Chapter 277: Lao Fu Tou: He's gotten too laid‑back

Wu An said, "I think you're right."

"Lao Fu, come to your senses, don't be foolish."

"Think about whether there's a suitable place for longline fishing."

Lao Fu Tou fell silent for a moment, then decided to still do his duty as an employee; the boss had asked, so he couldn't not answer, saying, "How about we go near an island that shelters from wind and waves?"

"That place has few fishing boats operating, and there are seabirds near the island, indicating the resources should be good."

"It's not that after setting the longline we have to go to Panshuikeng on the island; once we finish the longline, we can land nearby."

He gave the most suitable suggestion.

Wu An nodded; "I'll follow you."

Lao Fu Tou wanted to speak but held back.

He really wanted to say, if you really listened to me, we should just specialize in one thing.

But the words came to his lips.

He held back.

Forget it, better not talk too much; regardless of black cat black cat, any cat that catches mice is a good cat.

As long as we can get a catch, it doesn't matter if the method is a bit mixed.

Start the fishing boat and head toward the island.

After about twenty minutes of sailing, the island loomed in the distance.

Wu An shielded his eyes with his hand and squinted; earlier, in the gale and huge waves, they hadn't had the leisure or attention to examine it closely.

The island before them was quite large.

The island was lush with vegetation; coconut trees could be seen standing on the cliffs overlooking the bay, quite spectacular.

After gazing for a while, Wu An asked, "Lao Fu, does this island have a name?"

Lao Fu Tou shook his head.

Some islands have official names, but those are all large islands, some already developed, and ordinary people cannot just land on them.

Meanwhile, most islands are in a state of being ignored.

They also lack names; if they have one, it's just a nickname passed among themselves, based on the island's shape.

For example, if an island looks like a shoe, it's called Shoe Island.

Or they name it after what the island produces; if the reefs are covered with sea snails, it's called Sea Snail Island.

It varies.

Even the same island can have different names in different villages.

Wu An thought: "Then why don't we give it one?"

"Just call it…"

A Qing raised his hand: "Brother, I have an idea."

"We're able to survive thanks to this bay; that day I didn't notice, but actually this bay is so beautiful, so we can call it Life‑Saving Island."

Wu An: "……"

He still had overly high expectations.

Lao Fu Tou's mouth twitched; this is truly a naming genius.

"Fine, let's just call it Life‑Saving Island."

Wu An said offhandedly, regardless of whether it sounds good, A Qing's name is indeed fitting, precisely because of this bay they managed to survive.

Otherwise.

Even if he had boosted his luck, with sea turtles and killer whales helping, in the stormy winds and waves, if they couldn't find a sheltered harbor, they'd have only a dead end.

Lao Fu Tou didn't say anything either.

They arrived near the bay.

Lao Fu Tou quickly determined the spot: "Let's start setting the lines here."

"The terrain here is complex, making fish schools easy to gather."

"There should be a catch."

He didn't dare guarantee it.

Experience, frankly, is just the sum of many failures.

In offshore operations, no one dares say they'll definitely get seafood; even a trawler dragging its nets can come up empty.

Let alone this mere kilometer‑long longline.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but complain that the boat isn't big, yet there are so many ways to work—busy with this, busy with that—it's really annoying.

At sea, playing the "don't put all your eggs in one basket" trick is too unreliable.

Lao Fu Tou looked at Wu An, worried that the longline might yield nothing later, and quickly added reasons for the choice—water depth, current, and so on.

Wu An listened in a daze, just nodding and saying yes.

He naturally had no objection.

Lao Fu Tou actually judges people quite well; he has no experience, yet he makes money this way, relying entirely on cheats and divine providence.

So, where to set the longline.

It doesn't matter.

Anyway, with the luck boost, there will be a harvest.

Of course, different spots yield good or bad catches.

If the harvest here is poor, we'll later return to the previous longline spot; that island is surrounded by huge reefs, like a ring of cliffs, hard to land on, but the nearby resources are decent, and we've caught tiger grouper and spring fish there.

He hasn't gone there because he wants to explore more, taking advantage of the fact that the boat is small and few people are around, keeping exploration costs low, aiming to survey the situation of all nearby islands.

It's not good to latch onto a place and desperately try to shear wool.

Lao Fu Tou steers the boat.

A Qing and Wu An work together to set the longline fishing.

Same as before.

Because the bait wasn't attached in advance, they had to keep attaching and releasing it; A Qing was fine, having done it several times already, while Wu An last time only helped a bit, so he wasn't surprised when a mistake occurred, which then triggered a chain reaction, causing mistakes to keep happening.

Mistakes piled up, leaving them flustered.

"Brother, can you handle it?"

"I'll do it, I'll do it."

A Qing watched anxiously and hurriedly snatched the task from A Qing's own hands.

Lao Fu Tou heard the commotion, kept turning back to look, saw that A Qing and Wu An had made a mess, hurried over and said, "A An, go steer the boat."

"Just maintain the current speed."

"A Qing, move aside."

Lao Fu Tou finished speaking and immediately took over.

Before A Qing could say anything, Lao Fu Tou snatched the task, clack-clack-clack performing a series of operations—unhooking the hook, attaching the bait—his fingers moving like playing piano, motions smooth and silky.

A Qing stared wide-eyed.

Wu An gave a thumbs-up: "Look, this is professionalism."

After saying that.

Hurriedly ran to steer the boat.

A Qing went straight from being a primary operator to a mere assistant, and even then was scorned enough to be told that his motion of handing over bait was slow.

A Qing was also speechless.

He was already so busy his eyes could barely keep up with his hands, yet he was still being scorned.

A Qing didn't argue, saying, "I'll practice and definitely get faster."

Have to admit.

Lao Fu Tou alone could do the work of two, faster than when three people previously worked together on the longline fishing, and moreover, he was fast and steady, with no mistakes in between.

No wonder he's an old fisherman who's drifted at sea his whole life.

After finishing work, it was only just 11:30.

Earlier than expected, Wu An stopped the boat and said, "I'll cook first."

"Let's just have a simple lunch."

"After eating and drinking our fill, we'll go check out the island."

A Qing nodded, no objection.

Wu An looked at Lao Fu Tou and said, "You've also been busy nonstop for over an hour; take a break, there's still work this afternoon."

Having lunch is just an excuse; Wu An mainly wants to guard the longline fishing and add another round of Luck Value.

Lao Fu Tou wanted to speak but held back.

Actually.

He wanted to say he wasn't tired.

But thinking about it, saying that would be a bit shameless.

The boat captain tells you to rest, and you're still unwilling—what's up with that?

In his memory, going out to fish has always required racing against time, and working is very hard, but on Wu An's boat he feels very leisurely.

It doesn't feel like fishing at sea, but more like a vacation.

It's too leisurely, unbecoming.

The key is that this still makes money!

Yesterday he only worked half a day and earned seven hundred bucks and a Hua Zi.

What do you say about this?

You ask him if this is okay?

He certainly says it's good.

This job is satisfying and comfortable, but the better the job, the less at ease he feels.

It's easy to go from frugal to extravagant, hard to go from extravagant to frugal!

If Wu An can't make money and stops being a boat captain, where would he find such a good job?