After Reincarnating as the Dragon King, I Made a Fortune with Seafood – CH37

Chapter 37: Scientific Expedition

Both of them were very satisfied with the meal. Even Song Zhou, who usually did not eat much, had an extra bowl of rice.

After dinner, Song Zhou went to wash the dishes. When he came out, he saw Lu Ao half-reclining in the chair, messaging someone.

“Chatting?”

“Yeah, with Xiao Du.” Lu Ao swung his lower leg and sat upright. “Didn’t Manager Shen say this afternoon that the guests at their hotel wanted to hire me to go out to sea for collecting samples and catching fish? I’m asking Xiao Du whether he’s heard anything and whether those people are reliable.”

Fishermen quite often received anti-espionage education. Lu Ao had been exposed to plenty of it since childhood. Whenever he heard “foreigners,” his first reaction was national security.

Foreign forces had not infrequently tried to infiltrate coastal areas either. Fishermen had been well educated on this matter and took such situations seriously. Many times, they would rather make a mistake than let anything suspicious slip by.

They were indeed active on the front line of counter-espionage.

Song Zhou rarely involved himself in human affairs. Hearing him say this, he asked, “Did he receive any information?”

“He’s checking.”

Lu Ao held his phone and looked at Song Zhou. “If there’s no problem, I still want to give it a try. I’ll have to trouble you with the vegetables and geese I’m raising.”

“No problem.” Song Zhou said, “Be careful when you go out to sea. Pack more snacks in your suitcase.”

“I know. I’ll stuff a whole suitcase full of jerky.”

As they were talking, Lu Ao’s phone screen lit up. He glanced at it, and his eyes brightened. “Done!”

He turned the screen around for Song Zhou to see. “Xiao Du said he found the registration. It’s a legal scientific research vessel.”

Song Zhou looked at it carefully and nodded.

While replying to Xiao Du, Lu Ao said to Song Zhou, “Then I’ll go?”

“Go.”

Lu Ao then called Shen Mingquan.

As soon as Shen Mingquan picked up, he said, “Lu Ao? The guests have agreed. They’re willing to pay you four thousand a day. Have you made up your mind?”

“I have. I want to go.”

“That’s wonderful. On their behalf, welcome to the team.” Shen Mingquan said happily, “Come over before nine tomorrow morning to sign the contract. We’ll explain the details then. This trip will only last around seven days, so you don’t need to bring too much luggage.”

“Alright. I’ll be there on time.”

Lu Ao settled everything in just a few words, then chatted with Song Zhou for a while in the courtyard.

Song Zhou had to go back, while Lu Ao returned to his room to pack.

He only needed to bring two simple sets of clothes. His wetsuit and other gear had to come too. The remaining space would be used for jerky.

He even specially brought a fishing rod, planning to fish when he was free out at sea so he could add a little extra to his meals.

Because he was going out again, Lu Ao specially mentioned it in the group chat with Lin Manzhang and the others.

Everyone was immediately stirred up.

Lin Gongshang: Are they reliable?

Lu Ao: They sound alright. I’ll take another look tomorrow when I sign the contract.

Lin Gongshang was full of worry: Then read their terms carefully. I’ve heard before that some people don’t pay much salary, but the penalty for breach of contract is set sky-high.

Lu Ao: Alright.

Lin Qiyan also popped out: You’re going tomorrow? Didn’t we agree to go to your place tomorrow to cut sweet potato vines?

Lu Ao: We’ll do it when I come back. You won’t get out of it.

Lin Qiyan: Then do you need me to help feed your geese?

Lu Ao: No need. My friend is home.

Lin Qiyan: Okay.jpg

Lin Gongshang: Your friend is really loyal. Since you won’t be home these two days, do you need us to help your friend buy groceries?

Lu Ao had not expected them to be so friendly. He replied: No need. There’s still a lot of food in my fridge.

Lin Gongshang: Alright then. If anything comes up, just tell us. We can all lend a hand.

Lin Gongshang: Right, why don’t you invite your friend into the group too? I see he’s often around our place.

