Chapter 261: First Day Out at Sea Trawling

Ye Cheng adjusted his course slightly, following the current and began preparing to cast the trawl net.

"Da Huang, bless me, let's hit a big catch in one net!" Ye Cheng clenched his fist at Da Huang.

Da Huang glanced at Ye Cheng with his small eyes, smacked his lips, lowered his gaze to the sea surface, and couldn't be bothered with him.

As for casting the net, Ye Cheng and the others had done it before on the Wang Defa Ship; it's not hard—just throw the net overboard.

Seeing the net sink into the water, Ye Cheng returned to the helm and began to slowly control the speed.

Sailing was easy; with the current the boat speed was fairly fast, so Ye Cheng kept going like that for half an hour, but he grew restless, reduced the speed, and then glanced back at Xiao Hu.

"Xiao Hu, haul the net and have a look."

Xiao Hu responded, started the net‑winch, and the trawl line was pulled up bit by bit.

Ye Cheng and Xiao Hu stood one on each side, watching; even when half the net was out of the water there was still only the net—damn, could the first haul really be empty?

"Brother, it's fine; my second uncle often hauls empty nets—it's normal." Xiao Hu wore an indifferent expression.

In fact, what Xiao Hu said is true: empty nets or hauls with very little are indeed common; if every net brought in a big catch, fishermen would already be rolling in wealth.

After more than half the time, the net finally showed some movement; inside the dark trawl net was a dense pile of something, though it wasn't clear what it was.

The two of them hauled the net up together, dumped out the contents—a heap of small shells, plus some tiny shrimp and miscellaneous fish.

Most of it turned out to be trash—plastic bags and pieces of fishing line.

Damn, no wonder they say we need to protect the marine environment—just a casual trawl brings up this much garbage; just how dirty is the seabed?

Speaking of which, when I dove before I never saw this much trash; perhaps there's more fishing boat activity here, leaving behind more everyday waste.

Hauling the net up is just a matter of picking through.

Ye Cheng stopped the boat, the two found a small stool, sat down, and began sorting.

They put the plastic trash into a bag to throw away later when they got ashore.

Things like clams and sand crabs were tossed straight away—too small.

For the shrimp, they sorted for a while; the slightly larger ones amounted to a dozen or so, but they were all cheap shrimp, so the rest were released.

They also hauled up an orchid crab, the most valuable thing in the catch.

They picked out a few small fish and shrimp to give Da Huang; the rest they threw back into the sea to let them grow before catching again.

Da Huang was happily eating; the smaller the bits, the more he enjoyed them!

"Hey, I'm talking to you, Da Huang—you said you'd bring me luck, but you've done nothing after an hour's trawl except bring up one orchid crab; aren't you ashamed? Tell me, what do you have to say for yourself?"

"Don't run away—does running even help? You're running because you're guilty, you know that."

Da Huang had already grown too tired to deal with the obsessed Ye Cheng; he grabbed his food and walked off—just like an angry man or woman, completely unreasonable.

"Brother, Da Huang is just a sea turtle; you're really relying on him? If not, just keep going." Xiao Hu remained calm.

Ye Cheng thought, yeah, I've got a system backing me—what's there to fear? Down! Keep going down!

The two regrouped, tidied the net a bit, and cast it again.

This time Ye Cheng chose to go at an angle to the current; he felt the boat speed really dropped a little, and the trawl net aft opened wider.

From far off he could see Duan Chunsheng already hauling his net over there—Duan Chunsheng had probably been trawling for about an hour.

Ye Cheng picked up the radio and called out to Duan Chunsheng,

"Uncle Duan! How's it going?"

Duan Chunsheng waved at Ye Cheng,

"Not bad—got a dozen or so blue crabs and a couple of sea bream; luck's not bad. How about you two?"

"Just one orchid crab, an empty net, Uncle."

"Keep at it, have a little patience."

After chatting with Duan Chunsheng, Ye Cheng felt awful inside—here he is with a system, yet he can't even outdo someone without one.

Damn!

I refuse to believe it.

Keep going!

This time Ye Cheng trawled for a long stretch—about an hour—giving the impression he meant to sweep the seabed clean in one net.

When the winch pulled the trawl up and he dumped it out, Ye Cheng was dumbfounded again—damn!

How come it's still just these little fish and shrimp? The last net had an orchid crab, but this one has no crabs at all—just some miscellaneous fish and shrimp.

They spent only a few minutes sorting; adding the first haul, they ended up with a small basin of shrimp and a single orchid crab.

This time Ye Cheng didn't let the little miscellaneous fish go either—he collected them all.

"Later I'll coat them in flour and fry them." Ye Cheng said resentfully.

You can cook on this kind of trawler—of course it's simple, just a pot and a fire.

As for Ye Cheng's talk of coating in flour, that's nonsense—there's no flour on board, though we do have oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar.

The two tidied up their things and cast the net again.

After two empty hauls, Ye Cheng felt much calmer—after all, things rarely happen three times in a row; it's impossible to get three empty nets straight.

This time, still trawling at an angle, while steering the boat Ye Cheng had Xiao Hu wash the shrimp and the miscellaneous fish on the side.

Anyway, hauling a net takes an hour; with that time we might as well stir‑fry these fish and shrimp and eat them right away—saves us the annoyance of watching.

Once Xiao Hu finished cleaning, Ye Cheng had him take over the helm while he took charge of cooking.

I don't trust Xiao Hu's cooking— for shrimp he just does a quick oil‑flash, lightly frying them in oil then adding soy sauce for color, and that's it.

As for the other miscellaneous fish, Ye Cheng gave them a quick oil‑blanch, then added water to make a stew.

The two dishes plus instant noodles count as a luxurious meal.

Besides, the fresh‑caught seafood is excellent—Ye Cheng and Xiao Hu each have a bowl of strong‑flavored instant noodles on one side and a plate of seafood so fresh it makes your eyebrows fall out on the other; they're eating with great enjoyment.

After eating, the trawling time here was up too; the two put down their bowls and chopsticks and prepared to haul the net.

"Heaven bless! Da Huang bless, this time I gotta get a big haul, Orchid Crab, Blue Crab, Big yellow fish all come." Ye Cheng silently recited a prayer, then pressed the net-reeling machine.

The net lines were hauled, the net slowly rose, bit by bit emerging from the water.

Nothing.

Nothing.

Still nothing.

How is that possible.

Ye Cheng was dumbfounded; the previous two times there had been a pile of trash, but this time there wasn't even any trash—just a few stones.

Damn!

Are you sent by heaven to mess with me?

This isn't right.

Ye Cheng tapped his head.

"Xiao Hu, today's situation feels off—did I leave the house without washing my hands or without wearing underwear?" Ye Cheng even started doubting life.

Really, it's an empty net after all.

"Brother, today's not going well; if we can't, let's go to the island to forage."

Ye Cheng thought for a while, then suddenly his mind jolted—no, today he got up rather abruptly, having been pulled up by Xiao Hu, and he hadn't checked the system; could it be that his Luck Value is too low today?

Ye Cheng quickly opened the system and took a glance.

Luck Value: 100+20

Points: 5620

Savings: 30,000, External Debt: 30,000, Mortgage: 300,000 (including interest).

No way!