Chapter 604: The Dolphins Arrive

Everyone sorted the catch, whispering about why Wu An didn't head toward the deeper waters.

Fu Yongning said, "Maybe it's because my Elder Uncle said the weather will change in two days."

"We're close to the shore here; if an emergency occurs, we can either seek an island to dock or retreat back to the dock."

"If it gets worse and we need rescue, help can arrive faster."

Everyone suddenly understood.

This net was mainly Yellow Crucian Carp, making up about four-fifths of the total catch; the remaining one-fifth consisted mainly of Stone Nine Public, blackhead and other shallow‑sea fish.

There were also a few bream, Black Bream, and yellow‑footed fish, which turned out to be the most valuable in this haul; Wu An, who loves yellow‑footed fish, said, "I'll pan‑fry two of them for lunch."

Besides fish, there were some shrimp and crab, but in such small numbers there was nothing to comment on.

Everyone kept their heads down and continued sorting.

As the sun rose, the temperature rose pointlessly; under the scorching sun, even though everyone wore protection and straw hats, they all sweated profusely.

The sea breeze on their skin lost its previous coolness and instead carried a stifling heat.

The sorting work was dull and tedious.

Their hands didn't listen, and idle chatter drifted on and off.

"Hey, why does today feel hotter than yesterday?"

"Seems so; it's only a few o'clock and it's already sweltering."

"The wind has also died down."

"Something's off with the sky; why is it so hot…?"

Fu Yongning replied, "When I got up this morning the sky wasn't great; I thought today would be cooler than yesterday, but it turned out the opposite."

The wind weakened, and the weather grew hotter.

It's both stuffy and hot, drenched in sweat, and unbearably sticky.

Fu Yongning muttered softly, "Could Elder Uncle really be right, and the weather is about to change?"

At sea, the wind is usually stronger.

It had been windy just fine, then the wind suddenly died down, which felt very wrong.

When things go against the norm, there must be a monster.

To the old fishermen, this was certainly not a good sign.

In the stifling heat, everyone labored for an hour and a half before finishing sorting all the catch.

There was no time to rest.

Everyone drank water, smoked a cigarette, and it was time to set the second net.

The Luck Value had been emptied ten minutes earlier, and Wu An did not give any more boost, lest the small fish cause more trouble and wear everyone out.

Set the net.

The second net was much the same as the first, bulging with catch.

Fan Dali walked over to untie the net.

Seeing the catch, his face lit up with joy; although there were still many Yellow Crucian Carp, the shrimp and crab had increased noticeably.

"This net isn't bad; I see plenty of Pipa Shrimp."

"Brother Fan Dali, your hand luck is good."

"Not bad, not bad."

They lowered the net, and everyone sat down again to sort.

The sun rose higher, the temperature climbed, and the environment grew harsher than before, yet everyone worked with even more vigor.

After all, these catches were relatively valuable.

As for shrimp and crab, no need to mention; in a short while they gathered a basket of Pipa Shrimp weighing over twenty jin, worth a few thousand dollars per basket.

Sorting these was also simple: toss them into the fish basket and deliver them to the live‑fish storage.

Their cost‑performance far outstripped that of Yellow Crucian Carp by an unknown multiple.

"Look, there's a huge cuttlefish!"

A Qing lifted the big cuttlefish with joy; it was about three heads tall, perhaps its reflex arc was long, so it didn't eject ink when caught.

Then A Qing raised it over his head, and it suddenly sprayed ink wildly.

A Qing was caught off guard and got ink all over his body.

What a fellow.

From head to toe, he was completely black.

Everyone burst into loud laughter.

A Qing, angry, hammered the cuttlefish a few times, then laughed foolishly; the haul from this net was indeed good, roughly reaching the average line.

On the Deck, the atmosphere remained fairly cheerful.

While busy, a sharp whistle sounded; Wu An thought Hu Zi had arrived, so he quickly stood and looked toward the sea.

It wasn't Hu Zi.

It was a pod of dolphins!

There were many dolphins, rising and falling on the surface, their whistles, chirps, and creaks carried by the sea breeze.

They were quite noisy.

All the sounds came from the dolphins; different tones meant different things.

Besides that,

Dolphins also use posture and movement to aid communication, remarkably clever, truly the ocean's sprites.

Wu An didn't know whether this pod had previously helped deliver messages, but as they passed the fishing boat, he waved a hand in greeting.

I thought the dolphin pod would just pass by without stopping, but in the end all the dolphins swam around the fishing boat in a circle and showed no intention of leaving.

"This..."

Wu An was surprised when the largest dolphin poked its head out of the water in front of him.

"It's you!"

Wu An recognized it as the large dolphin he had interacted with before, and he couldn't help but feel pleased; it seemed this dolphin also had spirituality.

Wu An stroked its long snout, smiling and said, "Thanks for helping pass the message; I don't know how to thank you, so let me give you something to eat and drink."

The dolphin called twice.

A Qing also came over to look and said, "Brother, could these dolphins have come specially to find you?"

Wu An stared, looking at the dolphin: "Really?"

The dolphin nodded.

A Qing shouted excitedly, "Brother, look, look, I told you so."

Wu An kicked him: "Keep it down, don't scare them."

"You and A Wu Ge go get some ice and the catch."

A Qing called Mei Wu to hurry and get it.

Soon.

Mei Wu brought the ice.

Wu An crushed the ice and called the dolphins over to eat.

Fu Yongning and the others watched, but didn't stop sorting the catch, and they remarked enviously: "A An is really capable, keeping dolphins, killer whales, turtles and such as pets."

"That's right, we bring that much ice every time we go out just for them."

"You say, could A An's luck also be related to this?"

"That's for sure."

"If you ask me, it's Goddess Mazu blessing A An, so she arranged dolphins, killer whales and such to help A An."

"That makes sense."

"Exactly, exactly, exactly."

A Qing also came over with the catch; Wu An looked down and glared: "You're feeding knife fish to the dolphins?"

A Qing scratched his head: "What else should I feed them?"

"Wouldn't phoenix tail fish and yellow crucian carp work?"

"These dolphins are friends." A Qing paused, then said, "Brother, you can't treat them differently just because they're dolphins."

Wu An was so angry he wanted to kick him: "Get lost, you're really my damn father!"

A Qing: "Brother, that's not appropriate."

"If my mom heard you say that, she'd beat me."

Wu An: "……"

A Qing tried to feed it, the big dolphin swam up wanting to eat, Wu An took the knife fish back, and the big dolphin ended up eating nothing.

Once or twice would have been fine.

We went back and forth like that several times.

What the hell?

Are you playing me?

The big dolphin was so angry it opened its mouth and sprayed a few mouthfuls of seawater at the two of them.

Wu An finally couldn't bear to feed the knife fish, so he had A Qing bring some phoenix tail fish, chop it into small pieces and toss it to the dolphins, and they all ate happily.

Just feeding them like this took half an hour; if we had fed them knife fish, Wu An would feel the pain in his wallet.

After they were full and satisfied.

The dolphins performed for a while, drawing cheers from the crowd, and finally formed a big arrow at the bow.

Holy shit.

The dolphins even know what an arrow is?

Who taught them?

Everyone was stunned.

"What does this mean?"

"Showing the way?"

Wu An called the big dolphin over and asked, "You want me to follow you?"

The big dolphin nodded, then had the scattered dolphin pod form the arrow shape again.