Chapter 402: A Fish Breaks Out Halfway

A Qing and Mei Wu were talking, taking out the Cast Net.

? Wu An felt fortunate that before sleeping, he still had several dozen Luck Points unused, so he poured them all into the Cast Net.?

Thinking that if they encountered a fish school, the Cast Net could be useful.

? This is also his new line of thought.?

Even if the day's Luck Value wasn't used up, he could also preemptively add the operation value to the tools he was using.

Considering this, he bought many work tools.

Even if some tools are temporarily unused, it's fine; using them to store Luck Value is also good.

After all, in his view, Luck Value is equivalent to money.?

? Lao Fu Tou steered the boat over.?

The fish school was very dense.

Under the lure of the lights, fish darted around the boat; Lao Fu Tou stopped the boat and also cast a Cast Net.

Lao Fu Tou shouted after seeing clearly: 'It's Item.'

Item is what they call it here, with many other names, such as stick, yellow tail, scientific name blue round scad.

They travel in schools, have a phototactic trait, and are the main economic catch of coastal light-encircling nets in their area; after the fishing season opens each year, they appear in large quantities on the market.

They are heading northeast all the way, nearing the Place, which is exactly the flood season.

? A Qing said: 'My mom likes to use it to make dried fish the most; it's very tasty.'?

Mei Wu also nodded: 'Yes, my mom also likes to make it.'

"My dad likes to have it with alcohol."

This fish is indeed quite popular in their area, mainly because it's cheap.

Most sea fish are wild and more expensive than farmed, but this fish is the opposite: wild ones are cheaper than farmed.

After the fishing season opens, this fish appears in large quantities on the market, so the price is low.

In recent years, his sister-in-law also liked to make this kind of dried fish, and he used it as a snack.

He just likes to eat the wild ones.

Why?

Because wild Item are more active, have little fat, and the meat is rather dry.

They are chewy to eat.

Lao Fu Tou was the first to pull up a net, spread it on the Deck, took a quick look, and said: 'Now the Item are relatively small, not as big as in spring.'

Wu An also pulled up a net, weighed it a few times; it was basically two or three taels, and half a catty was hardly seen.

? This fish is estimated to cost only a few dollars, cheaper than the sardines caught earlier with the Adhesive Net.?

But one net can haul in several hundred; conservatively estimated, that's over a thousand dollars, which is quite good.

A Qing pulled up a net and exclaimed happily: 'Brother, there are still several Sea Wolf Fish in this net.'

Sea Wolf Fish are of average price, but much better than Item.

Lao Fu Tou reminded: 'Don't be so hasty; be careful.'

"Look at this Sea Wolf Fish's mouth; one bite and your hand won't be usable."

A Qing let out an 'oh'.

As the name suggests, this is a very ferocious fish species; Character said this creature, when starving, would even dare to eat sharks.

Possibly also because of its overly aggressive nature, it stopped moving shortly after being placed on the Deck.

A Qing said: 'This fish dies very quickly.'

Picking up the Sea Wolf Fish and looking, its teeth are indeed frightening.

After sorting the catch, everyone quickly cast the second net.

? The second net's catch was good, but by the third net it had obviously decreased a lot.?

It's not that there are fewer Item at sea, but because everyone's Cast Net no longer has Luck Value enhancement.

With Luck Value enhancement, each net can reach the Cast Net's limit.

? Without Luck Value enhancement, one can only rely on everyone's skill and luck.?

Naturally, the harvest was not as good.

? Today's Luck Value had already been refreshed, only 160 points.?

The Luck Value isn't much; basically just a Crab Pot would consume it all.

Wu An added a bit of Luck Value to his own Cast Net, thinking to give it one more try at the end.

After casting it out.

Just as he was about to reel the net in, he hadn't yet had time to tie the Cast Net to the Winch.

Suddenly, a strong force surged,? caught him off guard.

His whole body was dragged and slammed hard against the boat's side, making a muffled 'bang'.

The hand that had been holding the main rope involuntarily loosened.

Fortunately, the boat's side stopped him; otherwise, his whole body could have been directly pulled into the sea.

A Qing was right beside him; seeing this, he rushed over to grab him and asked: 'Brother, are you okay?'

Wu An rubbed his stomach, shook his head: 'I'm still fine.'

"Good thing the hand loosened in time."

"I don't know what kind of fish it was, but its strength was enormous!"

After saying that, he let out a breath, still somewhat shaken.

At this moment, the sky was still not bright.

After the Cast Net was dragged into the sea, it caused quite a stir, but it quickly vanished from the area lit by the lights.

Wu An swept the lantern around for a long time, yet saw no trace.

Lao Fu Tou asked, "Want to chase?"

Wu An thought for a moment and said, "Forget it, who knows where it ran off to."

Lao Fu Tou, curious, asked, "Did you see what kind of fish it was?"

Wu An shook his head, somewhat downcast.

No matter what fish it was, a large predatory species certainly wouldn't have escaped.

It could even take the Cast Net away; its size was definitely not small, and even if it wasn't worth much, it was still a considerable loss.

The sea surface gradually calmed.

The school of fish slowly dispersed, sinking to the bottom.

Wu An called out, telling them to stop; the Cast Net was already full, and they had to untangle the fish before casting again, which was rather laborious.

There weren't many fish left either.

So they just packed up and went to retrieve the Adhesive Net.

Mei Wu complained, "A fish jumped out halfway and snatched the Cast Net—what kind of thing is that?"

Lao Fu Tou laughed, "It's actually not unusual."

"I once saw fish weighing dozens of jin jump straight from the sea onto the boat."

Mei Wu, surprised, asked, "Is there more of that?"

"Good thing? It was a sailfish," Lao Fu Tou shook his head and said, "It jabbed straight into my friend's thigh; if the return hadn't been timely, the person would have died."

After that.

He rubbed his left thigh.

Wu An noticed, thinking that Lao Fu Tou couldn't possibly be performing a 'nothing‑to‑something' trick.

Listening to Lao Fu Tou's story, his mood was no longer so gloomy.

Mei Wu listened, mouth agape; no wonder everyone says the sea is dangerous.

He truly didn't feel danger, only found the sea a bit boring.

But after hearing Lao Fu Tou, he realized that anything could really happen at sea.

Chatting casually, the few of them got to work, packed up the catch; A Qing, drenched in sweat, sat down to smoke and laughed, "Brother, the haul is really good; the fish hold was empty before, now it looks much better."

Mei Wu also laughed, "Pulling up a net like this brings in a few thousand bucks; that's really exciting."

That crappy shift can be skipped.

If he hadn't followed Wu An's work, he'd be targeted by the Squad Leader, barred from working, and without a job he'd have no salary; he definitely couldn't afford that.

Now it doesn't matter.

Not letting him work is just fine.

Anyway, working on Wu An's ship earns more.