Chapter 199: Cleverness Backfires

Wu Yingjin shook his head: "I still can't figure out why Shen Nan would do this, doing this to you isn't beneficial to him either."

"How is there no benefit?"

"The biggest benefit is that he became an outsider."

"Hmph, after all, it's just because he's timid, afraid that if Wu An finds out it was him, he'll retaliate."

"Shen Nan wouldn't be that scared, right?" Wu Yingjin curled his lip, saying: "I think Shen Nan is far more capable than that brat Wu An."

"Since childhood, Shen Nan has always been ahead of Wu An in everything."

"In my view, even if Wu An finds out, he can only grit his teeth and swallow it; he can't do anything to Shen Nan, nor dare to."

When mentioning Wu An, his tone was contemptuous; after falling out with Wu Yingwei, the last thing he wanted to see was Wu Yingwei's family gaining power.

Lately he's heard plenty of news about Wu An; although Wu An's actions don't really affect him, he just feels uneasy.

"You're already grown up, still bringing up childhood stuff; moreover, now… things are different. You think Shen Nan is targeting Wu An for any other reason than wanting to strike first?" Chen Gui, who could be considered a half-outsider, saw clearly and said in one sentence: "If he weren't afraid of Wu An, why would he strike first?"

"The result? A huge mix‑up, no benefit at all, and now he's stained with trouble."

"They just pushed me out front; after all, I was the most suspect, so taking the blame is only natural."

"His clever scheme is clacking away."

Wu Yingjin suddenly realized: "Good buddy, hearing you say that feels like the abacus beads are snapping against my face."

"To be fair, Shen Nan's mind is quite deep."

"Even you were schemed against."

Chen Gui snorted: "What good is that? You still can't beat Wu An."

"You haven't been in the village lately, so you don't know how many big things Wu An has done."

"Anyway, I'm not optimistic about Shen Nan going head‑to‑head with Wu An."

Wu Yingjin said: "If Shen Nan can't handle Wu An, you still have me."

Chen Gui waved his hand: "Stop flattering me; I feel embarrassed."

"This time."

"Shen Nan keeps to himself, completely an outsider; no one would suspect him."

"Wu An suffered no loss either; instead he became the victim, and at this critical juncture Shen Nan stabbed him in the back, making him the target of everyone's anger."

"Never mind what Wu An does; the villagers' gossip alone could drown him halfway to death."

"Thinking about it, he feels as if Wu An and Shen Nan have teamed up to trap him."

"After a lifetime of playing with hawks, today two little sparrows pecked his eyes!"

Wu Yingjin said: "No matter what, you still need to handle this matter well."

"The village is buzzing with this, and it's greatly affecting your reputation."

"When the election comes, you'll surely suffer a loss."

Chen Gui smiled, patted Wu Yingjin's shoulder: "Isn't this why I asked you to help?"

"Besides, rumors stop at the wise."

"When the time comes, I just need to say a word to Wu An."

Wu Yingjin said: "Wu An will definitely not pay you any heed."

Chen Gui said nonchalantly: "Whether he listens or not, I've explained it; whether he believes it is up to him."

The two were talking when they happened to run into Lin Bin.

After greeting them, Lin Bin pulled out a cigarette from his pocket.

He didn't say anything.

The two walked opposite each other.

After walking a bit farther, Wu Yingjin curiously asked: "Brother Gui, why does this kid Lin Bin give you cigarettes?"

Chen Gui gave a proud smile: "It's a secret."

"Just treat it as a hush‑money fee."

Wu Yingjin grew more curious: "What mouth is being sealed?"

Chen Gui said: "If it's hush money, can I tell you?"

……

Wu An didn't realize that he was merely trying to disgust Chen Gui, at most tarnishing his reputation; thanks to his father's help, it even created a rift between Chen Gui and Shen Nan.

"All we can say is that human hearts are unfathomable."

"Smart people like to think a lot; sometimes, cleverness backfires."

After sailing for over two hours, they had gone far out; within eyesight they could see fishing boats, and they basically encountered fishing boats the whole way.

Wu An didn't join the fray, especially those trawler fishing boats, which are hard to approach; most have fixed operating areas.

Rashly approaching them could easily cause unnecessary misunderstandings and conflicts.

In the end they went to a small island near where many General's Hat shells are dug at low tide; there are no working fishing boats or buoys here, so they can work.

A Qing asked: "Brother, how should we do this?"

Wu An casually said: "Whatever, let's drop the crab pots first; it's simpler, then we can set the longlines."

"Once those are set, we'll then coordinate the cast net."

"Hangyu, when you're free, you can also fish."

"All three of us took up the trade halfway; not to mention being half‑baked, actually going to sea is like feeling our way across a river by touching stones; although dropping crab pots looks simple, it can also be frantic."

"Because they hadn't prepared in advance, they were stuffing bait while dropping the crab pots, so they were rushed; plus the two weren't well coordinated, so after one crab pot went in, the next had to wait a while before being thrown."

"But after throwing two or three, they gained experience, their operation improved linearly, and afterward the shrimp and crab pots were laid out in an orderly manner."

"Finally they tossed the buoy into the sea, and A Qing kept muttering auspicious phrases."

The operation difficulty of longline fishing is much greater than that of crab pots, because longline fishing requires baiting numerous hooks.

This is daily work for any fisherman.

But for A Qing and the others, it's relatively difficult.

Mainly because they haven't done it before.

They hadn't prepared the bait in advance, so they could only bait on the spot; especially with longline fishing, the hooks must be placed in order, and if they get messed up...

That would be a big trouble.

Especially for these beginners, once messed up, it's basically hard to find a clue to recover.

After struggling for a long time to finish, Mai Hangyu rubbed his sore waist from squatting and said, 'Being a fisherman is indeed not easy.'

Not only A Qing and Mai Hangyu, Wu An also felt it wasn't easy; whether lowering crab pots or longline fishing, he needed to keep the fishing boat at a steady speed.

Not too fast, not too slow, especially for longline fishing, the requirements are quite high.

I thought after lowering crab pots and longline fishing there would be plenty of free time, but after finishing the longline fishing, Wu An checked the time and it was already 12:30 PM.

A Qing looked at the buoy on the sea surface, full of anticipation, and said, 'Brother, what do you think the catch will be like?'

Wu An smiled and said, 'It should be pretty good.'

A crab pot can grant 10 points of Luck Value, while longline fishing's Luck Value is even more exaggerated, granting 20 points at once; Wu An felt that if the longline were longer, the upper limit of Luck Value granted could increase further.

With that much Luck Value poured in, the chance of striking it rich should not be small.

Almost forgot to mention, perhaps because today is a good day for opening the sea, the daily Luck Value is a bit high.

It amounts to 166 points.