1983Fishing and Farming between Mountains and Seas

Chapter 310 The huge sum of money to buy a ship suddenly came

Time flies, and the days of going out to sea early and returning late are especially quick.

In the remaining days of June, Liang Ziqiang went to the nameless island twice. There were not many chicken claw snails on each trip, and three-headed abalone became increasingly difficult to find. They became relatively smaller five-headed abalone and six-headed abalone.

The total revenue from the two trips was more than 400 yuan.

While out at sea, we caught some pufferfish using longline fishing. All of them were concentrated on the lower layer and the bottom hooks, and there were about 200 pufferfish in total.

The horse-faced pufferfish was bigger than the sea catfish he caught last time. Liang Ziqiang followed the same method and continued to use this fish to fish for lampreys in the small ditch, and also earned more than 200 yuan.

Normally, I go out to sea to cast nets and do bottom fishing and longline fishing. My daily income varies, from a few dozen to hundreds. After a dozen days, I can earn more than seven hundred.

By the end of June, approaching the end of the month, Liang Ziqiang had finally saved up about 8,300 yuan from 6,900 yuan!

Even so, there is still a shortfall of about 1,700 yuan to buy the boat, which is still a huge gap.

The most worrying thing is that he has tried all the ways to make money, and he still can't think of any other way to get particularly valuable fish in a short time.

The last thing that comes to mind is the cat shark.

The last time they went to Snapper Island, they encountered a large group of cat sharks and found that the area was the habitat of cat sharks. However, after several attempts, the cat sharks moved away.

He was wondering, after more than half a month, was it possible that the cat shark had returned to that habitat?

If the answer is yes, it would be quick money.

Last time, I used the drift gillnet and sold the cat shark I caught for a full 1,000 yuan. If I can catch the same one again this time and get more than 1,000 yuan, the funding gap will not be a big problem!

Drive the boat towards Snapper Island.

We haven't been here for a long time, and the people on the boats are still quite looking forward to it, hoping that the remaining escaped cat sharks can return to their nests.

After arriving nearby, they deliberately divided the work and cooperated, each locking in an area as a target and starting to search in a dispersed manner. In this way, the search range can be expanded, and the chances of finding cat sharks can naturally be increased.

It was not until noon that they reunited. Everyone had the same expression, more or less showing disappointment.

They had paid special attention to the movements on the sea, but they still could not find any objects such as dead trees or small reefs.

On Liang Ziqiang's boat, Duobao was also calm and had no reaction. With Duobao's sensitivity to cat sharks, it would be impossible for him not to notice them once they approached a certain distance. This also indirectly proved that there were indeed no cat sharks in this large area of ​​water recently.

After several boats gathered together again, they slowed down to almost a standstill and began to make lunch.

Liang Ziqiang had prepared the meal and had just eaten half of it. Duobao, who was also concentrating on his lunch, suddenly raised his head from the food bowl and barked a few times towards the outside of the boat.

Liang Ziqiang was instinctively delighted. His first reaction to Duobao's reaction was that the cat shark might have finally appeared.

It didn't matter whether he was hungry or not. He put half of his meal on the boat and stood up to look at the sea.

As a result, when I looked up and followed the direction of Duobao's barking, I didn't see any cat shark in the water.

There was a wooden boat, paddling through the blue waves, heading towards this side from afar.

The boat was moving quite fast and approached in a flash, and everyone recognized it at a glance.

"Isn't this the boat on Driftwood Island? We helped to pull it back to Driftwood Island after it was damaged last time. Is it repaired now?"

"I wonder if it's Lao Qiu or Lao Xie on the boat?"

Several people spoke up.

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a figure walking out of the cabin and greeting them. It was Lao Xie.

"I'm glad to meet you today. I haven't been here for more than half a month." There was still no expression on Old Xie's face, but his tone was quite enthusiastic.

Liang Ziqiang and his friends had not been here for half a month. They had come here every day before just to fish for snappers on that island, but when they had caught all the snappers, they naturally went to other seas to fish.

"Fishing means running around all over the sea without any fixed place!" Liang's father replied to Old Xie with a chuckle.

"You have no fixed place to stay, which keeps me very busy. In the past ten days or so, whenever I had free time, I would hang around here every day. I wasted a lot of diesel just to look for you!" There was a hint of resentment in Old Xie's tone, which formed a certain contrast with his expression.

Everyone was shocked: "You are specifically looking for us?!"

Old Xie pointed at Liang Ziqiang and said, "The main thing is to find Aqiang! Didn't you save Lao Qiu more than half a month ago? Lao Qiu kept urging me to remember to thank him, and he kept repeating it to me seven or eight times a day! I will find a way to thank Aqiang soon, but I can't find him! Lao Qiu forced me to come to the sea every day! If you don't come, I might have gone crazy when you see me!"

Seeing Old Xie’s miserable expression, Liang Ziqiang was also saying “Fuck” in his heart.

