After Reincarnating as the Dragon King, I Made a Fortune with Seafood – CH66

Chapter 66

Early the next morning, the three of them drove the borrowed little boat, carrying the oxygen equipment and foam boxes, cutting through the wind and waves as they arrived at the oyster farming area, ready to see how many sea bass the sixty bass hooks they had set yesterday had caught.

“This way, this way! I see one of the lines floating!” Lin Gongshang glanced over and immediately saw that the line of one bass hook had been pulled taut, floating diagonally on the surface. He hurriedly steered the boat over. “Landing net! Landing net! Don’t let this bass get away!”

“It can’t get away.” Lin Qiyan handed him the landing net. “Don’t scoop it from the tail. Scoop the head!”

“I know, I’m scooping it now! This bass is huge!”

Lin Gongshang was quick with his hands and eyes. With one sweep of the net, the net sank, and their first bass was caught.

A sea bass had a very large mouth. It could be lifted directly by the mouth.

Lin Gongshang weighed it in his hand and said, “At least five jin.”

Lu Ao took it. “About that.”

Lu Ao put the bass into the fish hold and turned on the oxygen equipment.

The bass flicked its tail inside the hold and hid in a corner.

Looking at the row of bass hooks, Lin Gongshang could see four or five lines floating at a glance. He could not help saying excitedly, “Today is definitely going to be a big harvest.”

If a line was not floating, it did not necessarily mean there was no bass. But if the line was floating, there was definitely a fish beneath, dragging the hook and trying to run. As for whether it was a bass, they would have to check.

Lin Qiyan filmed while Lu Ao and Lin Gongshang pulled up the bass hooks one by one to inspect them.

“There’s definitely one underneath this,” Lin Gongshang said. “It feels different the moment you lift it.”

“Mm. Bring me a landing net.”

“Coming. Here.” Lin Gongshang stared into the water. “Is this one heavy?”

“Not bad. Pretty fat. Five or six jin.”

Lu Ao and Lin Gongshang took turns pulling up the bass hooks.

After pulling twenty hooks, they harvested eight fish, five of which were pulled up personally by Lu Ao.

When Lin Gongshang pulled the hooks, he had to see that the line was taut and be certain there was a fish before there really was one. If he was uncertain, there was most likely no fish below.

Lu Ao was different. No matter whether the line was taut or not, after untying three to five hooks, he would definitely harvest a bass.

After pulling for a while, Lin Gongshang gained a profound understanding of the difference between his luck and Lu Ao’s.

“I’m not pulling anymore, not pulling anymore.” He rubbed his hands and muttered, “I feel like we should just leave the fishing to you. When I pull the bass hooks, I often pull up empty hooks. When you pull, it’s accurate every time.”

“Either way is fine.”

“Then you pull. I’ll step back and help you from behind.”

As Lin Gongshang spoke, he decisively stepped back and gave Lu Ao the space to pull the bass hooks.

Lu Ao did not stand on ceremony either. He sat by the side of the boat and leaned over to pull.

Lin Gongshang watched Lu Ao’s movements nervously. The bass hook beside his hand was not floating. It was sunk beneath the water, and no one knew whether there was any fish below.

Lu Ao lifted the bass hook upward, and the line immediately tightened.

That meant there was a fish.

Lin Gongshang gripped the landing net. “Do we need the net for this one?”

“Probably not. This one is a small bass, about two or three jin.”

As Lu Ao spoke, he pulled up the bass hook. Lin Gongshang looked and saw that there was indeed only a two- or three-jin bass on it.

Lu Ao removed the bass, and Lin Gongshang hurriedly sent the fish into the live hold.

Lu Ao then hooked a fresh sea shrimp onto the hook and put the bass hook back into the sea. If they came again tomorrow, perhaps there would be another harvest.

Lu Ao’s luck was very steady. Basically, out of every three bass hooks he pulled, one would definitely have a bass.

Among the empty hooks, some still had their sea shrimp on them and could simply be thrown back in. Others had no bass, but the shrimp had been eaten, so they needed to be baited with new shrimp.

Seeing the mangled shrimp on the hooks, Lin Gongshang said, “There are probably quite a few crabs down there. I think we can bring a fishing net over sometime and set it here.”

