After Reincarnating as the Dragon King, I Made a Fortune with Seafood – CH6

Chapter 6: Red Snapper

Early the next morning, Lu Ao got up a little after five. He washed his face and brushed his teeth, and when his face touched the cold air outside, he nearly shivered.

It was May. In Xiding City, where he lived, it was already so hot that air conditioning was needed. But because his hometown was in the mountains, mornings and evenings were only around ten to twenty degrees, and he still had to sleep under a thin cotton quilt.

After breakfast, Lu Ao went to town to find Lin Dawu.

Lin Dawu was in his fishing tackle shop, and the husband and wife were eating breakfast.

Seeing Lu Ao arrive, Lin Dawu greeted him warmly. “Have you eaten? Have some more?”

His family was eating fish-and-chili noodles. Golden, crispy fried fish pieces were laid over the noodles, with a large plate of stir-fried chilies beside them. The spicy aroma was sharp and fragrant.

Less than an hour after eating, Lu Ao felt hungry again.

When Lin Dawu’s wife, Gui Yandan, met his gaze, she quickly came over to pull him in. “Don’t be polite. It’s just some home-cooked food. I’ll get you a bowl.”

Lin Dawu also urged him, “Perfect timing. We cooked too many noodles. Come help us finish some. If they clump up by noon, they won’t taste good.”

Lu Ao could not resist their enthusiasm and sat down to eat three bowls.

Lin Dawu and his wife thought he had not eaten breakfast, so they did not think much of it.

After the three of them finished eating, Lin Dawu drove his stock-purchasing minivan and took Lu Ao to the county town.

Their Shuiyuan Town was on the edge of Yandong County. It took more than three hours to travel from the town to the county town, leaving both of their backsides numb from sitting.

The two went straight to Lin Dawu’s brother-in-law’s place and collected the speargun, wetsuit, and long fins Lu Ao wanted.

By the time everything was settled, it was already past eleven in the morning.

Lin Dawu’s brother-in-law, Pan Jianbao, invited him to stay at his home for lunch.

Lu Ao said, “Thank you. Next time. I made an appointment last night to apply for my fishing qualification certificate, so I need to handle that first.”

Pan Jianbao said warmly, “I’ll take you there. I’m familiar with the procedures. Let your sister-in-law cook at home, and when we come back, we can eat right away.”

Lin Dawu also said, “Take him with you. He can help a little, so it’ll be more convenient.”

Lu Ao could not refuse, so after thanking them, he agreed.

He had already made an appointment through the government service system on WeChat before, and the relevant documents had all been submitted. Going there now to handle the certificate only required providing a few photocopies and the like. It was not troublesome.

He went to the government service hall, and the process was finished in five minutes.

After nearly ten years of management, China’s marine ecological environment had improved a great deal.

Now, the country had opened up part of its fishery resources. By issuing a limited number of fishing qualifications, strengthening supervision, and regulating through taxes, it controlled the number of fishermen.

The current fishing tax was as high as forty-five percent. For ordinary fishermen, going out to sea to fish did not earn as much as working outside. On top of that, most fishermen had already changed professions during the fishermen’s career-transition wave ten years ago. By now, most had long adapted to other fields, so very few people chose to become fishermen again.

After Lu Ao submitted all the required materials and passed the review, he would be able to get the qualification certificate within three months.

Once Lu Ao finished the process, Pan Jianbao drove him back home for lunch. After they ate, drank tea, and rested, Lin Dawu prepared to take Lu Ao back to town.

Pan Jianbao came out to see them off and repeatedly told Lu Ao, “Lu Ao, if you want to buy a fishing boat, remember to contact me. I’ll definitely give you the best price.”

Lu Ao nodded. “All right. If I buy one, I’ll contact you.”

Pan Jianbao was so happy his eyes disappeared into his smile. He enthusiastically saw Lu Ao into the car, and even after the car slowly drove away, he was still waving hard from behind.

A fishing boat, once fully equipped with all the miscellaneous parts, would cost at least sixteen or seventeen thousand yuan.

Selling fishing boats made much more money than selling other things.

By the time Lin Dawu drove Lu Ao back to town, it was already past five in the afternoon.

Summer had just begun, and night was falling later and later. At a little past five, the sunset could still be seen.

Lin Dawu first drove the car back to the front of his shop and unloaded the goods he had brought back this time. Just as he returned to the shop, he saw a few dark, sturdy young men wandering around inside. A smile appeared on his face. “Ah Zhang, you’re here?”

