He forced me to sever ties with my family and sleep on a dilapidated boat, then turned around and be

Niu Bayi rolled his eyes and pointed at the two black bears.

"Look, they both have 'pulls' under their bellies. Could two 'pulls' be a couple?"

He Zhenzhen glanced over there subconsciously, and her face instantly turned red.

She quickly raised her two little hands and covered her face.

"Oh my god, this is so embarrassing! I'm not watching anymore!"

She quickly turned around and ran into the cockpit.

The two black bears on the shore looked at the fishing boat in this direction, stood up on their hind legs, put their paws together, and bowed repeatedly.

It was as if they were thanking Niu Bayi for saving their lives.

Niu Bayi smiled and waved at them.

"You're welcome, both of you. We'll meet again someday."

"Oh, by the way, I'll give you two names: one will be called Big Bear, and the other will be called Little Bear!"

The fishing boat turned around and headed towards the county town.

The place where the black bear was released ashore was not far from the fishing village, only three or four kilometers away.

So, after sailing on the sea for a while, the fishing boat collided with a group of fishing boats that were returning to port.

The fishermen on the fishing boats also saw Niu Bayi and He Zhenzhen, and they were all very surprised.

Why don't we head towards the fishing village pier?

Did they head towards the county town?

Someone even shouted "Niu Bayi" a few times, and He Zhenzhen laughed and shouted back.

"We didn't catch any fish today, but we caught a flock of ducks. We'll have to sell them in the county town!"

This left everyone bewildered.

What?

They're not catching fish at sea, they're catching ducks?

Strange things happen every year, but this year is especially strange!

More than an hour later, the county town's dock came into view of Niu Bayi and He Zhenzhen.

Right now, right at the county town's dock, many local fishermen are also returning home.

The scene was bustling and lively, with all kinds of fish, big and small, jumping around in the fish baskets.

The fishy smell was overwhelming, carrying the salty scent of the sea breeze, which was somewhat pleasant to smell.

But if it gets to noon, when the sun is high in the sky and it becomes sweltering, then anyone standing there will be overwhelmed by the smog and will want to run away as soon as possible.

A man in his forties, dressed quite smartly, with a bit of a belly, looked like a boss.

He stood on a short, sturdy cement pillar, waving his hands and spitting as he spoke.

"Everyone! Everyone! Listen to me, I urgently need something right now. If you help me catch it at sea, I'll definitely buy it at a high price. You absolutely won't be disappointed."

Please help me!

He raised both hands and gestured towards the surroundings, appearing quite anxious.

Someone asked, "What kind of fish do you want to catch? You can't just catch whatever fish you want in the sea; it depends on luck."

He was right.

Fishermen who go out to sea to fish, unless they happen to encounter a school of fish, will catch almost anything in their nets.

There were even crabs and various kinds of shrimp.

The man kept waving his hand.

"No, no, no, I don't want fish, I want duck, I want duck!"

The group of fishermen burst into laughter.

One of them recognized him and shouted, "Boss Liao, you expect us fishermen to go out to sea to hunt ducks for you? What a joke! You should be working at a duck farm!"

"You can buy any ducks there, no exorbitant price, only four or five yuan each!"

Mr. Liao said, "I don't want the kind of ducks from a duck farm. I want spotted ducks, you know, the Muscovy ducks with upturned snouts? They have thick white down on their bodies and a crest on their heads."

"Its nose and mouth are upturned."

Many fishermen immediately nodded in agreement.

"I've seen these ducks flying over the sea before, in flocks at a time. Mr. Liao, what do you need them for?"

"I saw this spotted duck a couple of years ago. It was injured and fell into the sea. We fished it out and ate it, but it wasn't very tasty!"

"Boss Liao, if you want meat, you might as well buy two ducks from the duck farm!"

……

Mr. Liao said, "You guys are very good at fishing, but you might not know much about Muscovy ducks. The down from these ducks is very valuable."

