Chapter 908: Golden-Eye Perch

Where there's one, there's two. After switching to a new fishing spot and waiting half an hour without catching a single fish, he moved on again.

They kept switching spots — either Hong Hong Wenle yelling to switch, or Jiangcheng Ming demanding a new spot. The two of them would start clamoring to move the moment they hadn't caught anything for a while, so most of the time was spent changing locations.

Until the sky was nearly dark, they still hadn't caught many fish after that. Instead, the remoras in their hands had been yanked back and forth so much they barely looked like fish anymore — some were on the brink of death.

Yet every one of them was in high spirits, and even though they'd brought fishing rods, they refused to actually use them.

Ye Yaodong was actually itching to get his hands on his rod early — he was already tired of playing with the remoras.

Just as he'd caught a shark and was about to reel it in, the shark broke the surface thrashing wildly, and after a few jerks it popped right off the remora's suction cup.

"Ah, it got away…"

"What a shame. We haven't had any bites in ages after all that switching, and finally there's a shark here to catch."

Hong Hong Wenle couldn't help complaining to Jiangcheng Ming, "It's all because you kept switching spots. We've spent the whole time running back and forth. Can't you just be patient and wait another hour or two? The fish in the sea are moving anyway — if you wait an hour or two, there'll probably be a big one here."

"You were yelling to switch too, not just me."

"You were the one who started it. I was catching sea turtles just fine — reeled in several in a row. Adong too, he got a bunch of catfish. Then you switched spots and we ended up with nothing."

After fishing together, Ye Yaodong's relationship with them had grown much closer. He'd already been upgraded from "Comrade Ye Yaodong" to just "Adong," no more "comrade" — a sign they now saw him as an equal.

"Forget it, if it's gone, it's gone. All that yanking back and forth, the fish is probably half-dead. Pull it up and put it in the bucket to rest — let's stop tormenting it for now."

Saying that, he first hauled up his own half-dead remora and dropped it into the bucket to keep.

After catching three big catfish earlier, he'd had to keep switching spots afterward and couldn't fish properly — he only managed one small shark of just over twenty jin.

Hong Hong Wenle was the same — afterward he only caught one red snapper of just over twenty jin.

Chen Shi finally broke his zero too, landing a fairly big oily fish.

Only Jiangcheng Ming still had just his seven Xiao Bai Zhang, which was why he kept hopping around yelling to switch spots — all his time had been wasted running around on the sea.

"Fine then, it's getting dark. Let's drag one net, take a break, and head home after we haul it in."

"Head home after one net? I haven't even caught a big fish yet!" Jiangcheng Ming protested, unwilling to give up.

"Who can you blame for not catching anything? It's because you kept switching spots and ruined it for the rest of us. I even suspect you did it on purpose — figured your own luck was bad and you weren't going to catch anything anyway, so you decided to win by sheer numbers. That's why you kept switching — just so we couldn't catch fish and beat you."

"Bad luck? Laozi caught seven Xiao Bai Zhang on a single try — just the numbers alone crush you."

"Laozi could crush all your Bai Zhang with one sea turtle."

"Bullshit. We agreed, whoever catches more wins. Sure, mine are small, but I—"

"Hahaha~ Yours are small, you admit yours are small, haha, yours are small. Oh my god, when I get back I'm gonna tell everyone — you said yours are small…"

"Damn it… I meant the Bai Zhang are small…"

"No, you said yours are small… hahaha, don't try to wriggle out of it…"

"Oh my god, shut up… damn it…"

The two of them, who had been stubbornly arguing, instantly lost their composure — one laughed nonstop, the other cursed one round after another.

The fishing boat was also starting to prepare to set the net. Ye Yaodong had originally planned to put the remora away and then egg them on to use the fishing rods, but the two of them had made such a ruckus that they could only drag the net first.

The sky had gone completely dark amid their bickering. All around was pitch black — only their single boat still floated on the sea. The lights on the boat were on too, but they were just dim little orange-yellow bulbs.

Earlier there had been other fishing boats visible on the sea, but now most of them had already returned to Huigang. Their boat drifting alone on the water looked a little forlorn.

After the boat started working, Ye Yaodong saw them just standing around idle and suggested, "Let's use the fishing rods, yeah? Dragging the net and fishing at the same time won't get in the way."

"Won't it get in the way?"

"It won't. When the boat is moving and you're fishing, the bait flowing through the water becomes more enticing."

"Sure, we're idle anyway."

"I'm not fishing anymore — I've already won."

Hong Hong Wenle rolled his eyes. "You're just afraid you'll lose so badly later you'll lose face, right?"

