Chapter 346: The Ship Can't Keep Up

A Qing quickly stepped aside.

He had been exhausted for a long time.

Earlier his movements were too slow, delaying things for a while, and Lao Fu Tou said several words to him.

He felt he was holding everyone back, fearing that his cause would again affect the net gathering.

He also worried Lao Fu Tou would scold him, so he kept pushing through.

Wu An went up to replace him.

He didn't dare to step away, helping from the side: "Brother, the Adhesive Net fish‑untying is quite troublesome."

Wu An untied one and said, "Indeed."

"It's very labor‑intensive."

"Fortunately today we have Big Brother and A Wu Ge helping; normally if it were just the three of us, we might not manage."

The main reason is that the catch is too abundant.

It's both fish‑untying and net‑sorting; if it were only sea cucumbers it would be fine, but there are also many Shrimp Crab and lobsters, and on top of that a mess of ocean trash was hauled up.

It takes a lot of effort.

Lao Fu Tou also agreed, saying, "Why don't you make more, we just collect, and after collecting bring it ashore for processing."

"Or we can treat it as single‑use."

"Anyway, with this haul, spending a bit more is fine."

After speaking, he felt rather bold himself.

That's also because we were forced into it.

Not to mention A Qing and Wu An, he also thought this approach was a bit too hard.

This 500‑meter Adhesive Net will probably take several hours to haul in.

They go out to sea, but on the road a round trip takes four or five hours.

Just the Adhesive Net alone, if we really hustle, would take a whole day.

Their boat isn't big, there aren't many people, yet the operation methods are varied: there are Crab Pots and Longline Fishing.

They can't keep up, truly can't keep up.

Generally you have to make choices, but honestly, none of them can be discarded.

Wu An said, "Lao Fu, what you said is a solution."

"Then when we get back, we'll purchase more Longline Fishing gear and Adhesive Nets."

"Just keep collecting."

"After collecting, we'll sort it; if it can be sorted we'll keep using it, if not we'll scrap it outright."

The crew on the boat nodded.

Waste is a bit inevitable, but we can't go all‑out every time.

If people can't handle it and their bodies suffer, no matter how much money is earned, what's the use?

He kept talking.

Two Large yellow fish rose out of the water with the Adhesive Net.

Followed quickly, a third, then a fourth.

"Whoa, this spot actually has five Large yellow fish," Lao Fu Tou couldn't help but widen his eyes.

A Qing laughed heartily and shouted, "It still has to be you, brother!"

After that, he waved his hand and shouted "Aooo" twice in celebration.

That's because he was exhausted; otherwise he would have been dancing and celebrating properly.

Mei Wu and Wu Ping also got up and walked over to look; Mei Wu took out his phone and "click click click" snapped several photos.

This is a rare sight.

Aren't Large yellow fish very rare?

Over a thousand yuan per jin, truly the Hermes of fish.

Yet on their Adhesive Net, it's a common sea fish.

Lao Fu Tou gave the two a glance and, irritated, shouted, "What are you staring at? Standing here and not helping with fish‑untying."

"Move aside."

He hurried over to untie fish together with Wu An.

Wu Ping and Mei Wu exchanged an awkward smile and said to each other, "What's up with you?"

"Then what about you?"

"I'm dumbfounded, what's wrong? Not okay?"

"Alright."

"Hehe."

Here, five Large yellow fish were placed properly, accompanied by some spring fish and crabs.

Continue hauling the net.

Every two meters, another Large yellow fish appears.

One after another.

Wu An hauled nearly two hundred meters, becoming so exhausted he could barely cope; the catch was truly overwhelming.

Basically, every few meters there's a Large yellow fish.

A Qing took two puffs, regained his strength, and said, "Brother, I'll take over for you in a moment."

Wu An quickly nodded.

This doesn't call for politeness.

After taking over from A Qing, we went up several meters, and there wasn't a single Large yellow fish.

A Qing couldn't stand it any longer: "Brother, why don't you do it instead?"

"My Luck Value isn't good."

Wu An shook his head: "The same."

This boosted Luck Value, the Adhesive Net doesn't discriminate.

Lao Fu Tou said: "You should go then."

"Your hand luck is great."

Wu An had to go untie the fish again.