Lin Gongshang: @Lin Manzhang Brother Zhang, is it okay to invite Lu Ao’s friend into the group?

Lin Manzhang: @Lu Ao, just invite him.

Lu Ao paused: I’ll ask him.

He exited the group chat and messaged Song Zhou: Screenshot.jpg Screenshot.jpg Screenshot.jpg

Lu Ao: Song Zhou, do you want to join the group chat?

Song Zhou replied very quickly: Add me.

Seeing the message, Lu Ao pulled him into the group.

A group of grown men immediately started spamming stickers when they saw a newcomer join, warm and childish at the same time.

Song Zhou directly sent red packets. Each red packet was worth two hundred yuan, and he sent five in one breath.

Everyone grabbed them with great delight, followed by another row of stickers.

Lu Ao also grabbed them.

His luck was very good. Out of the five red packets, he got the “luckiest draw” three times, earning a total of 367.46 yuan.

After receiving the red packets, he did not even think before sending Song Zhou an exclusive 188-yuan red packet.

The red packet effect was extremely dazzling.

Everyone could see it, but no one could grab it.

Lin Gongshang: Scratching wall.jpg

Lin Gongshang: Brother Lu, why does only Song Zhou get one?

Lin Gongshang: Brother Lu, I want a red packet too~

When Lu Ao sent Song Zhou the red packet, he had not thought it through at all. It was probably because everyone else had been grabbing red packets and only Song Zhou had not, so he sent Song Zhou one.

After sending it, and then seeing Lin Gongshang’s shameless spam, his hand paused.

He opened the keyboard and typed: Call me Dad.

Lin Gongshang: Dad!

Lin Qiyan: Dad!

Lin Guixiao: Dad!

Lu Ao: …

He said nothing else and directly opened the red packet feature to send a large red packet.

The people in the group clowned around for quite a while.

Lu Ao observed for a moment. Seeing that Song Zhou did not really come out to talk, he turned off his phone and went to sleep.

Early the next morning, Lu Ao went to town to take the bus.

His tricycle was parked in Lin Dawu’s yard, while he himself went to the bus stop to take the county bus.

There were very few people on the morning bus. The bus stopped and started along the way. He had boarded at 5:40, and it was already 8:30 by the time he reached the county seat.

After arriving in the county seat, he directly took a taxi to Jiacheng Grand Hotel.

Their county was a remote small county, with an average wage of just over two thousand yuan, but Jiacheng Grand Hotel was a five-star resort hotel.

The hotel’s clients were not locals from the county. Its main customers were ocean enthusiasts from all over the country, and even the world.

When Lu Ao arrived by car, it was already 8:57. Shen Mingquan and a tall, sturdy man personally came down to the lobby to greet him.

The man introduced himself as Wu and told Lu Ao to just call him Brother Wu.

As Brother Wu led him upstairs, he introduced the situation. “The main purpose of this trip is to conduct a comprehensive survey of the environment and rights-related conditions in Qianming waters and nearby sea areas. We may collect samples of seawater, sea sand, fish, seaweed, and so on. You’ll just assist us.”

Lu Ao nodded.

Brother Wu continued, “Our daily working hours won’t exceed eight hours. Most of the work sites are underwater, but the depth usually won’t exceed two hundred meters, so safety can still be fairly well guaranteed. This project has also been filed for registration. I can show you our application documents later.”

Lu Ao was quite interested in these things. He asked in detail, and Brother Wu did not get impatient. Instead, as they walked, he explained everything carefully.

When they reached the suite, Brother Wu even specially brought out all the application documents and showed them to Lu Ao one by one.

Lu Ao did not stand on ceremony either. Only after carefully checking their documents and identity certificates did he sign the contract.

After the contract was signed, Brother Wu carefully put it away in a folder and breathed a sigh of relief. He came over to shake Lu Ao’s hand. “We’ve long heard of your reputation and have always been very interested in you. Welcome to the team.”

