NOVEL FROG Chapter 066 – Stubborn Sheepdog
After three days of skiing in St. York, the Yaoguang set sail again, this time heading for the George Strait.
The strait was known for its deep waters and frequent bluefin tuna sightings. The weather had improved after the strong convective conditions, making the sea quite navigable.
George Strait is close to the Canadian province of Vosaga. Along the way, they encountered several smaller specialized tuna longline fishing boats. Since they hadn’t left the continental shelf, the Yaoguang, being a medium-sized boat, could still give it a try.
Back on the boat, Brother Gun finally got to roam freely. If he stayed cooped up any longer, the cattle and sheep inside would start losing weight.
Zhao Zhao brushed his fur on the deck, “You’re not even a sheepdog, why are you so keen on herding? Why do you care where they graze? Brother Gun, you’re obsessive-compulsive, aren’t you? Who taught you this?”
Brother Gun had a ruler’s ambition. He allowed the animals in the Yaoguang realm to form groups by species, but if a patch of grass wasn’t finished and the sheep moved to another area, he would immediately chase them back, ensuring they finished one patch before moving to another.
When Zhao Zhao went to get him, she found him disciplining a sika deer. The sheep had already been tamed and were grazing obediently, so now it was the deer’s turn.
Despite the sika deer being several times his size, he wasn’t intimidated.
Zhao Zhao observed for a while. He would trip the deer's hind legs from behind, trying to subdue the leader so it would obey him in the future.
“Why insist on grazing one patch bare? Does a bald patch of spiritual wheatgrass look good? When the seeds are all gone, how will new grass grow? You’re like the fool in the joke who only shears one sheep.”
Yaoguang laughed gleefully. It had noticed this long ago and entertained itself by watching the silly dog act foolishly every day.
The ambitious dog tilted his head at her, “Awooo~”
“Not convinced? Being good-looking is useless if you’re not smart!” Zhao Zhao said in exasperation.
Noticing Xiong Haiming approaching, she stopped speaking. Xiong Haiming looked worried, “Captain, I haven’t seen Siren since we docked at Grote. Did we stay at the port too long? Do you think they left?”
“Well, you didn’t see it? I saw Siren today, though from a distance. If I go into the water, they’ll come to me immediately. Siren is very clever; it’s not an ordinary orca.” Zhao Zhao lied smoothly. Siren was actually still in the Yaoguang realm.
Hearing that they were still around, Xiong Haiming was relieved, “That’s true. There’s no smarter orca than Siren.”
“Uncle Haiming, why did you suddenly start calling me captain?” Zhao Zhao asked, curious. He hadn’t called her that before.
“Oh, we discussed it and decided to call you captain on the boat and village chief on the island. It’s to maintain your authority, not like before when everyone called you whatever.”
Do I really have authority? Did the Liu Family Village incident have that much impact?
As they talked, Zhao Zhao heard a sharp cry from below.
“Uncle Haiming, did you hear that? What’s making that noise?”
“There’s no sound, just the waves,” Xiong Haiming said, not having heard anything.
Zhao Zhao turned towards the stern of the ship to look into the sea. Something had been hit by their boat… it was a seal!
“Uncle Haiming, notify Brother Quan to stop the boat and reverse 100 meters. We hit a seal.”
“Ah, seals are everywhere up north. If we hit one, so be it. They’re tough, they won’t die.” In Xiong Haiming’s eyes, seals weren’t anything rare. He had done deep-sea fishing before, and seals were plentiful up north, unlike in Chonghai where they were rare.
“You just called me captain…”
Xiong Haiming immediately ran towards the cockpit.
The boat reversed, and with great effort, a few crew members managed to drag a very fat seal onto the deck. It had a large wound on its back, still bleeding, and the entire seal was barely alive.
Feeling a bit guilty, Xiong Quan scratched his head. They had been in a hurry today and hadn’t paid much attention to the sonar. Zhao Zhao rinsed the wound with water and wrapped it with an entire roll of bandages. “It shouldn’t die for now. I’ll keep an eye on it. Everyone else can leave.”
Others could be chased away, but not Da Linzi and Brother Gun. The dog curiously observed the unfortunate seal, “Awooo?” A pig in the sea?
Da Linzi: “Why is this seal so fat? We’ll have to fish to feed it until it heals, won’t we? This big guy must eat a lot.”
Zhao Zhao was also puzzled, “Yeah, why is its belly so big? It must be a glutton…”
Yaoguang, about to roll its eyes again, reluctantly prompted, “There’s a baby inside.”
That meant more trouble. It might take a long time to recover. Seal pups couldn’t go into the water until they were a month old.
Zhao Zhao immediately passed the responsibility to her brother, with a serious face: “Looks like we’ll have to take care of it for now. It was Brother Quan who hit it, but he’s too busy to take care of it. As his fan, you’ll have to take care of it until it can be released. Go find something for it to eat.”
Once Da Linzi left, Zhao Zhao secretly fed the seal some spiritual spring water. Since it had a pup, it couldn’t afford to be in poor health. The seal’s eyes, previously lifeless, now gleamed brightly as it stared at her.
Yaoguang gave Da Linzi a sympathetic look. So easy to fool. Your sister is the owner of the offending boat, yet she passed the buck so smoothly.
George Strait
When they arrived at George Strait, they used the same method as in the Gulf of Latvia. Zhao Zhao found bluefin tuna for the Yaoguang to catch while she took Yaoguang and Siren to find other fish to store in the inner sea. The difference was that now there was a mouthy victim lying on the deck, taking up quite a bit of space.
After a week, they were catching a dozen fish each day, which drew attention.
A boat flying the New Zealand flag had been watching them for two or three days. Captain David lowered his binoculars and commanded the helmsman to get closer, “Damn these yellow-skinned monkeys and their damn luck! Get closer and drop lines near them.”
The helmsman obeyed without question. On their boat, Captain David’s word was law.
The Yaoguang quickly noticed the tuna longline boat approaching closely. The crew was very angry; it was obviously trying to poach the fish they had found. Such shamelessness was rare.
Zhao Zhao was on the boat and picked up the communicator, “This is the Yaoguang. Captain of the Princess Bella, do you think this distance is appropriate?”
A middle-aged man’s voice came over the radio, “I’m Captain David. I think it’s just right. I’ve also taken a liking to this spot. We’re still within a safe distance, aren’t we?”
It was clear he was a scoundrel, not someone who could be reasoned with.
Zhao Zhao decided not to waste words, checked the sea floor, and saw there were still two schools of fish left.
“Uncle Haiming, ignore them. Let’s do our work.” The crew, though indignant, obeyed. In these waters, Canadian and New Zealand boats were the most numerous, and if conflict arose, it was the Princess Bella that would come out on top.
The Yaoguang’s bait was soaked in spiritual spring water. If the bluefin didn’t bite their lines, they wouldn’t go for the Princess Bella’s either. She was confident in that.
Zhao Zhao stayed at the bow, watching the water, ready to intervene if any fish were dumb enough to head towards the other boat. Before leaving this area, the New Zealand boat had to get nothing.
In less than two hours, the remaining two schools of fish bit the lines, and the Yaoguang cheerfully hauled them in and set sail. The Princess Bella continued dropping lines, and David was more convinced there were fish here. He moved his boat directly to the Yaoguang’s previous position. He believed the yellow-skinned monkeys had left to avoid conflict, given the prevalence of New Zealand boats. David was very pleased with himself.
