Chapter 253 Chirping

The father and son hurriedly climbed onto the rock. This time they did not dig down from the top, but dug down from the top.

"Dad, pick the abalone and dig it first! Leave the conch first."

"I know."

Before digging a few, Father Ye stopped again and said: "I'm going to pick up your mother and sister. There are more people and we should hurry together, so as not to sink too fast and make it too late to dig. Soak in the water for a while. Okay, after digging, just go back early and take a bath and soak your feet."

"Okay, let's carry them to a higher place later and soak them in as little water as possible."

Things have to be prioritized. I just thought that the two grown men would just dig slowly. There was no rush anyway. Who knew it was actually sinking? Then I can only ask my mother and sister to help together so as not to miss it.

Ye's father hurriedly climbed onto the boat to pick up Ye's mother and Ye Huimei.

Ye Yaodong dug while looking for two good spots to step on. When they came, he and his father would carry one over.

"You guys have to dig right here. The terrain here is a little higher and it's easier to step on. Be careful not to slip."

Mother Ye muttered, "It's okay to just take a dip in the water. If it's cold, just keep it cold. Go back and soak your feet and rest for a few days. It's important to dig quickly. Young Master Huimei takes a dip in the water. If I had known better, I would have followed you down in the morning." Dig faster."

"Who knew this would sink? I thought dad and I would just dig it slowly."

"Hurry up and dig quickly. Fortunately, you called me. How much can you dig out if it's just the two of you?"

…

There were four people each carrying a bucket. There were not enough iron hooks, so they used a flat screwdriver to dig.

Fortunately, the tide is now ebbing, and the water level has dropped. Although the reef is sinking there, it has not risen much. It recedes and sinks, and it is barely level.

When Ye Huimei's bucket was half full, Ye Yaodong went over to help pour it into the boat. Otherwise, as a little girl, she didn't have enough arm strength and it would be too heavy to carry. He also changed her digging position. For this sister, he It's quite distressing.

When the tide receded at around 12 o'clock, the entire reef dropped by almost one meter, and there were two more sacks on the boat.

At this time, each of them had climbed to a higher position to dig. If there was no time to dig at the bottom, they could only let it sink. Who can't stand being soaked in water for a long time in cold weather?

For most of the day, Ye Yaodong felt that his feet were almost swollen, and his knees were wet and cold, making him unconscious.

When the tide receded to the bottom and then rose again, it was obvious that the water flowed over the reef very fast, more than twice as fast as at low tide.

After all, one was sinking in the morning and the other was receding at the same time. Except for the height of the reef becoming lower, the water level did not change.

In the afternoon, as it sank, the water level rose again, doubling the rate of submersion.

The family of four didn't even bother getting on the boat to get something to eat, and decided to dig as much as they could as quickly as possible.

By 1:30, due to the rapid rise of the tide, only a little over one meter remained at the highest point of the entire reef, which was still exposed. It was not easy for people to stand around this high point.

They had no choice but to give up their struggle, first carry the two women onto the boat, and then climb aboard themselves. By this time, he and Father Ye were already almost wet.

Normally when you go to sea, you won't get wet all over, so no one thinks of bringing an extra set of clothes.

After taking off their rain boots and pouring out the full amount of seawater, the father and son threw it casually into the corner.

Ye Mu and Ye Huimei's shoes had already been wet and they had taken them off, leaving them barefoot.

Everyone leaned against the side of the ship and watched the reef sinking at a speed visible to the naked eye. It was a pity that there was still a lot that had not been dug.

"What a pity. It sank into the sea like this? Can't be dug?" Mother Ye frowned and said distressedly.

Ye Huimei stretched out her head and felt distressed, "Will I be hit again at some point?"

"Who knows?"

He didn't know how deep it would sink. If it wasn't that deep, he could dive in and catch it when the weather warmed up.

"How many bags have you dug out?" Father Ye said as he walked towards the sacks in the corner, holding them open and shaking them.

Two and a half bags of large abalone, and one bag of abalone mixed with conch.

Originally, the father and son dug half a bag of abalone mixed with conches before breakfast. When the tide came in in the afternoon, they didn't bother digging just abalone. Anyway, they dug whatever they had on hand. They also dug half a bag and mixed it in, filling it up. A bag.

"It's okay, it's okay. We dug quite a lot, and the rest should only be a little over 1/3. If it sank without digging, that's fine."

"Yeah, third brother is right. We picked up so much for nothing. We have already made a fortune." Ye Huimei nodded happily, her eyes widening with laughter.

"Dad, you and Third Brother quickly take off your pants and squeeze some water. I'll take them to the stove to roast them for you."

"Um."

"We'll collect the longlines and sticky nets later. After collecting them, we'll go back directly."

It was too uncomfortable to feel wet all over his body. His feet were so cold that he couldn't feel anything. It was not easy to make money.

Father Ye nodded, "Go back early."

