Chapter 240: In the Midst of a Bountiful Harvest, the Wind Rises

Arriving at the sea area for lowering the crab pots, Wu An checked the time; it was just after 9 a. m.

Apart from the brief incident of dodging the Chen Family's trawler, the journey had no delays, and reaching this sea area was nearly twenty minutes faster than before.

"Let's get started!"

Wu An stopped the boat and dropped the anchor.

Now the boat has swapped bird guns for cannons, and with the automatic winch, labor is much easier.

Wu An hooked the float up, but instead of immediately fixing it to the automatic winch, he gave it a tug, found he could turn the crab pot, confirmed it wasn't snagged on the bottom, and then secured it to the winch.

Pressing the switch, the winch began to rotate.

Soon, the crab pot was pulled up.

"It's out of the water!"

"Brother, at a glance I can see several green crabs."

"Hehe, another red start to the day."

A Qing jumped for joy.

Wu Ping laughed: "No wonder you guys run so far; it turns out the resources here are excellent."

With the automatic winch, hauling the crab pots is still very fast; soon, the first row of crab pots was hauled up.

"Splash!"

A Qing lifted the crab pot and dumped the entire catch onto the deck, directly piling it into a small mound.

Shrimp, green crabs, sea snails—basically all fairly common seafood.

A Qing was happy, but not surprised.

Wu Ping, on his first trip out to sea with the boat, looked at the pile of marine goods forming a small hill, his face full of delight.

He now fully understood why Wu An and A Qing were so eager to go out to sea; if it were him, he'd be eager too.

"Brother, don't just stand there, get to work!" Wu An shouted, throwing over a small stool made from a few planks.

Wu Ping sat down, picked up a rubber band, and began tying.

Besides shrimp crabs, there were several kinds of sea snails: flower snails, ringing snails, yellow snails, with varying prices.

Now there wasn't time to sort them finely; A Qing pulled out all the snails and put them in a box, a full box, at least ten or twenty catties.

The two of them guarded the pile of marine goods piled into a small hill, tying from left to right.

Wu An operated the automatic winch, starting to lift the second row of crab pots.

The second pot was also good.

There weren't many shrimp crabs, but there were many sea snails.

Especially the ringing snails, when dumped from the pot onto the deck, they clattered loudly.

Yellow snails were also plentiful, whereas flower snails were few.

But regardless of the snail type, being able to harvest this much made everyone's smiles impossible to contain.

Wu An glanced at the still-unbundled shrimp crabs, more than half left, and said with a smile, "If every pot from now on were just sea snails, it would actually be easier."

Wu Ping nodded in deep agreement.

Tying up so many shrimp crabs is truly tiring and boring, with no enjoyment at all.

A Qing suddenly shouted, "Ouch!"

"Damn it, this green crab ran around to my back and pinched my butt!"

As he spoke, he jumped up, a large green crab pinching his butt and wobbling back and forth.

Wu An quickly stepped in to help pull the green crab off.

A Qing rubbed his buttocks, relieved, saying, "Good thing the skin wasn't broken."

Wu Ping was also flustered; these shrimp crabs ran wild and crawled everywhere.

"A An, let's lift the third pot later; this haul is too much." Wu Ping hurriedly gathered, laughing and complaining, "It feels like even a trawler's net wouldn't necessarily bring in a catch like yours."

Wu An also laughed.

Although the haul is gratifying, today's catch isn't really much better than usual.

Mainly, the fishing boat has been upgraded with technology, so hauling pots is fast, which makes the shortage of manpower stand out.

But finding help is not easy.

After tying for a while, they finally got the shrimp crabs tied, then tossed them into a net cage and placed them in the live fish box to keep them alive.

Although tying the shrimp crabs is laborious, they all worked energetically.

Wu An continued lifting the crab pots; the third pot's haul was also good, with shrimp crabs and sea snails, similar to the first pot.

Everyone's smiles grew deeper.

There's nothing more to say; they squatted down to continue sorting and tying.

They were really tired.

But in this situation, being exhausted to death was still willingly accepted.

Wu An continued lifting the crab pots.

The fourth pot had hardly any sea snails, but many mantis shrimps, which are most common this season.

The price is actually still decent.

Wu An doesn't be picky; as long as the quantity is sufficient and they have weight, even if the price is low, they can still sell them for money.

Mantis shrimps are actually easier to handle; he can just toss them alone into the net cage and put them in the live fish hold to keep them alive.

With him busy here, A Qing and Wu Ping also finished sorting the third pot.

Thereafter, pot after pot was hauled up, each containing plenty of shrimp crabs and sea snails.

Yet among all those pots, there wasn't a single small blue dragon, which left Wu An somewhat disappointed.

Looks like the wool here is about to be completely stripped.

We'll need to move to a different spot next.

It's not that boosting his luck value lets him just toss something into the sea and haul in loads of seafood.

It still depends on the location and timing.

For example.

A luck-boosted crab pot that catches a pot of little blue dragons will fetch a different price than one that catches a pot of stone crabs.

But the luck value will be depleted just the same.

A Qing and Wu Ping were very pleased with today's catch, their faces breaking into unrestrained smiles.

Especially the last pot that came up was filled with ordinary sea snails, yet it made them extremely happy.

Sea snails just need a quick sort to be ready, unlike the labor-intensive shrimp crabs.

Sea snails are cheaper than shrimp crabs, but today's haul of seafood is already enough to net a big profit.

It's already 12 noon; the delay is mainly due to the large haul of shrimp crabs, especially since if the crabs aren't tied up properly, they can't be handled at all.

A Qing pulled out a cigarette box from his pocket, but several times he couldn't draw a cigarette.

His hand kept trembling.

Wu An couldn't stand it, helped him pull out the cigarette, but several times he failed to light it.

A Qing asked, 'Brother, why are you shaking?'

Wu An's face changed: 'It's not me shaking—it's the fishing boat rocking; the wind's picking up.'

Wu Ping said, 'A An, hurry up and take the helm.'

"I'll light a cigarette for A Qing."

Wu An nodded, tossed the cigarette aside, and went to start the engine.

A Qing said, 'Brother Ping, I'll handle it myself.'

Wu Ping said, 'Forget it—you just lowered the line, you tied the most, your hands are shaking like Parkinson's, and now the wind's picking up and the waves are rising, I'll…'

After a while the cigarette was lit, A Qing squatted on the ground and happily puffed away.

Wu Ping squatted beside him, his face grave: 'A Qing, how can you be so calm?'

A Qing exhaled smoke from his nostrils, saying, 'What's there to be unsettled about? I've got my brother.'

After saying that, he also blew a smoke ring, and his sense of relaxation instantly maxed out.

Wu Ping couldn't relax at all; the joy of the big haul was blown away by the wind and waves.