“A floating net?”

“A floating net will do. Those two nets you bought would be perfect here. It’s a waste to put them in a pond.”

“They’re alright. The mesh on those two nets is too large. We might not catch much if we put them here.”

Seeing that he had filmed enough material, Lin Qiyan simply turned off the camera and joined their conversation. “A five-finger or six-finger mesh should be fine, right? It can catch fish around one or two jin. Blue swimmer crabs are gradually getting fat these days too. I think we can bring a net over to catch blue swimmer crabs.”

“If you hadn’t mentioned it, I would’ve forgotten. Mantis shrimp are getting fat now too. Catching mantis shrimp would be good.”

“And there are nine-section shrimp, prawns, that sort of thing. If we come here to catch them, we should be able to get some.”

Lin Gongshang said gloomily, “Too bad I don’t have money on hand. Otherwise, I’d buy a small fishing boat, just the size of a speedboat. Then I could fish whenever I wanted and go out to sea whenever I wanted.”

“Forget it.” Lin Qiyan disagreed. “Maintaining a boat is so difficult. It’s better like now, renting Brother Zhang’s boat to go out. Fifty yuan a day. Much more convenient than buying a boat.”

As Lu Ao untied the bass, he listened to their chatter. The more he listened, the more interested he became. “I could buy a small fishing boat.”

Lin Gongshang was puzzled. “Don’t you already have a big boat? Why buy a small fishing boat too?”

Lin Qiyan said, “Those two things don’t conflict. There are some places a big boat can’t go, and some places a small boat can’t reach. If I had money, I’d want to buy two fishing boats too. When the time came, I’d put the small fishing boat on the big boat. Later, when I went out to sea, I could use whichever one I wanted. How convenient would that be?”

Lu Ao was thoughtful. “I wonder what the price of a small fishing boat is now.”

“That’s easy. Just ask Da Wu’s brother-in-law and you’ll know. But are you really going to buy one?”

“I can try. The mountain won’t be leased so quickly. Buying a boat isn’t bad either.”

This morning, Lu Ao had just taken a mock exam for his Certificate of Competency and passed with a high score.

If nothing unexpected happened, after the official exam next week, he would be able to get his certificate.

Buying a small fishing boat to practice with first would be good too.

A small fishing boat was not expensive, only around ten or twenty thousand yuan. As long as the average price of leasing the mountain dropped by three to five yuan, that money would be saved.

The two of them knew he had money, so they stopped trying to persuade him.

Lin Gongshang said, “I heard Brother Da Wu say that Chenchen will be discharged the day after tomorrow. His brother-in-law should be back already. Why don’t you call and ask?”

“Sure. I’ll ask tonight.”

As Lu Ao spoke, he finished checking all sixty bass hooks.

Out of sixty bass hooks, they harvested twenty-two fish in total.

That catch rate was very impressive. They just did not know whether they would have the same harvest tomorrow.

Under the blazing sun, the three of them drove the boat back to the pier to sell the fish first.

They only had bass today. The fishmonger’s price for bass was forty-five yuan per jin. They sold nineteen fish, totaling over sixty jin. The income was over three thousand yuan. After subtracting taxes, bait, fuel, and boat rental costs, each of them could divide about four hundred yuan.

The three of them drove the boat back to the village.

Lin Gongshang held the money, his heart bubbling with joy. “If only we could have this income every day.”

“How is that possible?” Lin Qiyan said. “There are only so many bass. The first few times we set the bass hooks, we might get this kind of harvest. After setting them a few more times, the bass will get smart and stop biting.”

“That’s true. But whatever. We’ll earn as much as we can. Let’s make this money first.”

Once they reached the village, Lin Gongshang and Lin Qiyan drove the boat away to park it. Lu Ao casually picked up one of the three bass they had specially kept. “I’ll head back first.”

“Go on. It’s almost dark. Leave the rest to us.”

Fishing for bass made decent money, but between collecting the fish and selling them, running back and forth quickly took up an entire afternoon.

By now, the sun had already sunk behind the mountain.

Lu Ao carried the bass home. As soon as he returned, he sensed Song Zhou’s presence.

