The Devil Fish was so big that it took several of them to haul it aboard.
"WOW!!!"
Wang Yi whooped in amazement as he snapped pictures.
The Devil Fish had a somewhat flat, diamond-shaped body with a pair of wing-like pectoral fins.
Once it was pulled onto the boat and fully spread out, it took up almost the entire width of the deck.
After checking the fish’s gills, Yun Linhai said, "It’s fresh. It must have died recently."
At that, the two men on the boat were grinning from ear to ear.
"So, should we head back now? If we wait too long, this Devil Fish won’t be fresh anymore."
With so many golden pomfret and now such a huge Devil Fish, the haul from this trip was already looking great.
Golden pomfret weren’t expensive, fetching only thirty or forty fen per jin, and they had caught roughly four hundred jin.
A Devil Fish this big should fetch at least seventy or eighty fen per jin. All told, the price was quite substantial.
While Yun Linhai and the others discussed heading back, Yun Jiao was leaning over the edge of the boat, feeding fish to the killer whales.
The fish were small fry her dad and the others had caught.
The killer whales had already eaten their fill, so the fish Yun Jiao was feeding them were just little snacks.
"Dad, I’m going to go play with the killer whales."
Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe were both completely unfazed.
"Go on, don’t go too far."
Ever since they’d learned Yun Jiao could breathe underwater, they knew she wouldn’t be in any real danger unless she ran into massive waves, like a tsunami.
Especially with so many killer whales protecting her, they didn’t have to worry about dangers in the sea like sharks.
Before Wang Yi could even react, he saw Yun Jiao dive headfirst into the sea.
Wang Yi: ??!!!
’No, wait... she... she fell... she fell into the sea...’
Just as he was about to call for help, he saw Yun Jiao burst from the water, holding onto a killer whale’s dorsal fin and riding it.
Wang Yi: !!!!!
Huh?
He was dumbfounded, his mouth hanging open as he watched Yun Jiao circle the boat on the killer whale, unable to speak for a long time.
Th-th-this...
"She, she..."
Yun Linhe laughed and said, "These killer whales are good friends with our Jiaojiao. You don’t need to worry, Wang Yi."
Wang Yi nearly fell to his knees. "I’m not worried, but... Uncle... do you think you could ask the killer whale to take me for a ride, too?"
’This is so awesome!’
’Riding a killer whale! This is the mount of his dreams!’
’If I could just get a few pictures of myself riding a killer whale to show everyone at school, they’d all be dead with envy.’
"Please, Uncle! Let me ride the killer whale, too! I just want to take a few pictures!"
Without any of the airs of a young master, Wang Yi dropped to the deck and hugged Yun Linhai’s leg.
Yun Linhai was taken aback.
"You’ll have to ask Jiaojiao, not me."
Wang Yi immediately leaned over the side of the boat, shouting, "Yun Jiao! Jiaojiao!"
His voice was practically dripping with flattery.
Yun Jiao swam over to him on the killer whale.
Wang Yi’s eyes lit up. "Jiaojiao, do you think you could ask the killer whale to give me a ride, too? If you can, I’ll buy you anything! Whatever you want, I’ll get it for you!"
Yun Jiao tilted her head in thought. "Can you get an electric fan?"
She had seen an electric fan at Wang Yi’s house before. It felt so nice to have it blowing on you in the sweltering summer heat.
"Yes, yes, I can!"
"Jiaojiao!"
Yun Linhai chided her. How could she ask for something so valuable?
Yun Jiao pouted and huffed. "Dad, you’re getting the wrong idea!"
"We’ll buy it ourselves."
Many modern appliances were in high demand, and while their county town had a store that sold them, any stock was usually bought out the instant it arrived.
Some items were even reserved in advance.
They knew that even with money, they’d still have to rely on luck.
It only took a moment for Yun Linhe to understand what Yun Jiao was getting at, and his eyes lit up.
’Considering their family’s current finances, buying an electric fan wasn’t a problem at all.’
’Although, they were also trying to save up for a boat.’
’The next boat, of course, wouldn’t be a wooden one. They wanted to buy an iron-hulled fishing boat with a diesel engine.’
These iron-hulled fishing boats had only been introduced to their bay in the last couple of years.
They were expensive, and so far, very few people could afford one.
In their harbor, there were probably no more than a dozen or so iron-hulled fishing boats in total.
The boats were great. For one, they could travel much farther out to sea than the wooden boats. Resources in the ocean were still plentiful, and more distant waters often meant a richer haul.
But the price of these boats was truly steep. A secondhand one with a diesel engine cost two or three thousand, to say nothing of a new one, which would be at least five or six thousand.
A used one was more cost-effective, but the problem was that there just weren’t many used iron boats for sale.
Before, their family wouldn’t have even dared to dream of an iron-hulled fishing boat. After all, not long ago they were dirt poor, without even a small wooden boat to their name.
But now, they had not only built a new house, but also owned their own wooden fishing boat.
Besides, every time they went out to sea now, they brought back a sizable haul.
Still, buying a new boat wasn’t urgent. They could take their time with that.
"Wang Yi, we’re not asking you to buy us a fan. But if you have the connections, could you keep an eye out for one for us? We’ll buy it ourselves. And could you also look out for a purchase voucher? We’ll pay for that too, of course."
Yun Linhai, catching on, nodded quickly. "That’s right, we’ll buy it ourselves. We can’t let you pay for it."
"That’s easy." Wang Yi puffed out his chest and promised, "Don’t you worry, Uncle. I’ll definitely keep an eye out. I have a friend whose family works at the department store. It shouldn’t be a problem for them to hold a fan back for you.
I’ll have him set one aside for you then. As for the purchase voucher, my family has one. We already have a fan, so the voucher is useless to us. I’ll talk to my dad when I get back and have him sell it to you."
"That’s great! That’s great! Hehehe..."
Now that the matter was settled to everyone’s satisfaction, Yun Jiao went to talk it over with the killer whales.
Then, an adult killer whale swam over.
Wang Yi was a mix of fear and excitement, but excitement held the upper hand.
What boy doesn’t love an adventure?
He gave the camera to Yun Linhai.
"Uncle, make sure you get some pictures of me! And make me look handsome!"
"You got it. Leave it to me."
"Oh, right. Can you swim?"
Wang Yi quickly replied, "Yes! I know how!"
He jumped into the water and tentatively approached the killer whale.
Wang Yi yelped at the killer whale’s slightest movement.
But the killer whale was quite good-tempered—at least when it came to humans, of course.
In the eyes of a killer whale, humans were just cute little pets with pleasant voices.
Killer whales don’t eat people; they’re a large marine species that’s generally quite friendly toward humans.
Wang Yi carefully climbed onto the large killer whale’s back, so excited he could barely stop himself from letting out a triumphant howl.
He had just grabbed the killer whale’s dorsal fin when the killer whale beneath him began to swim.
"WHOOOA... This is amazing! This is the best!"
The large killer whale flicked its tail. ’This human isn’t as good as the soft, pale, smaller one,’ it thought. ’His voice certainly isn’t as nice as hers.’