

"Thank you so much! If we hadn't met you, we would have been finished," one of the fishermen said gratefully.

Yang Qi waved his hand, "It's nothing. We're all seafarers; we should all help each other. What happened to your boat?"

The fisherman sighed, "The engine suddenly broke down, and we ran into wind and waves. Our boat is too small to control."

Yang Qi told Bai Xue to take care of them and get some food for everyone.

"How about this! Let's tie your boat to my fishing boat, and we'll help you tow it back to the harbor first!"

By the time everything was handled, the sun was already setting.

Yang Qi safely brought everyone back to the harbor. The fishermen thanked them profusely, making the two of them a bit embarrassed.

Finally, the two bid farewell to the fishermen and steered the setting sail into the training center's dock.

Although they returned late from this trip, Yang Qi felt that the harvest from this voyage was far more than just fish.