My Manor

"Ugh... Ugh..." Lying on the side of the boat, Jiang Hai felt his stomach churning, his intestines turning, and his brain spinning...

This was not the first time Jiang Hai had taken a boat, but it was the first time outside of China. He had previously taken riverboats, where the waves were minor. If the waves were too large, no one would risk going out, so Jiang Hai had always thought that being on a boat at sea would be much the same as being on the river—just a little rocking, with nothing to worry about.

However, less than five minutes after the boat left the port, he regretted it. How could the wind and waves on the sea be compared to the small ripples of the river?

Jiang Hai's fishing grounds were located near the coast of Boston. Below the sea, you could even see the extended continental shelf.

In such conditions, Jiang Hai felt the shaking was not ordinary—let alone heading out into the open sea.

Of course, going into the open sea would require a much larger boat.

Five minutes after leaving the dock, Jiang Hai began to feel queasy, but fortunately, his strong physical constitution helped him endure it.

It wasn't until over half an hour had passed that Jiang Hai could no longer hold back. He signaled to stop the boat, immediately lay on the side, and vomited.

"Boss, are you okay?" Seeing Jiang Hai's condition, Philemon on the other side couldn't help but express his concern.

"I'm not sure, but it shouldn't be too serious." Jiang Hai weakly waved his hand.

"It shouldn't be a big deal, just seasickness. But boss, with your physical fitness, I can't believe you're seasick!" Edward, who was driving the boat, came over with a smile. After checking Jiang Hai's condition, he chuckled.

"There's vomiting here, which has attracted a big one. Philemon, you drive first. I'll find some medicine for the boss—just drive slowly." Patting Jiang Hai on the back, Edward said. On boats, such things were bound to happen.

With Americans' casual attitude toward life, they always carried a first aid kit on the boat.

"Okay!" While Edward searched for the medicine kit, Philemon took over the steering wheel and started navigating.

"Wow, Philemon, I didn't know you were so versatile. You can herd and drive a boat! You should just stick with Uncle Edward from now on. I'll give you a crew salary." Lying on the side of the boat, Jiang Hai looked at Philemon, who had slowed the boat to take care of him, and joked.

"Come on, I'd be thrilled if you gave me a raise, but if I spent every day at sea, I'd never get used to it. You know, I'm someone who can't stay quiet. The seaside is the loneliest place, and I don't want to be shut up forever by Edward or any other grumpy sailors." Philemon immediately shook his head and responded.

Hearing this, Jiang Hai chuckled. He didn't fully understand the hardships of seafarers. While seafarers earn a lot, it is indeed a tough job. It's not as bad for Jiang Hai, but on some ocean-going fishing boats, they could be out for three to five months at a time, with no return. During this period, their living space was limited to the sea. Most of the time, there was no signal, and only a satellite phone was available, which couldn't be used at any moment. Life could be extremely dull.

Some crew members have said that life on the ocean is even worse than being in prison. After all, in prison, you don't have to work, but on an ocean-going fishing boat, life is incredibly monotonous except for work.

There are no women, no TV, no phone calls, and no games because electricity is limited to burning diesel. God knows what might happen at sea, so the diesel fuel can only be used for sailing.

The food is simple—mostly fish, vegetables, and sometimes fruit brought along. Eating this daily can make your mouth dry. On ocean-going fishing boats, the only form of entertainment is gambling, but it's rare, since their job is to make money, not lose it.

So, it's understandable that the wages of ocean-going seamen are high. After all, these conditions are incredibly difficult to endure.

Some research has shown that there are three places where homosexuality is most likely to occur: prison, the navy, and ocean-going fishing boats. Compared to the first two, the chance of true love occurring on the latter is much higher.

Of course, Jiang Hai had no idea whether Edward was gay. His orientation was normal, and that was enough for him.

Clearly, Philemon wasn't willing to live such a life for a few hundred dollars a week. It would drive him crazy.

