Chapter 251: putting one down while praising another

The wind and rain had lessened, it looked like it would clear up, and the dock was very lively.

Some were going out to gather seafood, some had returned, and many were preparing to go out to sea; after two days of rest, everyone was anxious.

Time waits for no one.

Don't think "three days fishing, two days drying nets" is just a derogatory saying; it actually truly reflects their reality.

It's been about a month.

There are always quite a few days when they can't go out to sea.

They can only gaze at the ocean and sigh.

Although Wu An returned safely, it also served as a warning to everyone.

They really can't take risks.

The livelihood of the whole family rests on them; if something happens and they're gone, the family's life will become difficult.

Wu An walked all the way to Lao Xie's shop.

Seeing him, Lao Xie firmly patted his shoulder: "You little brat… you really made people break a sweat."

"You little brat… you must have been pretty scared too."

"I was even thinking of going to your house to check on you."

"How come you're at the dock instead of resting at home?"

Wu An smiled: "I risked my life going out to sea; how could I come back empty-handed?"

"Come on."

"Let's see if you can stomach it."

Lao Xie exclaimed in surprise: "Don't tell me you came back with a full load..."

Wu An smiled without saying a word.

Lao Xie followed him.

They boarded the boat.

Opening the live fish hold, seeing the shrimp crab and sea snail inside, Lao Xie couldn't help but open his mouth wide and shouted: "You little brat… it's this."

He gave a thumbs up.

Wu An then opened the ice storage.

Lao Xie widened his eyes: "How… did you get devil fish again? These are much bigger than before."

"You're truly amazing."

"I heard that the Chen family, in order to flee, cut their trawl nets, threw away the catch; although they returned safely, they suffered heavy losses."

"You, on the other hand, had no trouble, became a hero who saved people, and even hauled in so much seafood..."

Lao Xie praised him without cease.

Wu An asked: "Can you take it all?"

Lao Xie nodded firmly, somewhat excitedly shouting: "Of course we can."

"These past two days no one has gone out to sea, so demand for seafood is high."

"Setting other things aside, I can give you 20 per jin for the devil fish."

Wu An smiled.

It really proved Qiang Ge's saying "the bigger the waves, the more valuable the fish": last time devil fish sold for 16 per jin, this time the price went up because these devil fish are especially large now.

For most seafood, the larger the size, the more valuable it is.

Lao Xie quickly called over a few workers to get to work; with no fishing boats going out to sea, those who make a living from the dock naturally have no work.

They were all idling around, doing nothing.

They were playing cards when they heard there was work, so they hurried over.

"Good fellow, there's so much cargo."

"No wonder they go out to sea in this weather; with such a haul every day, even in a typhoon I couldn't stay idle."

"Come on, I heard the Chen family's two trawlers also had a decent haul when they went out, but in the end they just slunk back, throwing the seafood back into the sea, and the boats almost sank."

"Good-looking guy, you're truly amazing!"

"Yeah, my sea chicken—no one can beat it except you."

Actually.

The Chen family doing this, he wasn't surprised.

The Chen family even refused to turn back to save Lao Fu Tou, who had fallen into the water; throwing away the catch to lighten the load to pull the boat back to the dock was normal.

Not throwing the person overboard was already not bad.

During this time, he also came to understand quite a bit about the Chen family; the Chen family inside and out is basically a den of snakes and rats, with nothing good.

Perhaps precisely because of that, the Chen family managed to prosper and become a well-known "big household" in the surrounding ten li and eight villages.

Wu An smiled and said: "I'm just lucky."

"I think it's not just luck; it's good deeds being rewarded."

"Right, the Chen family has nothing good; when I went to work for them, they even docked my pay."

"I heard someone was even thrown into the sea by the Chen family."

"That's right, they did it on purpose to get revenge."

"Tell me more, tell me more..."

Wu Anle listened with a chuckle; although it was far from the truth, hearing these people gossip about the Chen family was still quite interesting.

"Alright, alright, stop the flattery; I'm the one who hired you, and no matter how you boast, you won't get an extra penny." Lao Xie watched them just smoking and chatting, then urged: "Hurry up and get to work."

The workers got busy.

Chen Family members were also at the dock, just passing by this way, and the shouts of those laborers were loud enough to be heard clearly.

Lao Xie noticed and hurriedly interrupted those laborers' conversation.

The Chen Family members didn't linger, walking away while cursing; the twenty-something Chen Baosheng muttered that this wasn't over, and the other Chen Family members who heard also nodded.

"Not rescuing people—this thing the Chen Family did is indeed underhanded." Lao Xie said quietly: "The Chen Family's reputation is now utterly ruined."

"It's just that everyone is praising you while stepping on the Chen Family."

"Although it's a good thing, I'm afraid the Chen Family will bear a grudge against you."

Wu An smiled: 'You're the one reminding me.'

The main point is that the Chen Family's action was underhanded; making a living at sea, who dares say they'll have smooth sailing without trouble? If you run into this situation and then encounter that kind of Chen Family person, and if you don't meet someone like Wu An, wouldn't you be doomed?

When people gossip about the Chen Family, they inevitably mention Wu An.

Wu An handled this matter beautifully; naturally nobody will be stingy with praise, and what's more, they can both criticize and flatter him.

The laborers worked quickly.

After finishing work and getting paid, they all greeted Wu An, exchanged contact information, hoping to stay in touch for future trips out to sea.

Wu An noted them all down.

Regardless of whether they stay in touch later, for now it's about not losing anyone's face.

Don't think these laborers are just manual laborers; offending them isn't good either, as you never know when they might secretly give you a jab.

Nobody ever complains about having too many friends.

I don't know if it's because he's lived two lives, or because during this time he's been scheming this and that, also being schemed against, Wu An feels he's grown many more tricks.

After the laborers left, Lao Xie's calculators went click-clack-clack as he tallied the accounts.

Wu An sat to the side, legs crossed, drinking tea.

Someone came selling seafood; Wu An saw sandworms and crab tigers, went over to look, planning to buy some later when he left. Compared to other seafood, sandworms can be used medicinally with many benefits, while crab tigers can be soaked in liquor for a strong tonic.

Eat more; I won't list the benefits, but there's certainly no harm.

People here can't go a meal without seafood; rather than eating clams, ark shells and the like, it's better to eat something of higher grade.

Mainly, now we have the conditions for it.

Lao Xie finished the accounts; the devil fish in the ice storage, though only twenty per jin, actually weighed over five hundred jin, selling for about ten thousand, which made Wu An delighted.

The Hu Zi guys are really polite.

Next time we meet, we should give them something good to eat; feeding the killer whales to fullness is definitely impossible, but letting them have some 'tasty snacks' is still doable.

Wu An took out his phone, searched for what killer whales like to eat most.

The cash Lao Xie gave, devil fish plus shrimp crab and sea snails, totals over thirty-two thousand seven hundred.

Wu An took thirty-two thousand, leaving the rest untaken, and said: 'Help me get some sandworms and crab tigers, packed in three portions.'