I am a local in North America

Chapter 34 God of Wealth! God of Wealth! Save the poor!
Everyone has their own job.

The crab fishermen on the deck were doing physical labor, while Old Man Su was moving the crab boat forward little by little in rhythm with the dropping of the crab traps.

Predicting the direction of the crab tide is an experience-based skill, even more crucial than physical labor. Therefore, on other crab fishing boats, the profit share received by the hired captain is generally much higher than that of the crab fishermen, sometimes reaching two or three times that of the fishermen.

The father and son hadn't seen each other for over 100 days, so they had a lot to talk about. Although they managed to steal a moment to chat, they were actually quite busy.

Smash the king crab legs with a wrench, peel off the shell. The edges are hard and prickly. Take a closer sniff, and a seafood aroma wafts out.

Su Jierui finally got to eat tender king crab meat. It had only been frozen for a few days, but the taste was still pretty good.

He used to eat seafood and crabs at home all the time, and he was tired of it. However, after eating freshwater fish for more than three months in a row without much seasoning, he felt that seafood was more suitable for him.

Seeing that his father didn't want him to go to sea in the future, and even used safety concerns as an excuse, Su Jierui calmly retorted:
"Dad, I know what you're worried about, but what job is 100% safe?"

"Becoming a detective means encountering criminals, and becoming a doctor means easily encountering extreme patients. In the United States, even in schools, conflicts often occur. When you're down on your luck, you can choke to death even while drinking water."

"Catching fish and crabs in the nearshore waters is alright. As long as you don't get greedy and take risks, you can be much more at ease."

"For example, the missing crab fishing boat—perhaps the captain didn't check satellite cloud images before setting sail, or perhaps he was losing money and hadn't caught anything for a long time, so he risked venturing out to sea. Most of the dangers could have been avoided through caution and prudence."

Mr. Su was actually quite at ease with his son, Su Jierui.

It's simply because I've seen too many accidents at sea, and my concern has clouded my judgment. Plus, this job is extremely arduous, requiring exposure to wind and sun year-round, which is why I don't want my son to continue in this line of work.

Seeing that Su Jierui had his own ideas, his father didn't say anything more, only replying:

"This world is a bit hard to understand. Who would have thought that teaching could be a high-risk profession in the United States?"

"Let's talk about the rest later. You should go out and make your own way first. If things don't work out, then come and help me. We can't just sit around and do nothing."

“If the family’s fishing boat doesn’t need to be rented out or sold, your grandfather will be very happy. It’s become a family heirloom.”

"The old man was talking about coming out to sea with me again just two months ago, wanting to feel the breeze in the Bering Sea. I quickly stopped him; the ice on the deck is too slippery, and his old bones can't take the strain."

Thinking of that Ferrari 488 again, Su's father felt a little envious.

Although he owns a total of three fishing boats, all of which are much more expensive than that sports car, they are ultimately not the same thing.

Driving a luxury car is for enjoyment, while owning a fishing boat represents hard work. Mr. Su also wants to try that comfortable retirement life.

pity.

The son, Su Jierui, is still unsettled, and the youngest daughter, Su Yarou, is still in school. The family had just managed to pay off the mortgage, but the high loan for the crab fishing boat has become another heavy burden on Su's father's heart.

It can only be said that if you have too high expectations of yourself and feel too responsible towards your family and children, it will be difficult for you to be carefree and live for yourself.

Unlike those old thugs on the streets of Seattle, who, despite not having much money in their pockets, can buy a beer on credit and sit in a pub all night, yet seem so carefree every day.

The thought of Su Jie Rui growing up and making a name for himself filled Su's father with pride, making him feel that he was one step closer to retirement.

Little did he know that his beloved son was plotting a major move, planning to acquire a seaside ranch worth three to four million dollars through a "David and Goliath" strategy.
The Junlin crab fishing boat circled around at sea.

Based on the sonar images, they arrived at the upstream of the crab swarm. After discussing with Bob again, Su's father determined the first deployment point and immediately began directing everyone to deploy the crab traps.

Each cage contains three bait containers, which contain not only herring but also a unique bait made from chicken giblets, pig liver, rapeseed cake, soybean cake, honey, brown sugar, and other ingredients.

This is a secret recipe left by Grandpa Suri from his early years. It is said that when mixed together, it can emit a long-lasting aroma, which is quite effective in attracting king crabs into the cage.

The huge and heavy crab trap, filled with scraps of herring, was lifted by a crane, arced through the air, and dropped into the sea, splashing high into the air.

One after another, each group was equipped with a total of 15 crab traps.

After breakfast, Su Jierui stayed in the wheelhouse. He wasn't completely idle; he was keeping an eye on things for his dad to prevent the fishing boat from veering off course.

Although there are many king crabs on the seabed, they are constantly moving around. If the crab trap is placed in the wrong location and deviates from the crab tide's path, it may delay the harvest by one or two days and cause you to miss the best time to catch them.

