After Reincarnating as the Dragon King, I Made a Fortune with Seafood – CH69

Chapter 69

Lin Manzhang and the others agreed to go out to sea on August 8, then split up to make their own preparations.

Lu Ao ate far too much, so his main focus was preparing food.

Aside from that, he also specially prepared five fishing rods of different specifications for sea fishing during the trip.

Before setting out, Lu Ao invited Song Zhou over for hotpot.

Song Zhou had been rather busy lately. Lu Ao had not seen him for several days, and when he saw him again, Song Zhou still looked as refined and unruffled as ever, like a clear breeze beneath a bright moon. Lu Ao could not help asking, “Have you been busy recently?”

“It’s all right. Demonic creatures are more active in summer, so there are more miscellaneous matters to deal with.”

Lu Ao rarely heard him talk about work. “Demonic activity changes with the seasons?”

“Yes. Many demonic creatures like to come out in summer and autumn. In winter and spring, they usually lie dormant.” Song Zhou said, “Every year, summer and autumn are a bit busier for us.”

Through the steam rising from the hotpot, Lu Ao asked, “Then doesn’t that mean you have to work overtime?”

“Occasionally.”

“Oh.” Lu Ao paused, then looked at him and asked, “Do you need help?”

Song Zhou’s eyes curved. “No.”

Lu Ao did not know what else to say.

The two of them ate hotpot. Lu Ao asked Song Zhou to help check on the geese over the next few days whenever he had time.

Song Zhou agreed gently, then left.

Lu Ao returned to the house, packed his luggage, and went to bed very early.

Early the next morning, Lin Dawu drove over to pick them up.

The boat they had rented was at Longxiang Pier, so they had to head there to board.

Lu Ao’s home was the farthest inside the village. When he got into the car, Lin Dawu was the only one inside.

He sat in the passenger seat, fastening his seat belt as he asked, “How is Lin Guanchen doing?”

Lin Dawu looked a little older, but his spirits were still good. Especially with his hair cut short, he looked very neat and energetic.

Hearing Lu Ao’s question, he said, “Much better. The doctor said there basically won’t be any aftereffects. After a bit more recovery, he won’t be delayed from starting school next term.”

“Did medical insurance reimburse much?”

“Not bad. In the end, we spent around 120,000.” Lin Dawu said, “Money is just worldly possession. As long as the person is safe, that’s what matters.”

Before Lu Ao could ask, he took the initiative to add, “Chenchen’s girlfriend is fine too. Basically nothing serious. Our two families have already talked it over. Once they graduate, they’ll get married.”

Back then, when the girl fell into the sea, Lin Guanchen had risked his life to save her. The girl and her family had seen it all, and were quite satisfied with his character.

Lin Guanchen could now be considered to have turned misfortune into fortune, solving a major life matter in one stroke.

Lin Dawu was in a very good mood, the smile in his eyes never fading. “Last night, Chenchen even told me that once he gets a little better, he must come over and thank you properly for saving the two of them.”

Lu Ao said, “No need to be so polite.”

“A life-saving grace—how could we not keep it in our hearts?” Lin Dawu smiled. “If you weren’t still so young, I’d even want Chenchen to acknowledge you as his godfather and properly show filial respect to you in the future.”

A smile also surfaced in Lu Ao’s eyes. “That really isn’t necessary.”

“Hahahaha, I was just saying. How about letting him call you uncle? In the future, during holidays and festivals, he can come visit you. He can also borrow a little of your good fortune and have you shelter him.”

“This nephew is too old,” Lu Ao said. “Forget it.”

“That works too. What you say goes. Oh, right, about that mountain in Tanwu Village—I’ve been helping you negotiate. How does thirty-eight yuan per mu sound?”

“Hm?” Lu Ao turned to look at him. “You can get it down to thirty-eight per mu?”

“Sure. I originally wanted to negotiate it down to thirty-six per mu for you, but they refused to budge any further. Thirty-eight works, though. If you want it, they’ll go to the town office and pull the necessary strings.”

When the people of Tanwu Village first named their price, they asked for fifty-five yuan. Now that it could be bargained down to thirty-eight, that meant each mu was seventeen yuan cheaper. It was truly an unexpected pleasant surprise.

Lu Ao asked, “Will the people of Tanwu Village have objections?”

“Not really. After you said you wanted to lease the mountain, there was no news from you for so long that they started panicking themselves. They were just looking for someone to mediate. Thirty-eight per mu is indeed not a high price, but it’s basically money falling from the sky. Most people will grumble a little, then let it pass.”

Lu Ao thought for a moment. “No rush. I’ll go out to sea first. We can talk about this after I come back. Sorry to trouble you with this.”

“Hahahaha, all right. Let’s hang them out to dry for a while longer. I’ll see if I can get it down to thirty-six for you.”

Lu Ao thanked him again.

The car quickly drove into Linwu Village. Lin Manzhang and the others were already waiting at the village entrance with their luggage.

Lin Dawu stopped the car and opened the trunk for them to put their luggage in.

Lin Manzhang immediately saw the two half-person-tall bags in the trunk. “Lu Ao, don’t tell me both these bags are yours?”

“Mm. What about it?”

“That’s way too much, isn’t it? We’re only going out to sea for a week. Looking at you, someone who didn’t know better would think you were moving house. What are all those bulging, hard-packed things inside?”

“Some vegetables and meat.”

Lin Manzhang lightly slapped Lin Gongshang on the back. “Hurry up and put your luggage in. Are we leaving or not?”

“Leaving, leaving.” As Lin Gongshang spoke, he gave the bag one last feel, marveling as he climbed into the car. “Don’t tell me all the vegetables inside are raw? We can just bring some seasonings and catch whatever we eat at sea. This is too troublesome.”