The boss became a miserable Worker, and whether by coincidence or what, as soon as he took over, a Large yellow fish surfaced.

Alright.

He said nothing else.

Maybe this really involves a bit of metaphysics.

As long as we don't die, we push ourselves to the limit.

Seeing the Large yellow fish, he could be said to be full of vigor.

"Squeak"—the winch stopped running; after nearly three hours of continuous work, not to mention the people, the winch itself was almost smoking from wear.

The Adhesive Net was full of fish, bearing a heavy load.

A Qing was squatting, sorting, and turned his head to ask: "None left?"

Wu An nodded: "None."

A Qing scratched his head: "How did they disappear so quickly?"

Lao Fu Tou said: "Had I known it would be like this, I should have urged you to buy more Adhesive Net at the start."

Who would have known.

This was the Adhesive Net's first use, and it already caught so much catch.

"That's enough, we've been using this Adhesive Net for four or five hours; if we had bought more, we'd have to work until the late night." Wu An sighed, somewhat depressed, and said: "I originally thought we could get back before dark."

A Qing retorted: "This haul, I'd be happy to work on it until tomorrow."

"Right, right, right." Lao Fu Tou said cheerfully, put the Adhesive Net away, pulled a Cigarette case from his pocket, still unopened; after trying several times without opening it, this made his hands tremble from fatigue.

Mei Wu delivered fish to the hold, saying: "If you're happy, the ship can't handle it."

"The hold is already almost full."

Wu An went down to look.

What a guy.

Stuffed to the brim.

He couldn't help but be grateful that they spent money on expansion; otherwise, about half the sea cargo would have had no room.

In this scorching heat.

Just leaving it outside like this, waiting to return to the dock, who knows how many will rot.

Happy.

Happy deep down.

We've had a cargo overflow before, but this time is different; this overflow is because we packed only precious catches—Nine-section Shrimp and Large yellow fish. If it had happened before, he wouldn't even have dared to imagine it.

Back on the Deck, he saw Lao Fu Tou still lighting a Cigarette,

He walked over, helped take out the Cigarette, lit it, directly ignited several, shared them; the big fellow's hand wouldn't obey, so he used his mouth to take it.

Smoking while working.

He swallowed saliva, also wanted to take a couple of puffs.

Either he was addicted, or just wanted to stuff something in his mouth to relieve fatigue.

In the end he held back.

Squatted down to sort together.

The Adhesive Net mainly catches anything that comes, and besides Large yellow fish, it also snagged many small fish.

Springfish were the most, also sole fish, Stone Nine Public, true bream, Stone Bream, bulltail fish, tiger fish were all present; most fish were non‑poisonous, but some still required caution.

Otherwise, if one gets stung by a poisonous part, not only would it delay matters, it could also hurt a person half to death.

Lao Fu Tou asked: "Should we not lower the Adhesive Net first?"

"Not in a hurry." Wu An wiped the sweat on his face with his shoulder, but the more he wiped, the more sticky and salty it became, making him extremely uncomfortable, and continued: "I didn't expect the Adhesive Net to be so troublesome to pack away; we just kept going until this point."

"Once we finish, we'll go back."

"Let's go around Xuan Ya Dao to check the Crab Pot."

"Tentatively depart tomorrow at 4 a. m., first to retrieve the Adhesive Net."

Lao Fu Tou thought for a moment, nodded, and said nothing.

He had no objection.

He didn't know about the others, but anyway he really was a bit unable to keep going.

Holding on by force was still okay, but this old bone didn't know if it could endure.

After sorting the fish, the Adhesive Net was lowered into the sea; the time had already reached 5 p. m.

The sun wasn't that harsh.

Sitting in the cool shade under the boat's canopy, the sea breeze on the body felt a bit cool.

No one said anything.

He was so exhausted he couldn't even be bothered to move his lips.

A Qing leaned against him, already snoring loudly, his face full of fatigue, the corners of his mouth turned up; even asleep he couldn't let go.

The fishing boat was fully loaded.

The speed couldn't pick up.

As they approached Xuan Ya Dao, Lao Fu Tou saw the fishing boat that had been following them all along still beside the island, keeping close, and saw someone on the bow holding a chess piece and waving.

This was flag semaphore.

As an elder fisherman, he naturally understood what it meant.

The other party was signaling him to stop the boat.