I am a local in North America

Chapter 32 Discovery of the Crab Flock!

He didn't have time for king crab for breakfast; Su Jerry had important business to attend to.

As the fishing boat continued to move forward without slowing down, the red king crab swarm directly beneath its keel was being mercilessly left behind. Soon, it would brush past the Junlin crab fishing boat and deviate from the direction of the crab swarm's migration.

Su Jierui was anxious and quickly broke off a crab leg.

The chill of the deck seeped through his brand-new cotton slippers as he hurried out and stepped onto the frost-covered metal staircase, heading upstairs to the driver's cab.

"Hey? What's the rush? Finish your breakfast first!"

Grandma Zhuang's voice came from the small kitchen, accompanied by the clanging of spatulas and the aroma of oil.

Without turning his head, Su Jierui waved the crab leg in his hand:

"Okay! I'll go up and take a look, and find a tool to crack open the crab legs!"

"Don't you want soy sauce and ginger? How about I fry you a few eggs and a hot dog?"

Knowing that her son had suffered recently, Grandma Zhuang was always worried about his health and wanted him to make up for what he had lost.

"Okay! We'll eat later..."

The 28-meter-long crab fishing boat has its wheelhouse located at the bow, with thick tempered glass on the front and both sides, offering a wide view of the Bering Sea under a gray sky.

The interior is filled with screens and dashboards flashing various colors, including GPS plotters, radar, color fish finders, and so on.

Su Jierui was puzzled. They had clearly encountered a swarm of crabs, so why was his boat moving at full speed as if they hadn't seen them?
As soon as he stepped onto the second floor where the driver's cab was located, he understood the reason—the person was not in the driver's cab and had briefly handed it over to the automatic driving system.

There stood Mr. Su and a middle-aged white crab fisherman with an unfamiliar face and a wheat-colored face etched with the marks of time, leaning against the cold railing in the narrow walkway outside the cab. Each of them held a cigar and was busy puffing away.

Old Man Su, still smiling, said to the crab fisherman:

"It tastes good, doesn't it? It's a 'King of the World' cigar from Cuba. My son-in-law brought it back for me from his business trip to Brazil. His family runs a small company with other partners, mainly dealing in timber. They import timber from places like Canada and Brazil and sell it to the United States."

The so-called son-in-law refers to the husband of the eldest daughter, Su Yaxin, who is also Su Jierui's brother-in-law.

After listening, the white crab fisherman frowned and complained:

"You're so lucky. My second daughter's husband is a tattoo artist who spends all his time tinkering with his damn Harley-Davidson!"

"He got into a fight with someone while he was drunk a while ago and borrowed $1 from me for bail. When will he finally stop worrying about his children?"

"If I had known, I shouldn't have had four children. After divorcing my ex-wife, I still have to pay child support. I feel like my life is as ruined as that damn weather a few days ago..."

"..."

Realizing he had said the wrong thing and unintentionally touched a nerve, Mr. Su laughed awkwardly and quickly changed the subject, saying:
There's an old Chinese saying, "Every family has its own troubles." My family has three children, two of whom are still in school. They all have their own worries. Once I'm in my coffin, I certainly won't have to worry about them anymore.

"It's really cold today, and the deck is icy again. Luckily, there's no wind. Hopefully, this kind of weather can last for a few more days."

Su Jierui approached them, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the empty driver's seat, and tentatively asked:

"Dad, did you find anything during the night?"

When you compare yourself to others, the feeling of happiness immediately comes through.

After not seeing each other for several months, Su Jerry had just returned, and Su's father was still in a state of being more and more satisfied with his son.

Based on past experience, this state usually lasts for three to five days, after which people will start to dislike it due to various details of daily life.

"This shipping lane was recently swept by a large fleet of ships, like a locust swarm, so there probably won't be much left. We're heading to another unexplored area, and Bob says there might be something there."

After saying it casually, Mr. Su remembered to introduce:
"This is Bob, a very experienced professional crab fisherman who has been working in the Bering Sea for almost 20 years. He previously worked on the 'Happy Lady' and made a good profit in that unnamed trench to the southeast, filling the hold in just four or five days!"

"That's it..."

