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american comcis _ tales of caltiveter _chapter_0526_part_01
Chapter 1249
chapter 0526 part 1
Chapter 512: Treasure Cauldron
Compared to the cheap seafood in the fish hold that couldn't fetch high prices and could only be wholesaled to dock vendors, the seafood picked out separately had specialized buyers at the dock.
Most of these buyers were procurement agents from well-known hotels on Honshu Island. They offered high prices but also had very strict requirements for the quality and appearance of the seafood!
A Japanese fisherman, who was sorting prawns into a basket filled with crushed ice, picked out some prawns with broken claws. Prawns with this kind of appearance were usually not accepted by hotel procurement, and even if they were, the price would be significantly lowered.
These less-than-perfect prawns would be sorted separately and sold to nearby seafood barbecue izakayas! Although the price they offered wasn't as high as the famous hotels, it was still better than what the fish vendors paid.
Those bastards, every single one of them was like a lamprey sucking blood from them, the fishermen. They knew the fishery resources weren't good recently, yet they still desperately suppressed prices! At this moment, the captain of the fishing boat, an old man over fifty with a grizzled beard, came onto the deck. He glanced at the busy people on the fishing boat and called out,
"Thank you for your hard work, everyone. Once we're ashore and the catch is processed, I'll treat everyone to a drink at Kobayashi Izakaya!"
"Sugoi!"
"Long live Captain Kuroki!"
The fishermen, who had been busy for several days straight at sea, cheered when they heard the captain was treating them to drinks. Even their movements became much more efficient.
Before the fishing boat entered the harbour, five or six fishermen finally finished their sorting work. "Alright, everyone, have a cigarette and take a break!" Kuroki pulled out a few cigarettes from a crumpled pack printed with coconut trees and handed them out one by one.
"Captain! The valuable seafood has been sorted out, only four boxes in total!"
Several fishermen, holding the captain's cigarettes with fingers smelling of fish, fully enjoyed the pleasure brought by nicotine after their fatigue. A bald middle-aged fisherman blew smoke rings, looked at the captain who was over fifty, and complained, "Even with those few hundred catties of squid, the money we earned from this trip out to sea is less than what we'd make working ashore!"
"Yeah, Captain Kuroki, selling this little catch won't leave us with much. It really is less than working at a company!"
"Haruko also complains that I'm out at sea for one or two weeks at a time and don't have time to accompany her! If things keep going like this, I might as well set up a yakitori stall at the Night Market!" a short fisherman, who looked to be just over thirty, complained.
"Aida, Haruko complains about you being out at sea for a long time? I think she's probably hoping you'll stay drifting at sea forever!"
"Baga! What do you mean, you bastard?" Aida glared at the fisherman who spoke.
"What do I mean, hehe..." The bearded fisherman who spoke exchanged an ambiguous gaze with the people around him!
Gotta say, Haruko is really moist!
"Bastard, you better explain yourself!" The fisherman named Aida angrily threw the half-smoked cigarette on the ground, rolled up his sleeve, and was about to step forward to teach the insolent guy a lesson.
The bearded fisherman also rolled up his sleeves, and it looked like the two were about to break out into a full-blown fight.
"Alright, Aida! Sakai! You two stop! Even if you want to fight, don't do it on my fishing boat. Settle whatever grudges you have ashore! If anyone dares to fight on the fishing boat, I'll throw him in the sea to feed the fish right now!"
Although Kuroki was over fifty, as the captain of this fishing boat, he still held considerable prestige among the fishermen. When he spoke, the two fishermen who had rolled up their sleeves ready to fight could only back down, glaring at each other like angry cows.
Kuroki gave Aida a strange look. He had heard rumors about his wife's *cough* activities for a long time.
Fishermen go out to sea, sometimes for ten days or half a month. It wasn't unheard of for wives at home to cheat due to loneliness, but it was truly rare for someone like Aida's wife, who didn't discriminate and made it known to everyone.
He heard Aida's wife was indeed very beautiful. Hmm, maybe he should visit her later—
He took a deep drag of his cigarette, shook his head, and dispersed the thoughts in his mind. The most important thing now was to appease this group of fishermen under him, otherwise, he might not even be able to gather enough manpower for the next trip out to sea! "In recent years, the fishery resources in coastal areas have become increasingly depleted, and our line of work is indeed getting harder and harder!" Kuroki clapped his hands, signaling everyone to look at him: "But don't worry, you've all been working with me for over ten years, you're veterans. Aida joined the latest, but he's also been with me for two years. I won't mistreat anyone!"