Lao Qiu said in person that he wanted to thank him, which is true, but normally, there is a process for expressing gratitude, right?
How can I say thank you today and immediately get it done for you tomorrow or the day after tomorrow?
Liang Ziqiang found that he still lacked understanding of how impatient Mr. Qiu and Mr. Xie were in this regard.

"You didn't really prepare a lavish gift to thank Aqiang, did you? What is it, the same valuable fish as last time? Which island is it this time, snapper or grouper?"

Deng Zhaocai started asking a series of questions based on his own imagination.

Unexpectedly, Old Xie had not forgotten this annoying fat boy. He was still brooding over the fact that Deng Zhaocai coveted his wooden boat. He rolled his eyes and ignored Acai.

"Aqiang, don't go fishing for now. Driftwood Island isn't too far from here anyway. Come with me and you'll know what I have to give you this time!"

After rolling his eyes, when Old Xie turned to Liang Ziqiang, his expression became much more friendly. From murderous to friendly, it was a seamless switch.

"Okay, let's go now?" Liang Ziqiang quickly finished the rice in the bowl, started the wooden boat immediately, and followed Lao Xie towards the Piaomu Island.

Lao Qiu and Lao Xie insisted on thanking him, so he certainly obeyed. Moreover, he was in dire need of money. No matter what kind of fish Lao Xie provided this time, judging from the situation of the snapper last time, the value would not be low.

Maybe, his funding gap will be filled?
Since there were no valuable fish to catch, the boats of Liang's father, Li Liang and others followed behind and headed towards Piaomu Island.

Duobao is really outgoing. Every time Lao Xie looks at this side, it thinks he is looking at it, and keeps wagging its tail to greet Lao Xie, as if it has a very good relationship with Lao Xie.

The sound of conversation was mixed with the happy whining of the dog. Gradually, Driftwood Island came closer...

Several boats stopped at Driftwood Island and everyone went aboard.

"Where is Old Qiu? He is not on the island today?" Liang's father looked around and saw no trace of Qiu Dongzhi, so he asked.

Old Xie pointed to a corner of the roof that was faintly visible among the trees.
"He's locked himself in the room again. He's like this, spending most of the year in that room tinkering! I won't disturb him, Aqiang, just wait for me." Liang Ziqiang glanced at the corner of the house hidden by the trees, and he wasn't particularly surprised.

As early as a month ago, when my father first met Lao Xie wandering on the sea, he said that the owner of the oyster farm on Driftwood Island was a man who seldom showed up, and very few fishermen had ever seen him.

The last time Liang Ziqiang rescued Lao Qiu from the water, it was a very accidental encounter.

After saying this, Old Xie walked into the brick house where he usually lived.

Several people looked at Lao Xie as he entered the room, and they were all extremely curious, wondering what the secret was.

When they came out again, their eyes were all fixed on Old Xie's arms. For a moment, they couldn't move their eyes.

There was something extra in Old Xie's hands, which he held with both hands.

It looks like a giant shell, but is very different from ordinary shells. It has soft and winding lines like a ribbon.

The outermost layer seemed to be painted with lime, or absorbed with a dense layer of snowflakes. The rest of the body was pure white, emitting a pearly halo and silky luster.

Because it is so eye-catching, a missing piece on a corner of the giant shell appears very abrupt and eye-catching.

At this moment, Old Xie seemed to be holding a huge underwater flower. The hard and even old-fashioned lines on his face and the graceful and soft lines of the object in his hands were like two worlds that were forcibly put together.

"Is this... a giant clam? Or... a jade giant clam?!"

Even Liang's father paused after each word, as if he didn't dare to confirm it, but he actually saw with his own eyes the jade giant clam actually emerge.

Although some giant clams live in shallow waters, they are very difficult to find. Liang's father has seen some ordinary giant clam shells, but he has never seen a jade giant clam.

Liang Ziqiang was as surprised as his father. The last time he saw a jade giant clam was on the Ocean Channel, and he was only moved by the beauty of the jade giant clam through the screen.

It was the first time for him to see it in real life.

As for Li Liang, Deng Zhaocai, Lin Baixian and others, they had already started shaking hands, as if they were greeting each other as elders.

"Yes, it's the jade giant clam!"

Old Xie placed the giant clam in his hand on a stone platform outside the house and waved to Liang Ziqiang to squat down and take a closer look.

"Any piece of this thing that can be made into a bead is very valuable. If the whole piece is carved into a large piece of jade, it will be worth even more! I am also an outsider, so I can't say how much this thing can be sold for, but one thing is for sure, it is not cheap, definitely not cheap!"

Old Xie asked Liang Ziqiang to take a closer look at the halo color of the giant clam while telling him.

"This is... too expensive, isn't it?" Liang Ziqiang hesitated when he saw such a large jade giant clam. "Why don't you keep such a precious thing for yourself?"

