Chapter 281

Wu An had just hooked ten hooks when he pulled up another tiger grouper, each one bigger than the last; A Qing lifted the tiger grouper in his hand, grinning foolishly: "Brother, this one must weigh five catties."

Wu An nodded, also very happy.

Besides the valuable tiger groupers, the catch was mainly White Pomfret, as Lao Fu Tou said, it's truly possible they ran into a school of White Pomfret.

It's a pity it's Longline Fishing; if it were Cast Net...

Throw a net down and you'd surely strike it rich.

Previously relying on manpower, hauling up over a hundred jin at once was extraordinary; now with the Winch, even several hundred jin can be pulled up easily.

White Pomfret conservatively estimated at forty to fifty yuan per jin; if a net hauled up two or three hundred jin, at least eighty thousand yuan.

Just thinking about it made Wu An drool.

It's a pity that at the time they were at Panshuikeng on the island and didn't notice this passing school of White Pomfret.

With each pour and drink, could it be predestined?

Seeing another tiger grouper surface, Wu An couldn't help but feel delighted, and he no longer bothered to think about random things.

A Qing looked on with eyes burning hot.

Seeing Wu An pull up the fifth tiger grouper, he couldn't help but say: "Brother, brother, let me pull a few hooks; I'll go home and brag to my mom."

Wu An casually said: "You can't brag; are these tiger groupers all hooked by you?"

A Qing shook his head: "I don't want to brag to my mom."

Alright.

Brother...

Come try.

Wu An stepped aside.

A Qing hehe laughed, thanked him, the two swapped positions; the result was unknown whether A Qing's luck was too terrible, today he was possessed by a jinx or what, he hooked three in a row, not to mention tiger grouper, not even a White Pomfret in sight.

Instead he hooked a decent-sized Stone Nine Public, making A Qing furious.

If it weren't for the toxic hard spines on the Stone Nine Public's fins, he would definitely have slapped this fish a few times.

Fourth hook, empty.

Fifth hook, empty.

A Qing couldn't take it anymore, cursing as he swapped places with Wu An.

As soon as Wu An took hold, he directly pulled up a preserved fish.

Now that's good.

"One noon two red seabream, three pomfret, four horse mackerel, five croaker, six preserved fish", we're almost there.

A Qing swore even more filthily.

Every time he caught another, he gave it a slap.

He asked if these fish looked down on him; if they didn't answer, he gave another slap.

The fish: innocent face. GIF.

Wu An also didn't bother; A Qing's showiness aside, it didn't delay the work at all.

There weren't many people on the boat.

If A Qing didn't speak, it would be unusually quiet; this way it's a bit livelier.

Mainly because Wu An can tolerate it.

With just this childhood friend who's been through life-and-death together, what else can we do?

Just spoil him to death.

After half the hooks were set, Wu An had Lao Fu Tou pause, quickly grabbed a water cup and drank half of it in one go, then rose up hopping and swinging his arms.

Having been busy nonstop for half an hour, the fatigue wasn't too bad; mainly, maintaining the same posture for too long became hard to bear.

A Qing wasn't idle either; he had to help handle the Longline Fishing gear and the catch, since Longline Fishing isn't just fishing—some fish had already been hooked for several hours.

Those with strong vitality can still endure.

For example, White Pomfret and such are basically dead already, so they need to be quickly stored, otherwise they won't stay fresh.

Lao Fu Tou also came to help, together they packed the frames and then stored them.

With too much catch, it gets very busy.

After handling the White Pomfret properly, Lao Fu Tou went to check the live-fish warehouse on the tiger groupers, and couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement.

Tiger groupers are usually active at night; being able to hook so many in broad daylight is also strange.

A Qing curiously asked: "Lao Fu, you're staring at the tiger grouper, are you wanting to eat it?"

Wu An chimed in: "Let's each take one back when we go home."

Lao Fu Tou quickly waved his hands: "No, no."

"That must not be done."

"I'm not wanting to eat; I just find it strange how we could get so many tiger groupers."

