"Haochen, you have too many things, I'll bring a small truck to carry them back."
"Thank you so much, Uncle Zijian. Come over for a drink tonight."
With the matter resolved, most of the villagers from Li Village returned to their work. Li Haochen's aunt and the others went back to prepare for the family banquet that evening. With so many things to arrange for the wedding, Li Dehai was kept by Li Haochen. "Uncle, come up with me. I have some good stuff to show you."
"What good stuff, acting all mysterious."
Li Haochen pulled Li Dehai to the live bait well. Opening the hatch, he saw it packed with lively, thrashing big fish. Li Dehai's eyes widened in surprise. "Red snapper?"
"Good stuff! I'll call Zijian to take them in a bit."
"Uncle, I'm not selling these fish. I'm saving them for tomorrow's banquet."
"Don't talk nonsense. The ingredients for the banquet are already prepared. Sell them, you hear?"
Li Haochen didn't say anything. He picked up a net and scooped out two red snappers, throwing them directly back into the sea. Seeing this, Li Dehai immediately got angry. "What are you doing? Have you lost your mind? That's hundreds of yuan!"
"Since you're not attending tomorrow's banquet anyway, I'll just throw them all back into the sea." With that, Li Haochen scooped out a few more and pretended to throw them into the sea.
Li Dehai couldn't stand it. He rushed over and snatched the net away. "You stubborn brat, why are you so headstrong?"
"So, do you want them?"
"Of course, I want them! Who wouldn't be a fool not to? Hahaha!" Li Dehai knew Li Haochen wasn't joking and understood his intentions, feeling genuinely happy.
"Haochen, your boat is quite nice. It's just inconvenient to deploy the nets. How about thirty thousand?" Li Dehai circled the Xingchen, and upon entering the cabin, he was captivated by the exquisite bridge. Although he didn't understand the equipment, he could tell it was high-tech.
"Uh... roughly, roughly. Do you like it, Uncle?"
"Ah, I'm just saying. How old am I to be getting into all this? Alright, I'll go back to get a bucket. The tide is going out soon, and you need to take the boat out after unloading the fish. I'll come to pick you up later."
As they walked and talked, Li Dehai's attention was drawn to an orange-red nylon rope tied to the side of the ship. "Haochen, what have you hung in the sea? It looks quite heavy."
"Uh... Uncle, I almost forgot. I haven't pulled up the traps I set yet. Wait a moment. You might hit your foot if you go down there later."
Li Haochen untied the rope and pulled hard, but it wouldn't budge. He increased his strength, but it remained the same, unmoving. "Could it be snagged on the bottom?"
"What's wrong?"
"It's probably snagged. I'll go take a look."
The seawater wasn't very murky, and it wasn't deep. Li Haochen jumped in, took a deep breath, and held his breath as he dived down to check. "Woah... % # * blabber..."
"Cough cough cough ~ Ptooey..." Li Haochen was so shocked by the catch in the traps that he gulped down a large amount of seawater. His body reflexively coughed violently, spitting out a lot of mucus from his nose and mouth.
"Haochen, are you alright? Why is your swimming so bad now? This won't do. Let me do it."
Before Li Haochen could catch his breath, he tried to pull Li Dehai back. However, Li Dehai was faster and plunged into the sea. More than ten seconds later, just like Li Haochen, he coughed up water.
"Uncle, your swimming isn't great either, hahaha!"
"Cough cough... I'll deal with you later. Hurry up and help me pull the traps ashore." Li Dehai was very happy, happy for Li Haochen. The contents of these traps were worth at least thirty to forty thousand.
Li Haochen chuckled and said nothing. After they were brought ashore, he would 'threaten' him again, confident he wouldn't refuse.
It took the strength of two strong men to haul all the traps to the beach, but they couldn't pull them completely ashore as the contents would die without water.
Li Dehai didn't wait for Li Haochen, not even bothering to put on his shoes before rushing home. A few minutes later, he arrived in Li Zijian's small truck. "Haochen, let's go, I'll help you carry the traps. Zijian, turn on all the oxygenators. There's a lot of stuff, you come help too."
Li Zijian turned on the oxygenators for a few water tanks. As he walked down, he saw Li Haochen and the others carrying up a fish cage full of large prawns, at least forty to fifty pounds. He was astonished. "Wow, large prawns! It's been a long time since we've had such good catches. Must have run into a school."
Li Zijian was quite happy. These dozens of pounds of shrimp would bring in a profit of several hundred yuan. He then hurried over to help lift them for weighing.
Just as they finished weighing, Li Haochen and the others carried up another fish cage, still full of large prawns. This greatly startled Li Zijian. "This... this!"
"There's more, Uncle Jian. You weigh them first."
"There's... there's still more..." Li Zijian swallowed with difficulty.
The four fish cages of prawns added up to a staggering 189 jin. Even the experienced Li Haochen was surprised. "We've really hit the jackpot."
"Wait a moment, Uncle Jian, there's still more."
"I..."
When Li Haochen and the others had all their traps brought ashore, they saw the crab cages filled with blue crabs, and the eel traps containing swamp eels as thick as an infant's arm. Li Zijian's eyes widened as if glued with 502 adhesive, leaving him speechless.
Li Haochen walked forward and grabbed Li Zijian. "Uncle Jian, keep 100 jin of these shrimp for me. And the blue crabs, you can't buy them from me either. I need them for my brother's banquet. You can take the rest, sorry about that."
"Zijian, ignore him. Listen to me, take it all."
Li Dehai, who was nearby, couldn't stand it. He directly pushed Li Haochen aside and started loading the seafood onto the truck.
Li Haochen didn't stop him, a sly smile playing on his lips. "Uncle, you know my temper. If you don't listen to me, when you go back, I'll throw all of this back into the sea."
Li Dehai's hands froze, his mouth twitched, and his dark face was laced with black lines. Just as he was about to erupt, Li Zijian walked over and patted his shoulder. "Brother Hai, Haochen's intentions are good. Just accept it. Can this little bit of money compare to his sincerity?"
"You rascal, I'll deal with you when we get home."
Li Dehai's eyes reddened slightly. He wasn't blaming him at all; his dark old face was smiling like a chrysanthemum.
"Uncle Jian, please help me keep them for one night. We don't have any tanks at home." With that, Li Haochen took out a thousand yuan and stuffed it into Li Zijian's hand.
Li Zijian's face immediately fell. He flung Li Haochen's hand away, speaking with a hint of anger. "What, do you still see me as an outsider?"
"Uncle Jian, Uncle Jian, don't be angry. It's my fault. Have a cigarette to calm down. I'll have a few drinks with you tonight to apologize." Li Haochen quickly took back the money and offered him a pack of cigarettes.
"This is still not enough. Remember to have a few drinks with me. Oh, cigarettes, nice, nice. I like these. I'll be going back now, hahaha!"
After Li Zijian left, Li Haochen returned to the Xingchen. The tide had started to go out, and he needed to sail out quickly, or the boat would be stranded. "Uncle, I'll sail out first. Remember to bring the oxygenators and large buckets later."