Chapter 128: A Stunning Catch, Snatched by Rivals

A family of three sailed their fishing boat to the spot where Wu An and his group had docked.

"Wife, is this the place?"

"More or less."

"Then I'll fish."

The man was still quite excited; it was the first time his wife and child watched him fish, casting the rod with bait, looking at the sea with eager anticipation, the water rising and falling, yet the Fishing Line showed not a hint of movement.

The man held the Fishing Rod in one hand, and in the spare moment took out a Cigarette, lit it, and began to smoke.

One cigarette, two cigarettes.

Clenching his teeth, the man asked, "Son, did you really see them catching fish one after another?"

The older child nodded, "Yes."

"Just like dad, with a swoosh, a flick, then pull, pull, pull, a fish flies up, and then with another swoosh it's thrown back down."

The child narrated while mimicking sounds and gestures, vividly recreating the scene of Wu An and the others casting the rod with bait.

The couple watched, and the more they watched, the more uncomfortable they felt.

Others are catching fish with the Linked Rod Technique, why does he have no movement for so long?

He smoked another cigarette, patted his thigh, and sighed, "The fish school must have left."

When he reeled in, the bait was still there.

There was no bite at all.

The woman complained, "Son, you saw it long ago, why didn't you say anything?"

The older child shouted, "You didn't say either."

"You just let me watch whether they land on the island or not."

"I've been watching the whole time."

The woman opened her mouth, stunned, unable to speak; she feared those people would come to the island and compete with them, yet no one could even catch fish.

Who could have imagined that?

She knew her husband's fishing ways perfectly, yet had thought every fisherman was the same.

The man grinned, pulled down his pants to look, and realized, good grief, he'd accidentally bruised his thigh; it's not that he's overreacting, it's just a real regret.

Catching fish to make money is another story; the worst part is he's been idle for several days, and his wife constantly complains he wastes money sailing the sea to feed fish.

After finally getting such a chance, he let it slip away for nothing.

Blue skinny mushroom.

…

Wu An didn't know that after they left, there was this little episode; when the fishing boat returned to the dock, it was dusk, just before sunset.

The sea surface glittered, looking stunning.

Wu An no longer felt seasick at all; he stood at the bow, gazing at the scenery on both banks.

Both banks of Shui Zha were still crowded with fishermen.

Wu An's gaze swept across and met another glance.

It was Lin Hu.

Lin Hu's eyes looked somewhat fierce.

However, Lin Hu wasn't staring at him; he was staring at the boat.

Wu An didn't think further; Lin Hu had been displeased with him for more than a day, and knowing he bought a boat, the envy and jealousy in his eyes had long overflowed.

He wasn't worried about what Lin Hu might do.

People like that are simple‑minded, daring to cause trouble but can't do anything truly sinister; it's the old man Chen Gui he can't stop worrying about.

Don't be fooled by Chen Gui's recent calm; he knows the old man is brewing something bad.

Now there's no movement; perhaps he's planning a big move.

At that moment.

The phone rang.

It was Lao Fang calling, saying people were already waiting at the dock.

Wu An replied with a sound.

…

Dock.

Several buying vendors were waiting; some, seeing Lao Fang arrive, approached to chat a few words. Lao Fang runs a big business in town, pays generously, has wide contacts and many channels.

Put bluntly, Lao Fang eats the meat while they sip the broth.

Thus Lao Fang usually doesn't come; he waits for regular customers to come to him.

Lao Fang's arrival means there's good goods.

"Lao Fang, what wind blew you here?"

"You've always been sitting in the shop waiting."

"Any good goods?"

A few vendors asked tentatively.

Lao Fang smiled and said, "No, no, a friend went out to sea fishing, said the haul was decent, asked me to take the cargo."

He said no more.

Everyone is in competition; only if he went mad would he reveal his hand.

Those are Three-knife Fish!

And there is more than one!

Lao Fang's palms were sweating with excitement; if he could get all of them, he would surely make a name for himself.

It wasn't among peers.

Showing off among peers only invites jealousy and brings no benefit; he wants to use it to expand his channels and become known among boss circles.

He smoked while waiting.

Every minute and second felt like agony.

He didn't even know how many cigarettes he had smoked when he finally spotted that red‑green fishing boat; although he had seen it, it was still far off.

As the fishing boat docked, he greeted and jumped aboard.

Seeing his reaction, the other peers were also curious and followed him aboard, wanting to see what good catch the fishing boat had gotten—something worthy of Lao Fang's excitement.

Lao Fang asked right away, "A An, where are the fish?"

Wu An glanced at the vendors who had boarded, his eyes flashing, and said, "In the live‑fish hold."

Lao Fang walked over.

The other vendors also looked over.

A Qing opened the live‑fish hold.

"So many fish!"

"Is this line‑caught? It couldn't be net‑caught, could it?"

"Wow, it's stone bream."

"Indeed, there are one, two, so many."

"Damn, with this many stone bream we'll get rich—no wonder Lao Fang came specially to the dock to wait."

Some of the vendors shouted excitedly.

Lao Fang glanced back at those peers and said, "What's there to get excited about? If you keep acting like this, it'll be hard for me to negotiate prices later."

The peers pretended not to have seen and went up to Lao Mai, saying, "Lao Mai, it's you, isn't it? I know you—you're Boss Gao's friend."

"I'll buy these stone bream at 180 per catty."

"Damn, you're trying to fool me. Lao Mai, I also know Boss Gao—I'll offer an honest price of 200 per catty."

Hearing that quote, the other vendors stopped shouting resentfully and just muttered under their breath, "How can we compete with such a high price?"

That's a purchase price of 200 per catty—almost retail—so they're not buying fish out of charity; they need to make a profit too.

They also have to bear the risk.

Offering an even higher price would be pointless and would only make enemies.

"Actually."

The pressure actually landed on Lao Fang.

Lao Fang had already cursed those peers in his heart when Wu An reached out first, saying he regarded him as a friend and noting that someone had already offered 200 per catty.

So he certainly couldn't go lower than that.

If he quoted low, Wu An wouldn't be a fool, and this friendship would surely be over.

Lao Mai waited for everyone to finish, then chuckled and said, "You've all misunderstood."

"I was just along for the fun."

"He's the actual boat owner."

Everyone turned to Wu An, surprised at how young and handsome he was, and they all handed him their business cards.

Wu An accepted them all.

Watching this, Lao Fang felt his heart tighten with a sense of crisis.

Facing the vendor who offered a high price, Lao Fang said with regret, "I'm sorry, but I've already booked these catches."

"Let's work together again if the chance comes."

Hearing that, Lao Fang gratefully glanced at Wu An and quickly told everyone, "I'm really sorry."

"He's my old customer—if you need anything, come to my shop."

He made it clear that this wasn't about grabbing everything for himself.

He was already an old customer, and Wu An's reasoning was sound—no one could find fault with it.

Everyone resigned, muttering as they all disembarked.

After everyone had disembarked, Lao Fang's eyes lit up and he asked, "Where's the three‑knife fish? Let me take a look."