Chapter 528: Soon I'll give him a little 'catch' shock

After chatting a bit more with A Jin, Wu An put down his phone and suddenly thought, why not go ahead and give Shen Nan a beating?

He sniffed.

He suddenly felt like smoking a cigarette, thought about it for a moment, then gave up the idea.

It would be easy to get someone to beat up Shen Nan, but Shen Nan could also use the incident to his advantage.

The town leaders had just come to the village to give Wu An's father a warning; on the surface everything was calm, but everyone knew the leaders were actually backing Shen Nan.

Wu Yingwei, having done nothing wrong, wasn't worried, but to outsiders it seemed he certainly resented Shen Nan.

Then Shen Nan got beaten.

What would everyone think?

Who would be taking revenge?

If we slightly fan the flames, his father will surely be pushed into the spotlight.

By then, if mud ends up in his pants, it might as well be feces.

Wu An put himself in Shen Nan's shoes and thought: if he were Shen Nan, he'd definitely suspect him, and regardless of whether he actually did it, he'd want to make the incident seem real.

He would say that Wu Yingwei had been reprimanded by the leaders, held a grudge, and got Wu An to find someone to take revenge.

Whether there's evidence or not doesn't matter; once that rumor spreads, it will cause a lot of trouble.

If the town leaders learn of this and use it as an excuse to cause trouble, Wu An's father could lose his position as village head.

The more Wu An thought about it, the more uneasy he became.

He even started worrying that Shen Nan might stage it himself; a self‑inflicted hurt ploy may look simple, but it's surprisingly effective.

Don't believe me? Ask Boss Cao.

He scratched his head and stopped overthinking.

He shouldn't dwell on it; overthinking is just needless worry.

Besides.

Shen Nan doesn't look like the type who would be ruthless toward himself.

Idle minds wander; seeing Fu Yongning and the others busy tidying the fish baskets, Wu An walked over.

"Busy?"

"Yeah, I see these fish baskets are all scattered; they need to be straightened out. Even though it's calm now, if a sudden wind kicks up a wave, it could be dangerous."

Wu An nodded repeatedly.

No wonder he's a veteran boat hand.

Fu Yongning saw that the Fan brothers were doing a fine job and said, "Then you keep working here."

"I'll go check the trawl net."

Wu An followed him.

As the boat owner he doesn't have to work, but he can't be completely ignorant.

Fu Yongning inspected it, frowned, and said, "Mei Wu bought the wrong trawl net—the mesh is too big."

"That really affects the catch."

"Why not switch to the trial‑run net? It's already been repaired and is definitely fine."

"No need to change it," Wu An said. "I told him to buy it that way."

"With a larger mesh, we haul in bigger fish and can sell them for more money."

"Using less time, effort, and cost to get the greatest benefit—that's what gives the best value."

"What do you think?"

Fu Yongning hesitated, then nodded.

It sounded somewhat reasonable, but he kept feeling something was off.

He didn't complain further; as a crew member who spotted a problem, reminding the boat owner was already doing his duty.

He knew Wu An, though the boat owner, was still a newcomer, so as they walked he explained things.

Finally they arrived at the control room.

Fu Yongning passed a cigarette to Old Fu Tou and Mei Wu, then asked curiously, "Uncle, why are we heading north?"

"We've always gone south or east before."

"Do you have a secret fishing ground?"

Old Fu Tou took a puff and laughed, "Yeah, right."

"We used longline fishing, crab pots, and adhesive nets before, and we do have a few decent fishing spots."

"Those areas have complicated seabeds, unsuitable for trawling."

"So we need to find new ones."

Fu Yongning blinked: "Find new ones?"

"How do we find them?"

"Did we ask around?"

Old Fu Tou looked at Wu An.

Wu An shook his head: "We didn't ask anyone."

"We'll just go with the flow."

"After heading out four or five hours, we'll start fishing."

Anyway, we'll be out at sea for three to five days, so we might as well go farther out—deeper water means more fish.

Fu Yongning stared at Wu An's casual attitude, eyes widening.

What the heck.

Just as he was about to speak, he heard Lao Fu Tou say: "Fine, I'll listen to you."

Fu Yongning's voice rose several pitches: "Uncle!"

You……

Since there's no suitable fishing ground, we can totally go to the area where Chen Lao Da usually works.

Anyway, he hasn't started work yet.

The reason he's so worked up isn't because of Wu An; he can understand that a newcomer doesn't know.

But I never expected Lao Fu Tou to listen to Wu An so much; we originally had no target fishing ground, yet he rashly went that far—if we didn't suffer any loss, it's just good luck.

He still has some emotional intelligence, so he didn't refute Wu An's words in front of Mei Wu and Lao Fu Tou.

Lao Fu Tou shook his head.

As the saying goes, the speaker means nothing, the listener takes it to heart; Wu An's mind moved, and he said: "Yongning bro, your reminder is correct."

Next time we'll go to the fishing grounds where Chen Lao Da usually works.

Fu Yongning got anxious: "What about now?"

Wu An said indifferently: "Let's just leave it like this."

We've already set out.

No need to turn back.

From Fu Yongning's expression, you can tell he's definitely grumbling inside.

This can't be explained; all we can do is give Fu Yongning a small 'follow fate' shock with the catch.

After chatting for a while, Wu An left quickly.

Three smokers puffed clouds and mist, filling the control room with thick smoke.

Mixing with these guys, as a nonsmoker, he inhales more secondhand smoke each day than when he used to smoke.

In the scorching heat.

Seeing that everyone had almost finished packing, Wu An called the Fan brothers to rest.

……

Village dock.

At the blast of firecrackers, ten thousand taels of gold.

Ten thousand firecrackers cracked loudly for a long time.

It attracted many inquiries; upon learning that Wu An's trawler had gone to sea, everyone whispered and discussed.

Some spoke favorably, others predicted doom.

Only when the fishing boat vanished from sight did Mei Yueqin and Li Juan leave; after two steps, Li Juan couldn't help but glance back twice.

This trip will last three to five days.

Anyway, they'll be missed.

Although Mei Yueqin said she had no children, she could understand Li Juan's feelings: "Don't worry, you'll definitely come back safe and sound."

Li Juan nodded: "Goddess Mazu blesses us."

Someone chimed in, it was Yin Alley: "A Juan, your son A Qing following Wu An has really made a lot of money; I heard that for this trip, the fuel costs of several ten thousand were paid by A Qing."

If they strike it rich, Wu An will definitely give A Qing a lot of money.

Mainly, the luck was bad, they didn't strike it rich, and it's unknown whether Wu An will reimburse A Qing for the fuel costs.

Li Juan glanced over and said irritably: "None of your business."

Yin Alley's fake smile couldn't hold up at night, and she spoke in a sarcastic tone: "I was just chatting; why are you so worked up?"

Besides.

Besides, it's not just me saying this; everyone's talking, saying Wu An is shrewd, making your son pay for the fuel.

Li Juan said coldly: "Yin Alley, if you keep talking like that, watch out—I'll tear your mouth apart."

I may not have heard what others said, but I heard you say it.

Idly chewing radish, needless worry.

You have time for this; better think about how to marry off your daughter.

Yin Alley is just a gossip-mongering long-tongued woman; she's no match for a widow of many years' standing.

After throwing down a "Fine, fine, fine, I'm not talking to you," she grabbed her bucket and hurried away.

After Yin Alley left, Li Juan turned back and glanced again, saying: "I should have come earlier; it's not that A Qing is busy on the boat—he hasn't even shown up."

Mei Yueqin said: "Aunt, if you really miss A Qing, just come home and call him on the satellite phone."

Li Juan nodded.