"It's precious at all! I just picked it up casually!" Old Xie disagreed.

"You can just pick this up... casually?" Li Liang, Liang Tiancheng and their expressions were more interesting than each other.

"What, you don't believe it?" Old Xie moved a stool and sat down, and immediately told Liang Ziqiang what happened.

"More than 20 days ago, it was the day you rescued Old Qiu from the sea. Do you remember that?"

"How could I not remember this? Old Qiu kept saying he wanted to thank you that day, but how could I know that you guys would really get such a big treasure?" Liang Ziqiang still felt like he was still sleepy and really wanted to pinch himself to see if it was true.

"Old Qiu told me to chase the two bastards who blew up the reef. I wanted to catch up with them! They almost killed Old Qiu. How could this matter be resolved if I didn't beat them up? But I looked everywhere but couldn't see anyone. The two bastards had already run away. How could I catch up with them?!"

It turned out that Lao Xie was unable to catch up with Tiezhu and Shouhou that day.

Yes, if he had really caught up with it, Iron Pillar Skinny Monkey would not have appeared in the Snapper Island safely and eaten grilled grouper and blacktail winter squid.

“Just because I didn’t catch up with them that day doesn’t mean I’ll let them go! If I let this go, Lao Qiu and I would have no chance of survival!” Lao Xie looked very ruthless. “I kept a close eye on them for the next few days, wandering around the sea every day, planning to guess the direction and chase them as soon as I heard an explosion!”

Liang Ziqiang and the others were all nervous after hearing this. If anyone offended Old Xie, it would be really miserable. When he was seeking revenge, he would simply forget about food and sleep!

Especially Deng Zhaocai, his face turned pale immediately.

"After only two days of sailing, I really heard them blasting the reef again!" Old Xie continued to recall, "It was almost evening that day. I was sailing on the sea when I heard a muffled sound coming from far behind me. Although it seemed to sound far away and unreal, I couldn't be wrong. It must be the sound of blasting the reef!"

Liang Ziqiang and the others were silent and wanted to hear what happened next.

Old Xie continued, "I immediately estimated the direction, drove the boat at the highest speed, and chased after it!"

"Did you catch up this time?" Liang Tiancheng couldn't help but interrupt.

Old Xie shook his head:

"Damn it, it's still too far away! When my boat got there, there was no one there. All I could see was a large pile of rocks, not too high above the water, but the shape of the reef is quite unique, like a triangle. I'll call it the Triangle Reef!"

Triangle Reef? Liang Ziqiang and the others all looked a little strange.

This was not the first time they had heard of this place. That day on Snapper Island, they had heard the word "Triangle Reef" pop up repeatedly from Tiezhu and Shouhou's mouths.

Old Xie didn't notice their looks and continued to recall what happened at that time:

"That reef was blown to pieces, and there were fainted or dead fish floating on the water. Needless to say, the muffled sound ahead must have been caused by them blowing up the reef in this place! It's so infuriating. I've been rushing here for so long, and the turtle boy still ran away again!
It was getting late, already evening, I wanted to go back to the island, I could only continue to wander around next time to see if there was a chance to catch them and beat them to death. But then I changed my mind and remembered Ah Qiang!

"Me?" Liang Ziqiang was a little surprised. Why did he suddenly think of him at this critical moment?
"Isn't it? Didn't Old Qiu keep urging me to find something good to show my appreciation after being rescued by you? Then I thought, how come these two turtle cubs ran away right after the explosion? In such a short time, it shouldn't be possible to get all the giant clam meat under the water, right?
I was thinking, if there are still some live giant clams left, I can catch some of them, and maybe sell the adductor muscles for a few hundred yuan. Then I can keep the live giant clams, and next time I see them, I can give them to you and let you sell them for some money.
A few hundred dollars is not a lot, and it is not enough to repay Lao Qiu for saving his life, but I will pay it back slowly, right? Thinking of this, I stopped the boat and went to the bottom of the reef to fish.

After taking a look at Liang Ziqiang, Old Xie was actually somewhat proud:

"Are you wondering, it's so deep under the reef, how can I possibly fish it out? Don't worry about that, I definitely have my own way! Usually when I'm in the oyster farm, many oysters are also knocked down by the wind and waves and fall to the bottom of the sea. I use a special tool to reach down to the bottom of the sea and scrape it. This thing is called a clam rake, which has a net on it and a lot of iron teeth. I usually fish out dozens of oysters at a time!

The clam rake can scrape oysters, and of course giant clams, but the handle is very long, and it stretches all the way into the deep water, which is quite laborious. This is also because I am very strong, and most people may not be able to scrape it.

I dragged the clam rake and scraped it under the exploded reef, scraping back and forth..."

Old Xie is still recalling the experience of trying to find giant clam meat in the triangular reef zone more than 20 days ago.

As Liang Ziqiang listened, his heart began to stir. He probably knew where this was going...

(End of this chapter)