Su Jerry looked around and realized that in just a short while, the superimposed [Red King Crab] icon in his field of vision, both real and virtual, had mostly disappeared. This meant the ship was about to completely pass over the crab swarm and almost miss this treasure trove living on the seabed. Seeing his father still immersed in his anticipation of the new fishing spot, Su Jerry suddenly understood the meaning of "looking for something better while already having it," and quickly pretended to walk towards the wheelhouse, muttering the excuse he had just thought of:

"Do you have any suitable tools in the drawer? I need to crack open this crab leg; the shell is hard enough to be used as a weapon. I had a particularly handy axe during filming, but unfortunately, it's not allowed on the plane, and it's too heavy, so I had to return it to the production team."

Unsuspecting, Mr. Su pointed to a cabinet and said:

"There's a wrench in the toolbox. I just tightened a loose screw with it, but it might still smell of lubricant. Don't put it directly on the crab legs. It's best to put down some paper towels. The shell is hard, so you'll have to tap it a few times to get the crab meat out intact."

After speaking, Mr. Su paused, his curiosity piqued:

"By the way, I saw in the previous seasons that some people were so hungry they ate tree bark. Son, did you eat it? What did it taste like?"

"You'll have to talk to me about this in detail later. I was busy at sea last night and didn't have time. I think you mentioned wolf packs? Tsk tsk, that sounds terrifying."

Su Jierui gave a casual reply and quickly walked to the sonar control panel. He had been here last year and was familiar with the functions of the various instruments on the control panel.

Modern color fish finder sonars are powerful, but they were not originally designed to specifically find crabs. The sonar's computer cannot accurately identify "this is a crab" and trigger a special alarm.

There are many similar echo interferences in the natural environment, especially in places like the Bering Sea, where small fish, shrimp, seabed debris, plankton, and so on are everywhere. Experienced people need to stay by the sonar screen to observe carefully.

However, because he had just been to this area a few days ago, his father, Su Zhenhai, had let his guard down. Lack of sleep had made him mentally exhausted. He thought he would enjoy the cool breeze and smoke a few cigars to refresh himself, but he unexpectedly missed the group of red king crabs on the seabed.

Fortunately, Su Jerry arrived. Before the anomaly displayed on the screen completely disappeared, he quickly shouted:

"Dad! Come quick!"

"That blurry shadow at the bottom of the screen looks a bit strange; it doesn't look like ordinary clutter or a school of small fish."

"What you taught me last year, the shape is thick and close to the seabed, but also a bit fluffy. Doesn't it look like... the 'bottom bulge' caused by a group of crabs gathering?"

The voice just fell.

Outside the driver's seat, Mr. Su's hand trembled, almost dropping his expensive cigar. Almost reflexively, he rushed into the driver's seat.

After a slight pause, crab fisherman Bob quickly followed, leaning closer to the screen to carefully examine the area of ​​echo that was about to disappear.

After watching it, Mr. Su felt there was something special about it, so he quickly pulled up the echo recording to check the playback. He then exclaimed with delight:

"Great job, son! You're almost done with your apprenticeship!"

"This shape, this density... it's definitely a big one! That was close, I almost missed it!"

"Bob, look at this, isn't this a genuine 'crab carpet'?"

Bob's eyes were sharp as an eagle's. He could serve as first mate or captain for some crab fishing boat captains who were not experienced enough or lacked manpower. He went with the crab fishing boats every year and was much more experienced than Su's father.

Staring intently at the screen, repeatedly reviewing the sonar playback, Bob pointed sharply to that area with his calloused fingers and said loudly:

"That's right, Captain!"

"A typical base bulge, over three meters thick, and quite extensive! Damn it! We were just smoking right above it!"

"This is definitely one of the crabs that split off from the main crab tide a while ago! Quick! They won't stay in one place for long!"

For an instant.

The previous relaxed atmosphere was completely shattered.

"Son, well done! I'll give you a big red envelope when we get home!"

Su's father patted Su Jerry's shoulder heavily, his face flushed with excitement. His previous curiosity about the tree bark and the wolf pack had long been forgotten, and now his mind was filled with king crabs!

(End of this chapter)