Chapter 608: Busy to the Point of Heatstroke

The White Pomfret hauled up by the Cast Net also looks much better than those from trawling.

Except for being tired.

The Cast Net can be said to have no drawbacks.

After all, the sea surface now teems with White Pomfret like a boiling pot, and Wu An's first cooperation with the dolphin pod can be said to be quite successful.

In this respect, dolphins have an advantage over Killer Whales.

Because Killer Whales are too large, the Trawler dares not approach easily, lest it be accidentally injured.

Moreover, when eating, Killer Whales have a far bigger appetite than dolphins.

When the second net was hauled up, Wu An already felt a bit dehydrated; working on the Deck, he wore long trousers and a long shirt, and also a hat.

He originally still wore a mask, but it was unbearably hot, especially the face mask; after sweat soaked it and stuck to his face, occasional movement would block his mouth and nose, nearly causing him to suffocate.

No way.

He could only tear it off.

Even so, he looked as if he had just taken a shower, sweat pouring out freely.

It's killing me.

After the fishing boat stopped, the wind almost vanished, and it was just past 12 o'clock; the sun was directly overhead, the heat seeming to evaporate the sea water completely.

Wu An leaned against the side of the boat, instinctively wiping the sweat from his face with his sleeve, but the moment his sleeve touched his face, it got even wetter.

A twist of the sleeve, and wow, a torrent of water splashed.

All sweat!

He hurried to the lounge, fetched water, first drank a large cup himself, then poured for everyone and handed each a cup.

Regardless of what they were busy with.

First drink water to stay alive.

A Qing chugged it down in one gulp, then complained, "Brother, why is it warm water?"

Wu An ignored him.

He drank as if fearing someone would snatch it, and after finishing he complained.

Only A Qing said that.

If it were someone else, he would have had to say a couple of sentences.

He wouldn't scold A Qing.

It's not because they're close; it's that A Qing's mind, even if scolded, is useless—he just does his own thing.

Fu Yongning smiled and said, "Drinking warm water is fine; gulping ice water suddenly can easily cause a shock."

Look at that.

Self-discipline from a middle-aged man.

Wu An rested a bit, then carried the Cast Net and walked over again.

Lao Fu Tou didn't cast, but helped to tidy the net, and the catch on the Deck also needed handling; he was quite busy, continuously sprinkling ice onto the catch to cool it.

When the third net was hauled up, Wu An couldn't stand it and shouted, "Lao Fu, this catch can't just be left like this; it needs to be processed."

Without waiting for Lao Fu Tou's reply, he continued on his own, "I'll sort it."

Having said that.

He took a small stool and sat down.

He said it was sorting.

In fact, it just meant throwing all the fish into the Fish Basket.

Because they're all White Pomfret, a single variety; unless a fish is unusually large, it gets tossed into a separate Fish Basket.

That makes it much easier.

Lao Fu Tou smiled, tidied the Cast Net, and walked to Wu An's spot to cast the net.

Wu An grumbled while sorting.

As a result, the more he sorted, the larger the pile of fish became.

He couldn't pick them all up; it was impossible to finish.

That's normal.

Now six people on the boat are casting nets together; six of them combined bring up a thousand-plus jin per net, and they've basically done three rounds.

Now the Deck holds over three thousand jin of White Pomfret; at forty to fifty yuan per jin, that's already just over a hundred thousand.

Looking at the time, it's only been a little over half an hour.

This isn't better than trawling!

It's just that his sorting speed is too slow; A Qing hauled two nets, his stamina couldn't keep up, and Wu An saw he was about to throw a third net, so he quickly called him back and assigned him to sort together.

Fu Yongning and Fan Dali's third net was hauled up, the catch didn't decrease; instead it kept increasing, greatly adding to everyone's burden.

Already exhausted and hot, the catch from the Cast Net kept growing, and even Fan Dali felt he was reaching his limit.

Lao Fu Tou brought out some Huoxiang Zhengqi water, and each person drank a bottle.

When the fourth net was hauled up, an hour later, Wu An called everyone to sit down and sort, no longer casting the Cast Net.

Everyone went along willingly.

"Good job, we must have handled five or six thousand jin in this hour,"

"Yes, definitely."

"This Cast Net is pretty good, Mei Wu, you prepared it well."

"It was A An who had me prepare it."

Everyone chatted merrily; after this short hustle, the haul was at least two to three hundred thousand, who wouldn't be happy?

After the catch was roughly sorted, the school of White Pomfret gradually dispersed.

Fu Yongning and the others, seeing the situation, hurried to cast nets, threw a few more nets down, and hauled up several hundred jin of White Pomfret.

The dolphins, already full, gathered by the fishing boat and squeaked. Wu An, seeing this, called A Qing and Mei Wu to move ice, smashed it, and fed it to the dolphins.

After eating and drinking their fill, the dolphins wiped their mouths and actually ran off.

A Qing grew so anxious he jumped up and down.

Where's the spy fish we were supposed to look for?

Wu An glanced at the system and found the dolphins hadn't gone far; after all, Da Yi Quan's light was nearby, and he couldn't figure out why they suddenly left.

Seems something's up.

Wu An didn't demand much; after all, they're dolphins, not living humans, so it's normal communication. For now he could only wait for the dolphins to return.

When the work was done, it was already past three in the afternoon. No one had taken a break early; they all cleaned the Deck together, and A Qing, being mischievous, sprayed Wu An with water.

Wu An had wanted to scold, but the splash felt oddly pleasant, so he held his tongue.

Mei Wu, seeing that, stepped forward on his own.

Finally, everyone grabbed hoses and started playing; Lao Fu Tou didn't join, smoking and standing aside, smiling as he watched the youngsters fool around.

A Qing, annoyed at his spectating, sprayed him directly with the hose.

Lao Fu Tou, angry, shouted at him.

After playing for a while, the sky indeed changed; the white clouds turned grayish, and Lao Fu Tou guessed a heavy rain might be coming.

He just didn't know whether wind and thunder would follow.

The sky had just darkened.

The dolphins suddenly returned.

Wu An asked, "Why did you suddenly leave earlier?"

He asked casually, not expecting Da Yi Quan to answer, but Da Yi Quan actually brushed up against the fishing boat. Wu An was startled and asked, "Went to the seabed to scratch an itch?"

Da Yi Quan nodded.

Wu An realized, yes, dolphins have a habit of scratching an itch; earlier Hu Zi liked him to help scratch, but Hu Zi was too big, even using both hands he couldn't manage.

After chatting for a bit, Wu An asked Da Yi Quan to attend to the main business.

Da Yi Quan chirped a few times, then led the dolphin group to move again.

The sky darkened.

Fortunately the dolphin group stayed near the fishing boat, didn't get lost, and after a short while, Lao Fu Tou called him to the cockpit, saying, "Found something."

Wu An picked up the telescope and could see, from afar, the lights of two fishing boats.

The dolphin group suddenly accelerated.

Through the telescope, Wu An watched the dolphins approach the two fishing boats, circle them several times, and finally Da Yi Quan swam back.

Wu An went to the Deck.

Da Yi Quan came up to him and whistled.

Wu An asked, uncertain, "Are you saying those two fishing boats released that dolphin?"