"Hey, Philemon, I need you to shut up now. Come on, boss." At that moment, Edward came out with the first aid kit, opened it, took out some medicine, and handed it to Jiang Hai.

Jiang Hai recognized the medicine. It was for motion sickness, similar to those used for cars and boats. After taking it, Jiang Hai took a few deep breaths. He wasn't sure if it was a psychological effect, but he didn't feel as dizzy as before.

After seeing Jiang Hai resting on the boat again, Edward patted Philemon and took over the steering wheel.

After taking the medicine, Jiang Hai basked in the winter sun and felt much better. He fell asleep, and when he woke up, it was already past five in the afternoon. The sun in the sky was beginning to slope.

Shaking his head, Jiang Hai slowly sat up from his seat. After the nap, he seemed to have started to adjust to the rocking of the boat. Although the boat still swayed, he no longer felt nauseous.

"Boss, you're awake!" Seeing Jiang Hai sit up, Philemon, who was collecting nets along the boat, noticed immediately and greeted him with a laugh.

At this moment, there was a clear division of labor on the boat. Edward was driving, while Philemon was pulling up small net bags from the side. Some contained small fish, small shrimp, crabs, and even creatures Jiang Hai didn't recognize. Very few of the bags were empty, which intrigued Jiang Hai.

"What are you doing?" Standing up from the still rocking boat, Jiang Hai walked over to Philemon and asked curiously. Before Philemon could answer, Edward spoke up from the front.

"This is one of the ways to assess the sea's potential. I have to admit, boss, you picked a good spot. Over the years, the auction company has been working to protect the ecological environment and food chain here in order to sell the manor at a good price. As a result, the ecology in this sea area is truly vibrant. If it weren't for the winter now, I'd go out to see it myself." After hearing Edward's explanation, Jiang Hai laughed. If it weren't for the excellent environmental protection, he would never have bought the land. His body was extremely sensitive to such things.

"The seabed ecology in this area is nearly perfect. All the creatures form a food chain. According to the sonar, there are four coral reefs in this area. The largest one is about ten square kilometers, and the smallest is about three square kilometers. There's a large population of fish and a seaweed forest. Although the rest is sand, the quality is still good. At least the marine life is abundant." Edward looked at the nearly full fish tank beside him, sighing. Jiang Hai also walked over to take a look.

This sight really shocked him. There were so many creatures in the tank. Most were fish, but there were also shrimp, crabs, and many unusual creatures like sea cucumbers, starfish, sea urchins, and many types of shellfish. Jiang Hai was amazed by how these people caught so many different creatures.

"This trick is something old fishermen can do. It's not that impressive," Edward chuckled, continuing to steer the boat. However, despite his casual words, it was clear he was proud of the achievement.

"Boss, do you recognize all these sea creatures?" Philemon asked as he finished storing the last few nets.

Hearing this, Jiang Hai scratched his head. To be honest, he didn't know much about sea creatures.

"I know this is a starfish, this is a sea urchin, this is a sea cucumber, and this is a fish... I think it's cod since I've eaten it before. This might be a clownfish? And this... sea intestine?" Jiang Hai pointed at the seafood in the tank and named a few, though there were many he couldn't identify.

"Yeah, that's right. It's a sea urchin. Honestly, its taste isn't popular here, but I heard people in Eastern island countries like it a lot..." Philemon said as he picked up the sea urchin with gloves.

In Europe and the U.S., sea urchins are not commonly eaten. The roe is eaten, but in their view, it's the internal organs, so it's not widely consumed. Of course, some people do like it, but Philemon and Edward weren't among them.

As for the sea cucumbers, Jiang Hai noticed they were quite large. Although they weren't the famous plum blossom sea cucumbers found in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, they were still impressive. The Atlantic has its own type of sea cucumber, called the Atlantic or Arctic sea cucumber. Unfortunately, Europeans and Americans don't eat them either. They mostly harvest the internal organs for medicine and throw the sea cucumbers back into the sea. The remarkable thing is that sea cucumbers can live without their internal organs, and they regenerate them, making them a renewable resource.