Chapter 586: Boarded the Thief's Ship

Chen Lao Da breathed heavily, almost unable to catch his breath.

"You… you fucking…"

He opened his mouth to curse, "Which of your eyes saw him as excited? He's clearly terrified!"

This is a dolphin.

Anyone who makes a living from the sea knows this is a protected animal—touch it and you go to jail.

Ma Weiqun said, "Chen Lao Da, this dolphin is on your boat now—I warn you, we're grasshoppers on the same rope."

Chen Lao Da, having seen storms before, took a moment to compose himself and asked, "What the hell is going on?"

Ma Weiqun looked at Lin Bin.

Lin Bin sighed and said, "Back then we were working at night, and we accidentally killed this dolphin. My maternal uncle said, since it's already dead, we might as well bring it back and sell it."

"Don't worry."

"We have a connection, and it's reliable."

Chen Lao Da said through gritted teeth, "That's best!"

"Ma Weiqun, don't forget what I said when I took you in."

"I told you to deal with Wu An!"

Ma Weiqun chuckled: "Done, done. On this trip I just wanted to give him a beating, but that kid ran off too fast. When I came back, I beat him to docking."

Chen Lao Da cursed, "What the hell is this? Not even enough to disgust people!"

Ma Weiqun tossed his cigarette to the ground, stamped it out, and said, "This is just the beginning, Chen Lao Da—just watch calmly."

Chen Lao Da glanced at the dolphin and quickly covered it.

He returned to the deck, handed out cigarettes to those helping, then sent the idle folks away.

The dolphin in the cold storage must not be seen.

Chen Lao Da also considered reporting it.

Anyway, he wasn't on the boat, and the ones caught were Ma Weiqun and Lin Bin, but the boat is his—he worried about being implicated, so after thinking it over he could only help cover it up for now.

Someone asked about the catch.

Chen Lao Da angrily cursed, and this was his true feelings showing.

Upon hearing there was hardly any catch, the Chen family's faces weren't looking good either, since these two boats weren't just Chen Lao Da's—the Chen family had invested in them.

With little catch this trip, they naturally wouldn't get much money.

…

In the cold storage.

Lin Bin lit another cigarette for Ma Weiqun and asked, "Uncle, aren't you afraid Chen Lao Da will go report us?"

Ma Weiqun clenched the cigarette butt between his teeth and said, "Chen Lao Da is a smart man."

"Then he's even more likely to report us."

"But he's not exactly a good person either; he'll weigh the pros and cons. If he reports us, when we get out, can we let him off?"

"No, we definitely can't."

"This dolphin's fate is just like that—it's fine, perfect for giving as a gift."

"Is dolphin tasty?"

"Whether it's tasty or not, ordinary people can't eat it nowadays."

"That's true."

"Uncle, the dolphin you released won't cause trouble, will it?"

"Don't ask what you shouldn't!"

Lin Bin let out an "oh," turned to handle the dolphin, and quietly sighed.

He now feels a bit regretful!

Originally he just wanted to use Ma Weiqun to deal with Wu An, but ended up shooting himself in the foot, and with the scandal of messing around exposed, he also couldn't go back to the village.

Ma Weiqun happened to let him tag along with work, so he agreed.

Who would have thought Ma Weiqun had such guts—his actions, at minimum, would land him in prison for life, at worst could get him shot.

Now.

He's already boarded the thief's ship and can't get off.

Because.

They not only killed a dolphin, they also released another dolphin into the sea.

After thinking about it and wrapping up the dolphin, he went to call the others to help move the catch, even though this trip wasn't for fishing.

To keep up appearances, Ma Weiqun indeed took people out fishing for a few days, but luck wasn't good—either the nets came up empty, or they hauled up junk with nothing valuable.

After moving the catch ashore and loading it onto the truck, Ma Weiqun drove off directly from the dock.

…

Wu An thought he'd have to wait a long time, but after just half an hour, Chen Lao Da's two trawlers showed signs of life and soon left the mooring.

Lao Fu Tou hurried to catch up.

The fishing boat docked securely, Gao Qiangqi and A Jin boarded, and Wu An curiously asked, "Brother Qiang, did you make Chen Lao Da's two trawlers leave so quickly?"

Gao Qiangqi shook his head: "You're overthinking it."

"I just had A Jin keep an eye on them."

"Those two trawlers didn't have any catch."

A Jin chuckled: "Even this took them half an hour to move, laughing—seeing them cut in line, I thought they'd have a huge catch."

"That Chen Lao Da kept cursing as he left."

Having been out at sea for four days, we're estimated to lose quite a bit of money.

Wu An found it strange.

It's understandable that after so many days of hard work there's little catch; after all, it's not normal for him to always have a bumper haul. But given that, why would Ma Weiqun come to Zhen Shang Ma Tou?

He couldn't possibly be here just to embarrass himself, could he?

Planning to laugh him to death?

Something's off.

Quite off, huh.

He handed the written catch list to Gao Qiangqi, found Fu Yongning when he had a moment, chatted with him; after listening, Fu Yongning nodded and said, "Alright, I'll ask around tonight."

They didn't talk much.

A Jin looked for him.

"A An, I've organized another auction, early the day after tomorrow."

"Qiang Ge, thanks."

"When the time comes, let's go together; Li Zong of the seafood market wants to meet you and make friends."

"I don't need to go." Wu An shook his head, saying, "Seeing the bustle once is enough; as for making friends or not, it doesn't matter."

Gao Qiangqi chuckled: "Really not going?"

Wu An nodded: "The weather's fine; we should take advantage of it and go out to sea a few more times."

Gao Qiangqi said: "Alright, let's get some more good stuff."

Wu An: "Thanks for the kind words."

The afternoon dock was lively; as fishing boats tied up, the crowd of onlookers gathered again, all discussing what good haul he had this trip.

"This isn't a squid-light boat, yet he managed to catch so many squid and octopus—really impressive."

"His reputation is well deserved."

"Compared to this kid, Chen Lao Da's two trawlers seem to be here just for laughs."

"That's right; even my small fishing boat brings in more catch than that trawler."

"I heard Chen Lao Da has a grudge against this kid."

"Really?"

"Moreover, the crew on Chen Lao Da's boat had previously stolen the catch from this fishing boat's owner, and they ended up in jail."

"I was wondering why Chen Lao Da's two fishing boats cut in line earlier—turns out there's a grudge."

"He's a total clown—such a tiny catch yet he cuts in line, just asking to be laughed at."

Rumors flew on the dock.

Wu An looked at A Jin and said: "Your people arranged this?"

A Jin nodded: "Yes."

Wu An raised his hand, tapped A Jin, and laughed: "You, you."

"All I can say is, nicely done!"

A Jin humbly said: "It's all learned from the boss."

Gao Qiangqi laughed and cursed: "Damn, it doesn't sound like good words at all."