Song Zhou was carrying a lacquered food box. He turned to look at him. “I brought dinner back. It should still be hot.”

Lu Ao suppressed the awkwardness in his heart. “Food from your cafeteria?”

“Mm. They made stir-fried yellow beef with pickled peppers today. I had them make extra. Try it and see if you like it.”

“As long as it tastes good, I like it all.” Lu Ao held up the fish. “I also brought a bass back. We caught it this afternoon, and it’s still alive. I’ll steam it. We’ll eat right away.”

“Alright.”

Lu Ao met his smiling eyes and thought again of what his gay friend had said. His gaze could not help sliding down to Song Zhou’s collar.

Song Zhou’s Adam’s apple was rather obvious. With just a slight glance, it could be seen.

Below that was his chest. The fabric he wore was rather thick, so Lu Ao could not really see the shape of his chest muscles, but judging from his tall and upright figure, his chest muscles definitely were not small.

His gaze moved farther down…

Lu Ao hurriedly shook his head, throwing away those strange thoughts, and dashed into the kitchen with the fish. “Wait a moment.”

“No rush.”

Hearing his voice, Lu Ao felt that even his voice was extremely pleasant. Just listening to it was enough to stir one’s heart.

It was over.

He really should not have talked to someone about that kind of thing.

The more Lu Ao tried to stop his thoughts, the harder they became to stop. His ears reddened in embarrassment, and he hid in the kitchen, not daring to come out.

He killed the fish, removed the gills and innards, and lightly marinated it with seasonings.

He cut ginger slices and scallion sections, placed them on the plate, then set the bass on top. He stuffed more ginger and scallions into the belly of the fish and covered the body with some as well.

Once that was done, he put it straight into the pot and steamed it quickly over high heat.

This bass was rather large, but eight minutes of steaming was enough.

After it was done, he poured away the liquid in the fish plate, removed the scallions and ginger, and discarded them. Then he placed fresh shredded scallion and ginger, minced garlic, chili rings, and Sichuan peppercorns over the fish before drizzling hot oil over everything.

The hot oil hit the shredded scallion and ginger with a sizzling sound, releasing a burst of fragrance.

The steamed fish was ready.

Lu Ao carried the fish out, his expression already back to normal.

Song Zhou had also laid out the food: pickled-pepper yellow beef, sweet-and-sour pork ribs, eggplant claypot, stir-fried pork with garlic scapes, garlic greens, and winter melon pork bone soup.

They were just some home-style dishes, yet every dish looked, smelled, and tasted excellent.

Smelling the aroma of the food, all the improper yellow waste in Lu Ao’s mind was instantly cleared out.

Right now, he only wanted to sit down and eat properly.

He placed the steamed bass in the middle. “Try the bass.”

“Alright.” Song Zhou handed him a pair of chopsticks and took a deep breath. “This steamed fish smells wonderful.”

“Of course.” Lu Ao picked off a large piece of firm, snow-white bass flesh that looked like garlic cloves. “Ten minutes ago, this bass was still alive. Killed and cooked fresh, there won’t be any fishy smell at all.”

Song Zhou tasted a bite. The bass meat was fresh and tender, and indeed had no fishiness at all, only the unique fragrance of sea bass.

Especially the steamed fish soy sauce Lu Ao used—it was poured over the fish, and the saltiness was just right.

Together with a little chili ring and a few Sichuan peppercorns to enhance the freshness, the flavor of the fish was perfect.

“It really is delicious.” Admiration appeared in Song Zhou’s eyes. “It has a unique style.”

“Then eat more.” Lu Ao said. “We’re going to catch bass again tomorrow. If you like it, I’ll bring another one back tomorrow.”

“Sure. Tomorrow, bring one this size too.” Song Zhou made a request. “If it’s smaller, it won’t be satisfying. If it’s bigger, the meat will be tough. This size is just right.”

“No problem.” Lu Ao recalled the feel of this fish in his hand and planned to bring home a fish of exactly the same weight tomorrow. It would be best if it was also a female fish.

Song Zhou said, “Perfect. I still have a few jars of wine stored on my side. I’ll bring them over tomorrow.”

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