A Qing laughed heartily: "What's strange about that? It's my brother who hauled them up."

Lao Fu Tou couldn't be bothered to respond, he explained why he found it strange.

Both A Qing and Wu An suddenly understood, saying: "Now I see."

"Could it be that they were attracted by the sea creatures hanging on the Longline Fishing?"

Lao Fu Tou: "Maybe."

After resting a while, Wu An caught his breath and continued working.

A Qing had a cigarette dangling from his mouth; he was also quite tired, his hands never stopped, and the cigarette in his mouth never went out.

When there were still about thirty hooks left to haul, A Qing's voice came from the cabin: "Brother, it's full, the warehouse is bursting."

Today we first hauled the crab pots, then worked Panshuikeng; the catch was good, and the longline fishing was also productive. After a busy day, we finally hit a bumper catch as wished.

Lao Fu Tou added: "Let's turn things around a bit; I'll sort through them. Some can be kept in a cool, shaded place first. Let's hurry back—no problem."

Wu An nodded: "I'll follow your lead."

Lao Fu Tou hurried over, spread a plastic sheet on the deck. With his guidance, he handled everything in an orderly manner. Wu An here was still hauling the net.

White pomfret, tiger grouper—finally he got a big surprise.

A marbled grouper!

After the last fish was stowed, A Qing sat exhausted on the deck, a cigarette clenched between his lips, not even wanting to take a puff, letting it burn on its own.

Wu An was no better off.

Lao Fu Tou, however, was fine; after checking everything, he immediately started the fishing boat.

"A An, where are we headed?"

"To the town."

Wu An said without hesitation.

Today's haul was plentiful; selling it to Lao Xie would be a loss.

Lao Fu Tou nodded, throttled up, and headed for the town dock.

On the return trip, the fishing boat was calm.

Even A Qing didn't say a few words; he was simply worn out.

Seeing the two of them like that, Lao Fu Tou couldn't help but laugh. "That's right—there's nothing easy about going out to fish. This work is tough, exhausting, and dangerous."

Although he had the throttle wide open, the return trip was still much slower than heading out.

There's nothing to be done about it.

The boat was loaded down with seafood, sitting low in the water; even if we wanted to go faster, we couldn't.

Before we even reached shore, Wu An called Qin Zong, telling him to get the banquet ready so he wouldn't have to busy himself with the seafood; he'd bring the catch over and just pay the processing fee.

Qin Zong readily agreed.

Six o'clock in the evening.

The town dock, lights blazing.

Now that the fishing season is open, the dock is bustling every day, with many familiar faces. Seeing Wu An's fishing boat approach, they couldn't help but look over.

Everyone knows that Wu An always comes back with a full load whenever he goes out to sea.

How about this trip?

As the fishing boat drew alongside, everyone saw the net cages placed on the deck.

The lights shone on them; the pomfret's surface shimmered with silver, very eye‑catching.

"Why just dump the fish straight onto the deck?"

"Hey, good‑looking, you can't handle the catch like that—the fish will spoil and you won't be able to sell them."

"Look at you worrying; of course they understand. I guess the hold's full, so they had no choice but to put the pomfret on the deck."

"How could that be? Although the boat isn't big, holding a few thousand catties of fish should be fine."

"They're hauling a few thousand catties of catch? Even a trawler would find that hard to manage."

"This boat doesn't even have a trawl—how could it possibly score a bumper catch?"

"I think that's impossible too."

"Maybe others can't, but this fishing boat from Xixi Village certainly can. When they go out and drop crab pots, they move the shrimp and crab out by the crate‑load."

"Exactly, that's right. The boat's owner is incredibly lucky."

"I've worked on his boat before—it's outrageous. The shrimp and crab they handle outnumber farmed stock."

"Guys, we might be in for a big job."

Everyone chatted excitedly, drawing even more people over to look.

Wu An suddenly felt his head swell.

With this reputation, it's hard not to become famous.

That's fine.

These people crowded around the boat, pointing and commenting, which blocked A Jin and Old Fang from coming forward to take delivery.