In his previous life, he only cared about having fun with his friends and didn't pay attention to what was happening at home.
He would wake up and go out to hang out with friends, only returning home drunk at dinner time. He only remembered catching a net full of Large yellow croaker, but he was too dizzy to hear the price clearly before going back to his room to sleep.
Although Large yellow croaker was rare at this time, the living standards of ordinary people were limited, so it wasn't too expensive, only a few times more than ordinary fish.
Unlike later generations, where it was hyped to sky-high prices.
In 2022, wild Large yellow croaker weighing around one catty cost about 600 yuan per catty.
A 1.3 catty wild Large yellow croaker cost about 800 yuan per catty; a 1.8 catty one would exceed 1000 yuan per catty.
If it was around 2 catties, the price was probably between 1500 and 1600 yuan per catty.
For those weighing over 2 catties, it was generally over 3000 yuan per catty.
These were the prices directly received by Fresh catch boat at Sea; once in port, the price of 1-2 catty Large yellow croaker would double!
If the quantity was large, prices would also fluctuate.
Although he was unmotivated and a bit of a slacker, he was also a native Fisherman and knew how to recognize good products.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but slap his thigh. Damn it, how great would it be if he had pulled this net decades later!
A loss of several million!
All the Ye family members frowned, watching him bizarrely slap his thigh with a look of regret.
What kind of trick was the third son pulling now?
Mother Ye frowned and couldn't help but ask, "What are you doing, third son? Why are you slapping your thigh so hard for no reason? Did you take the wrong medicine?"
"Mother, how much did we sell that net of Large yellow croaker for yesterday? I didn't hear clearly yesterday before going back to my room to sleep."
Mother Ye glanced at Ye Father. Anyway, the whole family knew, and even if she didn't say it, the third son's wife would say it when she went back to her room, so she just said directly, "Twelve hundred yuan! It was bought at five yuan per catty, and there was a slight discrepancy in the weight, but the boss was generous and just rounded it up."
They were taken advantage of so badly, and they still praised him for being generous!?
Ye Yaodong beat his chest and stomped his feet, "Mother, you sold it at a loss, you know that, a huge loss!"
Everyone in the room, regardless of gender or age, frowned and looked at each other. The eldest couldn't help but ask anxiously, "Third son, how do you know we sold at a loss?"
"I'm out and about all day, how could I not know how valuable Large yellow croaker is?"
That's true, even though the third son was a bit of a scoundrel, he was still the most knowledgeable in the family.
He spent his days wandering around the city with a group of people, meeting all sorts of characters. How could he not be knowledgeable?
Mother Ye's heart also tightened, "How so? How much does it sell for per catty outside? The fish from our village has always been acquired by the wharf, and it was only because our amount yesterday was too large that the wharf directly contacted a boss to come and buy it."
"If you had packed some ice and called a tractor to send it to the county town, you could have doubled the price!"
Ye Yaodong was heartbroken. In fact, doubling the price, in later generations, over two hundred catties would be worth several million!
Hearing him say that, everyone also regretted it. They were too hasty…
Doubled…
That's a direct difference of twelve hundred yuan, heartbreaking…
Ye Father's heart was also bleeding, and the hand holding his water pipe trembled. Twelve hundred yuan…
At that time, an ordinary worker's salary was only forty or fifty yuan a month. It was truly enough to make him vomit blood!
Ye Father's chest heaved, and he immediately cursed at him, "You scoundrel, you wander around all day and don't do any proper work! If you had gone out to Sea with us, we wouldn't have sold it for just five yuan a catty!"
"What does that have to do with me? I didn't know you could catch Large yellow croaker. If I had known, I would have gone to the wharf in advance to wait! No, I would have found a rich boss to wait at the wharf in advance!"
It was really infuriating, over two hundred catties of wild Large yellow croaker! If he had died one day earlier, would he have been reborn one day earlier?
Bah… cursing himself!
Ye Father was so angry that his chest heaved, but in the end, he could only sigh, "Forget it, it's sold, there's nothing to regret. Maybe our family's fortune is only this much for now. Next time we catch it, we'll have experience and won't sell it so hastily."
Yes, it's sold, and there's no use regretting it now.
The family's good mood was directly terminated by Ye Yaodong.
Originally, Ye Dabó and Ye Erbó came to get a share, which only made them a little depressed, but their mood was still good.
Now… alas…
It was just a pity that they could have sold it for more money.
After a while of heartache, the family accepted it calmly. After all, they had made a fortune.
The most depressed was still Ye Yaodong, "Father, do you think Large yellow croaker is like cabbage? And next time we catch it, we'll have experience…"
"Don't you know that after several times of 'Kao Gu' encircling, the number of Large yellow croaker has sharply declined and is now almost invisible?"
"In 1954, the Kao Gu method was introduced to Min Province from Guangdong Province. Because this method was very efficient in fishing and produced huge yields, it was quickly promoted in a short time, and Large yellow croaker were heavily caught at Sea…"
"In 1974, Zoushan in Zhe Province conducted a super-large-scale massive fishing operation, which almost led to the extinction of Large yellow croaker. In recent years, wild yellow croaker has become basically very difficult to see in the Market…"
"Father, do you think you'll have that kind of luck again in this lifetime?"
This was harder than winning the lottery jackpot!
The small boat left by his grandfather was only a dozen meters long, and could only go to the near Sea, not too far. To be able to catch this net of Large yellow croaker, it was truly a blessing from their ancestors.
His family listened to his incessant, spitting words, and were stunned.
Third son… when did the third son know so much…
Kao Gu method… only Ye Father present had heard of it. After all, their family didn't have a large boat to operate at Sea, and they relied on collecting from the Sea and making nets for a living, so they didn't pay attention.
Information was not well circulated then, and even the eldest and second sons had never heard of it. The third son, however, spoke eloquently, which immediately made his parents and siblings look at him in a new light.
Perhaps… the third son wasn't so useless after all…
Lin Xiuqing was also stunned. It was the first time she realized that when her husband spoke seriously, he looked quite… quite what?
The radiance in his brows, was it the confident glow he exuded when talking about familiar things?
Or, perhaps her man wasn't so useless after all?
Ye Father also put away his contempt for his third son and rarely asked seriously, "How do you know about the Kao Gu method? How do you know about what happened in 1954 and 1974?"
Ye Father had only heard of the Kao Gu method, and didn't know about the major fishing events that occurred between 1954 and 1974, as the internet was not developed and information was not circulated back then.
Ye Yaodong actually learned about these things when he was working on large ships in later generations, listening to other crew members chat.
Otherwise, with his lazy and good-for-nothing nature in the first half of his life, relying on his wife, he wouldn't have paid attention to these things.
But he couldn't reveal his true knowledge.
Looking at everyone's expressions, he also knew that he had somewhat redeemed his image, which was a good thing. He couldn't help but straighten his back a little.
He had been muddled for half his life, and only in the last decade or so did he truly mature and take on some responsibility.
Starting over, he didn't want to be a good-for-nothing. Although he still wasn't very capable, at least he could work, collect from the Sea, and if he was diligent, he should be able to support his wife and children.
He no longer wanted to rely on his wife risking her life to support him.
But change also takes time, otherwise he feared he would be thought to be possessed by a ghost.
The price of yellow croaker was artificially high compared to that time. At the end of Chapter 33, a brief explanation was provided.