Chapter 568: Poison Den

No one could leave the control cabin; Lao Fu Tou personally gave a demonstration, then hurried back to the control cabin, and as he left he also reminded Fu Yongning to keep an eye on things.

This is no joke.

If someone gets hurt by accident, it will very likely force a return.

After traveling five or six hours to get here, pulling in just two nets and then heading back would be too much trouble.

Furthermore,

The catch from those two nets was quite good.

To delay work over that would be a loss—just thinking about it would cost someone.

An injured person suffers not only physically but also mentally.

Fortunately, earlier Wu An had bought plenty of clips for eating barbecue on the ship, and with few people aboard, everyone could have one.

Wu An didn't stint on Luck Value, adding it wherever he could.

He even added it to everyone's rain boots; since it could give +2 Luck, Wu An didn't know what good it would do.

Increase friction?

Or solve smelly feet?

Just giving everyone a Luck Boost would consume about 10 points; altogether that's sixty or seventy Luck Value, and since Luck Value is plentiful, Wu An didn't mind.

Even so, he also gave several reminders for everyone to stay safe.

On the ship.

The word he said most was 'safety'!

Everyone was fairly steady, except A Qing, whose fidgety hands and feet made Wu An's eyes hurt watching.

Perhaps it was because he cared too much and got flustered.

To be frank.

His relationship with A Qing was sometimes even closer than with his elder brother Wu Ping.

He treated this little younger brother like a son.

A Qing suddenly cried out 'Ah!' with a pained face, shouting 'Brother, brother, brother...'

Wu An dropped his clip and ran over, shouting 'What's wrong? Did you get stabbed? I told you to be careful, I told you to be careful—how could you...'

Just as he was scolding him, A Qing burst out laughing: 'Brother, look at how worked up you got.'

'I was just messing with you.'

'Hahaha, my acting isn't bad, right?'

After saying that, he even twisted his waist and hips, acting all smug.

Wu An was furious.

He went up and kicked at him, but A Qing dodged.

The two ran around the fish pile.

'Stand still!'

'You think I'm stupid?'

'You damn idiot.'

'Brother, I just had you fooled.'

Wu An: '……￥#%*#!'

Fu Yongning looked at the two brothers helplessly; they were making a ruckus, too much of a ruckus.

If this were on Chen Lao Da's ship, they'd surely have been chewed out; on this ship, he could only remind himself to get used to this relaxed, pleasant atmosphere.

After a while of roughhousing, everyone went back to sorting.

Most of the catch from this net was in good condition; many lionfish were still alive, and since live lionfish are more valuable, Fu Yongning arranged a separate live fish tank for these poisonous creatures.

He and the three Fan family brothers also made a plan, taking turns to watch over them, hoping to keep these lionfish in the live fish tank alive all the way to the dock.

Wu An also sorted through the catch, mainly picking out those with low toxicity that were harmless when alive, such as puffers; the puffers Wu An picked up puffed up in anger.

They looked rather cute.

Wu An picked one up to look at it, and accidentally got spat in the face by a puffer.

'Damn it!'

Wu An went up and slapped the puffer.

The puffer got even angrier.

Its lips twitched, revealing sharp teeth; though it made no sound, from its mouth shape you could tell it was cursing filthily.

Wu An didn't put up with it either.

He decisively used it to wipe his rain boots, then tossed it aside.

Besides these poisonous creatures, there were also many octopuses, squids, and a special tiny cuttlefish; Wu An had picked up several, about to throw them away, when Fu Yongning looked up and saw, shouting 'A An, what are you doing?'

Wu An casually said, 'Throw this little one back into the sea so it can grow bigger.'

Fu Yongning laughed and cried: 'This kind of cuttlefish doesn't grow bigger; it's already this size.'

'Don't look down on it because it's small.'

'It's not cheap.'

'And furthermore...'

Wu An asked, 'And what?'

Fu Yongning hesitated a moment, then said, 'And besides, this little tube is delicious.'

Wu An pressed, 'How do you eat it?'

Fu Yongning mumbled, 'Just steam it directly in a pot.'

Wu An hurriedly picked a few out, tossed them alone into a fish basket, and said, "Later tonight we'll make a pot of steamed seafood to eat."

Fu Yongning glanced at that basket; besides squid, small tubes, stone crabs, flower crabs, and Pipi shrimp, there were also many Pipa shrimp.

He couldn't help but say, "A An, these two nets of Pipa shrimp aren't many."

Wu An nodded, "Indeed."

"Maybe there just aren't many Pipa shrimp here,"

"Since they're scarce, let's not sell them; we'll just eat them all."

"Everyone, is that okay?"

A Qing was the first to respond, and the Fan family brothers laughed along, feeling that being on the ship was great; those Pipa shrimp cost dozens of yuan per jin, and they could eat them freely on the ship.

He told the old man at home, and the old man said one bite was impossible, absolutely impossible, and would never believe a fishing boat owner could be so generous.

On this trip, the two brothers each earned over 30,000, a total of over 60,000—more than sixty red banknotes slapped onto the table, and the old man's eyes nearly popped out.

The old man worked himself to death for a month; only with a bit of luck could he earn fifty to sixty thousand.

The two brothers finished it in three days of hard work.

Finally the old man went to the Mazu Temple overnight and didn't return for a long time.

Fu Yongning, seeing this, fell silent, "…"

He wished he could slap his own mouth, cursing himself for being so outspoken.

The toxins from this net were dealt with, already past 5 p. m.; under Fu Yongning's strict orders, no one was injured. When Fu Yongning finished his work, he saw Wu An seize a relatively large lion fish for processing.

Fu Yongning opened his mouth, about to speak, then pulled out a cigarette and jammed it into his mouth.

He wanted to advise Wu An not to eat it.

But he didn't dare say too much; if he annoyed Wu An, it would be bad.

He could only block his mouth with a cigarette.

Just as he was about to go to the Deck to work, thinking "out of sight, out of mind," he turned around and heard Wu An call, "Brother Yongning, I'm going to process the lion fish; come help keep an eye on it."

Fu Yongning replied with a sound, walked in, and couldn't help asking, "A An, this one was dead to begin with, right?"

Wu An smiled; he knew what Fu Yongning wanted to say and quickly replied, "That's a given."

Fu Yongning nodded, fell silent, and helped Wu An finish processing the lion fish, removing all poisonous parts, and finally braising it.

Here, making braised fish is simple: stir‑fry scallions and ginger until fragrant, add a bit of soy sauce, simmer a few minutes, and it's ready; you can't be too meticulous on a ship.

After the dinner was ready, Lao Fu Tou came to ask whether to raise the net.

Wu An glanced at the system; Luck Value was low, but there was still some. He said, "No rush to raise the net; let's eat first, eat well before we get busy."