Chapter 42: Making a Friend

A Qing pulled the sea bass up, then hurried over to look.

Under the light, the three-knife fish was still struggling.

A Qing didn't recognize the three-knife fish, having only heard people say this fish was valuable; he asked, "Lao Mai, is this really a three-knife fish worth seven or eight hundred per catty?"

"Seven or eight hundred per catty? Purchase price, right?" Lao Mai paused, then said: "Pretty much. This fish is too delicate, especially wild ones—they can't be kept alive; they'll die naturally after just two or three days."

"If it dies during transport, the price will have to be heavily discounted."

"In recent years, sea pollution has made this fish extremely rare; catching or capturing it relies purely on luck."

Lao Mai stared at the three-knife fish, his eyes shining.

He had actually tried fishing in many places.

All for the three-knife fish.

Although he didn't catch any this time, seeing someone else catch one greatly encouraged him.

At least this sea area does have three-knife fish!

Lao Mai, somewhat excited, kept saying: "Besides being extremely rare, this fish is also delicious—the simpler the preparation, the better."

"How does that go? Premium ingredients often need only the simplest cooking method."

This line comes from A Bite of China; he remembered it aired this year, and after airing it became a nationwide craze. Back then Wu An had watched it many times, not for anything else, just to see his hometown's cuisine.

To be honest, back then watching A Bite of China once made him cry; but by then he had already left his hometown and could no longer eat his sister-in-law's cooking.

A Qing clicked his tongue in amazement: "What kind of person would be willing to spend money to eat this?"

Anyway, he thought he'd never in his life be able to afford such an expensive fish.

And he wouldn't even want to eat it.

With that much money, buying something else would be better than just eating a fish; he felt it would burn his mouth.

Lao Mai laughed heartily: "I can afford it."

"How about you sell it to me? I'll pay a thousand per catty."

A Qing shouted excitedly: "Brother, if Lin Hu and Lin Bin found out, they'd surely be jealous to death."

Upon hearing that, Wu An's brows furrowed instead.

Whether they'd actually be jealous to death is unknown, but once word got out that he'd caught a three-knife fish, it wouldn't be long before this rocky beach was packed with anglers.

Leaving aside the three-knife fish, he and A Qing had caught so many fish; even if Lao Xie helped them keep it secret, with so many people at the dock, nobody's eyes are blind.

Seeing them catch that many fish, others would surely follow suit.

From the crowds at the mudflat since dawn today, one can already see that; he didn't want to come fishing tomorrow only to find nowhere to stand.

After thinking, he said: "Lao Mai, I'll still sell this fish to you at the purchase price."

"But I'd like to borrow your truck to take the catch to town to sell."

"Leaving aside the three-knife fish, selling this catch here at the dock would be too conspicuous."

Lao Mai smiled and asked: "You don't want fame?"

Wu An nodded.

Lao Mai approvingly said: "Not bad."

"For a young person your age to think of getting rich discreetly is truly rare."

"Alright, I know a decent stall holder; through him, nobody would dare to cheat you."

Wu An hurriedly thanked him.

Lao Mai waved his hand: "Let's not stand on ceremony with each other."

"This truck is just for fishing; it's on the way."

"As for the three-knife fish, I'll still buy it at market price; if you're willing to sell it to me, you've already done me a big favor—my grandson is coming back and specifically asked for wild three-knife fish, which I can't buy at the market, so I'm desperate to go fishing everywhere."

Wu An nodded and stopped being polite.

He had just taken the fish and was about to toss it into the fish bag when Lao Mai hurriedly called out: "Wait, you're just going to throw it into the fish bag?"

Lao Mai saw that Wu An and them had an empty bucket, so he quickly poured the bright shrimp from his fishing box into the bucket, added seawater, and said: "Put it in my fishing box."

"This fish is delicately raised; it can't be crowded together with other fish."

Wu An let out a helpless laugh: "Fine."

"This fish is yours anyway; you decide."

After placing the three-knife fish properly, the three of them cast their lines again with bait.

Nobody spoke, but they all hoped they'd catch a three-knife fish.

However, it's unclear whether catching the three-knife fish used up their luck, but the fish they caught afterward were all tilapia and stone nine public.

Lao Mai fared worse—it took him over ten minutes to pull up a small stone nine public.

Wu An saw the fishing rod's luck value depleted, so he didn't add any points; on one hand he was utterly exhausted, his arms sore beyond bearing; on the other hand, the clams he'd dug up were used up.

A Qing let out a long sigh.

The two exchanged a glance, both unable to help laughing, and somehow felt a sense that it was over.

Lao Mai watched the two packing up and asked: "Not fishing anymore?"

The two shook their heads.

A Qing said: "No bait left."

Lao Mai shouted: "I'll lend you some."

A Qing quickly shook his head: "No, no need."

Wu An laughed helplessly: "Let's rest a bit; we're tired."

A Qing added: "I really don't know how Lin Hu and Lin Bin can keep fishing all day; I and my brother couldn't last more than a couple of hours."

The three chatted; after half an hour, Lao Mai showed no movement, so he simply reeled in: "Forget it, looks like there's no bite."

Better hurry back, send the three-knife fish home early to raise them, and wait for the grandson to come back and eat.

He quickly finished packing.

A Qing and Wu An went to pull the fish net, but after struggling for a while they couldn't pull it up; Lao Mai stepped in to help, and only with all three working together did they manage to pull the net up.

Seeing the fish in the net, Lao Mai was stunned: "You two caught this many?"

No wonder you two are tired.

The fish you caught are more than what others catch by going out to sea and casting nets.

Wu An asked: "Can the car hold all of them?"

Lao Mai nodded: "Yes, I drive an off-road vehicle."

Just sending them to town, I'm afraid these fish won't survive.

However, it won't affect the price much.

Wu An didn't dare delay.

After the three loaded the fish onto the car and set off for town, the tide had already begun to rise, and villagers gathering on the mudflats were talking as they passed Rocky Beach.

What crab tiger? I haven't even seen a few blue crabs.

That's right, I only caught some shrimp; the haul isn't as good as on the beach.

It's exhausting; I'll never come to the mudflats to gather seafood again.

Indeed.

Hey, A Dong and A Qing came to fish, why aren't they here?

They must have caught nothing and gone back to sleep.

Lin Hu was very depressed.

After working most of the night, he only caught a few clams; on his way back he would surely be scolded, and before he even reached Yellow Sand Beach he heard someone calling him.

He turned around and saw it was Lin Bin.

Lin Bin walked over, saw Lin Hu covered in mud, frowned and asked: "You went to gather seafood?"

Just this little catch?

I found a secret fishing spot; let's go fish together.

Lin Hu hesitated, then nodded: "Then I'll go sell the clams first."

Lin Bin put his hand on Lin Hu's shoulder, walking and saying: "Why sell? I'll lend you fishing gear, and we'll use the clam meat as bait."

This way neither of us owes the other—how great.

Lin Hu was pushed along by him; already tired from staying up all night gathering seafood, he felt dazed and uneasy, sensing something was off but couldn't pinpoint what.

He half-resisted, half-complied and went along.