Chapter 117: When the East Is Dark, the West Is Bright

A Qing was getting angry: "Today is so strange, why are the little junk fish making a ruckus."

Wu An was also helpless; they had already switched to big fish hooks, yet it made no difference—these small fish acted as if they were mad, took the bait, and then their bodies slammed into the hook.

Should they pull or not?

One pull, one silent.

Almost an hour later, they'd already caught nearly a bucket of junk fish; they're not tired at all, just there's no fun to speak of.

Lao Mai doesn't fish for money, but he also finds it unexciting.

Wu An glanced at the Fishing Rod; its Luck Value still had 1 point remaining.

Having fished that long without depleting the Luck Value shows just how worthless the caught fish are.

Fished for another ten minutes or so.

The Fishing Rod's Luck Value finally ran out.

Wu An thought for a moment, and using the downtime while changing spots, added 1 Luck Value to each of the three Fishing Rods; he didn't dare add more.

He added the extra point simply because he wasn't giving up.

The small fish are causing a ruckus here.

Where are the big fish?

Then who are you going to ask?

The three changed spots, and it was still the same.

He felt frustrated.

Staring at the Fishing Rod, he fell into thought, pondered for a moment, and offered a reason: first, there must be a cluster of small fish nearby.

Second, perhaps because the Luck Value was added, it attracted fish schools regardless of the odds.

And small fish have the lowest quality, so they were drawn in?

Or perhaps... it's because the Fishing Rod is inadequate?

He plans to go back and replace the gear, swapping for a better Fishing Rod.

Turning his head, he saw A Qing and Lao Mai exhaling clouds of smoke; fish kept coming up one after another, but because they were so small, they could be hauled up without effort.

The two smoked while hauling fish up; it was unbearably painful.

After a while, the Luck Value finally ran out.

As the three's catch rate slowed, A Qing set the Fishing Rod down and said, "Brother, I don't want to fish anymore."

"The tide is going out now."

"How about we go to the island to chase the sea."

Wu An was hesitating about using Luck Value, and hearing A Qing say that, he couldn't help but think: last time, he and A Qing also had a small‑fish ruckus, then went sea‑hunting and the harvest was pretty good.

Only 17 Luck Value remained; they couldn't waste it like this any longer.

He looked toward the nearby uninhabited island, where gentle waves lapped the reefs, nodded, and said, "Alright, let's go take a look."

"If we can get ashore, we'll go sea‑hunting."

They hadn't brought sea‑hunting gear, but the fishing boat already had it, likely belonging to Guang Liangjun: a rake, a screwdriver, pliers, a shovel—basically all the tools, though some were already rusted.

Lao Mai caught a fish, hauled it up, and saw it was a small Sea Bass; he sighed in resignation and said, "Alright, I'll go sea‑hunting with you."

A Qing said, "Lao Mai, sea‑hunting is also a lot of fun."

Wu An smiled.

Lao Mai piloted the boat over, turned half a circle and found a suitable landing spot; the three jumped into the water, which rose to their chests.

The waves weren't strong; as a wave rolled in, the three caught its surge and easily made it onto the island.

Lao Mai also lifted a large piece of foam for later use.

The tide was still ebbing; if they waited for the rising tide and couldn't get back to the boat in time, they'd have to use the foam as a makeshift boat to return to the fishing boat.

Otherwise, swimming over would be too risky.

Don't ask if the foam is safe.

Out at sea, nothing is truly 100% safe.

Wu An helped carry things, saying, "Lao Mai, I didn't realize you still had that ability."

Lao Mai smiled, flashing a mouth of yellow teeth, and said, "That's nothing."

"When I was young, I fought harder for filming."

"I even once worked on a smuggling ship..."

Wu An and A Qing grew curious and asked him to tell the story.

Lao Mai smiled, and as the three walked and talked, Wu An listened and gave a thumbs‑up; no wonder Lao Mai is still willing to step forward—compared to the things he did in his youth, reporting a hospital director really isn't much.

A Qing, walking at the front, suddenly shouted, "Brother, look ahead, look ahead!"

Wu An looked closely and saw a massive field of reefs ahead.

The reefs grew larger one after another, layered upon each other, forming a sloping hill.

Near the waterline, the reefs sloped gently; the tide washed back and forth, revealing many protrusions on the rocks.

A Qing hurried over.

Holding a shovel, with a "Ka" scoop, he lifted the dug‑up item and shouted joyfully, "Brother, it's Stone Tooth, it's Stone Tooth!"

Wu An and Lao Mai walked over.

Wu An took it, examined it, and said, "It really is Stone Tooth."

Stone Tooth is the local term, and it also has a more illustrious name: General's Hat.

Lao Mai also took it, looked at it and said, "At first glance I thought it was an abalone."

Wu An smiled and said, "Some people really call it Golden Abalone; look at its color—golden, golden, how beautiful."

"But this isn't abalone; it's a kind of snail."

A Qing said happily, "This sells for about ten to twenty yuan per jin."

"It's worth much more than the small fish."

"And there are far too many Stone Teeth here; look at the foot over there—1, 2, 3, 4… I can't even count them."

Wu An nodded, also seeming happy.

The General's Hats are dense and countless; digging them up will definitely earn more than fishing for small fish.

A Qing asked in confusion, "How can there be so many Stone Teeth here?"

Lao Mai explained, "Don't think this small island is close to the shore; getting onto the island isn't that easy."

"Today the wind and waves aren't strong, and the tide is just going out at this hour, so it's a good time to go ashore."

"Not everyone gets such a coincidence."

Wu An added, "Yeah, if we hadn't failed to catch fish, we wouldn't have thought of going to the island to take a look."

"Let's start digging right away."

He took the shovel, pressed it against the edge of a General's Hat, swung hard, and the General's Hat flew up. He asked, "Lao Mai, have you done this before?"

Lao Mai shook his head, "It looks pretty simple."

Wu An said, "It is indeed simple."

"The main thing is to be quick."

"If it doesn't come out in one go, the General's Hat will stick to the reef, and getting it off will take a lot of effort."

Lao Mai nodded and tried to shovel it down.

As a result, it didn't come out the first time; when trying again, just as Wu An said, the shell came off, but the meat remained firmly stuck to the reef.

Wu An gave the three a Luck Boost, consuming a total of 9 points.

If we're fast, we could finish in about three hours.

If all goes well, we might make it back to Zhen Shang Ma Tou before nightfall.

After the Luck Boost, the shovel seemed illuminated; a light touch could detach the General's Hat, and the hat meat was very plump and tasty.

A Qing picked up a General's Hat and shouted happily, "Look at this one—it's as big as my fist."

Wu An smiled and nodded, "Not bad; at this size, the unit price will definitely be high."

The reefs here are huge; besides General's Hats, there are many Spicy Snails, which are large—generally about the size of an egg—and can also fetch a good price.

Shovel them as soon as you see them.

Wu An felt like he was plowing the ground, moving slowly forward; he just couldn't speed up—the General's Hats and Spicy Snails were too many.

Some that grow in the cracks of the rocks are hard to extract, and he was too lazy to bother.

Too much of a waste of time.

With that time, he had already shovelled several loads.

It looks like the system's Luck Value sent him to the deserted island to chase the sea.

Fine.

East side dark, west side bright.

As long as we can make money, that's fine.

Who cares.