Shen Mingquan smiled from the side and said, “Brother Wu was also at the giant grouper banquet last time and admired you very much. He even specially took a photo with that giant grouper you caught.”

“That’s right. It was my first time seeing someone shoot such a huge giant grouper with a speargun.” Brother Wu gave him a thumbs-up. “Young people nowadays really are stronger with every generation.”

After the two finished signing the contract, Brother Wu smiled and said, “Shall we head to the dock now? The others are already waiting there.”

Lu Ao nodded.

The dock they were going to today was not Longxiang Dock, but Yandong Dock.

It was the largest dock in the county, right outside the county seat. It was Lu Ao’s first time going there.

Brother Wu drove personally. When the two arrived at the dock, Lu Ao immediately saw a large fishing vessel.

The boat was enormous. The speedboats Lu Ao and the others usually took looked like tiny leaves beside it.

The boat was moored about a hundred meters away from the dock. Lu Ao and the others had to take a speedboat over to board it.

Sitting on the speedboat, Lu Ao studied the fishing vessel.

It was not a scientific research vessel, but a passenger vessel.

The ship’s body had its registration number specially painted on it. The registration began with “Passenger”—Xiwan Passenger 00265.

Xiwan City was a coastal city in northern China.

Lu Ao kept this in mind.

Brother Wu took Lu Ao aboard. Quite a lot of people were coming and going on the ship, and from their clothing, there were all sorts: crew members, researchers, temporary hires like him, and so on.

When most people saw Brother Wu, they would warmly greet him.

Lu Ao was thoughtful. It seemed this Brother Wu either had excellent relationships, or held a fairly high position.

Brother Wu took Lu Ao to meet the leader of their diving team, Xiang Xingchang.

The team leader had dark skin, a sturdy build, and a bit of a beer belly. Seeing Lu Ao’s refined looks and especially fair skin, he looked Lu Ao up and down several times with distrust in his eyes.

Lu Ao acted as if he had not seen it and said nothing.

The two simply shook hands and exchanged a few polite words. Then Brother Wu took Lu Ao down to the cabin area to rest.

The ship was large enough that Lu Ao was assigned a single cabin. The room was about ten square meters and even had a bathroom. The conditions looked decent.

After putting away his things, Lu Ao went to the dining deck for breakfast.

It was already past ten in the morning, and the ship had just set out. The cook had not yet had time to make food.

Lu Ao, as if he knew exactly what to do, used a pack of good cigarettes to bribe one of the cooks into making him a large pot of egg noodles.

There was practically no one on a seagoing ship who did not smoke. Without smoking, it was hard to get through such a dull, monotonous life at sea.

Lu Ao ate in the dining room. The cook was bored, and while smoking, he chatted with him. “You’re one of the researchers?”

“No.”

“Then are you maintenance staff?”

“No.”

“An office clerk?”

“No. I’m diving.” Lu Ao finished half a basin of noodles in one breath and asked, “Did your ship set out from Xiwan City?”

“Yeah. We’ve been drifting at sea for more than ten days. We only docked the day before yesterday, and today we’re going out again.” The cook looked at him. “You really dive? How is your skin so fair?”

“Born that way.” Lu Ao said, “What is this ship’s expedition supposed to be investigating?”

“I don’t know.” The cook complained, “Those people from Country R and Country U are all secretive. They wouldn’t tell us.”

“You’ve been conducting research all the way from Xiwan for more than ten days?”

“Pretty much. Actually, they didn’t do much research. It was only after arriving here that they started hiring people to come aboard. I heard they’re going to investigate around this area.”

Lu Ao was puzzled. “What is there to investigate around here?”

“We rough folks might have heard it, but we wouldn’t be able to explain it properly.” The cook had no idea how long it had been since he last chatted with a stranger. He took a hard drag of his cigarette and told everything he knew. “I heard they’re trying to catch some kind of fish. I haven’t heard the name of that fish before either.”

Lu Ao thought back carefully, but he really could not recall any special fish in the Qianming waters.

He had no idea what kind of fish this group had come all this way to catch.

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