It's different with him keeping an eye on things.

Occasionally, you can see that some king crab icons suddenly turn gray and then slowly disappear, probably because they were crushed to death by crab traps that sank to the bottom of the sea.

Finding the crab tide doesn't mean the situation is stable.

Continuing to film footage, Su Jierui said earnestly:
"We were lucky today! We encountered a small crab tide less than 12 hours after setting sail, but we still have to race against time!" "Because the annual total catch quota is set rather strangely, it can't be said to be particularly precise."

"Once the management department predicts, based on unloading reports and observer data, that the total number of king crabs brought ashore for the entire fishing season is about to reach or has already reached the annual limit for total catch, the management bureau will immediately announce the end of the fishing season."

"This means that a crab fishing boat that returns fully loaded may not be able to return to the dock in time due to a very short window of time, and by the time it returns, the trade in king crabs will have been banned."

"If we can't get a special exemption, the king crabs on board will be destroyed, which is a sad story. It could turn a profit of one or two hundred thousand dollars into a loss of two or three hundred thousand dollars. The cost of catching king crabs is just too high."

In the past, there were some unlucky ones who arrived at the shore after the crab fishing season had ended and even tried to steal and sell a whole hold full of king crabs. Now no one dares to do that anymore.

Because if a boat owner tries to recoup losses by selling crabs on the black market, they could be caught, face imprisonment, pay exorbitant fines, have their IFQ quota and fishing license revoked, and have their crab fishing career completely ended.

The difference between losing money for only one year and losing money every year is obvious.

Every time a crab fishing boat docks, someone comes to supervise and calculate the approximate weight of the catch. If the baby king crabs and mother king crabs are not released in accordance with regulations, they may face a fine of $5 or even $10.

Discovering a crab tide shortly after setting sail today is undoubtedly a joyous occasion.

As long as we hurry up and harvest the crabs according to the quota limit, and return to the dock to ship them as soon as possible, we can avoid heavy losses.

It is precisely because the weight of king crabs brought ashore cannot be accurately counted that there are always some errors in the closing period of the crab fishing season, making it impossible to implement the total catch volume 100% as stipulated.

Every year, there are always a few unlucky ones who return after the crab season has been declared over, only to find their holds full of king crabs but unable to exchange them for money.

Mr. Su didn't want to be one of them, and was very anxious at the moment. He had no mood to cooperate with his son in making YouTube videos and was busy driving the fishing boat and observing sonar images.

no way.

The King's Landing crab fishing boat has too many quotas left!

Su Jierui then pointed the camera at himself and, seizing the opportunity, busied himself gathering material for his second YouTube video after his comeback, saying:
"This year, my family still has about 17 tons of king crabs left to catch, which is equivalent to about 7500 king crabs. Even if we are lucky enough to catch a crab tide, it will take at least 4 days to catch that many king crabs."

"It takes about 12 hours to set up the crab traps, and the traps need to stay on the seabed for 24 hours. It will take one or two days to retrieve all 320 traps and process the catch."

"Considering other crab fishing boats, they may only have a small amount of quota left to catch, and they may only be able to put dozens or hundreds of crab traps into the sea, which is much faster than what I'm doing here."

"This means my parents have to hurry so they can sell the king crabs they catch before the crab season completely closes."

Su Jierui analyzed the situation very logically in front of the camera.

But to Su's father, this only made him more anxious.

The thought that all his efforts might be in vain gave Mr. Su a huge headache. He was worried that there wouldn't be enough time and that the data collected by the relevant departments might be inaccurate.

A glance at the sonar screen revealed a dense cluster of lights representing the crab swarm, which reassured Su's father slightly, but the sense of urgency did not lessen at all.

With only two or three hundred tons of total catch remaining, crab fishing boats that haven't met their quotas have probably already set sail today, and everyone is racing against time.

"We need to hurry! Arui, set an alarm to remind me to call tomorrow and ask how much of the total catch is left. If we end up with tens of tons of king crab stuck with nothing, we'll suffer a huge loss this year!"

"From making tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars, to losing two or three hundred thousand dollars, the difference is about $50!"

"If it's like the 'Sea Lion' ship from two years ago, returning fully loaded only to run into the sales ban... I can't even imagine how I'll get through next year..."

While anxious, Mr. Su clasped his hands together and bowed, muttering:

"God of Wealth! God of Wealth! Save the poor!"

"Oh, and Mazu, you must also bless us!"

"The crab population at the bottom is fairly dense, so don't leave the crab traps on the seabed all day. After 12 hours, bring up a few traps to check. As long as each trap averages 25 king crabs, then we should be able to achieve our goal..."

"???"

Su Jierui was completely bewildered and asked blankly:
"Our family? Are we considered poor? We should at least be middle class..."

……

(End of this chapter)