Reborn in 1981: My Life as a Fisherman

Valuable lobsters, prawns, and conger eels.

Shi Hailong packed everything into baskets, but he didn't bother with the remaining eels.

This thing is really worthless these days.

However, he really liked eating it, so he took it home, processed it, and dried it.

He casually picked up a prawn, which was longer than his palm; it was really big.

This set of five fish traps weighs about 600 kilograms. Shi Hailong estimates that the other set will also be quite good.

There are so many shrimp, in particular.

After a short rest, Shi Hailong went to collect another set.

After collecting everything, Shi Hailong was exhausted and felt weak all over.

However, he was happy. Ten fish traps could yield more than a thousand catties of fish in one night.

This is unimaginable in later generations.

Why bother with trawling?

Wouldn't it be better to add a fishnet cage?

These days, the fish, shrimp, and crabs in the ocean haven't yet experienced the devastation of fish traps.

The shallow, flat seabed has been largely depleted by trawlers, but flat-bottomed areas are still relatively few.

Areas with rocky bottoms are ideal locations for setting up sea cages.

This time, the ground nets were set up near Black Stone Island.

Therefore, the seabed in this area should be rocky.

After everything was settled, Shi Hailong rowed away, heading directly towards Haichao Town.

With such a large catch, it's definitely not advisable to buy it at the village's supply and marketing cooperative's purchasing point.

Let's go to the town; there are more purchasing points there than just the supply and marketing cooperative.

There are also state-owned aquatic product companies, as well as some government agencies and state-owned hotels making purchases.

By the time Shi Hailong reached the Haichao Town dock with two oars, he was truly exhausted.

He vowed to himself that he must buy a motorboat as soon as possible.

Rowing and sculpting are really not something a human can do.

No wonder they say there are three great sufferings in life!

It was already past 2 p.m., and there weren't many people on the dock.

There were several purchasing points not far from the dock. As soon as Shi Hailong came ashore and shouted, people came over.

There were seafood companies and supply and marketing cooperatives; a few people stood on the dock and looked around.

Their eyes lit up when they saw the catch on the small boat.

There weren't many fish; instead, there were plenty of shrimp and crabs that were easy to sell.

They've had enough fish they've collected during this period.

Immediately, they began to help Shi Hailong carry several baskets of good goods onto the dock.

Then someone else brought several large crates and went down to the boat to help load the swimming crabs.

Carrying basket after basket onto the dock made things much easier for Shi Hailong.

All the fish were brought up, and no one asked Shi Hailong how he caught them.

People with secure jobs don't care about these things.

Of course, it's also possible that it was done by an individual using bamboo baskets.

The supply and marketing cooperative staff and the aquatic products company staff were discussing the distribution, and Shi Hailong was aware of this.

In my past life, around this time, I often came with the contracting group to sell the fish catch.

So he didn't interfere; how to distribute the money was a matter between them.

The two systems are different. The seafood company mainly freezes seafood and ships it to major inland cities.

There are also specialized dry goods drying and sun-drying plants.

The dried goods that have been prepared are also shipped to the mainland.

The supply and marketing cooperatives, on the other hand, are markets that supply fresh goods to several nearby cities.

The supply and marketing cooperative used to produce its own dried goods, but later that was transferred to the aquatic products company.

However, some sales channels of the supply and marketing cooperatives still purchase some dried goods from aquatic product companies.

Since they're all state-owned, there are two different prices.

One type is the fixed price set by the state.

Another option is negotiation.

The negotiated price is the price outside of the target purchase volume, and it cannot exceed the listed price by more than 15%.

Of course, none of this affected Shi Hailong; he was an individual and didn't need to follow the set prices.

In fact, fishermen are similar to farmers; the price of grain that farmers pay to the state is the price they pay.

Once the grain quota is met, any surplus that you wish to sell will be sold at a negotiated price.

Shi Hailong remembers that this year's price for rice was 13 cents per jin.

Because of the household responsibility system implemented this year, the production team is no longer responsible for helping fishermen buy rice.

Each family has to figure out its own solution.

It was also from this period that the practical use of grain coupons began to gradually diminish.

Shi Hailong thought that his family should buy more rice this year.