“Mm, Brother Dawu. We came to get a few spearguns from you.”

“Come, come, come. I just got new stock a while ago.”

Lin Dawu warmly invited them inside, then turned to Lu Ao and said, “Wait a moment. I’ll take you back to the village after I sell these spearguns.”

Naturally, Lu Ao would not get in the way of his business and nodded.

Lin Manzhang and the others saw a stranger and peered over to size him up.

Lin Dawu took the initiative to introduce him. “This is Lu Ao from Uncle Xuehai’s family. He just came back. Today, he also bought a wetsuit and underwater speargun.”

Lu Ao nodded to them.

Chongxin Village was a large village, consisting of three smaller villages: Luwu Village, Tanwu Village, and Linwu Village.

These three small villages were basically distributed along the coast. Luwu Village was the farthest inside, Tanwu Village was in the middle, and Linwu Village was the farthest outside.

Among them, Linwu Village was the largest. At its peak, it had over six hundred households.

The moment Lin Manzhang and the others heard that he was from Lu Xuehai’s family, they remembered.

A slightly shorter young man behind Lin Manzhang poked his head out and studied Lu Ao for quite a while before suddenly asking, “Were we in the same class in elementary school?”

Lu Ao stared at him, confusion showing in his eyes.

Lin Gongshang called out, “I’m Lin Gongshang!”

Only then did Lu Ao remember.

The Lin Gongshang from childhood was very different from now. Back then, he had been fair and chubby. Now, he was dark and thin, and it was already completely impossible to tell they were the same person.

Lin Gongshang took out cigarettes and offered one to him. “You’re back to fish too? With the people from your Luwu Village?”

Lu Ao waved his hand to show that he did not smoke and said, “I’ll fish by myself.”

“Fishing alone?” Lin Manzhang looked at him with some surprise. “Have you fished before?”

“I have some experience.”

Lin Manzhang could tell what was going on and reminded him, “Our local sea is different from other places. The sea conditions are rather complicated, and the fish are hard to catch. Playing around is fine, but it’s not easy to make a living from this.”

Seeing that his words were quite sincere, Lu Ao said, “I want to try.”

For the sake of their old classmate connection, Lin Gongshang strongly invited him. “Trying is fine. If no one on your side is fishing, you can come over and fish with us. Having company is safer.”

“Thank you. I’ll try by myself first.”

“What are you trying for?” Lin Manzhang could not help advising him. “Do you know how dangerous it is to enter unfamiliar waters? And you still want to try? If something unexpected happens and you’re alone, there’s a good chance you’ll lose your life.”

Lin Dawu had just come out holding the spearguns. Hearing their conversation, he also said, “Lu Ao, it would be more convenient for you to fish with Ah Zhang and the others. They’ve all been fishing here for several years, and their usual harvests are pretty good. They can basically catch twenty or thirty jin of fish every day.”

If Lu Ao had not turned into a lizard, he would have been very willing to follow experienced people and learn more from them. But now, he was already a lizard. Ordinary waters were no different from flat ground to him, even in human form.

In human form, he could hold his breath for more than ten minutes. Under such circumstances, let alone wandering around nearshore waters, even if he were asked to go to the open ocean alone, he would dare to go.

He declined tactfully. “When I was in Xiding City, I also fished often. My highest record was catching more than fifty jin of fish in one day. If it’s just trying it out, there shouldn’t be a problem. If I can’t handle it, I’ll come ask you for advice.”

Lin Gongshang did not believe him. “You’re bragging, right? Diving takes so much stamina. Catching thirty jin of fish in one day is already very impressive. Fifty jin of fish—how many hours would you have to dive?”

Lu Ao calculated it and doubled the time before saying, “About six hours.”

“Six hours.” Lin Gongshang looked him up and down. Since Lu Ao was wearing clothes, it was impossible to tell how much muscle he had. But judging from his overly handsome appearance, he did not really look like someone who could dive for more than six hours in a day. “Six hours? You’d be fishing from morning all the way to evening. Wouldn’t your legs go weak?”

“It’s all right. Maybe I’m more suited to this.”

Lin Gongshang and the others still looked unconvinced, but because they were not familiar with him, they could not say much more.

Lu Ao saw their expressions and did not know how to explain, so he pretended not to notice.

Very soon, the group finished buying their spearguns.

