Chapter 340: Back Out to Sea

Wu An slapped his face hard.

Take a break?

Fuck a break!

We definitely have to go out to sea!

He quickly called Zhao laoban at the tackle shop.

Zhao laoban was already asleep, half‑awake hearing the phone ring, answered: "Hello."

Woken from his nap, he wasn't in a good mood.

Wu An said: "Zhao laoban, sorry to disturb your sleep."

"There's this thing."

"Do you still have cast nets, longline gear, and such in your shop?"

Zhao laoban became a bit more awake.

"Do you need it urgently?"

"Yeah, I need it now."

"Well… we still have some crab pots in the shop, no longline gear, two sets of cast nets, oh, and adhesive nets, about 500 meters."

Wu An said: "Then I'll come by later to pick them up."

"All of them?"

"Yeah."

After hanging up, he followed Gao Qiangqi and Lao Fang to the market.

Lao Fu Tou and the others didn't leave; they stayed behind to clean the fishing boat.

They arrived at the office.

Wu An wasn't polite at all, picked up the tea leaves and brewed a pot of strong tea.

Gao Qiangqi saw this and said: "Drinking tea at this hour? I'll settle the bill right away, then you can rest."

Wu An shook his head: "Fuck resting."

"I'm not sleeping, we're still going out to sea later."

Gao Qiangqi paused, and A Jin, who was helping brew tea, also stared in disbelief.

"Still going out to sea?"

"Yeah."

"I've got over a dozen crab pots still in the sea." Wu An said casually: "If the catch weren't so huge, I really couldn't bring it all back; I wouldn't have planned to return."

A Jin laughed: "Brother An, that round trip is quite a trek, takes a few hours."

"Exactly, over five hours each way."

"That's five hours of lost earnings."

"Eh, the boat's too small, nothing we can do."

Gao Qiangqi said: "You bought a satellite phone; next time this happens, just contact me—I'll arrange a fish boat to pick you up."

Wu An blinked: "Really? We can do that?"

Gao Qiangqi said: "Nonsense."

"Otherwise, what do you think those big fishing boats do when they stay out at sea for ten days, half a month, or even months?"

"But you've never used a fish boat to transfer cargo with such a small boat of yours."

Wu An said: "That works."

"Then what about the cost…"

Gao Qiangqi laughed: "Of course I'll cover it."

Wu An nodded.

Everyone's so familiar now, some things don't need to be said; saying them would sound awkward. Gao Qiangqi is a businessman—he'd never let himself lose out.

"Two mouse groupers, five tiger groupers, green groupers……"

Stone bream, grouper, noon fish, perch, yellow leg, spring fish were all weighed; Gao Qiangqi gave him the list, and Wu An also perked up to check each item.

"Subtract the fighting pomfret you want to keep, it's exactly 2400 catties; at market price, about 120 per catty, that's the purchase price."

"But I'll buy these at 130 per catty."

"That's right—I just called; fighting pomfret is in high demand, this amount doesn't need wholesale distribution, it goes straight retail, prices vary, average around 145 per catty."

After cutting out transport costs, Gao Qiangqi would make a tidy profit, and he said so outright.

Wu An thanked him.

Put simply.

Whether calculated at wholesale or retail price, Gao Qiangqi's profit stays about the same, but selling at retail lets Wu An earn a bit more.

He got a real benefit.

He could figure this out clearly.

He had no other thoughts, just pure happiness.

Just the fighting pomfret alone brought in over 300,000.

Nothing else to think about.

He felt wonderful inside.

Lao Fang laughed: "A An, your luck is simply unmatched."

"I heard Boss Gao say you ordered a trawler?"

Wu An nodded.

"With luck like yours, it's bound to happen," Lao Fang paused, smiled, and said, "If I don't give you a chance, I'll take a share."

Wu An smiled but said nothing.

Gao Qiangqi laughed and scolded, "Lao Fang, if there were such an opportunity, it wouldn't be your turn to open your mouth."

Lao Fang smiled and said nothing further.

Looking at Wu An's luck, taking a share in the Trawler is a sure profit.

It's normal for him to be jealous.

Wu An didn't want to, and he understood.

Soon.

The calculation came out: in total, Gao Qiangqi rounded it up and gave 390,000.

That doesn't include the Dragon Fish money yet.

Wu An stood up and said, "Qiang Ge, put the money aside for now; we'll go out to sea soon, and we'll settle it together next time."

They left the Market.

Arrived at the pier.

Everyone was just cleaning the fishing boat, looking rather disheveled, sitting while smoking and yawning nonstop.

Wu An boarded, and everyone turned to look at him all at once.

"390,000."

"That doesn't include the Dragon Fish money yet."

"A Qing, 40,000; the extra is a bonus."

"Lao Fu Tou, 20,000."

"Brother, A Wu Ge, you both the same."

Seeing Mei Wu and the brother about to speak, Wu An waved his hand to interrupt them, saying, "These funds aren't that easy to get; I announce that we'll continue out to sea soon."

Everyone was collectively stunned.

Lao Fu Tou was momentarily stunned, but then smiled, "I think it's fine; such good luck shouldn't be cut off."

What does that count as?

It's just continuous shaft turning, working on the ship; actually it's the norm.

Wu Ping rubbed the emerging stubble and said, "Your sister‑in‑law has cooked the meal and is still waiting at home."

Wu An: "Make a call back home."

Wu Ping fell silent.

He rubbed his waist and lit another cigarette.

Lao Fu Tou contacted the gas station.

Wu An went to find Zhao laoban to get the tools.

Three rows of Crab Pots, two sets of Cast Nets, and a 500‑meter three‑layer Adhesive Net; to his surprise, the Adhesive Net can boost Luck Value by 50 points, with every 100 meters adding 10 points.

Much stronger than Longline Fishing.

Thinking about it, indeed.

The efficiency of the Adhesive Net capturing sea cargo is definitely far stronger than those few hooks of Longline Fishing.

If we could deploy the Adhesive Net a few times, even a lot of Luck Value could be easily burned off.

Wu An was fully confident about this.

Moreover, the Adhesive Net, compared to Longline Fishing, doesn't require such frequent raising.

Once the Adhesive Net is lowered, pulling it up once every half day suffices.

The big guys are actually exhausted; later, when the cash register's Adhesive Net is lowered, the big guys can finally get some rest.

Wu Ping and Mei Wu weren't idle either; they hurried to the pier's supermarket, bought a bunch of food and drink. The food was fine; at most three meals of seafood a day, but seawater can't be drunk.

On the ship, fresh water cannot be lacking.

They each called home again; their sisters‑in‑law, hearing that they would continue out to sea, had a few words, but upon learning they'd made nearly 400,000 that day, they fell silent.

Hard work is hard, sailing at night also carries risk, but earning so much money leaves little to complain about.

They could only keep urging them not to overexert themselves.

An hour later, the fishing boat, accompanied by a rumbling sound, slowly left the pier.

The wind was calm and the waves smooth.

Sleeping on the boat was actually quite comfortable.

It rocked and swayed, much like being in a cradle.

Except for Lao Fu Tou, everyone was extremely drowsy, each curling up in the boat's canopy and falling into deep sleep.

Lao Fu Tou said he could still hold on, but he dared not let the cigarette in his mouth go out.