Ye Mu quickly added: "On the island next to me, there are still more than half a bag of shelled ones that haven't been loaded onto the boat. Go over there and load them onto the boat first."

"knew."

Ye Yaodong looked at the little green dragons crawling around in the basket next to him, grabbed a few at random, and looked at them.

Their shells are olive-colored, look very hard, and are colorful, but they have big heads and short abdomens.

Some are small, just like what his mother said, only two or three taels, and some are larger, five, six, or six or seven taels. A dozen or so were left behind, but not much was left.

It's a pity that this little green dragon ran so fast that it was so frightened that it ran around as soon as it was caught in the hand net and ran back to the sea, otherwise it could have caught more.

"I saw quite a lot of them at that time, but they were all gone once I fished them out." Ye Huimei said with some regret from the side.

"It's okay. This little green dragon is not easy to catch. It will be a feast for you at night."

After Ye Yaodong said that, he put down the little green dragon and went to sail the boat. He had to go to the island first to carry half a bag of shells for his mother, and then he sailed the boat to collect the sticky net.

There was just one sticky net, which was rotated with the help of rolling wheels. It was very easy. Ye's mother and Ye Huimei took over the work directly and went to get started. He and Ye's father sat by the stove to warm themselves up first.

Not long after, he heard his sister's exclamations in his ears.

"Ah... so big... so ugly..."

"Why so many toad fish?"

"Hey~ what is this? It looks like a pomfret, but it has colorful stripes..."

Ye Yaodong answered casually: "It's a coral reef fish. I don't know what it's called. It's too small. Let's put it back into the sea and raise it! There is a needle in the tool basket next to it. You poke it in from the side of the fish's belly, pierce the swim bladder, and throw it back. Bar."

"Oh, why bother?" Ye Huimei asked, but she still obeyed, and then threw the fish back into the sea, and it disappeared in a flash.

Fortunately, the sticky net was not left in the sea for a long time. The fish were still very active when they were pulled up. After being thrown back into the sea, they dived alive again.

"If we don't puncture its swim bladder and release it, it will still die. It looks quite good-looking. It would be a pity to die."

Qualified old fishermen will usually release live small fish when they encounter them. Fishermen of later generations also know that the ocean is sustainable, catching big fish and releasing small fish, unless they are already dead, such as trawling.

"why?"

"Because the air pressure at the bottom of the sea is different from the air pressure on the sea surface, it will not adapt and its stomach will explode. If you just release it, it will still die."

"oh."

"Hurry up and work, ask questions about everything!"

"I'm curious, I've never been to the sea."

Both Ye Yaodong and Ye's father had their four feet on the coal stove, and their four feet were badly wrinkled by the soak. It took them a long time to get some consciousness.

"Dad, go back and soak your feet in boiled ginger water. It will feel better after soaking for a few days."

"Well, I won't be able to go to sea for the next few days. Fortunately, I dug a lot of abalone today..."

"Ah, little Qinglong! So big..."

When the father and son heard the exclamations over there, they turned around and saw Ye Huimei fiddling with the fishing net to untie the little green dragon that was entangled in it.

The long beard of the little green dragon that was caught in mid-air kept moving wildly, and its tail kept curling and releasing. This one was obviously much bigger than the ones in the frame.

"This one is so big, look at it!"

"It's a pound, right? That's okay! There's even a little green dragon for you to stick to today."

Ye Huimei was so happy that she couldn't stop smiling.

"Hurry up and work, stop playing. There are still two toad fish in it that haven't been taken out yet. The remaining fishing net is not long. Pull it up quickly. We will collect the longline later." Ye Mu urged. road.

"Oh, here it comes."

She put the little green dragon in the basket and ran excitedly to help collect the sticky net. However, when she saw the mucus all over the toad fish, she felt disgusted when she reached out to catch it.

"It's so ugly, my hands are all sticky..."

She disliked it, but it didn't stop her from grabbing it neatly.

When she saw the flounder's flat body and its two eyes on the same side, she muttered again: "The fish at the bottom of the sea are really strange."

Although she grew up by the sea, she has never been to the sea. In the past, her family did not have a boat. She only helped weave nets at home, or went to the beach or the pier with her family to go fishing during high tide. Today she went out to fish. It was really the first time, which made her a little excited.

When she saw that a five- to six-pound manta ray was also stuck, she continued: "Are all fish on the bottom of the sea so flat? I heard that the tail spines of this fish seem to be poisonous. Do they need to be cut off first?"

The whole boat was filled with her chirping voice, which seemed lively and not boring at all.

"Wait a minute, can you collect the longline for me too?" She was in high spirits and felt that she was not satisfied yet. It felt so fun to collect the fish.

Ye Yaodong smiled and called to her, "Aren't you tired or sleepy? You've been working all day long until now."

"It's okay, I think it's quite fun."

"If I seriously ask you to go to sea with your man in the future, you will feel tired and not want to do it."

Ye Huimei's casual words instantly broke Ye Huimei's guard again.

"What are you talking about, mother, hurry up and close your net!"