Before leaving, Lin Manzhang and Lin Gongshang both added Lu Ao on WeChat, saying that if he had any questions, he could ask them on WeChat.

Lu Ao thanked them and watched them ride their motorcycles back.

If he was going to live here long-term, he would probably need to buy a motorcycle too.

Lin Dawu had sold a few more spearguns and was in a very good mood. After putting his things away, he personally drove Lu Ao to his doorstep.

Lu Ao had bought a lot of things today, and all the miscellaneous items together weighed at least fifty or sixty jin.

Lin Dawu had just been about to come over and lend a hand when he saw Lu Ao directly hoist the things onto his shoulder. Lu Ao waved at him, thanked him, then easily headed toward his front door.

Lin Dawu watched from behind as Lu Ao carried everything as if it took no effort at all. He stared enviously at Lu Ao’s back. Young people really did have a lot of strength.

Lu Ao was indeed strong.

He was strong, and he ate a lot too.

He had just bought twenty jin of beef in the county town.

Today’s beef was fairly cheap, thirty-five yuan per jin. Twenty jin cost seven hundred yuan.

This was probably only enough for three or four meals.

That night, he ate braised beef. He finished a quarter of it in one go, then went to sleep. The next day, he still had to get up early to fish.

People in the countryside ate dinner early. After he finished eating, it was only a little past seven. He went outside and looked around. There were already hardly any human voices in the village, only the occasional sound of dogs barking.

Lu Ao fell asleep amid the silence, breathing in the slightly cool air. Before long, he entered a deep dream.

Early the next morning, he got up, washed, and simply ate a large pot of braised beef noodles. Then he went back inside, took his wetsuit, diving knife, speargun, fish basket with a long rope, and various other things, and silently headed out of the village.

There were basically no young people in their village. Walking through it, one could feel a wave of desolation.

There were plenty of dogs in the village, though. After smelling the scent of a stranger, they should have barked, but the moment Lu Ao glanced over, not only did those dogs not dare bark, they were frightened into tucking their tails and lying on the ground, whining.

A few timid dogs were even scared into peeing.

Lu Ao passed through the village without waking anyone and arrived at a beach some distance outside the village.

Their area had many mountains and many rocks. There was only a short stretch of fine sandy beach, while most other places were full of jagged rocks.

These rocks had been washed by waves all year round. Moss grew on them, making them wet and slippery. If a person stepped on them carelessly, they could easily fall and split their head open.

The villagers rarely came here. Especially after an old man from the village came here a few years ago to dig for barnacles and directly slipped into the sea and died, everyone became even more wary of this place.

Lu Ao strode over the reefs as if walking on flat ground.

Only a few minutes later, he reached the destination he had chosen—a relatively flat, large reef.

He put down his things and directly took off his shorts and T-shirt, leaving only his underwear.

Under the faint morning light, his body was so white it almost gave off a soft glow. Unfortunately, there was no one around, so no one could appreciate it.

Lu Ao carefully put on his wetsuit, diving socks, and fins one by one, tied the fish basket around his waist, attached the diving knife, put on the mask, bit down on the snorkel, and slowly entered the water.

The moment he came into contact with the water, he actually felt even more at ease than he did on shore.

The area where he entered the water was a reef zone. Almost as soon as he went in, he saw fish of all sizes swimming back and forth before his eyes.

Lu Ao observed them. The larger fish were only about one or two jin, while the smaller ones were only as thick as a finger. He had not used a speargun much, and for fish this small, he would probably not be able to aim accurately.

He treaded water and continued swimming forward.

Before he found any fish, he first saw a patch of sea urchins and sea snails.

Since he was already here, he did not waste the opportunity and casually picked up some sea snails to put into the basket on his back.

This stretch of sea was probably rarely visited. There were simply too many sea snails and the like. He picked them up casually and soon filled half the basket.

Lu Ao looked at the countless sea snails left behind and stopped with some regret. His purpose today was to catch fish, so he still had to leave room for fish.

He continued swimming forward. During this time, he fired several shots and finally harvested one white croaker.

Seeing that he had been out for more than an hour, yet the fish basket still contained mostly sea snails, Lu Ao treaded water and swam farther out.

He successively speared a few more fish. The harvest was not much, but not little either.

Lu Ao suspected there might not be many fish in this sea area and was planning to switch locations.

Just then, a dark shadow suddenly flashed before his eyes.

Lu Ao focused and looked closely. That dark shadow was actually a school of large red snappers. Judging by the scale, there were at least forty or fifty of them!

