Chapter 278: Relax and enjoy the process of making money

It's not that Lao Fu Tou is worrying needlessly.

Indeed, Wu An's performance is very unprofessional; from heading out to sea to now, all kinds of operations are quite unreliable.

To be honest.

If it weren't for yesterday's trip out to sea, he would doubt whether this could make money.

He admits that Wu An is lucky.

But even with good luck, you can't waste it like this.

What's more important is to hurry up and make money!

Lao Fu Tou felt somewhat restless, smoking on the deck, walking back and forth from time to time; finally he couldn't stay idle, so he fetched a basin of water, took a towel, and went to wipe the helm.

If he doesn't work, he feels anxious.

Wu An set up the cutting board here, 'ka ka ka' chopping vegetables.

Finished chopping the vegetables.

He heated the wok and oil.

Stir-fried quickly.

Beside it, there was a small stove simmering soup.

Finally, he prepared three dishes and one soup, enough for three people.

"Come."

"On the boat, conditions are limited, so let's just sit on the ground and eat."

"Lao Fu, don't just stand there; definitely don't pretend."

"After eating, everyone can take a nap for a while."

Lao Fu Tou had just picked up a piece of fish meat, his hand shook, and it fell into the bowl: "Still taking a nap?"

Wu An saw Lao Fu Tou's reaction was somewhat big, curiously asked: "What's wrong? Any problem?"

Lao Fu Tou nodded, then shook his head.

He was a bit afraid to speak.

He's not stupid either; he knows his own bad habit of talking.

He wants to change, but he can't change it.

He can only endure, trying not to speak as much as possible, speak less.

Wu An can tolerate him.

Once or twice is fine.

If every time he says things that make people unhappy, who would be willing to listen?

Wu An saw him hesitating, and said again: "Lao Fu, if you have something to say, just say it."

Lao Fu Tou hesitated a moment, gritted his teeth and said: "I want to say, if we're out at sea to fish, shouldn't we be more diligent?"

"If today we're just out for fun, then never mind what I said."

He quickly added a sentence.

Wu An listened, somewhat bewildered, "Be more diligent?"

Isn't this from setting up the crab pot and being busy until now?

Just now he tied up the shuttle crabs, his hands got all tangled from tying; after tidying up the catch, he wasn't idle either, and started heating the pot to cook.

How else should we be more diligent?

Shouldn't we take a nap?

It's no wonder Wu An is confused; he and A Qing have always worked like this, and Mai Hangyu came along and followed them the same way.

After finishing work, they rest.

After resting, they work again, then return.

Although Lao Mai can steer the boat and often goes out to sea, he's not a professional fisherman, so he doesn't know the daily operations and intensity of veteran fishermen, and naturally can't give any advice.

Wu An figured it out, feeling both amused and exasperated.

He indeed doesn't know much about fishermen's work, but he didn't expect it to be so hard that it could make Lao Fu Tou feel that working on his boat is like playing.

"Brother, what are you pondering? You didn't not understand, did you?" A Qing saw Wu An not speaking, thought he hadn't reacted yet, and shouted proudly: "I know what Lao Fu means."

"Lao Fu dislikes that you eat your meal slowly."

"Actually, I also wanted to say that."

"Brother, you should be more diligent."

"You're still picking up vegetables and rice one chopstick at a time."

"You need to learn from me."

"Just shovel the rice."

"After eating well, hurry up and sleep; later we can sleep a bit more."

Wu An: "..."

"???" Lao Fu Tou had the expression of an old subway guy looking at his phone, and asked: "A Qing, your Chinese reading comprehension in school must not have been good, right?"

"How do you know?" A Qing was shocked, then looked at Wu An: "Brother, did you tell Lao Fu that I scored 3 points on my Chinese exam?"

Wu An shook his head and asked: "Did you score 3 points on your Chinese exam?"

A Qing shook his head: "No."

"You just said that."

"You heard wrong."

"Lao Fu, did you hear that?"

I heard.

A Qing shouted excitedly, "I didn't say it, I'm sure I didn't say it, I absolutely didn't."

Wu An stopped teasing A Qing, looked at Lao Fu Tou, his smile fading, and said, "Lao Fu, as I mentioned before, A Qing and I have only just become fishermen not long ago."

"There are many things we don't understand; if there's any common‑sense mistake, feel free to point it out at any time."

