440: Returning home for the Chinese New Year

The next morning, after the two of them got up and finished breakfast, they first pulled up the Crab traps.

The fishery resources in these offshore waters were indeed abundant, incomparable to the nearshore areas; the Crab traps were once again bursting at the seams as usual.

They tied up the large Crabs, threw back some of the smaller ones, and then sailed toward the spot where they had set the Longline Fishing lines yesterday.

Although this was only the edge of the Pacific Ocean, the water depth reached over a thousand meters. While there were plenty of fish schools here, the vast ocean required them to pass exactly by the spot where the longlines were set.

So, when the two of them pulled up the Longline Fishing lines, they set a new record.

Out of two hundred hooks on the longline, they only caught 36 fish, setting a new low since Yang Qi started using Longline Fishing.

These 36 fish were just low-value Golden Pomfret, though they were quite large, each weighing over 10 catties.

Originally, these fish weren't qualified to enter the live well, but since the freezer hold was already full, they could only be tossed into the live well.

Bai Xue sighed as she unhooked the fish.

Yang Qi watched her, chuckling.

"Xiaoxue, don't be discouraged. You can't have a bumper harvest every single time."

"Sigh! Hubby, I know, I'm just not used to it!"

Bai Xue said with a sigh.

Since there weren't many fish on the longline, the two of them quickly finished processing them. They discussed whether they should head back now.

"Xiaoxue, I think since we've filled the holds early, we've saved a lot on fuel. It's rare to come to the Pacific Ocean, so how about we cruise around the ocean for a few hours and observe?"

Yang Qi suggested while looking at Bai Xue.

"Yeah, I think you're right. Let's check out the situation today and come back with a bigger ship in the future."

Bai Xue nodded in agreement.

The "setting sail" circled the edge of the Pacific Ocean, encountering five or six schools of fish, large and small, along the way.

Among them were schools of Sardine, Mackerel, Sea Bass, Pomfret, and so on.

Three or four hours later, Yang Qi decided to head back. If they kept circling like this, he was afraid they wouldn't have enough fuel, and it would be a joke if they couldn't make it home.

With the holds already full, there was no need to go at full speed on the return trip. They maintained an economical cruising speed, sailing steadily toward home.

When they encountered suitable island reefs in the middle of the night along the way, they would stop to rest and set off again at dawn.

Occasionally, they would fish for high-value species like Grouper, while ignoring other low-value schools of fish.

Stopping and starting along the way, they finally returned to the Qingshan Town pier on the third day.

Yang Qi didn't know how Chen Tianming and Murakami Jiro had negotiated, but he didn't care to manage it either, as long as the purchase price they offered was fair.

In any case, as long as there was Tuna, Murakami Jiro would basically take most of it.

This time, when Murakami Jiro saw the Red seabream and King Salmon, his eyes went wide with excitement.

Yang Qi kept a portion of the catch and sold the rest to Chen Tianming and the other, earning a total of over 2.7 million yuan.

He made another trip to SF Express to send the selected catch to Tang Long's home in the Capital.

He even turned down the high price Chen Tianming offered for that seven or eight-catty Large Yellow Croaker and sent it along. Since the Lunar New Year was approaching, he had to send some New Year's gifts to the leaders.

As for the leaders in the The City, he would drive and deliver the gifts personally in the afternoon. After all, relationships need to be nurtured personally!

Regarding friends like Zhang Jun and Liu Yao, he had already called them to come to the pier and pick up their New Year's gifts.

Time flew by, and it was soon New Year's Eve. As the holiday neared, business at Tide Cottage had basically ground to a halt. Only two guests remained, who for some reason hadn't gone home for the New Year.

Meanwhile, Uncle, Chen Lanxin, and his cousin had already returned to their hometown two days ago to celebrate the New Year, and wouldn't be back until after the sixth day of the first lunar month. After all, his maternal grandparents were still in the hometown.

His mom and the others had also gone to the The City together over the past couple of days to finish the New Year's shopping.

The two families got up early. Yang Qi and Bai Lang began putting up the spring couplets. With doors for four houses, plus two boats and five cars, it kept the two of them busy for quite some time.

There were still significant differences between Northern and Southern New Year customs.

Specifically, the customs of making dumplings and watching the Spring Festival Gala were basically irrelevant to Southerners.

Years ago, many Southerners could still watch Master Zhao's sketches, but later on, simply no one watched the Gala at all.

It might be that Southerners and Northerners have different senses of humor, and another saying is that the Spring Festival Gala is made for Northerners.

In short: the Spring Festival Gala has no market in the South!

As for staying up late to eat dumplings—don't be ridiculous. Southerners don't even like eating them normally, so why would they eat that on New Year's Eve?

Southerners basically have tables full of fish and meat every day from the 25th of the twelfth lunar month to the 15th of the first lunar month. The youth are even out at bars and KTVs every night.

(As a Southerner who once spent the New Year in Jin Province in the North, I'm just being factual: the 'flavor' of the New Year is indeed stronger in the North than in the South.)

(Especially during those years when fireworks and firecrackers were banned in the South, it felt like every day was no different from usual, except for eating a bit better. It felt like that old New Year atmosphere could never be found again.)

This New Year's Eve, the Yang and Bai families invited the remaining two guests to celebrate together, giving it a bit of a North-South fusion feel.

Southern New Year's Eve dinners are usually quite early; they had everything ready by four o'clock. At this moment, the dining table was packed with dishes:

There was steamed Crab and Lobster, Native Chicken soup with Conch, steamed East Star Grouper, steamed Mouse Grouper, Sea Eel with fermented black beans, large Lobster with garlic and vermicelli, large scallops with garlic, oil-braised Tuna head, pan-fried Tuna meat, Tuna sashimi, King Salmon sashimi, Sesame Grouper fish soup... plus braised pork, stewed mutton, stewed beef ribs, stir-fried shrimp with celery, and stir-fried greens.

For drinks, there were red wine, white liquor, yellow wine, beer, as well as tu long wine and soft drinks.

And of course, there were two large plates of dumplings—one with Spanish Mackerel filling and the other with pork and cabbage.

As the host and the eldest, Dad raised a glass, after which everyone was free to enjoy themselves.

"I wish everyone here an even better year next year! Cheers!"

Looking at the lively dinner table, Yang Qi couldn't help but remember last year's New Year's Eve, when he hadn't gone back to his hometown and ate dumplings all by himself.

Now, he looked at his parents, who were chatting animatedly with Bai Dahai's family with smiles on their faces, not forgetting to invite the two guests to eat and drink.

Then he looked at Bai Xue, who was currently toasting his mom and dad, and he couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion. In an instant, he felt that all his hard work had been worth it!

After everyone finished the New Year's Eve dinner, the sky had already turned dark. Everyone went to the open space outside to set off fireworks and firecrackers.

"Whoosh, bang!" "Crack-pop-bang!"

As various firecracker sounds rang out, brilliant fireworks rose into the sky, and the first wave of tonight's firework display began.

Before long, the entire town was filled with the sight of fireworks rising and the deafening sound of firecrackers everywhere.

Bai Lang particularly loved lighting the fuses, taking charge of nearly half of the fireworks and crackers.

Yang Qi, Bai Xue, and the two young guests combined only set off about the other half.