The people looked at each other but didn't speak, just silently smoking their cigarettes. Kuroki also knew that this wasn't thirty years ago, a simple promise wouldn't make his subordinates kneel and shout banzai in this simple era. Nowadays, everyone looks at money. Without money, who would follow you?
After cursing the decline of the human heart in his mind, Kuroki pulled out his trump card: "You've all worked hard this time. I've calculated, although our catch this time isn't much, those few things we caught can sell for a good price. There will definitely be a bonus for everyone!"
"Captain Kuroki, those few dolphins..." A fisherman had just spoken when Kuroki glared at him fiercely. He quickly changed his words: "Can that thing really sell for a high price, like whale meat?"
Kuroki took a slow drag of his cigarette, scanned the hopeful gazes of the people, and then nodded with satisfaction: "Of course. This thing is the same species as whales. We old-timers who used to hunt whales call them little whales. I have a channel to sell them as whale meat. One kilogram can sell for 7000 Yen!"
"Sugoi! Captain Kuroki, you even worked on a whale hunting boat? No wonder there's a whale hunting gun on the ship!" Aida gave Kuroki a thumbs-up.
"We caught six of them. I estimate they can yield about 600 kilograms of meat, which is enough to make up for this trip's harvest and give you something to show your family!"
Kuroki's words brought excited expressions to the faces of several fishermen.
"Captain Kuroki, I will definitely follow you well from now on!"
"Captain Kuroki, I'll sell my life to the Kuroki Family for this lifetime!"
Upon hearing that they would receive money, several fishermen eagerly expressed their loyalty to Kuroki. One fisherman even let out a roaring Japanese-style tongue roll.
"Alright, Oki, Aida, you two find some things to cover the separated water tank. The things inside can't be seen by others, after all, this thing isn't legal right now! It would be troublesome if those busybody foreigners took photos!"
Listening to the flattery of his subordinates, a smile appeared on Kuroki's rough, bark-like face. He waved his hand and instructed.
"Hai!"
Driven by money, the two fishermen quickly got busy, showing no complaints about being treated like cows or horses.
Chapter 512: Treasure Cauldron
Compared to the cheap seafood in the fish hold that couldn't fetch high prices and could only be wholesaled to dock vendors, the seafood picked out separately had specialized buyers at the dock.
Most of these buyers were procurement agents from well-known hotels on Honshu Island. They offered high prices but also had very strict requirements for the quality and appearance of the seafood!
A Japanese fisherman, who was sorting prawns into a basket filled with crushed ice, picked out some prawns with broken claws. Prawns with this kind of appearance were usually not accepted by hotel procurement, and even if they were, the price would be significantly lowered.
These less-than-perfect prawns would be sorted separately and sold to nearby seafood barbecue izakayas! Although the price they offered wasn't as high as the famous hotels, it was still better than what the fish vendors paid.
Those bastards, every single one of them was like a lamprey sucking blood from them, the fishermen. They knew the fishery resources weren't good recently, yet they still desperately suppressed prices! At this moment, the captain of the fishing boat, an old man over fifty with a grizzled beard, came onto the deck. He glanced at the busy people on the fishing boat and called out,
"Thank you for your hard work, everyone. Once we're ashore and the catch is processed, I'll treat everyone to a drink at Kobayashi Izakaya!"
"Sugoi!"
"Long live Captain Kuroki!"
The fishermen, who had been busy for several days straight at sea, cheered when they heard the captain was treating them to drinks. Even their movements became much more efficient.
Before the fishing boat entered the harbour, five or six fishermen finally finished their sorting work. "Alright, everyone, have a cigarette and take a break!" Kuroki pulled out a few cigarettes from a crumpled pack printed with coconut trees and handed them out one by one.
"Captain! The valuable seafood has been sorted out, only four boxes in total!"
Several fishermen, holding the captain's cigarettes with fingers smelling of fish, fully enjoyed the pleasure brought by nicotine after their fatigue. A bald middle-aged fisherman blew smoke rings, looked at the captain who was over fifty, and complained, "Even with those few hundred catties of squid, the money we earned from this trip out to sea is less than what we'd make working ashore!"
"Yeah, Captain Kuroki, selling this little catch won't leave us with much. It really is less than working at a company!"