"Nonsense. No matter how you twist it, you can't change the fact that I won~"

Jiangcheng Ming sat with his legs crossed, looking perfectly composed, and refused to move.

As long as he didn't move, he was the winner.

If he moved, he might end up losing so badly it was embarrassing. It wasn't like he always had that kind of luck — pulling a bunch of octopuses out of a bottle.

He figured all his luck had already been used up here, and any more fishing would just be a waste of time playing second fiddle.

Hong Hong Wenle rolled his eyes and ignored him, picked up the fishing rod bag sitting in the corner, and handed one set to Ye Yaodong.

"A gift for you. Keep it safe."

"Hehe, thanks, Young Master Hong. That's generous of you."

"I promised, so I can't short you. Just take it home later."

"You got it."

Ye Yaodong was thrilled looking at the English letter logo printed on the long bag. He didn't recognize the brand, but he knew it wasn't cheap — that was enough.

He opened it up — it was brand new, barely used.

Hong Hong Wenle also showed him how to use it — how to cast the rod and reel in the line.

Very few people fished these days, even abroad, and fishing rods were simple. Ye Yaodong had helped them fish once before, so once Hong Hong Wenle gave a quick rundown, he picked it up right away.

"It's actually pretty simple. Give it a try. I haven't fished much either, but it's basically like this — cast a couple of times and you'll get the hang of it."

Ye Yaodong nodded.

When they set out, they'd brought a bucket of shrimp for bait — now it came in handy.

He casually hooked a shrimp onto the hook as bait. Just as he was about to cast, suddenly a row of faint lights appeared in the distance.

From far to near, the sound grew louder and louder. Once they got close, it nearly drowned out the noise of their working fishing boat.

"Huh? What's that?"

Everyone looked up in confusion.

"It's a fishing boat."

"A whole long line of fishing boats."

"Judging by the lights, there are over a dozen of them here, right?"

Suddenly, Hong Hong Wenle slapped his thigh. "Oh no, at this hour—quick, quick, quick, turn the boat around and head back. I still have things to take care of, I forgot all about it. A-Ming, go tell the boatman to stop dragging the net, we should head back."

"Okay."

Ye Yaodong looked at the fishing rod he had just cast out, thinking that if they went back now, hauling in the net would still take over ten minutes, so he decided not to reel it in yet and would wait and see.

Once the fishing net was hauled up, he could reel in his rod then—it wouldn't be too late.

But looking at Hong Hong Wenle's expression, he could clearly sense a hint of urgency and an eagerness to rush home.

Ye Yaodong mulled it over in his mind: Could this f***ing be their family's smuggled goods? That's why he was so anxious seeing a whole row of fishing boats passing by?

Otherwise, how to explain him hurriedly shouting to return the moment he saw the fishing boats?

A dark night with high winds, perfect for smuggling and picking up cargo. But it had only just gotten dark not long ago—coming ashore this early is a bit unusual. Could something have happened?

Damn, so all the rich folks in their town really did get rich through this. No wonder in just a few short years, everything turned upside down, each and every one of them rolling in fat.

The poor stay poor, the rich are already pot-bellied.

He grumbled away in his heart, while Wang Wang Guangliang and Chen Shi still wore blank expressions, looking around left and right in confusion, then gazing off into the distance.

"Adong, we're heading back just like that?"

"What else? It's already dark. If we're not going back, are you planning to spend the night out at sea?"

"No, it's just that it feels a bit strange all of a sudden. Those boats whooshed past in an instant, and there were quite a lot of them."

"Probably heading the same way, going back together once it got dark."

"Doesn't really look like it…"

Ye Yaodong shot him a glance. "Brat, don't ask so many questions. Isn't it good to head back early? Were you planning to stay a while longer? Staying longer won't earn you any extra red envelopes."

"No, just asking out of curiosity."

"Nothing curious about it. You… oh, I've got a bite…"

He had barely finished speaking when he felt a tug on the rod, and immediately started turning the reel to retrieve the line.

"Another one so soon? Adong, that rod of yours looks pretty cool, doesn't look cheap, you got a bargain."

"Came here specifically to fleece them today, and brought you guys along to share in the luck."

"There are even pinyin letters on it…"

"Pinyin my a**… those are English letters…"

"Hehe… aren't they all the same…"

"Stand to the side, it's coming up, don't get slapped by it in a bit…"

As Ye Yaodong spoke, the reel turned a bit, paused, then turned again and paused—back and forth, tugging. The fishing rod was bent into a parabolic arc.

