Chapter 347: Crab Pot Stolen

Lao Fu Tou watched, a bit unsure.

He was an old fisherman, had seen a lot, so he thought a lot, hesitated a moment then went to call Wu An up.

Wu An got up, A Qing was also woken by the noise.

The old man on the fishing boat, not being careful, was still waving his flag, A Qing cursed twice and said, "What's the meaning of this?"

"Let us stop the boat?"

"What do you want to do? You wouldn't be thinking of stealing our catch, would you?"

Lao Fu Tou didn't speak.

A Qing's worry was not without reason.

Anything can happen at sea; in recent years the situation has improved, but back then many people were thrown into the sea to chum.

In the sea, big fish eat small fish, small fish eat shrimp.

Actually, it's the same on the sea surface.

Wu An went to the highest point of the boat and looked at the other fishing boat with a telescope.

Besides the flag-waving old man, there were only two people, not tall, one fat one thin, and they didn't look particularly vicious.

He took the No. 1 back home; the boat shed was clear at a glance, couldn't hide anyone.

They were still slowly sailing on their side.

The opposite fishing boat showed movement, coming toward them.

A Qing saw this and quickly called Wu Ping and Mei Wu awake, Wu An told them what he had seen.

"If the other side only has three people, we don't need to be timid." Mei Wu said, brandishing his fish spear.

Wu Ping took a deep breath, feeling a bit nervous; since he started working he had always been a teacher, educating people, let alone having fought anyone, he had rarely even lost his temper with someone.

He only ever got stern with students when teaching.

A Qing bared his teeth, holding his fish spear: "Damn, I've long disliked them."

"They must be upset because following us hasn't gotten them anything good, so they want to rob us openly."

"Let's fight them."

Wu An looked at Lao Fu Tou.

Lao Fu Tou hesitated a moment and said, "Our boat is too heavy to run fast."

Wu An gritted his teeth: "Then let's first stop the boat."

"Let's see what they're up to."

The two boats drew near.

Fan Lao Tou saw the opposite fishing boat stop, quickly lowered his flag, and said somewhat resentfully, "Dali, are you sure you want to meddle in this?"

"We can still leave in time."

"If they can't find anything, all well; but if they do, that lot will surely know we tipped them off, and if they retaliate, what will we do?"

Fan Dali hummed twice: "Dad, there's no need for all this, fearing this and that; we might as well not go out to sea."

"Since we've seen it, we ought to give them a heads-up."

"If we wait until later and they discover their crab pots are missing, we'll be the first suspects."

"By then, we won't be able to explain ourselves even if we tried."

Fan Lao Tou sighed, thinking, "What a mess; if I'd known it would be like this, I wouldn't have stubbornly followed Wu An."

Now the crab pots have been lowered, I don't know how the harvest will be; if the catch is poor, it'll really be a loss.

He'll surely be blamed to death by his son.

He looked at his second son.

Fan Xiao Zhu took a sip of water and said, "Brother's right."

"……" Fan Lao Tou tossed the flag aside, wondering what he was actually hoping for.

As the boats drew near, Fan Dali saw that the other side all held fish spears and fish guns, realizing they and his father and son were being misunderstood, he naturally wouldn't foolishly keep approaching.

They fetched a loudspeaker, gave it a firm pat, it still worked, and shouted, "Hello."

"Everyone, don't be nervous; we three father and son aren't here to cause trouble."

"We just want to warn you that your crab pots have been stolen."

A Qing sneered: "I get it, thief shouting 'catch the thief', right?"

"Brother, am I right?"

Wu An coughed once; the idiom is correct, but whether the situation is really like that is hard to say.

Fan Lao Tou's face darkened; he knew he would be misunderstood.

Of course, it's not surprising they'd be misunderstood; after all, their behavior of constantly following other fishing boats really is suspicious.

They father and son still have some integrity, whereas others truly have none.

Upon arriving here they directly and boldly salvaged the crab pots; those who didn't know would think it was that lot who had placed them.

The Fan father and son had followed them all along, personally seeing Wu An and company lower the crab pots, so they clearly knew that lot had come to steal.

They also didn't dare get too close.

"What if they see only the three of us father and son and decide to kill us to silence us?"

"Although the chance is small, we fear the unlikely, we fear the worst."

Fan Dali shouted: "If you don't believe us, you can come aboard and see whether your crab pots are still there."

A Qing clamored to go over and have a look.

Wu An had no objection.

The two boats drew alongside, a plank was laid, A Qing was the first to run over, he circled around; not only were the crab pots not found, there were hardly any fish in the catch.

After Wu An learned the situation, his face looked a bit strange; these three father and son followed them for a day, and ended up feeling lonely?

The facts prove it.

Following him at sea to try your luck, you're likely to lose.

Sure enough, those who follow him keep to themselves.

If it's theft, that's a different story.

Wu An greeted the other party, exchanged names, and upon further inquiry, they were from the neighboring town.

Fan Lao Tou didn't hide anything; he spoke up, saying he had learned Wu An's situation at the dock, and coincidentally Wu An had passed several times near the sea area where he often worked.

Last night, they just came along to try their luck.

As for that, Wu An didn't say anything.

A Qing kept shouting that the Fan family father and son were thieves crying 'catch the thief', and the crab pot must have been hidden by them.

Otherwise, how could such a big ship be so clean?

Upon hearing that, the Fan family father and son looked somewhat resentful.

Why?

It's just because you've been dragging us around aimlessly at sea.

But they couldn't say these words—it's like a mute eating bitter coptis, suffering in silence.

A Qing's suspicion isn't without reason; the Fan family father and son look innocent, but they're still suspect—nothing was found on the ship, and it's possible they salvaged the crab pot and dumped it elsewhere.

However, Wu An himself felt the Fan family father and son weren't lying; after consulting with Lao Fu Tou, the urgent matter now is to determine how many crab pots are missing.

Since they left, several hours have already passed; if the thieves had salvaged and stolen all of them, the loss would be too great.

Fan Dali said: 'Those people, from arrival to departure, probably took about an hour or so.'

'They noticed we were nearby and left quickly.'

A Qing sneered: 'Then according to that, we should be thanking you?'

Fan Dali snorted: 'Then no need.'

'Following you guys was indeed our mistake.'

Fan Xiao Zhu raised his hand and said: 'If it really won't work, we can accompany you to report to the police.'

Upon hearing that, A Qing stopped shouting.

Mei Wu and Wu Ping nodded; the Fan family father and son indeed looked trustworthy, and they were willing to be witnesses, which would increase the chances of catching the thieves.

Fan Lao Tou grew anxious, pulling at Fan Xiao Zhu: 'What are you butting in for?'

'He usually doesn't even fart.'

'As soon as he speaks, he sets off firecrackers.'

Fan Dali grabbed Fan Lao Tou, who was about to kick Fan Xiao Zhu, and said: 'What Elder Brother said is also right; they still suspect us, and if they call the police, the police will first come after us.'

'By voluntarily accompanying them, doesn't that also show we're innocent?'

Fan Lao Tou muttered: 'I just said we shouldn't have come to talk to them...'

Fan Dali looked at Wu An and said: 'You can first check the extent of the loss.'

'I need to tell you first: we can accompany you, but we can't serve as witnesses.'

'At the time we were far away, we couldn't see clearly.'

'And we didn't take any photos.'