"Haruko also complains that I'm out at sea for one or two weeks at a time and don't have time to accompany her! If things keep going like this, I might as well set up a yakitori stall at the Night Market!" a short fisherman, who looked to be just over thirty, complained.
"Aida, Haruko complains about you being out at sea for a long time? I think she's probably hoping you'll stay drifting at sea forever!"
"Baga! What do you mean, you bastard?" Aida glared at the fisherman who spoke.
"What do I mean, hehe..." The bearded fisherman who spoke exchanged an ambiguous gaze with the people around him!
Gotta say, Haruko is really moist!
"Bastard, you better explain yourself!" The fisherman named Aida angrily threw the half-smoked cigarette on the ground, rolled up his sleeve, and was about to step forward to teach the insolent guy a lesson.
The bearded fisherman also rolled up his sleeves, and it looked like the two were about to break out into a full-blown fight.
"Alright, Aida! Sakai! You two stop! Even if you want to fight, don't do it on my fishing boat. Settle whatever grudges you have ashore! If anyone dares to fight on the fishing boat, I'll throw him in the sea to feed the fish right now!"
Although Kuroki was over fifty, as the captain of this fishing boat, he still held considerable prestige among the fishermen. When he spoke, the two fishermen who had rolled up their sleeves ready to fight could only back down, glaring at each other like angry cows.
Kuroki gave Aida a strange look. He had heard rumors about his wife's *cough* activities for a long time.
Fishermen go out to sea, sometimes for ten days or half a month. It wasn't unheard of for wives at home to cheat due to loneliness, but it was truly rare for someone like Aida's wife, who didn't discriminate and made it known to everyone.
He heard Aida's wife was indeed very beautiful. Hmm, maybe he should visit her later—
He took a deep drag of his cigarette, shook his head, and dispersed the thoughts in his mind. The most important thing now was to appease this group of fishermen under him, otherwise, he might not even be able to gather enough manpower for the next trip out to sea! "In recent years, the fishery resources in coastal areas have become increasingly depleted, and our line of work is indeed getting harder and harder!" Kuroki clapped his hands, signaling everyone to look at him: "But don't worry, you've all been working with me for over ten years, you're veterans. Aida joined the latest, but he's also been with me for two years. I won't mistreat anyone!"
The people looked at each other but didn't speak, just silently smoking their cigarettes. Kuroki also knew that this wasn't thirty years ago, a simple promise wouldn't make his subordinates kneel and shout banzai in this simple era. Nowadays, everyone looks at money. Without money, who would follow you?
After cursing the decline of the human heart in his mind, Kuroki pulled out his trump card: "You've all worked hard this time. I've calculated, although our catch this time isn't much, those few things we caught can sell for a good price. There will definitely be a bonus for everyone!"
"Captain Kuroki, those few dolphins..." A fisherman had just spoken when Kuroki glared at him fiercely. He quickly changed his words: "Can that thing really sell for a high price, like whale meat?"
Kuroki took a slow drag of his cigarette, scanned the hopeful gazes of the people, and then nodded with satisfaction: "Of course. This thing is the same species as whales. We old-timers who used to hunt whales call them little whales. I have a channel to sell them as whale meat. One kilogram can sell for 7000 Yen!"
"Sugoi! Captain Kuroki, you even worked on a whale hunting boat? No wonder there's a whale hunting gun on the ship!" Aida gave Kuroki a thumbs-up.
"We caught six of them. I estimate they can yield about 600 kilograms of meat, which is enough to make up for this trip's harvest and give you something to show your family!"
Kuroki's words brought excited expressions to the faces of several fishermen.
"Captain Kuroki, I will definitely follow you well from now on!"
"Captain Kuroki, I'll sell my life to the Kuroki Family for this lifetime!"
Upon hearing that they would receive money, several fishermen eagerly expressed their loyalty to Kuroki. One fisherman even let out a roaring Japanese-style tongue roll.
"Alright, Oki, Aida, you two find some things to cover the separated water tank. The things inside can't be seen by others, after all, this thing isn't legal right now! It would be troublesome if those busybody foreigners took photos!"
Listening to the flattery of his subordinates, a smile appeared on Kuroki's rough, bark-like face. He waved his hand and instructed.
"Hai!"
Driven by money, the two fishermen quickly got busy, showing no complaints about being treated like cows or horses.
