The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 55: Chapter 55: The Ingenious Use of the Grey Pomfret

Hearing his second uncle’s words, Yang Jianguo smiled. ”Second Uncle, thank you.”

”No need to thank me. We’re all family. You young people are building your careers, so I’ll help where I can. It’s my job to give you a push forward.”

”I’m not in the village often, so I’ll have to trouble you to look after things here. As for the seafood wholesale market... forget it. Sending you over there would just be putting you in a tough spot.”

”You just focus on starting that ornamental fish farm with Xiao Rui, and then try to become the Village Party Secretary.”

Yang Jianguo smiled. ”I know, Second Uncle. Second Aunt is just that kind of person. It’s not worth getting angry arguing with her.”

Yang Zhigang gave a self-deprecating laugh. ”I’m used to it. I must have done something wicked in a past life to deserve this retribution—a wife and a son like them.”

After seeing Yang Zhigang out, Wu Cuicui sighed. ”I really feel bad for Second Uncle. He works so hard, but he doesn’t have a single considerate person by his side.”

”Jianming is obviously unreliable. We should take better care of Second Uncle from now on.” Yang Jianguo’s heart ached for his uncle. His own parents had passed away early, and in his heart, his second uncle was like a father to him.

”I know, don’t worry. I’ll buy Second Uncle a few sets of summer clothes and shoes another day,” Wu Cuicui agreed, resolving to show her respect through actions, unlike Yang Jianming, who only ever paid lip service from start to finish.

Meanwhile, when Uncle Hei and Xu Wang returned, they only told people they’d earned half of what they actually made, claiming it wasn’t even enough to cover the fuel costs.

But to everyone’s surprise, the next day, Uncle Hei and Xu Wang showed up at the docks even earlier than the Jinshan Bay fishermen.

Han Xiaorui was exasperated. ’If they want to follow, let them follow.’

Wang Gensheng and the others from Jinshan Bay glared at Uncle Hei and Xu Wang, but compared to making money, what were a few glares?!

These days, fish were getting harder and harder to catch. As long as they could land a haul, a little humiliation was nothing.

”Xiao Rui, I checked the weather forecast. It’s going to be windy tomorrow,” Liang Xiaoyu said with regret. ”What a shame, we won’t be able to go out to sea!”

They had made over twenty thousand yuan just yesterday!

Heavens!

Liang Xiaoyu would have never dreamed a small fishing boat could make so much money!

And Han Xiaorui was so generous. She had promised them a bonus, and it was bound to be a substantial one.

Han Xiaorui smiled. ”We’ve been out at sea for three days straight, so it’s pretty tiring anyway. If the weather’s bad, we’ll just rest. It works out perfectly, actually. I need to go to the ornamental fish store tomorrow.”

Chatting and laughing along the way, Han Xiaorui reached a spot and set down her shrimp traps.

The shrimp traps always brought in a decent profit, acting as a guaranteed baseline income.

After setting the traps, Han Xiaorui headed east, where she had discovered a large school of fish.

Han Xiaorui stopped the boat, picked up a fishing net, and cast it into the sea. The net drew a perfect circle in the air before landing in the water.

After being nourished by good food these past few weeks, Han Xiaorui’s body had grown stronger. Not only had her Water Ability grown, but her physical strength had increased as well.

Once the net sank and trapped the fish, she immediately placed it on the net hauler and quickly began to pull it in.

The net, filled to the brim, landed on the deck with a heavy, muffled thud.

Liang Xiaoyu couldn’t wait. She nimbly started untangling the net and gasped when she saw the fish inside. ”Oh my, what great fish! Gray pomfret. Xiao Rui, we caught some small ones today. Could I take a few home?”

Han Xiaorui was surprised, her eyes filled with confusion. ”Sister-in-law Xiao Yu, you usually refuse fish even when I offer. I always have to force them on you. Why are you asking for some today? What’s so special about this gray pomfret?”

Liang Xiaoyu just smiled, winking and raising her eyebrows. ”Hurry up and cast the net again, there’s no time to chat. Once we’re through this rush, I’ll tell you all about it.”

