87: Tuna takes turns to come aboard

“Dad, how is it? Do you want me to take over so you can rest for a bit?”

Yang Qi asked, looking at his Dad with concern.

“No need, I can handle it myself. Just help me get the fish up later.”

His Dad shook his head, refusing. This was his first time catching such a big fish, and it was a Tuna. If possible, he wanted to land it by himself, as it would mean more.

Yang Qi understood; this was normal for any angler.

“Alright! Take your time, don’t rush! I’ll help you net the fish later.”

Yang Qi went over to Mother Yang and Bai Xue, checked the situation, and saw they still had over a hundred meters to go.

Since these two fish were slightly smaller, the power of the two high-power electric reels was more than enough.

“Mom, you two take your time. I’ll go help Dad first.”

Back with his Dad, Yang Qi finally remembered something:

“Isn’t there a small crane in the ice hold? Oh, my memory.”

Yang Qi went to the ice hold, unfolded the long arm of the crane that was usually folded and stood vertically behind the door, and pulled it out of the ice hold, ready for use.

Yang Qi watched his Dad slowly pull the Yellowfin Tuna, weighing around 150 catties, to the side of the boat.

Yang Qi took out a rope, made a loop, and slipped it over the Yellowfin Tuna’s scissor-shaped tail. He quickly tightened the loop.

This was mainly to prevent the Tuna from breaking the line and escaping during its death throes.

Now, it definitely couldn't get away.

Yang Qi picked up the gaff hook and thrust it hard into the large fish head.

With a “Pfft!” sound,

the long gaff hook pierced into the Tuna’s huge head. The Tuna thrashed violently in pain.

“Just its death throes!”

In less than ten seconds, the Tuna stopped struggling.

Yang Qi hooked the rope onto the crane arm, started the machine, and hoisted the Yellowfin Tuna onto the deck. This was much easier than when he and his Mom had used manpower earlier.

“Why didn’t I think of it earlier?”

Yang Qi gave a hands-on lesson on how to cover the Tuna’s eyes with a towel and how to bleed the Tuna.

“Come on! Dad will take a picture for you.”

“Oh! Yes, yes, yes! We absolutely must take this picture! Hahaha!”

Yang Dad laughed loudly. This was his first Tuna! How could he not be excited?

After taking the photo, Yang Qi returned to Mother Yang and Bai Xue.

At this point, the two Tuna, one after another, had been pulled very close to the boat. Having been played for so long, these two Tuna were also exhausted.

Their tails occasionally slapped the water, splashing water. Their large mouths opened and closed.

Yang Qi skillfully picked up a rope. When the fish came close to the boat’s side, he first used the rope to loop around the Tuna’s tail.

“Dad, want to try?”

“Okay! I’ll do it!”

Yang Dad picked up the gaff hook, aimed at the fish’s head, and thrust it down forcefully.

The gaff hook plunged deep into the fish’s head.

He successfully hoisted this Tuna onto the deck. His Dad pulled out the gaff hook and began to bleed the Tuna.

Immediately after, Yang Qi followed suit and brought up the other one.

Although these two fish were smaller than the one his Dad caught, they both weighed between eighty and one hundred catties.

A group photo was, of course, essential. After all, among the four people, besides Yang Qi himself, everyone, including Bai Xue, was catching a Tuna for the first time, making it particularly significant.

Everyone looked at the four Tuna on the deck, their faces beaming with joy.

“So these are Yellowfin Tuna! They’re so big! They must be worth a lot of money! Son, how much is this Tuna worth?”

Mother Yang asked, smiling broadly.

Yang Qi replied:

“Last time, I sold those over 200 catties for 280 yuan per catty, those between 100 and 200 catties for 220 yuan per catty, and those between 50 and 100 catties for 100 yuan per catty.”

“Of course, it mainly depends on the quality of the Tuna’s meat. So, bleeding the Tuna promptly is important.”

“Then these two that Auntie and I caught are worth almost 8,000 yuan each!” Bai Xue excitedly chimed in.

“Doesn’t that mean the Tuna I caught is worth 30,000 yuan? That’s incredible. It’s equivalent to a year’s income from my orchard.”

Mother Yang was also very happy to hear that. Who isn’t happy about making money?

Yang Qi looked at this scene, his heart filled with warmth. The family worked together and reaped abundant rewards at sea.

Next, they began to process these Tuna methodically. After bleeding them, the father and son used a small cart to push them to the ice hold and stack them.

Mother Yang and Bai Xue had already rinsed the deck with seawater.

Yang Qi found that the Tuna school had vanished without a trace. However, catching four fish made him extremely satisfied.

Yang Qi suggested that since Tuna swim so fast, they must have gone far away.

Next, they would use the electric reels for automatic fishing. Everyone could rest.

Mother Yang went to cook, and Bai Xue followed to help.

When they left in the morning, Mother Yang had brought the beef stew she had prepared yesterday. All that was left was to steam a Yellow Chicken Fish, stir-fry some greens, and make a seaweed egg drop soup.

Yang Qi and his Dad stood on the deck, smoking and chatting. Occasionally, they would go and remove the fish caught by the electric reels, enjoying their leisure!

Suddenly, Yang Qi noticed that one of the rods had caught another large Large Yellow Croaker.

He scurried over, waiting for the fish to be pulled out of the water.

“What’s wrong?” Yang Dad asked, a little curious.

“That… nothing!” Yang Qi felt he had overreacted. It was just a large Large Yellow Croaker, it wasn’t like he hadn’t caught one before.

“Oh! Another large Large Yellow Croaker! That’s great!” His Dad saw the large Large Yellow Croaker slowly being pulled out of the water.

After speaking, he inadvertently glanced at his son but said nothing.

Yang Qi noticed that the air bladder of this 3-catty Large Yellow Croaker had been pushed out of its mouth.

“It probably won’t survive!”

He quickly wrapped the Large Yellow Croaker in a black cloth, placed it in a box, and covered it with crushed ice.

He was a bit worried about the 4-catty Large Yellow Croaker that was first kept in the live fish tank.

He ran over, opened the hatch, and sure enough, it had already turned belly up. Luckily, it wasn’t dead yet.

He quickly and carefully scooped out the Large Yellow Croaker, wrapped it in a black cloth, and froze it with crushed ice.

Yang Qi put the box containing the Large Yellow Croaker into the freezing compartment.

“Can’t take the risk! These are like gold bars!”

Soon, Mother Yang had finished cooking.

The group took out a foldable table and several plastic stools. They began to eat lunch.

After a morning of hard work, everyone had a hearty appetite. Fortunately, Mother Yang had cooked a large pot of rice, otherwise, it wouldn’t have been enough.

Yang Qi munched on his steak, thinking about whether to find a deserted island for some wild foraging in the afternoon.

When he expressed his idea, everyone applauded in agreement.

After eating their fill, everyone felt their fatigue instantly disappear.

Actually, only Yang Qi himself was tired. His Dad and Mom were used to labor at home, so this level of intensity was nothing to them.

And Bai Xue had been accompanying her future mother-in-law all morning, fishing with an electric reel, so how tired could she be?