This rod's flexibility was still much better than a bamboo pole, far easier to use.

The commotion on his end immediately drew the others' attention, and Hong Hong Wenle walked over as well.

"Another big one?"

"Doesn't feel that big, but it's got a lot of fight."

"A catch is a catch. You're pretty fast—right after I handed you the rod, you already hooked one."

"Hehe, the first cast's catch. No matter what I hook later, I'll give it all to you! Thanks for your generosity."

"Alright, I've wised up this time, gotta agree quick, otherwise later you'll jack up the price again—from free to friendship price to high price, then sky-high price, scary enough to scare someone to death."

Ye Yaodong burst out laughing. "Wasn't that just a joke? It also lets you know in passing—miss this village and there's no more shop, opportunity waits for no one. I was planning to give you one to try anyway. This kind of big sea catfish, the roe inside is said to be top-grade."

It's just that people of this era don't know good stuff, and it's more popular over in Southeast Asia. Otherwise, the roe from these few catfish would fetch quite a bit of money.

"Alright then, you still have a bit of a conscience."

"My conscience is huge, look at this fish of mine…"

"Slap slap slap slap!"

As the fishing rod was lifted, a big golden-eyed sea bass was dragged up to the surface, splashing a large patch of water as it thrashed about, the surface of the water pattering loudly.

"Yo, it's a sea bass!"

"Sea bass? Sea bass is great. I heard if you have wounds on your body, eating sea bass helps them heal faster. This one of yours looks pretty big."

Hong Hong Wenle somehow produced a flashlight from somewhere, the beam shining on the sea bass on the water's surface. Within the orange-yellow circle of light, the golden-eyed sea bass kept leaping on the surface, biting the hook and pulling back.

"This one looks like a golden-eyed sea bass, very large in size, it's a giant among sea bass. Small ones are usually 8 jin in weight, big ones can reach forty or fifty jin. This one should be about a dozen jin."

Golden-eyed sea bass prefer dim environments and don't like strong light, so they mainly come out to feed at night—nighttime is the best time to catch golden-eyed sea bass.

"That big… and it's still considered small?" Wang Wang Guangliang's eyes went wide, staring unblinkingly.

"Hooking a big fish on the first cast, your luck isn't bad."

Hong Hong Wenle was also looking a bit itchy to try. If he weren't in such a rush to get back, he'd definitely grab a rod right now and cast out to fish alongside them.

"It's your luck that's not bad. We agreed, the fish caught on the first cast is yours. Damn, it's actually a golden-eyed sea bass. And a pretty big one too. I thought it wasn't that big, just had strong pulling power. Didn't expect it to be both big and strong."

The golden-eyed sea bass bit the hook and kept struggling, its body constantly trying to swim back through the seawater, dragging the fishing rod into a complete bend and pulling it downward.

The fishing boat was still moving forward slowly, speeding up the net retrieval. The golden-eyed sea bass being dragged along thrashed about on the surface. Ye Yaodong gripped the rod tightly, retrieving line at varying speeds.

With the added push of wind speed and current while moving forward, the golden-eyed sea bass was quickly tired out, and amid Ye Yaodong's reeling and releasing, it gradually stopped struggling.

He sped up retrieving the line and directly lifted this big sea bass up.

When it hung in mid-air, its tail still swayed twice.

Ye Yaodong moved the rod over to the boat. Hong Hong Wenle eagerly hurried over to unhook the fish, while Wang Wang Guangliang, quick-witted, had already grabbed a basket and set it nearby to hold the big fish.

While unhooking the fish, Hong Hong Wenle's arm was slapped several times by the fish's tail, before he finally cupped the fish in his hands and measured its length with his fingers.

"Damn, it's still alive. This fish is big enough. Can you bear to part with it? Something this big, if you dragged it ashore you could sell it for two or three bucks, right?"

"I said I'd give it to you, would I go back on my word? Even if I hooked a red grouper, I'd still have to give it away, without batting an eye. The fishing rod you gave me—who knows how many hundreds or thousands of jin of fish it would take to make up for it."

Ye Yaodong shook the fishing rod in his hand, feeling extremely satisfied—a triumphant first battle.

"Good, good, good. I've made a friend of you."

"Are you in a rush to get back for something urgent? Need a hand? We're free anyway, so we might as well be doing something."

"No need, no need. We've got our own people who can handle it. Besides, you came by boat anyway—later we'll just take you straight to the big dock in town, and you can drive yourself back."

"Oh, that works."

If they didn't need help, then so be it. His curiosity wasn't that strong either.