Chapter 619: Hold Fast on the Return Voyage

Wu An set down his satellite phone, took a deep breath through his mouth, then held it in forcefully, trying to force open his blocked nose, and almost choked himself to death.

Can't.

My nose is completely blocked.

He reached to touch his forehead, felt okay, and thought it was just a severe cold.

He was just about to stand up.

A Qing walked over from outside, saw Wu An awake, and called out, "Brother, you finally woke up."

Wu An nodded and asked, "What time is it?"

A Qing replied, "Almost eight o'clock."

"What's up with your voice?"

"Muffled?"

Wu An said, "I'm speaking like this on purpose."

"Oh."

"You actually believe it?"

"Why wouldn't you?"

"…I have a cold."

"Oh… huh? Brother, how do you feel?"

"I feel fine."

"Oh."

…

Wu An stood up, too lazy for small talk, told A Qing to pack up the sleeping bag, stepped out of the stone wall, the sunlight poured over him, warm and pleasant, but he felt no comfort now.

The feeling of a cold is very unpleasant.

When you're not sick you never appreciate health, but once you fall ill you realize how good a healthy body is.

The two of them returned to the boat.

Wu An asked Lao Fu Tou for the coordinates; he said they would pass when dawn approaches under a thunderstorm, and such prolonged thunderstorm weather is quite rare.

Wu An called Yu Kai Lang back.

A Qing hurriedly shouted to brew ginger tea; Mei Wu learned Wu An had a cold, fetched the 999 Cold Remedy, mixed it into the ginger tea, and gulped it down in one go.

And it worked.

One nostril cleared.

Everyone hustled; breakfast was supposed to be seafood porridge, but Lao Fu Tou said seafood is cooling and not good for a cold, so they switched to noodles.

Wu An ate the noodles while Fu Yongning, together with the Fan family brothers, inspected all the fishing boats; the boats had no issues and were ready for fishing at any time.

"No more netting," Wu An shook his head and mentioned the call from Yu Kai Lang.

Everyone listened and naturally had no objections.

A Qing was still excited: "So that means Ma Weiqun is really doomed!"

Wu An nodded and said, "Full speed home."

"We'll hand over early."

"We can also go watch the play."

Ma Weiqun caused them such a huge trouble at sea; he's currently their toughest opponent, and his capture is worth the excitement.

Moreover, with Ma Weiqun captured, not only is revenge served, he can also earn a reward!

Two birds with one stone.

One should say, "May Ma Weiqun have a smooth journey!"

Lao Fu Tou quickly set the boat in motion, steered around the reefs near the island, adjusted the rudder, and sped full‑ahead toward Zhen Shang Ma Tou.

Actually.

They are not far from the shore now; if they chose to head straight for land, it would take about three hours to dock.

But they've been heading north all this time; the route there and back is roughly 100 nautical miles, requiring at least seven‑plus hours to reach Zhen Shang Ma Tou.

Fortunately the fishing boats aren't fully loaded; otherwise they'd be even slower.

The haul this trip wasn't great; the most valuable were the knife‑shad, but only about a thousand jin total, followed by five or six thousand jin of White Pomfret.

And this wasn't trawling; they cast nets and hauled them up.

As for phoenix shad and Yellow Crucian Carp, there were plenty, but their unit prices are low and fetch little money; other near‑shore catches like Black Bream, Stone Nine Public, and black‑head fish amount to a few hundred jin, nothing noteworthy.

Compared with previous trips, this three‑day‑two‑night voyage yielded the least catch, yet everyone felt the trip wasn't in vain.

Some things are more important than making money.

Listening to the discussion about the haul, Wu An kept quiet and kept pouring hot water down his throat.

Halfway there.

They encountered an approaching patrol boat; after a brief exchange with one of them, someone consulted their superiors, and finally a patrol boat was assigned to accompany them back.

It was clear that the higher‑ups placed great importance on Bionic Fish.

Noon.

Wu An felt his cold symptoms hadn't improved much, so he had little appetite and just shoved a bowl of rice into his stomach.

A little after one p. m., Wu An had barely lain down when his phone started ringing wildly.

Wu An stared dizzily, realized the phone finally had signal, checked carefully; there were a few missed calls but none seemed urgent, just one call.

There was a text message, a bank deposit notification showing a transfer of 4.34 million.

Wu An called Gao Qiangqi.

Gao Qiangqi quickly connected, his tone delighted: "A An, you're back this time?"

"Another warehouse explosion?"

"What good goods?"

Wu An said, "This trip didn't have a warehouse explosion because other matters required me to return early."

Gao Qiangqi was surprised: "What matter?"

Wu An hesitated a moment, then said, "I can't tell you for now; when I get back, I'll tell you in person."

Gao Qiangqi: "Do I need to receive the cargo then?"

Wu An replied, "That definitely requires it."

"But right now you probably can't get past the dock."

Gao Qiangqi's voice rose a few degrees instantly: "A An, don't tell me the dock was under martial law last night because of you?"

Wu An smiled, "It's because of me."

"…" Gao Qiangqi asked, "What is it?"

"Can't say for now."

"Alright… it's fine?"

"It's fine; for me, it's a good thing."

"Then that's good."

He hung up the phone with Gao Qiangqi.

Wu An didn't beat around the bush, split the accounts for everyone; everyone, upon receiving their shares, was extremely excited. A Qing ran over and asked, "Brother, the money from the last trip?"

Wu An nodded.

A Qing asked, "How is it so much more than the first trip?"

Wu An actually didn't know either; the previous haul was huge, and Gao Qiangqi's phone explanation was vague, only saying that the Large yellow fish sold for 800,000, taken by a boss from Gang Cheng.

Upon hearing the Large yellow fish sold for so much, A Qing muttered that spending that much on a fish, even a single bite costs several hundred, that's really generous.

Wu An was too lazy to explain to the kid; the boss bought the fish to eat, it might create greater value.

No boss is a fool to make a loss‑making deal.

Everyone, hearing that the Large yellow fish sold for that much, was also very surprised.

A Qing received 440,000, was overjoyed, said he'd go back and order a car, buy a BMW, can't afford to lose money, can't be scammed.

Wu An also nodded in support.

Honestly, it's just a BMW; A Qing can indeed afford it now.

Lao Fu Tou and Mei Wu also got a decent share, 220,000; Fu Yongning and the Fan family brothers each got 50,000; this income made everyone very happy.

As for earning a bit less this trip, it's no big deal.

They've only gone out to sea twice, each earning about 80,000; with this trip added, they estimate about 100,000.

Excluding the time they couldn't go out to sea, in just over half a month they earned this much; before, they wouldn't even dream of such unrealistic gains.

Wu An also explained the actual situation, saying the extra money counts as a bonus.

There is no five‑insurance‑and‑one‑fund on this ship; the money received is all solid cash.

The bonus can be considered a benefit.

When Wu An mentioned five‑insurance‑and‑one‑fund and such, nobody cared; they didn't really understand its benefits; to them, the cash in hand is the most real.

Everything else is intangible.

That is indeed the case.

Five‑insurance‑and‑one‑fund is naturally good for workers, but Fu Yongning said that as long as you earn more and can save, you'll have security when old.

At worst, just buy insurance yourself.

What can Wu An say? He can only say that the toiling people have great wisdom.