January 8, 1995, sunny, hot and humid. The moment I stepped aboard the Aristotle, watching my friends leave, it felt like I was in a dream, with all the familiar surroundings and people thousands of miles away.

I was placed in an en-suite with Captain Taiwan, just below the wheelhouse, and he lived in the bedroom, and I had a bed in the corner of the living room. I heard that this is the second best room on the ship, after the fishing captain's room at the back of the wheelhouse, and is the only room on the ship with a separate toilet and shower, next to the Russian captain's bedroom, which is the same layout as ours.

The fisherman on our boat, surnamed Yao, introduced me to two sets of management personnel in Russia and Taiwan at dinner, of course, the Russian personnel are known to me, and I feel that it is the fisherman's test for me, there should be no problem, and these Russians communicate, the oral language is fine, but the listening needs to be strengthened.

There are more than 10 sailors in Russia and Fujian Province each, and I don't know all of them today, so let's get in touch slowly. Starting tomorrow, I will follow the fisherman's side. The first time I ate beef, it was really hard to swallow, but I heard that there was only beef and mutton on the ship, and after going to sea, even the vegetables were limited, basically beef, mutton and fish, so get used to it as soon as possible.

Chen Xing, come on, welcome your new life.

January 15, 1995, overcast and partly cloudy. It's been a week at sea, and my adaptability is okay, except for a little dizziness in the first two days, there really hasn't been any serious seasickness.

Listening to the radio chat between the fleets, there were several interpreters on other ships, who vomited for 3 days in a row, and their bodies are still empty. Life at sea is very monotonous, and my job is to follow the fishing chief, convey various instructions to the Russian captain at any time, or occasionally communicate with the people of Russia, Taiwan, and Fujian Province in the language of work and life.

It can be seen that the Russians look down on the people of Taiwan and Fujian Province, and feel that the boat belongs to them and they are the masters, but with the salary paid by the Taiwanese, they can only maintain their face as obedient to the fishing chief, but they always ignore other personnel.

The sailor's job was simple, sailing eastward during this time, moving south of the equator, and when he came across wild driftwood, he wrapped himself in broken nets and tied our buoys. It takes about 7-10 days to tie a buoy to a driftwood with mesh and throw it into the sea at a distance that grows enough to attract schools of tuna.

Record the coordinates of these driftwood with buoys and continue eastward. I've been eating beef and mutton for more than a week, and I'm getting used to it, so what else should I do? I miss my mom and grandma!

January 18, 1995, fine. Every day, sitting outside the wheelhouse, in an open-air corridor more than 1 meter wide, looking at the sea and looking for driftwood is one of the daily tasks of sailors.

The new wild driftwood and the artificial driftwood put down by other ships do not have our buoys, and cannot be detected by radar, but can only be detected by the naked eye. There are three fixed high-powered telescopes on the left, center, and right sides of the corridor, and two hand-held high-powered telescopes in the middle, so that five sailors take turns to look at 180 degrees for two hours each.

If I don't have anything to do, the fisherman will also ask me to go to the occasional shift watch, or to chat with the five sailors on duty to prevent everyone from getting sleepy, after all, it is easy to get tired when looking at the endless and empty sea for 2 hours in a row.

Fishermen, captains, first mates or chefs from Taiwan and Russia are also willing to sit here when they have nothing to do, after all, the lonely and lonely sea life, chatting, bragging is also a very important pastime, not to mention the sea breeze, breathing fresh air, if you really find a school of fish driftwood caught up, there are additional bonuses.

At 16:30 this afternoon, the "little ghost" (this is the nickname given by the Taiwanese captain Pan to the Fujian sailor Tang Yinhe, his age is the youngest of all the people on board, 1 year younger than me) found a wild driftwood, our boat drove over and found that the sonar presented a good sense of fish, but it was almost dark, so we could only put down the speedboat, tie the buoy, and prepare to go to the net tomorrow morning. This is our first net, we must be optimistic, not go far, to prevent being poached by other fishing boats, and hope to have a good harvest. (Yes, poaching driftwood laid down by other ships is an unspoken rule in this industry, as long as you don't get caught)

January 19, 1995, fine. Today, everyone got up at 5:00, finished breakfast, and drove the ship to the operation site, the sky was just dawning, and the sun had not yet risen.

The fishing chief is also the first time to command the net, I followed his side around, issued various instructions, although a little chaotic, but after everyone's cooperation, after about 3 hours of fighting, or successfully closed the net fishing, about 20 tons of it, listen to the fishing chief said that 80% is bonito and albacore tuna, about 15% is yellowfin tuna and bigeye tuna, and 2 bluefin tuna, 2 masu tuna, the rest are trash fish. Everyone was very excited, especially those of us who were Chinese, after all, it was the first time in our lives that we had caught so many and such a large tuna.

In particular, bluefin tuna, masu tuna, yellowfin tuna, and bigeye tuna, each of which is more than 1.5 meters, or even more than 2 meters, I can't hold it alone, it's too shocking. But looking at the blue sea outside the ship that was dyed red, and the blood foam on the deck that had not been rinsed, I was speechless for a long time, this is the masterpiece that exists at the top of the food chain?

The little ghost received a bonus of $100 in public at noon, I think he is very happy, this is equivalent to more than 800 yuan yuan, enough for his salary for 1 month. After lunch we continued west. Today is also my 20th birthday, and although I can't receive blessings from my family and friends, I wish myself a happy birthday!

January 31, 1995, sunny, cloudless. Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, the first day of the Chinese New Year in the traditional sense. Last night, Taiwanese chefs prepared a sumptuous New Year's dinner: braised chicken, fried eggplant box, smoked squid, smoked pork belly, sauced beef, croquettes, steamed fish, vinegared squid...... All Russians also participated, knowing that this is a traditional holiday for the Chinese, and they also expressed their blessings.

It was the first time I had not spent the Chinese New Year at home, and I missed my father, mother and grandmother very much, and I hope they are healthy and all the best. There are already 150 tons of fish caught in the ship's freezer, and hopefully our results are getting better and better.

...... ...... ......

April 8, 1995, heavy rain and strong winds. I stayed in this position for 3 days, and when it was almost dark, the wind and waves decreased. The quickwood fish found 3 days ago feels good, but due to the weather, we have been waiting until now, depending on the situation, it is estimated that we should go to the net bar tomorrow morning, and the fishing chief has arranged for everyone to be ready.

In this windy and rainy day, especially homesick, the atmosphere on the boat is also very depressing, looking at the fish but can not go to the net, everyone's mood is very irritable, I hope that tomorrow the weather will be better, there is a good harvest to make everyone happy.