Chapter 196: All the Trouble Was Caused by Alcohol

"Sure, but we still have to keep upgrading; for natural things like this, the space must evolve on its own."

Qiao Mai pursed her lips, "Got it!"

She tended the fire, ate grilled fish, drank white Wine, and before she knew it she finished a bottle, glanced at the heavens, then looked around.

"Xiao Qing, you keep going; I'm going to nap a bit. Call me if anything happens, okay?"

"Oh!"

As soon as the words fell, she started snoring; Xiao Qing fetched a blanket from the space and draped it over her.

At some point, Qiao Mai opened her eyes and shifted her uncomfortable body.

She looked up around and was instantly stunned.

What is this situation? Why are several people surrounding me, each with wide eyes and looks of disbelief?

"I'll buy this fish."

"Would one hundred liang be okay?"

Just as she spoke, a fisherman shouted, "Chief, hurry, it seems a big creature got caught in the net."

"This is a deposit; after we return, wait for me on the shore. I'll get a carriage, and then I'll give you the rest."

Seasoned fishermen, who go out to sea often, are very experienced; they judge whether there are fish in the net by the ship's speed.

"Is this boat yours?"

Watching her follow as if she's watching a monkey act? What does that imply?

"Little brother, are you awake?"

"Haha, let's go, board the ship."

Actually she could buy all these from the Platform, but she wanted to repay these simple‑hearted fishermen.

Hearing this, the fishermen smiled, "Since this little brother likes it, we'll sell it to you for two hundred liang."

"Then how much silver can this whole boat's fish and shrimp fetch?"

The vessel stopped at a secluded spot, and the captain asked everyone on board to select the finest for Qiao Mai.

The captain patted her shoulder, "Take one hundred Yijian; two hundred liang is too much, even if you gave it to us we wouldn't dare take it."

In total they made five trips, gave the captain one thousand Yijian; the delighted fishermen on the boat kept smiling at her foolishly.

Qiao Mai drooled at the thought, hurried a carriage to the shore, first hauled away the tuna, found an empty spot, placed it into the space, then went back to fetch shrimp, ribbonfish, yellow croaker, flying fish, and the like.

"I am truly grateful, Zhujia."

"We will be out at sea for two more days; will you join us?"

"Then how much silver do you plan to spend?"

"Are these many fish and shrimp easy to sell?"

"How did I end up here? Who are you?"

The captain, being experienced, examined Qiao Mai from head to toe; she hurriedly took a gold ingot from her purse and thrust it into his hand.

"Alright, I'm not good at fishing, but I can watch you from the side; I can help a little."

"Also, I want some of the sea shrimp you catch, but only the finest. Pick for me two hundred jin of shrimp about the size of a palm; I'll pay you one liang of silver per jin."

More than ten crew members all ran over to haul the nets.

"Alright, it's all alcohol's fault; seems we should drink less in the future."

"Huh? Can you finish it all by yourself?"

Sometimes when pulling up the nets, she would step forward to give a hand.

The small harbor wasn't large, but it was bustling; she found an empty spot and moved the winter dates and the carriage out.

Watching them try to release the fish back to the sea, Qiao Mai realized that returning the tuna would also kill it, so she said,

"You sell mixed batches; I only want the finest, and those ribbonfish, I also want, those yellow croaker, and flying fish, I want some too. I only want the finest; price each at one liang of silver per jin. Does that work for you?"

The captain immediately waved to the crew; they each took a side, grabbed the oars, and powered the boat back at full speed.

For fish this large, there are very few buyers; no one dares to eat something they've never seen, and the crew still worried about it.

They didn't recognize it, but Qiao Mai did; this is top‑grade tuna, estimated to weigh several hundred jin.

The fishermen boarded the ship, and Qiao Mai followed them onto the vessel.

"Alright then, we won't continue today; we'll turn back now, fearing the fish will lose freshness if we linger."

"Old buddy, help me haul a few loads, haha, we can eat golden pine fish when we get back."

"Alright!"

"Otherwise? We can't just stand by and watch you die, leaving you here, can we?"

At that moment the boat halted, the fishermen began hauling in the nets, and Qiao Mai sat at the stern watching; their net‑by‑net captures were quite entertaining.

"No, it should be fish from the deep sea."

"Little brother, you have money to burn, we only sell to merchants for fifty Wen per jin."

This boat wasn't very large, about fifteen meters long and five to six meters wide, yet in ancient fishing vessel industry it counted as a giant ship.

Honestly, Qiao Mai didn't even know what place this was.

Everyone was stunned; Qiao Mai thought they found the price too low and kept speaking.

"Um, so you're here because of me?"

The boat must have been rowing hard; that's how they knew there was catch in the net.

"Don't worry, once we reach the shore I'll hire a carriage to haul it away; I'm not eating it alone, my whole family will eat it."

"It varies; sometimes it's good, sometimes bad. Sometimes a few thousand jin, sometimes a thousand jin is already fine."

"Yes, you're lucky to snag a fish like this."

"Why didn't you call me?"

"Captain, you go out to sea, how many fish can you catch?"

Everyone together hauled this big fellow onto the fishing boat; the fish is more than twice the size of an adult, about five hundred jin or more.

Fine, Qiao Mai was speechless; these people treated her as a person in trouble, and she reached out to Xiao Qing.

"The weather here is so hot, this fish won't sell and will spoil after two days; what should we do?"

"Not much, a few hundred taels, let's split it among everyone."

"We are fishermen who go out to sea; this is the deep‑sea area. We passed by, found you; you're really lucky, otherwise we wouldn't know when we'd encounter a ship."

"Two hundred taels, does that work for you?"

The captain looked at the gold ingot and chuckled, "I almost thought you were playing with us."

Watching these bare‑chested men, they cast a hopeful big net into the sea, then slowly rowed the boat, dragging the fish net through the water.

"I called out, but you were sleeping too deep, you didn't even answer me."

She stood up, rolled up the blanket, and then saluted them.

She said again, watching the fish hauled up from the sea, how meaningful it is.

"Look quickly, it's a big fish, my god, such a huge fish, could it be a shark?"

"Really, really?"

To earn more money, they risked their lives to come to the deep‑sea area, and by chance met Qiao Mai.

Everyone also stopped pulling the net, watching her swallow saliva, as if she were a big fish.

"Yes, we all pooled money to buy it."

"How could that be? You saved my life."

At this moment, the captain and Qiao Mai ran over together, everyone strained to hold the fishing net, and gradually the big fellow emerged above the water.

When we came, it felt long, but returning was very fast; in less than a day the ship reached shore.

"How about we release it back?"

"Alright."

The fishermen were surprised; despite her thin, small appearance, she was very strong. Her joining clearly made them feel relieved.

"It's okay, the sea goods we caught were taken away by merchants at low prices; the ones we can't sell we dry, we can't just throw them all away."

"Just two hundred taels; in the future, when we catch such fish we must not sell them cheap. This fish is called tuna; its flesh is dense, fresh and tasty, can be stir‑fried or eaten raw, extremely delicious."

She sat in the carriage and waved at them.

"I have to hurry back home with the fish, otherwise it won't be fresh; you are all good people, good deeds are rewarded, next time I'll come again to buy fish from you."

"Little brother, you are also a good person, we benefited from your great help."

"You're welcome!"

(End of chapter)