"They're great for making down jackets and down comforters; they're in high demand!"

"There's a big boss in the city who's going to do business with Russia. The Russians know that the down from the Muscovy duck is great for making down jackets and such, so they asked the big boss to get some over there."

"But the big boss doesn't know where to get the upturned-nosed ducks, so he came to me."

"I can only ask you guys. We all fish in the sea, and the Muscovy ducks are at sea. Logically, we should be able to see them and catch them. Please help me out."

"I'll pay a high price to buy them, whole ones, 10 yuan each!"

The group of fishermen shook their heads.

"Ten yuan a duck sounds pretty good, but Mr. Liao, do you know how hard it is to catch ducks? They fly in the sky! Our nets can catch fish from the bottom of the sea, do you think we can catch them from the sky?"

"Ducks aren't like fish; they don't just go wherever there's seawater. Who knows which island they're hiding on? Once we go out to sea, there are deserted islands everywhere. Are we supposed to search for them one by one?"

"Exactly! Let alone hunting ducks, we can't even find any. We might as well just stick to fishing; we can't take this job!"

……

Boss Liao got anxious and shouted, "When you go out to fish, you're lucky if you can fill your hold to a full fifth! You don't even earn three or four hundred yuan a trip!"

"I'll pay you 10 yuan for each of these spotted ducks. If you catch a hundred, that's 1000 yuan."

"These spotted ducks come in flocks; if you find one, you'll find many more!"

"Someone just said that Haidilao (a hot pot restaurant chain) can operate there, but not the internet. Why can't it?"

As Mr. Liao spoke, he became more and more excited, waving his hands and striking a pose as if he were casting a net.

"Look, just like that, you can suddenly cast the net and catch a whole flock of ducks. At most, there are twenty or thirty, right? It's very easy."

A group of fishermen waved their hands, scoffed, and cursed Boss Liao for being unrealistic.

A kind fisherman offered a reminder.

"Boss Liao, you're being too naive."

"First, spotted ducks are hard to find; who knows which deserted island they're hiding on?"

"Secondly, mallards are very clever, even quicker than seagulls. As soon as someone gets close, they flap their wings and fly high in an instant. Do you think they're your pet mallards, that you can catch them however you want?"

The surrounding area erupted in laughter.

Boss Liao gritted his teeth and shouted even louder, "Eleven yuan a duck! Anyone willing to go out to sea now and hunt these spotted ducks for me, I'll pay eleven yuan!"

However, no fisherman volunteered for the job.

After all, the upturned-nosed duck is indeed very difficult to catch, and it is something that can only be encountered by chance.

It's nothing like fish in the sea, where you can catch a few with a single net cast.

Mr. Liao became even more anxious.

"Twelve yuan each, I'll pay twelve yuan each, is that enough? Also, I'll reimburse you for the diesel fuel you use while fishing. Don't miss this great opportunity to make a fortune!"

The group of fishermen still shook their heads.

It sounds like it could make you rich, but it's incredibly difficult to actually do.

Nobody paid any attention to this.

Soon, he went off to do his own work, leaving Boss Liao standing there.

He was so angry that his face turned ashen.

He shouted several more times until his voice was hoarse, but no one responded.

He could only jump down from the concrete pillar, cursing and swearing.

"What a bunch of ungrateful bastards! We gave you a chance to make money, but you didn't know how to take advantage of it. You deserve to fish your whole lives and never make any money. A duck costs 12 yuan, so ten ducks would be 120 yuan."

"One hundred fish is only 1200 yuan, why don't they know how to make money from that? What's the point of just catching rotten fish!"

He had no choice but to walk away, cursing under his breath.

At this moment, the boat that Niu Bayi and He Zhenzhen were sailing also docked.

But before they even got close to the dock, someone immediately started shouting.

"Hey kid, get your boat out of here! This county dock isn't a place for your boat to dock!"