Lu Ao turned to look at him. “You’re not eating?”

“I’m eating!” Lin Gongshang chuckled. “I’m just making a couple of comments.”

While they spoke, Tan Junhao followed them into the car. When he met Lu Ao’s gaze, he uncomfortably dodged away.

Lin Gongshang had privately told them that Lu Ao and Lin Qiyan were gay.

The others were fine, but Tan Junhao had some trouble accepting it. Every time they interacted, he seemed a little unnatural.

Lu Ao and Lin Qiyan did not force anything and simply pretended not to notice.

Lin Qiyan sat next to Lin Gongshang, with Lin Manzhang on his other side.

Lin Guixiao and Tan Junhao sat in the last row.

Lin Dawu sped up and drove them straight to Longxiang Pier.

Niu Deyu knew they were going out to sea and specially came out to treat them to breakfast.

At the dining table, Niu Deyu smiled. “May everything go smoothly for you all. When you come back, I’ll treat you to another meal.”

Lin Manzhang said, “We’ll come to you to sell our fish then.”

“Sure. I’ll definitely give you a good price.” Niu Deyu’s smile deepened. “Then I wish you all an abundant catch!”

After breakfast, Lin Manzhang personally checked the boat’s fresh water, vegetables, meat, diesel, and other supplies before heading to the wheelhouse and slowly steering the boat out.

The fishing boat they rented cost six hundred yuan a day. They planned to set out on the eighth and return on the fourteenth. Before doing anything, they had already spent 4,200 yuan on the rental fee.

Aside from the rent, the fuel would probably cost several thousand as well. Add in other living supplies and labor, and on this trip, anyone who failed to catch more than ten thousand yuan’s worth of fish would be losing money.

The boat slowly set sail. Everyone stood on deck, most of them feeling both expectant and nervous.

Lu Ao looked at the fishing boats around them.

It was already past ten in the morning, and there were not many fishing boats at the pier. Several speedboats and fishing boats kept far away from their large boat and set off in all directions, dragging long trails of water behind them.

After leaving the harbor, their boat gradually sped up, heading toward the open sea.

The weather was also very good today. The sun baked the deck until it grew hot.

Lin Gongshang and the others all hid inside the cabin. Only Lu Ao and Lin Qiyan remained on deck.

Lu Ao cast out a hook and began drift fishing.

Lin Qiyan filmed some footage.

Their boat was moving fairly fast, and the waves it stirred up were rather large. The fish below scattered and hid. Even with Lu Ao’s heaven-defying luck, the results were only average.

After fishing all morning, he caught only a few small miscellaneous fish. His harvest was not even as good as the seabirds circling overhead and diving for fish.

When they passed the sea-crossing bridge, Lin Manzhang stopped the boat.

He poked his head out to ask everyone’s opinion. “Let’s eat lunch here. Everyone go down and scrape up some oysters and mussels?”

The oysters and mussels were very plump now. Usually, no one came to the bridge pillars. If they dived down to gather some, the harvest would certainly be good.

No one objected.

Lu Ao wiped his face. “Where’s the fish basket?”

“Here, here!” Lin Gongshang eagerly handed over the fish basket, then handed him an iron hook as well. “Whether we eat something solid at noon or drink thin gruel depends on you.”

Lu Ao was too lazy to bicker with him. He tied the fish basket around his waist and plunged into the sea.

The water quality here was average, and visibility was only so-so, but they could still see the large oysters attached to the bridge pillars and strings of mussels.

He directly transformed his hand into a dragon claw and got to work.

People from the surrounding bridge pillars entered the water one after another.

Lu Ao turned slightly, hiding the dragon claw in front of his body, and continued knocking off oysters.

The bridge pillar was huge. Lu Ao circled it once, knocking off more than half a net bag of oysters and mussels.

He swam back. Lin Qiyan hurriedly reached out to pull him up.

Lin Gongshang and the others were still struggling underwater with the oysters and mussels.

Lu Ao boarded the boat and brushed his hair back, revealing his handsome features.

Lin Qiyan could not help aiming the camera at his face and snapping several shots in a row.

Lu Ao looked over.

Lin Qiyan hurriedly said, “For my own collection. I promise I won’t use them commercially.”

After saying that, afraid Lu Ao would insist on making him delete them, he hurriedly picked up the fish basket and ran off. “Are we steaming them for lunch?”

“Whatever.” Lu Ao wrung the water from his clothes and went to the restroom to change.

Wet clothes clinging to his body felt awful.

Lu Ao stared at himself in the mirror. A dark green light flashed in his eyes. Countless tiny droplets of water were drawn out of his clothes and skin by some mysterious force, turning into vapor, then condensing again and pattering onto the floor like a little rain shower.

Once his clothes were dry, they came off easily. He used half a bottle of mineral water to briefly rinse his body, then used the remaining half to wash his hair.

After washing away all traces of seawater, he finally felt refreshed.

When he came out, Lin Gongshang and the others had also brought up oysters.

The oysters beneath the bridge pillars were large, and accordingly, harder to knock loose. The group knocked and pried, finally managing to get up a small half-bag. When they climbed back onto the boat, they were so tired they did not want to move.

Lu Ao narrowed his eyes at Lin Gongshang, who was sprawled on the ground. “Looks like whether we get anything solid to eat really does depend on me.”

Lin Gongshang saw mockery in that narrowed glance. He rubbed his nose and quickly called out to Lin Qiyan, who was preparing lunch, “Lin Qiyan, I’m coming to help scrub oysters!”

With that, he bolted off.