Chapter 678: Fortune and Misfortune Depend on Each Other

Lao Fu Tou walked out of the pilot cabin to look.

My goodness, it's so swollen.

He wore an expression of astonishment.

Wu An asked, "Rare?"

Lao Fu Tou nodded: "Extremely rare; we've only been trawling for about two hours, even if we hit a school of fish, it wouldn't be this swollen."

Upon hearing that, Wu An understood why Lao Fu Tou was so shocked.

Trawling on the seabed has its limits.

Unless the sea fish go crazy and rush into the trawl, it's basically impossible for the net bag to be stretched into a ball.

Wu An thought for a moment.

That also makes sense.

After all, he's got a cheat.

Wu An changed the subject, saying, "Old Fu, there's something: the crewman on the Jinghe ship I spoke with—do you know him?"

Lao Fu Tou said, "Sure I know him; his name is Lao Feng."

"He's still a decent person."

"Actually, I had wanted to poach him onto your boat before."

Wu An chuckled: "Then why not?"

Lao Fu Tou shook his head: "He's rather stubborn; he thinks that since he's taken Chen Lao Da's wages, he ought to work a day for them, and since Chen Lao Da is selling the boat, he still refuses to leave."

"He said he'd wait until this month's work is done."

"What he says is also right, and I can't persuade him otherwise."

Wu An nodded.

If that's the case, this person would actually be quite suitable to work on his boat.

With the money in place, everything can be discussed.

That's pretty good.

Wu An said, "Alright, then after we return, you go talk to him."

"I welcome him coming over on my side."

"Also, I want to inquire about Jinghe."

Lao Fu Tou knew what Wu An was worried about and said, "Don't worry, that person is usually quiet, but once he drinks, he becomes a chatterbox."

"I'll treat him to a big drink."

Wu An smiled; with Lao Fu Tou handling things, he still felt reassured.

"Creak—creak—creak."

The hoist made a sound.

Wu An didn't get close; instead he pulled the rope, exerting force from a distance, but before he could pull it open, Mei Wu and A Qing saw the situation and came to help.

The three of them worked together.

Finally they opened the net's mouth.

However, the expected scene of the catch spilling out did not appear; instead, piles of seaweed kept falling down, causing A Qing to keep muttering "Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit."

The expressions on the others' faces froze.

They were all dumbfounded.

Wu An, however, remained calm; so many Luck Points had already been exhausted, so it's absolutely impossible for these seaweeds to achieve that.

He called out, "Never mind this for now, lower the net, lower the net."

Everyone composed themselves and lowered the net in an orderly manner.

Seeing everyone busy, Wu An stepped forward, pulled aside the seaweed, saw a large red-spotted fish that had already spit out its swim bladder, and with an expression of "as expected," said, "There's fish in the seaweed."

"Everyone, be careful when pulling."

Seeing the large red-spotted fish he found, everyone was astonished: "This red-spotted fish is huge, probably four or five catties."

A Qing also hurried over to pull.

Soon he found a red-spotted fish, holding it up and shouting, "I found one too!"

Seeing this, everyone hurried over to sort.

The seaweed was pulled aside and then thrown back into the sea.

"Brother, large yellow fish, large yellow fish!"

A Qing happily held up a large yellow fish; it wasn't small, and when weighed it came to six catties!

Mei Wu also found one.

Then a chain reaction kicked in, and Fan Dali and the others also made discoveries.

A school of large yellow fish!

Before the seaweed was even half cleared, over a dozen large yellow fish had been found, the smallest at three catties, the largest being the six-catty large yellow fish A Qing found.

Wu An didn't join the excitement.

But watching from the side, he could also feel the excitement vicariously.

A Qing's shouting hardly stopped, and behind them there were even more large yellow fish, plus red-spotted fish, stone bream, and other high-value sea fish.

Lao Fu Tou laughed and said, "A An's luck is indeed still as good as ever."

Fu Yongning nodded and said, "Yes."

"Logically speaking, this is a deep-sea area; large yellow fish hardly ever operate at this depth."

"We didn't just net them."

And we caught this many, it's simply unimaginable.

Wu An smiled without saying a word.

Unbelievable?

Everything's been cheated, what else can't happen?

He could only think these words in his heart; naturally, it's impossible to say them out.

Not necessarily.

Maybe it's the water temperature change.

Lao Fu Tou finished a sentence; although it's a bit forced, it's indeed possible.

Wait until the sorting is done.

Fu Yongning stored the catch in the cold room, rubbed his hands, walked into the rest area, and said with a delighted face: "The large yellow fish is conservatively estimated at three hundred catties."

There are also ten red-spotted fish.

There are also many stone bream; this haul is really good.

A Qing said: "It's a pity there's too much seaweed; if there weren't so much, our catch could at least double."

Wu An smiled: "This isn't bad either; the income from this haul is at least two hundred thousand."

One haul, two hundred thousand.

Even Fan Dali's two brothers, with a one percent commission, could get two thousand.

This is just one haul.

On this trip, even a conservative estimate of ten to twenty hauls would yield a considerable income.

Everyone was very happy.

Fan Dali's two brothers also looked forward to it, wanting to earn a good sum before the New Year, and after the year they could openly start building a house.

By then, matchmakers from all over the surrounding villages would surely come rushing.

Everyone had just finished working, didn't have time to rest, and went to ask Wu An whether to cast the second net; Wu An checked the system and found the luck value still had 3 points.

So he let everyone cast the net.

However, the second haul had no large yellow fish, hardly any seaweed, the catch mainly shrimp and crab; although not bad, it required tying up, making everyone complain bitterly.

After everyone finished working, it was already 1 p. m.

Lunch was prepared by Wu An.

Besides a few other home-style dishes, Wu An mainly made steamed large yellow fish.

Delicious.

Love to eat.

Want to eat more.

Especially the fish glue, it's quite good; indeed, you get what you pay for.

Soft, sticky, and chewy.

Full of collagen.

Wu An ate with great relish, finally commenting: the large yellow fish is good, the garlic meat and fish glue are also excellent, but one shouldn't eat too much.

Eating too much will make you feel sick.

Everyone was speechless about his comment; who could get sick of eating large yellow fish and fish glue?

Just finished eating.

Everyone continued to engage in the tense sorting work, busy until the early morning.

Although there were still some luck points, Wu An still followed his usual rule: after midnight he wouldn't cast another net, as long as the last haul's catch was sorted, then rest.

Even so.

When the third day dawned, Wu An still saw everyone looking noticeably exhausted; A Qing was fine, but Mei Wu and the others already felt stubble on their faces.

According to Fu Yongning, this is already quite good.

One can rest normally and also wash up.

Before, they would work, then sleep, wake up and work again, snatching meals in between, busy to the point of chaos, yet earning little.

Now, making this much money, he'd be happy even if he worked himself to death.

Under these circumstances, on the third night the fishing boat was basically full of catch; Lao Fu Tou asked Wu An whether to return, and on the way back they could still pull a few nets.

Wu An had no objection.