Chapter 116: Unfavorable start?

Wu An listens to advice, so he hurried back into the cabin.

The so-called cabin is just a simple awning; after all, it's only an ordinary small boat with no comfort-enhancing facilities.

For a fishing boat, the most important thing is still going out to sea to catch fish, support the family, and make money.

If you want to enjoy yourself, you might as well stay at home.

Once you have money to upgrade to a bigger boat, the larger the vessel, the more complete the supporting facilities.

Lao Mai piloted the boat and handed him a bottle of water.

Wu An quickly took the bottle, rinsed his mouth, but still felt somewhat dizzy and nauseous.

He really wanted to vomit.

Lao Mai joked, "You're quite eager buying a fishing boat, but I didn't expect you to get seasick."

"If you're like this, how will you go out to sea to fish in the future?"

Wu An shook his head.

He simply didn't want to speak.

He was afraid that if he wasn't careful, he'd vomit outright.

Actually, despite growing up by the sea, he had hardly ever been on a boat in his life.

The last time he was on a boat was taking a ferry to college.

The ferry is larger, not as shaky as a small fishing boat; although it's somewhat unpleasant, it's nowhere near as severe as now.

He sat down, half-reclined, looked up at the awning roof, felt a bit better, then said, "I'll hold on; I'll set up the bait once we reach the spot."

Lao Mai burst out laughing.

Laughing, he strangely asked, "I saw you were even more panicked than your love performance earlier—why aren't you coming in?"

Wu An also found it odd; enduring his discomfort, he sat up and shouted outward, "A Qing, why aren't you coming in?"

A Qing shouted, "Brother, I can't move."

"……" Wu An was startled, hurried out to check, saw A Qing's face pale, both hands gripping the boat's edge, his whole body pressed against the side, hands clenched tight, veins bulging, realizing he was extremely nervous.

Just then a wave hit; the fishing boat lurched up then down with the sea, the hull swaying, A Qing lurched with it, frightened and shouting "wah-wah" several times.

Wu An hurriedly squatted, grabbed his shoulders, and soothed, "A Qing, don't be scared."

"Rest assured, the boat won't capsize, and you won't fall overboard."

"Relax, relax, follow my deep breathing: inhale… exhale…"

A Qing followed along; after a while he calmed down and said, "Brother, I've embarrassed you."

Wu An said, "We're even."

He hadn't expected that the first difficulty encountered in going out to sea to fish would be himself and A Qing.

A Qing shook his head: "Brother, I see you're not afraid at all."

Wu An made a "yue" sound, saying, "But I feel like vomiting."

A Qing scratched his head: "Ah? Brother, are you pregnant?"

"You're the one who's pregnant." Wu An smacked the back of his head, saying, "Don't spout nonsense here; I'll help you up and take you back to the cabin."

A Qing returned to the cabin, sat down, gave Lao Mai a stiff, awkward smile, and said, "Movies are all lies."

"I saw the male and female leads on the Titanic standing at the bow without even swaying."

Wu An said, "Their ship and ours are different; they can't be compared."

"When we have money later, we'll also buy a big boat."

"By then, not only will the boat be stable, but we can also throw a party on it."

A Qing asked, "What's a 'party'?"

Wu An casually replied, "Just having fun."

"You'll find out later."

"Yue."

"Lao Mai, when will we get there?"

Lao Mai said, "Soon, soon."

"There's an uninhabited island ahead; the nearby resources are decent—I've been there twice."

Wu An asked, "What did you catch?"

"……" Lao Mai fell silent for a moment, then said, "Someone once caught a large grouper weighing over ten catties."

After another ten or so minutes, the fishing boat stopped.

Lao Mai called out, "We've arrived."

"How are you two?"

Wu An took a sip of water and said, "I feel much better."

A Qing also nodded.

Stepping out of the cabin, they saw a small island not far away, bald and barren with little vegetation.

Waves crashed against the jagged reefs, sending up rolling spray.

It's called an uninhabited island because landing there carries risk.

If you're not careful with your footing, a slip could let a wave sweep you away for sure.

Any fisherman who can make money elsewhere wouldn't risk landing on the island.

They don't land there either.

Lao Mai said, "We'll just fish here."

Wu An and A Qing naturally had no objection.

Relying on the complex marine environment surrounding the island, the fish here are relatively abundant.

Fishing here is definitely better than on the coast.

Looking into the distance, two fishing boats can be seen far away, but they are not very clear.

It is still the closed fishing season, so the boats cannot operate normally; they are probably here to fish.

Nowadays regulatory enforcement is very strong, so few fishermen would take such risks.

Although the closed season imposes heavy restrictions on fishermen, it does not make earning impossible.

One can fish, go to the uninhabited island to chase the sea, and some people also pump water pits.

In short, as long as one is diligent and a bit bold on the coast, one can still make money.

Lao Mai prepared many Fishing Rods, watching Wu An and A Qing each take a rod; he laughed, "I really have a lot of underachiever's stationery."

Wu An smiled faintly and said nothing, still restraining the urge to smash the nest.

It was already a little past 2 p. m. at this point.

The sun hung terrifyingly large on the horizon; the three of them were fully armed and covered themselves tightly.

Although they avoided the sun's heat, it was still stiflingly uncomfortable.

Can't manage that much anymore.

They picked up their Fishing Rods and attached Bait.

The three cast their rods simultaneously.

Watching the Fishing Line, Wu An suddenly felt much better; A Qing shouted, "Let's see who lands a fish first," and they were less nervous.

The Fishing Rods had already been imbued with Luck Value.

Lao Mai counted the fish he caught as his own, and Wu An didn't fuss much about it.

As friends, they shouldn't be too stingy.

Not long after.

Wu An was the first to hook a fish; the pull was rather ordinary, and he quickly reeled it in, bringing the fish to the surface swiftly.

"Stone Nine Public!"

He was a bit disappointed, flung the fish onto the Deck, noting its sizable head; being the first catch, he removed the hook and tossed the fish into the nearby bucket.

Lao Mai shouted, "I'm opening shop too."

He soon hauled up another Stone Nine Public.

A Qing did the same.

Wu An didn't mind much, but after three consecutive Stone Nine Public catches, he realized something was wrong.

Lao Mai did pull up a sole, but it wasn't much more valuable than a Stone Nine Public.

After fishing for half an hour, besides sole and Water Merit, there were three-tooth fish and dragonhead fish, all priced at a few to a dozen yuan per jin.

If the three sold their half‑day catch, after deducting fuel costs and labor, there would be little profit left.

In a word.

If they kept fishing like this, the whole trip out to sea would be a loss.