Chapter 573: Net Breaks

A Qing stared wide-eyed: "Holy shit, they're all meaty crucian carp!"

Saw pomfret again.

Meaty crucian carp is the local slang here, commonly called meaty pomfret, formally spiny pomfret; although not as tasty as white pomfret, it wins for being tender and low on bones, making it the highest value among pomfrets.

Fan Dali picked up a few spiny pomfret and praised: "These are also quite big, almost catching up to white pomfret."

From the name meaty crucian carp you can tell spiny pomfret are relatively small, which is one reason they're not well known; in our country, for banquets or holidays, we like to use big fish for dishes.

Such small pomfret are hard to catch the eye.

Also.

Spiny pomfret have low yield, so the dock rarely sees large quantities of them.

Their net catching this many spiny pomfret is almost a rare occurrence.

Fu Yongning, who was about to speak, resentfully closed his mouth.

What's going on?

How come after a nap, Fan Dali stole his lines?

Wu An walked around this pile of spiny pomfret, feeling something odd.

Not right.

There are a lot of these spiny pomfret, estimated at four or five tons, but since the unit price isn't high, it's probably only twenty or thirty bucks a catty, about the same as the previous net.

But the speed at which luck value drops is much faster than the previous net.

He felt the catch was greasy.

Clean, too clean.

The four or five ton catch turned out to be almost entirely fighting pomfret, with hardly any other catch.

Anyway, after looking around, he simply couldn't find any other fish.

Even shrimp and crab were pitifully few.

When preparing to lower the net, everyone discovered the trawl had a big tear, and because the catch was decisive, many places showed signs of splitting.

Wu An decisively ordered them to replace the trawl with a new one.

Replacement done.

Lower the trawl into the sea.

After the third net went down, Fu Yongning called out to hurry and sort the spiny pomfret.

"We need to sort this fish quickly and then store it." Fu Yongning called out, and everyone hurriedly squatted down to start sorting.

Wu An also sorted a few, seeing many fish scales damaged.

Still the same saying.

The trawl's pot.

"How to sort?"

"Let's sort into three sizes: around two taels, around three to four taels, and over five taels."

"Oh."

Wu An answered with a sound, saw the fish pile shake a bit, stared closely, but there was no further reaction, making him a little unsure—maybe it was just an illusion?

He stared at it.

He saw the fish pile shake twice more.

Everyone else was busy sorting with their heads down, not noticing at all.

Wu An hurriedly called out: "Stop, stop, stop, everyone get up first."

Everyone rose in surprise, looking at him.

Wu An said: "There's something in the fish pile, everyone step back."

Wait until everyone moves to the side.

Wu An had them stare at the fish pile.

Soon.

They then saw the fish pile shake, and they were all startled; something that can make the fish pile shake must be a big creature.

The unknown is the most frightening.

Wu An fetched a scoop net, parted the fish pile, and the silhouette of a large swordfish appeared.

He looked astonished: "Holy shit, how could there be this thing!"

Fu Yongning laughed heartily: "Luck is really good; surely this swordfish was feeding and got wrapped up by the trawl—looks like it's already on its last legs."

Swordfish differ from tuna; they don't have the 'flaw' of dying if they stop moving.

But after being pressed in the fish pile for a while, this swordfish is already at the end of its strength; good thing it's like this, otherwise a lively swordfish jumping onto the deck would be too scary.

Fu Yongning reached out and pulled the swordfish out, saying: "It's not very big, about a hundred-odd catties."

While speaking.

He pulled it aside to process.

Wu An nodded, not bad either, worth several thousand bucks.

That makes sense.

Because the swordfish mistakenly entered, it caused the luck value to suddenly drop.

After a full hour and a half of busy work, all the spiny pomfret were sorted and sent to the cold storage, with Fan Dali and his brother responsible for cleaning the deck.

Fu Yongning went to busy himself with dinner.

Why so early?

Because the spiny pomfret need advance processing.

This fish is juicy; if we cook it directly without processing, it won't taste very good.

Right now, the Spiny Pomfret is at its fattiest.

So it's perfect for making Overnight Dried.

Fu Yongning slices the Spiny Pomfret while explaining.

What is called Overnight Dried is simply treating the fish and air‑drying it; after air‑drying it can be grilled or fried, and the flavor is quite good.

Don't think that eating it this way means it's not fresh.

In fact, it's the opposite.

Actually, fresh fish that is processed before eating versus processed non‑fresh fish, the texture difference is very obvious; you can tell as soon as you bite.

Fu Yongning finishes the preparation now, so they can have it as a midnight snack tonight.

The reason he processes it now is, of course, Wu An's request; they plan to have a barbecue tonight, and this Spiny Pomfret is ideal for making small skewers.

Barbecue on the ship while drinking beer.

Just thinking about it makes one feel delighted.

After the work, everyone gathers in the lounge, watches TV, plays on their phones, sleeps, each occupied with their own activity, without disturbing anyone.

Wu An yawns and instinctively checks the system.

When he looks, he is shocked because the Luck Value has dwindled to a pitiful 10 points!

His last net had granted 90 Luck Value!

It's only been just over half an hour, how could it have consumed so much!

Wait.

It's a Swordfish!

"Could the net have caught a Swordfish school?"

Wu An thinks this, and his heart races.

If that's the case, pulling up this net would make them rich.

Just as he was daydreaming, the Luck Value drops again, emptying completely.

Wu An can't stay calm; he kicks A Qing and says, "Don't give up, get up quickly, Lao Fu, Lao Fu, prepare to raise the net."

Everyone sits up.

"Raise the net?"

"Right now?"

"Alright."

Everyone is momentarily stunned, then quickly recovers and cheerfully begins preparations.

Wu An suddenly calls out, feeling that something is coming.

Is this third net about to burst?

Holding that thought, they each perform their duties, imagining a big explosion when the net is hauled up, but when the net bag is pulled up.

The smiles on everyone's faces instantly freeze.

Because the net bag is limp.

Limp to the point of hanging down.

There's nothing inside at all.

Only seawater splashes onto the Deck, looking a bit bleak.

"How could it be empty?"

"It shouldn't be; the operation when lowering the net was fine."

"Could it be that I didn't secure the net mouth properly?"

Fu Yongning steps forward to inspect, glances once and shouts, "Stop guessing wildly; the net bag is broken."

He pulls it, and the net bag spreads open, letting everyone see clearly; the once intact net bag is now torn and ragged, riddled with cracks.

"Caught on the bottom?"

"How could it be so badly torn?"

"Luckily A An called us to raise the net; if we had delayed two more hours, we'd have lost a lot."

Everyone sighs.

Compared with everyone's gloom, Wu An is even more indignant!

A net bag broken like this is a first; it must have been sabotaged.

Who sabotaged it?

The answer is obvious!