Go to the commune in the south; there are many paddy fields there.

After the household responsibility system was implemented, farmers had more grain in their hands. After paying the grain tax, they would try to sell the surplus that they couldn't eat.

Grain stations would also purchase grain at negotiated prices, but they were too strict, deducting impurities and moisture content based on grade.

Therefore, Shi Hailong knew that many farmers preferred to sell to private individuals.

We can call the village tractor to go then...

The people at the two collection points agreed on the terms and began weighing the items.

The swimming crabs weighed over 570 jin (approximately 285 kg), and the dozen or so conger eels weighed around 40 jin (approximately 20 kg).

There were 253 catties of prawns and about 120 catties of mantis shrimp.

Five lobsters for five yuan each, no weighing required.

Although Shi Hailong knew that the Chinese Splendid Lobster was worth more than that, he didn't say anything.

Because he knew that disagreeing was useless; it wasn't a matter of years from now.

Take it slow, let's get acquainted first.

There were also some scallops. The middle-aged man from the seafood company looked at them and immediately offered a fixed price of ten yuan.

Shi Hailong smiled and nodded, then took out a cigarette and offered one to everyone.

But in my heart, I was thinking, I won't send scallops next time.

We can dry the scallops directly and save them until we have enough to sell later. We'll make several times more money then.

In any case, dried scallops are also a product for exchanging foreign currency.

He's not really a young man, so he can't act impulsively or be individualistic.

He knew perfectly well that he couldn't afford to offend these people at this time.

You can only befriend him, not offend him, unless he no longer wants to sell goods.

Of course, it should get better once you get used to it.

That's how interpersonal relationships are!

That's just how society is; how can everything go smoothly and you be able to do whatever you want?

Unless he has a system or some kind of cheat code, he's not afraid of anything.

After all the goods were weighed, Shi Hailong was led to the checkout.

Shi Hailong also maintained a low profile, treating everyone he met with politeness.

Of course, he also kept a close eye on the people on the dock, trying his best to avoid being seen by the villagers.

He didn't want people to know how much he made on his first day selling fish.

The checkout area was the seafood company's purchasing point, and the accountant was a middle-aged woman.

His attitude was indifferent; he would only glance at Shi Hailong sideways before taking the order form.

They started calculating with a flurry of activity.

Shi Hailong smiled as he looked on. Swimming crabs were 27 cents a pound, 576 pounds, which would be 155.52 yuan.

Forty catties of conger eel, one yuan per catty, forty yuan.

Two hundred and fifty-three catties of prawns, four mao per catty, that's one hundred and one yuan and two mao.

One hundred and twenty catties of shrimp, three mao per catty, thirty-six yuan.

Lobster is 25 yuan, scallops are 10 yuan, totaling 367.72 yuan.

Shi Hailong saw that he could calculate it well, so he took notes and started calculating from the beginning again.

I counted it again, and there were no mistakes, before I opened the drawer to count the money.

Shi Hailong took a stack of banknotes and a two-cent coin.

I was so excited. I never expected to sell so many in just one day.

That's outrageous!

The seabed is truly a goldmine these days!

He remembered that two years ago, during the production team era, the villagers would work hard all year and only receive two or three hundred work points.

Now, after just one day of setting up a fish trap, he has not only recouped his investment but also made more than double his initial investment.

"Just click it, and if it's missing after you leave, that's your problem."

Seeing Shi Hailong in a daze, the accountant couldn't help but show his contempt, and then said something to Shi Hailong.

"Okay, I'll click it then..."

Shi Hailong smiled and responded, then started ordering.

After taking all the orders, he smiled and said to the accountant, "That's right, thank you..."

After saying that, he put the money in his pocket and went out the door.

Then he went to the people at the purchasing point, whether they were leaders or employees, and offered them cigarettes again.

However, he didn't immediately try to get closer to her. He took the empty basket and returned to the boat.

There was also a bunch of small fish, snails, and shellfish on the boat, as well as more than ten kilograms of messy little shrimp.

These are taken home to dry and make dried shrimp.

He also had some octopuses and a dozen or so golden pomfret, which he planned to take back and sell to the supply and marketing cooperative.