Han Xiaorui nodded. ”Alright. I’ll cast the net again while the school is still here.”

This school of fish was truly massive. Wang Gensheng and the others, who were some distance away, also spotted it and began casting their nets.

When they saw that it was gray pomfret, their faces lit up with wide smiles.

Gray pomfret wasn’t cheap, after all, as it was especially popular among men.

Han Xiaorui cast her net over a dozen times in a row, and Liang Xiaoyu quickly sorted the catch, the two of them working in perfect sync.

By a conservative estimate, they had caught over a thousand pounds.

Only when the school of fish slowly began to disperse did Han Xiaorui stop.

Seeing that Han Xiaorui had stopped, Wang Gensheng steered his boat over. ”What a lucky day! We hit gray pomfret right off the bat. This fish sells really well, and for a high price, too.”

”Sister-in-law Xiao Yu just said this fish was great, too. Why does everyone like it so much? I thought silver pomfret was the tastiest,” Han Xiaorui asked, finding it a bit strange.

”Well...” Wang Gensheng started to explain, but then he remembered Han Xiaorui was a woman and just gave an awkward smile. ”So, where are we heading to fish next?”

Seeing Wang Gensheng deliberately change the subject made Han Xiaorui even more curious. ”We’ll continue west.”

Han Xiaorui and Liang Xiaoyu quickly sorted the catch, started the boat, and continued onward.

The other boats followed behind, forming a rather impressive flotilla.

However, this didn’t affect Han Xiaorui’s haul in the slightest.

When Liang Xiaoyu came into the cockpit, Han Xiaorui asked, ”Just now, I asked Uncle Gensheng why everyone likes gray pomfret so much, but he didn’t answer and changed the subject.”

Liang Xiaoyu covered her mouth and giggled, chiding playfully, ”If Uncle Gensheng had actually told you, he’d be a dirty old man!”

”How is a simple gray pomfret connected to being a dirty old man?” Han Xiaorui was perplexed. ”It looks almost the same as silver pomfret, just a different color.”

Liang Xiaoyu raised her eyebrows again, a sly grin on her face. ”They may both be pomfrets, but gray pomfret is an excellent aphrodisiac. That’s why I wanted a few of the small ones—to cook for Wenjun’s father tonight.”

”Haha!” Han Xiaorui burst out laughing at her words. No wonder Wang Gensheng had been too embarrassed to say anything.

It would have been highly inappropriate for a man of his generation to talk about aphrodisiacs in front of his niece-in-law.

”Alright then! What’s the point of eating the small ones? Take the big ones! I’ll give you two big ones for tonight!”

”In that case, I won’t hold back!” Liang Xiaoyu chuckled. ”Once a man passes thirty, he starts to lose his steam. Before, he could go several times a night, and it felt amazing. But not anymore. Not only is it over too quickly, it’s just... unsatisfying. So frustrating.”

”Huh?” Han Xiaorui was dumbfounded. ’What kind of wild talk is this?’

’Am I even supposed to be hearing this?’

But Han Xiaorui quickly came to her senses. ’Right, I’m a mother of two now. I must have gone through those kinds of... interactions between a man and a woman. Otherwise, where did the kids come from?’

Seeing Han Xiaorui’s shocked, blushing face, Liang Xiaoyu raised an eyebrow and asked with a grin, ”Oh my, you’re a mother of two already, why are you still blushing like a maiden? By the way, Yang Jianming is a handsome man... so how’s his performance?”

”Uh...” Han Xiaorui was stunned. ’How would I know how good his ”performance” is?’

’The moment I got here, I was busy divorcing that scumbag. In my eyes, a man that’s already been ”soiled” is no better than dog crap.’

When Han Xiaorui didn’t answer, Liang Xiaoyu thought she’d made her upset and pretended to slap her own mouth. ”Look at this mouth of mine! Why did I have to bring up that Chen Shimei? Xiao Rui, don’t be angry!”