Lu Ao’s spirits lifted.

He surfaced to take a breath, then dove down again.

Soundlessly, he approached that school of large red snappers.

At that moment, he himself did not realize that his pupils were no longer the black-brown common among Chinese people, but a deep green.

His aura had strangely withdrawn, like a fallen leaf drifting in the sea.

He got within three meters of the school of red snappers, yet the school did not notice him.

Raise the speargun.

Aim.

Fire!

The steel arrow on the speargun shot out violently, carrying tremendous impact. In the blink of an eye, it plunged into the school of fish.

The steel arrow passed straight through the body of one large red snapper. Its momentum did not stop, and in the next instant, it plunged into the body of another large red snapper, piercing through it as well.

The school of fish was startled all at once. The fish changed direction together and fled outward at high speed.

Lu Ao dragged the fish and swam toward the surface.

Both red snappers looked to be over twenty jin. When they struggled, their strength was enormous. If an ordinary person had been here, they might truly not have been able to hold on.

Lu Ao could barely control them. He pulled the line and brought the fish upward.

The large red snappers struggled desperately in the water, but in the end, they gradually drew closer to him.

There were barbs on the steel arrow. With their bodies pierced through, the fish could not escape at all.

Lu Ao took a long breath on the surface, smoothed down the barbs, and slowly backed the arrow out of the fish. Then he lifted the fish and put them into the fish basket.

After entering the fish basket, the red snappers were still not dead and struggled for a while inside the net bag.

By now, the sky had brightened. The red sun rose from the surface of the sea.

Lu Ao panted and stayed on the surface to rest for quite a while, then dove again.

The activity range of this school of red snappers was not large, and Lu Ao soon found them again.

He once again aimed at his target and fired.

For the entire morning, he wrestled with this school of red snappers.

By a little past nine in the morning, he had caught seven large red snappers.

As for the remaining fish, it was not that he did not want to catch them. It was just that he was hungry again—so hungry his heart and lungs felt scratched raw, his hands and feet were weak, and his stamina was basically exhausted. He truly could no longer hold the speargun.

And this was with him having eaten a large amount of beef for breakfast. If he had not eaten beef and had eaten instant noodles as usual, his stamina would probably have been completely drained in two hours.

Lu Ao carried the last fish he had caught onto shore.

The red snappers he had caught that morning were truly too heavy. He had not kept them in the fish basket the entire time. Instead, he had found a tide pool on shore about one meter deep and kept them there.

After coming ashore, Lu Ao changed out of his wetsuit and calmed down for a while. He ate a small bag of chocolate and drank a bottle of water.

Then he took out his phone from a hidden spot and sent Lin Dawu a WeChat message to ask: Brother Dawu, do you know where the biggest fish market nearby is? I just caught several large red snappers and need to send them off to sell.

Lin Dawu replied instantly: How many? If there aren’t many, you can sell them at the fish shop in town. If there are a lot, you’ll need to send them to Longxiang Pier.

—Seven. Altogether, they might weigh around a hundred jin.

Lin Dawu was shocked: Really?!

—You caught around a hundred jin of fish in one morning?!

—Mm. They’re all still alive, kept in a tide pool.

—Photo.jpg, photo.jpg, photo.jpg

After taking the photos, Lu Ao looked toward the tide pool.

The seven large red snappers were crowded together in the pool. They were all still alive, and quite lively too.

After Lin Dawu saw the photos, he sucked in a breath of cold air.

Lin Dawu never would have expected that this refined and handsome-looking young man would be so fierce. He had caught so many fish as soon as he came back.

So shocked, Lin Dawu suddenly stood up from his chair: Wait there. I’m coming over right now to take a look.

Lin Dawu’s wife, Gui Yandan, was doing accounts at the counter. His sudden movement startled her, and she frowned as she asked, “What’s wrong? Why are you making such a fuss?”

“That Lu Ao from yesterday. He just caught a whole group of large red snappers and is now planning to send them to a fishmonger to sell.”

“So what?”

“A whole group of large red snappers. How could I not go take a look? Ah, I won’t talk to you anymore. I’m heading out first. Watch the shop.”

As he spoke, Lin Dawu grabbed his motorcycle keys and ran out.

Gui Yandan poked her head out and chased after him with a shout, “You’re going this early in the morning?! Come back soon!”

Before she could finish the last half of her sentence, Lin Dawu had already ridden off on his motorcycle and disappeared from sight.

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