"I can now tell you seriously, when we go out to sea it's to fish for money, not to play."

"You reacted so strongly to the upcoming nap; does that mean you never napped while working on the boat before?"

Lao Fu Tou explained, "It's not that."

"Sometimes we set out at dawn, work in the morning, and after a busy spell, everyone takes a short nap at noon, since we need to replenish energy to keep working."

"It's not fixed either; once the fishing conditions are good, we all rest for a while after the work."

"But we set out this morning, and so far we've only worked for two or three hours in total."

"Stopping now to eat, drink, and even nap seems unnecessary to me."

Wu An suddenly understood and said, "Our boat isn't big, so the workload isn't heavy either."

"It's also my fault for not communicating well with you."

"When we go out to sea, we usually set Longline Fishing, let it settle, then retrieve the Crab Pot, set another Crab Pot, eat and rest, and finally retrieve the Longline Fishing before heading back."

"As long as nothing goes wrong, we set out in the morning and are guaranteed to return to the dock before nightfall, repeating this process daily."

"Today we first retrieved the Crab Pot; after setting the Longline Fishing, we won't retrieve it until the afternoon. In the meantime we have a free slot, so we can go ashore to explore—whether it's a water pit, fishing, or sea chase—if luck is on our side, it counts as extra income."

"Forget your previous workload; we have our own pace."

Lao Fu Tou murmured, "By your description, that's a bit too relaxed."

"I heard the village youngsters chatting, saying that working in an office is very comfortable."

"Our situation is pretty much the same as those nine‑to‑five elite white‑collar workers in offices."

A Qing chuckled and interjected, "Different, different."

"Those workers in big cities can't compare to our earnings."

"Sometimes I earn in a day more than they make in a month."

Wu An nodded, "A Qing is right."

"Relax, and truly enjoy the process of making money."

Lao Fu Tou smiled and said, "Got it."

"Setting Crab Pots, Longline Fishing, fishing, water pits, sea chase—our methods are varied and chaotic."

"In fact, most fishing boats specialize in a single thing when they go out to sea."

"But since we can make money, I won't say much more."

Wu An smiled.

He understood Lao Fu Tou's concerns, but couldn't state them outright.

Although Luck Value is low right now and a Crab Pot can consume it, the harvest from a Crab Pot is relatively simple.

And there's a risk of getting stuck at the bottom.

For example.

So far, the best harvest from a Crab Pot is a Small Green Dragon.

But fishing has a higher ceiling.

With the same 10 points of Luck Value, you might catch more valuable seafood.

With that in mind, he wants to try many different methods, expanding the harvest range as much as possible, in case luck blows up on a particular try.

Eat well.

The three of them took a nap.

An hour later, Wu An was woken by the alarm, checked the Longline Fishing, and saw the Luck Value had dropped to 2 points, so he immediately boosted it to full.

He now still has 50 points left.

He looked toward the nearby Huo Ming Dao; it seemed these 50 Luck points would have to be used up on the island.

The tide is just receding.

He woke A Qing and Lao Fu Tou, and the two lowered a small boat; Lao Fu Tou had noticed the boat lacked something, specifically reminded him to buy it, and he purchased the equipment that day.

With this small boat, after anchoring the big ship, they could row the small boat to the island.

Lao Fu Tou looked at the receding tide and said, "It should be about two hours, we need to hurry."

The three of them, plus the Water Pump, rowed to the island.

On the island, Wu An quickly found a suitable water pit to explore, chose a smaller one, and as soon as he started pumping, he noticed the Water Pump's Luck Value dropped by one.

Huh.

Interesting.

Wu An felt a quiet joy, staring at the water pit.

Lao Fu Tou crouched at the edge of the water pit, also watching; based on experience, he thought the pit was tiny and very close to the sea, making it hard to store anything when the tide receded.

It would probably be a wasted effort.

Result.

Before he could stand, a huge fish burst out, leaping high above the water; it was so close that he locked eyes with it.

Stunned, the big fish fell back into the water, splashing water that drenched his face.

Lao Fu Tou wiped the salty sea water from his face, muttering, "Damn it, why does my experience fail again?"

Wu An saw this and burst into hearty laughter.

He also noticed that in such a short time the Luck Value had dropped three points, making his laugh even heartier.

This little puddle is probably going to give him a big surprise.